Ups, Downs and Uncertainties

Sometimes life is smooth sailing, and sometimes it slams into you in waves.

Remember a couple months ago when I started this blog and I said things were calming down and life felt stable? That little interlude is over.

Some things are okay, and maybe a blessing in disguise, but life is full of uncertainties right now. My husband has been out of work for about 2.5 months now. It is stressful and hard not to worry about finances, but leaving that job was the right choice, regardless of what comes. The job search has taken longer than we thought, but that may be for the best because I have needed him with me lately.

Related to the job search, we have decided to sell our home. We've talked about it off and on for a couple years now, and this seems like a good time to go ahead and do it. But the whole process of getting your house ready, selling it and moving sucks and just adds one more layer of uncertainty.

Thanksgiving 2013

The most momentous event, and the hardest to talk about, happened this week. My dad passed away on Monday, May 19 at the age of 60. As many of you know, my dad had a stroke about 2 years ago. It has been a roller coaster for the whole family since then, with his health going up and down. There were a few times we thought we were going to lose him.

The stroke left him paralyzed on his left side and needing help with most daily functions. Seeing my dad go from the one who's always fixing everything to needing help with basic activities of daily living has been really hard. He also had trouble adjusting to such a drastic change. My mom has done an amazing job, being by his side every step and taking care of him at home. I'm grateful to her for this because it allowed not only me, but also my kids to spend more quality time with him.

Last week, he went to the hospital because of complications related to an infection. He was unresponsive and moved to hospice on Friday, where we knew he only had days left. I visited him Friday and Saturday and said my goodbyes before coming home.

My dad was always there to jump in and help me or anyone else. He supported me and was always in my corner, even when I was a brat. As I got older, he told me he was proud of who I became. I am glad he is not suffering anymore, but I am not at a point yet where I can imagine my world without him in it.

1983

Postpartum Series - Nutrition

This is the third part of a four-part series about getting fit after having a baby (or two or three). In case you missed them, the first part was about setting a goal and the second about getting your fitness started.

Now, we focus on the most important piece to any fitness plan -- your nutrition. You can work out all day long, but if you consistently follow it up with milkshakes, McDonald's or Bojangles, you will not see the results you want.

However, postpartum mommas have a couple of concerns that aren't covered in most diet books, primarily if you're breastfeeding.

Nutrition for breastfeeding moms
We'll talk about breastfeeding first. Nursing is the best way to lose the baby weight fast. As you go along, those pounds will drop away, but that doesn't mean the muscles underneath are strong. That's where the exercise comes in. But when you exercise, you get hungry, and when you're nursing, you're always starving.

I remember being near tears many times while nursing because it had been 3 or 4 hours since I last ate, and I felt like I was going to pass out (or kill someone) if I didn't get food soon. My best advice here is although we all want to get our pre-pregnancy bodies back, properly nourishing your body is far more important than losing weight.

If you're hungry, then EAT! And eat until you feel full. The normal recommendation is an additional 500 calories while nursing. If you're doing a moderate intensity workout, you should be adding about 300 calories. This is probably not a good time to incorporate a calorie deficit.

Shakes are a mom's best friend
Shakes make life so much easier for moms. You can use protein powder, supplements, a meal replacement shake like Shakeology or just blend up whatever fruits and veggies you have at home.

A good formula for making a smoothie is fruit, veggies, creamy fruit (avocado or banana), liquid (water or unsweetened milk), protein (powder, Greek yogurt, nut butter), and any extra supplements or flavors you'd like to add (honey, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, spices, etc). Make a huge batch and drink on it for a few days. If you have older kids, you can share with them. That way everybody is getting the nutrition they need, and you don't have to cook. 

Drink water
As with any diet, cutting out sodas, lattes, flavored milk, juices and other empty-calorie drinks is just good nutrition. Nursing moms need a ton of water. Plus, water gives your body energy to get you through that new fitness plan you just committed to.


Keep a water bottle with you all the time, and drink it throughout the day. Squeeze in a little lemon juice or lime juice, or toss in a slice of cucumber for flavor.

Cheating
Cheating is OK in moderation. The goal is to eat healthy, not diet, not starve yourself. If you want a piece of chocolate or a cookie, go for it. But stick to one piece of chocolate or one small cookie, and then get right back to your healthy eating. One little splurge isn't going to undo everything when your overall diet is good.

If you want help getting started with a nutrition plan or want to give a shake or supplement a try, let me know. I have many options and many, many meal plans to share. Just use the contact form to the right on this page.

Postpartum Fitness Series - Getting Started

Now you've set your goal, and you have it written down somewhere that you'll see every day. So how do you get started?

Choose an Exercise

My starting point.

No matter what you were doing before pregnancy, you probably need to start off a little slower than where you were and work up. If you weren't exercising at all before having a baby, choose a low-intensity exercise or exercise program.

It's always easiest to stick to something you like doing. If you hate running, don't make the treadmill part of your exercise plan. Do something that works with your current limitations, allowing you to modify as you get stronger. This is probably not the time to start a heavy weight-lifting regimen.

Usually having some balance between working out at home and outside or at a gym works best for moms. The baby may get sick, or it's flu season and you don't want to leave him in child care. Maybe your favorite class is only offered during naptime. Gyms are great to get a break, but having an at-home option is an excellent back-up, and increases your chances of meeting your goal because it leaves you with no excuses. 

Invest in Yourself
You deserve to invest in yourself and your health, so don't be afraid to put some money toward meeting your goal. Buy a quality fitness program (of course I have suggestions), buy equipment such as light weights or a Pilates ball, get a gym membership, even hire a trainer for a short time, or some combination. Spending even a little money shores up your commitment to achieving your goal and gives you some incentive for using your DVDs or your membership.

Plus, you're worth every penny.

Make a Schedule
Now that you know what exercises you want to and have your equipment or membership, make a schedule. Are you going to work out 3 days a week for 45 minutes? Or maybe go for 5 days a week for 30 minutes? Whatever it is, write it down.

Find Support
Being a new mom, especially if you choose not to return to work, can make you feel isolated at times. Having support, whether from family, friends, an online group, a group at the gym, makes a huge difference. Make sure you share your goal with your family and your plan, so they can help you find the time or encourage you to do your workout when you really want to take a nap.

We all need support, especially now, so seek out others who will encourage you and inspire you to keep going. If you need some advice or want to get connected to a group, email me or find me on Facebook. I'll help get you connected with others on a similar journey.

Next time we'll talk about getting your nutrition in line with your plan.

Postpartum Fitness Series - Setting a Goal

You've just had a baby and gained a ton of weight, or maybe not. Either way, most of us are ready within a few months to work on getting at least some of our pre-baby body back. This is the first part in a series about how to get fit after having a baby.

Set a Goal
It's hard to get anywhere if you don't know where it is you want to end up. Setting a goal is more than just saying, "I want to lose 10 pounds" or "I want to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight."

You want to make SMART goals, but first you need to do a little personal assessment. Realize that post-pregnancy workouts for most normal people who don't have all day to exercise are a phased process. Here are a few steps to get you started making a goal that you can achieve:

Think about any current limitations
Physically, how are you feeling? Have you healed? What limitations do you have right now that you need to consider when beginning an exercise program? Are you nursing? Have your ab muscles grown back together?

Set a short-term and long-term goal
Your body is constantly changing, and your hormones are shifting. You will steadily be losing weight, healing and getting stronger. Start with a short-term goal of maybe 30 or 60 days, along with a longer goal, looking toward where you want to be 9 months to a year from now.

Be Reasonable
It takes everybody different lengths of time to lost the pregnancy weight. Some of us never lost it all, and that's okay. For me, the weight always came off slowly. I gained 55 pounds with each child, and about 6 months out, I usually still carried a good 15 to 20 pounds of that weight. By a year, with moderate exercise, I was able to lose it all. 

Because nursing and hormonal shifts affect our weight, and it can vary a lot from day to day depending on how much water you're holding. Your short-term goal may not need to be weight-based. Maybe it could be to ditch the maternity clothes or to be able to do a certain number of sit-ups or push-ups.

Be consistent
No matter you're goal, make sure it's something you can be consistent with. For most moms, yes, we want to look good, but more than that, we want to be healthy and be role models for our kids. We can achieve that even while carrying some leftover baby weight.

Write it down!!

Accomplishing Your Goal
Now that you have your goal written down, you're ready to get started. We'll talk about that in the next part of this series.

The Perks of Being a Locavore

I love Spring! The opening of farmers markets is like Christmas for me. This morning, I visited the smaller weekday, downtown Farmers Market we have in town. For just $12, I came home with these great goodies.

Eggs are on of the main reasons I love when the market opens. I can occasionally find some around town in the winter, but it's not that often.

This afternoon my CSA box comes with kale, vitamin greens, collards, asparagus and strawberries. CSA is community-supported agriculture. For the one I am part of, I get a box of fruits and vegetables from a nearby organic farm delivered to a drop-off point in town. Sometimes, the farm will supplement with foods from other local farms who use sustainable farming practices.

With a CSA membership, you get whatever is being grown on the farm that week. I get notified on Saturday what's coming in my box on Wednesday. This time of year it's a lot of greens. They aren't my favorite, but I know I need to eat them. So this week I plan on feeding the family a lot of green smoothies.

In addition to buying produce local, I also get my meat from a local butcher. I ask about where the animals lived, what they ate, and what, if any, medications they were given. Plus, the meat I buy is always fresh. The butcher cuts up my meat when I call to place the order. There's no water or preservatives added, and it's never frozen. 

Why eat local?
I know you go to the grocery store and see all these inspections and seals of approval. Your local crops don't have that, but those seals really aren't protecting you that much (we won't go into that today). There are so many reasons to buy local. Here's a few.

You get to talk to the farmer. Do you want to know what's been sprayed on your strawberries? Or where the chickens that laid these eggs live? All you have to do is ask. Most farmers love talking about what they do. Getting that connection with where my food comes from is one of my favorite things about buying local, and it's a great lesson for the kids.

Fresh tastes better. The food you get was recently picked, which just tastes better than food that has been placed in cold storage and trucked from Argentina. Plus, with less time from farm to table, the food likely  has more nutrients.

Your food is likely less contaminated. OK, this point can definitely be argued. But, at the most basic level, the less time it takes to get from farm to table, the less needs to be done to your food. Your local farmer may still be using herbicides and pesticides and keeping animals in poor conditions. But your food isn't entering the large food distribution chain, where it can pass through many hands, opening up many opportunities for contamination.

You're helping your local economy and environment. Farming is becoming more difficult in the United States, but it's a vital service to keeping a healthy food supply. Farmers markets and CSAs help your local farmers stay in business. By keeping them in business, you're keeping that farmland in the hands of its owner and away from commercial development.

Ideally, you'd want to look for local growers that use organic or sustainable farming practices. That's where you get the healthiest foods and the best environmental impact.

Do you shop local? Are you excited about what's coming for spring?