HIIT me baby one more time

Charlie is almost 9 months old and I have finally lost all the weight I gained with him during pregnancy.

Here's a little backstory. When I was pregnant with my daughter I gained about 70 pounds. It was miserable. Everything hurt and I was so swollen. After I gave birth I lost about 20 pounds instantly. Then I started working hard and lost almost another 20. I had about 30 pounds left to go and a floppy stomach still. But then my daughter turned one and on her first birthday I was pregnant again!

I was so happy because I knew there was another baby ready to be born. But I hadn't lost all my baby weight with Lucy and there was no way I was going to lose 30 pounds while pregnant. I actually ended up gaining about 55 pounds. So that is 85 pounds up from my original starting weight.

That's a picture from my baby shower. I was so big and swollen. I had a horrible pregnancy with him and I was just so uncomfortable.

I had a rough delivery and then the stress of him being in the NICU did not help me lose weight like I did with my daughter. I only lost about 12 pounds after giving birth immediately. Which isn't much considering he weight 8 pounds 10 oz. 

Once we got him home and started to settle in I went to the gym again. I started off with light walking and bike riding. It was good to be back at the gym. I loved working out and had been very dedicated to working out before, during and after my first pregnancy. With all the complications I had during my second pregnancy I barely went. I lost almost all my muscle tone and it was just miserable.

Fast forward and I am now down 56 pounds. I have about 30-35 more pounds before I hit my goal weight. I hit a plateau for a little bit and ended up doing a crossfit challenge. It was so much fun! I did not lose the weight but I learned how strong I was. I took this knowledge and I applied it to my own workouts I do in the gym. 

However crossfit was not providing me enough cardio. I have done HIIT (high intensity interval training) for cardio for years. I decided to start combining that with some fasted cardio and I have been able to lose weight quickly with that.

I track my HIIT training by using my polar H10 heart rate monitor. It is Bluetooth compatible and allows me to track my heart rate on my phone & apple watch using the app Polar Beat. When I see those hills on the heart rate monitor I know my HIIT training is effective.

Of course doing HIIT training isn't for everyone, you should always talk to your doctor before starting an intense physical activity. 

I also realized how important it is for me to drink a protein shake. I get sick if I eat too much after I workout but I need to eat something and feed my body. I drink a Shakeology protein shake. I ended up trying it because it was plant based protein (I am technically lactose intolerant so the whey shakes rip my stomach up) & I knew a few people who used it and really liked the flavor. I am probably the most picky eater in the world but this protein is yummy with just plain water. Adding peanut butter or yogurt and fruit make it feel like a treat (which I LOVE). 

If you are interested in ordering Shakeology protein I can help! I signed up to become a coach just to get the protein powder at whole sale price. It was totally worth it. 

I plan on sharing more of my workouts with you all because I think it is nice to see REAL people in the gym and sharing tips and tricks that work for me! Maybe some will help someone else and that to me is worth it!

Here is the link to buy the Polar Heart Rate Monitor I use.

Also if you are interested in Shakeology just use the "get in contact with me" box on the right hand side & we will chat about getting you the whole sale price without the monthly bill (YAY saving money!)

Hello again

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged. Actually the last time I blogged was when Lucy was about 10 days old. Life got kind of crazy figuring out how to parent and be in charge of another life. Then I found out I was pregnant on Lucy’s first birthday. We welcomed baby brother Charles Blaine on September 2, 2017. After that I have been battling a rough case of postpartum depression. 

I can’t even begin to tell you why. Because honestly I have no idea why. I just felt so bad about myself. I gained weight. I wasn’t losing the weight quickly. I hated how I looked. My baby wasn’t sleeping (he still hasn’t got the memo that sleeping through the night is a good thing). But my depression has gotten significantly better. I’m starting to feel back to myself more and more. 

I wanted to blog again because I think it’s a good way to express how I feel and maybe if one person reads it and feels better then it was totally worth it! 

I’ve totally redone by blog and split up some categories that I want to include. My blog is supposed to be about having a healthy mind, body and soul. 

A healthy body includes things that I do to keep my body healthy. I am working on getting my body back to where it was before I had the babies. Or at least somewhere that I am happy with (hopefully more muscle and less jiggle, but some jiggle because donuts).

My family section will be all about my cute little family. Tyler & I have been married almost 6 years. He is the most supportive husband, and the best partner I could ever ask for. Lucy is almost 2 & a half years old. She is my spitfire, wild child. She is a free spirit with all the sass of a super toddler. Charlie is 8 months old. He is a sweet, cuddle monster. He also doesn't love sleep as much as Lucy so it makes me a little (lot) tired. Hopefully you will find as much joy and laughter in them that I do.

  

I included a fashion and make up section for fun! I am not by any means a beauty blogger or a fashionista. But I am a mom, and I have SOME sense of style. I am also about comfort and realistic clothing & make-up. I am not throwing on my red bottom shoes for a trip to Walmart to get baby food and formula. But being comfy can still be cute!

The lifestyle section is kind of where I'll just put everything else. I am super into taking pictures of the kids & things we do. I love photography. I also love drawing and doing crafts (I'm currently trying to convince my husband we NEEEEED a cricut... almost there).

Take a look around! If you are interested in keeping up feel free to subscribe!

Welcome Lucy Kay

It's been 9 days since I've given birth to my sweet baby girl. I feel like she's always been part of our life, I can't even remember what it was like before her. I wanted to share my labor story as well as the first week experience.

Lets start with Sunday! I was supposed to be induced at 10 pm on Sunday night, it was about 9 when I got a call from Mountain-View saying they have to push my induction back because they didn't have a room. Normally that wouldn't be such a big deal but I am on blood thinners so my injections are timed around when I was going to be induced so I could get an epidural. We waited ALL night. I finally called and was told I could come in at 9 AM on Monday. So by the time I got all hooked up and labs done, plus monitoring the baby I was able to start pitocin at 11.

The nurse was able to increase the pit every half hour. She didn't check me again until around 2 pm. My cervix dilated from a 2 to a 3 and I was effaced about 70%. With the way this was going it looked like I wasn't going to have this baby until WAY late that night. Around 4 pm she came in again to check and they decided to break my water. The doctor came in around 5 PM and gave me my epidural first. Lucy did not tolerate it well so I had to stay on my left side (meaning I could feel everything on my right side but nothing on my left). Then the other doctor came in and broke my water, I was dilated to about a 4 only but I was 100% effaced!

About 30 minutes later I got this insane NEED to push. I felt like she was right there. We called the nurse in and she checked. Sure enough Lucy was right there and I had to hold off on pushing until the doctor got there. The nurse had me do 2 practice pushes to get her head a little lower.

Like 20 minutes later the doctor showed up. It was time to push. 2 sets of pushes later and Lucy was OUT.

She was born at 6:28 PM on Monday, December 28th. She was 8 pounds & 20 inches exactly.

I have never seen such a beautiful baby, and she was mine! Tyler & I couldn't be more proud.

The first couple of days were rough. She was constantly hungry!! I wasn't making enough milk to satisfy her, but the nurses said it was ok to keep feeding her that way. Well it wasn't enough because she got a little jaundiced and we had to stay one more night in the hospital. We started supplementing with formula so help get her to poop out the bill until my milk came in.

Well Lucy is a REALLY good eater, I mean REALLY good. She has a strong suck. It made breast feeding horrible. I realized I might not be able to do this because I didn't want to be in so much pain. I know this is really horrible to say, but I hated being in so much pain when it should really be enjoyable. A few days later my milk started to come in, breast feeding still hurt but I could pump. So I pumped a lot, A LOT. It started to get really exhausting to pump all the time. So finally I tried going back to breast. She is doing much better and isn't hurting me as much. 

I felt like a failure for not wanting to breastfeed. It was a terrible feeling. I shouldn't have felt this way because as long as I am providing nutrition for my baby and taking good care of her there is nothing to be ashamed about. So here's hoping that in 2016 people will be less judgmental and more supportive of each others choices.

We also got Lucy's newborn photos done! They turned out AMAZING. My friend Amanda took them and was able to get them back to us that same day!! I highly recommend her if you ever need any kind of photos done.

The nursery!

I've been waiting to write this blog post for MONTHS now! The nursery is pretty much all done (just waiting on getting the cushions for the rocking chair a custom cover).

It took Tyler & I quite a few months to get everything in and hang stuff up, but after a lot of hard work and both of us being OCD it is FINALLY done.

But first I thought I would post an update on my pregnancy!

How far along? Almost 34 weeks!

Sleep: What is this sleep you speak of?

Best moment this week: Watching her practice breathing on the ultrasound

Movement: She is rolling all around. Her little feet like to hang out in my rib cage.

Symptoms: Heart burn, feeling full all the time, dizziness, constant fatigue

Food cravings: Smashburger buffalo fries. YUM

Food aversions: None at this point.

Labor Signs: I have braxton hicks (more while I'm at work)

Belly Button in or out? I've slowly watched my belly button go from innie to outie... every now & then it is still in but if I eat a big meal its poking out.

What I miss: SUSHI & laying on my belly

What I am looking forward to: Holding my baby girl

Weekly Wisdom: Don't google anything, ever. 

Milestones: Only 5.5 weeks to go....!!!

And now for my favorite part! The Nursery!!!

Her sweet crib space.

I love this so much.

Her closet isn't quite finished yet but I figured I should hang up less clothes because she has so many!

This is the rocking chair corner. 

I love this spot too. The signs are so fantastic.

The letters in this sign are rose gold and the person who made them used foil. It is such a sweet sign.

One of the cute quotes from Where the Wild Things Are.

This is my FAVORITE thing in the nursery. I am obsessed with unicorns for her nursery so this was the most exciting purchase for me.


If you have any questions about where we got anything just shoot me a message! I would be happy to share :)

Peanut Butter Muffins

Hello fall!

This is my absolute favorite time of year. The leaves are changing (kind of), the weather is finally cooling down, & everything is pumpkin flavored (literally everything).

As much as I LOVE pumpkin, believe me it is a lot, my first love is actually something else. Peanut butter. If I could put peanut butter on everything I would. It is my favorite thing to eat (sometimes just straight out of the jar). But I have done such an awesome job getting to my goal weight and now building muscle so I can no longer just allow myself to eat a whole jar of peanut butter while binge watching the office.

So like any other person who is craving delicious food I ventured on to pinterest. I stumbled upon this awesome picture & found this amazing blog (found here)! It looked amazing just the way it was, but almost too healthy to combat my sweet tooth too. So I changed some things up to make it both enjoyable for me & my husband. Because who doesn't enjoy peanut butter, protein, banana, chocolate chip muffins (name still pending lol).

The original recipe only allows 6 muffins to be made (I like to food prep so I doubled it). This is what I gathered up & put in a big mixing bowl.

4 Tbsp. Peanut Butter

1 Medium Banana Mashed

1/3 Cup Oat flower

2 Whole eggs

1 Cup Egg Whites (I eyeballed this)

2 Scoop Vanilla Protein (be careful when adding this because you do not want to dry out the muffins)

2 Tsp. Baking Powder

1 Pinch (the tiniest pinch) of brown sugar.

2 Tsp. chocolate chips

I mixed that all up in a bowl and whisked it until it was a smoothish consistency.

Then I poured the mixture into the cute little cupcake tin with my Halloween liners until about 2/3 full in each little liner. It should make about 12 muffins.

I baked them at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes (I forgot to set my timer so I had to do a lot of eyeballing on that too).

Overall it was pretty simple and it turned out delicious.

Because I am super health conscious I also calculated out the calories and macros for about ONE muffin:

Calories: 115

Protein: 9

Carbohydrates: 12

Fat: 5

Obviously these muffins don't replace a steak when it comes to protein, but they are SO filling and are going to be a great addition for that weird time between post-workout and lunch. Plus it helps me not want to eat an entire box of cookies, or a jar of peanut butter. 

Side note: next time I plan to add chia seeds. I've done this for peanut butter banana nut bread & it tastes amazing. I just wanted to add chocolate to this batch for Tyler. 

Enjoy!