crossfitting 10 days before due date

No one said I was going to look pretty doing it, and thankfully, CrossFit isn't about looking pretty. 

I'm using this as proof for one day when my son tries to quit something he's already committed to. I'll tell him I never stopped CrossFitting when I was pregnant with him, despite the first trimester fatigue and queasiness, the weight gain and all the other body changes. I'll tell him that if I can do that, he can surely finish out his commitment, be it a CrossFit WOD, a little league season, a volunteer event, etc. 

T-minus 10 days WOD
5 rounds of:
10 ring rows
10 deadlifts
10 wall balls
10 dumbbell push presses

more freezer meal recipes

Picking up where I left off with my weekend cooking saga, Saturday, after completing my Labor Countdown WOD at the gym, I came home at lunchtime to tackle two more recipes.

First up, I trimmed, cooked and shredded 12 chicken breasts. Then, I turned to my Paleo Comfort Foods cookbook for an adaptation of its Chicken Tomatillo Stew, only mine turned out more red than green, as I used red bell peppers and red chiles.

After James ate both our portions of Beef Stew for lunch, he managed to eat a huge bowl of this stew as his mid-afternoon meal before I could get the containers into the freezer. I can't complain though, he's not a picky eater and eats whatever is in front of him. Hopefully our son will be the same!

Next up on the list was a Buffalo Chicken Soup recipe I found online. I doubled the recipe and adapted it quite a bit, adding more celery and onions and less cheese, swapping hot sauce for an extra helping of buffalo sauce and subbing coconut flour and a bit of xanthan gum for wheat flour.

Exhausted, but happy with my progress, we spent a couple hours Saturday night at Johnny's Pizza enjoying a 'slice' of doughless meat deluxe pizza while bidding farewell to friend and gym member Jef Fearless. James stunned the attendees with his choice of attire--no longer are tacky Christmas sweaters reserved for parties of the same name. James is bringing back the 80s!

I'm not sure if it was the noise, food or time of night, but it felt like the baby was trying to bust out and escape. No contractions, just continuous kicks and prods. Hoping to hear more new of progressing at my doctor's appointment this morning.

Oh, and stay tuned for my final two freezer meal recipes: Texas Chili and Jambalya!

weekend of cooking....beef stew

Until now, I feel like the weekends have flown by and I've barely had a chance to make regular meals, let alone meals to freeze for after the baby arrives. So last weekend, I decided that I would take this past Friday off work to make sure I get some things done--even if it is relatively last-minute.

My goal was to make six different batches of freezer meals (two a day), and I'm happy to report that as of Sunday morning, batch No. 5 is simmering away.

On Friday, after researching what meals to make, getting my list of ingredients together and spending $170 in food, I came home and made a pot of Maple Bacon Butternut Squash Soup that my friend Lauren had recently sent my way.

(As robust as this list looks, I had to go to the store again on Saturday. And I had four packs of chicken breasts in the freezer, which I bought on sale a few weeks ago that helped to keep the cost down. I'd say that overall, these freezer meals would have totaled about $200.)

I had one bowl of the butternut squash soup for lunch, and froze the rest. It was quite tasty, making me wish I had doubled the recipe.

After tackling this first easy soup, I moved on to creating my own version of beef stew. I thought it was quite good--like pot roast but more flavorful. I'm pretty sure James agreed, as he managed to eat both portions I had saved for our lunch on Saturday.


Beef Stew

Ingredients:

• 3 cups celery
• 3 cups yellow onion
• 6 carrots
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 to 3 tbsp coconut oil (or olive oil) 
• 2 lbs beef stew meat
• 4 bacon strips
• 2 sweet potatoes
• 8 oz. can of no salt added tomato sauce
• 2 cans no salt added diced tomatoes
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 cans beef broth
• 1 tsp thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp rosemary
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

1. Dice celery, onions and carrots, mince garlic, then sauté in coconut oil roughly 10 minutes until onions are translucent.

2. Sauté stew meat and chopped bacon in skillet until slightly browned.

3. Add beef and remaining ingredients to sautéed veggies in pot.

4. Simmer for roughly 2 hours, until sauce thickens, sweet potatoes are soft and meat falls apart.

So simple, yet so tasty!

the countdown begins...t-minus 2 weeks

I can't believe how the fall has flown by, and now it's just a week until Christmas. With exactly two weeks until my due date, I'm really hoping I've gotten all things baby taken care of in case he comes a little early. At my past two weekly OB appointments, my midwife has hinted that this baby will definitely not be late. As of Monday, I was 1 to 2 cm dilated and 80% effaced. Hoping to learn I've continued to progress at my appointment this coming week.

Here's a look back at the past month or so and what's been going on in the Hobson world.

34 weeks, donning an Atlanta Affiliate League T-shirt. Gotta represent, even if I can't compete! I'm starting to question if this was actually a 34 week picture, since it looks like I've grown a ton in the 35 week picture. Maybe it was 33 weeks, who knows.

35 weeks over Thanksgiving weekend. With fitted clothes, you can see the bump is quite large and in charge.

36 weeks. Looks like this is when he started dropping.

37 weeks headed to a CrossFit Addiction girls night in.

Our gracious host Lori even made the two pregnant gals mocktinis--grapefruit and pomegranate! Sorry for toasting right in front of your face, Corin!

Gratuitous self portrait, 37.5 weeks pregnant.

38 weeks heading to do a CrossFit workout I've named Labor Countdown.

4 rounds:

250 m row

10 slamballs 15lbs

10 kettlebell swings 35lbs

10 overhead squats 45lbs

10 push press 45lbs

= Roughly 16 minutes

Only time will tell if it works. Several people have suggested eating the eggplant parmesan at Scalini's. Only I'm not sure I like eggplant parmesan! As excited as I am about the prediction of him being early, I'm still feeling good and am in no rush to hurry him out--I want him to beef up a bit and keep putting on weight.

The other day, James told me it'd be really nice if he came on a Saturday, since the gym is closed on Sundays and he wouldn't have to worry about getting coverage for classes. I agreed that yes, that'd be ideal, but a very small likelihood. During my next couple visits to the gym this past week, 5 different people came up to me asking about Saturday and if I was ready. Ha. James has apparently told everyone that he hopes the baby comes on a Saturday. Maybe he thinks that if you get enough people talking about it, it actually happen.