I Feel Kind of Cool...

I feel kind of cool watching the new season of Dancing with the Stars. Why? Because Brooke Burke is the new co-host and I actually got to hang out with her fairly recently at a small web event in October 2009. I was in CA for eHow and the CEO Richard Rosenblatt (seems like the coolest CEO and nicest guy) introduced me to his wife Lisa and Brooke who run the website ModernMom together. It was really fun getting to meet them all, although I felt just little okay a LOT out of my league...you know that feeling at a party, everyone is talking about what they do...and when you are a stay at home mom, it can be intimidating. Actually, I recently got a message relating to this in my MOPS e-newsletter, I might as well share because I could totally relate! I mean I was there because I write articles on eHow, but it's not a "real" job, just something I do! And then talking to these 2 super successful women! It was exciting and fun, but definitely intimidating, even though they were super nice. And being that they are both moms, we did have some things in common to talk about.

So What Do You Do?
By Esther Feng

“You wanna go to this cocktail party with me?” my husband asked me.

The first thought that had popped into my head was, It’s two days away! That’s not enough time to find a dress. I could have found a dress if I’d tried. My real reason for avoiding the event was the inevitable question, “So what do you do?”

Without fail, I’ll be standing next to my husband, nodding to the small talk and eating shrimp cocktail (hopefully without getting sauce on myself). And then someone asks me, “So, what do you do?”

I don’t know how to answer. I can’t say “I’m a teacher.” It’s been five years. Saying, “I’m Grace and Sarah’s mom,” isn’t relevant. I don’t want to be holier-than-thou with “I’m doing the most important job of all – mothering.”

It’s not that I can’t schmooze – I’ve just discovered that I don’t connect with people who have “real” jobs. They don’t want to talk about baby poop, breastfeeding, potty training or piano lessons.

I feel insignificant and intimidated by women who make important decisions all day while I decide between grilled cheese and PB&J.

Many days I wish for reading material more stimulating than Goodnight Moon – for the opportunity to create something more meaningful than macaroni glued to a box.

But being a stay-at-home-mom is what God has asked of me in this season of life. Maybe one day I’ll have lots to say when asked, “So what do you do?” But for right now, I’m proud to be a stay-at-home-mom.

God, remind me that I’m already significant in your eyes.
________________________________________________________

PS- if you haven't joined yesterday's McLinky Party "My Mommy Moments" there is still time! Check it out!

Family Fitness

So among all the parenting literature and advice you have read, I'm sure you've come across the statement (as I have numerous times) that it's important to exercise with your kids and to let them see YOU exercising. Well, today my back was killing me and I REALLY needed to do my prenatal yoga DVD to get the blood flowing and loosen up and lighten up before I ran to the hospital begging to be induced running over anyone who might get in my way!. I normally try to do my Prenatal Yoga when my daughter is sleeping...it's just easier that way. But hey, I needed a change of pace ASAP and it's supposed to be so good to exercise with your kids.

As you can see, my little girl (almost 3) was very into doing yoga with me. I kept thinking, "aw this is so adorable! She's actually trying to do it all with me!" and grabbed my camera to snap some pictures....

Well, this is AFTER I didn't have the camera turned on anymore.....

Monkey Swinging from a Tree Pose

After we were all done our circus show yoga, my sweet pea wanted to color so I decided to sit down with her and illustrate what yoga really looks like when you are a mom. These were just 2 of our modified poses.

Child's (Riding on Me) Pose

Trista Sutter's 5 Tips for a Hot Body After 2 Babies!

By Cynthia Wang

Wednesday October 14, 2009 12:55 PM EDT

After Trista Sutter and her husband Ryan welcomed son Max in 2007, the reality TV star found it relatively easy to lose her pregnancy weight. But when daughter Blakesley arrived in April, Sutter was faced with a weight-loss challenge: an extra 43 pounds on her 5'2" frame.

"As I think any woman who has been through multiple pregnancies can attest," Sutter, 36, tells PEOPLE, "your body just knows where the fat goes!" But after six months of hard work, she is back to 107 lbs. How did she do it? Sutter shares 5 tips for moms to lose that weight.

Push that pram!
"Because I had Blakesley via C-section," Sutter says, "I waited for the doctor to give me the go ahead before I got into the groove." But when the doctor gave the go-ahead to begin exercising, Sutter found a good way to start. "My double-stroller plus the two kids is about 70 pounds, so pushing that uphill is pretty hard," she says of her regular 45-minute walks in her Vail, Colo., neighborhood.

Turn your house into your gym
Sutter's trainer Brock Fetch showed her how to do dead-lift exercises with paint cans, and she used crates and other objects to simulate a gym workout. "I would put a ski pole above my head and do lunges across my driveway," she says. "Max would be napping and I would bring Blakesley out and put her in the back of the minivan. It was great for me to not have the stress of packing up the kids and getting to the gym." [See video of Trista's garage workouts on her Twitter page.]

Keep track of calories you consume and burn off
"That's all it comes down to," she says. Sutter uses the Web site mycalorienumber.com. "It gives you menus and you can print out what you need to buy at the grocery store," she says. "It's really helped me because knowing your number and then knowing how much it is to walk, how much you need to strength-train, the number of the calories your burning ... It's so easy."

Get your protein in
Lower your carbs but don't sacrifice taste, Sutter suggests. "My favorite meal of all time, if I had a last-meal request, would be a cheeseburger and fries. But you've got to take out the fries and have the cheeseburgers without the bun. Get rid of the carbs but have a protein in there."

Remember that supplements are just supplements
Although Sutter takes a natural supplement to help her lose weight, she says, "I've always believed there is no quick fix. A lot of people ask about it and say, 'Oh, I've been taking them for a month and it hasn't been doing anything,' and I say, 'Have you been working out?' Because it has to be used in conjunction with working out if you are expending energy."

Stay Healthy and Lose Weight with Grapefruit!

Not only is Grapefruit yummy and refreshing...it also provides many health benefits! Grapefruit is high in Vitamin C, which helps to strengthen your immune system and protect against heart disease, stroke and cancer!

"Grapefruits not only contain high amounts of vitamin C, but they also contain large amounts of potassium, vitamin A, and Fiber. Grapefruit contains pectin which is a soluble fiber that has been shown to lower cholesterol and slow the buildup of plaque on the inside walls of blood vessels. Ruby red grapefruit juice also contains lycopene which helps prevent LDL (bad cholesterol) from damaging artery walls. Drinking the juice will give you all of the vitamins and minerals that the actual fruit does but it doesn't contain the fiber....

Research led by Dr. Ken Fujioka from the Nutrition and Metabolic Research Center at Scripps Clinic in California, has shown that people can lose weight eating grapefruits or drinking its juice. In a 12 week study, 100 participants ate what they normally ate each day and only slightly increased the amount of time they exercised. The participants were divided into three groups: one group drank 6 ounces of grapefruit juice before meals, one group ate half a grapefruit before meals, and one group did not eat or drink grapefruit juice. On average, the participants who ate grapefruit or drank grapefruit juice lost nearly 4 pounds, with many losing more than 10 pounds.

Grapefruits are a great way to improve your health and lose weight. They have been a popular diet food for a long time and research has proven they are effective at helping you lose weight and improve your health..." (Natural News)

So here's to YOU Grapefruit! I'll be adding you to my grocery cart next shopping trip! I thought I just might add that many have heard about grapefruit diets and such, I personally think we should take everything in moderation...even Grapefruit which has many health benefits. Rather than going crazy and overdosing on grapefruit, just add it to increase the benefits a healthy diet.

I am getting so ANTSY to get moving again! The sun and warmth has returned and I'm seeing people out walking and jogging....I wish I could take my toddler for a walk in the stroller, but with the pubic symphysis problem, even that is too much right now! Once I have this second baby, I'm hoping things quickly go back to normal and the ligaments tighten up and I can get active right away!

MMM...Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Well, I'm sitting around waiting for this baby to be born. I do have 5 weeks to go until my due date but I feel like I could go into labor sooner! I've been having cramps and contractions in the evenings. My first daughter was induced early so pre-labor symptoms are a new experience to me! I've been really excited about getting back in shape after this baby comes...so excited in fact that I've been starting to wean myself off my daily afternoon potato chips! (an pretty uncontrollable craving throughout this pregnancy). I even took out my Awesome Prenatal Yoga DVD that I gave up on after the last few times I did it, my pubis symphisis pain got a lot worse! This time, I was just careful not to do any of the moves that could possibly aggravate it. It's a great Prenatal DVD and I'd highly recommend it (if you don't have painful complications to deal with like I did this time around). It was energizing and felt good doing it, however today when I woke up I was REALLY sore in my pelvic bone and had a hard time getting out of bed...perhaps I still strained it from that, I'm not sure. Anyways, if anyone is looking for a good prenatal DVD, I would definitely recommend this one from Yoga Journal that you can find on Amazon. I actually purchased it through Yoga Journal's website during my first pregnancy and ended up paying a lot more than what you can get it for here. I believe I paid around $25 for it 3 years ago.

So anyways, it's been a lazy day, although I did get my daughter's room cleaned up. It was a disaster! Then I figured I should enjoy a small cup of mint chocolate chip ice cream with a tiny bit of milk poured over it! SO refreshing and yummy! I figure soon enough I'll be trying to cut that kind of stuff out so I'll enjoy some NOW since I can't do anything else!

Baby Bump Fitness Review and Giveaway

I just came across this program by a fellow Canadian who is the creator of Baby Bump Fitness. The focus is for soon-to-be moms and new moms. Jacqueline provides safe, quick & effective fitness solutions that really work, including workouts, rehab exercises and nutrition tips.

Recently, Jacqueline published two new E-books for sale on her site. They are Pregnancy Fitness Program and Busy Moms Fitness Program. Each E-book sells for $29.99, but three lucky winners will have a chance to win the E-book of their choice. Here is a summary of each E-book in more detail:

Jacqueline takes moms through those first post-pregnancy weeks to really focusing on getting that pre-pregnancy body back. The six-week program provides slow and steady pacing that is essential to proper progression and injury prevention. Similar to the Pregnancy workout, excellent step-by-step instructions and photos are provided. This is a great workout for travel as well. It’s super easy to just print a copy for your purse or suitcase and your workouts will always be on hand.

I'm hoping to win free copies of these ebooks to kick start my fitness and build my strength in those first few weeks post-pregnancy. You can enter to win too!

WIN FREE E-BOOKS! – To enter for a chance to win your choice of Baby Bump Pregnancy Fitness System or Baby Bump Busy Moms Fitness Program.

Visit Coach Jen at Personal Fit Coach for her review and details on how to WIN.

About Me

I am a mid-twenties momma with Hashimoto's, An autoimmune disease that prevents my thyroid from functioning properly, leaving my with what's more commonly known as Hypothyroidism. After my first daughter was born, I alternated from extreme fatique to bouts of anxiety for at least 9 months and just felt awful, like I was crazy. It turns out I had Post-Partum Thyroiditis which is a lot more common than people know and mostly goes undiagnosed. Breastfeeding did help my shed most of my pregnancy weight, however I was so sick during my pregnancy I didn't end up with that much to loose. Post-Pregnancy I had zero energy for the longest time, almost a full year. I don't think I felt fully recovered until after my daughter's 2nd birthday. Sometime after that, I finally found a good endocrinologist who is the one that diagnosed my Hashimoto's and got me off of crappy generic thyroid medicine and put me on Synthroid. Just switching from generic levothyroxine 50 mcg to Synthroid 50 mcg I felt a big difference...proving my Dr's opinion that Generics don't cut it when it comes to thyroid health. He treated me by my symptoms rather than blood work which was AWESOME! I was able to up my dosage every two weeks based on how I was feeling. After 8 months of trying for a 2nd baby, I was only 2 months on this new medication, feeling great AND finally had some SUCCESS! My thyroid needed more help to get working before I could see that positive pregnancy test.

I had hoped to stay active during my pregnancy, so that getting back in shape afterwards wouldn't be such a battle, but I had some unlucky things working against me. Almost immediately after finding out I was pregnant, I was plagued with terrible sickness and migraines, just like my first pregnancy. I felt too weak and ill to do anything at all for the first few months. Just as that sick phase cleared up, I started feeling some sciatica, which was not too bad. I started going back to the gym and doing some light exercise, until I started to experience Pubic Symphysis Separation! SUPER painful, if you must know, it feels like someone took an axe and hacked it into your pelvic bone. Sometimes I can barely get out of bed because of the pain...so I got a Dr's note and suspended my gym membership till 6 weeks after my due date, April 20, 2010.

Having this complication with my pelvic bone has been a real bummer. I miss going to the gym and getting my endorphins, working off stress and just feeling good! I wasn't losing weight before with my gym visits (something that's very hard to do with hypothyroidism) but I loved the way it made me feel and at least I knew I was keeping muscle tone. And I was in love with the yoga classes!

The closer I get to my due date, the more excited I get at the idea of being able to work out again! I have gotten much bigger this pregnancy and even my maternity clothes feel tight! My goal is to lose all this baby weight, get back muscle tone and definition (since I've lost any I had before from sitting around the past 8.5 months!) and maybe even looking better than I did BEFORE I had babies!

I have a couple things working against me that I'll have to deal with, and I will share it all on here as I progress on my journey, the 3 major ones are:

1. The Thyroid problem makes losing weight and getting results very difficult. I remember dieting and working out in college and nothing would happen or I would even feel as if I gained weight.

2. I have horrible eating habits. I'm a snacker rather than a meal eater, and I don't like healthy food. I have a serious psychological addiction to french fries and chocolate. Growing up, I was that one kid...the one you hear people talking about saying "I know this person who doesn't eat anything besides French Fries and Cheerios!" I have serious food issues and it's extremely hard for me to try new things...but I know if I want to see real results, I'm going to have to give up my junk favorite foods and try getting more variety in my diet.

3. Sleep deprivation and exhaustion from caring for a new infant and a busy 3 year old. We'll see how that goes!!!! Hopefully this little guy is a good sleeper!

The plan is to get started with wearing a belly wrap after delivery. I was skeptical about the idea at first but the more I looked into and asked around with my mom friends, the more convinced I became that it's something worth trying. Plus, the extra abdominal and back support will make it easier for me to get moving around again once this little boy is born. I will let you know what I think about that, giving my full review!

Then, once I get the okay to start exercising again, I'm going to do it TURBO style...and what I'm referring to is Turbo Jam! I've done Turbo Jam in the past and fell in LOVE with Chelene Johnson, the instructor/creator. It is so much fun, it gets me pumped up and I notice results (even without drastic diet changes)...I just didn't stick with it...thyroid=energy problems=lack of motivation! In the past, the most success I've experienced with getting any results with my body is when using Beachbody products. I first bought Slim in 6 with Debbie Seibers in college and did that program (still drinking and eating plenty of french fries) and still had noticeable results in the 6 weeks I stuck with the workouts. It gave me a butt lift, super toned arms and was one of the few times in life I didn't have a muffin top love handles! If I actually stuck to the diet recommendations, I'm sure I would have actually seen my abs showing!

Once I discovered Turbo Jam however, I just fell in LOVE with it. Chelene is so much fun to work out with and I pretty much feel like I want to be her when I grow up! Once I get back in shape, I would love to get my Turbo Kick certification and become an instructor! That is a goal I've had in the back of my head for quite some time!

SO! For now, I'm in the countdown and planning mode, fantasizing about a new baby and a new body! I hope you join me on my journey as I plan to share it all! From the products I use, workouts I do, schedule, meals, motivation, slip ups...and hopefully, in the end, a SUCCESS STORY!