Organically Growing

The offical blog of HappyGreenBaby.com

Run Fat Girl, Run July 16, 2009

Filed under: Fitness — happygreenbaby @ 9:36 pm

It’s amazing how fast an outta shape new mom can move when she thinks her babe is experiencing any sort of discomfort.

Today, for example, I went for our weekly walk around Greenlake with the new mommies from our midwife group. It’s a 2.8 mile loop and today I was prepared to take on a second lap after the group dispersed. I fed Ryder after lap #1 and he was sitting comfortably in the Phil & Ted’s, so we went for it.

About half way through, I realized the P&T doesn’t have a lot of a great sun coverage when in the flat infant seat position, so I was constantly stopping to rearrange the Aden & Anais blanket to shield his tender skin. Eventually, I got the blanket “just so” and started running … I was afraid we were getting too much sun or Ryder was getting too hot (his crying was probably because he was tired, but whatever). My butt was jiggling and shorts were creeping up my thighs, but we jogged our way around the rest of the lake and made it back to the car in record time.

And of course, Ryder was asleep. I guess this means I’m running again!

 

I Hate My Boobs June 15, 2009

Filed under: Fitness — happygreenbaby @ 7:03 pm

Exercising with big(ger) boobs sucks. I bought some new sports bras from Sierra Trading Post to accomodate my new chest that are supposed to be for “high impact sports”, but there is always going to be a certain amount of bounce when I power walk or jog up the stairs at Golden Gardens Park, that I had never experienced with my small chested body.

I’m afraid to start running. It seems like it will hurt.

 

Off To a Wrong Start with The Right Start March 30, 2009

Filed under: Fitness, Green Nursery — happygreenbaby @ 5:06 pm

We’ve been wavering on whether or not to buy a stroller for the few months of baby’s life. I know we’ll want to have a stroller eventually, but Marc is all about the “baby wearing” movement (without even knowing it!). He wants to wear the Organic Ergo Carrier we got for Christmas, and I’m looking forward to putting him in the sling for easy breastfeeding in public. The stroller seems like more hassle that it would be worth at this point.

But then there are the Stroller Fit classes that I’m already counting the days until I can start going. And there’s the plan that Marc and I will run the Seattle Half Marathon in November … making a jogger-type stroller a necessity. So, I started shopping around. There aren’t many eco-friendly options of strollers. Baby Planet offers a line of strollers that benefit the Wildlife Conservation Society, and they have a really nice recycling program, but they didn’t have a one of the “all terrain” varieties that I was looking for. I opted to go with the Phil & Ted’s Sport Buggy.  At $450, it’s an investment for sure. But, it is one of the only strollers I’ve found that accommodates a second child with only buying a second seat. If we decide to give baby a sibling at some point, we wont’ have to buy an entirely different stroller. Plus, it’s one of the few jogger-type that accommodate a newborn without a car seat adapter.

I happened to find one of the highly coveted Phil & Ted’s on sale at TheRightStart.com on sale for $385. I decided to pull the trigger. Then immediately had buyer’s remorse. I placed the order last Thursday evening. I called the customer service line at The Right Start Friday morning. No one answered. There was no option to leave a message. I called back every hour for the entire day – same story. I emailed customer service to ask that my order be cancelled. No response. I emailed again.

On Monday I received a shipping confirmation. I tried to call again. And again. I emailed again. And again. 4 days and not a single ounce of customer service was extended to me. When I finally did hear back from customer service, via email, in response to my cancellation request they said, “I’m sorry we were unable to cancel your order.” End of story. No, “we apologize … we’ll recall the shipment” … nothing. It also turns out that I was charged $35 in sales tax, because there was a store in Seattle … which has since been closed. When I told the customer service rep about this, she simply stated that she would not refund the sales tax. Even though they do not have a presence in my state anymore, they are still going to steal sales tax from me. Super.

I exchanged a couple more emails with the customer service representative over the next two days about how disappointed I was with their service. The response? We are going through layoffs, and I’m the only customer service person so there will be delays in my responses. Still, no apology, no offers to remedy the situation … nothing.

I spent over $425 with this company and they couldn’t even bear to be friendly to me. I am tempted to refuse the UPS shipment today and send it back … but given the crappy service I have already received, I’m not sure they would refund my money! There is a reason The Right Start is laying people off … they obviously do not value customer service or providing people with a valuable shopping experience. I’m not one to rant and rave about poor shopping experiences, but this one was exceptionally bad and I would HIGHLY suggest that no one try to order online from this company … they are not equipped to do a good job or serve your needs.

 

Om … Pre-Natal Yoga Class January 15, 2009

Filed under: Fitness, organic pregnancy — happygreenbaby @ 10:17 pm
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I’ve been doing my pre-natal yoga and cardio fitness DVDs here at home (off and on) for several months, now. But this week marks my first venture out into the real world to exercise with other pregnant women. I went to my first pre-natal yoga class at Shakti yoga in Ballard last night.

There were 7 of us there, ready to bend, fold and twist our way to a stress-free pregnancy. While the workout was phenomenal (I can hardly move my arms today and the labor squat routine was intense!), probably the best thing about the class was being around other pregnant women. There’s something very comforting about hearing another woman say she is feeling a pain here, or wanting to stretch there - because I can totally relate. It was really beautiful to see all these women of different shapes and sizes, working to do something special for themselves and their baby.

Next class is on Saturday and I can’t wait.

 

My “Ah-ha” Moment Today January 7, 2009

Filed under: Fitness, Pregnancy Nutrition, organic pregnancy — happygreenbaby @ 5:39 am

I was watching Oprah’s first episode in this week’s “Best Life” series in which she and trainer Bob Greene are talking about “getting on the wagon.” While I’m obviously not trying to lose weight today, there were two great points they brought up that struck me as important to how I’m living right now.

I have to admit that I’ve been feeling a bit … frustrated, shall we say? about my level of physical activity these days. Before I got pregnant, I had visions of continuing my 3-day-a-week weight routine, swimming and cardio. I saw myself as being one of those incredibly fit, fabulously energetic pregnant women. Then we moved. I didn’t get a gym membership and I resigned myself to walking the dogs and doing yoga tapes at home. It’s not like a turned into a pastry-eating sloth, but it hasn’t been the sweat-busting workouts I had penciled for myself.

Now with “just” 15 weeks to go in my pregnancy, I’m starting to feel like “it’s too late” to be this healthy vision I had. Bob Greene said today that once we determine it’s too late for something, we’ve given up. There’s no hope. I don’t want to have no hope. 15 weeks is a long time! I have time to take longer walks – trek up the stairs at the beach park – do more  yoga tapes! I can still be the athletic, healthy woman I know I am!

Second item of note: Oprah made comment about how regardless of how poorly she had treated her body in the past year – it still performed for her, still carried her through her daily life. And she was grateful for that. That struck me.

I might have thickening thighs and a jiggly butt … but my body is growing a healthy baby boy. It is performing  a task like none other – and doing a damn fine job of it, I might add. I’m grateful for this body and all it’s strength and wellness. Cellulite and all.

 

Good Fitness Blog December 9, 2008

Filed under: Fitness, Pregnancy Nutrition — happygreenbaby @ 9:10 pm

Check out Baby Bump Fitness: http://jfitpregnancy.blogspot.com/

It’s a great little blog with fitness tips, nutrition ideas and other fabulous tidbits.

 

Wicked Pregnancy Workout December 2, 2008

Filed under: Fitness, organic pregnancy — happygreenbaby @ 8:59 pm

When we first found out I was pregnant, I immediately ordered two prenatal workout DVDs: Prenatal Yoga with Shiva Rea and The Perfect Pregnancy Workout with Karyne Steben.

I’ve done the yoga one a few times. It’s actually pretty good if you can get past the horrible one-piece unitards all the women wear and the way Shiva says “exhale.” In fact, it’s a really good 70 minute workout that I was feeling pretty happy about getting in once a week. That is, until I broke our the PPW DVD on Saturday.

The Perfect Pregnancy Workout is a “sculpting” video featuring a world-class acrobat formerly with Cirque du Soleil. So you know she isn’t going to mess around. You can add weights to some of the arm excercises, but I didn’t and am still incredibly sore today. She does a lot of great lunges and squats and the shoulder workout will have you crying out! I’m actually really excited to do it again … it feels great to be a little sore in all the right spots (arms, shoulders, butt and thighs) without worrying about doing anything negative with the bump. I highly reccommend checking it out!

 

Who Thought Eating Could Be So Much Work? October 30, 2008

Filed under: Fitness, Organic Food & Cooking, Pregnancy Nutrition, organic pregnancy — happygreenbaby @ 11:09 am
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I think every pregnant woman imagines she’ll spend 9 months gorging herself on anything her heart desires without a care in the world: ice cream, big fat burgers, jars of pickles (like my sister in law did). Fortunately for me, my cravings have been leaning toward the healthy realm and have had me chomping on pineapple, strawberries, Honeycrisp apples and yogurt of every flavor and variety. 

My problem thus far with this whole pregnancy nutrition thing isn’t trying to keep my hand out of the cookie jar, but in fitting in all my calories and nutrients every day! The pregnancy books say you only need an extra 300 calories a day for baby. Figure in that I used to have about 1400 to maintain my weight + 300 calories for baby = 1700 daily intake. Factor in those days when I go for walks or lift weights and I need to add in at least another 300 calories to make up for the burn factor. That’s 1900 calories on the typical day!

I’m a grazer. I don’t eat huge meals – but snack throughout the day with a bowl of oatmeal here, salad there, apple with peanut butter … so it’s been hard to keep track of what I’m eating.

Enter the really cool website www.BabyFit.com. On BabyFit, you can create your unique user profile with your goals, etc. but all the nutrtion is geared toward pregnant women. You can either follow their daily meal plans (there’s not a vegetarian option, so it didn’t work for me) or add your own foods each day. I’ve been adding my meals as I eat them and it gives you a running total of your calories, fat, carbs, protein, iron, folate, calcium and how you’re doing at reaching your goals. It’s been great for me because there are some days when I feel like I’ve eaten so much, but the handy charting will show me where I’m falling short – so I know to have a yogurt for a snack or to stock up broccoli for dinner.

 

First Trimester Review October 27, 2008

Filed under: Fitness, organic pregnancy — happygreenbaby @ 10:04 am
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The first trimester is officially over. That means we’ve started telling our friends, work and pretty much anyone else who shows a slight interest in our personal lives.

Much to my chagrin, I have done basically nothing for the past three months on the workout front. Some walks with the dog, an occasional hike, but generally not the vision of pregnancy health I had. While my belly has officially popped, I don’t feel there’s any reason for my legs or arms to get fat … so I’m back in the gym hitting the weights! It’s amazing how out of shape you can get in just three short months.

I also ordered two DVDs from Amazon – one is a pre-natal yoga video and the other is a pre-natal workout tape from a former Cirque du Soliel performer. Sure, they are still wrapped in the original packaging, two weeks after delivery – but I’m pretty sure I’ll try it today.

 

To the Core of the Matter September 11, 2008

Filed under: Fitness — happygreenbaby @ 10:22 am
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A couple years ago I met with a trainer at my gym to get a weight workout put together. About half of said workout consisted of core exercises. I rarely did them. It took too much time!

Recently, I started going to a 30 minute Core class at the gym and was feeling pretty rock solid. Then, we decided to get on this baby-making train and I figured the one exercise I could slack on without guilt would be abs. I mean, they’re going to get all stretched out and huge anyway, right?

You can imagine how crushed I felt when I came across a certain paragraph in The Organic Pregnancy that touted the benefits of strong abdomen muscles in supporting the baby and helping in a comfortable delivery.

Damn. I guess it’s back to the 11:15 core class on MWF.