Oh, Hi April (Take 2)
On my mind these days? Many things, but let's keep it light and moving forward.
Here we are at the second quarter of the year, and doing better body-wise has been on my mind. I was thinking about this in the shower today- I have been pregnant and/or nursing since 2015. Sighhhh. And no, I am not still nursing my toddler but a new baby! A little girl who is both energetic and demanding in ways her brother never was. Anyway, baby talk aside I'd like to finally release myself from baby-fat-dom and move back towards better body confidence. Our apartment has mirrors everywhere and I am constantly catching a reflection of myself! BOO!! It's almost as bad as being in a changing room except that the lighting is better and there's no mind numbing soundtrack to make you feel like you're in purgatory.
Step one has been to workout. I actually worked out up until a few weeks before delivery but then for 6 months post partum I didn't do anything for myself. Well, now I take advantage of a very elusive nap time and hit the mat everyday. Yep, everyday. I have been doing something crazy called PiYo. Awhile back a girlfriend of mine told me about doing it with her husband and I filed it away under "something maybe to try later perhaps." Yet, here I am. I am one month in and I am huffing and puffing towards a better body. I hope.
Step two has been to eat more. I generally eat pretty well but I felt that my way of eating could stand to be tweaked so that I filled up on more of the good stuff and achieved closer to a 90/10 eating strategy. Part of that has been to eat a better breakfast so that I could cut out an unnecessary source of sugar. I don't know why I have been eating oatmeal for breakfast for so long when I rarely find it filling without a lot of extras. Maybe for comfort? Aside from sugar, I would add cinnamon, dried fruit and a spoon of nut butter. Nothing bad there, but as I said it just wasn't filling. Add to that my mug of sweetened tea and sometimes bacon and a biscuit, and we're eating a hungry man breakfast!! Side note: I was walking over to Whole Foods once a week and hitting up the breakfast buffet for the bacon and biscuits. Why tempt myself by keeping these things on hand... but oh man I found myself googling "cream cheese biscuit recipe" a lot.
All of which is to say, my "better breakfast" has meant going savory- grain, protein, veg.
Adding onto this, I have started to make an effort to keep chopped veggies, bean salads, chopped fruit, and quinoa (or some other grain) ready made in the fridge so that I am always able to grab something good. I'll post about the salads next time. One thing I did recently pick up was another friend's spring time cookbook. She's vegan but considering how expensive and weird meat can be these days, I think we can all stand for more veggies in our lives (just hold the tofu and sweet potatoes please).
I am going to close out with an ode to my friend A, who has just restarted her show All About African Violets! I may have an eye out for trying to grow something special one of these days!!
Here we are at the second quarter of the year, and doing better body-wise has been on my mind. I was thinking about this in the shower today- I have been pregnant and/or nursing since 2015. Sighhhh. And no, I am not still nursing my toddler but a new baby! A little girl who is both energetic and demanding in ways her brother never was. Anyway, baby talk aside I'd like to finally release myself from baby-fat-dom and move back towards better body confidence. Our apartment has mirrors everywhere and I am constantly catching a reflection of myself! BOO!! It's almost as bad as being in a changing room except that the lighting is better and there's no mind numbing soundtrack to make you feel like you're in purgatory.
Step one has been to workout. I actually worked out up until a few weeks before delivery but then for 6 months post partum I didn't do anything for myself. Well, now I take advantage of a very elusive nap time and hit the mat everyday. Yep, everyday. I have been doing something crazy called PiYo. Awhile back a girlfriend of mine told me about doing it with her husband and I filed it away under "something maybe to try later perhaps." Yet, here I am. I am one month in and I am huffing and puffing towards a better body. I hope.
Step two has been to eat more. I generally eat pretty well but I felt that my way of eating could stand to be tweaked so that I filled up on more of the good stuff and achieved closer to a 90/10 eating strategy. Part of that has been to eat a better breakfast so that I could cut out an unnecessary source of sugar. I don't know why I have been eating oatmeal for breakfast for so long when I rarely find it filling without a lot of extras. Maybe for comfort? Aside from sugar, I would add cinnamon, dried fruit and a spoon of nut butter. Nothing bad there, but as I said it just wasn't filling. Add to that my mug of sweetened tea and sometimes bacon and a biscuit, and we're eating a hungry man breakfast!! Side note: I was walking over to Whole Foods once a week and hitting up the breakfast buffet for the bacon and biscuits. Why tempt myself by keeping these things on hand... but oh man I found myself googling "cream cheese biscuit recipe" a lot.
All of which is to say, my "better breakfast" has meant going savory- grain, protein, veg.
Adding onto this, I have started to make an effort to keep chopped veggies, bean salads, chopped fruit, and quinoa (or some other grain) ready made in the fridge so that I am always able to grab something good. I'll post about the salads next time. One thing I did recently pick up was another friend's spring time cookbook. She's vegan but considering how expensive and weird meat can be these days, I think we can all stand for more veggies in our lives (just hold the tofu and sweet potatoes please).
I am going to close out with an ode to my friend A, who has just restarted her show All About African Violets! I may have an eye out for trying to grow something special one of these days!!
SO glad to see you here even though I'm three months late to the party :-D Struggling with body myself - and I have no baby or toddler to blame it on. :-D Grain Protein Veg sounds good to me!
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