A Flip Has Been Switched
I’m currently sitting in my glider and typing on my computer, dim lights around me and good music filling the air while a candle flickers a soft flame and soft smell. I am so grateful for our home, this living room, and these still moments, but I can’t help but picture the time when a baby – OUR baby! – will replace the computer and there will only be moments of quiet with sharp, piercing cries that I cannot fully anticipate or imagine. But you know what? I’m ready for it, and excited for this change! I feel like a switch has been flipped recently, and I wanted to share a few of the ways I’ve felt that shift – some changes slowly over time and just accumulating now, and others quickly, nearer to the time we found out we were pregnant.
Eating/Nutrition
One of the first switches that flipped for me concerned how I ate, as I really didn’t need to change much in my training for the first trimester. At the time I got pregnant (knowing we weren’t trying intentionally for quite some time because of our “0% chance” diagnosis from the doc’s), I was tracking my macros (short for macronutrients, which are our proteins, carbs and fats) on a daily basis. I don’t think it was an obsessive thing; I was eating more than I ever had while working with Eat to Perform (what a different concept even in name as compared to “eat to be skinny!” or “eat to be smaller!”). I learned that I metabolize carbs and sugars very well and need a balance of these macronutrients rather than putting one much higher than the other (as compared to a paleo or ketosis kind of plan, for example). I was eating everything in moderation, as I have tended to over the years, and was simply tracking to make sure I had enough protein and not too much fat (what I easily overate and what I’d see affect my ascetics and performance overtime).
But when I got pregnant, it instantly seemed wrong to track my macros – and obviously this is just for me and my body, but there was nothing intuitive about it. I didn’t have crazy cravings so it wasn’t that I was necessarily way off my ideal numbers, but I felt like with the baby in there beginning to grow and develop I could trust my body and eat with less restriction. Keep in mind I was eating very freely – whatever I wanted, really, as long as it fit my macros – so it wasn’t the foods that I changed so much as the act of tracking. I stopped instantly and really am not sure if I will ever go back – certainly not in the postpartum phase but I’m not sure if I’ll even go back at all! It seems very foreign to me now to count what I eat; I know that one or two cookies is enough and that more vegetables than pasta is more nourishing for my body, so I’m choosing to look at food now as not “good” or “bad” (you know my belief on giving food the power of morality), but as effective vs ineffective.
How timely to just come across this article from BirthFit Colorado’s Melissa: Macros in the Motherhood Transition
and this Instagram post from Brianna Battles:
Love that idea! My new macros?
Connection – with my husband and our soon-to-be baby! This means intentional time spent together, without screens (and sometimes vegging to shows or out to a movie).
Eating for nourishment and for effectiveness
Sleeping/resting for recovery and energy
Breathing intentionally to remind myself to surrender and be
Moving mindfully to feel my best
Leaning into Jesus
From a Happy Prego to An Expectant Mom
It’s fun to think that not only are babies born on their birthdays, but moms and dads are too. Something switched in me recently where I went from a happy go lucky pregnant woman to a soon-to-be mom – what a crazy thought! I like knowing that Mikey will become a dad that day too, and we’re both starting to become aware of this switch that has been more gradual for me and more instant for him in the past week or so.
Not Interested in Baby Goods to Quite Interested
Recently, I started looking in stores like Marshall’s for more than just myself – for the baby! – and found some pretty cute things. I haven’t bought anything yet as we have hand-me-downs we’re super excited to go through; I’ve only made one purchase for a 6-9 month cute outfit from Tiny Victory, a local company here in Calgary who just launched. It was definitely a splurge, but I consciously bought it knowing it was my first baby item and because I love their style and wanted to support them:
…and where can I get my own one piece like this?!
I’ve also been checking out Rad Revolution Kids – the stripes, the layered tops, the rompers?! So cute.
My mom remarked that I never was interested in dolls when I was little, and this is the closest she’s ever seen me get excited about dressing anything up! My own “real life doll,” she said – what a crazy concept. That flip’s been switched, although I’m trying to not spend money like it has and for now am enjoying looking online.
Different Focus in Workouts
Obviously I’m not working out at 100% capability or intensity right now, and even moreso as the days get closer to baby time and I slow down, but my movement has sure switched from being me-focused to life-focused. I’m not necessarily thinking about the baby the whole time, but rather about moving to be well, feel well, and live well that day – and with the emphasis on training for labor and delivery! This switch was flipped and it’s been interested to see that I really was fine with giving up pull ups when I noticed too much abdominal bridging (I could still perform them strength-wise but decided to think about my muscles more than my ego and prevent against diasatis recti), and I’ve been okay with slowing my pace and moving at the same intensity level.
You can see that I’m moving quite slowly on my squats, breathing with intention and definitely not going too heavy – pregnancy isn’t a time to be frail or afraid but it’s also not a time to push for PR’s in the gym. I’m not sure what movement will look like when I go back to fitness in a different way postpartum. I’m so thrilled that my friends pitched in and bought me the BirthFit postnatal program and I know I’ll be starting with breath work, walks and body weight squats. But right now, as much as I can’t wait to get back to handstands, pull ups, working hard in the gym and climbing, hiking and outdoor adventures, I’m still struggling to picture it all happen. I’ve transitioned to a different pace and I can’t fathom picking it back up (in due time), not having a belly that bumps into things and moving freely again. I know I will, but I do think my approach to fitness has already been forever changed, in the best way possible. Another switch that’s been flipped, even while excited with the challenge of becoming even stronger in my new body than I was before!
So – some light switches have been flipped throughout this pregnancy process for me! If you were pregnant or are right now, have any switches changed for you? If that scenario doesn’t apply to you, what light switches have happened in your life lately in the nutrition, movement, or lifestyle realm? I’d love to hear what you’re processing right now.
Catch you guys later this week! Live well & be well,
Bonnie
