An Empowering Pregnancy
Hey friends!
(Today I’m sharing some thoughts about climbing, our holiday weekend, and pregnancy – workout + video at the bottom of the post if you’d like some good exercise ideas!)
I hope you had a great weekend; it’s hard to believe this post will be live on Wednesday, half way through the week! That’s because we had a long weekend here in Canada (I don’t even know what they all celebrate – there’s one almost every month!) and for the first time that I can remember, we got out of town for this particular weekend. Typically it’s a weekend in which spring has sprung and everyone’s excited for the onset of summer, but inevitably, we get snow or rain when everyone’s out camping. It’s almost comical, actually! And while the weather was the best it’s been in 10 years reportedly, we went to the interior of BC in Penticton where the sun is hot and the climbing is good! Yep – a climbing trip to Skaha Bluffs with friends was in the works, and it was awesome.
Clearly, we.were.stoked!
This trip was our first time climbing in three years, and it was so neat because it also was a real reminder of how I’m feeling physically in my pregnancy – and the word that comes to mind is empowered.
This picture actually is a great representation of how I’ve felt throughout the last few months, and while I know I have more months to go and I’m bound to get more uncomfortable along the way, I’m thankful for how I’ve been feeling. I know I don’t have much control over how I feel as far as morning sickness and heartburn and the like, but my pregnancy has felt strong and, just, right. I’ve had some tired times and that migraine that wiped me out, but it’s crazy that that’s been the main thing that was tough, and I feel so, so grateful for that.
(super excited on the top of one of my favorite climbs, a 5.10 a with some FUN and challenging roofs! I absolutely LOVE using my fitness in this way!)
Climbing was a great activity to symbolize how strong I’ve felt, but the neat thing is that my strength, my energy, and especially the fact that we even have a baby growing inside me is all right from God! Which means that it’s easy for me to be excited about how it’s going because I can truly acknowledge God’s hand in this journey.
(God’s hand and my feet… Plus our new friend Hunter + Mikey before they set up a climb!)
The weekend was filled with new friends, great weather, and fun moments.
Breakfast with old and new friends…Camping is a great way to meet new people and this was an awesome group of climbers of all kinds of abilities! We also got together with our Survive & Thrive facilitator crew to discuss the summer and touch base before trips go out; it was such a good meeting and we’re so thankful to be working with this crew.
(Jenna: canoe trip; Danielle: program coordinator; Misha: weekend retreats; Matt: kayaking trip)
Mikey on his first climb in 3 years, a super fun and exposed 5.9 up an open face book that had a free-hanging rappel to come back down!
This was major for Mikey, too – the chance to climb and do something he once loved so much and had taken a break from.
The first day we had fun climbing with the whole group, and we each led a few climbs in the 5.7 and 5.8 ranges, cheered others on and enjoyed climbing with the group. But the second day just Mikey and I headed out in the morning while most of the group had a rest day and we were able to climb some classics in Skaha together. They were my kind of climbs – overhanging roofs, pumpy and powerful moves and fun top ropes in the 5.10 a – c range – we even got a crag to ourselves on a hot day in the shade and with a breeze – how that happened, we have no idea, but it was awesome to climb together again, just the two of us!
Climbing, and even hiking out to the crags with heavy packs of gear, has always made me feel like a badass, and this coupled with being almost 5 months pregnant, made me feel pretty awesome. Even if I can’t control all of how I’ve felt or take credit for it (there are still things I need to focus on like eating more nutritious food and getting more sleep), but it’s still fun to feel so empowered.
You might not be able to get out on some rocks this week or summer, but you certainly can get a good workout at the gym! Here’s a workout that I loved from Tuesday in the gym; it’s varied and you can go for 3 rounds, turn it into 5 rounds, or try it as an AMRAP for time – like 20 minutes. With all that said, let’s do this!
And here’s what it looks like with a visual! Feel free to modify as needed – the burpees, the pull ups, etc – make it appropriate for where you’re at and have fun.
And afterwards? Well, A post-workout BiPro Canada green smoothie does this preggo body good! BiPro is now available in Canada and I love the clean ingredients and non-chalky flavor. Any favorite smoothie recipes to share? The one I went after today included:
a frozen banana
Greek yogurt
spinach
a scoop sunflower butter (YUM!)
chocolate BiPro protein powder, and
almond milk.
Drink up, power up!
(19 weeks today – I think this baby is not finding any more room inside my body and has already moved my organs around so now it’s popping right out!)
What’s one word you’d use to describe your life right now? It might not be positive – my word certainly isn’t always – but I think it’s neat insight into where you’re at right now. Let me know what kind of protein powder you use, if any, and if you give this workout a shot! Have a great week friends. Live well & be well,
Bonnie