Baby Weight be Gone!

I think it goes without saying that my plan for 2014 is to eat good, be healthy and of course... lose weight. And I know.... It's the new year and practically 96% of people make the same 'New Year's' resolution but this isn't really a 'resolution' per say. It just so happens that I am starting it in the New Year.

If you have been following along with the blog or Twitter/instagram then you know I had my little peanut 4 months ago. The initial plan was I was going to start working out after my Dr gave me the OK. At the end of October I got the 'OK' and started working out. My 2nd week in {working out 3-4 times a day} the right side of my incision started to open a bit {I had a c/s}. My Dr told me to stop for the time being until it was healed up. Well December came, and it was healed up but Christmas was right around the corner so I just figured I would start after the New Year and get the holiday out of the way. Since then I have been sticking with good food but have indulged on more then one occasion. I stepped on the scale and since my last Dr appt. I have only lost 5lbs which didn't surprise me since I haven't been working out and eating 100% clean {also... whoever said Breast Feeding burns calories and 'makes you lose' the baby weight is a liar, just saying...}.

So here I am. A new year and a new me {to come}.

I will be 30 this year so that's another reason why I am kicking the baby weight.

I don't have to lose as much as I did with my first pregnancy {80lbs} to get to my pre-pregnancy weight, this time I have to lose 35lbs to get to where I was before I got pregnant so that is my first goal. To lose the 35lbs and get to pre-preggo weight. My next goal will be to lose another 35-40lbs {I was 165 when I found out I was pregnant} or inches... whichever comes first.

I know what to do. All of this isn't new to me. After I had my son I had 80lbs to lose. I had lost close to 100 by his first birthday with exercising and eating healthy {Turbo Fire, P90X, Running/walking}.

I don't diet. I never have and never will. I try to follow the standards of clean eating. Eating wholesome foods, all natural and foods that have 5 or less ingredients {and making homemade whenever possible}. Staying away from Processed, sugary, sweets, fatty and greasy foods.

I started day 1 today with a 45min. Body Combat workout.

Luckily for me, it's winter. When I started my journey after having my son it was Spring, heading into Summer. Hoping to at least knock out these 35lbs by mid-Spring!

So what are your resolutions folks?

Growing green

Happy Monday everyone.

It's a bit chilly down here in Florida this morning, at least to chilly for my liking.

So I am off work again today... Have to try and get an appt. in with the dermatologist today. I have started breaking out in Hives, which is weird. I have never gotten hives before and hives typically mean your having an allergic reaction to something. Im hoping she can give me some sort of super potent anti-itch/anti-hive medicine. I've just about doused myself in anti-itch creams... ugh. I'm over it.

Did I ever talk to you about our garden? No? Well we have started a new garden this year. Last year our garden was pretty sad. It was along the side of the house where it was a bit 'hidden' and well... it really didn't take off as much as we had hoped. That and it was ravaged by nasty large green horn worms.

So this year we moved the garden to other corner of the yard, back behind the pool.

We have ourselves some strawberry plants growing in a few pots around the actual bed of the garden.

A banana tree.

Josh made some herb boxes to hang along the top part of the fence. He drilled holes in the bottom for water drainage and then lined them with plastic, filled with potting soil and added some cilantro and basil {our most fav. herbs}.

The main bed had two more strawberry plants and 8 tomato plants.

I'm really looking forward to using some of our new veggies/fruits that we get from our garden. I have already used some cilantro and basil for some cooking and the flavors of using our own herbs vs. buying them at the grocery store seem so much more 'flavorful'.

We also planted an Orange tree in the back corner of the yard {other side}. Of course it's a baby and it will be awhile before it sprouts oranges but I sure can't wait for that, love me some oranges! We also have 4 plum tree's in the yard which were there before we moved in.

How about you guys, do you have a garden or plans for a garden this year?

Vanilla Soy Whole Wheat Pancakes

With it being Sunday I wanted to make a good, healthy, yet simple and easy Breakfast for me and the family. Everyday this week I have been having a fresh smoothie for breakfast and it has been lovely however today I wanted something with just a bit more substance, ya know?

I took a basic whole wheat pancake recipe and changed it up a bit. Like adding soy vanilla flavored milk instead of regular milk {soy milk has more protein and is more packed with vitamins and nutrients} and used egg whites instead of regular eggs.

Ingredients

2 cups of whole wheat flour
4 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp Splenda no calorie sweetener
3 tbsp egg whites {3 tbsp = l large egg. I wanted my batter a little thick. If you want it a little less thick then add 3 more tbsp}
2 cups Vanilla Soy Milk
Cooking spray

Directions

Heat non-stick skillet over medium/low heat.

Mix all dry ingredients together then add wet ingredients.

Spray non-stick skillet with cooking spray.

Pour a little more then 1/4 cup of batter onto heated skillet.

Once batter starts to bubble, it's time to flip it over.

Serve with a side a of fresh fruit for a fantastic healthy and filling breakfast!

Nutrition-

Servings: Makes 6 pancakes / 1 pancake each {their pretty large and thick}

Calories: 195 / Fat: 1.8 / Carbs: 35.5 / Protein: 8.1

Kicking butt 1 calorie at a time

Happy Friday friends!

I decided to take today off. It was a thought in the back of my mind all week and yesterday afternoon I decided 100% that, yep... im taking Friday off. It's been slowing down {knock on wood} a little bit at work so it's not like I couldn't take it off or anything...

Anyways I want to talk to you about what ive been up to lately. Actually what both Josh and I have been up to.

Health and fitness.

I know, may sound boring but it's something we are both taking very seriously right now.

You see before I was going to the gym, somewhat regularly... although some weeks it was very inconsistent. 1 time a week here, 3 times there... basically just flip flopping. And although the gym is great and has everything you need, when it comes to cardio, it can become somewhat repetitive. The same machines, working the same muscles, all the time.  I  we needed something more then that. We needed something that would truly kick our butts into gear.

Last week I was looking through my 'Health and Fitness' folder on pinterest. Mind you it had been a week already that I hadn't stepped foot in the gym. Oh ya, waking up at 3:45AM to go to the gym before work was also getting VERY old... seriously. Anyways, was looking through my folder and it just hit me. I said to myself 'Self, this is it. Staring at these photos all the time isn't going to make anything happen. It's time to finally do this!'.

We already had P90X... but I didn't feel like doing that. I wanted something that would really make me sweat my {excuse my humor} balls off.

Then I remembered Turbo Jam and how fun it was. Problem was, some of my Turbo Jam DVD's were missing...

Just to show you how much I loved TJ, here is a 1yr progress photo of me after having Jayden and my road to losing the baby weight-

The before was about 4-5 months after having J. The after photo, 1yr later was me at my pre-pregnancy weight. The after photo is pretty much where I have 'hovered' at ever since. I let myself fall into that 'comfort' zone, knowing I had reached my goal of losing the baby weight. I stopped doing my Turbo Jam, stopped eating healthy ALL the time {yes for that entire year my eating habits were top par} and wasn't taking it as seriously as I should have.

My ultimate goal was to get down to 125 {im 5'4"} and not so much be thin, but be fit. I want muscles, not big muscles but I want to be athletic. I love the healthy glow of someone who just looks like they kick butt all the time and I can imagine the constant, amazing feeling they have all of the time from kicking butt as well.

SO with that said I went onto the ol' beachbody site and looked into Turbo Fire. It's basically the next step up from Turbo Jam and since I already did Turbo Jam and enjoyed it AND got results from it I snapped me up a Turbo Fire package and that's where im at now. Day 5 and im loving it! Josh is even doing it too and he really enjoys it as well.

I also snagged up a nifty new pedometer as well-

{source}

Yesterday was the first day I wore the pedometer and with my 40min. fire starter class workout and an hour after the workout I burned 1550 calories. INSANE!!! but awesome!

We've completely revamped our eating habits. I always thought before I ate pretty well, for the most part, but boy was I wrong. Fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean proteins, smoothies.... Every morning this week for BFast I have had a smoothie and it has been delicious. Yesterday I tried Papaya for the first time. A Papaya and Kiwi smoothie and wow, just wow. 

We have been bringing our lunch/snacks to work everyday and not only has it been saving us money from eating out at lunch, but it's been great with making us stick to our healthier eating habits. And it's amazing at just how much food we really have throughout the day to eat and snack on! 

My schedule has changed to. No longer working out in the morning. As of now this is my typical day-

4:30AM - Wake up

6AM - Leave the house

6:30AM - Drop J off at Daycare

6:45AM - Get to work

4PM - Leave work

5PM - Get home {traffic is seriously ridiculous}

5:30PM - Workout {while im working out Josh is in the kitchen making our lunches for the next day}

6:30PM - Make dinner

7-8:30PM - Play time with J {reading, coloring... playing outside}

9PM - I am IN BED lol.

J even sometimes tries to do the workout with me, which makes it fun. I feel like I can involve him more and of course im spending more time with him vs. going to the gym. He will even sit on the couch and watch me do my workout and cheer me on. He's my little motivator. Keeps me going lol. 

So there you have it. I am in week 1 of my new lifestyle and I am determined to finally reach my ultimate goal. To be fit! To finally do this and to feel great, inside and out. :0)