Those of you that have known me for yearsssss know that I pretty much could eat everything in my path & not gain a pound.. I am not saying this to make someone insecure or whatever... because now in my life that is NOT the case.. you can thank my little nugget for that! haha. I would take a giant Dr.Pepper & candy to my dance practices & bust it out.. I also worked at a Bakery for a couple years in high school & the food there was free.. and let me tell you, it's the best food in the entire world... and I ate a ton of it. I still love eating there.
I never really cared about eating healthy, because simply I just didn't have to. If you say I am full of myself, i'll punch you. I am no where near there... but its true & its not true anymore.. that's the point I am getting at.
I never really cared about having caffeine until I got pregnant.. Yes, I had a coke/dr.pepper occasionally...freaking sue me. But for the most part, I usually drank other things like: Water, Juice, Ginger Ale, Lemonade, Sprite, and Root Beer. I made a lot of juice which is packed with nutrients & vitamins.
My snacks before my pregnancy were: Oreos, Chips, everything candy, pretty much anything I wanted... & a lot of it wasn't good for me.
My snacks during my pregnancy were: bad stuff here & there. Mostly Chips.. I couldn't handle a lot of sugar, so I had mostly salty stuff. I ate a lot of string cheese, apples, peaches, fish, almonds, chocolate, cookies, nachos, and I had a TON of vegetables. I had a TON of fries and pretty much drank ranch. I was so sick during my pregnancy though, I kind of just ate whatever felt good and whatever I could hold down.
My snacks after my pregnancy are: I eat almost everything multi-grain, brown, and drink mostly water. I had a 32 OZ Dr. Pepper once, and after nursing it went through to my son.. haha worst thing ever..he was jittery & jumpy for like 10 hours.. it sucked. So now I rarely have it. If I do, it is maybe a cup or maybe half of a can. Honestly, my body can't really handle it anymore.. so I rarely drink soda, let alone with Caffeine.
I am going to be honest though, I don't know about other nursing mothers... but I always get so worried that my son isn't getting enough nutrients and vitamins from me. So I think that's why I am kind of a freak about eating healthy, because literally everything goes to him. So I try my best.
One reason why I am so passionate about nursing & eating healthy is because I HAD to have a C-section. I didn't want one and after I had my baby, my milk didn't come in for 5 weeks... YES, 5 freaking weeks. We had to supplement but nursing is the hardest thing I've ever done. It is tough to keep going and trying to get your supply up. All you want to do is give up and quit. I did everything in my power to make that milk come in.. (tips & tricks about nursing coming soon) I felt like I had part of my birth plan taken away from me, and I was not about to have nursing taken away either. So that is why I am kind of a Nazi.
YES, I have cookies and snacks when I want... but that usually happens at my in-laws.. because they have a whole pantry full of
I will let you all in on our way and what we do to get ourselves healthy.
Get a list..
I will tell each one of you that if you want to get healthy.. put a list together BEFORE you go shopping. This will make you more inclined to get healthy things, and also less likely to get things just off the shelf. I used to go to the store and get groceries without a list and would spend $30.00 on 5 things. It was ridiculous. Ever since I have used the "list" method I have never had a problem budgeting.
Shop in bulk/Meal Prep Sunday..
I always go shopping on my pay day, and I usually have a budget of $150.00 every 2 weeks. I will ONLY get the things on the list. The only things I will usually go back for are items that will expire within that 2 weeks. (usually chicken & bananas). My husband works 7 days at a time, so he has to have his lunches (which has dramatically increased over the months) & I need to have my lunches too.
Lots of Veggies & Lots of Fruit..FRESH
I will get bulk veggies and fruit. I will grab a pack of Celery & Carrots. I will chop up half of the carrots for baked carrot sticks & the other half for carrots to dip in hummus. I always pack veggies/fruits in *gallon* sized Ziploc bags & take out all of the air to keep them fresh.
-Huge container of Spinach
-Blueberries
-Bananas
-Strawberries
-Mangos
-Pineapple
-Peaches
-Oranges
-Apples
-Cantaloupe/honeydew. Usually whatever fruit is on sale, I will buy & eat during that week.
-2 cucumber sticks
We eat a lot of vegetables at dinner. So I usually stock up on them. What I get below is in bulk (usually 5-6 of that item & it usually last until next payday)
-Sweet Potatoes-Zucchini
-Squash
-Banana Squash
-Red Potatoes
-Broccoli
-Asparagus (when it is on sale)
-Avocado (my husband is allergic, so I just by for myself)
- Red Peppers-- cut for fresh & to cook
-Green Peppers-- cut for fresh & to cook
-Limes/Lemons (for fish)
-Onions
-Corn
-Black Beans
Meats & Fish..
-I usually get Salmon from the meat department cut fresh from the guy, so I can cook it that night. I have gotten the frozen salmon before but it is a lot more dry. Tastes good, but a little too dry for me & my husbands liking. When I make it for dinner, I make 1 pound and cut that in half... (its usually not that much to eat)
-I buy frozen Tilapia from smiths. This is the best tilapia ive pretty much ever had. It is sooo good. It is not dry at all, and is super good. I buy the tilapia that is separated & sealed shut. So I take out 2 at a time & let it defrost in the fridge for awhile and then I will bake it.
- I buy Chicken just in the meat department, I try to buy organic but when I don't, I try to buy the best I can get a hold of.
-Ground Turkey; I use this for pretty much everything else besides chicken & fish.
-Turkey Bacon
Grains..
-Quinoa; Blake thinks its weird.. but I really like it.
-Almond Flour
-Whole Grain Brown Rice
-Whole Grain Oats
-100% Whole Wheat Bread..
**TIP: If you want to get 100% Whole Wheat Bread, make sure you look on the ingredients label for, High Fructose Corn Syrup & Enriched Wheat Flour. These are terrible for you, yet a lot of people think because it says 100% that its good for you. Enriched means that its processed more and that are more added sugars to the flour.**
Oil..
I NEVER use any type of oil besides Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Coconut Oil. I have Canola & Vegetable oil just in case, but I always use EVOO or Coconut Oil. Its much healthier for you, and goes a long way.
Most of the vegetables I make are steamed or fresh. I will put a tiny bit of butter on my vegetables but rarely do. Most of the time I make us eat them plain..
We try to drink close to a gallon of water a day each, usually we don't reach the gallon mark, but we try. haha
A secret to packing lunches is that if you cook dinner... You can also just cook a little extra and pack that up for a lunch the next day. I usually do this if I pack fish for our lunches. I cook them the night before, so they aren't bad.
For dinner I try to make a different meal every night. I will always have a vegetable of some type, salad (usually spinach), and then a meat/fish.
I like to use the rainbow affect. haha which means the more colors, the better.
My work has a snack area where there are nuts & fresh fruit available. Every morning when I come in I will grab a handful of almonds and eat them with my oatmeal.
Almonds are sooo good for you. They are packed with nutrients like: Biotin, Vitamin E, Fiber, Magnesium... & they lower your cholesterol & help give your heart a lot of TLC.
I will post more about our juicing in the future. We love to juice. We haven't juiced in a while though, but when we do we usually use the following:
-2 Tomatoes
-1 Cucumber
-2 Apples (whichever kind you want)
-Spinach
-Kale
-2 Oranges
-2-3 Strawberies
-1 banana
-1 Grapefruit
** You can use any type of vegetable or fruit that you want.. but those are some that we use. Some people have asked about banana's being juiced. I always put in an orange or something that is very juicy after to make sure that it doesn't get clogged and makes sure that the banana passes through. I usually put spinach & kale in middle and then the juiciest stuff after so it doesn't clog as well.**
*NEVER use a mango. That will clog & ruin your juicer.
I have never felt better in my life. Maybe this could help someone start the process of becoming a healthier person. I never thought I could do it. but I am right now!!!!
Currently because of eating healthy & drinking lots of fluids... and of course, light workouts.
I am post 9 weeks baby & I have lost 41 pounds.
Every morning I eat a bowl of Whole Grain Oatmeal. You can buy this from Sprouts/Whole Foods Market.
I mix in 1/2 cup Oats & 1 cup of water.
After it cooks, I add in the following:
1 Tablespoon of Natural/Organic Peanut Butter. (it tastes disgusting on its own, but its really good with other foods)
1 Handful of Blueberries
1 Banana
1 tsp. Cinnamon
How'd you get so smart, granddaughter!? Love you! I'm going to try some of these tips!
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