Pregnancy: Body Acceptance

I cannot deny, it's been interesting remembering my previous pregnancies through pictures. Thanks to my constant picture taking and the wonderful world of blogging, I've been able to have a great record of what week 36 of pregnancy looked like in years past:

Whether I like it or not, a lot of focus is put on the body during pregnancy. Here's God's perspective on the subject:

You were bought for a price. So bring glory to God in the way you use your body.  I Corinthians 6:20 (God's Word Translation)

I never thought about this verse in the context of pregnancy until last week. This Bible verse reminds me that although I've been carrying my baby girl for 36 weeks, my body is really meant to bring honor to God even in this season.
I realized that although I take good care of my body during pregnancy, I'm also tempted to complain about the side effects pregnancy brings. All the aches and changes are not fun but some complaints are deep seated in the rejection of self.
Look at my photo illustration once again. During my first pregnancy I thought I had a great handle on the situation and I was happy with the way I looked for the most part. In 2010 I refused to put my face in my pregnancy photos for things changed drastically inside and out. I didn't like the way I looked, I was 'too big' for people to see the real me. As soon as I had my daughter "a light came on" and I realized being ashamed of myself wasn't healthy. This time around I am showing me for who I am in every photo. It took me 3 pregnancies but I know this is a season of life and I am bringing glory to God by taking care of my body. Being unashamed of what I look like brings glory to God because it says 'I appreciate how You made me." I now know that hiding my face or only taking photos in certain angles can only mask what the heart doesn't cease to carry: shame. I wonder if shame is separating you from glorifying God with your body my friend.
Here are ways to stop the struggle & become more accepting of who you are:
• Watch Your Words - there is power in your words. If you are truly negative about your appearance, things are not gonna get better. Change the way you speak about yourself. For example, I used daily positive affirmations about running many years before I ran my first 5K. Hearing positive things about myself were the starting point to unlocking my ability to change for the better.

• Make a Habit of Caring for your Body - small steps towards caring for yourself will lead you to greater accomplishments. It might start with drinking more water every day or walking once a week. Building good habits, one baby step at the time, makes a big difference long term. Employing the help of others is part of caring for your body too. Signing up for counseling for example is a great way to care for yourself.

• Understand the Seasons of Life - my previous women's ministry pastor opened my eyes to the fact that during a woman's life, her weight will go up and down. Pregnant women do gain weight. Once I accepted that weight loss season was over for 9 months, things got much better. My focus went from the numbers on the scale to non-scale victories such as getting more rest, adding more nutrients to my diet and finding enjoyment in exercising during pregnancy. I know that the weight will come off during the next season.

My hope is that you and I don't be ashamed of what we look like. It might be a process or it may take a revelation but I pray that eventually our body issues will turn into the glorious act of bringing glory to God in the way we use our bodies.
Related Posts:
• Pregnancy: Body Issues
• Life After Baby: Weight Loss Progression
• Podcast: Counseling Demystified

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How to Exercise while Pregnant

Video notes: This podcast is not intended as medical advice. Before starting any exercise program, please consult your doctor or other health professional.
Responsabilidade: Uma correta prática de exercícios físicos regulares começa no consultório médico. Antes de chegar à academia, quadras de esporte, pistas de corrida, etc. é muito importante que se faça uma avaliação clínica geral para, aí sim, começar uma atividade física. Somente um médico poderá orientar e resguardar a saúde do atleta, indicando, por exemplo, seus limites físicos. O conteúdo desse Vídeo é opinião para entretenimento. Não assumimos responsabilidades pelas experiências dos leitores. 

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Pregnancy: Week 30

I am officially in the third and final trimester of my Pregnancy! Glory be to God! I'm counting down to birth day and I have around 9 weeks to go. The baby and I are very healthy, so is the rest of our family. Here are my experiences since we last talked:

Pearls:
• I passed my blood test so no diabetes and no need for that painful 3-hour test I took last time. Thank God!

• I've been going to the gym at least 3 times a week for 2 months. I think this has contributed a lot to the way I am feeling. I assume I'm the only, obviously pregnant lady there so I am a prime future client for trainers. They have been extra friendly to me.

Poops:

• I failed my iron test. Last time I decided to stay ahead and take an iron pill and I passed it but this time even with the extra iron pills I failed the test. I'm on prescription iron pills now. Go figure.

• Crazy hormones! I almost cried in the gym when I was waiting for a treadmill and a senior citizen jumped on an empty one right in front of me. He never noticed my hormonal change (thankfully) and I think he honestly wasn't paying attention. I dislike the desire to cry when something upsets me cause it's just not part of my personality. What's been worse is that some people were unusually mean to me last week. One time I felt like I had to speak up and told this lady's coworkers her day needed to get better for the love of God cause she was in a baaaad mood when I showed up in this office. Anyway, my goal is to forgive and move on without the crying.

Extra Information: 

• This is the first pregnancy where I don't take the flu shot. The doctor didn't want me to take it during the first trimester and she was out most of my second trimester, so I ended up not getting it.

• I still wear heels once a week. I still get a lot of stares and comments about it at church but I have 25 months of experience in this thing. I believe that secretly people want pregnant women like me not to exercise or wear cute shoes for 9 months.
• The kids and I went to start a baby registry. They did awesome as long as I kept moving and kept them fed.

••• Here's me at 30 weeks of pregnancy in 2010 and here's my 30-week bump in 2009. For Pregnancy posts, go to my Pregnancy Page.

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Pregnancy: Exercising Again

I have written a lot about exercise so as much as it hurts me, I wanted to show you my numbers (miles) in the past 12 months:

I'm 23 weeks pregnant and you can see when I stopped exercising. December was a tough month: little energy, I was feeling nauseous and I wasn't motivated at all. I tried to do a little more in January and it took my dad coming from Brasil to get me out last month. This month, my dream of a husband decided we all are going to be more active, so back to the gym I go.
I have experienced active and non-active pregnancies. Let me tell you, being active is much better. My goal for this week is to cover at least 8 miles and add back some resistance training to the schedule. I already lift 2 toddlers on a regular basis but I don't count that as resistance training. My objective is to be fit during my last 16 weeks of pregnancy. I'll take a break to recover from birth then the plan is to sign up for couple of races and hit the pavement again (can't wait!).
No matter what the excuse not to exercise is, there is hope for you if you want to establish this healthy habit again (read my related posts for tips, I did!). One of the first things I did this weekend was to establish my goal for the week (cover at least 8 miles) and be prepared to get out of the door in the a.m.
• How are your exercise habits lately? What are some of the things that helped you get back in the habit?
Related Page:
• Pregnancy Page
Exercise Related Posts:
• The Power of 1: Exercise
• Less than Super Woman: Exercise
• Exercise: Getting Unstuck
• 5 Ways to Fit Exercise into your Busy Day

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Meu filho Nasce essa semana!!!

Bom dia! Estou muito feliz, me sinto otima e esperando pelo meu bebe nascer essa semana ainda! Primeiro, vamos falar do fds. Foi otimo!!! Demos uma saida legal (nao muito longa, eu me canso rapido entao a gente sai, faz o que tiver que fazer e volta pra casa) no sabado. Acabamos comprando o porta fraldas que eu tanto queria (veja as fotos no post anterior). Na verdade e uma bolsa que vai se tornar porta fraldas :) O Zeke fez churrasco ontem depois que voltamos da igreja. Ficou muito gostoso! Geralmente eu tempero a carne e ele faz o resto. Eu ia fazer uma farofinha mas fica pra proxima. 
Essa e a minha ultima semana gravida! Quem sabe hoje e o meu ultimo dia? Nunca se sabe :) Gostei muito da minha experiencia gracas a Deus. Aprendi bastante e a proxima vez vai ser melhor ainda. Eu tenho lido muito sobre como cuidar do bebe e como cuidar da mamae depois do nascimento. Quero voltar a ter uma otima forma especialmente porque pra cuidar da minha familia eu tenho que ter uma otima saude. No sabado uma colega me disse que esta voltando a correr depois de uma cirurgia que ela teve e me perguntou se eu queria treinar com ela. Eu disse que sim. Assim que o medico disser que posso voltar a fazer exercisios normalmente, vou voltar a correr. Ontem a noite eu e o Zeke fizemos uma caminhada muito boa no parque. Encontramos uma moca que fez as aulas pre-natal conosco com o bebe dela. Muito bonitinho ele, 6 semanas de vida! Ela me deu muitos conselhos bons. Sempre gosto de encontrar com esse pessoal pra saber como foi tudo com o parto delas. Muitas sao parte de um grupo pra maes e bebes, eu quero muito entrar nesse grupo tambem o que vai ser uma boa forma de conhecer pessoas novas na mesma situacao que eu. 

Hoje provei um cereal novo e coloquei umas frutas nele:

Nao sei quando vou recomecar a anotar tudo que como - provavelmente quando puder voltar a fazer exercisios, mas vamos ver. Por enquanto o negocio e comer alimentos saudaveis, descansar bem e me preparar pra uma mudanca enorme nas nossas vidas! 

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Correndo

Amanha vou completar 37 semanas de gestacao! O bebe vai ser considerado full-term, todo o processo de formacao termina, daqui pro nascimento eles crescem. Isso e uma bencao e eu dou glorias a Deus!

Tirei essa foto mais ou menos 25 semanas atras. Como a gente muda com a gravidez ne? Uma das coisas que quero voltar a fazer com a ajuda de Deus e correr. Sempre caminhei desdo segundo grau, mas descobri nao somente corridas mas competicoes um tempinho antes de engravidar e gostei MUITO mesmo. Aqui tem um carrinho de bebe que e feito pra corridas, chama-se jogger stroller - tenho certeza que no Brasil tem tb. E claro que recem nascidos nao podem fazer parte dessas atividades, mas semana passada vi um bebe de 9 meses nesse carrinho competindo com o pai. A mae disse que correr com o carrinho e mais dificil mas e muito bom. 

As rodas sao de bicicleta, o que e muito diferente do carrinho de bebe normal. Eles ate fazem esses carrinhos pra dois ou tres bebes. Ainda nao tenho um mas estou procurando. Tem carrinhos novos que custam uns $500 dolares!!! Tem marcas mais baratas e por aqui e legal achar carrinhos usados tb. 

Ontem eu fiz caminhada de novo. Acho que vou descansar hoje e fazer outra amanha. O bebe esta ficando pesado mas nem tanto. Nao e bom parar de fazer exercisios agora, tenho certeza de que vai me continuar me ajudando muito mesmo com a graca de Deus. Uma moca que nunca vi na vida passeando com o seu cachorro disse 'aposto que seu bebe esta pra nascer em Maio'. Eu disse que sim, ela disse que uma colega de trabalho tb vai ter o bebe na mesma epoca. Achei engracado :) No lugar onde caminho tb vejo muita gente de 50, 60 anos correndo. E uma inspiracao enorme. Semana passada tinha um senhor de 81 anos competindo na corrida. Que maravilha ne? Um senhor cheio de saude e vigor.

O quarto do bebe esta quase pronto. Ontem a noite arrumamos mais coisas, lavamos mais roupas, e se Deus quiser vou terminar tudo hoje. Bem, e melhor eu comecar a trabalhar entao. Fiquem com Deus! 

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Licoes Aprendidas essa Semana

1. Uma pessoa saudavel como eu tem que continuar fazendo exercisios. Quando nao faco muitos exercisios eu fico mais cansada, minha mente tb sente falta desses beneficios. Semana passada nao fiz tanto quanto queria, essa semana esta sendo bem melhor. Eu fui em uma academia nova essa semana. A mudanca foi interessante e o legal e que eu era a unica mulher gravida la entao varias pessoas estavam me dando muita forca. Eles disseram coisas como 'vc vai ter um bebe saudavel.' E bom receber motivacao verbal de estranhos :)

2. E importante comer alimentos saudaveis durante a gravidez toda. Eu nao estou tao militante como nos tempos de vegetariana, mas eu sei o que e bom e o que nao e necessario para o meu corpo. Nessas ultimas semanas o bebe cresce muito rapido, entao em vez de comer besteira de vez em quando, o negocio e voltar a comer alimentos com alto valor nutricional. 

3. Ter fe em Deus e nas pessoas que Ele colocou na minha vida pra me guiar durante esse tempo e mais importante do que ouvir comentarios de outros. Nao importa qta experiencia alguem tenha, eles nao sao os meus medicos, muito menos o Medico dos medicos. Eu acredito em Deus.

4. Dois e melhor que um. Sou grata a Deus pela ajuda e todo apoio que tenho recebido do meu esposo. Estamos nessa jornada juntos e unidos venceremos :) 

5. Em 36 semanas de gestacao, meu bebe ainda precisa crescer e desenvolver mais. Ele esta protegido e feliz onde esta, e eu tb. Gloria a Deus por tudo o que Ele tem feito por nos. 

6. A morte e ressureicao de Jesus na cruz ainda tem relevancia na minha vida hoje. Esse fato da fe crista nao e somente reservado pra livros, mas pra que eu possa ter liberdade, justificacao e uma vida abundante.

Uma pascoa cheia de vida em Jesus pra voces todos/as!

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Exercisio durante a gravidez

Estamos chegando no final de duas semanas bem ocupadas mas muito abencoadas tb! Temos trabalhado bastante, mas comparado ao ano passado: temos menos stress e mais saude gracas a Deus! Gloria a Deus por tudo o que Ele tem feito por nos :)

Essa e uma foto do jantar que comemos um dia desses: frango, salada, legumes cozidos e pao de nozes e passas :) muito bom mesmo.

Hoje completo 34 semanas de gravidez! Deus tem me abencoado muito mesmo. Continuo caminhando com frequencia, descansando bem e trabalhando tambem.

Durante essa gravidez muita gente pergunta se nao ouvi nenhum contra indicacao de exercisios durante a gravidez. A resposta e nao. Qdo perguntei ao medico eles me pediram pra por favor nao parar de fazer exercisios. Eu tenho feito exercisios com frequencia ha quase 2 anos. Quando estava com 10 semanas de gravidez participei de uma corrida de 5 quilometros. Eu estava treinando ha tempos e dai descobri que estava gravida. Perguntei pro medico se deveria continuar e ele me disse que nao tinha problema. Essa foi a minha primeira corrida, foi muito legal, com certeza vou participar de outra daqui a alguns meses.

Ha muitos beneficios relacionados a exercisios durante a gravidez. Vc pode fazer a sua propria pesquisa na net mas o bom e perguntar ao seu proprio medico e saber o que ele indica pra vc. N0 meu caso exercisio tem ajudado com:

* Circulacao (o sangue no corpo aumenta bastante durante a gravidez. Boa circulacao e necessaria pra boa saude)

* Combate ao stress (gravida nao vive no mundo da lua. Stress nao discrimina)

* Peso (certamente nao estou querendo perder peso agora, mas tb nao quero ganhar mais peso do que preciso)

* Saude mental (eu me sinto muito melhor qdo faco exercisios. Li em algum artigo que mulheres que fazem exercisio nao sofrem com muitos problemas como depressao, etc)

* Saude do bebe (ouvi dizer que o exercisio nao so te ajuda mas ajuda ao bebe tb)

* Controle da pressao (pra quem tem problemas com pressao, exercisio e muito bom)
* Boas noites de sono (eu durmo muito bem quando faco exercisios!! Gloria a Deus!)

Outra coisa que minha nutricionista me disse e que qdo o bebe nasce vc tem a possibilidade de perder peso facilmente se estiver fazendo exercisios durante a gravidez. Deve ser por causa do bom habito formado por tempos.

O moral da historia e que vc tem que fazer o que e melhor pra vc. Nao se preocupem comigo, estou pagando medicos e enfermeiras pra me examinarem duas vezes por semana e o melhor e que Deus e comigo sempre :)

Bom fds, continuem orando por nos!

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As novas

Oi pessoal! Boa semana a todos! Tenho estado bem ocupada, e com a mudanca de servico da net em casa tenho estado bem menos no blog (rs). O bom e que voltei com minha foto atualizadissima de hoje! 32 semanas, mais ou menos 8 meses. Ainda falta bastante tenho pra 40, mas 40 semanas e apenas uma previsao ne? Vamos ver qdo o bebe nasce.
Esse fds cozinhei, descansei e trabalhei um pouquinho tambem.

Ontem pro almoco comi, arroz, feijao e farofa! Fazia tempo que nao comia, entao aproveitei. Com muito trabalho tb passei no supermercado pra fazer compras e fiz um menu pra semana. O pior de uma semana ocupada e nao ter o que comer. Comprei varias coisas prontas alem de incluir varias coisas que eu e o Zeke gostamos. De pouco a pouco estou retornando aos meus habitos alimentares 'serios'. Durante a gravidez quebrei varias regras que tinha quando estava perdendo peso e ha 2 semanas atras paguei um alto preco (rs). E incrivel como manter uma alimentacao balanceada e exercisios me ajudaram. O oposto sempre atrapalham mas gracas a Deus esta tudo otimo. Hoje nos entramos num desafio aqui no condado onde moramos. Vc paga $10 e malha por em qualquer academia 3 vezes por semana. Isso dura 8 semanas no total. O preco e muito bom e como eu estou querendo caminhar 3 vezes por semana e otimo. Outro beneficio e que qdo eu mudar de academia, vai ser bom pq vamos poder provar de tudo por aqui. Legal ne? Eles tb tem varios outros grupos que ser reunem pra caminhar, tem aulas de nutricao, etc, etc! E muito bacana mesmo. Acho que estou fazendo esse desafio pela segunda ou terceira vez. Bem, vou nessa, so queria dar um alo. Continuem orando por nos! Beijos!

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Exercícios Durante a Gravidez

Bom dia a todos! Como passaram de carnaval? Por aqui o carnaval passou e a gente nem viu (rs).

Como todos sabem eu tenho feito exercícios durante minha gravidez. A maioria das pessoas acham estranho. Tenho acompanhamento medico e ate agora tenho sentido muitos beneficios. O problematico seria fazer exercícios se eu cismasse de comecar so agora. Olha um artigo que achei na net:

"A prática regular de exercícios pode trazer muitos benefícios às futuras mamães. Muitos desconfortos comuns na gravidez, como a tendência à formação de varizes e dores nas costas entre outros podem ser aliviados pela prática de exercícios. As grávidas podem aumentar a resistência cardiorespiratória e a resistência muscular, o que ajuda durante o trabalho de parto (principalmente no parto normal) e também fortalece e tonifica os músculos mais afetados durante a gestação: os músculos da pelve, os abdominais e os lombo dorsais.

Sem dúvida, um bom programa de exercícios pode ainda melhorar a postura, causada pela inclinação anterior do quadril (projetando a barriga para frente), através do fortalecimento dos músculos das costas, peito, ombros, barriga e nádegas. Os exercícios também melhoram a circulação sangüínea, reduzindo o inchaço e as cãibras nas pernas.

Um estudo de 1989, publicado pelo American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology mostra que as mulheres que haviam se exercitado com moderação e regularidade durante a gravidez, acharam o parto menos doloroso e tiveram uma recuperação pós-parto mais rápida.
Manter-se ativa fisicamente, ajuda no controle de peso e promove o bem estar e ânimo."

O bem estar e o ânimo sao coisas muito importantes em todas as fases da vida, principalmente agora. Estou fazendo o que posso pra manter a boa saude e com a graca de Deus vamos ter um bebe saudavel e uma recuperacao nota 10. Ultimamente estou caminhando no minimo 3 vezes por semana. Com o progresso da gravidez eu tenho mudado meus exercisios. Caminhar e muito bom e facil, mais conveniente que nadar. Continuem orando por mim.

Sexta vou completar 30 semanas de gravidez. Daqui a 2 semanas vou completar 8 meses de gravidez! Os planos pro cha de bebe estao de vento a polpa. Sexta-feira recebo os convites e vamos que vamos. Essa e a foto que escolhi pro convite:

Eu tinha outra foto mas esperei um pouco mais ate a minha barriga crescer mais :) Que beleza. Outra coisa interessante que tem acontecido, e que por causa do inverno tenho que usar muito hidratante. Semana passada me deu alergia na barriga por causa de uma manteiga de cacau que eu estava usando. Parei, e em 3 dias melhorou muito. E impressionante o que o tempo faz com a pele. Se eu nao bebesse tanta agua, eu nao sei o que seria de mim. Estou pronta pra primavera, mas assim que a estacao mudar, vamos estar bem mais perto do parto. Outros preparativos: estamos pra conhecer uma pediatra hoje. Estou animada. Nao sei o que perguntar, mas vou achar umas perguntas e vou levar. A cidade e tao pequena, so tem 2 consultorios da mesma clinica :) engracado ne? A vantagem e que todo mundo conhece todo mundo. Esse fds o Zeke esta planejando em montar o berco que nos ganhamos dos meus pais faz tempo :) Eu tenho tanta coisa que eu posso fazer, talvez eu ajude a limpar o quarto do bebe tb, mas o meu precisa de tanta ajuda... Um bom dia a todos!

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I won!

There's a health incentive going on at work where all of us are encouraged to walk more. We get free pedometers and you can participate on personal challenges other colleges set up. Well, I won the one personal challenge I was invited to! We were in it since January 19th. Whoever walked 100,000 steps first won. I was excited, it did wonders for my self-esteem and it helped me stay encouraged to keep exercising during the week. I told my husband that in the beginning of the pregnancy I competed in the 5K and now I have this challenge. With a little over 2 months to go, I need to stay encouraged to keep moving! Yeah, I doubt I'll take on another serious phisical challenge but my goal is to keep moving. My son is getting bigger and mama is getting slower. I'm looking forward to having a healthy baby and being a healthy mother once they tell me it's okay to resume exercising.

I've been eating spelt bread this week. I really like it. I wonder if it's because it came from a bakery and I believe it wasn't baked 6 months ago. It tastes great. Apparently it has more nutrients than its cousin, wheat, it has B2... It's just good for you and it got a buzz (not as big as flax) among healthy foods.

I'm considering journaling my food for a week or so. I haven't journaled as long as I've been pregnant. I believe it will help me be sure to be in the right track when it comes to the nutrients me and the baby need. I hear that some pregnant women get really hungry at the end of their pregnancy. I'm not usually hungry during the day because of the snacks but if I stay up really late it gets me. I used to tell myself, 'get over it, you will get breakfast first thing in the morning.' Now I just try to go to sleep at a decent time. When I wake up in the middle of the night, I've been training myself to go right back to sleep. Lately, with all that walking, I haven't even been waking up that much. That's just glorious.

I found a great website: http://www.losingweightafterbaby.com/ Check it out. I heard the owner of the website on a podcast yesterday. She shared some statistic that was impressive. Apparently, if women don't lose their baby weight 6 months after having their baby they are more likely to keep it. Ain't that horrible? My health educator believes that it takes 9 months to put on and 9 to take it off. Now, that's more flexible. I saw Tori Spelling (I like her show tough we no longe watch it. We downsized on cable.) on TV yesterday and she's lost her baby weight plus. Her baby girl is 6 months old. If you've read my blog before you know what I believe about celebrities and weight: they are paid to be thin. They have cooks, personal trainers, babysitters, etc. Let's see what happens to me in real life. I know I'll lose the weight because I decided to say no to diets, I want to continue to live a healthy life and I want to run!

Tonight is our last child birth class. It went by way too fast but Zeke and I are prepared for... LOL! Well, we're definately more educated now. I'm looking forward to V-day on Saturday. I'll probably take photos of whatever we end up doing :)

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Health, Date, Love

“You can catch a disease but you can’t catch health. You have to choose to be healthy.” Joyce Meyer

I loved this quote I heard Joyce Meyer say yesterday! She was talking about eliminating emotional stress but we all know how much weight adds emotional stress to our lives. Once the term 'emotional eater' was made popular by Oprah, many could relate to this reality. The truth for Christians is that we do not rely on our feelings, we walk by faith and we seek God to do the supernatural while we press on in the natural. Glory be to God!

I went to the gym yesterday yet a different time :) I went right before lunch and it was awesome. It seems that anything before noon has more energy than anything after 5. The important thing is to keep moving (that's something my baby boy is doing, moving more and more!). There's an incentive going on at work to keep everyone more active. I love a competition, so it's been fun to get a little money to do something I do anyway. How easy can it get? They send you a pedometer and you just log in so a program automatically measures your steps and compares it to your goals. I'll do it while I can. I'm not trying to win and be the biggest loser, it's one more encouragement to stay active while expecting.

Zeke and I went on a date last night. We looked at some cribs, registered for baby things (now that we know the sex is so much more fun!) and went to Starbucks. I couldn't remember the last time we went there. That used to be one of our favorite date things to do and it still is.I took a photo of what I got and what he got :) They were about to close when we got there but we still enjoyed it. I love Zeke. He's my husband, best friend and we just have so much fun together! I rather be with him than with any other person on earth. He just gets me.

As you can see, we make very different choices when we go out :) Zeke gets some kind of music magazine and I get some kind of health magazine. I found a mag called "Experience Life" and loved it! Check it out online. Before our wedding I got bride magazines, now I get pregnancy and parenting magazines but health mags are still my favs :)

We had a break from the bitter cold. It's actually cool outside, just nice. It's cloudy enough that you wish you could still be in bed but it's just Tuesday people! Let's keep walking :)

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Better Health = Organization

Just because I’m pregnant, it doesn’t mean that weight management went out of the window. I still need to be as organized as I can. I heard that you do all you can to eat balanced meals and when the baby comes along you wonder if you have time to eat. Let’s see what my experience will be.

I’ve learned you need to have goals, so here are mine:

Short term goals (for the next 4 weeks)

1. Work out 4 times a week;

2. Eat nutritious, balanced meals daily;

3. Combat stress.

Goals for the week

1. Work out 4 times a week (2 more times to go);

2. Lift weights 3 times a week (1 more to go);

3. Eat small dinner early in the evening;

4. Read a magazine and get a pedicure (I'm doing my own while my pregnant belly allows me LOL);

In order to eat nutritious meals all day, we need a few organization tips. These work for me but do a little research and see what works for you.

In order to eat a healthy breakfast daily: I make sure I have groceries. In the winter I love to eat oatmeal so I make 1 cup and the morning and the day after all I need to do is put my bowl in the microwave.

If I’m eating cereal, I put my bowl, spoon, banana and cereal box on the table so all I need to do is to grab the milk. None of these things work unless I wake up with enough time to eat breakfast.

Lunch/snacks: I try to save money and get great nutrition by bringing my lunch to work. Sometimes I pack leftovers from last night’s dinner, sometimes I fix a sandwich on my way to work. For snacks, pre-packed processed stuff might save time but a banana and an apple are packed naturally, full of energy and all you have to do is put it on your bag.

This week I’m into natural peanut butter with rice cakes. I just leave the whole thing at work so I’m okay for the week. If I make popcorn at home, I pack a cup or two and take it to work for another good snack.

Dinner: I ask my husband what he would like to eat and from there I build my grocery list/menu for the week. In case we don’t talk about what he would like, I just make a menu and we go from there. We try to cook the time consuming dishes on Sunday night and make the rest of the week easy for both of us who work all day and are not interested in waiting 2 hours for dinner or eating out. In my experience, the ‘simpler’ the dinner, the better for my health. For example: a ‘simple’ dinner for us would be: steamed broccolis, grilled chicken breast, blackeyed peas and brown rice. By simple I mean, no casserole (we eat them for Thanksgiving LOL), no 3 hours on the stove required.

Do you realize that being healthy takes effort on your part? But it’s so worthy it. Remember what may seem laborious now can become part of your lifestyle. It’s the beginning of a new year, make an investment in you!

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5 months!

Happy end of the year everyone! This is me today at 5 months :) now it's more like 21 weeks and counting. God has blessed me so much! I am truly thankful. How was Christmas everyone? Our was fabulous! It was good to spend time with family. We went shopping but for groceries. We found more Brazilian products, which was a lot of fun. My niece was hyper the whole time :) What else can you expect from a 1 and a half year-old??? She's a cutie. She was dancing a lot and singing a little bit too. It was super cute.

I wanted to tell yall that Zeke felt the baby moving last night! His movements are becoming way stronger, that's exciting. During the sermon at church he was moving a lot, it was like his whole little body was moving! I believe he is a Word man, that's why :) Zeke felt him moving at night when we were watching television :) That was really exciting.

Going back to exercise: my goal this week is to get to the gym 3 times at least and lift weights at least twice. Last week I went zero times... I honestly had a mindset that the week would be a busy one anyway, and I repented after I went for a doctor's visit and saw my weight. The good thing was that sedentary is not a description of my week. We cooked and cleaned daily. We danced with my niece, we were active although taking a walk never hurts. I just get back to it today, no worries! No worries about eating great Brazilian Christmas food either. It's Christmas, not my regular diet!

My birthday is Saturday. We are singing at a wedding smack in the middle of the day. I'm glad it's in the middle of the day and not at night. I have to find a dress still. I'm looking forward to seeing what Zeke has prepared. Right now I have no clue. I mean, not that many clues LOL. I'm gonna be 29. We're excited about having our son in our 20s :) Everyone else will come in our 30s but I'm so glad we had one in our 20s!

Oh, we bought maternity clothes!!! I'm still missing a few pieces but I got great things. I feel SO much better! It's awesome to feel comfortable while looking good. Thank God for my caring husband! If it was up to me, I'd go through 9 months with my regular clothes.

I have a feeling that May 8 will be here before we know it. We chose a crib yesterday. The room is coming along well.

I hope you enjoy the New Year, especially cause we have another holiday this week!

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Dormindo como Pedra

Oi pessoal, tudo bem? Tudo otimo por aqui. Muito trabalho, muita chuva e muita alegria! Essa semana tem sido festiva. Descobrimos que teremos um filho em 4 meses, escrevemos nossa carta de natal (aqui em vez de mandar cartao, tem gente que manda carta de natal. E muito mais simples pra mim do que escrever 100 cartoes diferentes, vc escreve a mesma coisa e manda pra todo mundo), nos confraternizamos em duas festas de natal na igreja… Essa semana tem sido bem legal. Ate hoje fui na academia 3 vezes. O desafio e ir hoje ou amanha. Hoje tem um funeral la na igreja e tem um ‘desfile’ aqui no trabalho. E mais pra mulheres maduras (rs). Uma colega de trabalho que esta pra la dos 70 sempre desfila, acho uma gracinha. Talvez eu espere ate amanha pra voltar pra academia mas vamos ver. Uma coisa que acontece qdo faco exercisios e que eu durmo como uma pedra. E incrivel. Tenho sido bem criativa com exercisios essa semana. Meu objetivo e caminhar no minimo 40 minutos e coloco a esteira bem inclinada, entao e como se eu estivesse subindo um morro por 30 minutos. E bom porque o exercicio e bem efetivo desse jeito. Essa semana infelizmente nao fiz musculacao, mas pelo menos uma vez tenho que fazer, estou sentindo falta. Outra coisa interessante e que nao vou a mesma hora todo dia. Essa semana entao fui em 3 horas diferentes. Qdo fui na hora do almoco deu pra pegar a aula de Zumba (aerobica Latina) e conheci umas pessoas novas. Gosto muito de Zumba, e bacana, um exercicio bom e vc danca tb. As vezes eles ate sambam (o samba aerobico, bem diferente do que nos conhecemos rs!). Eu e o Zeke ainda estamos nas nuvens, muito felizes com a novidade de que vamos ter um filho. Vai ser otimo, continuem orando pra que minha saude continue otima alem do parto. Esse fds devemos comprar uma arvore de natal. O plano e de ir a uma fazenda de arvores e comprar uma arvore viva. Dizem que apesar do trabalho e legal ter uma viva porque o cheiro da arvore na casa e muito gostoso. Vamos ver! Um bom dia a todos e todas!!!

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Counting Calories while Pregnant?

We’re still on cloud 9. A son! What a privilege it is to be carrying a son. It makes all my efforts come to perspective, they become more personal. I’m eating well and working out so my son can have a great start in life. How exciting!
I’m a healthy pregnant woman carrying a son who is much, much loved. We spread the news to friends and family and I also went ahead and worked on my registry some more. I was all excited about being pregnant and forgot I didn’t know the gender, so I had to stop my registry half way through.
THANK GOD my health is GREAT. This previous years of preparation for pregnancy have given me a great start. I know to exercise most days of the week, I know what to eat and what brings the best nutrition to me and the baby, we know how much water to drink and we know to rest. All we need to do is to practice. The past month hasn’t been perfect. A month ago I went to the gym only twice. The following week the same happened so I decided to increase my number of visits to the gym. I went 3 times last week and this week so far I’ve been there 3 times. I told my husband my challenge is to go tomorrow and if I go Friday, that would be HUGE because I haven’t worked out a whole week for a while. I’m excited. My prayer has been that the Lord will bless me to continue to go to the gym as long as I can and after the birth of my son, that I may go 3 times a week at least. They have child care at the gym (what a perk!) and I’ve been talking to my husband about going early in the morning before he leaves for work so I can get an early start. I enjoy working out in the am when I can, lately I’ve been getting there in unpredictable hours but the goal is to meet the 4 times a week goal of working out.
I’ve been going to different Christmas parties. I did well on the first one (I ate before I got there) but the second one sucked. I was really hungry when I got there (I failed to eat before I went) and I just ate a lot more than I was supposed to. I don’t like to eat large dinner because it’s hard to sleep with a full stomach. It seems that at this point, I’m hungry when I wake up, around lunch time and around 3 or 4 p.m. after that, I’m okay to just snack very lightly.
I’ve been paying attention to hunger signals from my body during this pregnancy. Of course I come to work armed with snacks and lunch for the whole day, even a light dinner if I have that need. The thing I quit doing is counting everything like a crazy chick.
I heard of people who say they want to count things while they’re pregnant but I just don’t have the time. The counting I did before was temporary, I don’t plan to spend my whole life counting portions and calories, I see it as bondage. I believe in counting and watching til I learn to walk in self-control. I don’t believe in perfection when it comes to eating but I also don’t believe in being bound to calorie counting.
I have more to say but I’m gonna have to stop here. Talk to you later on this week.

Goals for the week:

{1} Go to the gym at least 4 times (1 out of 4 to go!);

{2} Snack before going to holiday parties;

{3} Drink at least 32 oz of H2O per day;

{4} Treat myself to a mani or/and pedi;

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Fazendo exercicios

Estou feliz e agradecida a Deus por ter voltado a fazer exercisios com mais frequencia essa semana. Semana passada e retrazada so deu pra ir a academia duas vezes. Esta fazendo -5 graus la fora. Hoje de manha estava la pros -10, entao e dificil de caminhar ou fazer qualquer coisa a nao ser na academia. Ano passado eu aprendi que desculpas todo mundo tem. O desafio e ter forca de vontade pra planejar o quanto vc vai malhar e prosseguir com o seu plano. Todo dia que esta frio penso em como o tempo deve estar bonito no Brasil, essa e uma das alegrias de visitar a patria amada pro Natal e ano novo, mas esse ano vamos ficar por aqui. Ano passado nos divertimos muito e consegui caminhar com minha mae por varios dias de manha. Acho que agora e que as pessoas estao comecando a notar que eu estou gravida mas nem tanto. Daqui a uns 2 meses deve estar evidente mesmo. Hoje fui na academia de manha e caminhei por 1 hora. O meu medico estava do meu lado :) acho tao engracado que essa cidade e tao pequenininha que vc ve todo mundo que vc conhece o tempo todo. Ontem a minhs alimentacao foi muito boa. Nao tenho comido besteiras mas essa semana gracas a Deus estou lanchando e comendo muito bem. Eu sempre tenho um bom dia quando trago almoco, lanche pra manha e pra tarde. Se eu for malhar depois do trabalho, tenho que comer bem antes de ir pra academia. Eu tinha que fazer isso quando nao estava gravida tambem por que eu ja passei mal por causa de nao comer bem antes de malhar. E interessante como o seu corpo precisa de calorias pra queimar calorias :)

Ainda estou animada com o natal. Quem sabe neva? Ano passado estava quentissimo no Rio! Esse ano preciso achar algo interessante pra fazer aqui. Vamos ver. O meu proximo post vai ser o post numero 500 e vai ser bem especial. Leiam o meu blog, vai ser bem legal. Beijos!

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Boa Semana!

Oi! Tivemos uma OTIMA consulta no medico hoje, gracas a Deus! Tudo esta otimo, o/a bebe esta saudavel. Hoje a enfermeira usou uma maquininha pra ouvir a batida do coracao do/a bebe, ela disse que estava normal.
Perguntei sobre os exames que eles fizeram, todos estavam normais. Perguntei sobre o meu peso, eles disseram que esta bom. So estou ganhando mais ou menos 1 quilo por mes, gracas a Deus. Meu plano essa semana e de malhar umas 4 vezes, pelo menos. Semana passada so deu pra caminhar uma vez. Final-de-semana participei do Encontro com Deus, foi uma bencao! Nao estou tao cansada assim, mas amanha vai dar pra descansar bastante. Ha dois finais de semana tenho trabalhado bastante. Ah, Deus nos abencoou tanto esse fds, meu sogro foi la em casa e jantou com o Zeke e um irmao da igreja pintou o quarto do/a bebe. Agora so falta ganhar/comprar o resto. Deus e bom. Muitas irmas la da igreja me disseram que elas esperaram ate perto do nascimento pra pintar e arrumar o quarto do/a bebe e que nao foi tao bom pq a pesso esta tao cansada. No final da gravidez tb eu vou estar trabalhando bastante, entao o quanto mais a gente fizer agora o melhor. O dia de acoes de graca e semana que vem, e o aniversario do Zeke tambem. Uma novidade: vamos descobrir o sexo do/a bebe no dia 8 de Dezembro. Combinamos de colocar isso na carta de natal que a gente manda todo ano o que e uma das tradicoes de natal aqui dos EUA. Pra nos e mais facil do que escrever 100 cartoes de natal. Vc escreve uma carta so e manda pra todos. Boa semana com Jesus!!!

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Gravidez

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Lessons Learned

Each week brings new challenges and new learning experiences for me. Here's a summary:

* The choice to exercise is a daily fight I must win. I have to exercise when I'm not that tired. It's possible to rest and exercise for at least 40 minutes 5 or 6 days of the week. I can't stop exercising now. I've worked too hard to get to this shape and I need it continue to feel ALIVE.

* H2O is my frirend. All 32 ounces of it. This morning my husband asked me what kind of juices I liked and I had to think hard. Anything manufactured doesn't do me any good. OJ is too acid. Everything else has too much sugar and too little pulp. I got sick of caffeeine free teas last week so water is still my best beverage.

* There's nothing wrong with naps. I was an anti-naps person before getting pregnant and now I found out that I need them. Some days I can do without naps but yesterday I needed one to keep me going.

* The kitchen must be stoked. This was a strategy I learned last year and it works wonders for me while pregnant. How do you expect to succeed in your healthy eating habits if there's nothing healthy to eat in the kitchen? I might have to make multiple trips to get produce, but I must have fresh fruit, soy milk and whole wheat grains at all times. I must eat as soon as I get up. That's funny cause I used to be able to go on for 2 hours with nothing on my stomach.

* Talk it out. It feels like I'm the only pregnant woman in the world but I'm not. It's alright to seek support from others. Most women around me have been through my experience. They are awesome reminders that the challenging first trimester shall pass. My attitude has been very good and I want to keep sowing these seeds. My husband has been a great support. He has a great sense of humor so I find that laughing has helped me a lot during this first stage.

We have our first ultrasound today. I don't really know what to expect but I think it will be a great experience. Have an awesome weekend. My plans? Rest, clean, the usual :) Oh, my nails need to get done as well.

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