Mother's Day Weekend

Mother's Day weekend was wonderful and exhausting.

We threw a paris themed baby shower for my sister on saturday (for the activity/gift we had a perfume bar...so easy to make, and everyone loved it)

My mother threw me a graduation party on saturday

And we had a mother's day party on sunday

It was a wonderful and hectic weekend.

We found morel's on a hike and I made a vegan yellow cake using this recipe, I topped it with a chocolate glaze and strawberries. It was perfect!

P.S. It was kind of weird having everyone refer to me as a mother. I don't really feel like it yet....I almost feel like my body is a house that I'm preparing for a foreign visitor...but not like a mother...

Nausea: It's a Total Bummer!

These past few days I have really been feeling the nausea. I even threw up, which is very unlike the iron stomach that inhabits me. 

Kristopher likes to think of it as a learning experience.

He has the strongest gag reflex of anyone I've ever met. 

Anyway, it's been hard to eat anything other than bagels and mashed potatoes. 

Exercise has been near impossible (I guess I'm eating my own words here regarding Ms. Tracy Anderson).

I really hope this doesn't last until week 12. I'm over it after three days.

The above pic is the treat I've been loving during this time:

toasted onion bagel

vegan cream cheese

tomato

cracked black pepper

sea salt

Signs of Summer

Summer is finally showing it's face around here. 

I welcome you summer. 

You make taking naps outside both dangerous and relaxing.

You mean I never have to go back to chem lab. 

You bring spring colds. 

I'm into it.

The Pregnancy Project

So, I impulse bought Tracy Anderson's Pregnancy Project DVD's last week. 

Basically the run down is this:

-9 DVD's for 9 months

-no cardio, muscular structure work (AKA confusing pilates)

-she has a soothing voice and is pregnant WITH YOU not AT YOU (that was an attempt at a joke, I can't believe I'm already making mom jokes)

Early Review:

So, I'm doing month one, and it's very easy. I know you're not supposed to push yourself during pregnancy, but it's crazy how easy this is. 

I will say that her free standing arm workouts are a bit challenging. I've always preferred to work my legs over any other body part so it's nice that she focuses on that. 

It incorporates some ballet barre moves and some light weights (read 3 LBS).

For how low-key it is, I am enjoying it though. The 30 minutes goes by quickly and I'm sure as I progress and my body begins to change the workouts will feel more my speed. 

For now I'm just continuing to run and do pilates in addition to The Pregnancy Project. 

I think this is a perfect workout for those days when you are feeling exhausted and want something that still moves you, or it's perfect for the girls out there who want to exercise through their pregnancies but didn't really work out before. I think this is an excellent option for the casual fitness crowd.

On a side note, here's an interesting article in the NYtimes about exercise and its effect on the fetal heart

Final avoidance: Study Break

This has been a heck of a week, final are almost over with. I just have to make it until Thursday. 

If there are any other people out there needing some much needed study break web surfing check the links below (though, if you're having some sunny 70s weather like we are, I say go for a hike instead):

A couple of weeks ago  we filmed a music video...results par excellence

Lady Bug Identification

Love this concept for medical school admissions, things have been sub-par too long, time for a change

cookbook innovation

Chestnut flour doughnuts

Started following this regime this week...expect a review

Did anyone else feel like this last episode of the office was...subpar?

I love to stretch, though I don't always, perhaps I'm doing myself a favor?

The state of first trimester exercise

Don't study too hard, but just hard enough-

Racha

First Step: Pregnant Vegan Nutrition

Now that I'm (essentially) over the freaking out phase I need to get my nutrition in order:

I've already been taking iron, B-12, biotin, and a prenatal so I'm in pretty good shape when it comes to my supplements. 

The next step involved upping my protein to around 80 grams per day (I do that with smoothies and lots of tofu)

cutting out artificial sweeteners and colors

lowering my sugar intake (I've got a mean sweet tooth, like the kind that will eat two boxes of Oreos on a friday night)

and adding in more leafy greens (kale, chard, spinach, mustard greens) for the folate and iron

So far, so good. I'm feeling great, the protein is probably the hardest thing to get in. I've never really kept track of it before. 

As far as exercise goes, I'm sticking with the "exert yourself only so that you can still hold a conversation"

which, frankly, I don't mind. 

It's nice to have an excuse to take it a bit easier and I've been enjoying my leisurely jogs now that spring flowers are making their way out of the ground. 

So far, no symptoms. But I realize that it's early on in the game. 

This Was Not Planned

I guess this is the kind of thing that happens at a werwolf barmitzvah

I think I found a potential direction for the blog:

Vegan Pregnancy

Pregnancy Fitness

Effort