I am 8 months post partum and the sleep deprivation of the first months of L’s life is starting to wane. It’s amazing what a little sleep can do for your energy levels! Our routine is starting to develop and I feel that I can finally put some real focus and determination into my workouts, which I am loving!

All of my skinny pre-L, post-M clothes are starting to fit and I am gaining my confidence back. Having babies and the resulting weight gain/body changes can be difficult to digest. For me, the insecurity that I felt from being overweight most of my life started to creep into my mind again. The self-doubt can be extremely toxic and clouds my mind in really nasty ways. I thought that I was free of all of that garbage, but here I am 4+ years later dealing with it once again.

I sometimes find myself discrediting the progress that I have made so far (I’ve lost 35+ pounds and SO MANY inches in the last 8.5 months) in addition to creating doubt in my ability to fit back into my size 4/6 clothes (seriously, I’ve done this twice before, I know what I’m doing and how to best take care of my body… why doubt myself and the Lord?).

I have been working out since I was cleared by my midwives at 6 weeks post-partum, but have been fitting in workouts during naps, episodes of Sesame Street and my evening adult time with Allan. Honestly, making time for a workout was starting to rule my day and I hated it. I found myself resenting my kids when they would wake early from a nap and interrupt my workout, I was unhappily behind on my daily to-do list and purposely missing playdates and running errands in favor of trying to squeeze in a sweat session. All in the name of what? vanity? endorphins? a smaller jean size? It was seriously NOT worth it. I vowed to myself that once L was waking once per night (or less) I would make it a point to be in bed by 10 PM and up for the day by 5:30 or 6 AM to fit in my workout and get ready for the day prior to breakfast with my family.

L has been sleeping really well for the last few weeks. So, it was time to follow through with my promise to myself. It’s taken a little bit of work, but I am FINALLY following through.

So, what am I doing to motivate this night owl into becoming a morning person?

First of all, I bought some new Lululemons. I got my first ever pair of wunder unders (on sale!), a tank that doesn’t ride up while doing inversions and a pair of crops that are perfect for sweaty cardio sessions. Yes, they were expensive, but thankfully I was able to find some of it on sale. Quite honestly, I am going to wear these items over and over again. Plus, I feel hot in them, which helps to keep me motivated to wake up and workout. Sometimes I find myself hanging in my workout clothes all day long because I love them so much. P.S. nursing mamas, check out the Moving Comfort Rebound Racer Bra it gives fabulous support, plus the straps have velcro for easy access.

I am back on my mat. I bought a package at Blooma to use on Barre and Vinyasa classes. I loved Blooma’s prenatal classes when I was pregnant with L and was so excited to go back to enjoy the classes they offer for mamas that aren’t expecting. I recently stopped attending Barre classes, because I felt that they were aggravating an existing hip injury that I sustained while pregnant. However, once my hip heals up, I plan to try going back, because I loved the energy of the class. My favorite class, though, is the Thursday 6 AM vinyasa flow class taught by Nan. I’ve only been twice, but both times she has completely pushed me out of my comfort zone and empowered me in so many ways. The class is life changing. Plus, I learned how to do a headstand and a handstand!

I bought a new strength training book. I loved Rachel Cosgrove’s, The Female Body Breakthrough, when I read it and completed the strength training plan before getting pregnant with L. So, when I saw that Rachel was releasing a new book, Drop Two Sizes, I immediately pre-ordered it. This week I began the strength training program and it does not disappoint. I can already feel my body responding and changing!

I signed up for a Zumba class. My friend, Renea, teaches a Zumba class once per week through Community Ed and I jumped at the chance to, once again, shake my booty with a room full of women. We have such a great time and Renea is a wonderful instructor. I leave class dripping with sweat, confident, silly and free. It’s the perfect mid-week refresh and a serious calorie torcher.

This is what my weekly workout schedule looks like:

Monday: 6 AM Full body lifting session at home, per Drop Two Sizes

Tuesday: Evening Zumba class

Wednesday: 6 AM Full body lifting session at home, per Drop Two Sizes

Thursday: 6 AM Vinyasa or active rest

Friday: 6 AM Full body lifting session at home, per Drop Two Sizes

Saturday: Optional metabolic workout, per Drop Two Sizes or active rest with the family

Sunday: Active rest with the family (walks, bike rides, playing in the yard or gardening)

Namaste!

Yes, I know it’s late in the day on Friday and a new weekend is upon us, but, I DO want to talk about LAST weekend. Please indulge me for a moment… we are still playing catch up from Allan’s trip to St. Louis last week, where he judged the AIGA St. Louis design show. We missed him while he was gone, but I am so proud of the man that my husband is becoming. It’s really cool to see others realizing what I’ve known all along – Allan is an amazingly talented man.

On Friday our playdate was cancelled due to pink eye, so we accompanied my parents to the MN Landscape Arboretum, which was free for the day. It was such a beautiful place and we will definitely be back as a family to roam the gardens and pick up tips for our own yard. Their toddler play area inspired me to create a special space in our back yard especially for the kids to experience and play with nature.

Luke was unimpressed.

These are apple trees that were trained to grow along this fence. Here is a description of the method used to train the apple trees. I would love to do this with a row of honeycrisp apple trees!

Daffodils in full bloom!

On Saturday we went to opening day of the Mill City Farmer’s Market with my parents.

Rollin’ deep in front of the Spoonriver crepe tent!

Before we switched to a gluten-free diet, we loved to stop by the Spoonriver crepe stand while at the market. So, we were so excited to see that Spoonriver now makes gluten free (and dairy free!) crepes.

M and I split a honey and cinnamon crepe – it was amazing! I was only able to talk M into sharing a small piece with me.

While at the market I met the inspiring, Beth Dooley, who signed my copy of her new book, Minnesota’s Bounty: The Farmers Market Cookbook. I am so pumped to start cooking from this book!

The flower that M planted for me for Mother’s Day.

On Sunday we spent the day as a family brunching at my favorite restaurant, French Meadow, then we had everyone over to our house for dessert.

Here are a few of the things we have been enjoying lately.

1. Lots of restful, bliss-filled naps.

2. Interest in crawling.

3. Freshly sun dried diapers.

4. Sun-filled trips to the Zoo.

5. Picnics in our front yard.

6. Nature walks along the creek.

7. Local playgrounds.

8. Swinging.

9. A one-on-one date to tots yoga at Blooma and out for fresh juice and muffins at Tao Natural Foods.

10. Blueberry-Zucchini Snack Muffins.

I posted this picture last week and got lots of requests for the recipe, so I thought I would pop in while the kids finish up their naps to share this very simple recipe that has become one of my go-to snacks.

I love to top my Quinoa Protein Cereal with either fresh berries, banana or Rhubarb Strawberry Sauce. Also, be on the lookout for a new twist on Rhubarb Sauce this spring.

This recipe is inspired by Gina’s Cookie Dough Cereal, which is another wonderful breakfast and/or snack option.

As you already know, I am a big fan of acquiring proper nutrition by eating a plant-based clean diet filled with lots of fruits, veggies, healthy fats, gluten-free whole grains and lean meat. However, the unfortunate state of our land, sea and air has made it very difficult to (safely) acquire necessary nutrition from food alone. Couple that with a toddler’s finicky eating habits along with a strong desire to eat bread, muffins, bananas and nut butters all day long and my little guy could easily be left with a nutritional deficit.

Now, don’t get me wrong, M is an amazing eater. He loves most fruits and vegetables and will usually try just about anything I put in front of him. Plus, if you indulge him in some entertaining literature (aka The Bearenstain Bears, Dr. Seuss or Little Critter) during dinnertime he will devour just about anything.

With the guidance of our pediatrician, chiropractor and my own research I started M on a few supplements to round out his already healthy diet. I get a lot of questions about the “pills” that I give M and thought that I would share with you what works for us.

Since we started supplementing M’s diet and omitting all gluten and most dairy we have seen a marketed improvement in his elimination. As a young toddler, M would oftentimes get bouts of toddler diarrhea, that I feel was inhibiting his ability to confidently potty train. Since we made this change in his diet he has been symptom-free and is now going potty on his potty chair like a champ.

Please note that I am not a doctor, I am simply a well-informed Mom. The following are products that we actually use and like. I was not compensated in any way for this post and used my own money to purchase these products. This is not meant to be a replacement for medical advice. Please check with your pediatrician before adding any supplements and/or vitamins to your child’s diet.

Every day M takes the following dairy-free and gluten-free supplements, which we purchase on Amazon,Vitacost or iHerb (use code TIV632 for $10 off your first iHerb order!), depending upon current sales and available coupon codes.

• Garden of Life Vitamin Code Children’s Multi Vitamin – 1 chewable bear per day
• Nordic Naturals Children’s DHA – 3 chewable balls per day for a total 189 mg of DHA
• Jarrow Formulas Yum-Yum Dophilus probiotic – 3 chewable pills per day for a total of 1.5 Billion CFU
• Natural Factors Children’s Vitamin D3 – 2 chewable pills per day for a total of 800 IU (he gets an additional 200 IU in his Multi Vitamin)

This might look like a long list of supplements and vitamins resulting in a mountain of pills… and it is. We used to get out every pill every morning during breakfast, which was cumbersome and oftentimes I would simply skip giving M (or myself) some of the supplements out of laziness. Then I developed a better system. Once a week I sit down with our basket of vitamins and supplements and three weekly pill boxes, one for each of us, and I put all of the supplements into our boxes. The pill boxes then go into the fridge. Each morning while making breakfast, Allan takes out the boxes and sets them on the table to be taken after breakfast. This is a serious time saver, as the weekly sorting only takes me a couple moments longer than the daily sorting.

Please note that this post contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting the blog, as I receive a very small percentage of sales. You can always google the supplements on your own if you would like to opt-out.