SummerTime 300th Like Giveaway!

Woohoo...I have finally organized this giveaway! I am so excited...how about y'all???

So I have a ton of things I love to use during the summer, and I thought, "Why not share some of those things?" It is hot, and when working out hydration, proper nutrition, and sun protection are so important. And  most important STYLE!

It gets suuuuuper boring drinking just water. So I went on the hunt for a flavor pack for water. I tried so many different products and finally settled on one, Crystal Light Liquid. There are so many flavors and you can add a little or add a lot. And it is ZERO calories. Zip. Zilch. I like to add a couple of squeezes shake it up and walk out the door. My favorite is Strawberry Lemonade, so I am sharing one!

Not only do we need hydration in the summer, but we need protection. The suns dangerous UVA and UVB does so much damage to our skin that it is ultra important to use sunscreen. Most people never think about their face or lips...just the big areas that are exposed. So I am also sharing Banana Boat 50 SPF Face Balm and Chapstick!

So I have covered hydration and skin protection, but now there is a rumbling in my tummy. Being a full time pregnant mommy, I need to eat every couple of hours to keep blood sugar regulated. You should too, just to stave off overeating at meal time. One of my favorite snacks is...Clif Chocolate Chip Meal Bars! They are so yummy...I don't want to share. But I am...a 6 pack box!

The only part of the body that I haven't covered...our feet! Taking care of your feet is so vital, expecially when you are a runner. Everyone thinks that shoes are key to healthy feet, but so are socks. I love brightly colored socks, and I really love my Sweat Pink shoelaces. Makes my feet look fun. So I have also included a pack of Danskin Active Socks...they are hot pink and lime green! And a pair of our famous pink shoelaces!

But what is the point of having all these great products when you don't have anything to carry them in? Oh wait...I took care of that too. The winner will also receive a Sweat Pink Tote Bag. Yeah...I am that awesome! I want to win my own giveaway hehe!

So here is the complete prize pack! The giveaway will last 3 days! The winner will be selected at random. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway *Disclaimer- The companies listed above are not affiliated with MommyWeighLess.

A Year In Retrospect

It is so bittersweet that I will be hosting a giveaway tomorrow for my fitness page and it marks the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF MY WEIGHTLOSS!

 I have been on the journey, heart and soul, for a year now. Complete dedication.

This time last year I was piddling around with my health. I would workout every now and then, eat right, but still eat wrong, and wondering why I had not lost much weight. After a family vacation photo and a rude awakening at the doctor's office...I realized I needed to take care of myself. I needed to take losing weight and getting healthy serious, not only for me but for the beautiful family I had started.

Vacation June 2012- 231 pounds

I come from a family of health issues and obesity. Every time I go to a doctor and we do the "Family History" part of the workup I swear I check yes on every box. Here is a sample of just some of the diseases I say yes to with my head a little low (most of which are preventable):

Diabetes
Heart Disease
Heart Attack
High Blood Pressure
Cancer
Stroke
Kidney Disease
Obesity

I am not trying to tear my family down. I have a good family that I love, I only wish they would take better care of themselves. This list has all of the top killers in men and women on it. This list is also 90% preventable with a healthy lifestyle. This list scares the heck out of me. I do not want my children to be sitting in a doctors office in 20 years checking those boxes. I want them saying things like..."My mom is 40+ and running marathons, do you think she has a bad heart?!" At least that's my goal for that time in my life.

This year has been trying, difficult, fun, and there were so many times I wanted to give up...but I didn't and I still haven't even though I am pregnant. While I am maintaining my weight...I will resume losing once Baby gets here. I still have goals. I am still overweight. I don't want to be like this for the rest of my life.

A New Year starts for me tomorrow...even if it is the middle of June! I am starting it 50 pounds lighter. A bun in the oven. Dreams of a healthy future. And most of all happy within myself.

 When we found out we were pregnant!

Glamour and Growing Babies

I text-ed myself the title of this blog last night in hopes of remembering what it was supposed to be about...and once again I have forgotten. I am sure it went something like this...

There is nothing glamorous about growing a child inside of you.

Don't get me wrong, it is amazing.

We as women are magnificent creatures. We are capable of so many tremendous things that men can't even begin to wrap their heads around, let alone their bodies. If men understood just how difficult making a baby was (more difficult than just their donation anyways) I think life as an expectant mother would be soooooo much easier!

I have created a list of the top 5 not so glamorous sides of having a baby...that all men should have to go through...

1) Super. Freaking. Sore. Nipples.!!!
For some reason the first few weeks of pregnancy are hectic on boobies, or more in particular...nipples. They hurt. They swell. They itch. They hurt. They swell. They itch. You get the point. But men do not. To them they are still "Fun Bags" to be pinched and tweaked at their delight.

2) Morning sickness and food aversion!
I hate morning sickness. I would rather have explosive diarrhea for a week than throw up once...call me crazy. And to wake up every morning sick and dizzy is like a living nightmare to me (thankfully now passed). But worse of all was thinking "Mmm I could go for some Mexican Chicken..." and cooking it, only to be repulsed by it once it was done. Then watching Dustin eat it all up.

3) The need to pee every 20 minutes!
Okay so maybe this is usual for me even when not pregnant, I drink a ton of water. But Dustin...I swear he goes all day and pees ONCE! And then picks on me for going all the time. I would love to see him making as many pit stops as I do because he has a little person using his bladder for a trampoline.

4) Trying to be discrete about your toxic fog farts!
I am not a gassy person, but when pregnant, all women can clear a room in 0.5 seconds with a fart. They are rancid and part of the norm unfortunately. I don't know what it is about babies that makes us so gassy...but it is horrid and embarrassing. While most men fart and don't care, even pregnant farts would make them think twice before letting one out in a crowded room.

5)And the one you've been waiting for...LABOR!
Every man should have to go through the painful, sticky, bloody part of pregnancy known as labor. They should have to endure hours of contractions, constant poking and prodding, and the lovely aftermath. The best part of labor is when it ends. Any woman that says it was easy breezy is lying. And we all know how nasty we feel for the few weeks after. That is a yuck you can't seem to wash away until it ends. And don't be ashamed to say so...we all feel that way. Men. Well, they don't. They will never know that pain or that unclean feeling. Side story:
             

       A few days after we brought our baby girl home in 2011 Dustin wanted to go see his family.          I did not feel like going any where. There is a underlying fear of leaving home, not only because of   baby, but because you are bleeding like someone ripped you open...oh wait...someone did. Anyways. I  said no. He kept pushing. Finally I very bluntly told him that I did not want to leave the comforts of my home when my va-jay-jay was sore, bleeding erratically, and more than comfy on my couch. He shut up and left well enough alone. (Sorry to blast ya babe!)

Men will NEVER...I repeat Never know what it takes to grow a baby. All they see is their beautiful wives or women at what is the most beautiful time in her life. They see a glow, blossoming breasts, a wider rear, and hopefully a vamped up sex drive. All we see is darkening spots, sore breasts, our clothes not fitting, and a bed with an open invitation all day.

All that said I love what my body is capable of. I love feeling my little man squirming off and on all day. I love knowing that I am bringing another beautiful person into this world. But most of all I love knowing that I can hold this over Dustin's head for the rest of our lives...because nothing he does will ever be so amazing!

Prenatal Visits: Fearing the Scale

WEIGHT GAIN...OMMGGGGG!!!

It is official...after 20 weeks the scale has finally moved up. And that scares to poo out of me even though I know it is a good sign. Weight gain during pregnancy signals a healthy and growing baby. But after a year of watching the scale go down...it is so hard to watch it move up.

Before we tried to conceive I decided I wanted to lose 50 pounds. I had already started my healthier lifestyle but losing 50 pounds put me under 180, which was a healthy weight for my height, and a healthy weight for pregnancy. We began to try in September and we were pregnant by February. I reached my weight loss goal of minus 50 in December!

As I have shared before my OB only wants me to gain 10-15 pounds so that I can resume losing weight after baby. I am 21 weeks and 3 days and I have gained my very first and official pound! I know that is not a lot and I should not worry about it...but the scale is going up...after a year of going down. DANGGIT!

At my prenatal visit yesterday my Blood Pressure was perfect, I had gained a pound, baby and I measure perfectly, and my OB says I am a star pupil when it comes to a healthy pregnancy. Now that doesn't mean I don't splurge every now and then. I enjoy my cravings when they come...especially pizza. Only thing is I know my limitations. I eat to be full...not satiated. Just because I am pregnant doesn't give me the GREEN LIGHT to eat for two. The only eating for two I am doing is eating healthy for two. I still count calories. I still measure portions. And I still exercise, however limited it has started to get.

Whole Wheat Brownie

This is the original recipe. Just a simple and sugary brownie recipe...but I took it and tweaked it to be healthier. I hope you all enjoy it as much as my family did. And it was totally TODDLER approved!

Easy Wheat Brownies: MommyWeighLess Style

Ingredients

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

1/2 cup wheat flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels(optional)

Directions

1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9x9 baking pan.

2) In a medium bowl mix together the oil, sugar, and vanilla. Beat in the eggs one at a time. In a separate bowl mix together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; gradually mix into the egg mixture until well mixed. Add in chocolate morsels. Spread batter evenly into pan.

3) Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. Brownies are done when the top is crispy and you can insert and remove a toothpick cleanly.

Nutrition Facts

141 Calories
6 Grams of Fat
15 Grams of Carbs

Fit Pregnancy vs. Unfit Pregnancy

This pregnancy has been so different from my first. Partly to do with the fact that I am carrying a boy compares to a girl. My symptoms have been so different its kind of odd. The biggest difference is with baby boy I want MEAT...RED MEAT. And with Scarlett I didn't want any meat at all. I couldn't even stomach chicken...let alone red meat.

Besides the vast difference in symptoms  that come with normal pregnancy the major difference between my pregnancies has been my over diet and fitness levels.

With Scarlett I ate whatever I wanted and however much I wanted. I only gained 17 pounds, but that was because I stayed so sick, not because I was being healthy. I stayed sick because I neglected my health and thankfully she did not pay for it. She was and is a perfectly healthy and active toddler...one that stays busy. But I credit that a lot to our new healthy lifestyle. She hasn't been allowed a lot of junk or processed foods and will pick an apple over candy any day.

With this pregnancy I have caught fatigue endlessly, partly because of chasing a toddler all day...and that's a major difference with boys and girls. My OB says it isn't uncommon to be more easily exhausted with boys because of the hormonal differences. But as tired as I have been I have not been sick (knock on wood) and when I have energy...I HAVE ENERGY! Having gone into this pregnancy counting calories has also helped me to control my weight gain so I can continue losing after he gets here as well as making for an easier delivery. I will 20 weeks on Friday and I have not gained a single pound! My doctor only wants me to gain 10 or so and I am right on track.

Knowing what a healthy diet consists of will also aid me in breastfeeding. Nutrition and water are so important for producing milk...which I failed to do adequately with Scarlett. I only managed to breastfeed her for 4 months because I was losing weight too rapidly and not eating enough or drinking enough water...so I quit producing. She had to go on formula. I did not want that but she was hungry and not gaining enough weight.

I can't say enough to reinforce how important it is for us mommy's and mommy's to be to take care of ourselves during and after pregnancy. Our bodies go through so much and need to be taken care of. Now go give yours something healthy or take a walk. 

Stupid Cheez-Its

I have a serious love/hate relationship with cheez-it crackers. I love to eat them...but hate that I can't stop with a single serving! I'm sorry but only 28 of those yellow/orange amazing heavenly crackers isn't enough...even though it should be.

And today my cheez-it demon won the battle. I must have eaten half a bag before I realized it. GRRRR!  Part of me forgives myself and the other half is feeling so darn guilty.

Tomorrow is a new day...even if I over did it today. So I shall put the box in the pantry and forget it until the demon raises again lol!