| If you know Kristin Smola, you know how dedicated she is to her fitness and nutrition. Even during pregnancy she manages to stay on top of it. So, we asked her how she does it and here’s what she had to say ? How often are you working out? In the beginning I worked out my normal 5-6 days a week lasting anywhere from 30-50 minutes. Then during months 5 and 6 I worked out 5 days a week lasting anywhere from 30-50 minutes. I dropped a day because I was home with Claire all the time! After month 7, I had to do 4 days a week and no more than 30 minutes. The saying goes “every pregnancy is different” which is so true! Different aches and pains and it is exhausting being home with a 4 year old all the time due to COVID. I needed my energy later in the afternoon because I didn’t have the luxury of an afternoon nap unlike when I was pregnant with Claire. With Claire being home, I have to workout in the morning and that’s when I feel my best to workout. If I wait until later in the day, I’m unmotivated, tired and Claire distracts me. My morning workouts have always worked best for me with this pregnancy and when I was pregnant with Claire. Are you still walking a lot? Thankfully Claire loves the cold so even in the beginning of the lockdown I could get her to go outside and we played around the yard. I would go for walks with her and put her in her stroller because let’s face it, walking with a 4 year old is basically at a snail’s pace and stopping every 2 feet. As my workouts slowed down, I still tried to remain as active as possible. After dinner we also go outside and throw a ball around or do something in the yard. Once the summer heat hit, I can only walk in the morning because it’s just way too hot out after the morning or I go for a short walk after dinner. Over the last couple of weeks, (37 weeks today). Working out and walking has definitely slowed down which is to be expected and I’m not beating myself up over it. I’m still growing a human and if I need to rest I do or take an extra day off from working out, I do. This isn’t the time to be trying to make gains in the gym. I just want to stay healthy. If I’ve been sitting for an hour or more I get up and walk around the house or do some squats or elevated pushups or something to keep me moving.I’m not hungry when I wake up and since I’m going to be working out soon, I don’t eat anything before my workout. This has always been the case for me, pregnant or not. I usually get up an hour before I want to start working out so I can wake up and get my body moving a little bit. After I workout, I generally don’t eat right away because I’m not hungry so I hit the shower, drink a little coffee, get Claire ready then I eat. This is usually about an hour to two hour after I workout. However, the past two weeks I’ve been hungry upon waking so I’ll go for my walk or workout and then eat after I’m done because I’m still hungry.What do you eat before or after your workouts? Have you had a good pregnancy? Again, this pregnancy has definitely been different. The first time pregnancy excitement that I experienced with Claire (even though it wasn’t all smooth sailing) wasn’t here this time around. I was nauseous until about month 4/5 then felt “ok” for a couple of months then halfway through month 7 into month 8, it got tough again. I had a little bit of nausea, I have a little bit of back pain and trouble sleeping so I’m more tired. While these are normal pregnancy symptoms, I definitely have to listen to my body more this time around. I am also a little more tired/fatigued. It would come and go every couple of months. It’s hard to tell if it’s being pregnant that caused the fatigue, COVID and the stress with that, or Claire being home way more or a combination. Probably a combination! I’m getting towards the end now and we’re all looking forward to meeting our new addition to the family. What can you say about the workout video you’re sharing with us? I’m over 8 months pregnant, so I’ve had to modify quite a bit compared to my non-pregnancy state. It’s only when I wake up in the morning that I really decide what kind of workout will feel good that day. I’m at the point where no jumping feels good, so all the cardio intervals are modified for no impact at all. It’s much safer to elevate planks and pushups at this stage, so you’ll see I use a bench to do that – it’s about 18″ off the floor. I still train my body as a whole and aim for 3 segments and 3 sets of each that will give me the total body workout – just like a Boutique Fitness workout will do.Thank you, Kristin, for sharing this with us. You are such a force and an incredible role model – not just for your children, but for all of us too! We wish you the absolute best and can’t wait to meet this BFF newbie! We love you! xo Lara & Angela |
