Chronicles of Motherhood – Supermom

“[Motherhood is] the biggest gamble in the world. It is the glorious life force. It’s huge and scary—it’s an act of infinite optimism.”

~ Gilda Radner

Some days I feel like supermom…

… who not only takes a shower on a weekday morning but also washes her hair…
… who makes breakfast for her entire family…
… who turns all traffic lights green with her mind just to get her toddler to school on time…
… who crushes her workout – even if the 30 minute workout takes 45 minutes because her baby needs to be comforted… or changed… or moved from the bouncer to the swing to the play mat and back to the bouncer again…
… who cleans the kitchen and tidies up the house…
… who makes herself a healthy lunch and even makes it look fancy for a quick photo share…
… who gets in a focused full hour of work…
… who manages her time right between all these and breastfeeding sessions to get to her toddler’s school on time for pick-up…
… who is able to have both children happy and smiling at the same time…
… who bakes chocolate zucchini muffins, and bread and prepares a healthy dinner that surprisingly everybody loves…
… who gets everyone together so the whole family, including the four legged kids, go for a quick evening walk…
… who sails through the evening without a loud word, crying, or drama…
… who falls asleep holding her toddler’s hand only to wake up to spend a few quiet intimate moments with her husband…
… who wakes up to the first noise her baby makes to feed her even though she just fell asleep…
… who wakes up the next morning and does it again.

Other days, I feel not so super, not so optimistic. Other days I just feel like a total mess…

… who just puts some perfume on to hide the fact that there was no time to shower and that her hair smells like spit-up…
… who simply pours cereal and the milk for the entire family, because that’s all she has time and energy for and breakfast important…
… who quietly cries in the car 10 minutes late for morning drop-off because she lost her patience with her toddler who made a scene because her hair clip wasn’t in right and took it out again and again and again, a hundred times it felt like…
… who is crushed by the weight of the mess in the house and eats an entire Hershey bar while accepting that the house will stay messy…
… who despite all this still gets her workout in because that’s her only me time although the last 1o minutes are spent more with baby than with weights…
… who eats her toddler’s leftover breakfast for lunch…
… who quickly makes her coffee to go and no matter how hard she tries, she’s late for pickup…
… who stands hunched over at the doorway not understanding why her toddler is already making a scene – and she’s unconsolable. No hug, no love, no reasoning, no anger, no nothing helps…
… who is happy that after an hour the crying stopped but now the baby needs attention…
… who not only didn’t prepare dinner but she also didn’t make it to the store so her husband stops on his way home to get fresh bread…
… who looks at her husband with her eyes begging for help as her toddler won’t brush her teeth, won’t put her long sleeve PJ’s on because she promises not to kick the blanket off…
…who quietly cries again as her toddler is finally falling asleep…
… who then quickly falls asleep next to her only to be woken up by her husband but she no longer has the energy to spend time with him and stumbles to bed…
… who realizes as her head hits the pillow that she didn’t even look at the dogs today…
… who wakes up to the first noise her baby makes to feed her even though she just fell asleep…
… who wakes up the next morning and does it again.

And yet every day, I am filled with love and gratitude for my family and realize that every single cliche I heard about motherhood is true. ❤

Chronicles of Motherhood – Now With Two (Struggles)

“Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose, or paint can manage to escape the madness, melancholia, the panic and fear which is inherent in a human situation.” 

~Graham Green

I’ve always said that Sophie, our first daughter, now almost 4 is very attached to me. An that is a true statement. But not a complete statement. To make it entirely true I should have always added that I am just as attached to her. And though that’s something I’ve known, I never truly knew what it really meant. How much it really meant, until Annabel was born.

Annabel is amazing and at only three weeks old her character already shows – very different from Sophie’s at this age. And I love her. She truly is a bundle of joy, nurses well, sleeps relatively well – though after our night feeding she will not fall asleep on her own, so I just put her next to me in the bed and we sleep like that. I think pregnancy prepares the mother for bedsharing – sleeping on my left side for close to six months has allowed me to feel safe with Annabel close to me. I can sleep in the same position without moving at all.

But all this doesn’t come at no cost whatsoever. Sophie has, for the most part, accepted that our world has turned upside down. Everything has changed. My husband helps out a lot, I truly don’t know what I would do without him. He prepares Sophie in the morning, preps her lunch, dresses her, puts her to bed at night – though I stick to keeping our bedtime routine of all three of us talking about our day, the best part and the worst part.

But Sophie misses her mom. She crashes sometimes, like last night when she cried and cried and cried that she wanted me to put her to bed. Or to just rock her. Hug her. All while Annabel was inconsolable – it was time to feed her. And there’s only one of me. Annabel needs me. Annabel is dependent on me – for nourishment, for comfort, for life. And just as much, though in different. yet still important ways, Sophie needs me as well. And I’m struggling. I’m struggling to find balance, to be there for both of them, in a way that neither of them feel less loved, less cared for. And I feel like Sophie feels that way sometimes. She’s awesome and caring and understanding, like when I told her I knew this was a difficult period, her response was “it’s okay, it’s not difficult for me” – her tears tell a different story. 

And so do mine. Just as much as she cries at times, I do too. Sometimes just in my heart, sometimes real tears are falling. I want to be there. “She’s not hungry mom, she just wants to be held. Daddy will hold her.”. Oh honey but she is. I love you so much and I wish I could lay down with you but I need to go feed your baby sister. I know all older siblings go through this change. I was six years old when my brother was born, my brother, whom I love so much. I don’t remember feeling unloved. But I did. At least that’s what my grandmother told me.

I know things will resolve themselves. But for now, the struggle is real. So is the love and joy the two bring us. Because 99% of the time, the only feeling in the air is love. ❤

Chronicles of Motherhood – Now with Two (Week 1)

Definition of Mother: The greatest unconditional and infinite love we will ever experience in our existence

I was scared… worried… how am I gonna do this? How will I feel the same type and amount of love for Annabel I do for Sophie. How will we manage too now? How will Sophie react? Will she be jealous? Will she act out?

Sophie, our first daughter, born August 2012 is amazing. She’s pure love. Sure, she’s going through her “terrible two” right now (great timing huh), but by nature she is incredibly caring, loving, and comforting. She’s the little girl that will go up to anybody that’s crying to comfort them. She’s the little girl that will be first in her class to be there for the new child (female child, to be specific 😛 ) so that they’re not scared.

And she did live up to her character.

The moment her sister starts crying, she’s there. When I nurse, she’s there to help. When Annabel needs to be burped, she’s there. I couldn’t ask for a better helper. 

The only difficult part has been that both my husband and Sophie came down with something (not the same thing). My husband had fever, which she never gets, and Sophie probably had the common cold, but either way, we’ve been quarantined to the bedroom. Every time Sophie was allowed to go close to Annabel, she had to wear a mask.

She fought it a little bit, and it was hard for her to keep it on and not touch her nose and things like that, but she did it. Every night we talk about our day, highs and lows. Some days she’s being “silly billy”, like she says (a term she picked up at preschool), but some days she goes deep. Like the other day when she said the best part of her day was that her sister is finally here, and the worst part was that she has to wear a mask. Poor baby, but it’s for the best. If a newborn under the age of one month old gets fever (anything above 100.4), she’s automatically admitted for 48 hours. Luckily, everyone seems to be doing better and Annabel is fine as well.

And I just want to hold her.

And hold her and hold her because I know how fast time flies by. Of course, Sophie is only 3.5 as well, and I get to hold her plenty, but time is the most precious thing one could have (insert long pause here, something for another post another day).

I love being a mom of two 

Sophie is Not Having a Little Sister/Brother This Time Around

Some things we don’t have control over. With some things we just have to have faith and trust that they happen for a reason. That it is for the greater good.

I have been MIA for a while now, and that’s because normally, the first 12 weeks of pregnancy are private. So many things can happen. Actually, mostly only one thing can go wrong, and that’s when the woman miscarries. Miscarriages are more common than most of us realize, and in the majority of the cases happen because something is not okay with the developing fetus. Chromosomal issues, something doesn’t develop the way it should. Things can go wrong. And this time around, things did go wrong for us.

I am sad and disappointed. But I also know that my body knows what it’s doing. I trust my body. That’s the rational one in me talking. The emotional one says that we planned for this pregnancy, it happened, and now we lost it. It’s an emotional and physical journey. I was only five weeks, so luckily, I did not and will not end up at the ER. But it is physically painful.

Nonetheless, since I was offline blogging about it, I figured I’d share still. Maybe it will reach someone in similar shoes. Maybe it will encourage someone. Because the fact of the matter is, that one miscarriage means nothing. It does not mean that a woman is not capable of carrying a baby, or that she can’t have one. One miscarriage, though devastating, has no future implications in most cases. Of course, for me, having Sophie already helps tremendously. I know we can have kids. And she has been my rock. I don’t have to tell her how I feel, or what I need. She just pulls me close, and hugs me. Gives me a kiss. She’s only two so she doesn’t talk, but talk is not what I need. Her hugs and kisses, my husband’s support, my friends’ company (friends… more on that later, that’s another rather sad story). Knowing I’m not alone. And knowing we’re gonna have way more sex now. 😛

So if you’re interested, here are the first five weeks:

June 9, 2014 – The Ulterior Motive

I start The Ultimate Reset. I read maybe a year ago that people on it have gotten successfully pregnant.

June 8, 2014
I start using the Clearbly Fertility Monitor. It tracks both the estrogen and LH hormones predicting the most fertile days. Day 18 it goes to high. Stays there until Day 24, and then drops, never showing the release of an egg. I’m disappointed. It is completely normal for a woman to have a nonovulatory cycle, and I know when we were trying for Sophie, I did have a month or two when it did not show any signs of ovulation. Still, it sucks. I’m hoping this is just one those months and not a problem I need to be worried about.

July 10, 2014
Day 33. Completely normal, my cycle runs a little longer. If it wasn’t for the monitor not saying I did not ovulate this cycle, I’d start getting excited.

July 12, 2014 (Sunday)
3:30 am
Still nothing. I do feel a little bit more tired, and am hormonal. I blamed it on PMS, but we have a brunch date, just my hubby and I (I’d been dying to go on a date but with a toddler and our families on another continent, it’s hard, plus I love breakfast, so brunch sounds perfect). I really need to pee. Should I have mimosas with my breakfast, or not? I take a pregnancy test.

I place it in a zip lock bag on my husband’s night stand, but he wakes up. Accuses me of smiling because I had chocolate. Cute. But no. I show him the photo, he’s really happy. We both are. Neither of us can sleep.

July 13, 2014 (Monday)
I call my OBGYN, I can’t wait for him to see me. They only do though at week 6. I have four more weeks to go. FOUR. Feels like an eternity.

End of month one. It has been tough. I’m having crazy emotional lows, nothing I experienced when I was pregnant with Sophie.

My workouts have been on track, here’s what I did.

But my nutrition has been less than stellar. This week (week four) I ate rather crappy (sorry, but that’s the honest truth). Emotional eating is really a bad thing and it is NOT okay to blame it on hormones and pregnancy. Because while it has to do with it, we ALWAYS have a choice. The choice to choose fruit instead of a full bar of chocolate and chocolate chip cookies. Flavored frozen Greek yogurt instead of full fat ice cream. So tonight I’m getting rid of all those and am starting anew tomorrow. By the time you’re reading this, I’m 100% back on track. And I don’t take that lightly.

MONTH 2

July 29, 2014 (Tuesday)
In month 1 I told you I’m having these emotional lows. Today, Sophie is under the weather a bit, she’s having an elevated temperature and a runny nose. So we cuddled on the couch.

And it hit me. It hit me that this moment, like any other present moments will be gone forever. That this exact image soon will not be the same. It will never again be just Sophie and me on the couch like that. I read once that a mother’s love is infinite. That it’s not like I’ll have less for Sophie because we have a second child. It’s not something that’s divisible. But for now, the only child I hold is Sophie. The only child I can touch, breath in the moments we spend together, is Sophie. And for a second, the question “Am I ready?” popped into my head. Am I? But then I closed my eyes, and this vision appeared. This vision of the same image but with another child sitting there. As I was hugging that baby, I could feel the love in my heart. See the love in Sophie’s eyes. I’m ready. We’re ready. And each moment will be just more perfect. But until then, I treasure every second with my girl. She’s so perfect. ❤

August 1, 2014 (Friday)
I had my first pregnancy dream. I was in the hospital, in a really good mood, talking with my mom, both of us sitting on my hospital bed when they brought my baby in. I said “yes, I was right, it’s a boy” and my mom looked at me and said, “no, look, it’s a girl”, so I looked and yes… It was a girl, and I was really surprised because I was 100% sure it was a boy. I do feel a lot differently with this pregnancy than I did with Sophie, so I do think it’s a boy. But when I looked at my newborn in my dream, she smiled at me. I loved it. I loved her. I love being a mom and I can’t wait to hold my baby. Whatever the gender.
I also happened to catch Sophie’s cold. Try having a sore throat when you feel nauseous. Not fun. Luckily, some natural remedies (link) really helped me get over it fast.

August 2, 2014 (Saturday)
One side effect of pregnancy are vivid dreams. I had an extremely vivid and not too fun dream. Basically, an apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic dream. It had to do with large amounts of water (whenever I have a catastrophe dream, water is involved, like huge waves, or the ocean taking over the land, something like that). There were also machines. Hiding bunkers. No hygienics. But I survived. No one else was there with me after it was all over, I was in line to get food, they were handing them out in large see-through bags, the food looked gross. Meatballs, but they looked old, and the portions were tiny. Robin from HIMYM was there in the line too…. And in the next scene I was looking for a matching pair of shoes for my mom in old boxes in some abandoned house. She had some job interview, I think. Overall, I was just happy to be alive.

August 4, 2014 (Monday)
I’m feeling a lot happening in my belly. I also had some blood infused mucous the last few days. Tiny amounts, not to worry, but who doesn’t right? I remember having some blood with Sophie in week 8, I was crying the whole day, I was extremely scared, terrified, rather. So I know it’s normal. I also don’t know how far along I am. I could be in week 8, actually, according to the Bump app, I am there. My calculations, I’m 5 weeks along, but that’s because I’m looking at it from the possible day of conception, not the first day of my last period. Anyways, I’ll know more next Tuesday. Next Tuesday can’t come fast enough.

When in Rome, I mean, home… ??

I started writing my post but it kept sounding like I’m just complaining. So let’s just say that I’m absolutely not in control of our meals, breakfasts are okay, cause I had planned for that – brought our oatmeal, almond butter, got Greek yogurt, there’s eggs everywhere, but beyond that, it’s basically whatever my mom or the chef (in case we eat out) eats and our styles couldn’t be farther apart. Sophie basically refuses to eat anything, other than “turo rudi” – a Hungarian specialty, farmer’s cheese (cottage cheese) like filling, sweet of course, covered with dark chocolate, delicious. Here’s a picture of it. Yumminess.

But, to focus on the positive, I am working out whenever I get the chance, so here’s what I’ve done so far:

April 28, Monday: 21 Day Fix: Total Body Cardio Fix
April 29, Tuesday: 21 Day Fix: Upper Fix
May 1, Thursday: 21 Day Fix: Lower Fix
May 5, Monday: 21 Day Fix: Flat Abs Fix (haha, I mean, let’s be honest, I’m not gonna have my flat abs after you read my usual food intake below, but the effort counts as well, right?)
May 6, Tuesday: 21 Day Fix: Plyo Fix (highly modified)
May 7, Wednesday: 21 Day Fix: Yoga Fix
May 8, Thursday: 21 Day Fix: Dirty Thirty (I actually really liked this one)

My workouts are pretty sporadic, but our schedule is hectic. Here are a few workout pics – excuse the mess, it’s not my “pretty home gym” – aka our bedroom, but you do with what you’ve got, right? 😛

So a typical day for me as far as nutrition is concerned looks like this:

Pre-workout snack: banana
Breakfast: oatmeal with apple and Greek yogurt / scrambled eggs with orange juice and whole wheat bread
Snack: turo rudi
Lunch: whatever my mom or mother-in-law makes, they do their best as both are meat eaters unlike us, most of the time there is cheese or cream involved, so less healthy
Snack: turo rudi / cocoa roll, some chocolate
Snack: Coffee (I bring the one we drink for my parents, it’s a vanilla coffee, they love it)
Dinner: this is one of the bigger issues, cause my mom gets home late (I just asked if I could cook something, she said yes, I’ll get back to you on how she takes when I use her kitchen) so it’s mostly bread and cheese, butter, lots of veggies…..

And … well, I bought Tiny Tea in the U.S. after seeing posts about it on Instagram, it’s supposed to help with digestion, not exactly like a detox, cause you can eat whatever you want (you should eat healthy all the time, of course), but it is called a detox tea. It’s supposed to help clearing toxins. Anyways. I would normally consider it cheating, but I think I’m going to give it a go tomorrow. I’ll report back on it. And I’ll post about our trip so far soon too, it’s just, you know… Family time. ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

Tougher than I had thought….

So just real quick… The last week before our flight to Hungary was …. you know when you know a huge trip is coming and while you’re going through you’re routine, it’s just not the same? I did all my workouts but my mind wasn’t there and it matters big time. I kinda sorta took my after photos, but my husband wasn’t around in the mornings to take them (and who would take their after photos after a full day of eating, right? 😛 ). I decided to use those as my “before Hungary” photos.

And keeping up with our usual nutrition in Hungary is close to impossible. Other than the foods being different, we of course are visiting family, and especially grandparents LOVE to bake. I am keeping my limit to one of each pastry but still. It’s way more than we usually eat. Another thing I completely forgot about is that lunch is usually at least two courses, even when one is a soup. So that’s like having two lunches in one sitting.

And while I am working out every morning I can, I am, I’m doing 21 Day Fix workouts (clearly not keeping up with the nutrition portion of it), it’s just a bad equation. More food, less workouts. BUT, even Shaun T takes a month off and does lighter routines, so I’m not looking at this as a negative experience, quite the opposite. I love seeing my family, my friends, my home town, my home town cuisine, I love it. I love it all and I’m soaking it all in. But it is tougher than I had thought.

Days 38-41 and Working Out with a Broken Toe

Maybe, just maybe, committing to posting every day is setting myself up for failure. I was going to post about Wednesday on Thursday, but Sophie did not want to go to sleep, so I’m pretty sure I fell asleep before she did. Friday my husband finally came home after being gone the whole week on a business trip and then on weekends I try to focus on family. But regardless, I don’t neglect my workouts. Ever.

Day 38

Workout: Combat 60 Live – Ultimate Warrior’s Workout
My favorite. It’s such a perfect workout. Perfect combination of kicks and punches in an MMA world of fun.

Meal Details:

Pre-workout snack: bananaBreakfast: Sophie’s leftover oatmeal blended with Greek yogurt and apples
Snack: chocolate Belvita breakfast biscuit
Lunch: Salmon patty with brown rice
Snack: two fried eggs on a multgrain bread
Snack: coconut milk latte
Dinner: Broccoli pasta with a bit of cottage cheese and Parmesan cheese 

I for sure ate under my caloric needs. But then again, I usually have one more meal after Sophie is sleeping while I’m working / studying, so that’s something I did miss out on.

And about that broken toe: Sophie dropped my glass drinking bottle on it, full of water. I was pretty sure it broke, but it’s healing really well. A friend of my recommended to put aloe on it (excuse my pedicure, not a mommy perk I’ve enjoyed lately 😛 ) So maybe that really helps this much. Oh you’re asking if I work out with it? Read on. 😛Day 39

I had to take too many breaks already and our trip to Hungary is coming up, where I intend to impress (I know, shallow huh, but I really want everyone to know that if you’re willing to work for it and sacrifice a few things, you can have your body back and even better after baby).

Workout: HIIT Power & Hard Core Abs. There were some modifications required because of my toe, but all in all, other than fatiguing a bit before I normally would, I was able to complete the workout even with a broken toe. And I gotta say. Having a toe hurt so badly, definitely helps keeping the weight in the heels during squats. 😛

I also have a confession to make though. I had lunch with a friend of mine who is really into working out and desserts. My kinda gal. So I did buy some sweets – more on that under day 40. For lunch though, I had THE BEST Ahi burger, seared to perfection and Baily’s coffee (I did not like the pasta salad on that picture so I didn’t finish it). 

Day 40

This day is best described by the following picture, which is pretty much my mantra. As a fitness instructor friend of mine said: I don’t work out to be skinny, I work out to be able to eat more. And everything is fine in moderation, you just have to pick your weak spot at the time. But more on that in another future post.

So I did do my workout: Upper Body Blow Out and Core Attack. I won’t “complain” again about the Upper Body Blow Out workout, cause there’s no point. It will never get easier – not in the I will never be able to do it sense, but in the sweat and energy it takes to complete. I love it.

Before you ask, I shared with my husband over the course of two nights:
– a lemon tart with marshmallow puff on top (top row, middle cake that looks like three boobs 😛 )
– a chocolate bomb (second row, fourth cake and yes, it was the bomb)
– a macaroon

I’d lie if I said this was normal even for me. This was a lot of indulging, a little too much of it, in fact. Because this is the point where I start working against myself and the results I’m shooting for. So I am getting my act together and for the next two weeks (well, certainly until the next weekend when we go to Florida) I am skipping on dessert. I will still have my coconut milk latte and dark chocolate, but in very limited amounts.

Day 41

Was an amazing family day at the beach. We had a Starbucks breakfast, I tried this raw smoothie bar that was not at all impressive, especially considering they did not fully put the lid on Sophie’s “banana berry burst” smoothie so it ended up on my white shorts, in the front. You can imagine the looks I got… It was funny and not funny at the same time. Sushi lunch followed by multigrain bread, piece of cheese and red radish.

And if you read all the way here, this last image is for you. Thank you!

Day 37

Still sore!!! Definitely a sign of too much too soon. Not the good sore, but the limiting soreness, and at the 48 hours onset, that’s not a good sign. Too much muscle tear. I did better though with my workout, which was Les Mills Combat Power HIIT. I like this workout a lot, as it incorporates weights, as well as cardio, all in 30 minutes. And I was pleasantly surprised that the weights I used in this workout a few weeks ago were too light.
I did not get to my ab routine, because the dog groomer was early. Arrgh. On the flip side, my dogs are now clean, smell amazing, and are soft to the touch. I love hugging them when they’re this clean (they are outside dogs, so it’s a fairly rare occurrence). Here are a few pics of them:

Sophie petting our beagle, Sparky

Sophie giving a kiss to Sparky

Donny loves Sophie

Sometimes he loves her a little too much…

So yes. Those are my dogs. 😛 Although, if you asked Sophie, she probably would say they are hers. And that’s perfectly fine. I couldn’t be happier, being a mom to such an amazing girl and two of the best dogs out there.

On to my nutrition – yay. I feel sooooo much better than about the day before. You know, with the whipped cream and all. Check below the image to see what I decided to have instead of it. 😛

Meal Details

Pre-workout snack: banana
Breakfast: chocolate oatmeal
Snack: peanut butter P90X bar
Lunch: Vegan burger with brown rice on a butter lettuce bed with Greek yogurt dressing
Snack: dark chocolate
Dinner: Cauliflower and sweet potato soup with two sliced of multigrain bread and two laughing cow wedges (light)
Snack: chocolate Belvita
Snack: canned salmon mixed with tomatoes and a bit of light mayo, wrapped in butter lettuce (see??? so much better than the whipped cream 😛 )

And honesty time. If you’re reading this. Is this picture terrible? My childhood best friend, who rarely comments on my pics said this when she saw it: “I hope it tastes better than it looks” (by the way, it didn’t…. but that’s another story). So, honestly. Please 😛

Week 1 Review

Week one of my Les Mills hybrid and getting back on track: done. Oh do I have a lot to tell you!!

The Workouts
Two words: simply amazing. In the Les Mills series (both Pump and Combat) music is awesome. Each segment in the routine goes as long as the song goes and it pushes you. You definitely get pumped up.
Pump workouts are barbell based, low weight, high rep. Which is new to me, I’ve only been doing high weight low rep routines for a while. So while I stayed with 5lbs on each end, I got really REALLY sore. Pump Challenge is about 25 minutes, and is pretty basic as fat as the exercises go (squats, lunges, tricep extensions, chest press) but the combination of counts makes your muscles burn up.
Combat workouts incorporate a lot of different martial arts: karate, taekwondo, boxing, kickboxing. It’s definitely a fighter’s workout (my favorite, Turbo workouts – Turbo Jam, Turbo Fire, Turbo Kick are dancy kickboxy routines) – these have no dance in them. It’s punches and kicks – the only thing missing is the sandbag. 😛

Note on calories burned: I track this because I love numbers. But it’s not a measure that’s 100% reliable, especially not in the case of weight lifting or yoga. The higher the heart rate, the more calories you burn (which is important if you, for example, take some supplement before your workout like I did, my heart rate normally starts around 98, the day I took the supplement, it started at 134 and stayed all the way through my workout near my max target rate – not a great thing for me, though I did burn more calories) and the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn.
DAY 1: Pump Challenge (185cal) & Combat 30 (289cal)
DAY 2: HIIT Power (260cal) & Inner Warrior (111cal)
DAY 3: Pump Challenge (105cal – see the difference?) & Hard Core Abs (60cal)
DAY 4: Combat 45 (345cal)
DAY 5: HIIT Plyo (253cal) & Flow (116cal)
DAY 6: Lower Body Lean Out (232cal) & Core Attack (85cal)
DAY 7: Rest day!!! I don’t plan my rest days, but they are very important. The muscle fibers are broken during a workout and get a chance to rebuild and grow during rest. So I take rest days when I feel my body needs it (which doesn’t necessarily coincide with my level of soreness, though, if I can’t move, I’ll take a rest day, otherwise, cardio day follows weight training day)

NutritionMy nutrition is far from perfect. On better days, I add my meals to MyFitnessPal (add me as a friend: MomOfBalance) to see how many calories I consumed; but, more reliable is my picture food diary (https://www.evernote.com/pub/apple21hun/momofbalancefooddiary) where I, for the most part, add pictures/notes on my meals and workouts. Although, there are times when I can’t (like at a birthday party, I felt it would have been rude to go around taking pictures 😛 ) In general, I try to eat around 1,900 calories with at least 90g of protein. Counting calories is fun, important if you’ve never done it to make sure you get enough of all the major nutrient groups and you don’t over/underdo any of the three (fat, protein, and carbs).

As the weeks go on, I will be adding more details, and promise my next posts won’t be this long. 😛

The Five Things Every Mom Should Have on Her 2014 Goals List

Disclaimer: Even if you’re not a mom, keep on reading. This applies to most women. Men are better with these, but even so, if you’re a man and you decide to read this post, I’m curious what you think.

Setting goals is a very important, yet, not an easy task. It requires investments on many different levels:
– Time: it takes time to create the list, weeks in a lot of cases. Writing out your goals weekly without checking the week prior will help solidify goals that are really important and weed out ones that you’re just writing down because you maybe ran out of ideas.- Self-knowledge: this is a biggie. You need to know yourself to create goals that, when you achieve them, will actually make you happy. Creating goals for other people – your parents, your spouse, your children, your friends, etc., will make them happy, but not you. Sure, when writing your goals you will consider important people in your life. But they have to have their own goals. You can only take responsibility for what’s important to you, and only you.
– Consistency: following through is not as simple as we first think. Life gets in the way. The key is not letting a slip turn into a slide. Whatever that goal may be, don’t think that just because you ate a cupcake, you should throw your fitness goals out and you might as well eat that pizza, drink that coke… or just because you couldn’t resist those shoes, you might as well get the matching purse. No. Know where you’re going, and get right back if you diverge for whatever reason.

When you set goals, consider all areas of life. Personal, financial, family, romance, personal development, spiritual, career, and whatever else comes to mind. Like I said, this is your life, make your goals count.

I create my own goals, but I’ve been putting down some new ones. As a mom, my life has changed. And I need to change with it, if I want to keep my sanity. So here are the five things that, in my opinion, every mom should have on her 2014 goals list:

1. Make it about you: You absolutely must do something for yourself, by yourself, on a regular basis. Whatever that might be. A full-on beauty-day-out, spending a day with your girlfriends, hanging out at the library the whole day – something that you do to get out. I love being a work-at-home-mom. I love that I get to spend every second with Sophie. But I’ll be honest. I’ve been going a little crazy. With my husband traveling a lot, we’re alone a lot, which means I don’t get to do much on my own for myself. I do work out every morning. But Sophie is there (more on why I think that’s great in another post). I do go out for lunches. But Sophie is there. Sometimes, I just want to get out alone. I can’t wait to be back home to spend time with Sophie and my huband again, and I still rush home, even though I don’t nurse her during the day anymore. But every now and then, being out by myself is just what the doctor ordered.

2. Don’t leave date night (day) up to chance: it’s so easy to take on the role of mom 100%. 110% even. And while we might think that our significant other completely understands and takes on the role of dad 100%, that is rarely the case. Don’t get me wrong. He might be the best dad in the world. But before they were dad and you were mom, you were husband and wife. Lovers. Best friends. The world was yours. And now that that changed, it usually doesn’t come naturally to keep that magic. Between changing diapers, late nights, feeding, laundry, your schedule depending on the baby, it’s easy to neglect romance. But it’s important. And “date nights in” (you know, when you cuddle on the couch and watch a movie after you put the baby down) don’t really do the trick on the long run. Go date again. Dress up, put some makeup on, and flirt. Keep the flame alive.

3. Get more social: so many times moms make mom friends with people they don’t necessarily get along with that great, people they normally would only be acquaintances with, just because they have children of the same age. Don’t be that mom. I know. Children need play dates. And I agree. But you know who you are. You’re a strong woman that loves ‘xyz’ but hates ‘tuv’. So find moms that are into the same things. I recently joined a mom group (found them on meetup.com – great place to meet people) and went to a public event that I learned about through that group. The two moms from the group that were there seemed really nice, but we didn’t quite hit it off. I did; however, meet another mom, who was just there. And she seems great. So get out there and find your “mom matches”.

4. Give up perfectionism: You had it all figured out. You had a system, a time and place for most things that were important to you. Then this little miracle turned it all upside down. And now you’re scrambling to get the same things done in addition to taking care of a baby, which is a full time job in and of itself. So stop. Reassess what’s important, rearrange your priorities, and let go of the rest. There are days when our kitchen is a mess (and by days I mean two, maybe even three consecutive days) because we spent 30 extra minutes at the park, Sophie woke up later than usual and the whole day got out of schedule, or we had a play date with my really good friend that has twin girls of Sophie’s age, only she lives 45 minutes from us. And it’s okay. As long as you are able to let go of everything having to be perfect. Because at the end of the day, the kitchen can wait. Your baby can’t. And the time you get with your child, your family, is the most precious.

5. Give the gift of health: to yourself and your family by planning your meals ahead, drinking more water, and making exercise fun. Before you accuse me and say, wait a minute, that’s more than one goal, you are absolutely right. But they go hand in hand, wouldn’t you agree? Kids do everything their parents do. The moment I put in my workout DVD, Sophie starts running in place or lifting her leg straight up. She sees me drink more water, so she does the same. Have you ever gone to the grocery store without a list trying to do a week’s worth of shopping? I have and it was a nightmare. I felt more lost than I would have in a completely new city with a paper map. So plan your meals. Check back on the 31st of December to learn about my system, how I do it all. I’ll share it, because it works. 100%. Unless you don’t do it. So throw on those tennis shoes, take a walk in the park, around the block, pop in a workout DVD you love, and have your water with you. And then, nourish your body. Repeat, and see permanent changes.

And very last, but not least, remember to make your goals:
Specific
Measurable
Ahievable
Realistic
Time-oriented