Exercising While Breastfeeding

With such a crazy exercise regimen, my body obviously needs food. Add on top of that the fact that I'm nursing a five month old baby . . . and I am HUNGRY. It's taken a lot more planning on my part to make sure that I'm eating enough, and that I'm eating the right food to fuel my body. I am very very pro-breastfeeding and will not sacrifice that. If there is ever a time when my milk supply threatens to dwindle, I would stop. However, there is no reason that should happen.

There used to be an idea that exercising made breast milk taste bad, or that the lactic acid built up after exercise wasn't good for the baby. All of those myths have been debunked, thankfully. Breastfeeding takes about 500 calories every day. If you are working out you just have to be more aware of how much you are eating so that you and your baby are getting enough. I have never been a "Calorie counter" so it's been tough for me to try and keep track of things like that. At first I was good about it, but now I just pay attention to my body. I eat 6 small meals/day and drink a lot of fluids (water, Calli, Crio Bru, Red Raspberry Tea, Fortune Delight, etc.). I think I'm keeping up to it pretty well. When my baby started her 4 month growth spurt, I started to feel a little weak and exhausted, so I stopped insanity for a few days to give my body a break. It was just what I needed and I was ready to go the next week. Listen to your body!

Some of my new favorite little meals/snacks are:

- hard boiled eggs with a little salt
- buckwheat chia pankcakes with peanut butter (I make a big batch then freeze them to have on hand)
- lara bars
- almonds and string cheese
- hummus and multigrain chips (from Costco)
- hummus and carrot sticks
- yogurt with berries and granola
- green juice (as always)
- popcorn in the evening for a treat

My list of other healthy snacks can be found, here.

For lunch I make our "big meal" (farm life), then I have something mid-afternoon and again at night. I've been needing a snack right before bed lately, otherwise I wake up feeling kind of sick. Before I work out in the mornings I make my tried and true smoothie (juice, kefir, chia, spinach, banana, frozen berries). Immediately after my workout I drink Fortune Delight to replace electrolytes and either make a shake or have a banana with peanut butter or a couple of eggs.

I have now been doing Insanity workouts for almost two months (consistently) and have noticed a big difference in not only the amount I'm eating, but in what I WANT to eat. My cravings now are a lot different than they were a few months ago, that's for sure. Now I think something sounds good because it's good for my body and will help me get the nutrition I need. So if you are breastfeeding, you CAN exercise too, you just have to be more mindful of what you are eating to ensure you and baby are getting enough! It's an added benefit for me to realize that when I exercise I eat a lot better, and that means my tiny girl is also getting better nutrition. Win-win!

I have lost a total of 13 lbs and 9.75 inches since I first took measurements on March 3. I did have that two week setback with my dental surgery, but I still feel awesome about those results in such a short time. I feel excited and can't wait to see what is ahead for me.

Recipe: Juicer Pulp Mini Muffins

Since I've been juicing almost every day for over a year now, I have always felt slightly guilty throwing out all of that good fiber left in the juice pulp! I started saving it and freezing it when we were doing our juice fast, but that quickly added up and I wasn't using it as fast as I accumulated it. I have been on the search for a good way to use some of my pulp, and I'm ecstatic to say that I've FOUND one. I was hesitant about this recipe but figured it was worth a try. I was beyond impressed by the results and will be making a batch of these every time I have some good pulp lying around!

Juicer Pulp Mini Muffins (original recipe: Pickles n' Honey - I just found her blog and have already marked several of her recipes to try, check it out)

1/2 c juicer pulp
1/4 c coconut oil, melted
1/4 c honey
1/4 c unsweetened applesauce
1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp real salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
*coconut sugar, optional

 

My pulp was a mixture of spinach, oranges, celery, apple, and lemon. It was really fibrous so I broke it up a bit with my fingers before adding any other ingredients.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Mix pulp, coconut oil, honey, and applesauce together. Add in flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Mix well. The batter will be VERY thick. 

 

Grease a mini muffin tin. I dip my fingers into my coconut oil jar and quickly swipe the inside of each muffin cup to grease.

Using a spoon or cookie dough scoop, fill muffin tin. *Optional, sprinkle a little bit of coconut sugar on top of each one.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. I baked mine exactly 10 minutes and they were perfect. Makes 24 mini muffins.

Thoughts:

I really did love these when I first tried them. The pulp I used the first time (I have made them twice in the last week) I had juiced twice, so it was a little dry. Also, I used pulp with celery, oranges, and lemons, which made for some pretty stringy muffins! I didn't mind, but did realize they could be more moist. When I made them again last night I used pulp that contained spinach, apple, pear, celery, and cucumber. I didn't juice it twice this time, and they were PERFECT. I sprinkled the coconut sugar on top just for fun, and they were delicious. These little muffins are so easy to throw together after juicing and make for a quick, easy, and super filling/healthy snack for a few days (if they last that long). My two year old is loving them just as much as I am. My husband tried the first batch and thought they were okay . . . but then last night he grabbed one and immediately asked for another! I also did "scant" measurements with my flour this time, and that probably helped keep them more moist as well. If you juice and are looking for another way to use some of that pulp, I highly recommend this recipe. It's a keeper for sure (obviously, since I have already made them twice and only found the recipe last week)!

My INSANE Work Out

As mentioned here, I started a pretty vigorous exercise routine the first of March. Several days after posting about it, I had dental surgery. I didn't think it would matter and I'd be back at it the next morning . . . funny. The surgery put me out for a good two weeks. It was horrible. For the first few days after I couldn't do anything; I was drugged up and completely out of it. The pain was pretty bad. I tried to start up again with my workouts about 10 days later, and it still hurt. I was finally able to begin again and decided to start over. I'm doing INSANITY. Let me tell you, it's INSANE. Literally. But I love love love it. More than I thought I would.

I am now in week 5 of the program (it's two months long) and it's fabulous. If you haven't heard of it or seen the constant infomercials on tv, take a look at it, here. I knew I wanted to try it right after I had my baby. I was anxious to get started and when my midwife said, "Go" at my six-week check-up, I was excited. The first day is a fit test that records how many of certain exercises you can do. When I finished it, I fell on the floor and could have easily fallen asleep. It was exhausting! I just laughed at how out of shape I was. The program itself, though, is great. Once I started doing the workouts each day, I loved it. Yes, it was excruciatingly hard at first, but I expected that. I wasn't in shape - I had just gone through pregnancy and childbirth! BUT, I could tell that some of my hard work before and during pregnancy paid off. This helped me the most when it came to having the proper form so that I didn't injure myself. I had been working on that for months before getting pregnant, and it helped a lot.

I feel stronger every day. I am HAPPY.  It's hard to explain other than the typical "Runner's high" that people talk about. After I work out in the morning, I am honestly beaming because I'm just so darn happy! I look at my kids and they make me smile. I have energy to do whatever I want to do all day long. I can see my body changing and that's obviously the most exciting part. The thing that I love is being able to see the strength I'm building and the endurance I have now compared to just a month ago. I'll say it until I'm blue in the face, if you STICK with it and get up and make yourself keep going on day 2, 3, and 4, you WILL see that change start to happen, and it is awesome. No, I still can't do some of the crazy moves like the people on the video, but I'm getting there. I can keep up most of the time and I really do enjoy it. I have sweat dripping off of me by the end of the WARM UP every day. That tells you how intense it is! I have never sweat so much in my life, and it's awesome.

This program isn't for everyone, but I've found that I love stuff like this. I thrive while doing it. It's easy to do at home, and I see results. I loved doing Jillian's workouts from home too, but this is a whole new ball game. It's definitely the most intense form of exercise that I've ever done. If you love at-home work-outs like I do, I would recommend it. I know a lot of people who tried it and after the first day or two thought it was too much for them. If it isn't your thing, that's fine. It's something that you really have to pace yourself with, or you will get injured. You have to ignore the crazy awesome people with their rock-hard abs on the video; just go at your own pace, and you'll get there. My biggest piece of advice besides getting up and making yourself go on days 2, 3, and 4 is to really concentrate on doing things the right way. Proper form is so important to prevent injury and help you get stronger. I love INSANITY because Shaun T (the trainer) makes you stretch for about 5 minutes after the warm up, and again at the end of the work out. I LOVE a good stretch, but don't love taking the time to do it right, so I appreciate that it's included already, and I don't have to think up my own stretches after. I haven't hurt myself, but I've been really careful about keeping the proper form and not trying to keep up when I wasn't ready. I am already fitting back into my pre-baby jeans that were my goal jeans (even if they don't fit exactly the same as they did before, I can still wear them without being mortified). It feels really good to work really hard at something, and then see the results start to happen.

I'm a little terrified to start month two and have decided that I want to do the first month again. I think it will really help me build up more strength to tackle the more intense work outs during the second month. I have really listened to my body while doing this, and I think that's important for any type of exercise. The week before I drove to Canada my baby had yet another growth spurt and was nursing constantly. That week I felt so drained; I was exhausted. I decided on Tuesday evening that I would take a little break from my work outs to take care of myself and my baby and get through that little spurt. I took four days off (during which I drove to Canada with my girls) and it was just what my body needed. I was ready to go again after and felt much better than if I had just made myself do it and exhausted my body.

I love INSANITY. Try it, I dare you. But make sure you have a good sports bra if you happen to be breastfeeding . . . there is A LOT of jumping involved!

Recipe: Homemade Granola Bars

I was in Canada visiting my family for the last ten days and it was heavenly. Before I made the twelve hour drive, I made a batch of my favorite granola bars. I found this recipe several years ago on a website that no longer exists. I am really glad I copied it down! As always, I made a few adjustments to suit my tastes and have settled on this version, which I love.

Kelsey's Homemade Granola Bars

2 c old fashioned oats
1/2 c raw sunflower seeds (unsalted)
1 c chopped or sliced almonds
2 T wheat germ
2 T chia seeds (you can replace this with ground flax meal too)
1 T unsweetened coconut flakes

1/2 c honey
1/4 c coconut sugar
2 T butter (or coconut oil)
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp real salt

3/4 c dried fruit - cranberries, blueberries, raisins, apples, etc.

Grease a 9x13 pan well and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine oats, sunflower seeds, wheat germ, nuts, and chia and lay evenly on a half-sheet pan. Place in oven and toast for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Combine honey, coconut sugar, butter, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the sugar is mostly dissolved (coconut sugar takes a long time to dissolve completely, and you don't want the syrup to cook for too long, unless you want crunchy bars . . . I prefer mine chewy).

When the oat mixture is done, remove it from the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 300 degrees.

Add oat mixture to syrup in saucepan and add in the dried fruit. Stir to combine well. Pour into 9x13 pan and press down (add a little coconut oil to your fingertips to prevent it from sticking everywhere). If you wish, you can sprinkle some mini chips on top - white chocolate, cinnamon, semi-sweet, etc. I added some to half of this batch for my girls for a treat.

Bake in oven for 18-20 minutes. Remove and place on a wire rack to cool. When bars are warm, but not completely cool, cut into squares with a butter knife and leave in pan to cool the rest of the way. When cooled, wrap individually with saran wrap and store in an airtight container on your counter top.

Thoughts:

I have made several varieties of these bars. I love this recipe because it is so versatile. You pick your favorite nut, seed, dried fruit, and chips and make them your own. I love having these on hand to throw in my bag so I always know I have a healthy, filling snack when I get the munchies!

Some flavor combinations I have tried and loved:

- apple/almond/cinnamon chip
- raisin/almond/cinnamon chip
- craisin/almond/white chip (my favorite)
- blueberry/walnut
- apple/macadamia nut/white chip

The combinations are endless!

Recipe: Pancake Chia Mini Muffins

 

Aren't mini muffins so cute? I love them. While my kids are little I think I'll take full advantage of making tiny versions of things, just because I can. My friend Amber sent me a mini muffin recipe a couple of weeks ago and I was really excited to make them, until I realized that I had just juiced ALL of my carrots that afternoon! So look for a carrot mini muffin recipe coming your way. Until then, I had the mini muffins on my mind and went in search for a recipe. This pancake mini muffin recipe caught my eye (I'm borderline obsessed with pancakes and could eat them for every meal). I tweaked it a bit and my girls had a blast helping me make them. 

Pancake Chia Mini Muffins 

1 1/2 c whole wheat pastry flour

1 c buttermilk

2 eggs

2 T coconut sugar

2 T apple sauce

2 T chia seeds

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp pure vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all dry ingredients in mixing bowl. Whisk eggs, buttermilk, applesauce, and vanilla together then add to dry ingredients. Blend well. Scoop into greased mini muffin tin. I used a cookie scoop for this and it worked great.

Bake 13-15 minutes or until slightly golden around edges. Cool in the pan for a few minutes and serve warm. Makes 30 mini muffins.

Thoughts:

I will be honest, these were a little bland. My husband ate one, maybe two? He wasn't a huge fan. I think when things look like cupcakes you expect them to be really sweet. HOWEVER, the girls DEVOURED them. All of them. In less than 24 hours. I put raspberry jam on them and they gobbled them up. They do taste just like pancakes and I think some warm maple syrup would be a good dipping option. We tried dipping them in red raspberry syrup too and they were delicious. Overall, I will definitely make these again. The girls loved them and it's another fun, healthy option for breakfast or any time!