health Archives - Page 5 of 7 - My Life: A Work in Progress

Body after Baby: Ashley

30 October, 2013 17 Comments

Please read the disclaimer at the bottom of this post!

Have you been reading the Body after Baby guest posts? You can read posts, product reviews, and even enter the fitness giveaway HERE.

Hello! I’m Ashley from Weighing My Options, and I am a first time mommy to a beautiful little princess. I am currently 4 months post baby and under pre baby weight. How did I do it?

There are no weight loss secrets, no simple diet pills to take, no drink a shake for breakfast, lunch and dinner recipe. It takes time and work. I know that being a new mom, you can feel exhausted. There are days that all you want to do is sit on the couch, holding your little one and sleep while they sleep. I’ve been there too! Those are the days that I push myself. I push myself to move. I push myself to make sure I’m eating enough calories to keep my body going. I push myself to drink water…and water…and some more water!

I can’t say that every day since the day she was born; I have been eating healthy, and pushing myself to move. I took my bad days and turned them into motivation. Motivation I need to make sure (even though she is only 4 months old) I am setting a good example.

In order to make sure I am doing everything I can in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle, I plan. I know sometimes this is easier said than done. I personally am a BIG planner. I love lists and routines.

Here’s how I plan:
Friday and Saturdays are usually to make a menu up for the week.
Sundays are grocery store days.
Sundays and Mondays are used for meal prep. (Sometimes that consists of cooking meals at 10pm)

I feel like if I didn’t plan out a menu for the week, or prep food for the week, I wouldn’t be able to eat a healthy lifestyle.

I will share one of my favorite breakfast recipes:

Egg Muffins:
Ingredients:
-8 to 10 eggs
-green pepper (cut into small pieces)
-1/8c of shredded cheese (more or less to your taste)
-1/2c of baby spinach leaves (cut into small pieces)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°.
Spray muffin pan with non stick spray.
Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl until well mixed.
Pour into muffin pan (filling about ½ full).
Bake for about 15-20 mins.

These will keep in the fridge for about a week. Pull out one or two every morning to enjoy, and you have a healthy and quick breakfast. Some weeks I also make a large pot of oatmeal and divide it into smaller bowls so all I have to do is heat and eat.

Lunches usually consist of sandwiches and salads. I pre-make the salads also a week in advance and use mason jars to store them. Have you ever made Mason Jar Salads?

Dinners are Crock-Pot dinners or pre-made meals that I have prepped for the week.

How do you find the time and energy to move during the day, you might ask. I have a gym membership that helps to keep me motivated, because I know that if I am not using that, I am just wasting money I could be using to buy my little princess more pretty clothes, um…I mean put towards “needs.” But you don’t need to have a gym membership to get yourself moving!! Take your little one for a walk. I use a pedometer during the day to make sure I am getting 10,000 steps a day (which equals about 5 miles!!!). Also, I have used Pinterest to find different at-home workouts I can do that take no more than 20 mins, so while little one is taking her cat nap, momma gets a workout in quick.

I am blessed to be able to be a SAHM/Home Daycare Provider, but I know that there are many moms that need to work outside the home. Some ideas to get moving if you’re working outside the home, take a walk around the office. Set your alarm for once an hour and walk to the bathroom and back, stand up while you’re on the phone and march in place. You may seem silly doing it, but you’re moving and moving burns calories.

Just some important things to remember:
-Water is our friend! Add lemon, lime, frozen fruit to it to add flavor.
-Track your food and exercise.
-Walk.
-Listen to your body.
-Prep Meals.
-Cut out processed meals; make your own.
-Try a new recipe/food each week.
-Involve the children to help with meal prep (if they are able too).

Just remember that we are all humans; we need to listen to our bodies. There will be days that the cravings get the best of us. There will be days where the nap wins out. There will be days that you think it’s easier to just eat whatever you want and you will start tomorrow. Well, tomorrow is today. Why not start now? Don’t give up, because you are worth it!

Track your food and exercise. Make yourself accountable for everything that you eat. I am on Lose It (smltwngrl920) if you want to start there; add me, and we can keep each other accountable. (The app is amazing!!! – shameless plug!)

If you want to keep up with me and my journey, you can follow me on twitter (@smltwngrl920), pinterest (smltwngrl920), and my blog. I hope that each and everyone of you realizes that you can do this. You are worth it. Your health is worth it, and being able to see our babies grow up is definitely worth it.

Do you make meals ahead of time? What are your tips for preparing healthy meals for your family?

Disclaimer: All information presented during this event is purely personal opinion and shared for educational purposes only. The information contained herein is not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please consult your physician before beginning any exercise, weight-loss, or nutrition program. Please note, My Life: A Work in Progress does not necessarily endorse any opinions presented by guest writers during this event. Not all exercise or nutrition programs are suitable for everyone.

Guest Post

Looking for guest posters! “Body after Baby” series

4 October, 2013 3 Comments

I’m looking for mothers to guest post during a “Body after Baby” series starting October 21. Summer may be over, but it’s never too late to make healthy lifestyle changes and meet fitness goals! Are you a Zumba instructor? Personal trainer? Bodybuilder? Nutritionist? If not, you don’t have to be a fitness or health professional to guest post! Are you a mom who has met significant goals in fitness and/or weight loss?

If you’d like to share your personal story and inspire and encourage other mothers, please email me at emegburg@mylifeaworkinprogress.com. Thanks!

~Elisebet

Review

Review: BabyComfyNose Nasal Aspirator

22 August, 2013 17 Comments

As part of the Tomoson community, I received the BabyComfyNose Nasal Aspirator to review.

About:

The BabyComfyNose Nasal Aspirator is a better snot sucker. Parents and caretakers use their own suction to remove nasal mucus from their little one’s nose. The nose tip fits into baby’s nostril without going to deep. Then the parent places the mouth piece in his or her mouth and creates suction. The cheek suction (best in short, repeated breaths), pulls mucus from the nostrils and back into the receptacle where it stays. Place a tissue in the receptacle beforehand to use as an absorbent, disposable filter.

Using a tissue is an effective filter against germs. The standard household tissue has pore size of 1/10,000 of an inch, whereas the standard pore size of open cell foam rubber is around 1/500 of an inch. Because tissue pores are about 20 times smaller than those of foam rubber, tissue is more effective as a filter.

This BPA-free device has been approved by Dr. James Sears on The Doctors show, as well as other physicians such as Dr. James Zinreich, John Hopkins Medical Institutions. Even celebrities like Angelina Jolie have expressed their happiness with the BabyComfyNose Nasal Aspirator.

Our Experiences:

It works! There’s no comparison between the BabyComfyNose Nasal Aspirator and a traditional bulb syringe. The BabyComfyNose works incredibly well with very little effort on my part. This last winter, Baby J had several colds. At the time, I researched the BabyComfyNose and the Nosefrida. The reviews for both were overwhelmingly positive, but I didn’t like the idea of purchasing additional replacement filters for the Nosefrida. With the BabyComfyNose I don’t need filters, but some of the negative reviewers on Amazon complained the snot collection area cracked or the pieces wouldn’t stay together or the snot would run back towards the baby’s nose. So I held off buying one. I truly wish I’d just gone ahead and purchased the BabyComfyNose a year ago. It would’ve saved us a lot of grief over the winter, because Baby J would’ve been able to breathe better. I had none of those issues that I read about.

We received the aspirator in the mail about three weeks ago (or more), but I held onto it a while before posting a review. It’s not that I wanted Baby J to get sick first -of course I didn’t- but I thought just in case he does contract a cold, I would wait until right before the agreed review deadline before posting. That way I could give a really thorough review of how the product actually works instead of just talking about it in general (basically regurgitating what the website says).

Well, wouldn’t you know, he ended up with a cold! Not a bad one, fortunately, but he had nasal congestion. I had the same thing, and I could just blow my nose. But poor Baby J is too young for that, so I whipped out the BabyComfyNose Nasal Aspirator to relieve his discomfort.

We’ve never had good results with the traditional bulb syringe. When I used it in the past, I had to straddle him and hold him down, screaming, in order to use it. There never seemed to be a lot of snot collecting in the bulb, plus I was worried about how sanitary it was. With the BabyComfyNose, he still fights it. But he doesn’t scream; he laughs. Apparently it’s funny that Mommy wants to suck his boogers out? Even with the struggling, I found it pretty simple to use and fast. I could see the snot collecting in the receptacle. Gross but cool.

Here’s a picture of the snot I collected. See that goopy stuff? That’s snot.

I want to make a couple of notes. The packaging for the aspirator is very minimal, which I like. It bothers me to see waste in product packaging. I also like the included mesh bag for storage. Because it’s mesh, the aspirator can air out. You don’t have to worry about whether or not it’s absolutely, completely dry before storing. The instructions online state to disassemble the aspirator to clean and use the dishwasher or warm, soapy water. You can even place it in the mesh storage pouch in the dishwasher, pull the entire thing out afterwards, and hang to dry. Some parents also boil the tubing or pour hydrogen peroxide down it. Don’t use a microwave sterilizer! I did this. Bad idea. I melted some of the tubing. Fortunately, it was only on the ends, so I cut them off, and the rest of the tube is still usable. I should’ve read the instructions first. *sigh*

The BabyComfyNose Nasal Aspirator is going on my “must-have” list for new parents. Can you survive without one? Yes, of course. But it’ll make your life so much easier!

Want to know more?

Visit the BabyComfyNose website, read their nasal aspirator comparison chart, and watch their video tutorial.

The BabyComfyNose is sold in stores across the US (the Whole Foods near me carries it), but you can also purchase online from sites like Amazon, Diapers.com, and Drugstores.com. They’re also sold in Canada and Australia. Prices vary. If needed, you can purchase replacement piece sets that include two nose pieces, two mouth pieces, and an extra tube.

Note: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

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