Thank God For Pamela's!!

As mentioned in my previous post, Pamela's continues to demonstrate its amazing support towards my endeavors (whether it be Ironman or growing a baby)! The message that I try to convey through my lifestyle and daily challenges is that there is always time for "health." Proper nutrition involving a gluten-free diet is just as important while pregnant as it is training for an Ironman.

Over the past few weeks, now that I am out of the 1st trimester "sickies" I have been eating like a champ and craving a lot of carbs! Pamela's has a great baking mix that can be used to bake almost anything!! Here are two of my favorites:

Bannana Bread: http://www.pamelasproducts.com/recipe_frames.html

Muffins (I use blueberrys): http://www.pamelasproducts.com/recipe_frames.html

You are lucky I got a picture because they did not last long!

Another great use for the baking mix I have found is dumplings!! Just mix the Pamela's baking mix with milk until it is thick and you can roll a ball with it in the palm of your hand. Then drop it into any soup/stew you like!! Yum!

I have been doing a lot of reading with regards to athletes who are gluten-free. It seems as if many athletes are becoming more aware of the "gluten allergy/intolerance" and a lot are discovering through elimination diets that they improve performance and general feeling/energy with a gluten free lifestyle. Check out this link:

http://team.firstendurance.com/group/GlutnFreeLiving

Although I am not in training nor really prepping for race season, I like to keep myself "active" and follow a healthy diet. Now, that is not to say I am perfect; I am far from it! There are days when I fall off the wagon, both health-wise and gluten-free wise. There, I said it, somedays I fail! and that is ok! I know it is hard for people starting off with a gluten-free diet and there will be mistakes and hiccups along the way. I like to think of it as a learning process. Just one thing to keep in mind though; it takes 2-3 weeks to fully eliminate the gluten from your diet, so if you "cheat" you are not 100% better until that gluten and the inflammation in the gut has subsided.

The best piece of advice I can give you if you chose to go gluten free is to read and educate yourself. Also, consult a nutritionist; if you are in the Boulder area, I recommend Megan, my nutritionist: http://www.forbesnutritionalconsulting.com/index.htm

Finally, I do have a "bump" post! This is taken at 15 weeks and the little "gluten-free bun in the oven" is finally showing. I am finally using the elastics on my pants and feeling the my tummy start to grow "out" which is good, because I think it has taken up all space inside of me! My bladder and tummy are squished!!

Right now I am in my 17th week, so I should begin to feel the little guy/gal move soon! We had an ultrasound on Friday and it was too soon to tell the sex; well, there was a little "itty bitty" but, that can turn into a boy or girl, so for now we wait one more month.

On the health front, I am feeling much better and we did get more of an explanation for the "spotting" that gave us such a scare a few weeks ago. Turns out that in addition to the infection, I do have a low placenta (nothing to worry about), which, will move up as the pregnancy progresses. So, I have been given the clearance to go ahead with my activities (yeah!), continue running....which, has become an adventure in itself; I only run on a treadmill close to a bathroom because every 5 minutes I have to sprint to the bathroom to "relieve" myself. I swear, what feels like it is going to be niagra falls always turns out to be a teaspoon. Always an adventure!

I was also told to swim.....I knew it was inevitable......