#GetFitAndFab

Going along with my post from last week., I’ve been trying really hard to take care of myself and my body.

So far, this week has gone really well.  I made it to the gym 3x.  I planned to go everyday, except Sunday, but my kids got sick and I didn’t want to infect the entire daycare.  When I go to the gym, I’ve been trying to get my cardio in, which includes my C25k that I’ve started to prepare for my 1/2 marathon. I’ve also been doing some of the workouts from Tone It Up.  This week, I also plan on starting up some Barre workouts online from Barre3.

I’ve been doing much better on nutrition too! We’ve been juicing and I made up some quick and easy Burrito bowl lunches for us to just grab and go.

The juice I made had apples, pears, kiwi, celery, carrots and a couple of strawberries.  It was delicious.

I also took some time to myself.  I did an at home micro dermabrasion kit and put on one of my favorite Lush face masks (Mask of Magnaminty) while I took a long bubble bath.

This coming week, I plan on taking  new yoga class, working on my cardio and getting 100+ ounces of water daily. If I complete all my goals this week, I’m going to treat myself to a new piece of workout clothes.

I’m linking up with Brittany from Happy is A Choice and Sam from Life Style Love.

Guilty.

Before kids, 9 times out of 10, your #1 focus is on yourself.  You make time to stay in shape.  You make time to get massages or facials.  You put yourself first.

Then it happens, you give birth and see your child for the first time, that you love more than anything. Something changes, instead of focusing on yourself, your entire life begins to revolve around that little human being.  You stay up late with diaper changes and feedings, you’re typically covered in spit-up, you can’t remember the last time you showered or brushed your teeth. The next thing you know, you’re looking at yourself in a mirror and you don’t recognize yourself. It wasn’t as bad after baby #1, but once Olivia came around, I was 100% guilty of this.  I still am and Olivia is 18 months old.  

I was reading reading one of my favorite blogs, The Naptime Diaries, and came across a blog post that she wrote titled 5 reasons mamas don't take care of themselves. Something clicked in me after reading that post, that in order to take care of my family, my friends and others around me, I need to take  care of myself first.  Self care is much more important that you realize.  One of my goals for this year was to start taking care of myself.  When  you take care of yourself, you are more confident and happier. I want to be happier, I want to take care of myself and to be a good role model for my daughter as she grows up. 

For the rest of January, I am going to really focus on getting in some me time.  I want to start going to bed at a reasonable time, so I can start waking up early. I want to be able to have some un-interrupted time to be able to have some time with God, to focus on my bible studies.  I want to go to the gym and eat to fuel my body. Not necessarily with the goal of losing weight (but that would be a great bonus!), but to become healthier and to help relieve some of my most recent symptoms (I’m allergic to something and have “attacks” weekly. but we can’t pinpoint what it is).   I want my children to have a role model in being healthy and in being in touch with their faith.  

This is my year.

Bye Bye Bye

Babies.  They’re all cute, tiny and snuggly. They steal your heart the first time you lay eyes on them.

What everyone doesn’t really tell you is what they do to you after they are here, especially when you have two close in age (Ours are a little less than 22 months apart).   I’m sure most mamas can relate.  The extra skin, the foggy “baby brain”, the bags under your eyes and sometimes you even come up with weird random allergies after you have them (Bye Bye Seafood) .  It’s all 100% worth it though!

After my son was born, I lost all but around 10 pounds.  I was really motivated because my (now) husband and I got married right before our son’s 1st birthday.  We got pregnant with Olivia right after our wedding.   I was on bed rest most of my pregnancy and while I didn't gain that much weight (25 pounds the day I delivered, same with my son) I’m still working to get rid of it.

Our Wedding Day

I breastfed my daughter for 6 months (She had major allergies and I couldn't survive on bland turkey and rice anymore) and the entire time I was pregnant and right after I had her, all I heard was “if you breastfed, you’ll lose that weight so fast”.   I didn't lose a single pound, not even after I stopped nursing her.   A few months ago, we joined a gym and I was working out 5 days a week and eating clean and didn't see a single change in either my measurements or on the scale.  It was extremely discouraging.  

I think (as well as my doctor, we’re just waiting for results) that it may be due to a thyroid issue.  Now 15 months into baby #2, this mama is ready to finally get rid of it.  So it’s back to the drawing board. Back to square one.  Someday I would like to have a baby # 3 someday, I know, call me crazy.  I don’t want to have to worry about packing on even more weight.

The sad thing is, I could hardly find a single photo of myself since having my daughter and barely any since having my son.  I don't want that.  I know that I'm the main photographer, but it's alarming that there are absolutely no photos, and I don't even think we've taken a family photo taken in the past 15 months.

So it’s off to the gym for us tomorrow and back to water, veggies galore and lean protein and protein shakes (If I can ever find one that's not processed anywhere near shellfish and without iodine).

Every week, I'm going to come up with a few "goals" I have in mind for myself.   I'll report back at the end of the week on what goals I accomplished.

For this week, my goals are:

1. Drink more water
2. Start Chalean Extreme 
3. Go to the Gym twice