Dear Misty, wanna go out for sushi?

You find your pregnant and if you're anything like me, you jump to research everything you need to know. What should I eat? What shouldn't I eat? One of the top list makers for pregos to avoid is always sushi. For some people, the idea of raw fish freaks them out, pregnant or not. You'd think that with some of the food aversions that pregnant women get, the texture of raw fish would probably turn them off, at least for the time being, right? Well, as far as the girls that I know, if they liked sushi beforehand, they REALLY want sushi while they're pregnant. The books, and maybe their doctor, tell them its a no go. But, why? 

Photo courtesy of ZushiBistro.com, my favorite sushi restaurant here in Virginia Beach

After a bit of research, all I can find to explain the dangers of sushi when you're building an itty bitty person is in relation to mercury levels. Yes, there are articles that you can find that will go into the different bacterias that you should worry about, specifically anisakiasis, which is a little worm guy that will make you feel horrible and will probably empty you out before he's done messing you up. Besides being miserable, the worst part about this is typically dehydration. Being dehydrated while you're pregnant is a major no-no, considering the baby is hanging out in a bag of fluids that help it complete important tasks, like breathing and eating. 

When I was about 7 months pregnant with Ryker, I caught this horrible stomach flu that was going around my shop. I thought I had beat it, I made it through without getting it until after almost everyone I worked with had it, then it caught up to me on a Friday night. Had it been just me, I would have suffered through it and been thirsty and hungry until it passed, but once I couldn't keep any water in me and there was nothing to come up anymore, Vic and I decided the ER and an IV would be a good idea. But, I digress, that wasn't sushi related at all! Back to sushi...

Most sushi products in America are frozen at some point, which actually helps to kill the pesky bacteria that we're worried about. Also, and this is just my opinion, we live in America. When is the last time you personally heard about someone getting knocked down for a while by bacteria from sushi? It doesn't happen that often, it would be a restaurant disaster, so fish is treated properly and safely. A burger or a chicken sandwich can be loaded with bacteria too, if you take that risk, I think you're good with bacteria and sushi. 

However, the other issue is mercury. Fish can be high in mercury, specifically yellowtail, yellowfin, mackerel, swordfish to name a few. The American Pregnancy Association has a complete list here if you are interested. They also list sushi fish sources that are safe to have. They suggest checking out mercury levels, defining low mercury levels as 0.29 parts per million or lower, and high mercury levels as more than 0.3 parts per million. 

So, in summary, according to Pregnant Chicken and the American Pregnancy Association, you can have sushi, just maybe order the cooked rolls and try to stick to salmon, crab and unagi instead of spicy tuna rolls or yellowtail sashimi. 

COFFEE!

So, I think we all know that I love my coffee. I used to use a pre workout on a regular basis, I loved Jack3d before the formula got all messed up because people were having heart attacks and other crazy side effects. Well, since then I've given up on pre workouts and generally just make sure that I have enough time in the morning to pound coffee that is much too hot before the WOD or my workout start. I've been known to have both my water bottle and coffee on my cardio machine, next to the bench or next to my bar or kettle bell. Well, for my nutrition class I had to look into an article that was presented to everyone, in this case it was a blog for the New York Times, then I had to look into the research article that the author used to write their lay article. Pretty interesting! Apparently, coffee (caffeine) aids in releasing fatty acids into your system, letting your work harder and longer before tapping into your energy stores. Pretty sweet!

My tumbler of black coffee, to get me going, and then a mason jar of black iced coffee and a scoop of Vanilla Whey Isolate. It tastes just like a Starbucks Frappuccino! 

How Coffee Can Galvanize Your Workout by Gretchen Reynolds discusses a handful of research studies that looked at whether or not caffeine has a positive effect on workout abilities. Reynolds begins with the idea that a cup of coffee may help you get motivated to make it to the gym during the cold winter; the article was written in December of 2011 for the New York Times. She goes on to mention a relatively well known concept about caffeine and workouts, caffeine has been used for years by endurance athletes, specifically runners and cyclists and triathletes to give them the boost to continue pushing through a grueling, long workout. The idea behind the usage of caffeine as a workout supplement is based on the release of fatty acids into the bloodstream following caffeine consumption, allowing the body to use the fatty acids for fuel instead of tapping into the body’s stored carbohydrates. This allows them to push past the limits that would be reached if they were relying on stored fuel alone. The issue that Reynolds hoped to illuminate was the effectiveness of caffeine outside of endurance events, like in a weight training regimen. (Reynolds, 2011)

                Among the studies that Reynolds mentioned was one conducted at Coventry University in England. 13 men, identified as young and fit, were chosen for the study and asked to complete the same workout a number of times, an hour before one workout they received a drink containing caffeine, for other workouts they received a placebo drink. Following the workout with caffeine the young men reported being able to complete a higher number of repetitions before reaching exhaustion. They also claimed to feel substantially less tired during the workout and they felt ready to workout again sooner. While the physical aspect, being able to complete more repetitions before reaching exhaustion, was an important finding, it was the psychological effect that allowed the men to maintain their excitement and focus throughout and after the workout that the researchers found most exciting. It was theorized that adenosine is effected by the caffeine, and an increase in adenosine blunts the force of the muscle contractions, delaying fatigue. (Reynolds, 2011)

                The original article from Dr. Duncan goes further in depth, indicating that the 13 young men received a caffeine drink containing 179 mg of caffeine, roughly equivalent to a little over two average cups of coffee, or one very strongly brewed cup. The participants performed bench presses, deadlifts, prone rows and back squats to failure, using a weight equal to sixty percent of their one repetition maximum weight. Despite what exercise was being performed, the participants were able to complete more if they had the caffeine supplement beforehand.  The rating of perceived exertion was significantly higher amongst the placebo trials. The readiness to invest in physical effort (RTIPE) was also higher with the supplement, regardless of how much time had passed. (Duncan, 2012)

                I think that Gretchen Reynolds did a great job of covering the information from Dr. Duncan’s study without going overboard on information or skimping on pertinent facts. Her use of supporting studies throughout the rest of her article helped to compound the information, and she left the reader with the idea that more research needs to be done to nail down the correct dosing and time span for caffeine supplementation, but “in the meantime, ‘probably everyone can get some’ fatigue delaying and mood enhancing benefits from caffeine”. (Reynolds, 2011)

Reynolds, G. (2011, December 14). How Coffee Can Galvanize Your Workout. . Retrieved June 25, 2014, from http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/14/how-coffee-can-galvanize-your-workout/

The acute effect of a caffeine-containing energy drink on mood state, readiness to invest effort, and resistance exercise to failure. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research,10, 2858-65. Retrieved June 25, 2014, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22124354

Run, sprint, run, Forest!

Training for a race or trying to improve your mile time? I used this workout Monday, it's been a staple of mine to help lower my 1.5 mile time and prepare for everything from a 5k to a half marathon: 

1 mile jog

This should start off at a comfortable pace, increasing to the faster end of your normal pace, then...

5 rounds of 200 meter sprints

Sprint as hard as you can for 200 meters, walk back to starting point. Run each one like it's the only one you have to be as fast as possible, don't hold back! Finish with...

1 mile run

This should be at your comfortable, steady pace. Not too difficult to be unable to maintain for the whole mile, but it shouldn't be leisurely, either.

Do not forget to stretch out after! My calves get super beat up with sprints, give 'em some love if you want to walk correctly the rest of the week :) 

I normally hate running in shorts, but I LOVE the speed short from Lululemon. They are so comfy!

Eating for Two: How it can affect your baby's birth weight

Eating for two is a concept that instantly comes to mind with pregnancy. It's exciting to think you might get a little wiggle room in your eating habits to support the process of building another human being. However, it's been said that you really only need about 300 or so extra calories to make up for the extra caloric expenditure of baby making. (National Institute of Health) Finding where to get those extra calories should garner a lot more thought than most will give. Those 300 calories should not be a free pass to have an extra donut or bowl of ice cream. The way you choose to fuel your body and your growing baby can have direct effects on the future. 

Balanced meals still apply!

Maternal Behaviors during Pregnancy Impact Offspring Obesity Risk covers a study completed in Providence, Rhode Island that included participants of the Fit for Delivery clinical trial. The trial aimed to understand the effects of lifestyle choices, such as dietary intake, physical activity, stress and sleep, on the gestational weight gain, birth weight and 6 month infant weight of the women and children involved in the study. The study was the first of its kind that looked at not only gestational weight gain in “normal weight” women (BMI of 19.8-26) but also that of “overweight/obese” women (BMI of 26.1-40.) Those women that had any major psychiatric illness, gestational diabetes, previous or current eating disorders or any other medical issues were excluded from the study. At the beginning of the study the women were between 10-16 weeks of gestation, they were reevaluated at 30 weeks and at 6 months postpartum. (Phelan, 2011)

Dietary intake and physical activity were self-reported measures that covered daily caloric intake, calories from sweets and sugar sweetened beverages and macronutrient intake by percentage. Energy expenditure was self-reported in reference to “stairs climbed, blocks walked, and other recreational activities”. (Phelan, 2011) Depressive symptoms, perceived levels of stress and amounts of sleep were also indicated on other assessments. (Phelan, 2011)

The study’s finding were relatively consistent with information that the general public has been previously given, large intakes of sweets and sodas have a direct effect on weight gain, and in the case of this study each sugar source was related to the birth weight of children. In the overweight/obese pregnant women, a high intake of sweets early in the pregnancy correlated with a significantly higher birth weight compared to normal weight mothers. With that, more children were also born classified as macrosomic, or greater than 4000 g, and greater than the 90^th percentile at birth. At six months, there was not a marked increase in weight of the child, in fact, the percentage of children from overweight/obese mothers that were previously in the 90^th percentile for weight actually decreased. The number of children in the 90^th percentile for weight that were born to normal weight women increased by 7-15% by the age of six months. (Phelan, 2011)

The study indicated that the number one factor for a high birth weight child from an overweight or obese mother was a greater habitual consumption of sweets at the beginning of the pregnancy, this also led to increased instances of macrosomia. In fact, the study found that for “each 1% increase in percentage of calories consumed from sweets early in pregnancy increased the odds of macrosomia by 10% and weight for age being greater than the 90^th percentile for 20%.” (Phelan, 2011) In the case of normal weight mothers, only a low maternal fat intake and a higher carbohydrate intake led to higher weight for age (WFA) at six months. The main indicator for normal weight women giving birth to high WFA scores at birth were greater habitual consumption of soft drinks. The rate of macrosomia in children of normal weight mothers was low enough to not have a statistically significant predictor. However, at six months of age, the study showed that normal weight women that consumed a diet higher in fat had lower WFA numbers. Children of normal weight mothers did show higher odds of having an increased WFA if they were exposed to excessive gestational weight gain. (Phelan, 2011)

Physical activity and time spent watching television turned out to not have nearly the effect on gestational weight gain or infant birth weight as some may have thought. Dietary intake during pregnancy and the mother’s weight prior to pregnancy had a greater effect on the child’s weight at birth and at six months. 

In conclusion, the study noted that the connection of gestational weight gain and a high birth weight seems to decrease as the child gets older. While more research into the topic can only be beneficial and lead to better understandings of how to best prepare and carry out a healthy weight pregnancy, the facts currently show that a diet high in sugary treats, drinks and sodas have a direct link to the birth weight of the child. Maintaining a balanced diet with a healthy distribution of macronutrients and a low consumption of added sugars can contribute to an optimum gestational weight gain and steer the child towards starting their life at a healthy weight for their age. (Phelan, 2011)

Eating Right During Pregnancy. (2012, August 16). . Retrieved June 25, 2014, from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/patientinstructions/000584.htm

Phelan, S., Hart, C., Phipps, M., Abrams, B., Schaffner, A., Adams, A., et al. (2011, October 26). Maternal Behaviors during Pregnancy Impact Offspring Obesity Risk. . Retrieved June 25, 2014, fromhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3205727/

Dear Misty, Let's talk diapers!

So, a good friend of mine is pregnant with her first child right now. We met through CrossFit Rife in Virginia Beach during a paleo challenge. She was my partner at my first WOD outside of our box, she scared the hell out of me for being so strong in such a small package, but she's pushed me to work harder every day whether or not she knew it. Now that she's started the journey towards motherhood, I couldn't be more excited to give her all the information that I can. Now, I never finished up my doula cert (you know how life goes and gets in the way) but I did study all of the recommended reading, watched every documentary I could, bought more books, researched more information and I just want to explode with all of this knowledge. She's already sat through a number of my "oh my God, let me unload everything I can think of on this topic" conversations, but I thought that maybe I could start doing a "Dear Misty" series of posts, offering up info to be left alone or taken. The other day we got into a half hour long texting discussion on the topic of diapers and whether to go disposable or cloth, super fancy or cheap disposable, and the ups and downs of everything in between. So, let's start there!

We like to work out and eat healthy...we also like to eat donuts! This was the night our diet challenge ended, oh man, that donut tasted good!!

Dear Misty, 

When I first found out that I was pregnant, there was no question of whether or not we were going to be using disposable diapers. I didn't know anything about cloth diapers except for the fact that you inevitably would have to come in contact with urine or baby poop and I had zero interest in even thinking about washing them in the same equipment I use for my precious, comfy sweatshirts. I saw blog posts on Pinterest that advertised the idea of stocking up on diapers as early as you could to try and save money. I started my registry and put boxes of diapers on there, going with Pamper's Swaddlers, they seemed pretty comfy and soft so I figured they must be the best choice. If you shop at Babies 'R Us on the regular, you get nifty coupons that you can use for discounts on all sorts of things, but you can almost always count on getting a $5 off coupon for a giant box of diapers. I can't even begin to tell you the way that I was hoarding giant value size boxes of diapers in Ryker's room. It drove Vic insane. 

We stuck with Pampers Swaddlers for a good amount of time. If you check out Amazon.com you can great deals through Amazon Mom or Subscribe and Save. If you are going the disposable route, definitely look into using Subscribe and Save, because they show up once a month (or however often you set up the delivery) and you get a discount for doing such. It starts at 5%, but if you can think of at least five things that you need delivered on a regular basis you get 20% off, which makes your diapers crazy cheap. 

Eventually, after scrolling through pages of diapers and seeing the price per diaper, we decided to switch to Luvs. We had received a box of Luvs as a gift and had given them a try, I mean, they were just chillin' there so why not? I fell in love... at first. During the day they were the shit; they held up, didn't leak, and they were cheap, which are really the only requirements I had for loving a diaper. Then Ryker started sleeping through the night on his belly and he wet through every single one. That's it, Luvs were out and we switched between the Pampers Cruisers and the Huggies equivalent. 

Then, one day I decided we needed to go to Diaper Junction here in Virginia Beach to get some baby leg warmers to protect Ryker's knees while he was crawling on our unfinished concrete floors. I got sucked into all the cute fluff and had one of the employees give me a cloth diaper presentation. That was the beginning of the end of our disposable use and we made the switch a few weeks later. But, before we get into why I like cloth, let's talk business about disposables. Here are some main points that I would offer when considering disposables and what to look for. 

1. The cheap and/or generic ones are going to skimp on the fluffiness and the gel-type stuff inside. This is what makes the more expensive ones cost more, but it's also what makes them work better. Disposable diapers can advertise 12+hours of protection because they are filled with chemicals that absorb liquid. Go get a diaper and dunk it in water, ever seen a baby in a diaper in a pool? It fills up instantly and looks crazy. Those chemicals are what make them work. If you don't want to pay as much, then you get less chemicals and you're going to need to change them more often. You don't want your baby to have chemicals on their butt, then you're going to change more diapers.  It is those chemicals make disposable diapers work. 

2. On the note of no or less chemicals in a diaper, thinking of brands like The Honest Company, the same thing I said a minute ago applies. Once I got pregnant, I started my slide into Hippie-ville and I try to make as many changes towards a more natural, sustainable life as I can. We ordered the trial pack of Honest Company products. Their diapers are SUPER adorable, and they are supposed to be easier on the Earth and easier on your baby's butt. Well, they suck. They are just as cute in person, but in my opinion they are unbelievably inferior in the absorbent factor. They are super thin and don't have the same chemicals, which goes back to what I said above. I've heard of good reviews and people that love them, but really, they are already expensive and I had to change him more often, which alone makes them more expensive since you end up running through them. On the better for the Earth side of the argument, in all reality once you stick that diaper in a plastic bag and tie it up and send it off to the landfill you are dooming it to hanging around for a LONG time. You could put an apple in a plastic bag and the lack of oxygen and being inside a plastic bag is going to keep it around for a bit, and either way that plastic bag isn't going anywhere either, so you see how the "we degrade faster" diapers are a little silly? Great idea, but just not effective enough for me to be sold on them.

Now, we've made the switch completely to cloth and I love it. Are there days that I just want to chuck the whole $25 diaper in the trash because it's gross? Definitely. But, 99% of the time it isn't so bad and I love seeing that cute little but with his colorful, fluffy diaper. I love that I am not literally throwing away a ton of money and giant bags of trash every month. The idea that all plastic that has ever been produced still exists got me thinking, and between the bags for our Diaper Dekor and the plastic tabs on diapers, we were tossing a lot of plastic trash. Cloth diapers make me feel better, so there you go! 

We use GroVia All in Two's, so we snap an insert in place, which means we don't have to change the outer shell every single time, unless he leaks onto it or gets poop on it. We don't have to do that too often because of pee, but with him wriggling around everywhere, he usually will get poop on the shell. We have one of their package deals, so we got 12 shells and 24 inserts with 6 boosters. You can slide the boosters into the insert if they are a heavy wetter. They've gotten us through the night thus far without any issues. The best part about the GroVia diapers? They have snaps all over the place that allow you to use the same set of diapers as they grow. 

We fell in love with Bac-Out, a pretreater, stain fighter and all around wonderful smelling cleaning product. It kept the diapers from staining or ever stinking, even while they were waiting around to get washed. It took me about three weeks to figure out why Ryker was getting horrible diaper rash from his cloth diapers, we were using a ton of Bac-Out and it wasn't all rinsing out in the wash. The live bacteria and lime extract was literally attacking Ryker's butt. As soon as we ran out we stopped using it. I would still highly recommend the product, but for the love of that cute little baby tush, use an extra rinse cycle and get it all out of the diaper! We do a rinse cycle, then a normal wash cycle set to Hot/Cold, with and extra rinse added to that one at the end. We've just made the switch to All Free and Clear with that and I also started adding Baking Soda to the rinse, our diapers are super clean and smell good and we've had no leaking issues! 

There's my diaper discussion! I wish we had started with cloth sooner, they are definitely more cost effective if you start from the get go. At the rate we used to buy diapers, it will take about eight months for us to pay off the initial cloth investment. I hope this helps! Oh, and this is all my opinion, so I hope I didn't offend or bother anyone. Let me know if this brings up any questions! I'll look into anything you come up with.

Here are some links to get you to some of the products I mentioned:

Amazon Mom Information

GroVia's Website

Bac-Out

Diaper Junction

On a little side note, my site is set up with affiliate links, so if anything is purchased from a link on my site I do get a small incentive, just thought I should let you know!

Moving towards "strong is the new skinny"

Throughout  the  years,  women  have  put  a  major  focus  on  the  need  to have  the  “best  body”  that  they  can,  be  it  the  curves  of  the  era  of  Marilyn  Monroe,  the  “stick  figure”  thin  look  of  Twiggy  in  the  1960’s,  the  sought  after  thigh  gaps  of  the  1980’s  supermodels  or  the  “strong  is  the  new  skinny”  look  of today,  brought  about  by  the  influence  of  the  weightlifting  and  CrossFit  culture. American  culture  has  reached  a  point  where  women  are  working  to  have muscular  arms,  they  are  embracing  thicker,  stronger  thighs  and  bottoms  that  can  squat  hundreds  of  pounds,  even  if  they  have  trouble  buying  jeans  meant  for  their  new  proportions.  While  this  shift  towards  strength  instead  of  skinny seems  to  be  sign  of  a  bright  future  for  the  body  image  mentality,  many  do  not understand  how  to  let  go  of  the  tricks  of  the  diet  trade  and  are  unwilling  or unknowing  of  the  need  to  alter  their  macronutrient  intake  to  better  support  their new  activities. 

Women, nutrition and weightlifting

Women  have  not  typically  been  a  major  sample  of  the  population  of weight  lifters.  Majority  of  the  bodybuilding,  power  lifting  and  olympic  lifting culture  has  surrounded  around  men.  In  high  school  athletic  programs  there  are strength  coaches  and  weight  rooms  available  for  the  male  athletes,  but  very rarely  will  you  see  teenage  female  athletes  in  the  weight  room  as  opposed  to the  track.  “...men  tend  to  receive  more  supervision  and  instruction  in  their weight  training  than  women.  Sports  training  programs  often  devote  significant time,  staff,  and  resources  to  men’s  strength  training  programs,  but  women  may not  have  the  same  access  to  these  resources,  not  to  mention  the  disparity  seen  in  private  gyms  and  fitness  centers.  The  lower  participation  by  women  in strength  training  may  also  reduce  their  opportunities  for  education  in  proper technique,  safety,  and  training  methods.” (Journal  of  Pure  Power,  2010) The  higher  level  of  supervision  and  training  that  men  experience  is  not  only  evident  in  their  training  abilities,  but  also  in  their  understanding  of  the  needed  nutritional  balance.  

A  number  of  “fad  diets”  have  led  to  massive  confusion  and  have  led  many  women  to  adopt  the  simple  calories  in,  calories  out  method  of  dieting. While  it  basically  makes  sense  to  balance  calorie  intake  with  calorie  output,  or to  eat  fewer  calories  than  one  uses,  this  simple  plan  fails  to  lay  out  where  calories  should  be  coming  from  for  optimum  performance,  also,  many  fail  to  make  accurate  calculations  of  the  number  of calories  that  they  actually use  throughout  the  day  and try  to  get  by  on  twelve  hundred  calories  a  day,  creating  massive  deficits   that  may  actually  halt  their  weight  loss  abilities. “Many  women athletes  restrict  energy  intake,  specifically  fat  consumption,  in  order  to  modify body  composition,  but  this  nutritional  practice  is  often  counter‐productive. Compared  to  men,  women  appear  to  be  less  reliant  on  glycogen  during  exercise  and  less  responsive  to  carbohydrate  mediated  glycogen  synthesis  during  recovery.  Female  strength  athletes  may  require  more  protein  than  their sedentary  and  endurance  training  counterparts  to  attain  positive  nitrogen  balance and  promote  protein  synthesis.  Therefore,  women  strength  athletes  should  put less  emphasis  on  a  very  high  carbohydrate  intake  and  more  emphasis  on  quality  protein  and  fat  consumption  in  the  context  of  energy  balance  to  enhance  adaptations  to  training  and  improve  general  health.”  (Volek,  Forsythe, Kraemer,  2006) 

The  problem  that  many  have  with  the  quality  protein  that  is  called  for  is that  a  higher  intake  of  a  range  of  quality  proteins  for  an  optimum  intake  of amino  acids  will  generally  lead  to  a  higher  intake  of  cholesterol  and  fats  as  well.  Eggs  have  been  vilified  over  the  years  for  their  high  cholesterol  content, but  have  remained  a  staple  of  the  bodybuilder’s  diet.  It’s  recently  been  shown that  dietary  cholesterol  does  not  affect  blood  cholesterol  the  way  it  had  previously  been  thought,  they  provide  a  perfect  ratio  of  amino  acids,  are  a  great  source  of  a  number  of  vitamins  and  minerals,  and  overall  are  a  great  way to  start  the  day.  (Gunnars, 2014)  If  women  who  participate  in  strength  training  limit  themselves to  chicken  breasts,  fat  free  cottage  cheese  and  tilapia  for  protein,  they  risk  not providing  their  bodies  with  necessary  nutrients  for  making  strength  gains  and  may  put  themselves  at  a  greater  chance  for  injury  and dietary  burnout  from  increased  boredom  with  their  food  choices. 

Besides  the  restrictive  nature  of  a  number  of  the  diets  that  many  women follow  when  they  begin  an  exercise  routine,  which  may  have  led  them  to  adopting  a  strength  training  program,  diets  have  a  track  record  of  failure  because  many  look  at  them  as  a  temporary  fix,  a  temporary  way  of  eating  in  order  to  reach  a  goal.  Once  someone  loses  ten  pounds  or  gets  their  first  glimpse  of  muscle  tone  they  may  decide  to  reward  themselves  with  a  break  from  their  diet,  causing  a  backslide  into  old  habits.  This  is  why  it  is  important  to  not  only  focus  on  eating  for  performance,  but  eating  for  life.  Learning  to  eat  a  diet  of  rich  nutrition  sources  should  not  be  a  short  term  fix,  if  properly educated,  women  have  the  opportunity  to  learn  how  to  eat  for  a  life  of  strength  and  mobility.  A diet  with  whole,  natural,  nutritious  sources  of  amino acids,  vitamins  and  minerals  can  reduce  the  risk  of  many  health  problems  that women  may  experience,  such  as  osteoporosis  (strength  training  also  assists  with reducing  osteoporosis  risk). 

In  the  end,  it  is  important  for  today’s  women  to  not  look  at  the  shift  towards  strong  instead  of  skinny  as  the  most  recent  fad.  As  many  in  the  fitness  industry  say,  “you  can’t  out  train  a  bad  diet”  and  a  diet  that  isn’t  balanced  in  high  quality  fats,  carbohydrates  and  proteins  won’t  provide  the necessary  nutrients  to  replenish  and  repair  the  body.  Women  need  to  be  open  to  eating  more  protein  and  more  fat,  while  getting  their  carbohydrates  from unprocessed  sources  for  optimal  nutrition  while  strength  training. 

References

Gunnars, K. (2014, May 6). 10 proven health benefits of eggs. . Retrieved May 30, 2014, from http://authoritynutrition.com/10-proven-health-benefits-of-eggs/ 

Volek, J. S., Forsythe, C. E., & Kraemer, W. J. (2006, July 1). Nutritional aspects of women strength athletes. . Retrieved May 26, 2014, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2564387/

Weight lifters in the emergency room: On sex differences in weightlifting injuries. (2010). Journal of Pure Power, 5(1), 73-75.

Disneyland, birthday cake and physical therapy

Hi Guys!

Summer is here! It might not be totally official yet, but in my mind as soon as the 90+ degree heat, Virginia humidity and middle of the night, wake you up thunderstorms show up, summer is here! 

Since the last time we talked we packed the family up and went to California for Ryker's first birthday and a two trips to Disneyland and some time at California Adventure. I've started physical therapy, which is miserable but great at the same time. Ryker had his one year physical and broke the twenty pound mark and I've become obsessed with pineapple and peanut butter. Not together, but that makes me wonder...

First up, Ryker's birthday and our trip to California! We flew out from Norfolk at 5 pm on a Friday night. Now that we've tried that I think that flying close to bedtime (his is at 7) is the only way to go. He was all about crawling on our seats, we got three so he had room to roam between Vic and I, and then he happily crashed on my lap and I got a couple hours of quality snuggles before we landed. All in all, the flights out to San Diego were pretty uneventful! 

When we landed we were greeted by a pretty surprising add from PETA, asking traveler's to boycott Sea World. Have you seen Black Fish? I haven't yet, mostly because I know it will make me sad, but Vic watched it and told me all about it. He's been begging me to watch it for weeks. I totally get the message and think that what they are being accused of is sick. But, there is a part of me that thinks of summers and so many weekends spent growing up at Sea World and makes me sad to think of tainting that. We went to Sea World with Ryker and my family last summer, he was just a few weeks old. To be honest, that place has changed and it seemed pretty run down and was way to crowded. We had decided then that we weren't too stoked on it, but after Black Fish they've pretty much been black listed. 

Saturday we spent with my grandma's, just chilling at the house. It was so nice getting to spend the day with Ryker's Great Grandma Carol and his Great Great Grandma, who we call Baby Grandma. How many babies get to have a Great Great Grandma? We brought Portillo's for lunch and just spent the day catching up and the Grandma's got some good cuddles in. 

Sunday was Ryker's party and it was so much fun! We got to catch up with family and friends and some people met Ryker for the first time. Vic's parents happened to be in town, so they got to be at the party too. Considering everyone in our family lives in different states, it was awesome to see us all together for his first birthday, minus his aunts, who were both out of the country.

Tuesday was a lay around the house day, but Monday and Wednesday were the best, we got to go to the Happiest Place on Earth! I am a Disneyland fiend. I grew up going there all the time, we generally had year passes. I am obsessed with that place. Taking my little family there was a dream come true and we had so much fun on the kid's rides in Fantasy Land and the big kid rides everywhere else. My poor brother was probably bored out of his mind, but he was a great sport while doing Disneyland with a baby. Wednesday we went back with Ryker's Uncle Danny, who had never been. We started at California Adventure. I had gotten Ryker a badge because it was his birthday and Monday I had bought an autograph book for when we met all of the characters. We had so much fun taking pictures with them all! I feel like I officially understand a new aspect of motherhood: the I'll wait while everyone else goes on rides because I'm so happy they're happy aspect. Those two days were beautiful and everything I wanted them to be. They were also hot as all get out and we had to buy Ryker an outfit because he wet through a million diapers, but it was all worth it. 

I'm 8 weeks out from my surgery and I've been in Physical Therapy for three...maybe four of those? PT sucks. Especially now that we are aggressively working on range of motion. I got a touch of that yesterday and man, that stuff hurts. It's time to break up the scar tissue and that just doesn't feel good. I've made it back in to CrossFit Rife twice now and getting into workouts feels amazing. I miss that vibe and the hard work so much! I had a big day yesterday. It seems silly, but I had my first workout in a sports bra and having the confidence to strip off my sweaty, sticky shirt was a big moment. It was over ninety degrees out and the workout was killer, it was a good day to feel good enough about myself to just get comfortable and kill the rest of the workout. 

Ryker's physical went great and once again Dr. Lehman said he's perfect! He's at the 20% mark for weight (21 pounds, 15.5 ounces), 90% for height (31.25 inches) and 50% for head circumference. He's cleared to eat anything we would eat and he's supposed to go cold turkey on bottles. We're working on lowering the number of bottles, but cold turkey just isn't working yet. He only gets two or three bottles a day tops, the morning one is really the only one that makes life easier for all of us. The rest of the time he gets his big boy breakfast, lunch and dinner. He loves fish sticks and strawberries, and gets eggs and bananas for breakfast. Not a fan of macaroni and cheese or orange juice. Oh, and he's into EVERYTHING. We recently made the jump from nine month size clothes all the way to 18 month clothes! We went to Carter's and got him a whole new wardrobe, luckily they still have the outfits with little crabbies on them, I love those. 

There's our update for this month! School is going great too, I got an A in my Physiology class! I'm in Nutrition now and still in my horrible Statistics class. Father's Day is coming up, I'll be sure to have some pictures if we do something fun!