My Wellness Journey

Marie Phillips
Schwarzkoff Elementary

Yesterday I got out some fall clothes that had been packed away, and, boy, did the memories come flooding back. The last time I had worn those clothes was when I was 8-10 months pregnant with my first baby.
            My Wellness Journey began one day in May when I found out I was pregnant. I knew that I wanted to establish healthy pregnancy habits so that my baby would be safe, and my body would be able to handle the pregnancy and then recover. My journey was focused on a healthy diet, with some pregnancy yoga DVD’s and walking On-Demand workouts sprinkled about.
            The biggest challenge was the new food restrictions that this foodie had to face. I found that education was key. Like how it’s not all soft cheeses that can be dangerous, just unpasteurized ones, and most U.S.-made cheeses are pasteurized. Sushi with raw fish may have been out, but sweet potato rolls are simple and delicious. It was hard not to eat deli meat sandwiches for lunch, but I hear no person should really eat that stuff, so I moved on to peanut butter (yes, peanut butter) and jelly sandwiches. And while I think I could eat a Jimmy John’s #6 every day for at least one meal, I skipped the sprouts for 9 months.
            I know some of this may sound crazy in both directions- “Why wouldn’t you...?” and “Why would you...?”, but I thought there just might be some pregnant UCS ladies out there who could be juggling these same thoughts, and, therefore, ‘get’ the sprouts/sushi/cheese dilemmas. So for all of you future mamacitas reading this, remember that the extra calories you’re allotted in a day equals 1 cup of non-fat fruit yogurt and a medium apple, and if you think exercising and being motivated is hard now, imagine how you’ll feel in your 38th week if you haven’t kept moving all along!
            By January 12th, I was an acceptable 30 pounds heavier and my daughter was ready to meet us. She arrived at a healthy weight of 6 lbs., 6 ounces, and she’s been keeping me busy ever since!
            Finding time to work out now that Marian Alivia is here has presented itself as a whole new problem full of cloth-diaper washing, baby food-making, and crawling baby-chasing, so as you can imagine, time management for exercising is the Wellness Journey I have moved onto. I’m going to need some help with this one, Staywell folks!