Having Babies and Having Fitness Too!

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Getting set to return to work next week has got me thinking about balance.  How am I going to balance work with family time?  Or family time with household responsibilities?  Or household responsibilities with social commitments?  Or social commitments with sleep?  Or sleep with fitness?  The answer is I will.  I have to.

The obvious variable to cut out of the above equation to buy myself some more time is fitness.  But that’s not an option.  Because it is fitness that fuels me and allows me to be more productive in all other areas of my life- in work, family time, household responsibilities, social commitments, and sleep.

That’s where Crossfit Altitude, aka “My Gym”, comes into play.  I was talking with my friend Jen, who owns My Gym, and she asked me what contribution Crossfit has made to my life during my maternity leave.  Here’s my answer Jen:

  • It prepared my body to have a healthy baby.  I went into this pregnancy last year being fitter than I’d ever been and I maintained my fitness via modified Crossfit workouts throughout my entire pregnancy.  When my body said use lighter weights, I used lighter weights.  When my body said slow down, I slowed down.  When my body said drink water, I drank water.  And when my body said rest, I rested.
  • It supported me through labour and delivery.  I was strong on March 2nd when my daughter decided to make her appearance.  My labour lasted only three hours and was unmedicated; it was my fitness that assisted my body’s ability to cope.
  • It helped me recover from her birth.  I was back at My Gym four weeks after she was born, and I was feeling healthy, strong, and empowered.
  • It allowed me to set an example for my kids.  My kids are learning that their bodies need movement to be healthy.
  • It gave me a sense of community.  I saw my friends.  I laughed.  I smiled.  I had fun.

Fitness is non-negotiable.  Being fit makes me a better me.  And a better mom.  And a better wife.  And next week, a better chiropractor.

Pre-pregnancy fitness shoot.

Drew and I did a backyard workout on my due date; 52 belly-to-ground burpees at 40 weeks pregnant.

From Wheat-Addict to Reformed Wheat-Addict

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I am a carb junkie.  I love cereal and bagels for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, and pasta for supper.  My snack of choice is pretzels, a granola bar, or whole-grain anything.  I have a weakness for fresh bread and any kind of ‘doughy’ dessert.  Coming from a background of long-distance running, this is not entirely surprising, as I was always coached to carb-load to fuel my runs.  Upon entering into the world of Crossfit a couple of years ago, I was introduced to the Paleo lifestyle- essentially a hunter/gatherer diet that focuses on protein, fat, and vegetables.  Quite the shift from my carb-heavy nutrition.  But I wasn’t quite sold, and continued along eating a ‘healthy’ diet, complete with mounds of carbohydrate, mostly in the form of wheat.

The Universe tapped me on the shoulder a second time when Wheat Belly became a NY Times Bestseller.  The buzz surrounding this book was big and I was intrigued with the research angle.  Written by a cardiologist, Wheat Belly points out many observations that I was noticing in myself: despite all the training I was doing, my body was holding onto abdominal fat, I felt the highs and lows of my blood sugar throughout the day, and I felt bloated a lot of the time.  The wheels in my head were spinning as I ate my breakfast bagel.

The final push for me came through my baby girl.  She is exclusively breastfed, and when she was six weeks old, I started to notice that she was developing an eczema-like rash on her feet and arms.  Being a chiropractor who supports natural medicine, I decided to try eliminating wheat from my diet to see if I noticed a change in her- after all, wheat promotes inflammation in the body.  I am not exaggerating when I say her eczema cleared up completely.  Immediately.  Within a day or two, her rash was gone.  And another side-effect that I hadn’t anticipated was that her spit-ups also stopped completely.  Immediately.  She went from being a twice-a-day puker to never spitting up again.  She is 19 weeks old now, and she has not spit up since the day I eliminated wheat when she was 6 weeks old.  Pretty compelling evidence if you ask me.

As is the case many times as a parent, we will sacrifice for our children, but not for ourselves.  My daughter was the incentive I needed to try a wheat-free diet and now we’re both reaping the benefits- no more bloat for me, no more mid-afternoon cravings and fatigue, and I’ve lost five pounds.  Does this mean I’ll be wheat-free always and forever?  Probably not.  My mother-in-law’s homemade bread is too good to pass up from time to time, and I never say no to birthday cake, but for the most part a wheat-free lifestyle is the new me.  My name is Ashley and I am a reformed wheat-addict.

Casey and I enjoying the beach

Casey and I enjoying the beach!

Active Kids = Active Adults

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The Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP) recently released new physical activity guidelines for kids, and it got me thinking…..

You can find the guidelines here, but I’ll give you a quick summary:

  • Toddlers (1-2yrs) and Preschoolers (3-4yrs): 180 minutes (3 hours) of physical activity per day
  • Kids (5-11yrs) and Teens (12-17yrs): 60 minutes (1 hour) of physical activity per day
  • Adults (18-64yrs) and Seniors (65+yrs): 150 minutes (2.5 hrs) of physical activity per week

I’m happy to say that our family meets these minimum guidelines, but I would bet that many don’t.  In our fast-paced society of long commutes, office jobs, daycare, school, and ‘screen-time’, many people go from one chair to another all day long.  But the people I worry about are our kids.  Inactivity as a child leads to inactivity as an adult; and this can lead to a whole host of other health problems including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and depression to name a few. 

What if we taught our kids to see physical activity as a lifestyle rather than a checkmark on a to-do list?  This was the case for myself as a kid- my childhood memories involve being outside, running around, and doing family activities- so I find it hard to understand physical activity being viewed as a chore.  It’s always been part of my lifestyle and I can’t imagine life without being active every day.  I hope that by going to the gym several times a week, taking my kids to local races, going for bikerides, or spending a Saturday morning hiking in the trails, that I am teaching them that life = activity.  I hope they don’t have to fight a battle with themselves as adults to get off the couch and get moving.  I hope they get moving because that’s what they’ve always done.  I hope that movement is their ‘normal’.

I think we can make our kids happier, healthier, and more well-rounded through physical activity.  And I think we can start today. 

Here’s my 3-year-old running in a 1km Kid’s race with his Dad.  Can you see the pride in his little face?