Healthy: pregnant or not

I've had an interest in health for a long time. As a child (older child that is...as a young child I was going to be a singer or dance when I grew up;) I wanted to be a nurse. My grandma, who I've always looked up to, is a retired RN and amazing person and I wanted to be as much like her as I could. Well, a little over a year into the nursing program I realized that WAS NOT the place for me. I had a wonderful advisor who suggested a Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion. I dove in and really did love it. I'm not currently using my degree at work, but once you know this stuff, it's hard to forget it. So, I live a fairly healthy life and have had compliments on my lifestyle and that makes me proud. Now don't get me wrong, I am farrrr from perfect, but do little things every day.

The biggest culprits for weight gain for me were pop (soda, coke, whatev.) and alcohol. I learned this in college when I went 1 month without any and lost several lbs and my pants fit again. Do I still drink pop and beer? Yes. Do I have only 1 or 2 per week? Yes. This way, nothing is OFF LIMITS and I don't "need" or crave them.

Another move I had to make (literally) was to exercise. I think some people think I exercise everyday or do something crazy hard. I don't. I work out 2-3 times per week (usually 2) for 30-40 minutes and include both cardio and weights. My go-to videos are these: Cathe Basic Step and Prevention and you'll see they aren't advanced at all. I know that they work because other than walking, these are the only exercises I've done since having James and I currently weigh less than I did before I got pregnant. See! You don't have to do Insanity, or  P90X to lose weight. Now, if you're looking for washboard abs then you may need to.

Eat fruits, vegetables and chocolate everyday! Yes, I said chocolate. To be healthy (and sane) nothing needs to be off limits. I eat some sweets everyday. The key is small portions. Do not go to Dairy Queen everyday. Eat food from all food groups to get all the nutrients that your body was built to run on. Carbs are good for energy, protein is good for muscles and filling up your belly, dairy is good for your bones and fruits and veggies have SOOOO many benefits. Speaking of muscles, we need to build muscles because even at rest (while eating popcorn, watching a lifetime movie) muscles burn way more calories than fat. Life some weights (even if it's your own body weight-push ups, lunges, squats, crunches, planks, etc).

I still have (and have always had) a squishy belly. If I were better at eating, I'm sure this would go away, but knowing that I eat what I enjoy and still manage to stay in a healthy state, I'm ok with the squish.

Pregnancy does NOT mean "eating for 2" or "eat whatever you want". It also doesn't mean that you can stop exercising. I did step aerobics up until 3 weeks before I had James and was back doing them 2 weeks afterwards. I took it really easy, but I felt great and bounced back in no time.

Hopefully this helps someone realize that being "healthy" doesn't have to be hard or perfect.

Live well!
Kristy

Fevers. Boo!

Our little guy has had a fever for almost 2 days and just can't seem to beat it. We've kept it down with tylenol, but he just isn't himself. If it hangs on tomorrow, we'll take a visit to the pediatrician. Our pediatrician has a walk-in clinic on Sundays, which is soooo nice. I've taken advantage of it twice and haven't had to wait long either time.

One thing I didn't mention in my "what I've learned" post was how awesome a Fisher Price Rock and Play Sleeper is for newborns, especially those with reflux. Last night, it showed off it's awesomeness once again. James was not sleeping well yesterday with his fever and runny nose. We put him in it to help with the drainage and actually got some sleep last night. Poor little dude :( Another great invention is the nosefrida snot sucker. Find it here Nosefrida This thing seems super gross (it's really not), but shoving that bulb syringe in his tender little nose all the time was really making it sore. We also shoot saline up there and that's been really helpful.

He still thinks it's funny when we scare him and has played a few rounds of peek-a-boo with his burp rag, but other than that, he just wants to snuggle.  I'm ready for our happy guy to be back to normal. He's just so pitiful.

Get well, wild man!