Base Building After Baby And A Few of my Favorite things.

 

Running was one thing that I looked forward too when I was 40 weeks pregnant. I ran throughout my pregnancy but the miles got shorter and shorter. I made a plan to come back to running and it was the first thing I did once I got the clear from the doctor. After a long time of NOT running it is important to build your base. If you kick the bucket and try speed training and tempo runs off the bat you may end up injured. You simply just have to get outside and put one foot in front of the other.

Base building can seem repetetive and boring but this low intensity activity makes a strong foundation that will support you through any training program. Base building increases blood volume and improves glycogen storage. Remember ENDURANCE > SPEED in base building.

 

 

1. Start Slow.

If it has been awhile since you have run or your coming off a high mileage week. Get outside and run at about 50%. Run it at a comfortable pace, choose your miles for it. I started with 2 miles then the next week ran a few 3 milers and so on.

2. Be patient

Base building can last a month up to 4 months. Depending on how your feeling, your training schedule etc.

3. Include cross-training

Cross training is important for every runner. It balances your muscle groups and will help improve your cardiovascular fitness and greatly reduces your chance of injury.

A few of my favorite things.

A new bike!

It is one of my goals this year to do a few bike races and get back into the triathlon game. Yesterday, Brent surprised me and took me to pick out a new bike for our anniversary coming up. I was so excited!

Meet Ruby.

My twinners.

My sister took these pics for me so I could update some of the frames around my house. I can’t get over how old they look in these!

I hope you all have some fun plans this weekend with the whole super bowl going down. We are planning on hanging out with some of our friends. I also have a fun fitness convention that Ill be assisting on coaching through a workout and learning some new things that I’m excited about.

 

Have a good weekend!

Workout Wednesday: Treadmill Tracks

 

Hey hey! Happy Wednesday!

I have a Wednesday Workout for you! This is a crazy sprint workout to tackle in the gym. It is guaranteed to make you sweat buckets.

Have fun with it!

LUNCH:

For lunch today I had a quick lunch of turkey and veggies!  Simple and easy.

After dropping T off at gymnastics, bee always looks forward to our “girl dates” so naturally, we headed to target where she grabs everything she wants to buy and carries it around the store.

I have no idea where she gets that from!

DINNER:

Tonight we had breakfast for dinner.. Brinner!

I love ezekiel muffins right now and they are a perfect match for some avocados and eggs.

Lazy M.F Monday: Jawbone UP 24 Review

Happy Monday!

I hope you all had a great weekend! I left you all hanging since last Wednesday! Well.. you know that sore throat I mentioned? It happened to be just terrible. So over the weekend I spent most of the time at home recovering from this dang sore throat. I did manage to teach body pump but resembled an 8o year old smoker throughout my tracks.

I usually do a run on Saturday as well but chose to skip it and just head home and get better. It helped.. Today I can allllmoooost breathe through my nose again but I still sound like maybe a 40 year old smoker.

Salads like these haven’t gone anywhere.

I’m still eating one a day for lunch.

Jawbone review

Brent bought me the Jawbone for Christmas. I actually gave him the idea because a few clients at my gym had it and I found it to be intriguing. I was pretty excited to get it and test it out!

Here are a few pros and cons from MY experience with it for the past month. You can read all about the functions and in and outs of the Jawbone HERE. What I am telling you about is just my honest opinion about it.

PROs

It was pretty easy to set up. It connects to an iphone easily and syncs a few times throughout the day. I’m not the most tech savvy person and I figured it out pretty easily. 

Lazy Vibration

I am a pretty active person throughout the day. I have my job and 3 kids to thank for that one. I do however catch myself sitting for awhile while I’m nursing, blogging, helping kids read/homework, and of course watching friends on Netflix.  Ha!

Well, I set up my band to vibrate if I sit longer than 45 minutes between the hours of 7am-9pm. When it goes off I get up and do something around the house or go outside. I love this because it reminds me to not be lazy and or “play next episode.” Although, I do ignore it sometimes.

Power Nap

There is a power nap! If I have T & B at school and Roen is napping, chances are I will try to squeeze in a nap if it is possible. The bands “power nap” setting, which allows me to take a 30 minute nap and will vibrate on my wrist when time is up! That way my power nap doesn’t end up being 2 hours. Personally, If I nap for longer than that then I’m usually grumpy and even MORE tired. My 30 minute power nap is just enough for me to make it through the rest of the day.

Time Workouts

I was a little late to the game at figuring this one out but figured out that  I can set it to time my workouts.

At GPP we do a lot of workouts for time and I usually will try to squeeze mine in between classes so with the band I can track my workout. The band tracks “active burn” but I’m not really convinced about it because it doesn’t have a heart rate monitor so calorie burn isn’t really accurate in my book. Besides, some workouts at GPP are done while standing in one place and doesn’t really show a huge calorie burn if I don’t move my feet.

Battery Power

It charges quick and it lasts about a week before having to recharge. I just plug it in to my computer while I’m sitting and blogging and it is at a full battery by the time I’m done with the post.

Cons

The Design

The design of it is not ugly, it actually looks pretty cool. I got a black one but it gets snagged on everything. I wear a ton of layers and can’t pull my long sleeve off without having to readjust the bracelet.

I’m not really a bracelet wearer and getting used to the band on my wrist took a few days. Honestly it still kind of bugs me. It doesn’t go with every outfit.. but good thing I mostly wear spandex.

Not waterproof

I love to go swimming. BUT this dang thing isn’t WATERPROOF and wont’ track or “time” that workout.

A fitness tracker

The jawbone tracks my and my steps, calorie burn, both resting and active.  Because I know I am an active person, I just don’t care if I get X amount of steps a day. Just because I didn’t reach X amount of steps doesn’t mean I’m not healthy or active enough. It just tells me that I didn’t get those steps and then I feel all guilty and end up pacing around my house to get the stupid steps in. I’m a number person and if I didn’t hit that goal it just BUGGED me. Like I failed or something. So I came to the conclusion that STEPS don’t matter. I worked out, I ate healthy and that is good enough for me.

The calorie burn has to be off because it doesn’t track my heart rate.—I wish it did.  If I forget to “time” my workout it doesn’t really catch my “longest active” time. For example, today I did both a GPP workout and taught Body Attack and it claims my longest active time was 16 minutes. - False.  But my “active time was 1 hour and 18 minutes, which is probably close but not right on. You CAN edit it though!

Sleep tracker

This I will admit was pretty cool at first, but then after a few days after seeing it I realized it is dumb too. I know how much sleep and how many times I got up last night. I’m not sold on the whole sound sleep and light sleep thing on it. I don’t understand how it can track that. I think it actually just estimates it. It isn’t connected to my heart or my eyes so how in the heck does it know anything about my REM cycle.

TIME SUCKER

As a blogger and lets face it.. a human. I spend more time on social media, blogging, and fiddling around than I probably should as it is. The jawbone syncs with myfitnesspal, which is awesome but I don’t really care for it. I did it for the first little while and it just takes FOREEEVER to enter in what I ate, make and form recipes, add products etc. Then after the fact I would end up comparing my days and just spending so much time playing with it that I would much rather focus on something else with that time.

You can have “teammates” and look at their stats which makes it fun, but just one more thing to do. I can easily not do it and just let it track but then it is always in the back of my head to just check where I am at and what else should I do etc.

Conclusion

I think a jawbone would be great for a sedentary person. If you work a desk job and workout sometimes, working on dialing in your nutrition and you need that motivation and accountability then I think it could be AWESOME for you!

If you are an active person, you sleep at night, and you are mostly on the go. You probably won’t benefit from it much. You will just have one more thing to waste time on.

I now just wear it out of curiousity, but honestly will probably resell it soon. It was good to know everything at first, but after the first few days you just kind of know.

Question of the day:

Do you have a fitness tracker? What are your thoughts?

Workout Wednesday: Boot Camp Cardio

Happy Wednesday!

We have officially made it through half of the week! I am looking forward to the weekend already! I’m starting to feel a bit of a sore throat.. I downed some “Emergen-C” with high hopes that it will cure it before it gets worse.. I can’t really afford getting sick right now. I truly believe in that, “moms shouldn’t get sick” saying.

Last night I taught a total body conditioning class and I put them through a quick warm up followed by some heavy squats for a little strength work, and then threw a version of this quick circuit to really make them drip.

Needless to say, mission accomplished. It was quite the heavy breather.

I worked this morning and completed the GPP workout of the day and ran a few miles when I got home and that is when I felt this sore throat thing really kick up a notch. So I have been cuddling with my “Mothers Milk” tea all day. The warmth feels good on my throat.

I have been drinking this tea to help me with my milk production for Roen. I really am not a tea fan.. I honestly haven’t tried one that didn’t taste like leaf flavored water.. but I did discover if I add a few liquid stevia drops to it, it actually makes it drinkable.

My favorite workout song to sweat to lately is this..

“Do you want a hot body? You gotta work work!”

Oh Brit. I love you like it’s 1999.

Questions of the day:

What is your favorite workout song lately?

Do you drink tea? Maybe even enjoy it? … HOW?

Avocado Pomegranate Salad & Stinky People At The Gym

 

I have been really good lately about putting my food on a plate. I think it has helped me too. My favorite thing lately has been salads!

There is just something about them that I love. The colors? The burst of different flavors? I know it is no starburst or anything but to me this is just as good!

In the mix.

• 4 oz. Shredded Crockpot Chicken
• 3 Cups Iceberg lettuce -> I love the crunch lately
• 1/2 Avocado sliced
• 1/4 of a onion
• Handful of Pomegranate seeds! -> They sell them at costco all ready to go. BONUS.

Bee lately has loved holding baby Roe and talking and kissing straight at his face. It melts my heart that she asks to hold him. Too bad Roe doesn’t feel the same way about his big sister.. ha! 

This is what most of our mornings look like. We love to hang out together in bed and just talking and catching up with our plan for the day. I think it is so funny that my kids just climb into our bed and ask what we’re doing today. If I say no plans really.. they will make some. 

Most of my runs lately have been on the treadmill.

Yesterday I did allllmoooost 5 miles.

Have you ever been running on a treadmill, then someone jumps on the one next to you and just SMELLS sooooo bad? I couldn’t breath.. and I just told myself I was almost there and I’ll finish 5. BUT this is pretty much how it went sown in my mind… “I can do it. I will just hold my breath.. nope.. I’m at a 7.4 I have to breath… Can’t stop.. Why is she holding on too the treadmill at an incline.. eh. Keep going.. wth is this chick wearing.. worst perfume ever. I will just breath through my mouth..  I can’t breathe. I can taste it. Oh my gosh.. I’m done I can’t. I just can’t.

I hit the emergency stop and got off that treadmill at 4.67. 

Yep.. Moral of the story.. PLEASE don’t douse yourself in the worst perfume ever before hitting the gym or maybe it was a B.O smell. Who knows..gym courtesy.. make sure your smell doesn’t “linger.”

It has been few days since I have blogged due to a busy week. I have picked up a few classes at the gym while one of the instructors is out of town so my days have been packed! Good thing I love my job. Tonight after teaching a few classes I headed to catch my cousin compete in a region drill competition. She did amazing and so did her team.

I used to be on drill and it was totally déjà vu being there.. like when I had to actually pay to get in.. and sit and watch the “drill down.” I weirdly miss it! But I’m sure as soon as I even attempted to do the splits or something I would change that tune pretty quick. Ha! 

Question of the day

How do you deal with a GYM stench?

What is your favorite salad topping?

Friday Favorite: Workout Edition

Oh Friday is here!! Yay!

For my Friday Favorite today, or should I say “flash back Friday” I want to share a few of my favorite workouts that I have featured on the blog before. I don’t know if your like me but I’m always looking for different, interesting and intense workouts. So hopefully you find one that you can tackle today or tomorrow!

These workouts are tough! I pulled them out of the archives from when my blog was “body of a mother!” I should probably fix those.. but I don’t have foreverrrr to do that.

Pick one and give it a go!

xoxo

Have a great weekend!

Thursday Thoughts

Oh hey!

Today is the day where you get to see what it is like to live in this brain of mine. Mostly just random thoughts of what has been on my mind lately.

1. Man Hands.

I used to have some pretty THICK calluses on my hands.. Thanks to pull-ups, and lifting alike. I was actually pretty proud of them. Throughout the pregnancy my hands got softer but now those calluses are starting to make an appearance again.

Also, if you want to really make your hands look like man hands take a picture of them at this angle. Yeesh.

2. Eating like a Human.

If you caught my post on instagram today you probably saw a picture of my plate and some random ramblings.

Since having Roen I have been really good about eating healthy foods and getting good calories in. What I am NOT doing very well at is, eating my food on a plate like most normal people do.

I lead a hectic life. I know. It is my own fault but I love my life and wouldn’t trade it for the world. But I feel like my eating has been all over the place. For example: Yesterday I bought a chicken from costco and when I got home I just took off the lid and started tearing through it like some kind of animal. Grabbed a handful of carrots and then ate a siggis yogurt while nursing Roen. Is that even a meal? Most of my meals are like that. Even dinner.. Extracurricular activities, work, callings in the church etc. usually consume our nights and it’s been crock pot chicken and frozen veggies heated up in the microwave kind of nights. Heck, I even will whip up 2 different meals if my kids refuse to eat what I made just because I don’t want to deal with a tantrum. Its weird and probably a tad dysfunctional.. but it is what it is. 

BUT I want to be better. We are going to eat off plates again and try to sit down together and talk about our day. (ps. do families even do that anymore?) It will make more dishes, it will take work and I know some days it wont turn out that great but we are going to give it our best effort.      

3. Candy Flavored Gum

I had high hopes for this. I really did. It tastes like a starburst no doubt about it but I really only liked chewing it for about as long as I like to chew a normal starburst before swallowing it. I think this no sugar challenge has turned me away from things like this. I’m a sweet mint orbit fan through and through.

4. Ikea Shelves

I put some shelves like these in Roens Nursery for books and LOVE them. I decided I want to make some for Tanner and Baylee’s rooms as well. So I went and got six of them, three for each room. They took me about 2 days to actually get all put together and I still have to spray paint them..

So simple yet, so difficult.

5. Kids.

Kids are amazing. Really they are. My four year olds probably have more mood swings then most hormonal 12 year old girls but they never cease to surprise me. Just when I think I have probably ruined them for life they throw their arms around me and tell me that they love me. Those moments come at times when I least expect them too and probably don’t even deserve them.

I just wish they wouldn’t grow up so darn fast.

 

Oh life. It is just great right now.

Workout Wednesday: Diastasis Recti

Hey Hey! Happy Wednesday!

This morning started off with work at GPP. The workout today was Tabata’s with Pushups, V-ups, Jump rope, Box Jumps and a Row. I subbed the V-ups with KB swings and worked up a bit of a sweat. I’m heading to a body combat class tonight as well.

Today I want to chat a bit about Diastasis Recti.

Here is a video on how to check if you have it.

I first got it through my twin pregnancy.

I didn’t do much to heal the diastema and kind of just went with it. I wore my wrap for several weeks after and that was about it. I did the sit ups, V-ups, crunches and pretty much all the “don’ts” with the diastema. I went back to work pretty early post partum, which was a mistake and caused me to herniate. Honestly, I never really thought much about it. I was nursing TWO babies, my posture was terrible and I was to overwhelmed and tired to care. It wasn’t until months after that I had even discovered that I had a diastema. By that point I figured it was too late to fix it. I knew I was going to have more kids, so I figured when I am done having kids I will have a surgery to repair it completely.

This time around I waited 6 whole weeks before working out. I still have a diastema (about 3 fingers wide) It is now bigger than from my twin pregnancy. Yes, I still have my hernia. But I am doing exercises daily to help to see if I can repair it on my own. I know it takes time and I need to be patient. Needless to say I may end up having surgery to repair it in the long run, once I’m done having kids. But I always think it is best to do what you can before.

After my c-section I wore my wrap every day for the majority of the day. After about 5 weeks I quit wearing it because I noticed I was having back pain. Especially in the morning after wearing it all night. I realized (thanks to my boss) that the wrap was doing the work for me that my core was supposed to do. I liked the wrap because I didn’t have to THINK about holding my core in. So I stopped wearing it after about 6 weeks and starting focusing on holding my core in. TRY that.. its hard.. I realized I am awful at it. Making meals, walking around the house, teaching, nursing, even just while I was sitting watching T.V.

So here I am, trying to do it myself. Please know I am 13 weeks post partum and I honestly was nervous sharing these pictures of myself with you all. Not because I was a sweaty hot mess but I don’t feel like I am quite back to myself. Which is dumb I know. I’m human and feel a bit insecure so.. ignore that baby belly.

Here are a few exercises that I try to do every day to heal my diastema. 

Please excuse my lovely self timer photos with sweaty hair and pasty skin. Ha!

1. Pelvic lifts.

With your heels on the ground tuck your hips in and really think about sucking your belly button to your spine. Lift your bum off the ground without squeezing it. I do this  3x25 (25 reps, 3 times).

Side note: The first time I laid flat on back post partum HURT. Weirdly.. It felt good but it took my breath away. My back hadn’t been flat on a hard surface for quite some time and it gave a lot of “relief” to my upper back. Almost as if it was being stretched!

2. Cat, Cow

This is a yoga move and again just think about sucking your belly button in and up. Remember to inhale as you suck in, take a few breathes and exhale as you  arch your back, making your belly button closer to the ground and your head goes up. I also do this 3x25.

This is my favorite! It also stretches and feels so good on my upper back.

3. The Crawl.

I just started doing this exercise. On all fours, notice my feet (and awesome socks) You will actually “march” your feet. Make sure you do your best to keep your belly in as much as you can. I’m obviously still working on it.. that and I had approximately 2 seconds to get in that position before my self timer went off.. ha!

4. Leg Circles

Laying on your back, tilt your pelvis in and lift your leg straight up. Do 20 circles with your right and 20 with your left. I do each leg 3 times for 20 circles.

5. Spider lift.

I call this the spider lift because obviously you look like a spider.. this is the hardest movement to do and I wouldn’t try this one until your at least 8 weeks post partum.

With your back and pelvis pressing against the wall, suck your belly in. With your hands in front of you try and hold your feet up. Hold them up as long as possible. At the beginning I could only do it for 5 seconds! Now I do this 3x30 second holds. Don’t forget to breathe.

I also do side planks and can do regular planks with out my belly making the triangle. (The center of your belly will make a triangle shape up with a sit up if you have a diastema.)

I hope these movements help you or someone you know struggling with diastasis recti.

REMEMBER. BE PATIENT. It took 9 months to stretch that out. It may take even longer to bring it back. I know I am having a hard time with it and it isn’t easy to heal.

One thing is for sure though.

It was worth it.

I am proud to be a mother.

Lazy M.F Monday: Hair Care Products

Happy Monday y’all!

Hope your all checking in after a nice and relaxing weekend.

It is time for another Lazy Mother Fashion post!

Today I want to highlight a few hair products that I use and love!

Bioterra Shampoo and Conditioner

I recently found this shampoo and conditioner. The smell of it reminds me of my favorite shampoo and conditions, Biolage. Put it has a great price point and I found it at my local grocery store.

Loreal Ever Style Mousse

This is a volumizing mousse that I use on my roots before I blow dry my hair. My hair is really thick and heavy on the bottom so adding a mousse to my roots helps add a little fluff without having to back comb it afterward. It is less than $5!

Pantene Pro-V Shaping Hairspray.

I started using this hairspray on each strand of my hair before curling my  hair. Because my hair is so heavy on bottom it helps hold my curl throughout the day.

Morroccan Oil

I have raved about this on the blog before and think it is a “must have” for any one who has THICK, dry and frizzy hair. After I blow dry my hair I add this to the ends and after I’m done styling I will add just one pump to my hair for a final smooth down.

Redken Active Express

I use this on days when I just want to wear my hair straight. It is a straightening paste and will put it through my hair before I blow dry it.

Urban Miracle Ends

This is also a paste I use on my ends when I put a curl through my hair but straighten the ends. It also helps condition and seal the hair follicle on the end to prevent those pesky splint ends.

There are a few of my favorite hair products. I hope you found one that you would want to try out!

Question of the day:

Share your favorite hair product!