As I read over the learning assignment for this class, I was excited and overloaded with ideas. Apparently, there are so many things that have been on my learn to-do list for many years, so while the opportunity to actually have to pick one and complete it is thrilling, having to choose only one has been a difficult decision. My top choices were: restoring old wooden furniture, learning to meal plan (and carry out said meal planning from planning to shopping), painting and setting up a baby room, learning to organize my house/declutter, and lastly, developing a prenatal exercise routine. So how did I decide? Well, I spent some time weighing out the pros and cons and realisticness of each task. Given the 5 week timeline and my current physical limitations as a pregnant woman, I decided that learning to operate power tools or climbing up and down ladders was possibly not the best option. Likewise, the idea of tackling my house to organize and declutter seems far too large of a project for 5 weeks. Given that I am 38 and pregnant, this will be my last pregnancy, and hence my last opportunity to tackle that particular idea, and likely the most beneficial option for both my health and the baby’s health.
My history with fitness is adequate, but not great. I have always struggled with finding the motivation and time to stick with a fitness program. However, I did have success a few years back with Beachbody, when I had reached an ultimate high weight for myself. After a year of hard work, I reached my goal and maintained it for quite some time. However since beginning school again, along with work and the kids, I have slowly gone back in the other direction. I fear at this point that as I finish this pregnancy I will be back to that starting point that I fought so hard to get away from. It is important to note that I never attempted any fitness during my first 2 pregnancies, so I really am clueless about what I can and cannot do.
As I sit down to make my plan of action, I know that the first thing I need to do is clean up our home gym space, which is currently been a storage room as we have renovated our basement in order to add an extra bedroom to make room for baby.
Next, I am going to set up a couple of Pinterest boards, as I loved this idea that I got from this fellow student’s blog to create a central place to keep ideas and information, all of which is easily accessible from my mobile device so that I can work on this learning project whenever I have a few extra minutes. One of the boards that I will create will be for the do’s and the don’ts of prenatal fitness, as I want to make sure that I am exercising safely. Another board for the benefits of prenatal exercise so that I have a place to go when I am in need of motivation. Lastly, I will create a board for quick and easy exercises that I can fit into my busy routine when my daily schedule does not allow me to complete a youtube workout video.
This brings me to my third step, which will be to search out a variety of different youtube prenatal workouts, considering different workouts, from cardio to strength training, to yoga. I would also appreciate some options that can be completed outside, as I hate to be stuck inside all the time.
Lastly, I have to acknowledge that I struggle with accountability, so in an attempt to track my daily progress with completing the workouts I will attempt to log my workouts using my Fitbit app on my phone. In addition, I will try to keep a daily journal for which I can use to create my blog posts.
Now that I have laid out my plans I am excited to start this learning journey, and a little terrified at the same time….tomorrow will be day one….wish me luck!
Hey Brandy!
I think this is an amazing idea for your project. I was in a similar boat a few years ago, I couldn’t get my weight under control. I found a passion for healthy eating and the gym, it completely changed my life. You have a great space for a home gym and it sounds like you have a solid plan on how to begin tackling this. I know there is a fitness app with Emily Sky that has a pregnancy workout program, just thought I would share as I love her programs!
I look forward to watching your progress! Good luck!
Thank you so much for the tip! I will definitely be checking that out! So far week one has been a bit of a struggle motivationally speaking. By the time night classes are done I find it so hard to get my butt downstairs to the gym… Starting is the hardest part!
Hello Brandy!
I think it’s amazing that you chose a project that will benefit you a lot. All the other options you had were also great— I hope that you will one day get to work on them as well! I also have hard time finding motivation to stick to a workout routine as I usually stop after a couple weeks. I wish the best for you and have fun in your project!