Suzie - Pregnancy and Exercise blog

I'd like to introduce you to our newest Body Beyond Baby mummy blogger - Suzie.  Suzie has been training with BBB since just after the birth of her daughter Cam in 2010.  Now 17 weeks pregnant with baby number two (congratulations Suzie) she will be sharing her pregnancy and exercise, health and fitness journey with us over the upcoming months.  I am very excited that Suzie has agreed to share her story with us and know that it will be great to see keeping fit and health from another perspective.  Rather than reaching new heights Suzie is now in a maintenance phase and has to alter her goals accordingly - below Suzie tells us more about the first few months of this pregnancy:

"Hi my name is Suzie and I have been training with Body Beyond Baby since August 2010.  My training sessions have become a main staple in my life and I don’t think I could stop even if I wanted to.  There are just too many positives  that I gain from the regular exercise.  In recent months my wonderful husband and I have been eager to start ‘working’ on a sibling for our beautiful daughter.  I fell pregnant half way through the ‘Find your Summer Body - 8 Week Challenge’ in November last year.  Fast forward 17 weeks and 3.5kgs later and I’m finding it difficult to let go of the fitness level I once possessed and the body I worked so hard to re-gain.

Week 1-5 were a breeze.  I was training at a similar intensity prior to the pregnancy.  I was feeling the fittest I have felt since my mid 20’s.  Then bam!... week 6 hit me like a truck.  I was extremely lethargic, emotional and the nausea felt worse the second time around.  Someone had hit the slow-mo button and no matter how hard I tried I could not be as fast or as strong as I wanted to be.  It suddenly dawned on me that I had to re-adjust my priorities and my ego.  It was at that moment, Jen had introduced me to my new training mantra…’7 out of 10 Suzie…7 out of 10’.

As the weeks progressed it got more difficult to exercise.  All I wanted to do was nap all day (ha! not going to happen with a two year old swinging around my neck!).  I would look around the training oval and look for an inconspicuous place just in case I had to puke.  There were more and more moments where I would put my hand up and say, "ah Jen I don’t think I can do this one".  I took it easy as I simply could not push myself at this stage.  Jen’s watchful eye made sure of that.  Week 13 approached.  I could feel that little bit of energy returning.  The awful nausea was subsiding and I was getting excited because I knew that in a couple of weeks I would be feeling like a new woman.  Jen’s words of wisdom that had kept me going were coming to fruition.

So in the pursuit of a healthier pregnancy than my first one I have decided to do the FYSB Challenge 2.  This first week has been great.  Even though my fitness level is not what it used to be, my main goal is just to exercise.  It’s also a good opportunity to watch what I’m eating a bit closer as my discipline in that regard has ‘gone on a long walk' and has not yet returned!  At the very least I feel good about getting outside and moving instead of sitting on the couch.  I have every confidence in Jen’s experience and know-how to get me through this pregnancy.  I know she will always have one eye on me."