Fitness and Healthy Eating

I've been asked quite a few times what I'm doing in order to lose the baby weight. I tell everyone the same thing:

I'm eating clean and exercising 4-6 days a week.

I started eating healthier around 26-27 weeks pregnant and have stuck with it ever since. I became obsessed with it. Finding new recipes, making them and deciding which ones were keepers and which ones just tasted bland and yucky.

I posted my results on Facebook and Instagram to keep me accountable and received great feedback. So much so that I felt confident enough to keep it up and try to motivate others with my progress. 

Where do I find recipes?

I find 95% of my recipes from Instagram to be completely honest. I follow a lot of health gurus who enjoy coming up with healthy and really tasty foods. I especially love the dessert like meals that taste naughty but really aren't. It's so wonderful to know that I can have healthy pancakes for breakfast, healthy cookies for a snack or healthy ice cream at night when I'm craving it. And 9/10 I whip them up homemade so I know what ingredients are going in.

How do I track my calories and meals?

I use the MYFITNESSPAL app. It's amazing.

How do I know how many calories I can eat?

Lots and lots of research. I've gone to probably a dozen of sites with calculators and forums with members talking about it and almost always I come up with the same number. Currently I'm learning more about Macros and although I have read a lot about it, I still try to learn as much as I can. 

Do your research.

How do I stay motivated?

I have a workout buddy. My cousin and I both have the same goal in mind: to become fit and make it a lifestyle. We keep each other accountable and workout together.

I also post my results and progress on Instagram and Facebook for my friends and strangers to keep me accountable. I can't just give up when I've gone and posted that I've been trying so hard to become healthier. Positive feedback from everyone and inspiring my friends and others to become healthier is a great boost for me.

I look at a LOT of very healthy and fit pictures of women on Instagram. Most of it is food related pictures to give me ideas and even more are pictures of other mothers who were once unfit and unhappy with the way they felt and looked and did something about it. If they can do it, so can I.

No excuses.

My husband. I look up to him the most and don't want to disappoint.

What does my exercise routine look like?

In a good week, I workout for 6 days and take one rest day. In a bad week, I get in 4 workouts.

I've been lifting heavier weights and doing some cardio. I target specific muscle groups on certain days and make sure to take my rest days even if I feel like I don't need it.

I got a basic routine from bodybuilding that I used until just recently when I started a new training program from there called "LiveFit with Jamie Eason". 

How do I find time to workout with two kids?

I make time. 

Thankfully, I have my cousin's husband who watches all of our kids (my two year old and their two boys) while we workout at the small gym in my community. He has been amazing and I'm truly fortunate to have family so close.

My husband also helps with our daughter when he's home. I work out at night so he just puts her to bed for me.

I take my newborn with me to the gym. I make sure to nurse her before so she's all nice and sleepy in her carseat that is attached to my BOB jogging stroller so she stays quiet and doesn't bother anyone else.

I hope to join the YMCA and use their daycare (and better equipment) but Brynlee has to be 3 months before I can do that.

If I can't make it to the gym, I will do a workout DVD.

Is it hard to meal prep?

Not at all. Maybe a little time consuming but not hard.

A blender, food processor, tupperware, food scale, cookie sheet, foil, ziplock baggies and baking dish are just a few of the main things to help me.

I normally try to think three days in advance for meals, grocery shop for a weeks worth of meals and at least have three meals planned out a day. 

How much or little do I eat and do I ever cheat?

I stick within my calorie intake goal and try not to go over or too much under.

I eat about 5-6x a day so I don't get too hungry and binge.

I do have little cheats in very small doses and if I do really good all week without then I will indulge in a nice big cheat once every 1-2 weeks. 

Moderation is key.

What are my goals?

Right now I just want to reach my pre-pregnancy weight and I have about 8 lbs to go. But more than that I want to lose inches in my waist and tone up everywhere. I've got two inches to go in my waist until I'm pre-pregnancy but I want to surpass that.

I want to make this a lifestyle, which I'm slowly starting to realize it may just be.

I want to continue to have fun with this.

I want a rockin' body by the time my husband comes back from deployment and to make him proud.

(ONE WEEK difference with eating clean and sticking with LiveFit)

I'm going to try to make this a small series.

I plan to go into further detail with my routine and diet.

I will most definitely post my progress on here, my facebook and instagram.

If you have any questions or would like me to talk about anything, just let me know.

"It takes 4 weeks for you to notice,

8 weeks for your friends to notice,

and 12 weeks for the world to notice

A Change in Your Body.

Keep going."

One of my favorite fitness quotes :)