Pursuit of Wellness - My Current Workout & Nutrition Routine (16 Weeks Pregnant)

Episode Date: July 7, 2025

Ep. 192: Pregnancy has shifted a lot in my life, but one thing that hasn’t changed is my love for wellness. In today’s solo episode, I’m sharing how my workouts, nutrition, and self-care routines have evolved now that I’m 16 weeks along. From what I’m eating (spoiler: still all about protein) to the skincare swaps I’ve made, I walk you through a typical day and answer your most asked Q&As. Whether you’re pregnant or just looking for a wellness reset, this one’s for you. Leave Me a Message - click here! For Mari’s Instagram click here! For Pursuit of Wellness Podcast’s Instagram click here! For Mari’s Newsletter click here! Sponsored By: The first 1,000 to join at functionhealth.com/POW or use gift code POW at sign-up get a $100 credit toward their membership. Get better sleep, hair and skin with Blissy and use POWPOD to get an additional 30% off at blissy.com/POWPOD Get 20% off your first order at foriawellness.com/POW or with code POW at checkout. You’ll thank me later. Whether you’re launching a side hustle or building the next big brand, Shopify makes it simple to start and scale. Visit shopify.com/mari to make it happen. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/POW and get on your way to being your best self. Save 15% on the BON CHARGE Red Light Face Mask and more at boncharge.com with code PURSUIT at checkout. Show Links: Packed with 38 superfood ingredients, this delicious daily scoop supports digestion, reduces bloat, and boosts energy—meet Bloom Greens. Bloom Colostrum blends colostrum, collagen peptides, and probiotics to support gut health, immunity, and radiant hair, skin, and nails. Crush soda cravings with Bloom Pop—crafted with clinically-backed prebiotics and better-for-you ingredients for a bold, gut-friendly boost. Topics Discussed 00:09 Welcome and pregnancy update 01:00 Second trimester routines and eating shifts 02:05 Current what I eat in a day 2:53 Breakfast foods and supplements 08:30 Salads, sandwiches, and lunch staples 09:14 Favorite snacks and protein smoothies 09:45 Dinner staples and eating salmon 10:50 Dessert cravings and sweets aversions 11:25 Thoughts on caffeine and matcha 12:20 Pregnancy workouts, mindset shifts, and daily movement 18:22 Skincare, stretch marks, and natural beauty routines 23:03 Pregnancy cravings and food inspiration 23:50 Favorite workout clothes while pregnant 24:30 Pregnancy nutrition, nausea, and food changes 26:14 Acne triggers and skincare 30:12 Workout structure and timing 31:06 Tracking baby with app 32:29 Not riding during pregnancy 34:19 Postpartum weight and body image 35:15 GLP-1, past weight loss, and future plans Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the Pursuit of Wellness podcast and I'm your host, Mari Llewellyn. What is up guys? Welcome back to another solo episode with me. Today we're talking about my current nutrition and workouts. I am 16 weeks pregnant, but I'm also just someone who cares about health and nutrition. And even if you're not pregnant and you're listening, I think this will be beneficial because I'm still focused on protein and muscle and things like that. But obviously it looks a little bit different

now that I am pregnant. I just hit the 16 week mark today, which is so exciting. Every time I hit a new week mark, I just am like so excited and so grateful. The baby is the size of an avocado today. Oh, I keep forgetting you guys know the gender now, so I can say he is the size of an avocado. Love that. I am in my second trimester. I feel really good. My energy is definitely up lately. I used to kind of be like crashing a lot in the day and like taking naps, even though I have

to say, and I feel very privileged to say this, but I really didn't struggle with any nausea, didn't throw up, like really have had a lovely pregnancy so far, which is such a blessing. I'm gonna knock on wood. But yeah, I think in my second trimester, I've definitely been able to focus a lot more on getting in a good routine and working out again frequently. I'm lifting weights, I'm feeling strong. I'm definitely eating a bit healthier. I think in the first trimester, I was like just sort of eating whatever I wanted, not because I was struggling a lot with, well, I had some food aversions for sure. Like, could not eat things that were leftover. Certain proteins grossed me out. I would occasionally just want quesadillas and pizza and whatever. Now I'm in my second trimester, I feel a bit more myself again,

and I'm able to really get back to nutrient dense good foods, which I have been focused on the whole time, but now I just feel a bit more in a rhythm. So let's talk about nutrition first. And what I like to do is kind of walk you guys through a sort of typical what I eat in a day currently and fill you in on the things I'm eating because I am quite repetitive I think, but I'll also tell you things that I'm sprinkling in there every now and again, because I am someone who's really obsessed with nutrition and ingredients, and I know that there are certain things

to incorporate in your diet that are good for the baby's development, but I'll just kind of give you an idea of what I'm eating. And I actually did film what I eat in a day recently, which I haven't done in so long, but I know people are interested. I'm just kind of always hesitant with that stuff because people can be so intense when it comes to food,

which is so interesting. But anyway, first thing when I wake up in the morning, and this is different, I used to wait a couple hours to eat. That is not happening nowadays. I wake up ravenous. And if I wait too long to eat, I will not feel great. So the first thing I do when I wake up ravenous and if I wait too long to eat, I will not feel great. The first thing I do when I wake up is eat my raw protein bar.

I'm pretty sure you guys have heard me talk about these protein bars for legitimately three years at this point. It's spelled R-A-W-R, raw bars, and they are a small family business. They take a long time to arrive, but they are so good. And I have literally been eating these things for the last three years every single day. I only eat the dark chocolate almond butter one. I'm on a subscription for it.

It's high in protein, great ingredients, and I love it. So I eat one of those and that like satiates me because they're pretty high calorie. I think they're like 390 calories or something. And I have a bunch of water, fill my Stanley with ice. Sometimes I'll put electrolytes in there. Maybe I'll add a scoop of Bloom colostrum and that'll be like my drink of the day.

Well, no, I fill my Stanley cup like probably three times. And it's actually not a Stanley cup, it's a Hydra flask. Sorry Stanley, but I like the fact that I can put the straw down on this one. And I have a bunch of water. Then that's the point where I usually walk Arnold, get my steps in. If I feel good enough, I'll do a workout. I'll get to the exercise part in a minute.

But if I am lifting weights, I'll probably eat a banana or a piece of toast because I can't just work out fasted the way I used to. I need to have food in my stomach. Then my actual breakfast, I've gone through different phases like sourdough eggs and berries was my breakfast for the longest time. It has shifted a little bit lately. I'm doing purely Elizabeth cereal and I saw so many questions about this cereal that I eat every day. I get the vanilla blueberry one, I think it is. So freaking good. Something about the cereal with the cold milk and the crunch is just giving me life right now. And I put a slice of banana in there. I have two eggs from my chickens, two fresh eggs. Love my girls,

they're working hard back there. A little sprinkle of berries, usually strawberries and blueberries, and this is the point where I take all my supplements. So I take my prenatal, I take my fish oil, I take... sometimes I'll take my bloom greens. Yeah, that's pretty much it. I actually have way simplified my supplements being pregnant. Function Health is the only platform that gives you access to the kind of data most people never see and the insights to actually take action.

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your skin and hair will thank you. Then my next meal is usually lunch unless I need a snack in between but usually I'm okay. So lunch I've been hyper fixated on this green salad and at the first trimester I wouldn't have touched a salad honestly I felt like it sounded disgusting. Now I'm into salads again and I get it with feta cheese, green olives, chickpeas and a lot of roasted chicken for the protein. Every now and again I'll get myself a sandwich and I know people say don't eat deli meat. I'm eating deli meat. I get it from a good place.

I feel good about it. Do what feels good for you. So that is generally my lunch and then I'll it from a good place. I feel good about it. Do what feels good for you. So that is generally my lunch. And then I'll definitely have a snack. So here are some of the snacks that I'll have. A protein smoothie, which I make at home with banana, strawberry, whole milk, organic grass-fed whole milk, protein, like two scoops of protein and ice. I will have rice cakes. I actually have those in my bag right now. I've been eating them throughout the day and I'll put goat cheese or I'll smash an avocado and

put that on the rice cake. I also have been loving the Organic Valley string cheeses. They're really easy. Get them from Costco, throw them in your bag and fruit. Have been obsessed with fruit my whole pregnancy. Dinner. Okay, dinner varies. This is where Greg usually comes in the picture. Maybe he wants to make something. I usually have my own requests, but it's usually always a protein. Either chicken, steak, or salmon. I try to have salmon at least once a week.

Atlantic wild caught salmon, because it's really great for the baby's development. I'm sure you have me mention but Greg does order me fish eggs as well from the same company, Salmon Eggs, which is quite disgusting. I try to think of it as like this bougie caviar experience but it just really isn't and I put a scoop of those on a cracker. I have those maybe once a week right now. I think I'll probably amp that up when I'm in my third trimester.

And then I'll have it with either rice, potato or pasta, and a side salad. And then I'll have it with a bloom pop, I'm obsessed. I usually have the Shirley Temple flavor or the orange flavor. So fricking good. And much better macros than some of our better for you soda competitors.

So that's usually my dinner. Then dessert, I have not been obsessed with sweets, weirdly enough. I'm not like, chocolate sounds gross to me, would never want a cookie, no brownie, like it just doesn't sound good. I've dabbled with Swedish candy, but like even that isn't really hitting the spot for me.

The only thing that really hits is mango or pineapple or like cut fruit. Like that is just what I want right now. So that kind of sums up my whole day of food. That's kind of where I'm at. Obviously this varies. I did see a lot of you ask me about caffeine. I've only been drinking matcha and I will have maximum two a day. I make them at home usually.

Right now I'm in the studio and I got one on the way. But I'll generally only have two marches a day. I love matcha, I love the taste of it. I like it quite strong, like I don't love it super milky, like it has to be quite green. I don't love it super milky. It has to be quite green. I'll either make it Americano style or add some whole milk and do it iced currently because Austin is a hundred degrees plus at the moment. Coffee to me right now doesn't taste amazing and is making me so anxious.

So I just don't even bother with it. The other day I thought I wanted one and I had a sip of it and I was like, no, don't feel good. So no coffee for me at the moment. I know there's like a max amount of caffeine that you're supposed not supposed to have like not over 200 or something. I mean, I just have two marches and I feel fine with that. Let's talk about workouts.

I have been back to weightlifting about four times a week at this point which feels amazing. I wasn't allowed to work out for a while during some of my IVF phase and at the beginning of my pregnancy and it feels so good to be back working out and it's this crazy feeling of like, holy shit, I'm like doing all these strong, cool movements and I'm carrying a baby. Like how crazy is this? So it is a really cool feeling and I know it's beneficial for the fetus as well. I actually don't know the science behind that. I would love to have someone on the show to explain how that works, but they say it's really healthy to do for childbirth, for the health of the baby. So I feel really good about it. Obviously there's certain things I don't do. Everyone's different. I personally just don't do abs. I just don't

really feel the need to. Some of the movements are hitting your core anyway, like squats, push-ups, like those things are going to hit your core, but I'm not doing direct ab movements. I don't hip thrust. I just feel weird about it. I had a friend who had placenta previa and she ended up bleeding excessively from hip thrusting and I just don't want to mess with that. So I'm avoiding that. I've also hired a trainer who is prenatal certified and she's training me about twice a week and I'm loving it. Actually, she trained me earlier this week and I could barely walk for four days. So that was humbling. It's been really nice to work out with friends, have them come over to my gym and yeah, I just feel good about it. I think like embracing the way my body's changing and working out for

strength and like purpose is really cool, you know, because for a long time I worked out because I aesthetically wanted to look a certain way. So this feels like a good shift. I definitely get out of breath like way easier and my heart rates through the roof, but like, you know, I just take the necessary breaks in between and whatever. So I'm also aiming for 10,000 steps a day. Usually I hit around there, maybe a little below, maybe a little above, depends on the day really. And I always start the day with a walk, end the day with a walk.

We're about to be in Aspen, Colorado for a month. And I'm really excited to do some hiking. I think it will be challenging at altitude for me. So we're gonna do some sort of like moderate easy hikes. The weather there is gorgeous. I just can't wait. So that's the plan there. Foria creates award-winning products to support intimate experiences across every stage of life, from menstruation to menopause. They have a relief collection that features life-changing,

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So everything I used was already pregnancy safe. My clear stem cleanser, my face reality stuff, I use a very light mandelic acid, my moisturizer, all of that stuff was pregnancy safe anyway. I think what I've been doing more of is like lymphatic drainage, gua sha, because my face definitely has changed being pregnant, like it just feels a lot fuller. So not that that's a bad thing, but I just want to encourage like, you know, drainage of any inflammation. So I do that. I ice roll. I love my eye patches in the morning.

I also found an amazing prenatal certified lymphatic drainage massage here in Austin. And that was awesome because I was kind of scared to do that. And when I got to my second trimester, I went to see her and it was so gentle but so effective at the same time. So just like taking time to do self-care, things like that I think is really effective. Oh, also paying way more attention to body stuff, like everything I'm putting on my body. First of all, the oil on the belly thing. I have to keep reminding myself to do it because I keep forgetting, but I have like a Bahama Mama Natural Body Oil, I think it is, and I like that one.

I also ordered this like natural stretch cream stuff that I might blend the two together and see how that goes. But I also put it on my boobs because my boobs have been really itchy and I think it's because the skin is stretching so I want to make sure I'm like doing that, my thigh area, whatever. So doing that as well as like an all-natural body lotion. I'm definitely paying more attention to body care than I ever did. Also, I like being tan. If you have been following me for a while, you remember I used to get a weekly spray tan, which was a really crazy time of my life. And then I just started doing my own self-tanner.

And now I like looked up my self-tanner. It wasn't a hundred percent pregnancy safe. So I was like shoot I have to find something else. Salty Face is a pretty natural pregnancy safe one. They say that Loving Tan is pregnancy safe. I don't do it as often as I used to because it freaks me out. I do it when I really need to for a big event or something.

Oh deodorant, that's a big one. So deodorant fre that's a big one. So deodorant freaks me out also. And I went, I went a while not wearing any, but it has become apparent to me that when you're pregnant, you smell really bad, no matter how clean or how many showers you take. I feel like I just smell like an onion. And I don't know if it's me having an extra sense of smell, or if my hormones are just making me smell, but me and my other pregnant friend are like, wow, we reek. And like, I really do reek.

So I found or someone told me about this all natural deodorant called Buddha cream and it's like coconut cream in a jar. And I like put my hand in it and spread it around in my armpits I actually order it on Instacart from like natural grocer or something and it is effective like it actually does work maybe by the end of the day it's not perfect but it's better than nothing and I do not want to put any weird stuff near my lymph nodes so that has been my solution for deodorant another thing I've been trying, I need to be better because I forgot the last night

and then I did it the two nights before, is this face taping concept. So everyone's doing this face taping instead of Botox and I wanted to try it. So this company called, this sounds like an ad, it's not, Sealed Wellness sent me some tape and I tried the forehead tape, which was good. And then I did the smile line tape and the eye tape.

I'm a very sensitive sleeper. If I am at all uncomfortable, I can't sleep. The eye tape for me was too much. I was like this, I have to take it off. The forehead tape, I felt like it just like stops you from like crinkling your head when you're sleeping. Like imagine maybe you're having like an annoying dream and you're like crinkling your head. I felt like when I took off the tape, it did make it appear that I wasn't, like there weren't as many lines. Who knows? I think you have to be quite consistent with it, but I'm trying it.

So I'll keep you guys posted. Okay, let's answer some Q&A questions. See what you guys have to say. Have you had any strange pregnancy cravings yet? No. Okay, fruit has been consistent, like mango, that type of thing. It's more like if I hear about something or see something

and I absolutely need to have it that day and I will do anything I need to to get it. Like that's more the vibe. Like the other day, a club sandwich, I saw a club sandwich and I was like, I absolutely need to have a club sandwich today. Or you know what's been happening recently that really is quite annoying?

The Europe photos everyone's posting online and how good that European pasta looks and the Italy and the France and the that I mean and I can't get to it Yeah, that's the vibe. Like if I see something I Need it. What bottoms and tops are you working out in? Are you? Finding you need to try different types. Yes I I'm in a good spot now with where I'm at bras are still my biggest challenge. I'm wearing my form Shorts my one of my closest friends Sammy Spalter my biggest challenge. I'm wearing my form shorts.

One of my closest friends, Sammy Spalter, owns the company. I wear my form shorts, size large. I did size up because otherwise it's too tight on my stomach. I wear these skims sports bras I've had for so long. They are the only thing that feels comfortable. Then I wear these soft free people loose crop tops. That feels good for me. I also love a body suit now from like Beyond Yoga. Those are really comfortable. A lot of people are asking if I'm having nausea. I'm not and I feel for you. I know it can be so rough. Like a lot of girls are

bedridden. I have not struggled with that. I had morning nausea very mild in my first trimester. Are you still gluten-free? No, I'm not actually. I am, as you guys might remember, I was like dairy-free, gluten-free, all the things for my acne for a long time. And then once we healed my H. pylori and acne, I stopped that because I enjoy gluten and dairy.

So I have it now, every now and again. Are you still weighing your meals or eating intentionally, pregnant here too? No, I have not weighed my meals since probably 2018. Maybe like once or twice since then, but like not for a long, long time. I used to use my fitness pal. And that was when I didn't understand macros

and I didn't really know how to eyeball food. Now I'm really aware of nutrition and I don't feel like I have to do that as much. Are you prioritizing protein or focusing more on healthy fats and carbs? Love you. Protein is like always a must for me. I try to have protein with every single meal. And definitely having a lot of healthy fats right now. Olive oil, olives, cheese, you know, avocado. I think that's really important when you're pregnant. And carbs, yeah, I mean, I have rice, potato, pasta. Like, I'm a little bit less worried about that stuff right now. I need to know the cereal you're eating and what kind of milk. Purely Elizabeth vanilla

blueberry and that was like a farm milk that I had from Austin that was like organic whole milk. Does anything trigger acne for you anymore? I mean, I have a couple zits. I feel like they're hormonal, but they're like on the side of my face. So that makes me wonder if it was like a hair product maybe, but I don't get the same level of acne as I used to have. Like it used to be so, so bad. So anything else I'm like just grateful for. This is an ad by BetterHelp. Workplace stress is now one of the top causes

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P-U-R-S-U-I-T to save 15% off. That's B-O-N-C-H-A-R-G-E.com and use coupon code PURSUIT to save 15%. What workouts do you typically do and for how long? It's always weightlifting for me. You guys know I love a weight lift. When I workout alone, probably 40 minutes. I'll do like circuit style training, like full body, upper body and lower body in one. And then when I'm with the trainer, it's for a full hour and it's usually focused on either legs or upper body.

Are Bloom Green's pregnancy safe? I am taking them, but 100% talk to your doctor and figure out if you feel comfortable with it. But I feel good about it. The brand of salmon roe, the company's called vital choice Alaskan Salmon and salmon roe and we order both our salmon and salmon eggs from there. Do you have any unhealthy cravings? I mean, yeah, honestly not that bad. But like I I do enjoy

Pizza and pasta like more savory stuff honestly than sweet which I obviously enjoy when I feel like it. What app are you using to track Coco Bean? Love that you guys are calling him Coco Bean. What to expect is the name of the app. It's really cute. Like it shows you the fruit size of the week and you get to watch a video of like what's happening. I remember you used to eat quite blood sugar friendly.

Is that still the goal for you? It's definitely something I think about and I think I am someone that's like blood sugar sensitive. So like, like if I'm having yoga, I'm not going to put honey on it because it doesn't make me feel great. I like the taste of it and I think honey is good for you. But if I have too much sugar at a meal, I won't feel good afterwards. I've always been that way. So I think it's just kind of how I live now. But it's not something I think about too much, honestly. Do you sweeten your matcha lattes? No. Here's the other thing. Like I don't love a sweet drink. Never have, never will. Like I know everyone's obsessed with the brown sugar shaken iced thing from Starbucks. And it does sound good to me, but I never enjoy that type of drink.

So no, I never sweetened any of my drinks. Do you drink cold drinks again like smoothies? Yes, I do. Before my transfer and like at the beginning, there's like a Chinese medicine rule that you don't consume anything too cold because the embryo likes it to be warm. That was just something I followed, but now I am eating cold things, thank God, because

it's hot here. Are you riding Red still? If not, what's your plan with him during pregnancy? I have chosen to not ride horses while pregnant. It just, for me, I've had too many freak things happen while riding and I just know it's never going to be worth it for me. I miss it so much and it hurts my heart to even think about it. Red is being ridden by this lovely girl, Kaylin, who works at the barn. She rides him every day. I even got

him fitted a new custom saddle. He's loving life. I miss him so much. I really need to go visit him. But honestly, I think I'm just really emotional but when I go and see him it like hurts my heart that I can't ride him which is silly. I should just go groom him or something but I miss it so much. It's such a joy in my life. What's your go-to meal when nothing sounds good? Toast, eggs, and fruit, honestly. Like, that's kind of my go-to. Are there any foods you have been told to avoid but haven't? I mean, I think everyone says like,

don't eat deli meat, undercooked meat. I make my meat medium rare and I've sort of switched maybe to medium now. I still eat deli meat as long as it's from a good place because I read the studies on it and I felt like it was okay. I don't eat sushi. I avoid eating too much tuna or fish with like larger fish with metals in them. I don't drink alcohol.

Unpasteurized yogurts or milk. I don't think I've done that. I think everyone has like different takes on things and you know I would recommend getting that book Expecting Better by Emily Oster. I think that's a good one to read because then you can kind of make your own decision based on the facts and the statistics rather than someone just like telling you. Do you have any anxiety about losing the weight afterwards? I don't. I think because I've done it before on my own, I don't have anxiety about it because I just know I'm capable of it.

Does that make sense? Like having gone through my own weight loss journey, naturally, I know what to do. So no, I don't really have anxiety about it. Why aren't you doing any core workouts? Isn't it good to strengthen your pelvic floor? I definitely want to incorporate pelvic floor specific exercises, which I haven't done yet. I definitely want to incorporate pelvic floor specific

exercises which I haven't done yet. I need to look into that but I just was told by my IVF doctor that doing unnecessary amounts of core workouts wasn't necessarily a good thing. So like that's why I stopped going to Pilates because there's just so much core but anything that's like pelvic floor focus I would definitely do. Someone said didn't you say farm fresh eggs trigger your acne? I don't find that anymore that was only when I was struggling with H. pylori. Did you use GLP-1 before to lose weight and will you do it again? No. When I lost the weight in 2017-2018 I lost 90 pounds. I didn't even know what GLP-1 was. It probably would have been helpful, but I didn't know what it was. And who knows if I'll ever take it one day.

I've had some interesting conversations about it on the show, and I know so many people it has helped greatly. So I'm not anti it, but I also know that I'm capable of doing it naturally. What do you recommend to have for breakfast in early stages of pregnancy? Okay, so obviously I'm not a professional. I'm not qualified to give you guys advice

and I also didn't struggle that much with nausea, but when I did have some nauseous days, I loved having a protein bar to grab that was quick that I knew I loved. I also think simple toast with butter sometimes is just the easiest with some salt on it. Definitely put salt. I think people are afraid of salt and that can actually help you with electrolytes and minerals. I was able to eat eggs.

Not everyone is, that's okay. Maybe you do a smoothie instead and make it drinkable. I also think like rice cakes, fruit, just keep it really, really simple. Guys, thank you so much for tuning in to today's nutrition workout skincare update. I hope it was useful to some of you and gave you some ideas. I am going to start uploading more what I eat in a days during my pregnancy just to give you guys ideas and I would love

to hear what you're enjoying right now. Share it with me, leave a comment, leave a review. Also don't forget to subscribe. I upload a new episode every Monday. We have some amazing guests coming on the show. I know you're going to love them. And I will see you guys in the next episode. Bye.

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