May this New Year Bless you with:

LOVE.

HEALTH.

PROSPERITY.

PEACE.

and HAPPINESS!!!

Be safe tonight everyone!

It is never too late to be what you might have been. – George Eliot

Fitness Motivation:
New Years Eve.

Time to pull out the New Year’s Resolution.

And if you are 99% of Americans who commit to weight loss…

Then THIS is the motivation you need.

It is NEVER too late to be what you could’ve been.

It is never too late to climb that mountain…

run that marathon…

look great in that dress…

IT’S NEVER TOO LATE.

The key is…

TO START NOW!

Start dreaming of who you want to become.

Start planning your future days.

Start manifesting the strength within you.

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

Do you drink protein shakes? I do!

This one is my favorite. Read on for an interesting study:

—

Protein Sports Drinks Proven To Give Best

Performance

ScienceDaily (Dec. 29, 2008) — Sports drinks containing protein are better at improving athletes’ performance. Research published in BioMed Central’s open access Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition has shown that drinks containing a mix of carbohydrate and protein are superior to carbohydrate-only drinks in improving cyclists’ recovery from exercise.

John Berardi of Precision Nutrition worked with researchers from Gettysburg College and The University of Western Ontario to study which energy drink best helped cyclists recover after a strenuous ride. He said, “Liquid carbohydrate and protein supplements given early during a six hour post-exercise recovery period helped subjects better maintain subsequent time trial performance and power output, compared to supplements with carbohydrate alone”.

In the test, cyclists rode exercise bikes that were attached to monitors allowing them to compete against a virtual opponent. After a morning session, they rested for six hours drinking either the protein-containing sports drink or the carbohydrate only version. Both formulas had the same energy content. After their six-hour rest, the athletes did another virtual cycle race. According to Berardi, “Both groups showed a reduction in performance in the afternoon session. However, the reduction in distance traveled and power output during the afternoon exercise was significantly less among those who had the protein and carbs drink, relative those who just had the carbs”.

The subjects’ self-reported fatigue levels were lower in the protein group and increases in fat oxidation were also seen. Beardi concluded, “These findings may be important considering that most endurance athletes concern themselves primarily with carbohydrate intake and often fail to recognize the potential benefits of protein with respect to performance recovery”.

Pick up your performance with Protein!

Happy, belated Christmas everyone. I’ve been soo busy that I’ve only been able to post daily fitness motivations. I’ve also been uninspired to write as my mind keeps focusing on one task and then another…and then another…

I’ve been walking almost every day. Last night I went walking with my other pregnant girlfriend who is due around the same time as me for an hour an a half! The night before I went walking with David and my dog at 11:30pm at night! AND the day before, I took a kickboxing class! YEP! I still take classes when I can.

However – after meeting with my doula yesterday, she recommends I lay off the intense classes…my upper back had a lot of tension and we don’t want the placenta to move all around the place and possibly break…so! It’s all about walking for me in these last couple weeks…or couple days..or one day… YOU NEVER know when that little thing wants to come out.

Honestly, while I am hoping for a New Year’s baby, I think he will come around January 3-10. I DO feel very fatigued more now than ever. It IS harder to move. My FEET are sore and swollen sometimes, and my fingers are retainin water too!

BUT – I think he still likes it in there. I actually LOVE him in there.

I’m going to miss being pregnant for sure. It’s been an amazing experience. I appreciate my body more than I ever have in my life..I was able to moderate my diet more because I wasn’t preparing for a contest or looking forward to a vacation or photoshoot – I just really learned to feed and nourish my body because I had too.

Although people praise me for being ‘fit’ during my pregnancy – of course, I am naturally very hard on myself. I definitely could’ve eaten better. Especially during my first trimester. While I wrote everything down and ate an average of 2300 calories per day – I could’ve eaten more veggies? I’ve gained around 36 pounds – which is PERFECT. I hardly have any stretchmarks except for a few lines on my left side (because he LOVES sitting to my right side)

I refrained from high intensity workouts immediately after finding out I was pregnant because I didn’t want a miscarriage (as the first trimester is very fragile) and after that I only trained with weights maybe once a week.

SO – yes, I was definitely active, but not as active as you may think. I really had to learn to listen to my body and respect the little baby growing inside of me!

Here are pictures from Christmas:

Wrapping gifts!

My 38 weeks (9.5 months) belly!

With my familia Christmas day!

Taking a nap with my little niece. It was a LONG night!

I love real life, inspirational role models!