Body After Baby: Check In...

Hello!

Meg (and Caleb, too ;) ) checking in with Body After Baby

Exercise:  Well, I haven't managed to dig out my Yoga Booty Ballet DVD yet.  Shame, shame!  It's in the basement, we moved our bookshelves (with aforementioned yoga DVD on one of the bookshelves) down there while baby-proofing our home last month.  But, I did lug 3..that is three stacked laundry baskets up the stairs all at the same time.  Man, that was hard!  And, my baby officially weighs well over 19 lbs now as a 5 month old, so I have some pretty impressive biceps forming as we speak.

In all seriousness though, as soon as the snow settles here (we are in an, I kid you not, extreme weather warning) I am going to Target and buying a yoga mat because my booty will be doing no ballet upon our hardwood floors...ouchie!

So, the plan is as follows: begin yoga exercising no later than Monday, January 11th.  Keep me to this ladies!

Diet:  This is going very well.  My goal was to begin adding even more foods to my diet and I have!  I have been eating sweet potatoes (even though I do not like them)  which have a lot of really great nutrients in them.  Also, my hubby Cole has been making me these really yummy fruit smoothies the last couple of nights that are completely healthy.  So, that was an easy way for me to down some fruit in a tastebud satisfying way!  If you want to try one of these smoothies, here is the recipe (because they are super good!):

Pearberry Smoothie...

1/4 cup frozen organic blueberries

3/4 cup frozen organic pears

1/4 cup rice milk

*Throw it all in the blender and you have yourself a really delicious smoothie! 

I'm drinking one right now, actually.

See...easy peasy!

So, I added two new foods within the past 5 days...

blueberries and sweet potato.

Caleb seemed to do fine with both!  I found out some delicious health benefits of blueberries (here) and sweet potatoes (here)

My goal to drink more water is going really well too.  This week I purchased a large PUR water dispenser at Target that fits in our refrigerator.  I have been drinking well over 8 glasses of water a day :)  Previously, I had a water pitcher that held a lot less water, and it broke on Sunday!  Well, that was a good thing because I think having the larger water filtration system has helped me to drink even more water.  I would recommend this filter system if you are looking for one, it's affordable and the water tastes great!

Goals for the next week...

Exercise:  I WILL begin exercising, for real. 

Diet: My goal is to add more nutritious foods this coming week (1-2 more, as I need to wait and watch Caleb's reactions)

Hope you ladies are doing well with...

... your Body After Baby challenge! 

Thank you for all your encouragement, it  really  helps! :)

Nibble Nibble...

(Imagine a photo of a cute baby eating food here)

I am thinking Caleb will start solids in about 17 days...

...a few days after he turns 6 months old.

That is, if I get the okay from his new pediatrician...

...who we will meet with for the first time on the 21st of January.

I am a little nervous.

Caleb has food sensitivities...

and I so want him to be able

to eat...

...with enjoyment

...in fun

...like a little boy should.

A little boy who...

...is having his first bite

of yummy...

...scrumptious

food.

Oh, please...

let him be able to eat!

When we DO take this big step and finally whip out bowl and spoon...

I am thinking his first bites will be one of the following...


a. Avocado
or

b. Yellow Squash
or
c. Sweet Potato

(we are skipping rice cereal altogether, Dr. W says it's more difficult to digest)

Any votes or suggestions?

I am planning to prepare all of Caleb's baby food myself, and to use organic veggies and fruits. I would like as little extra stuff as possible in his little tummy, to lessen the chance of a food sensitivity. Though, I know there may be nothing I can do to prevent a reaction, I just hope that less will be more in this case. We will space out each individual new food we try at least 3 days before introducing a new food, of course. Also, I plan on keeping a food journal for him.

One thing IS for sure...

I have a pretty good hunch that

Caleb is going to LOVE...
...food.

He already gets all arm flappy and makes all sorts of boy noises...
...at just the sight of his daily multivitamin.

Ha!

Resolved...

The new year is here and the new decade upon us...there are many goals I have for this year, and it's quite inspiring to read the resolutions of others...so I thought I'd post mine here. It's good to have a hard copy too, so you know, I can make sure I follow through :)

I have always loved reading the resolutions of Jonathan Edwards...have you read them? They are very convicting and encouraging. You can read them here if you'd like. :) Here are just a few of my favorites...

"6 Resolved, To live with all my might, while I do live.

and

"26 Resolved, To cast away such things as I find do abate my assurance."

and

"41 Resolved, To ask myself at the end of every day, week, month and year, wherein I could possibly, in any respect, have done better. Jan. 11, 1723"

He speaks quite eloquently, don't you think? :)

Resolved...
To lay my life at his feet each day...more of Him, less of me.
To read the Word daily and aloud to Caleb.
To pray fervently for Caleb each day.
To pray for others each day.
To be a better wife and mama...in so many ways.
To worry less and trust God more.
To love others more.
To find joy each day.
To seek a gentle and quiet spirit within me.
To be a better steward of time and money.
To not desire control so much within this world.
To read books again (other than baby books :) )
To laugh more.

Goals for our home...

1. Beautify our home...somehow. I seriously need help with this one! HGTV visit me...pretty please!
2. Go more natural...we are slowly replacing products we use within our home with more healthy choices (cleaning up our act...so to speak). :)
3. I would like our home to be a place of peace, rest, comfort, love, laughter, joy and fun :)

Goals for our health...

1. Eat organic when possible
2. Create meal plans for the week
2. Get some much needed fresh air each day
3. Exercise more
4.Continue seeking knowledge for our health ( I love this one)
5. Continue immune system boosting actions
6. Rest. :)

Goals for each new day...

Get up earlier
Begin the day with prayer
Stretch each morning
Eat breakfast
Read the Word
Take our vitamins
Rest
Organize something
Read books to Caleb
Pray throughout the day
Laugh, a lot
Have some couch time together
Be silly with Caleb
Read something grown-up
Go to bed earlier
End the day with prayer

Body After Baby

I am joining the Body After Baby challenge I learned about on another Mama's (Samantha) blog here. I felt inspired and thought it would be a good goal for the new year and new decade!

Here are my goals:

Diet:

When Caleb was 5 weeks old he was diagnosed with food sensitivities within my breastmilk. I then made the choice to begin an elimination diet in order to continue breastfeeding Caleb. I followed a food allergy chart and eliminated all but the least allergenic foods from my diet. Since then, I have slowly been adding foods back in, finding that Caleb is sensitive to many foods. In addition to eating the least allergenic foods, I absolutely have not had any soy, dairy or gluten as well. I plan to go forward with this diet and my goal is to continue breastfeeding Caleb until he is atleast one year of age. I feel that this diet has contributed, as well as breastfeeding, to my overall health and wellbeing since giving birth. I have lost all of my "baby weight" and then some, and I feel great!

However, I have big goals for my diet:

1. 
   
   Continue to add more foods back in with priority being finding more fresh veggies...even if I don't like them (for example sweet potato...gross)! (As of now I am eating cooked carrots...everyday. Everyday.) Caleb has shown signs of allergies to all green veggies (including romaine lettuce and even green beans)


2. 
   
   Find a better supplement because I don't think mine are cutting it. (I'm looking for a great prenatal/breastfeeding supplement that is soy/dairy/gluten free...if you know of one I'm looking for suggestions! Most supplements have soy in them)


3. 
   
   Eat more variety, even though it is easy and safe to eat the same thing everyday. My goal for the next months is to try more of a rotation diet.


4. 
   
   Eat in this order of importance...Vegetables, Protein, Fruit, Grain


5. 
   
   Drink WAY more water


6. 
   
   Eat organic when possible (right now I eat about 95% organic...but this is because of the elimination diet, I would eat less organic if I could...because it is SO expensive!)

Exercise:

At 16 weeks pregnant I was put on bedrest for 5 days due to a complication. After those 5 days I was on a weight restriction and activity restriction for the remainder of my pregnancy. Needless to say, I haven't worked out other than walking on a treadmill for almost a year. Sad. While I have lost all of my baby weight and then some, when I actually took the time to look in the mirror the other day (after reading about this very challenge...actually)I noticed a few things were, um...missing. Like... my booty.

Here are my goals:

1. Exercise. Actually do it, think about it, then do it. This will take effort, but I need to make it a priority. Whether it be 9am while Cole is holding Caleb or 12am while Caleb sleeps, I need to exercise. My first goal is to exercise 3 times a week by doing Yoga Booty Ballet (it's a DVD video...it's all I can do now because I live in the midwest and it's freezing...and I do well with instructional help and someone saying "good job" :) ) I would love to say I'll run a mile, lift weights, do sit-ups, and all...but I'm being realistic. This is all I have time for, right now. But hey, something is better than nothing right?


2. I'm going to stop at goal 1 for now : ) Not because of lack of motivation, but I don't want to overwhelm myself :) I will add more later...actually that is goal # 2...to add more goals after I achieve goal # 1. :)