Bodyweight Circuit (Pregnancy safe!)

This is not a circuit only good for pregnancy, it's a great one outside of it!



- Warmup by walking on an incline of 10-15 for .25 mile
Jog/run for.25 (incline of your choice)

Repeat 2x for warmup. This will take 10-15 minutes


Workout (again, must be done with the warmup!)

Upper body circuit:
10 shoulder pushups
15 standard pushups (use bench, wall, or incline if your belly is growing!)
25 russian twists (side-to-side equals 1)

Walk on incline .25
Run .25

Lower body Circuit:
10 lunges
15 plie squats
20 standard squats
25 russian twists

Walk on incline .25
Run .25

Repeat both circuits one more time, and then STRETCH!

10 things you need to know about your first trimester

Pre-pregnancy

Oh me oh my! My body does NOT like pregnancy. This is my third pregnancy, and my first that has made it this far. I suffer from horrible morning sickness (throughout the day...), bloating (I look more pregnant in my 7 week photo than now! Drink your water people, helps with the bloating), constipation, dizziness, loose joints, insomnia, sharp shooting pains, etc.... You name it! I always imagined I'd be that person who could workout just as hard and you wouldn't even notice I'm pregnant. But that is NOT the case for me.

I have taken it quite easy since becoming pregnant. First off, I have lost two babies before and wanted to go easy on my body. Secondly, my normal workout routine causes lots of cramping for me! I did a lot of interval training and high intensity workouts, and therefore I've had to adjust a lot! I'll jog and do weights, maybe low impact interval training. Although they say to focus on your core your first trimester, I can't. It makes me cramp too much, and even if the cramping is okay, it scares me. I can't do things like burpees (the jumping my feet back jolts my uterus) and feel like a total wimp. But I'm starting to find out what I can do and how I can still get good workouts in even with my limitations! I'll have more posts to come on what my workout routines consist of now.

But for right now, I'm gonna give 10 facts on what early pregnancy CAN be like (it's so different with everyone!):

1. Don't freak out if you have a spot of blood. 

You can expect spotting, but if it's anything more, be very concerned. If it's bright red, be concerned. *Disclaimer: for those intimate spousal times, you MIGHT have bright red spotting. This could be from your cervix getting irritated. Don't freak out if after the deed is done you have slight spotting, keep your eye on it and if no more comes out or it's fine in the morning, you should be okay.

2. Expect to pee a lot.

How horrible is it that the time you need people's sympathy is the time when you're supposed to keep your pregnancy secret?! I had to pee all the time at work, and this is because all of the new hormones in your body. And then about 3-4 times each night... Say goodbye to sound sleeping!

3. Constipation.

Yeah, you get it. I found that taking fiber supplements made me gassy, so now I combine a probiotic supplement with fiber (they feed off of each other) and it is better your your digestion and relieves a lot of the gas! (Check below to see what I use to relieve constipation!)

4. Bloating and zits

You might feel huge right away, and this is because of bloating. Drink LOTS of water, and keep active! As for the acne, I have no answer. I have never struggled with acne before, but immediately upon getting pregnant I have become quite the adolescent... I went on a two week fast food craving spree so maybe that didn't help as well! I flipped a switch and now am on a clean eating crave (where all I desire is clean foods).

5. Dizziness and headaches

Keep your eye on these things, for they could be signs of other problems. But I struggle with dizziness like an old man (each time I get up I have to hold on to something), and headaches every now and then. 

6. Sharp shooting pains

Also could be a sign for concern (talk to your doctor). I had immense shooting pains, to the point that I couldn't sleep at night. It was very scary. But everyone's body is different and reacts differently to hormones and your uterus stretching. If there's no blood, don't freak out, if it continues and you're worried, call your doctor.

7. Cramping and loose joints

I have cramping right away when I get pregnant. I never made it far enough before to experience the loose joints, but I now get to experience that lovely side effect. I feel so old and useless, but I NEVER do anything that feels uncomfortable and I stop when my knees start to act up. That could be  a mere minute into your workout, but don't lose heart! Do something low impact even if it doesn't give you the sweat you want.

8. MORNING SICKNESS

I'm sorry all, I don't have an answer for this. I've tried saltines, gingerale, ginger tea, ACV, etc... Nothing helps. In fact you might feel so sick that the thought of ingesting any of those things sounds repulsive. It can come and go throughout the day. Although it's miserable, I take it as a good sign. When I miscarried, I lost the feeling of nausea the day before. So now I treasure each time I feel it knowing that something is still living in me! Keep your belly consistently filled and keep active! Both of these relieve nausea temporarily. 

9. Crazy terrible emotions.

I was on high dosage of birth control to control endometriosis pains prior to getting pregnant. Once they switched me to the high dosage, my emotions leveled out. I felt like a champion! When I went off the pill to get pregnant, I became a basket case. So imagine that, times a million once you get pregnant. The world might possibly end. 

10. Remember your husband

That first trimester might kill your libido, and it might make you a total witch. I try to remember my husband's needs, and I apologize when I'm not feeling well. It may not seem fair that you need to apologize, but I still do. I know I'm not fun when I'm a total sick basket case for three months. Even when feeling sick, I try to suck it up as much as possible to be intimate and love on my husband. My belly is only going to get bigger and I'm only to come up with MORE excuses as the rest of the 9 months progress. Don't make the whole 9 months all about you, remember your husband in this process as it is hard on him, also!

4-11 weeks

May 25, 2015

Fear

Well, if you want to waste 40 seconds of your life, below is the video of our first ultrasound! I am telling you, it was a crazy experience. Everything was verified, there was a real human in me, and watching it wiggle around and it's heart beat so fast just made me bawl. I saw my cute little bean, and didn't really feel much emotionally until she zoomed in and I saw the rapid beating heart. I immediately became a mother in that moment. I didn't care if my child was a boy or girl anymore, absolute zero preference, and I knew that I would do anything to protect and care for that little child. Life meant so much in that moment, and I my role as a mother so much more important. Watching my baby safe and sound, cozy in my womb, really made me think that I better have a darn good reason to bring a life out of my womb and into this crazy world. 

Right after getting out of our appointment, a day after to be exact, I lost all my symptoms. My boobs no longer hurt, I was no longer nauseous all day, my bloating had gone down, and I had more energy for my husband. This terrified me. I was still constipated as heck, but the loss of all other symptoms shot me right back to my miscarriages. I was terrified. Was I going to lose this little life that I suddenly became so attached to? All friends and acquaintances I knew never experienced such nausea as me (oh it was horrible!) and therefore didn't provide much advice on the issue. 

Well, after about a week of nothing, I started getting a few bouts of nausea, and my uterus cramping is back a bit, too. I feel hopeful! Even more hopeful when I see that my belly grew that week, even though the bloating went down, so baby is still growing in there!

How horrible that a week of pure bliss (i.e. no nausea) turned out to be the most stressful week ever. I was living in fear of losing my baby. I have 17 more days until my next ultrasound so fingers crossed that I see a moving, growing baby in there! Trying to remain calm and enjoy moments in life despite the unknown.

Baby Nash in my belly!

No, not even SHE is perfect.

It's funny how so often, so many people judge others who appear to them as slim or "skinny".  I know this, because I used to be like that. I was never skinny, but I also was never "HUGE". I was plump. But I was plump in disguise. My weight fluctuated so much, no one could ever label me as skinny OR plump. But I remember walking around the halls at school, so mad at the girls who were drinking red bull italian sodas or mocha freezes and yet were stick skinny, because in my mind that's why people were fat. I would think to myself "well I can't have that because it makes me fat, they're just lucky" (FYI those calories caught up with those girls). Yet the craziest part of my judgement is that I WOULD have those things, but because I was so conscious about it and telling myself "it's a splurge" every time, I acted like it was a special, once in a while thing.

When your mindset is one like this: "Today will be a day that I'm NOT going to have that" or "tonight I'm going to SKIP dessert" then you might have yourself a problem. When I thought was being "good", it was because I was able to deny myself something. This is not a healthy mindset!
The focus shouldn't be on when you will eat well and say NO to bad foods, but instead you should always eat well and decide when you say yes to those "bad" things. It's okay to do this! But the more you think of it as saying "NO", the harder it will be. Instead, focus on when you will say yes. It's a lot easier to remember when you said yes than to remember when you said no. This is the mindset that spurred my weight loss! I wasn't even trying, I thought I was in pretty decent shape, but I did change my mindset and the weight just seemed to follow suit.

I also became a beachbody coach and have Shakeology every day for breakfast, and this really saves me calories and starts my day off right every day. Whenever I'd have a huge craving for something I just KNEW I'd binge eat on, I would make myself have Shakeology first. Every time, without fail, I don't desire what I craved prior. Why? Because my body was lacking some nutritional element, and shakeology covers the nutrition basis. When your body is satisfied nutritionally, those cravings become less frequent. (go to my website shakeology.com/donicanash    or beachbodycoach.com/donicanash to learn more about shakeology!).


Now, it's great to splurge every once in awhile. My first couple months of pregnancy I definitely overdid it! I craved McDonalds and absolutely HAD to have it almost every day for a week or so... I was so nervous that this craving was going to keep up! It was getting so expensive and my pants weren't thanking me... But it eventually did. I went total reverse and McDonalds sounded like the most horrible thing on the planet (as it SHOULD sound!) and clean foods were calling my name.

The goal is to eat in a way that you maintain your ultimate desired weight on a 30 min 5 day a week exercise schedule. You shouldn't have to workout more than 30 minutes to be at your best body. If you are having to, then make sure you are eating clean and consistent, and figure out what is going on in your body that makes you either think you need to workout more or actually makes it so you have to work out more. Sometimes it's fun to do an hour long workout, I enjoy it! But you shouldn't have to live off of long workouts. Your life should be active and healthy enough that 30 min 5 days a week does the job! Choose the right foods and the right exercises and your body will thank you :)


For personal coaching sign up for a Team Beach Body membership at teambeachbody.com/donicanash

Vanilla Shakeology Frappachino! Best way to start a busy day :)