On turning 27.

I turned 27 yesterday, or, as I jokingly like to say “I celebrated the 2^ndanniversary of my 25^th birthday.” Really though, the number doesn’t bother me. I’m not upset about getting closer to thirty. In fact, I’m excited about what’s to come.

If you asked me to sum up the last year in one sentence I’d say “It was the year I began to embrace womanhood over girlhood.” Of course, technically I’ve been a woman for some time now, but women are powerful, little girls are not, and; I’m finding that every day I get more and more comfortable with my power and subsequently my womanhood.

This past year, particularly the past six months, I’ve faced a number of personal challenges. I’ve had to face some hard truths about people and situations in my life, and I’ve had to make some decisions, some of them very hard, some of them decisions that I must make over and over again. I have been tested and I have grown. I’ve seen some things about myself that I want to change, and I’ve also been proud of the choices I’ve made and the strength that I’ve shown myself and others.

To sum up the last year in one word: Grateful. I’m grateful for growth, for the challenges that pushed me to jump off a proverbial cliff, and  that forced me to trust myself and let myself be lifted up by my own wings. I’m grateful for the clarity and vision I’ve developed for the future and I'm excited for what's to come.

I’m grateful for a truly supportive and loving husband, my two, soon to be three little boys, some really great girlfriends, and renewed relationships with my aunt and two cousins. I’m grateful for the adventures that lay ahead, for the breath and energy to live each day, and for the grace and mercy of a God who never fails me.

And I’m grateful for each and every one of you who reads this blog and gives me the opportunity to connect with you.

Stay fierce.

xx.

Weekend Recap

We Got the Snow...

I couldn’t believe it, but we did. By Friday morning we had about 20 inches. The boys had a great time; Troy is a lover of snowballs and Archer was happy to just to be eating it, bless his teething little heart.

I enjoyed my mini-snowcation and being snowed in with the boys and husband, but by Friday afternoon I was itching to get out of our apartment. Fortunately we had dinner reservations and childcare already set up for Valentine's Day. 

Our view from dinner. 

                    

Arctrainers! Did you know that they are now interactive and ask you questions? Evidence: this is what popped up when I hopped off of the machine for a second to tie my shoe.

Yes, I am. 

We made brownies.  Troy helped out and I got this amazing picture of him stirring batter and wearing a cape. 

Time. Slow.Down.

I’m excited because I’ve completed the rough draft of my post-baby workout plan! It’s a body part split, and it’s what I’ll stick with for at least the first 12 weeks. I already know that my biggest challenges will come from dietary compliance and that dietary compliance is the biggest indicator of fat loss. I’m working on coming up with the basics of a nutrition plan to use post-partum, but I won’t be able to fill it out completely until I know my post-baby weight, which will be the number I use to determine caloric intake. I’ll share more in the future  about that though. 

Did you have a good weekend? What did you do for wellness? 

Baking Fail.

We are promised snow, and lots of it, starting tomorrow afternoon and continuing into Thursday. I think the current prediction is 12 inches, but I’m predicting we’ll get nothing. I define nothing as “not enough for the agency I work for to shut down.”  So in the meantime,  I decided to make some muffins.

One of my private, personal resolutions for 2014 is to bake more often and for no reason. Growing up, my mom cooked often and there was always something sweet to eat lying around, and many of my fondest memories center around conversations we had in the kitchen. I want my boys to develop an appreciation for the hard work that goes into preparing a meal or baked goods; I want them to know how to fend for themselves or even excel in the kitchen, and I want them to be able to reflect back and have their own fond memories of time shared with their parents cooking or baking. With that said, though I appreciate a gooey brownie or slice of cheesecake as much as the next person, I’m trying to take a more balanced approach to baking.

I found this recipe on Pinterest and decided to give a whirl. I'm always looking for something easy and nutritious for the boys in the morning, and these muffins, which are sweetened with applesauce and honey instead of traditional sugar, seemed the perfect fit. They are also gluten-free, made with oatmeal instead of regular flour. I added 2 teaspoons of lemon extract to the batter and I think it really makes the flavors pop. The bag of berries I used had some larger pieces and it made more sense to make a loaf than individual muffins. 

I topped it off with some more berries and added a little bit of shredded, unsweetened coconut to make things more interesting texturally. And also because I love coconut. 

*The recipe for muffins says to bake for 20 minutes, but in the loaf pan it took 35.

Truthfully, I was really disappointed. The bread isn't bad, but it's not everything I was hoping for either. My recent experiences with oat flour leave me to believe that I need to combine it with a flour such as coconut, to reduce the gumminess factor of the finished product. 

Ya win some, ya lose some! Have you used other types of flour before? Which do you prefer?  

 

Weekend Recap

This weekend was a quick one. Friday night the boys and I went to the gym where I ran (jogged) for 15 minutes, no stopping, and then did a few shoulder exercises. I couldn’t believe that I jogged the entire time, but this totally kick-butt reggaeton song was on and ended up being about 8 minutes long; when it started I was like, okay I’ll run through this song, not realizing that it was going to be as long as it was. I worked shoulders with lateral and front raises as a superset,and finished with shoulder presses on the Smith machine. Shoulders are probably my favorite muscle group to work, with legs coming in a close second. I have maintained some shoulder mass and definition despite not lifting as frequently or as heavily as I did pre-pregnancy, and I want to do my best to maintain what I’ve got through the end of my pregnancy and post-partum period, until I can get back to lifting the way I like.

Saturday I ran and did legs, and I felt exhausted afterwards.  I am getting to the point in my pregnancy where I really just need to slow down and pay more attention to recovery, which is a challenge for me. I finished my workout before Chad and while waiting for him I ran into one of my friends, Debbie, who just finished up a Power class. For anyone unfamiliar, Power is very similar to Les Mills’ Body Pump. Debbie went up in the amount of weights she used in class again; go girl!

I love it when women test their limits and show their strength, and I especially love when women are able to do this together. Empowering each other is so important, and that’s why I am so excited to participate in the Muderella event in Mineral, Virginia this September! The Muderella is a 5-7 mile, untimed obstacle course, geared towards women. They are popping up all over the country, but if you want to join our team, please let me know!  Yeah Team Pretty Dirty!

How was your weekend? What did you do for the sake of your wellness?

The Best Thing About Pregnancy is Gaining Weight…

Said no one ever.

I’ve mentioned before in previous posts that I am a big gainer when I’m pregnant. Sure, some of this has to do with choices I make, but I also think that some of it is genetic and also has to do with how big my babies are (10 and 11 pounds). This is my first pregnancy where I have worked out the entire time and feel that I have been mindful about my eating habits overall. Of course, around Christmas time I did get a God-awful sweet tooth that I feared would never abate, but other than that I’ve felt that my eating habits have been relatively balanced. That said, ever since about week 15 I have stopped weighing myself and have requested they not tell me the number on the scale when I weigh at the doctor’s office. I know myself well enough to know that it’s not information I need to have because I will have some feelings about it that I can do without; even though I work very hard not to tie my feelings about myself to what I look like or weigh, there are times that I find it difficult not to do this.

Well, today I found out exactly how much weight I’ve gained: 27 pounds. My doctor was like, “Okay, so at this point you’ve gained 27 pounds and we want to encourage you to do your best to only gain about 1 pound a week from here on out.” When she said that number at first I was like, OMG 27 POUNDS!!! And felt a moment of panic. But then I was like, OMG 27 POUNDS! That means that if I stick to the 1 pound a week recommendation then I will have gained 38 pounds, which is 12 POUNDS LESS than I gained with Archer and 22 POUNDS LESS than I gained with Troy. I was like HELL YEAH! I’m doing great. And If I gain more than that, I’ll be okay with that too. I’m trying my best to take it day by day and to be realistic and reasonable; I’m not going to change anything that I’ve been doing and I’m going to try not to  stress or worry about it. 

Then this conversation happened with my friend who is also a Nurse Practitioner:

Thank God for friends who make you laugh!

Here are my three goals that I’m going to continue to work towards for the rest of my pregnancy:

1.       A gallon a day. Most days I get pretty close, but there are days that I struggle.

2.       Gym 3x week.  Even if it’s just for half an hour.

3.       Eating mindfully.

Stick around to see how this goes!