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So I recently had a baby girl. She is our fourth baby and she is wonderful!
Gaining weight during pregnancy is necessary, but not fun. With every pound that I would gain, I would know that I would have to get it off in the end. I always gained the recommended 25-35 pounds with each of our children.
I am ready to start feeding our baby girl more solid foods and this made me re-think how we have been eating lately. Due to breastfeeding, I have more of a sweet tooth and a bigger appetite. When I eat more and make poor choices, so does my family. I wanted to make a total family change! I have noticed more and more that with each cookie or candy that our kids have, their behavior takes a turn for the worse. Our two year old will literally cry as he looks longingly onto the pantry shelf that holds his precious lollipops! Our son’s neurologist had told me, months ago, about the dangers of processed foods and I am understanding where he is coming from. I am ready for a change to more ‘whole foods’ & a better fitness plan!
What do we do? I am putting my new resources (books) to good use! Here is how I am using them to help us be the healthiest that we can be!
First- for our baby girl. We want to make our own baby food (She is actually old enough for little bites- almost 9 months now!), so I bought this book. Well, it was included in the books when I purchased the Ultimate Homemaking eBook Bundle- 97 books for $29.97 until May 4th (see more info here): I started her on more solid food this week. She seems to really like it! I normally would have started her on rice cereal and moved onto bananas, but I like the approach in this book even more and so does our baby, it seems. In this book, it goes over
- How breastfeeding and formula feeding are so different;
- Why making your own baby food with an easy recipe is healthier than store-bought baby food;
- When certain solid baby foods can be introduced;
- What common – and preventable – food choices are harmful to children; and
- What the Bible has to say about feeding babies.
Moving onto the older kids and grown-ups:
Next, the boys and I took all of our candy and got rid of most of it. We kept the lollipops (because when we go to the Doctors, they are my ‘go-to-snack’ to keep the kids quiet and sitting nicely for my conversation with the Doctor. (Not healthy, but practical, for us.)
I then went to the grocery store and followed the tips in this book, Your Grocery Budget Toolbox. (I talked about this book in my post on saving money when grocery shopping and buying only REAL foods (not processed)- click the picture to see what the book is about, but remember to get it on sale, this week only, by clicking back on THIS LINK):
Now that I have a healthy kitchen, stocked full of healthy foods and snacks, I am ready to start!
I am going to be taking a ‘class’, sort of, with Betsy Moore, of BMoore Healthy, (she gives away a free weekly meal plan sample on her page) where she will give our meals a makeover. She teaches you what and how to cook healthy for one month. She is providing the grocery lists, so that is taken care of. All that I have to do is try to be a good student! I will keep you posted on how I am doing. I’m excited. It starts in less than a week. She has several of this courses a year, so I’m sure I’ll be jumping on board for another one down the road, too. (I think there are still spots in the one that I am doing in a few days)
Another resource that I have been turning to are these online eBook cookbooks. They are all tried & true from women with busy lives. They want to keep their families eating healthy, but don’t have time to prepare gourmet meals. I love the 20 minute meals and the Real Food… Real Easy. I am still getting to know the others, but I’m sure they will be great, as well. (Plus, they are easily stored on my Kindle, right now). I’m sure once my kids get a hold of the ‘Just Making Ice Cream”, that will be our new favorite ‘Go-To’ eBook! Plus, the recipes are HEALTHY!! 
Well, lets be honest, it will be a favorite of mine, too. I could easily eat only ice cream for the rest of my life and be completely satisfied (maybe not nutritionally, but my taste buds would be happy!)
Here is a peek at the other books that I have to help me in my quest to healthy/fast cooking. I haven’t read most of them, but I plan on it!
Lastly, getting fit!
Since our baby was born, I work out a little. My pregnancies are high-risk, so I have to take a 9-month-rest from working out. Getting back into it, I just spend ten minutes, a few nights a week, doing toning exercises, while we watch our shows on TV.
What do I do?
-about 30 crunches regular & 30 reverse crunches
-That terrible exercise where you lift your legs off of the floor, just 6 inches. I do that one for as long as I can stand it.
-25 leg lifts per leg
-3 sets of 10 push-ups
-3 sets of 5 push-ups (for triceps- where you make your hands make a diamond)
Did you know that after you have a baby you can have diastasis? This is where you abdomen muscles are separated. The two halves of the outermost abdominal layer, the rectus abdominis, can become separated, causing what we call a “muffin top”.
How can you tell if you have diastasis?
‘Parenting Starts Here’ tells us how to determine if we have it: To find out if you have diastasis, lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet on the floor. Place a hand over your belly button with your fingers pointing towards your toes. Relax your abdominal muscles and lift your head like you are doing a crunch, bringing your ribcage towards your pelvis. Press with gentle pressure and move your fingers from side to side to feel the right and left edges of the rectus abdominis. You have diastasis if the gap between the muscle is 2 fingers wide or more. You may even see a bulge or mound protruding. You can also move your fingers above and below the navel to see how long the separation is. If you have it, this causes that pooch that most of our pre-baby bodies have and we can get rid of it!
What can you do about it? Fit2b studio has some amazing workout programs that I am going to try! She lets you download them and do them anytime. They work on this specific problem, among other ones. (PS- You will get a two month free membership when you buy the ebooks that are included in the $29.97 ebook bundle that is for sale until May 4th.)
I also plan on reading these books to help me in my quick, but healthy cooking (all of these books also included in the bundle for $29.97). Click on the picture to find out more.
My downfall for fitting in fitness WAS:
Finding time to fit in cardio. I don’t work out too often, anymore. I used to work out constantly, so this is hard for me, but I am planning on getting back into it. I am hoping when it stays light longer, I will start walking or maybe even jogging, but for now, I don’t do anything like that. Does chasing four kids around the house and up & down stairs count?
I try to go the gym with my Mom on occasion, but even that has been falling short because it is hard for me to get out with four kids. (excuses, excuses…) I am excited about the Fit2b free membership because I can just do it at home once the kids are in bed or when they are playing.
See my post on Staying in shape while you are Staying Home for more ideas on things that you can do at home.
Lastly, stick with it! I love one of the ebooks in the Ultimate Homemaking ebook bundle. It is called Healthy Homemaking because it is small, simple, gradual steps to help them move in the direction of healthier living and homemaking. It is a 52 week program, so it will help me to stay with this. It is written this way so to keep it from being overwhelming. The intent is to focus instead on the little victories in each positive step we take forward.
Ok- are you ready to get Healthy with me? I plan on posting how we are doing during the next month (among other posts). My goal is to have less-picky, healthier children. Our kids were great at eating vegetables, but when they were given the option of something not-so-healthy, they started picking that instead (they never used to do that until I became pregnant with our fourth and I started to make poorer choices- eating out more often for the ease of not cooking, for example.) I am not willing to teach them how to live an unhealthy life, so I am going to really step it up and get our whole family BACK on the road to the best health! Don’t get me wrong, we eat a LOT of fruits and vegetables, but just a little more sugar than I would like and a little less exercise than I would like. I am ready to change that and have our kids being as active and healthy as we love to be! In this age, with technology at our fingertips (and pulling them in, begging them to be sedentary), we need to keep on our children about the importance of being healthy and fit!
What is your biggest obstacle with getting your family to be their healthiest?
Leave your comments below!
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