POSTPARTUM FITNESS GUIDE PART 1 (MEAL PLAN)
Hi I’m Emily from @themomgrind, and I’m so excited to be guest posting here for Laura’s blog! I’ve read her blog for a while now, and couldn’t be more thrilled to be talking about one of my favourite subjects- getting your body back after having a baby!
Backstory
I didn’t have a fit pregnancy the first time around- I think I worked out mayyybe 4 times. I walked a lot, but with terrible morning sickness, and a massive belly causing back pain I really had no interest in working up a sweat. I didn’t watch what I ate- so I ended up gaining just over 40 pounds. I also wasn’t a lucky Mom that lost weight from breastfeeding either, I ended up putting more pounds on!
Hola! While I'm away, I am soooo stoked to have Emily from The Mom Grind share about getting your body back postpartum! This is something I plan on doing once I get back from Mexico!! Thank you so much Emily for sharing! -Laura
Hi I’m Emily from @themomgrind, and I’m so excited to be guest posting here for Laura’s blog! I’ve read her blog for a while now, and couldn’t be more thrilled to be talking about one of my favourite subjects- getting your body back after having a baby!
Backstory
I didn’t have a fit pregnancy the first time around- I think I worked out mayyybe 4 times. I walked a lot, but with terrible morning sickness, and a massive belly causing back pain I really had no interest in working up a sweat. I didn’t watch what I ate- so I ended up gaining just over 40 pounds. I also wasn’t a lucky Mom that lost weight from breastfeeding either, I ended up putting more pounds on!
So weighing my heaviest in my life I was desperate to lose the weight and feel good in my body again. I was successful, and now even 3 months pregnant with number 2 I am the strongest I’ve ever been in my life!
BEFORE (roughly 4 months postpartum)
AFTER (Roughly a year and four months postpartum)
I’m excited to share with you all of my tips & tricks that helped me achieve and maintain a healthy relationship with food & exercise. I’m going to give you the literal guide book for how to lose that baby weight (healthily) while still finding balance in your life as a Mama.
Nutrition
I think there’s a lot of information out there for “dieting, cleansing, and detoxing” etc. But lets take a step back from that all for a minute. Your body just did the most amazing thing! It grew a human, it birthed a human, it may even still be feeding that human. The last thing we want to be doing is depleting this amazing machine of what it needs, so instead let’s think of rewarding it with the best fuel we can get our hands on. Delicious, satiating foods. Meat with some good fats, cruciferous vegetables, fruits, good carbs. Stuff that makes you feel awesome, and if you’re honest with yourself you’ll know what that is and isn’t.
A common mistake people make while trying to lose weight is upping their exercise and lowering their calorie intake. That’s unfortunately a recipe for disaster- they should be upping their calorie intake (just slightly, with nutritious foods) so that their body has fuel to match the extra energy output. If you’re not eating enough it will actually send your body into a panic state where it will hold onto fat- because it’s freaking out that you’re in a “famine.” That’s just something we don’t want to do, because lots of other nasty things can happen to our bodies when we do that.
Here’s what TO DO:
Step 1)
Meal Plan- Sunday afternoons sit down and pick two healthy meals and double or triple the recipe.
BONUS: Pick a yummy snack to make, healthy energy balls, nice cream etc. For those snacky or sweet craving times.
-Write down your ingredients then get hubby, grandma, or auntie to watch your baby (or babies!) and go grocery shopping.
-Come back home, do up your meals and put them in containers for the week!
This whole process usually takes me 3 ish hours to do from start to finish (the efficiency of a Mom without kids I tell you!) You now have healthy meals for the week. I’ve actually gone ahead and given you two recipes to use that I love to meal prep here
A day of eating for me usually looks like:
Breakfast- 2 eggs on 2 pieces of spelt bread, or an egg scramble with a whole bell pepper spinach and maybe some sausage or bacon or mushrooms, or you could also do a smoothie bowl with handful of granola & chopped fruit.
Lunch- Prepped Meal #1
(Maybe an apple with peanut butter, hard boiled egg, handful of nuts etc. between meals)
Dinner- Prepped Meal #2
After dinner treat- dark chocolate, nice cream etc.
You should be eating until you’re full! If you’re hungry then you probably need to be eating more.
Step 2)
Cut out sugar. In a lot of cases most people lose 2-5lbs from doing this alone. But it’s easier said than done- cutting out sugar is hard, pay attention to what’s in your food & sauces.
-You’re still going to need “cheats” so allow yourself dark chocolate, smoothies, nice cream etc. Eventually your body won’t crave the refined sugars, and when you do have a “cheat” snack with refined sugar you won’t be able to have much without feeling sick.
Come back Wednesday to catch PART 2, the Workout Plan!
And in the meantime, be sure to follow Emily on instagram!
XO!
LUCA'S LUMBERJACK FIRST BIRTHDAY
My baby boy is ONE! He's actually almost 13 months now but I guess I can't really count in months anymore, can I? It feels like he has grown a billion years the past month. Right before his first birthday, he got his first haircut and now he's taking steps everywhere!! Slow down my baby boy!
Luca's birthday is on June 11th (which was his due date btw!) and I think it's the perfect time for a birthday party! June is usually a safe month to have an outdoor party....well, for most years. This year our weather has been a bit crazy but thankfully, June 11th was sunny enough for a backyard bbq!
I went with the Lumberjack theme and we held it in our backyard. I designed the invites myself. We went all out on the cake and purchased it from Rachel Cakes. It was soooo delicious....and let's just say Luca LOVED his first taste of cake!
We kept the food pretty simple. Pulled pork sandwiches, coleslaw, mac + cheese and a few appies. I made cheap cupcakes for the kids and the adults (and Luca) enjoyed the cake!
He was a champ through the party and only cried when everyone was staring at him singing happy birthday....awe sweet boy.
Thanks to all our friends and family who came out to love on our little lion! Can't believe I have a ONE year old!!!
xo,
laura
MAMA BEAR BOX MONTHLY REVIEW
I received my second Mama Bear Box this past month and it was filled with goodies for mamas! Mama Bear Box is a monthly box subscription that has goodies for your babe AND you. It carries stuff from amazing Canadian small shops and $2 from each box goes to the Joy Smith Foundation which is a Canadian foundation that is helping end human trafficking!
How cute were the goodies in last month's box! I gotta say, I GOBBLED up those Smart Sweets as soon as this photo was taken lol. They were so delicious and only contain 2G of sugar per bag. So you can have your sweets and feel okay about it after.
The cute bracelet is from Devin Gem. They make adorable matching bracelets for mama + daughters!
I haven't tried I Luv It's Natural deodorant yet but plan to when it's not so warm out!
I've been LOVING this Sea Luxe soap. It smells amaaaazing and one side has some great grit to give you a nice exfoliation! I'm kinda a soap snob so it takes a lot to impress me and I gotta say, I'm impressed with this one!
And how adorbs is this mama sign by AllyBeth Design Co? We're shuffling offices next week, so once I'm in my new space, this sign is going on my desk!
Such cute things hey! Can't wait for next month's box!
P.S. Use the code mbb10 to save 10% off your box!!
XO,
laura
GENDER REVEAL BBQ PHOTOS
I've got some more photos from our Gender Reveal BBQ to share with you today. Still can't believe we're having a little baby girl!! AND still can't get over Luca's priceless face...precious bubba. If you missed the original post, find it here!
The beautiful floral dress I'm wearing is from PinkBlush. I am seriously so happy I discovered this brand!! Their maternity clothes actually fit pregnant women well AND they're stretchy and comfy enough to wear postpartum too.
Going into it, I had a feeling we were having a little girl but obvs knew it could go the other way. Most ppl there also thought girl! I believe the votes were 13 for girl VS. 6 for boy!
I still can't believe I'm having a baby girl! Since becoming a boy mom, all I've envisioned is having more boys but my heart is soo excited to raise a fierce, world changing little girl!!
We kept the bbq pretty small with family and a few close friends. Normally, I'd go all out but we had Luca's birthday coming up (JUNE 11th AHHHH!!!) so I didn't want to feel to much pressure to put on a big bash.
Huge thank you to Rachael for taking these photos! If you live in Victoria, I HIGHLY recommend hiring her!! Serious skillz and such a lovely spirit!!
XO,
Laura
PREGNANCY STYLE + 5 MONTH BUMP UPDATE
And just like that, I'm five months pregnant! This pregnancy has gone by 1000000000x faster than my pregnancy with Luca. I also think my belly is 1000000x bigger, ha. But that's totally ok, because I've found some maternity clothes that actually fit pregnant people AND look good.
Last pregnancy I remember going shopping for a baby shower dress and being soooo utterly disappointed with the selection. Every dress was either, 1) way too short, 2) way too booby or 3) wouldn't do up at all aka it was HELL and I left feeling huge and unattractive.
So thankful I discovered PinkBlush this pregnancy! They have tons and tons and tons of beautiful maternity clothes (and non-maternity clothes too) that actually fit pregnant people well! Gorgeous dresses that are long enough to accommodate your growing bump and don't show the world your cleavage...hallelujah!
How far along are you?
Almost 22 weeks! Baby is due in October and man this pregnancy is moving along QUICKLYYYY...which I imagine must be quite common for second time mamas.
How big is baby?
Baby is the size of a spaghetti squash...almost 11 inches long, which is a huge jump from last month!
Feeling:
So at peace. If you follow me on instagram, you would've read that we had some scary test results and had to be retested....so happy to announce that the second test (which is way more accurate) came back 100% healthy. Feeling on cloud 9 and that I can actually get excited about this pregnancy. In the waiting, I had peace but it was definitely hard to be super excited knowing something could be wrong.
I'm also feeling ALL THE KICKS! Baby girl likes to move, move, move!
Food love:
mmmmm everything. My appetite is starting to go through the roof!
Food hate:
Spicy food is not my friend as heartburn has made a comeback this pregnancy.
Exercise:
I've been walking to work a couple times a week but man, need to get on the whole pregnancy yoga and weights again! Because of my placenta previa, I can't do anything too intense but I always feel so much better after doing yoga!
Clothing:
My PinkBlush dresses obvsssss!
What I'm looking forward to:
Can't wait for my next ultrasound at 28-32 weeks to see if my placenta has moved up....will also be nice to see baby girl again! Thank you in advance for your prayers :)
Dress c/o PinkBlush (it's a beautiful pale blue but looks more minty in photos than in person!)
XO,
Laura