Winter blast!

I was a little bit surprised that SPS had classes today- but E made it there safe & sound!  I'm just hoping that the next snow blast holds off until AFTER I have to pick her up :)  Despite all of the downfalls to winter weather, it is absolutely beautiful outside today!  Click on this link from our local news channel to see some of the awesome beauty that is out there!  KY3 Winter Pictures, February 26, 2013


FAITH:
We have been going to a new church for several months now, and are all really enjoying it!  Great people and a wonderful environment for our family!  God has been so amazing to our family, and has blessed us beyond belief!

FAMILY:
Our family is doing well!  Pat has been blessed with plenty of work and my clients have remained amazing!  Elisabeth is still liking her new school & has made a great adjustment to middle school!  She is looking forward to her spring break trip to DC with her classmates!  Ryan is continuing to improve with his health, and we love to have him over as often as we can!  We are ALL looking forward to the arrival of the new baby :)

Today I'm hanging out with my awesome little nephew- he is already 6 months old!  We have been having lots of fun on the days that he gets to hang out with me.  I can't wait until the weather is nicer so we can be outside!!

This was from last week- he is rolling all over the place now!

FITNESS:

My workouts have been pretty amazing for a pregnant chick :)  Nothing new to report, but I'm staying consistent with the workouts and trying to stay as healthy as I can for the wee one!  Yesterday morning I had a great workout- and felt really good!  I am glad that I'm starting to get a little bit of energy back in this 2nd tri!

My bootcamp & personal training clients continue to amaze me!  I won't call them out personally, but the results that are coming in are pretty awesome!  I'm also doing a corporate weight loss challenge with a local corporation and they are doing an amazing job!  The weight loss is continuing at a great pace, and we still have several weeks left!

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Prego update, & working out!

I have LOTS of people asking me about my workouts & nutrition now that I'm pregnant...  I'll be hitting 20 weeks on Wednesday, so needless to say I've had to make some workout adjustments with the growing baby bump!

Prego mamma workout tips:
I am still doing all of my workouts- I do the morning bootcamps, and for the most part I do the workouts in full.  There is some scaling that I do now, both for the safety of the little one & out of necessity due to the increased belly size!  I don't do any core work, or anything else, flat on my back.  I either lay to the side, or find another move.  (My doctor ok'd this- I've kept in touch with her and she said I could continue with everything!)  Push-up's are modified a little bit also- today I did them using dumbbell's so I could get closer to the full range of motion.  I've also heard that using a mat/parellets/wall are good substitutions.  I can still do pull-up's and all exercises with weights.  I have dropped down to just using the bar (45#) on all overhead lifts, or using dumbbells.  I either do lower box jumps or stay with the regular height and do step-up's.  Burpee's have become a bit of a challenge since I can't go flat on my belly!  lol...  so I usually go down to a plank, then add a push-up, then pop back up.  Running has slowed up, and I think I may get a support band to ease the braxton hicks that keep occuring.  I'm sure that there are more, but those are the main ones that I can think of!

Nutrition:
As far as nutrition goes, I'm definitely not a shining example of healthy eating...  but I think that I am a realistic example of what many health-conscious people go through when they are pregnant!  You definitely start off feeling guilt about not continuing to eat the way you were (for me it was paleo) but I was honestly not able to do that.  I was really sick for about 15 weeks, and I still have quite an aversion to meats.  Now that I am past the morning sickness phase, I am eating better.  I stay mostly organic & healthy, but I also allow splurges (ice cream- YUM!) and I don't feel bad about eating grains.  I stick to whole grains, and don't over-do it, but it's something that I can keep down & feel good about!




This & That:
I think that the thing to keep in mind while being pregnant is that you are growing a human in that body!  Make sure that you're resting when you feel tired, eating when you feel hungry, and do the best that you can!  In the end, you will get a healthy & happy baby :)  You have lots of time afterwards to increase your workout intensity & get strict with your nutrition!


We go to the doctor on Wednesday for our next ultrasound- I'm crossing my fingers that Baby Ostergren is healthy & lets us know if it's a boy or girl :) :) :)

Crazy weather!

It's January! We've had a few awesome 70 degree days, & then today it's cold & snowy!! Welcome to Missouri winters!  I have a busy day ahead but thought I would share a few pic's before I hit the road :)

It feels like a super power some days :)

This was last week (15 weeks)  It seems that it's grown a little bit more this week :)

12 week ultrasound pic!  20 week u/s is right around the corner :)

Catching up!

It's been a crazy few months & I have totally slacked on this blog because...  we are expecting in July!  I've been really sick & tired (& did I mention SICK?!!) but I'm finally starting to feel a little bit better!  I will be 16 weeks on Thursday- time is moving pretty quickly!  We are all super excited!  

Here are a few of our pictures from December that we used to announce this awesome news!  (Photos by the amazing Jennifer Snider!)

Our next ultrasound is in February, so we may know whether it's a boy or a girl in less than a month!  I'm excited either way!  

Fitness & nutrition...  Fitness has stayed pretty great.  I've definitely listened to my body & slowed down when I needed to, but I've kept up pretty well!  Nutrition is a different story...  I had to quit paleo for now- I've had a big aversion to meats and I've been so sick that I pretty much just eat what I can stomach!  Luckily I still love fruits & some veggies, but I had to quit feeling guilty about the grains :)  (I had a blueberry muffin for breakfast!)  I haven't gained any weight yet (actually I've lost, but I had the stomach flu over the weekend so that didn't help) but at my last appointment the baby was doing fabulous!

I'll try to post more often (& a few belly shots!) 

Lazy me! But big announcement :)

So I have totally and completely slacked with my blog...  but I have a great excuse!  

We are expecting :)  

Baby Ostergren will be making his or her arrival in July!!

I wish that I were one of the lucky ones that has a breezy pregnancy and feels amazing...  but I'm not!  I've had morning (which really means all-day!) sickness and I am completely exhausted 24/7!  I'm hoping that this goes away sometime soon and I start to feel like a normal person again!!  But for now, it's lots of sprite & very light meals, and LOTS of sleep :)

We are super excited- and very surprised- and I can't wait to find out if we are being blessed with a boy or a girl!  I have my first ultrasound on the 9th but I'm pretty sure it will be too early to tell the gender!

I'm keeping up with my workouts (although they aren't quite at the intensity that they were a few months ago!) and hoping to get back to a mostly-paleo diet sometime soon!  I'll keep you guys updated :)

Diets Diets Diets...

I really don't like the word 'DIET' - to me, it just sounds like something horrible!  People often ask me about the best diet for weight loss, the best diet for muscle building, the best diet for blah blah blah...  honestly, most of those fad diets WILL work.  Temporarily. Very temporarily.  And then, you are probably going to be worse off then when you started in the first place!  I know that my clients don't like to hear this so I doubt if you will either, but slow & steady is the way to go.  A healthy, balanced nutrition plan (or 'diet' if you must call it that!) combined with exercise is the best way to achieve your goals.  Your results will happen, and they will not be short-term (unless you decide to go back to your bad habits, then they will not last!)

There are many healthy ways to go about it, but find a way that works with you & your lifestyle.  It needs to be something that you can make into a lifestyle, not a 2 week starvation diet!

I generally (I say 'generally' because yes, I eat cake sometimes!  And that is just fine!!) follow a plan that is something like this (Remember, this is just what works for me.  You need to find something that works for you, but it needs to include healthy eating & exercise!):

Exercise: hard core!  Heavy weights 3x per week at least.  Cardio about every time I work out.  I usually take 1-2 days to rest each week.

Nutrition: Semi-Paleo.  I go through spurts where I am hard-core-Whole30-Paleo-no-cheating Jen.  And other spurts where I focus on 'mostly paleo' nutrition.  Meaning: I focus on lean proteins, veggies, fruits, nuts, and more fruits :)  But I will allow a few cheats.  My cheats don't usually involve dairy, that is one thing that I've learned that my stomach doesn't love!  But, if it's a birthday I will eat a piece of cake!  And on Thanksgiving, I'll be eating some stuffing :-)
Another thing that I am very consistent with is supplements.  I'm super picky about which ones I take, and I've tried LOTS of different brands!  

My main point is to avoid the fad diets!  Look for a long-term solution, not a quick fix!

Approaching 3,000 views!

WOW!  I am so excited that people are reading my blog!  Now I just need to make sure that I am on here more to update it :) 

So here is an update on my crazy life!

Things have been busy- and not necessarily all in a fantastic way!  It's the holiday season, so there are bound to be challenges that come up!  (Like my hubby's work truck breaking down...  like "ca-put it's done for and needs to be replaced" kind of breaking down...  nice timing!) It's been an overall challenging 2012 for us, but I keep telling myself that we are putting God in control and that He has a plan! (& that He won't give me more than I can handle- I repeat that one quite often!!) 

On the postitive side, Pat has stayed busy with work & my clients are the best clients in the world :) :)  I am seeing such amazing results with them, and their hard work & nutrition changes are making a huge difference!  Not only appearance-wise, but also in their overall energy and lifestyle!  I love hearing that they can fit into a smaller size, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE when they tell me that they are off of some med's and able to play ball with their kids or grandkid's!!  I want them to be happy & healthy & to enjoy their life!

FAITH:
We have been visiting High Street Baptist Church for the past few weeks & we are really enjoying it!  When you go somewhere that makes you want to be involved & gets people excited to serve and do His will, then it's a positive thing!  We are still praying about it, and trusting that God is guiding us where we need to be!  Trust is a major part of faith- and lately it's a huge part of our lives!  We are leaving it in God's hands as to where we get involved or what happens, but please pray for us!  I am excited/scared/worried all at the same time, and relying on FAITH & TRUST :)

FAMILY:
Family life is going well!  Here are a few pic's of the last few weeks- enjoy!

Elisabeth & I ran the Bass Pro 5k race last week- she ran almost the whole way, and I am SOOOO proud of her!  Overall time was 35:50, a big improvement from the 42 minutes last Thanksgiving!

Pat & Elisabeth, perfecting their handshake!  This was a fun evening of bowling :)

My handsome nephew spent the day with me last week & got to come to the gym!  He will be my little helper on days that I get to babysit :)

My daughter cheering at a middle school basketball game :)  Go Reed!!

Cheer competition last weekend! 

Holding her baby cousin before they performed!

OH YEAH!!  Champions!  'Jungle Cats' :)

My girl :)  Love her!!

FITNESS:

Like I mentioned above, my classes & personal training sessions are really going fantastic!  God has blessed me with some awesome clients!  They are working hard, trying to implement my nutrition suggestions, and getting some really good results!  

Send me a message at trainingbyjen@hotmail.com and we will chat :)

~Jen