No fear!

Zoe has nothing but smiles for the bunny!

Tropical Strawberry recipe

We have been sick, not sleeping, and a bit busy! But we have a very happy baby so it’s all good.

I think this is the least happy I’ve seen her other than when I’m trying to suck snot out of her nose.

I know posting here has been rare, but I am trying to get to bed early to handle the extra awake time at night. I’ve been needing a boost, both in energy and some immunity so I came up with a new (to me) Shakeology recipe that uses the vegan Tropical Strawberry and it was delicious. I truly don’t know how I would be able to be awake, workout, work and parent without Shakeology. I’ve been having two some days!

Looking a little green is it? In there is Tropical Strawberry Shakeology, 1/2 cup orange juice, a handful of spinach and water. I try to add spinach when I remember because it is true what everyone says…you can’t taste it! So good.

Ode to my Food Scale

Okay, so it wont be an actual ode or poetic at all.  But I wanted to talk about the food scale and how much I love mine.

Most people think of food scales as a weight loss tool – helping to measure a portion size, especially of those things that are easy to over do with regular measuring cups/spoons.  Peanut butter and cereal come to mind.  You weigh, you know you’ve got it right, you can journal it accordingly.  But now lookie here…you just measured and saved dirtying that cup or spoon.

Now for the use that really helps me out, we’ll take that a step further.  When you make a recipe, there may be 4 ingredients that you need a teaspoon of.  Now you have to think about the order you’ll measure them (or is that just my uber logical side?) so that you don’t have a dry ingredient in a wet spoon.  Or (and you saw this one coming) you could just weigh it.  I make most recipes with a mixing bowl on top of the food scale.  Then I can just reset it to zero for a few ingredients and skip the measuring cups and spoons.  Most of my recipes have weights scribbled by the ingredients so I can just use that after the first time.  Less mess, less fuss.

We don’t have a fancy one.  This appears to be an updated version of the one we have had since 2008.  We have replaced the batteries a few times, but otherwise it is good as new.  It sits on our counter because we use it so much.  This and the crockpot are two items that I can’t live without.

And when someone asks if Shakeology should be measured to the line on the scoop or to the top, I can measure it and match the serving size (it’s the top!).

Sorry for the silence!

Turns out it’s tough to work full time and have a baby and workout and get anything else done! Time to wash the bottles!

But first…Have you wondered about Shakeology in the past? Do you want to try it just in time to pay the lower price for life? I have 5 free samples to send out. Just be one of the first to do the following (if you haven’t already) and leave a comment with your email.

– Like my page here http://www.facebook.com/allisongettingfitpage
– Sign up for a free membership here http://free.allisongettingfit.com/

I’ll be mailing out tomorrow!

Protein bars

I made these chocolate protein bars today.  I used to make them all the time but stopped when I had food aversions during pregnancy.  No need to make a recipe only to toss it when I find out it makes me nauseous!  I made it with vegan protein powder instead of whey to make them dairy free, but otherwise stuck to the recipe.  I doubled it and it came out tasty judging by some crumbs I tasted, but not pretty.  You can watch the video to see them come out better!

I plan to eat these for an afternoon snack now that I’m having Shakeology when I get up.  Right now on a typical weekday I plan to have Shakeology in the morning, oatmeal with flax and banana after my workout, chicken sausage with ezekiel bread and some fruit/vegetable around lunch, protein bar in the afternoon and something for dinner.  Plus a snack while we’re up in the middle of the night. I need to work a bit on lunch and dinner, but those I tend to have some variation in.  Throw in a bunch of lactation cookies and you’ve got my day.

I think I need to find a new crockpot recipe for lunch because it’s so easy.  I’ll do some searching tomorrow.

 

 

Back to the Grind

Today is my first day back to work.  I have been out for about 4.5 months because Zoe was late.  I knew it would be tough to go back, but I didn’t think it would be this hard!  Seeing her smiles this morning was both wonderful and heartbreaking.  I’m going to miss a lot of those smiles.  And a bunch of other things, some I can’t even imagine yet.  But I know she’s in good hands.  And that she will make friends and that day care will be good for her.

These are the things I keep telling myself.  I am able to work from home most of the time and I am so thankful for that.  Once I have gotten back into things at work, I can go feed her at lunch if I like.  I will be here when she gets home.  I don’t have to spend about 3 hours a day away just commuting.  And I can go get her if necessary.

Speaking of feeding her, I am still planning on breastfeeding, so I’ll be pumping during the day.  I’ll share some of the ways I’m trying to protect my supply over the weekend.  Babies are better than pumps, so it is possible to have a drop if you are pumping more.

Time to make the doughnuts!

60 Day results

I can not believe I haven’t shared these yet! You saw the before pictures but they are also here with the afters.  The pants are the same but in a smaller size.

I see some decent results and also had bunches of fun working out. I did mostly TurboFire by the schedule, adding some Turbo Kick round practice and walks and then couch to 5K in the last week or so. Plus Shakeology, which I completely think gave me the energy to workout and be a new mom, along with being a healthy meal replacement. I feel so much more physically like myself, even if I’m still above my pre-pregnancy weight. Exercise makes me happy!

So now I am doing Les Mills Pump, which has mostly Pump workouts but also has walking on the schedule. So I have been walking, running and Turbo Kicking. I can’t wait to see my next round of results. I love the Pump workouts I have done so far and working out with a barbell at home is giving me a great workout without needing to go to the gym. Excellent stuff.

I am going to stop listing my workouts here. I started it for my accountability when I was struggling, and I have been able to be fairly consistent lately. If you miss it, speak up!

Down and up again

Today is the last day before day care starts.  Lots to do.  I need to label everything going to day care, put it all together and figure out the bottles situation.  Plus test a new bottle to make sure she’ll take it.  All things I could have been doing all along but that will make this whole thing real.

I’m not looking forward to going back to work.  I don’t go back until Friday, but tomorrow starts the transition.  The day care part I am okay with…germs, friends, time under the care of others (for Zoe, not as a relief to me), etc.  But I’d rather spend my days with her than most anything.  I’m sure I’ll get used to it and there are things I’m looking forward to (a more predictable schedule is one thing).

Anyway.  I must get to work on this, so I’ll leave you with a reminder of promotions going on right now. Turn all of the downer energy around because they are fun and who doesn’t love a sale!  All promotions also come with support and motivation from me.

Hip Hop Abs is still $19.95!

P90X and P90X2 Challenge Packs are an additional $30 off!

Shakeology is increasing in price after 4 years.  You can lock in the original price for life! Get on Chocolate, Greenberry, or Chocolate/Greenberry alternating Home Direct before April 1st, and as long as you never cancel your HD subscription, you’ll pay the original price. Plus, HD orders get free shipping.

Ultimate Reset Complete Kits and Challenge Packs are $30 off!  Detox anyone?

Workout Friday – Couch to 5K, Les Mills Pump Pump Challenge
Workout Saturday – Les Mills Pump Hardcore Abs
Plus planks each day!

Sleeeep

Blah blah blah…new moms don’t have time to sleep. You’ve heard it, maybe lived it, so I don’t need to talk about that. What I didn’t expect was how the quality of my actual sleep times would change. Luckily for the better!

I have not been a good sleeper since I was about 7, though I hear that I slept most of the time until then. I’m a light sleeper, waking up easily, but not falling asleep very quickly. I need a lot of wind down time. The time it takes me to fall asleep now hasn’t been consistently better, but I am sleeping more soundly. We used to joke that my husband would never be awoken by the baby crying, only by me waking him. But some nights he hears her first. And where I would normally wake up at any time of the night with little problem, some of these middle of the night wake ups have me scrambling for what’s going on for a bit.

I’m not complaining. I usually have the baby monitor next to my head so even if my husband is waking first, I wouldn’t be long after. It is nice to be waking only because of the baby – not 50 other times for no good reason like I used to (even before pregnancy).

Next week, I start setting the alarm again. I go back to work on Friday and Zoe is starting day care on Monday so that I’m less worried come Friday. I know day care is a good thing for her. She’ll socialize, pick up some germs and get ready for school later on. But not being with her all the time after 4 months together is going to be so odd. She is getting better at the gym child care center though I still try to not take the full two hours she is usually scheduled. But that is a little while with me in the same building! My husband will be doing the dropping off and picking up most days so I’m hoping to be able to workout once they go and not need to do it so late.

Other things going on…I made chocolate chia pudding last night. It was good, but I may tweak it a little. I used dark cocoa powder and stevia in the raw, so I’ll need to find a good ratio. I’m also thinking it would be good to put some protein powder in. I’ll play and share what I did.

Another great picture!

Also, I’m really enjoying Les Mills Pump so far! This week is a bit of a learning week, with Pump Challenge – a short workout that mostly prepares you for future workouts. I like that it has a choose your own cardio component because I also want to run and do Turbo workouts. It gives me the freedom to do those without feeling that I’m taking away from the program as written.

It’s snowing here so we’ll see what happens with today’s planned run. I will not be running outside, that’s for sure. Have a great Friday!

Workout Wednesday – Pump Challenge, Couch to 5K, plank
Workout Thursday – Pump Flow, TurboKick practice and plank

 

Missing Me

Sorry I have been missing. I’m here, but we did lose a great dog this weekend. We had to put down our boxer, who was almost 14 years old and had spinal arthritis. She lost the ability to control her back legs last year and had been deteriorating. It was rough to admit it to ourselves that it was time. She will be missed.

I’m not going to go back through and detail my workouts, but I’ll start fresh with yesterday’s. Now that I’ve put this out there, I’m over the hump of not knowing what to say to return! I started Les Mills Pump yesterday, so get ready to hear all about that. I also started a plank challenge group for March. April will be for the legs, so let me know if you would like in for next month!

You can also now like my new Facebook page!

Workout Monday – Couch to 5K Week3 Day1, Plank, Pump Challenge
Workout today – Rest day! Just Plank