Mommy & Baby workouts

I tried a Yogibaby class at the studio where I had taken prenatal yoga.  It was a great class, but we had a rough time.  Zoe cried a lot, which no one seemed to mind.  But it distracted me because I felt terrible for the instructor and other mom and baby there.

Zoe is a good baby’s and she cries less and less.  But she doesn’t like being on her back very much, has certain times of day where she’s happiest (who doesn’t) and sometimes is still unpredictable.  If we could perfectly plan it so yoga was at her happy time that day, I think we would have a great time. But that isn’t how it works!

Today we skipped yoga.  It is not overly expensive, but enough to really think about how much we’re getting out of it. I looked online and found two mommy and baby workouts for just under the price of one class.  These we can do at her happiest times, can pause or stop without anyone else being interrupted and can syill do once I go back to work in March (the class is during the day).  I am looking forward to these and I hope we like them!  I will certainly review them here.

Other than that, I hurt my pinky toe pretty badly.   Such a silly injury.  So yesterday I was forced to take a rest day.  I did today’s planned workout and it still hurt but was bearable.

Workout Sunday – TurboFire Fire55EZ
Workout today – TurboFire Low HIIT25 and Stretch10

Bumbo Baby

If you have had a baby in the past few years or have known a baby, you’ve probably heard of or seen a Bumbo seat. Babies love them and parents love places to put their babies (at least I do).

Last year, the seats were recalled. Babies R Us took the Bumbo off our registry and I never added it back. I figured we had enough places to put our baby…swing, Rock n Play, crib, baby gym, etc. But then one of my friends posted a picture of their baby in a Bumbo seat. And Zoe can hold her head up really well now, tries to sit up by herself but goes too far forward. So we needed a Bumbo.

We still had gift card money, so now we have the super Bumbo seat, now with safety straps. Was it worth it? Of course…

Workout yesterday – TurboFire Fire45EZ and Stretch10
Workout today – TurboFire Core20 and Stretch40

Morning versus night

Lots of people want to know the best time to workout.  Like the best workout ever, that differs by person.  So this is all about me…

When I first was cleared to workout, I was exercising at night once the baby went to bed. I knew my husband was on baby duty if she woke up and that I would mostly not be interrupted at that time. But there are a lot of issues for me working out at that time. First, being not full but not hungry for my workout. Another, also food related, is knowing my calories for the day if I don’t know how many I’ll burn at night. Add in some downtime and a shower after the workout and I’m going to bed pretty late.  Plus face it, I’m tired.  It takes a lot of motivation to exercise at night!

I have been able to exercise a bunch of mornings recently.  The baby wakes up for her “middle of the night” feeding between 2 and 6am (so sometimes it really isn’t the middle of the night) and then goes back to sleep for another three hours.  If she gets up late enough for that feeding, I just get up and start my day.  Once she’s back to sleep, I can workout and shower and still have some time.  This is much better for me and I tend to be more productive these days.

Today, she woke up about 3am, so I exercised at night.  Now I still have things to do and I’m sleepy.  I don’t really get back that morning time to myself, so all of my productive time is pushed to evening.  I am so happy to have some productive time in addition to the baby smiles and giggles.  Priceless!

Maybe a picture tomorrow.  For now, I will finish my to do list and get to bed.

When do you exercise?  Is it the same time as when you would like to workout?

Workout yesterday – Practiced TurboKick round 49
Workout today – TurboFire HIIT15 and Tone30

Dear Starbucks…

We need to see less of each other.  I know that you were really there for me when I had no power from the hurricane.  You kept my pregnant self slightly caffeinated, powered up, internetted and breakfasted.  For this I am so appreciative.

You have been there for me now that I have a teeny baby who only sleeps in the car and when held.  You had a drive thru so I didn’t have to take the baby out of the car.  Your window people are always kind and attentive.

You have soy milk now that I can’t have dairy.  And you never act like it’s a hassle and still ask if I want whipped cream.

But one of my goals is to save money.  And another is to save calories.  And while I used to go straight to the Americano, lately I’ve been preferring a latte.  So you can’t be an almost daily indulgence.  I’ll still see you often but the majority of my coffee will come from my kitchen.  With almond milk…which I like more than soy but I still am so glad you have it.

Lots of coffee love,
Allison

Workout Sunday – TurboFire Low HIIT20 and Stretch10
Workout Monday – TurboFire Fire45EZ and Stretch10
Workout Today – TurboFire Low HIIT25 and Stretch10

Skin is in!

Healthy skin, that is. Always in. I was a bit worried that my post-pregnancy experience with Derm Exclusive would not be as wonderful as during my pregnancy…how much was from pregnancy and how much was the skincare.

I have been terrible with taking care of my skin in the past two months. Many nights, especially before I was working out at night, I just wanted to go to bed and a lot of days I would put it off until I showered, and that would be at night! I’ve been so bad that this box of Derm Exclusive has been sitting there untouched since 12/31!

So we’re looking at no pregnancy “glow” and using the products sporadically on skin that was fairly terrible before pregnancy. And still excellent. I’m so happy with these products. I get complements on my skin even when I have had no sleep and am wearing no makeup. I couldn’t ask for better results!

I feel like I may be getting sick, so I had miso soup and sushi to try to kick it…along with lots of tea! I did core/yoga today and it was better than last time. Not great but better and that’s all I can do!

Workout yesterday – TurboFire Fire45EZ and Stretch10
Workout today – TurboFire Core20 and Stretch40

Two months/Nine weeks

My baby is 9 weeks old today! We took her two month pictures this week and she’s getting so big!

I was thinking of writing a bit of our schedule, but the truth is we don’t have one. She wakes up between 6 and 9, and may take a nap. She doesn’t like napping much, so we go for rides either to somewhere in the car or for a walk around the neighborhood. She eats when she wants and we get a few really happy smiley times during the day now. Sometimes she will sit in her swing and entertain herself for a few minutes. Most days, she spends some time being walked around the house in the Moby wrap. She goes to sleep around 8 and wakes up once most nights. That’s her most predictable time, so I workout when she goes to sleep. We have fun figuring her out!

Workout today – TurboFire HIIT15 and Sculpt30

Yogibaby

First, lots of people have asked me about the ingredients for the lactation cookies. I got anything difficult to find on Amazon – vat of coconut oil, brewers yeast, ground flaxseed and dairy free chocolate chips. The coconut oil and flaxseed were easy to find, but I wanted large amounts and it was cheaper this way!

Yesterday, we went to a Yogibaby class…yoga for mom and baby. Baby was not into it. She cried most of the time so we ended up having “calm the baby at the yoga studio” time. She did laugh at the end so maybe she liked it. We will try again! I didn’t really count it as a workout but I feel some soreness from a few things we did!

I’m feeling so close to all better. The only time I’m having sinus pain is when I exercise, and even that is minimal!

Workout yesterday – TurboFire HIIT25 and Stretch10
Workout today – practicing TurboKick

More food

This was my lunch yesterday. I don’t plan to start posting all of my food here, at least not anytime soon. But if I have something to share, I will do that.

So first we have my doctored up store-bought Butternut Squash soup. I got a carton from my food store, so nothing special. I add 1t coconut oil and some cinnamon. This was a pre-pregnancy staple that I’m just getting back into. It is delicious and much better than the soup out of the carton.

The rest of my meal was hummus on toast. But new “super” hummus and some excellent toast. The hummus is Nasoya Spinach Garlic Super Hummus…super because it has extra protein. And it is extra delicious. The bread is Fiber One Soft Oatmeal which is thicker (and more calories) than any bread we usually get other than Ezekiel bread. But soft indeed. So I have one slice, not two.

Food find!

I love Steel Cut Oats. I do not love making them, and especially with a new baby I just don’t have the time to wait for my oats! Trade Joe’s has quick cooking Steel Cut Oats, and those are super. However these have them beat!

Packets of microwaveable Steel Cut Oats! So easy. I put in flax seeds. a sliced banana and some sugar free syrup. And that’s breakfast!

I’m exercising again but my face still hurts when I do. So I’m not doing jumps and such. But I’m doing what i can.

Workout yesterday – TurboFire Fire 45EZ
Workout today – TurboFire Fire 55EZ

 

 

Pineapple Chicken

I’m still not feeling even close to 100% yet. Most of the day, I am fine with a little pain that doesn’t bother me much. But if I try to exercise more than walking, I get the face pain. I really hope this goes away soon. I’m going to try working out again tonight and see how it goes. Luckily it has been fairly nice out so the baby and I have been able to get out for some walks.

I am trying to make us dinner more often. Finding dishes that my husband and I will both eat has always been difficult. I don’t eat red meat or pork, he won’t eat any ground beef alternatives. He doesn’t eat soups, beans, quinoa, or fish. I like my food pretty healthy and easy to make. We eat a lot of chicken, and end up fixing separate dinners most nights. I think that it would save us money to have one meal that I make for us each night. So I’ve looked for some recipes, aiming to find 2 suitable ones a week. Last week, I found 2 and made one on Friday.

I found this on pinterest. It was just a picture of the ingredients with instructions underneath so I don’t know where to credit it to!

Crockpot Pineapple Chicken

Ingredients:
1.5 lb Chicken breasts
1 can crushed Pineapple (I used chunk because I had it)
Sweet BBQ sauce (I used half the bottle)

Cook in crockpot on low for 6 hours. I served it over brown rice.

Workouts have been mostly walking. Hoping to be up to more soon!