Things I wish I did differently my first pregnancy

Hello beautiful people!!!

I though I could share with you things I wish I had done and knew differently during my first pregnancy. Some of you may be able to relate and those that have not had kids yet will hopefully take something from this post.

My oldest son is 8, he will be 9 in November. I was 19 when I got pregnant with him. Throughout my teen years I was always on some type of diet, unfortunately even those teen magazines put “skinny pressure” on us early on. I have a very athletic body type. No matter how little I weighed I never looked  skinny and I love that about my self now but I did not back then, so through out high school I always felt the need to diet so I can fit in with the rest of the girls. When I became pregnant shortly after getting married I used that as an excuse to eat whatever I never allowed my self to eat before.

I am 5’8 and my starting weight was 155, the day I went to deliver I was 222 even 😳 That’s 66 pounds, my 8 year old weighs that much now!!!!

I was only 5 month pregnant in that middle picture, and in that December picture above I was one month post partum. I could not recognize myself.At one point these were the pictures I would burry in a deep dark hole and never show it to anyone, but I am proud of the way I look today, I have never felt more comfortable in my body before but it took a lot of hard work and discipline to get there.

1 year after first pregnancy.

2 years after 

During my pregnancy I ate anything and everything all the time and I used my pregnancy as an excuse. I remember eating 4 honeybuns in one sitting. I had acid reflux so bad that I would vomit blood because my esophagus could not handle any more acid. Did I meantion how swollen and how much edema I had?! I went from shoe size 8 to 11 wide. I wish I knew better, I wish I would have nourished my body and my child differently. I was at such high risk for gestational diabetes and thank God I did not get to that. Luckily my son was healthy, but he was 9lb 14 oz and yes I had to have a c-section. I was so upset with my self that five months after having my son I was still 195 pounds. That’s not the worst part, the worst is that I risked gestational diabetes, the extra weight put pressure on my joints and the heartburn was out of this world. I had severe leg cramps even when sleeping. Of course there are risks of complications during delivery, and like I said I ended up with a C-section. I got stretch marks not only in my belly like most people do during pregnancy, I got them all over, back of my legs, arms, thighs…everywhere. I blame my self completely, but I also blame my doctor for not putting more pressure on me and telling me the risks, he would always jokingly tell me “wooooa Maya lay off salt” and that’s it. He never mentioned that an overweight mother is more likely to give birth to a large baby with a greater risk of diabetes and obesity throughout childhood. That would have scared me enough to be more careful. So I am using my self as your PSA…be healthy all the time but be even more careful what you put in your body during the time you are nurturing and growing another human being. “Eating for two” is a LIE, you are eating for your self and a pea size that will slowly grow and get enough from what you eat for ONE. Feed your self with quality not quantity.

It took me a year and a lot of visits to the gym…no really A LOT, to loose the weight I gained. It was torture. I had to retrain my MIND (yes this is the hardest part to train) to learn to eat healthy. Not diet by eating nothing but salads and sandpaper lol but eat clean and nutritional meals. My second pregnancy I was much more educated, and was much more careful. I only gained 29 pounds, and I had no side effects of pregnancy other than the belly to show for it 🙂 I ran in my first trimester, and most of second, then I had to stop because my bladder could not handle it 🙂 There are pleanty of websites, apps and resources that can help you with this. My favorite one that I used a lot was Fit Pregnancy.

December 2014

Please do not get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with gaining weight during pregnancy. It is ABSOLUTELY normal, but the normal weight to gain is 25-30 pounds. There is nothing wrong with stretchmark’s either. I call them my souvenirs from pregnancy 🙂 Most of us can not avoid them and some of you lovely ladies are blessed to not have them. However, its it important to take care of YOURSELF and the BABY in the best possible way. We may enjoy the junk food at the moment but the reality that hits us later is just not worth the temporary indulgence. There are many delicious meals and desserts that you can eat that are still clean and healthy you just have to put the work in to fix them for your self. YOU OWE IT TO YOURSELF AND YOUR CHILD.

              The day of my wedding 09/2005                                         My anniversary 09/2013  
                        2006                                       2012                                             2015

Rainy Monday!

It is such a gloomy and rainy day here today…makes Monday that much more exciting lol. Even through the day is gloomy and tiring especially first work day of the week I still plan a workout tonight. Monday’s are the most challenging to me and that’s exactly why I never skip Monday..because it’s my personal challange and because it’s a way for me to destress and burn off some steam.

The weekend was awesome!, especially Friday. Hubby and I took the day off and the kiddos were in school so we used that time to spend outside. We really needed this break and time to our selves. I know all your Moms and Dads can relate.  We went to Stone Mountain and hiked the Cherokee Trail. The view was amazing!! Must do if you are in GA.

    

I also recreated  Panera’s Quinoa bowl (if you have not tried this magic yet you should, it’s so delish) which I will post soon.

Saturday we spent with the kids doing whatever they wanted.

Sunday I ate horribly!!!! Mainly sweets 🙊🙈 still got another hike up the mountain and weight lifting but then ate more sweets ha ha!

This little fella worked out too. If he can do it you can too

Groceries and Meals for the Week

I thought I’d share one week example of my groceries and family meals. I change it up every week and of course depending on the season. During fall and winter crock pot is a life saver so a lot of the meals are made in the crock pot…spring and summer we fire up the grill for whatever we can. Oh how I love summer. I have posted here before that Sunday is groceries and meal prep day. I dice whatever I can, clean the fruits, and store in fridge for week ahead. Saves me on prep time. I grill chicken to use in other recipes however I NEVER reheat chicken in the microwave, only on stove. Reheated chicken in microwave REAKS! I do not know if its the high temp on short time or what but its gross.

CLICK HERE FOR Grocery ListPDF

Monday

Grill!!

We grilled steak garnished with parsley and garlic with side of grilled Zucchini and avocado. I also had my husband grill chicken wings for the boys they prefer it more than steak. I also had him grill the chicken breast for Tuesday….

Tuesday

Made this up lol

Diced onions, diced sweet peppers, diced zucchini, sautéed on a table spoon of olive oil. Season with salt, pepper, paprika. Then add tablespoon of flour stir. Add 1 ½ cup of vegetable stock. Add diced grilled chicken, simmer 5-10 minutes. Serve with brown rice or quinoa. Dinner done in 30 minutes or less 😊

  

 

Wednesday

Chicken kielbasa and kale pasta. Recipe posted before here.

Thursday 

Grilled chicken breast and cut into strips. (This is another big package of chicken so half will be saved for Friday) Cut remaining of sweet peppers length wise, whole onion, 1 clove of garlic. Toss on high head for 5 minutes or less, just to sear it. Mix with grilled chicken and season with fajita seasoning mix or any seasonings you like. Serve with rice or Quiona. I totally failed and forgot to snap a picture but I am sure everyone has seen fajitas before 😂.

Friday

 Salad – cold chicken breast cubed on fresh spinach or whatever lettuce I have hanging around. Cooked and cooled quinoa, boiled egg, mashed avocado, tomatoes and cucumbers. I had some corn and beans in the pantry.  Seasoned with rice vinegar. It’s scarp Friday, whatever we have left over toss it together and make it a salad.

Breakfasts we usually have smoothies, pancakes, omelets. Lunches we have left overs from dinner or I make salads, egg salads, tuna salads. Fresh fruits and veggies at lunch as well. My older son gets sandwiches fruits and veggies, cliff bars, baked chips or sometimes he just eats school lunch. Each week changes. I rarely repeat the same food in the same month. I am not a chef by any means, I cook with my heart. I do not know proper chef verbiage so please excuse if there are funny errors. I make up recipes all the time. Hope this helps someone with planning. It saves us a ton money not eating out and we eat wholesome foods. I buy whatever I can organic, I’d rather spend more money for quality foods then eat out and have shortcuts. I buy rice, dry beans, olive oil, healthy snacks for boys (granola bars, baked chips, chocolate (yes they eat chocolate)) seasonings and whatever else household items in bulk at Sam’s so we do not have to restock weekly. Because I prep ahead dinner is ready and severed by 6 or 6:30 pm, we eat together as family and we have the rest of the night to do whatever :-).  Boys love it. We eat out or order in on Saturdays but it’s usually Chinese.

I would love to hear your ideas or work week tactics. Tips are always welcome so please share!

Healthy Snack Ideas

Here are some of my favorite snack ideas.

Quest Bars

By far top of my list are Quest bars..most of their flavors. I have tree nuts allergies so obviously I eat all except the ones that have that. I buy a ton of them at GNC sometimes they have buy 2 get 1 free. They are pricey but worth it. If you go to instagram and quest page there are a ton of ideas to make out of quest bars. You can check them out here.

Rice Cakes
Ton of different ways to eat these.
I spread a little peanut butter, drizzle of honey.
I also add banana to it or dried fruit like cranberries or raisins.
Peanut butter and diced apples on top.
Peanut butter and Hershey’s dark chocolate chip
Hummus and cucumber slices
You get the idea. You can create your own. I use plain rice cakes for all of this.

Boiled Eggs

Boiled eggs are good protein and satisfying snacks. You can eat it alone with a drizzle of sea salt or..
Remove egg yolk and fill it with
Humus
Mashed Avocado
Salsa or pico
Cottage Cheese
Cucumbers and Vinegar
Slice cucumber and season with dash of Rice Vinegar (or any of your choice) with salt and pepper.

Steamed Sea Salt Edamame

I buy mine at Walmart. Individual serve containers. You steam them for 3 1/2 minutes. They are PictSweet brand. These are addictive so don’t say I did not warn you 😉

Raspberry Kisses

For those days when your monthly friend is telling you to eat sweets or you are just on a sweet kick. Dark chocolate Hershey chips and raspberries.

Dates

There are many benefits from dates. They are high in sugar so I would not recommend a lot, snack on it on the day that you do not consume many fruits.

Grapes and Cheese
Handful of Almonds
Fresh fruits and veggies
Roasted Chickpeas (My recipe here)

That’s all I can think of now. Sometimes I get on a kick and will eat one of the above for a week straight and then switch it up. What do you like to snack on?

Fitbit Charge HR Review

So I finally bought a Fitbit Charge HR. I have been waiting for the release of the HR one because heart rate monitor is important to me, however when I went to pick it up everyone was sold out!!!! If you only knew what l went through to get this little gadget lol. So far I love it. I have had it for a week and I will definitely tell you it motivates me and makes me realize how much I am moving through out the day. I wear the fitbit to bed as well because it tracks your sleeping patterns. When I wake in the morning it will already show like 250-350 calories burned. I have heard people say “how am I burning calories when I am sleeping”? The calorie value that you see on your fitbit when you wake up in the morning is your estimated calorie burn for the day so far. People do not realize that you still burn calories even if you are sedentary or sleeping. It is estimated  on your age, gender, height, weight and heart rate.

It measures my steps walked throughout the day, mileage, work out and active minutes (active minutes is when your heart rate is in moderate-to-intense activity).  Since I have a mostly desk job it motivates me to get up more and even walk around my little office, or do jumping jacks. Also I have been walking up and down the stairs on my break or lunch so that I can meet my personal goal for the day (which you can set in your app). It made me realize that sometimes I get home and it was a busy day at work and I think that I am exhausted and did enough for the day physically but then I look at it and I barely moved from my desk. So I have been increasing my cardio even if I only have time for only 2 miles I will do a quick HIIT workout and lift some weights to keep my heart rate up.

You can log your food, your water and best part you can buddy up with other people and motivate each other and see each other’s numbers and goals.

If you need motivation and you are a visual person I strongly recommend this little gadget. My company participates in a Humana Vitality program where I can link my fitbit to and I earn points and eventually prizes or gift cards for being active. Check if your company has a similar thing.

Monday Motivation

I know Mondays are rough at work but that is exactly why you need to sweat it out! I believe that workouts are more of a mental push then a physical, once you motivate your mind your body will perform. Summer is right around corner. I am sure many of you have seen that quote “Summer bodies are made in the winter” and guess what..its the truth. So here is you motivation picture (this one always makes me get up of my butt) and a workout to finish up your Monday.

20 Body weight squats
20 body weight walking lunges
30 jumping jacks
30 second plank
20 regular sit ups
30 second wall sit
Repeat 3 times.  

HAPPY MONDAY

Rogan Josh Curry Chicken Dinner..A taste of India

My brother and sister-in-law introduced me to this super quick tasty dinner. One day I stopped by their house and they were having this for dinner. I do not like the taste of curry so I immediately crinkled my nose, but my brother was insistent I try it…and oh my God, it is delicious.

What you need

1 Jar of Rogan Josh (I found it at Publix)
1 package of chicken breast
1 whole onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic diced
1 pinch of curry seasoning (optional)
pinch of salt and pepper to your liking
Sauté onion, garlic and chicken on a dash of olive oil. Once chicken is browned pour the Rogan Josh over it, simmer on low 15-20 minutes.

Side Dish
I steamed white rice and fresh vegetables. Seasoned with sea salt. (You can season however you like)

Dinner prepped in less then 30 minutes.

We all need a little push sometime….

Having energy to work out sometime is nearly impossible. After a long day at work, long commute home, homework, dinner, and whatever else is on Mommy Duty it is hard to not just crawl into bed and call it a day. So from time to time I turn to Cellucor C4 Pre-Work out. It increases my energy and helps me focus for my workout. I take it 30 minutes before I plan to work out. I get this surge of motivation that makes me crush my workout lol. I always joke with my sister in law about this feeling, I feel like I am going to lift everything in my way ha ha 🙂  I advise that you drink a lot of water on the day that you plan to take the pre work out, I just find it to work better for me. There a many pre work out supplements out there, but if you do you research and read reviews you will see that C4 is truly the best and highest rated on the market. They come in many different flavors. You can find it at your local GNC, Amazon, Bodybuilding.com or Cellucor website.  Let me know if you try it out and if you like it? Also do you use anything?

Spaghetti…well spaghetti squash

This is good stuff I promise. Once you bake it you can eat it in the same way you would eat any of your favorite spaghetti dishes.

You can find this of course in your produce department of any grocery store. It is very hard, and its hard to cut through but its worth it.  Here is a video from PopSugar on how to prepare it. If you make it please share it with me on my Facebook.  I make pasta sauce with ground chicken or lean beef and serve it over spaghetti squash and its delish. Show me your creations.

How to cut back and eventually stop eating sweets

Anyone that knows me knows how much I love sweets especially chocolate. I will skip any meal for a cake. However beginning of this year I set myself a goal to omit sweets as much as I can and see what my body does. During the holiday season at work we got an enormous amount of chocolate boxes sent to us and I was eating away. Apart from gaining some weight I felt tired and miserable by the end of the day. Chocolate cravings can be incredibly hard to stop, especially if you have been indulging in a bar or two of chocolate each day.

1. Be realistic. Any time you make a decision to give up something totally, you totter on the edge of falling back into your old way any moment and then finding even more excuses as to why the old habit is perfectly justifiable and doesn’t need changing. Rather than completely giving it up find an alternative and give your self a treat. I choose Dove Dark Chocolate 1 or 2 pieces after dinner only if I crave it.
2. Allow your self to really enjoy your treat. We’re heavily focused on taking the pleasure out of eating food and we’ve stopped savoring it. In other words, it’s much easier to scoff down a large bar of chocolate unthinkingly than it is to eat just a few squares and truly immerse ourselves in the experience of how it tastes, what its aroma is like, feeling the texture, etc. Savor every piece you eat, and eat slowly and literally focus while eating it. Seriously I tested this my self. I literally sit down by myself and just enjoy a piece of chocolate, if I do it while doing something else its like I did not even eat it, like my brain does not process it. 🙂
3. Change the type of sweets you eat. There are many healthier options of sweets that you can quickly make and eat guilt free. I will post a few recipes here soon. If you do not want to do that and just want to eat chocolate then you should buy good quality chocolate. Good quality chocolate is high in cocoa and generally lacks fillings and artificial flavorings and colorings. If you avoid “candy chocolate”, suddenly a lot of chocolate choices are off the menu and you will find it easier to enjoy quality chocolate properly on suitable occasions.

I reduced sweets so much to the point of one piece of chocolate which usually happens after the one cheat meal a week. I did not quit natural sugars from fruits and veggies. This is even more proof that “cheat meals” which mine are usually high in carbs make your body crave more bad stuff. So since I am cheating with the meal I just choose my desert after that meal and feel like crap lol.  I do have “healthy deserts” throughout the week, like I said those are healthy and good for you and I will share recipes soon.

I look at it as an addiction and quitting takes one day at a time but what I can promise you, YOU WILL FEEL GREAT!