February 25, 2015 by Stephanie

Fit for Me 8/52

What I did last week:

Thursday-30 minutes on a bike. Spoiler alert: I met my goal!

Saturday-Our gym was closed during our normal morning sweat session due to a nice layer of ice on everything. I ended up doing a 45 minute cardio workout thanks to My Fit Coach game on my Wii.

Sunday-We were not able to make it to the gym that day due to some family obligations, so I improvised. George was also have a day with no naps so I did this leg workout while baby wearing him. I don’t know how long it was but I did a leg workout doing 5 sets of 10 reps of squats, lunges, and calf raises. His 15ish extra pounds definitely made a difference. I didn’t want to topple over by losing my balance, so I noticed it also really helped me concentrate on my form and going slow with the movements while wearing him, which added to the burn for sure. And he was content about not napping and being held, so it worked for him too. It may not seem like a lot, but I had a hard time walking up and down the steps that night and on Monday. Improvisation apparently worked!

Monday-15 minute ab workout.

Tuesday-1 hour of BodyPump. I haven’t been in a couple weeks due to family stuff on the weekends, and we will be out again this Saturday. I needed the weights in my life, so I jumped on the chance to do a weeknight class when Tom wasn’t working late. After a couple weeks off the class, I was glad I only had to stop in the chest and shoulders tracks.

Impressed by:

Motivating myself to workout at home even when I know I feel more motivated at the gym. It was good to see I can still be active and get a good workout even when my favorite routines may not be an option. I am happy that even with George on the nap struggle bus I found a way to incorporate him into my exercise and making them both a priority. I really have no excuse not to workout in some way. That leg burn while carrying George was a good reminder that even a small activity in the most random way can have positive results as far as exercise goes.

Struggled with:

Friends, if I am to be honest, I am really struggling with my weight. Like A LOT. Outside of my pregnancy, this is the most I have ever weighed. I went back down to my pre-pregnancy weight soon after giving birth, but have since gained several of those pounds back. I am very uneasy about it and have zero confidence. It is also a struggle seeing that I have gained more weight in the last two months since starting working out consistently. I know that muscle weighs more than fat, but here is the thing: pants that were large a couple months ago are no longer fitting. I wouldn’t normally freak out about the number on the scale, and honestly I rarely weigh myself to begin with. But since clothes are becoming tighter and tighter, that number is haunting me. I have emotions about it right now that I am having a hard time accepting and understanding. Even as I right this, I know it is crazy, and I need to give myself grace. Writing it out definitely makes me feel silly about the whole thing. I need to love my body more than I do and accept that I do eat healthy and am active. However as a woman, it can be very difficult to sort out all those images and feelings that can be very self-deprecating. It has been a really long time since I have been this self-conscious about the way that I look and feel. And then it is this vicious cycle that I get mad at myself for losing confidence and even worry about what the scale says. It’s a long road of growth and acceptance I guess.

Did I meet my goal from last week?

My goal was to get 6 miles on the bike. Last week I got 5.96, but this week I nailed it with a 6.13. Hoorah!

What is my goal for next week?

To be more positive about myself and remind myself of the beauty and strength that I do possess.

Fitness Thoughts:

I really like knowing how much time/reps I have left in a workout. The BodyPump instructor I had this week was not my favorite because she did not give us prompts or countdowns. I like to know how much time I have left so I know whether to pace myself or go hard on those last two reps. She was really good at her instruction on how to do it, but I need those markers of where we are at in the workout. I find those status updates motivating and push me throughout, so I was a little disappointed by that and felt lost throughout the entire class.

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What have you done this week to be healthy? What do you do to remind yourself you are beautiful? Any new workouts I should try?

February 24, 2015 by Stephanie

What’s In My Kitchen?

I love kitchen gadgets.

I could get lost watching infomercials on the latest NEW gadget that will change your life! Wouldn’t it be fun to test all those products out?

Tom and I have been known to go to Bed, Bath, And Beyond to just peruse new items and dream up our perfect kitchen setting. Seriously though, I got upset with Tom just the other day because he went without me to BB&B to pick up ice trays. Love that place.

I am always looking for ways to make things simpler in the kitchen. I love cooking, but I don’t like elaborate slave over for hours type of cooking. And this family just doesn’t have time for that during the week.

These are some of my favorite items that we use almost daily to make our lives a little easier. And these are things that are outside of your normal standard kitchenware like pots/pans and measuring cups.

1. KitchenAid Blender

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I make a smoothie every morning, so we needed a high powered blender that would stand up to my daily needs. I can put in frozen fruit, and this thing just whips them right up. It has also been helpful to puree food since I am making all George’s food. You really don’t need the “baby blender;” a regular one does just fine. These also come in different colors. Ours is a bright light blue which helps brighten up our counters.

2. Small Micro-Cooker

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We use this item almost daily. We love steamed vegetables, and this is far and away the easiest way to prepare them. We just grab a bag of frozen veggies, pour in the desired amount, add a little water, and then pop it in the microwave for 5 minutes. Once you are done, you just pour out the water through the strainer lid, and then donezo. Perfect side dish for any meal. Right now it makes enough veggies for just the two of us, but we may look to get the bigger size once we have to start making meals for more than just us. I have done three helpings, but anymore than that I have to just run it twice. You can do a lot of things with this bad boy, but we usually stick to just steaming vegetables. Considering how awful I am at cooking rice, I should use this more often to cook that. Seriously, if you don’t have this, do yourself a favor and get this from Pampered Chef.

3. Mix’N Chop

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This is another must have from Pampered Chef. I LOVE THIS ITEM. I really struggle chopping up hamburger meat when I am cooking it, and I don’t need hamburgers in my skillet meals. This gadget helps you chop up your meat into smaller chunks so much better than a regular spatula without feeling like you have to do an arm workout to do so. We use this several times a week. This will change your life people.

4. KitchenAid Mixer

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Another KitchenAid must. This is definitely the best wedding present we received. Sorry for all others, but this one really takes the cake. Literally, we make cakes with this. We don’t use this every day, but I would say almost weekly we use this sucker for something. We haven’t really explored any of the attachments, but I hear they are great too. I would love the pasta roller! We also are in need of a new beater since we have used it so much over the last 4 years.

5. Crockpot

No explanation needed. We use this great invention at least once a week. Set it and forget it!

6. Manual Food Processor

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Another favorite from Pampered Chef. I am the worst at cutting things. It is amazing I haven’t seriously injured myself in the past. Now, if any recipe calls for anything diced (or chunks) in the processor it goes. I have done onions, nuts, bread crumbs, meat, and so many other vegetables. It is really easy to maneuver, even easier when you get the husband to do it for you. It gets the job done, and no one is hurt!

These are all my own opinions, and I was not contacted by KitchenAid or Pampered Chef to speak about their items. But I would if they asked! I could talk about their products for dayssssss. We have so many other products of theirs that we love as well, but these are our most used and favorite saving-us-time items. And we will endorse any crockpot. They are the bomb.com.

Do you use any of these products? Do you love these brands as much as we do? What are your favorite kitchen items? What else should we be using to save us time?

February 23, 2015 by Stephanie

Crochet Top Hat

I am not big on Valentine’s Day. However, after last year’s news on the day of love, I forever will celebrate merely because it was on Valentine’s Day that we found out we were going to be parents in the most awesome and surprising way.

So naturally, I had to do something to document our little love bundle.

Wanting to further my crochet skills as well, I attempted a red top hat.

I used this pattern.

I didn’t follow it directly since I wasn’t making a Christmas hat. I started using the 6-12 month size but it was huge so I ripped it out and ended up sticking with the newborn size. And that size is still huge on George who is 5 months old.

I am excited to have this in my props box. It is just darling.

The pattern is really easy to follow, and it took me a couple days to make. I could have probably made it in one sitting, but I was only getting about 15 minutes spurts to crochet. So again, it is super easy and make me wonder why I haven’t attempted more hats.

Oh yes, because of the magic ring. But, I even mastered the magic ring by following this video.

It’s great as a baby prop because it can be smooshed and molded with a moving baby. This would be easy to make in all kinds of colors to really go with any holiday. I thought red would be nice for Valentine’s Day or Christmas.

I am trying to do more crocheting but it is really hard right now with our schedule. I have pinned a lot of things for inspiration so maybe things will slow down a bit for me to attempt more of them. But next up is a baby blanket for my other half who is preggers with their third little man!

What do you think of this hat? What other photo props do you think I should try making?

February 20, 2015 by Stephanie

If I Were Famous…

The Oscars are this weekend. I LOVE watching the Oscars, even though I have to admit that I have seen very little of the films nominated. Who is excited about Neil Patrick Harris? This girl is. Except following Ellen’s performance from last year will be a little rough I imagine.

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Anytime there is a red carpet, I wish I was famous and wonder what life would be like to go in front of cameras all dolled up. Sidenote: a real dream of mine is to be one of the ladies who is the award presenter/guider. You know the ones that don’t say anything but just stand there with the award and look pretty and point people where to go. You don’t really have to be famous to do that do you? How does one make that happen?

Anyway, It makes me wonder though what kinds of things I would want when I travel if I were a celebrity. Have you heard of a rider? A rider is a list of demands that celebrities make when say they are on tour. Each destination must meet these requests. I am not really sure what happens if they don’t. Perhaps they don’t perform or do the interview? These requests are supposedly to make them feel more at home and like themselves.

Anyway here are things I would want in my dressing room.

1. Chocolate Donuts. And not anything fancy from a real bakery. I want these: the Hy-vee off-brand. I eat 5 every morning so these would definitely be comfort food. (Also in writing this, I discovered I could order these online…dangerous.)

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2. A big white robe and big fuzzy slippers. I want to feel like a cloud is hugging my body. Make it happen people.

3. Candy of the Twizzler and Ferror Rocher variety.

4. I would assume I have my own stylist team if I am famous enough to insist on a rider (which would be the one reason I would want to be famous), but I would like to have a masseuse waiting for me at every destination. Traveling is rough!

5. Panera Mac & Cheese and McDonald’s Fries. Because I need carbs when I travel. Who am I kidding? I need carbs all the time.

6. Straws in every drink. I am a sloppy drinker without straws. Seriously, it’s like I have never drank out of a real cup. I am an adult who needs a sippy cup. It would be even better if the straws were those fancy vintage looking ones, but I won’t be a diva about it. Just give me a dang straw so I don’t spill all down my front.

7. Hot towels. You know like when you get them right out of the dryer hot. Isn’t this the best feeling ever to be wrapped up in a warm towel after a shower?

8. A full smoothie station. Just have all the fruits and vegetables and ONE (brand) coconut water please. I would also ask that they are all local products from that particular area. Support small farms!

9. Listerine. I don’t know about you but when I travel I always feel like my teeth are more gross than normal. I need to clean up that dirty mouth.

10. A box of puppies. (And someone else to handle them). Because why not? There really isn’t much else that can bring joy quite like puppies!. Bring me all the puppies! (I would also insist that these puppies/dogs come from local shelters. This way these dogs can have a mini field trip from being in a shelter and maybe I can convince people with my celebrity status to adopt them. Fame for the win!

I may demand other things if were actually famous like J-Lo who has to have everything white, even her food. But as a non-A lister now, I think these things are pretty reasonable to feel comfortable. But let’s be clear besides the straws, Listerine, and donuts, these are not really things I have at home on a daily basis. Unless you put Grace and Crosby in a box, then maybe I have number 10.

So it makes you wonder if these riders are really what their lives are like at home or if they can just demand these things because they are famous. But then it makes you wonder why do we cater to these demands in the first place? But that is a discussion for another day.

Oh if I were famous…

What would you have on your rider? Are you going to watch the Oscars?

February 19, 2015 by Stephanie

Fit for Me 7/52

What I did last week:

Wednesday-15 minute ab workout

Thursday-30 minutes on a new machine. It is a cross between an elliptical and step machine. My legs were on fire the entire time.

Sunday-15 minutes on the treadmill before I broke it. I am still not sure what I did, but it cleared out my workout before I was done. I cover up the mileage while I run, so I didn’t know where I was and I didn’t want to start over. I moved to a bike and did 30 minutes.

Monday-1 hour of BodyStep. This is a class where you basically march and hop all around this step bench. This class kicked my booty. I need to step it up (pun intended). Never have I felt so out of shape or uncoordinated. It was a fun workout on the snow day though!

Tuesday-30 minutes on the treadmill

Impressed by:

Going to work out on a snow day when it would have been just as easy to stay in.

Struggled with:

My grandma’s passing. It is not really fitness related but it emotionally rocked my world which in turn affects everything else. Her funeral was yesterday. It is never easy to say goodbye to someone but especially someone who was such a class act like Grandma.

Did I meet my goal from last week?

My goal was to get 6 miles on the bike. Well I got 5.96, so I would say that is close enough. I also wonder if I could have gone harder if I had not run for 15 minutes first.

What is my goal for next week?

I am going to try again on the bike to get 6 miles in 30 minutes. I mean I was so close!

Fitness Thoughts:
Sometimes I judge my workouts by how sweaty I get. I had a couple this week where I was dripping. I always think this sweat means I owned that workout, or that I had to put in a lot of effort to be owned by the workout. Either way, it’s like a badge of honor that I put it all out there.