Mary Jane tells..

Wins on food

I’m so proud of myself making the right food decisions for lunch today. There was this dish with aubergine that I’m totally in love with (it’s called Karnıyarık in Turkish) and I can eat it every day- sooo yummy. Instead I chose to eat oven baked chicken drumsticks (without the skin of course). Not because this aubergine dish wasn’t healthy or anything but I need to up my protein intake (due to pregnancy) and lean chicken is a healthy way to do so. And I drank a glass of Ayran (which is a drink made with yogurt, water and a pinch of salt) - totally rich in protein. So today’s another win.

Crazy about.. Fruits!!

Short history: If I was ever crazy about a type of food, it was cakes, and ice-cream, and cupcakes too, and count in the tarts and of course chocolates and well all the like. And oooh you can’t believe how Turkish cuisine is a treasure for dessert-lovers!! 

Ok I deal with hypoglycemia since 2005 and trying to eat them moderately, never before a meal and in smaller quantities. Meanwhile, I was always ok with fruits but never to the point of craving them. Maybe only cherries and watermelon. But that was it. 

Since being pregnant and stopped taking my medication, I have been even more careful with deserts and I’ve put in (actually my dietitian has) 3 portions of fruit in my day. I started eating them like it’s my job but not with too much joy. Recently that has changed. I am literally in love with fruits. This morning I went to the open street market in front of our house and bought fresh cherries, strawberries and greengages. The smell in the street was marvelous!! They also had peaches, melons, watermelons, mulberries but I did my best to act responsibly, to buy enough for a week and not more because they go bad and go to trash after a week. We have this market every Thursday so that’s great enough. They are much cheaper than supermarkets and I get to buy the best produce as I go very early in the morning before I leave for work. 

I’m enjoying a cup of strawberries right now and my life’s just too good!

The life of a fitblr when 3 months pregnant

I recently realized pregnancy was not something I was informed much about in the past. I had a couple pregnant people around me but I had never paid attention to the details. My general idea was: you get bigger and bigger for the whole 9 months, suffer because you are big and it’s not comfortable anymore, you don’t train (I don’t know why) and you desperately focus on losing weight (sometimes with no success) after you give birth. I know it’s very much ignorant but that was the idea I had and I had no interest ever to research any further.

Then all changed when we decided to have a baby. I suddenly started feel like a PhD student preparing her thesis on pregnancy, reading any single article on the web, all forums that are available, newspapers and people’s experiences along with scientific research. Now I feel like I can go to give birth today if it was my due date in pregnancy, I am ready for it.

First I was happy to find out training is ok when pregnant, with certain changes in the program and given that the dr approves the training and you are not going through a risky pregnancy. And plus it is good for you and good for the baby. So that’s been a lovely finding and I’ve been training cross fit (adjusted for my situation) for 3 days a week from the first day of my pregnancy. And I’m planning to do it until the last day if no medical conditions arise and my dr gives green light.

Another finding was about gaining weight. My first perception of pregnancy on weight gain was obviously wrong - that you keep gaining weight continuously from the first day and that is beyond your control. After I did my research, I found out that there is a healthy weight gain range according to your BMI before pregnancy. That was saying I was supposed to gain 11-16 kg during these 9 months. I can expect to gain about 1 kg in the first trimester and then catch up with the weight gain from then on.

Here I need to mention that I suffer from hypoglycemia and I stop taking my medication after the first trimester and need to be careful about my blood sugar levels more than usual. I am under the surveillance of an endocrinologist and a dietitian apart from my ob-gyn. They all agree that I need to stick to the nutrition plan my dietitian provides me and that I didn’t need to gain any weight in the first trimester.

Yesterday, I had an appointment with my dietitian and she amazed me by saying that I do not need to care about the weight gain at all. During pregnancy, hormones get in charge and act very differently in every body and in every pregnancy. There may be bloat and the amount can vary enormously. As long as I stick to my nutrition plan and my ob-gyn confirms that the baby’s development is on track, I do not have to gain weight at all. I may or I may not and that is not important. I just need to make sure I don’t lose weight - which shall not be the case as long as I eat according to the plan and that’s the only concern - but I repeat that’s given the development of the baby is on track.

So well, that’s another news for me. So I do not need to expect any weight gain, or keep weighing myself to check if I will be able to catch up with the weight gain or not. That’s not an issue anymore. I will focus all my energy on my nutritional intake. That is the only thing that matters. And I need to continue with my training apart with 30-45 min walking 2 days a week.

That being a long enough post, I’ll very shortly give updates on my current situation:

I started pregnancy on 18.02.2013 at 70.5 kg

I am today at 13W2D at 69.9 kg. (You learn about pregnancy in the 4th-5th weeks earliest and until then I was losing weight so that’s why I’m lighter now)

So first trimester is gone and I’m happily embracing the second one. I will see what it will bring to me without any expectations. My motto will be to enjoy every minute of it making sure I’m being conscious about my choices and taking good care of the baby.

And here’s a 3 month pregnant lady after Cross Fit training. I feel I am wider in the waistline. But please check the slight definition appearing on my arms&shoulders hahah. You learn to be happy from small wins.

I miss lifting weights a lot. The traning I am currently doing is full of free squats and lots of TRX and spring work for legs, arms and shoulders. I’d never think I’d miss my bars and kettlebels and Bulgarian bags.