Category: post partum

breastfeeding, Family, post partum, Stay at Home Mom, Uncategorized, Women, workout

Clothes shopping excitement 

Hannah Lucio

I wanted to do a happy dance at Target yesterday, but I don’t like walking on store floors without shoes on LOL I have literally achieved a lifelong goal of losing weight and being in a size I’m comfortable at.  I am officially in a size 4 in jeans and a s-xs size shirt. Blows my mind!


 Even though I think some brands run bigger, I have never been this size before. When I got pregnant I was told by many women that I’d never lose weight again. I felt defeated. So I made it my ultimate goal to show everyone I could. Two kids and almost 5 years of marriage….goals met! Cheers to hard work and being a fitmom.

If you are pregnant and have been told this, don’t listen to those women. Maybe they are a bit bitter that they never lost the weight. I’m not entirely sure but don’t listen to them. When I got married I was a size 10 in jeans and a med-large shirt size. And I am now a size 4 and sm-xs. It can be done. In my lifetime, when I was single I even went up to a size 16. Yuck! I was incredibly unhealthy and I will never be that size again. I know people say it’s not the number that matters, but I know what I felt like to be that heavy and it was not fun. It uncomfortable. 

I literally am not on any special weight loss program, don’t belong to a gym, just doing what I can and working out at their nap time. I fit in workouts when I can and snack all day. If you stick your mind to it you can achieve your goals. Even if you “don’t have time” there is literally time in everyone day to do something. Just think about everything you do in a day, I bet there time. Just make time 😉 At first it seems “hard” but it gets easier, I promise. Wake up 1 hour earlier…..everything is achievable when you stick your mind to it. 

Time to go fit in my workout for the day 🤸🏼‍♀️

Live healthy

Live fit

Live Simple 

debt, Family, money, post partum, Stay at Home Mom, Uncategorized, Women, workout

One foot in front of the other

Hannah Lucio

Yesterday I opened up Facebook and saw a post about an Estate sale. On that post it had a Proform treadmill for $60. I have been dreaming of getting a treadmill again. I know….weird. Treadmills are my thing! I love cardio, I know….weird! I really do though. It helps me lose weight and it honestly makes me happy. On my way home from riding my bike for cardio fun, I stopped by this estate sale. It had just opened and I asked the lady if it really was $60. Long story short, they wanted $65. I checked it out and it looked, sounded and an great! I put a hold on it and came back with my hubby and a vehicle to take it home. I cleaned it super good and just had a chance today to run on it. 


Wow wow wee! I love it. This treadmill first cost $800 brand new and I get it for $60. It only had 443 miles on it and that’s nothing for a treadmill. In my opinion. Like I said in my last blog post, do what you love when it comes to exercise. Some people hate cardio, some people hate weights, some people just hate working out LOL Do something you love! I love cardio and taebo. Absolutely love. When I do those two workouts I feel my best! 

Get up and go! Start somewhere! And find something you will love to do. One foot in front of the other my friend! 

Happy Sunday everyone! 
Live positive

Live healthy

Live simple! 

Family, Food, post partum, Stay at Home Mom, Uncategorized, Women, workout

If I can do it, anyone can do it. Need to lose weight? Need motivation? 

Hannah Lucio

I hear this a lot but it’s SO true! 

Most people I follow on social media do their shopping over the weekend and food prep on Sunday. I absolutely love food prepping! But, it doesn’t always have to be on Sunday’s. I think having an expectation that cant be met throws people off a bit. That is when people say “Ill start next week” “Ill start on Monday” How bout you just start today! Sometime’s it is a mental thought process you just need to get through. Throughout the years I have had to re-wire my brain to have better habits. To not just give up, not throw in the towel and to not beat myself up as much. I still give myself a hard time now and then but I try to let that be less often. Instead of blaming my gene’s, blaming the “situation” I am in, blaming it on my marriage or blaming it on having children I just Get up and go! Our children and husband need us mentally and physically healthy. I know that some people have mental and physical boundaries and I completely understand. If you put your mind to it, you can succeed! I know people are saying that it’s easier said than done. False. It’s baby steps, start somewhere.

The reason I love to food prep and workout is pretty simple. I want my husband to see the best in me. I want my kids to have a healthy role model. And shoot, I love to be active and fit.

Yes, I do not have a 9-5 job but being a stay at home mom and wife does not allow me to do “whatever I want, when I want”. Seriously! People imagine that we have SO much time to waste, you can workout whenever you want, you have the time because you don’t…..work. It’s such a frustrating and silly thing for people to say. Because, my boys are tough cookies. They are not easy and I am typically exhausted at the end of the day, sometimes when I wake up too. LOL My husband helps me SO incredibly much that it makes me tear up when I think about it sometimes. I am truly blessed and so darn thankful. My husband is truly a family man and I love it!

I want to encourage women out there. You can do it, you can overcome the battle. You can lose the weight. You can get up and exercise. You just need to start somewhere. I currently do not count my calories, I do not eat clean all the time, I love sweets, I love beer. You don’t have to give up everything.I firmly believe that.

A Little About My weight throughout the years:

When I was single and “happy” in my 20’s I really went through a lot. I started out in my 20’s weighing 118. Well, I went through a breakup and my weight escalated to 170. Seriously. It was probably the worst feeling I’ve ever had in life. I just partied and ate. Yuck! I finally snapped out of it and started to take care of myself. I was able to lose enough weight to feel happier again.

When I first met my husband I was still overweight. I was balancing between 140-145 lbs. I thought my weight would be a deterrent to him but apparently it wasn’t. And, instead of gaining weight while we dated and got married I lost weight. I told him I was his shrinking bride. Haha We met in January and married in November. I was about 130-135 lbs when we got married. And when I got pregnant in January (yes, two months later) I was 133 lbs. I got pregnant, gained about 40 lbs, lost the weight and stayed around 130 lbs. I got pregnant almost two years later, gained 40 lbs and lost that weight in less time. My youngest (and last) boy is 13 months now and I am currently at 123 lbs. That is 20 lbs less that when my husband and I met! Wahoo! Now that’s something to celebrate. My current goal is to be 110-115. And, I am happily on my way to getting to my goal!

I want to encourage you to not let marriage and babies be the excuse you have to not lose weight. You can do it. Eat in moderation, stop getting sugary Starbucks drinks, and eat! Starving yourself only makes you gain weight and it is not healthy. Find a workout you love also. Jog, run, walk, tae-bo, kickboxing, yoga, cross fit, weight lifting…..something you love and don’t put so much pressure on yourself. Don’t let the world around you control your destiny. Your weight loss, your mood, your mental state or your marriage. Being healthy and choosing love in our marriage will make you a much happier person. Believe me, it has worked for us and we are not the only ones. So get up and go. Prep your meals on whatever day works for you. Workout when you can, morning, lunch time at work, after work, when the kids go to sleep. Or heck! Do what we love to do, exercise with the kids. Teach them good habits.

The time is now.

Have an amazing rest of the week! Cheers!

 

Live Healthy

Live Happy

Choose Love

Live Simple

debt, Family, Food, money, post partum, pregnancy, prenatal, Stay at Home Mom, Uncategorized, Women, workout

Healthy No-bake Energy Bites and Simple To Make

Hannah Lucio

These are a favorite go-to snack for me and my kids. My 3 year old and 1 year old loves them. They do have ingredients in them that you should not give to your child until they are over 1 year old. Just throwing that out there. I have been making a similar recipe for many years now but this one I made a bit healthier so I can kick start my healthy eating. I eat an 80/20 “diet” but I I’m trying to kick it up a notch. I also make these for the women’s event at church and they absolutely LOVE them! I didn’t tell anyone I made them just to see if they liked them, people kept going back to get more. They are also such an easy grab and go snack. I put three into a snack size Ziploc and take it to go. Super easy and healthy.

I hope you make these and enjoy them as much as we do!

 

Ingredients (picture below):

1 Cup Oatmeal

1/2 Cup Peanut Butter (I use natural, super chunky peanut butter to add more crunch to it, YUM!)

1/2 Cup Flaxseed

1/2 Cup Walnuts (I chop them up in the food processor)

1/3 Cup Honey

1 tsp Vanilla

 

Directions:

Put all the ingredients into a food processor and mix. I typically have to scrape the sides 1-2 times in the mixing process. You could just put everything in a mixing bowl and mix until all together if you do not have a food processor.

Put them into the fridge (I just leave them in the food processor) for 30-60 minutes.

Take them out and roll them into small bite size balls.

Put them into a container and put them back into the fridge.

Take out what you need and keep them rest refrigerated.

They are super simple and easy to make.


Enjoy!!
 

 

 

Live Healthy

Live Simple

 

 

Family, Food, post partum, Stay at Home Mom, Uncategorized

Simple and Delicious Inside out Chicken Enchilada

Hannah Lucio

I absolutely love chicken enchiladas. I have been making them for at least half of my life and was probably one of the first things I started cooking. Since I love enchiladas I wanted to make it a bit different. This is a great twist to the usual rolled up chicken enchiladas. And its super simple. You can either use a slower cooker, which I do not have, or you can put it in the oven like I did. I have to say, I am afraid of raw and/or under-cooked chicken so that is why i cooked it longer. I added pictures below of everything.  I hope you get to make this recipe, its truly delicious.

 

Ingredients:

3 lbs (4 chicken fresh chicken breasts)

2 19oz cans of green Chile enchilada sauce

12 Corn tortillas

2 cups Shredded cheese ( I used Sharp cheddar cheese)

More shredded cheese to add after cooking, if you like

Corn ( I cut the corn off of 4 of our left over corn on the cob)

1 can Black Beans

1 can olives

Sour Cream

 

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

I used a dutch oven (Pioneer Woman Brand) and put 2 cans of green Chile sauce in with the chicken breasts. Pop it in the preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours. You can always check after the hour to see if the chicken is done. I cooked it longer to make sure it was not under cooked.

While the chicken is in the oven I prepped the food. Cut the corn off the cob or drain the corn in the can, drain the black beans, cut up olives and cut corn tortillas into whatever shape you like. I stacked them on top of each other and cut them. That’ll save you a bit of time.

Take the cooked chicken out of the oven. Take one chicken breast out at a time and shred the chicken with two forks. Put the shredded chicken back into the green Chile sauce and add all of the other ingredients. Stir ingredients until just mixed. Put it back into the oven and cook for 30 more minutes.

Take out and put in a bowl. Add more cheese if you like and top with sour cream.


 

Live Simple

 

Family, Food, post partum, Stay at Home Mom, Uncategorized, Women, workout

I was actually doing my dream job all along

Hannah Lucio

Since the age of around 16 I had thought about what I really want to do in life. Nothing to serious came to mind. I didn’t like school at all. So I knew going to school was not going to be an option. My favorite period was P.E.. Literally. Almost every single person in my class complained the entire time while we were working out. They also readed the day when we had a sub that worked us out hard. I just loved everything about P.E., they thought I was weird and I thought they were weird. There was one thing that just stuck out in my mind while I was thinking about what I wanted to do. Workout for a living. Might sound weird to the average person, but that is my thing. I never wanted to be a body builder, never wanted a 6 pack, never wanted big muscular legs, just wanted to be slim fit. Not lazy basically.

I am a stay at home mom, as you might know by now. And, I keep thinking about what I want to do outside the house after the kids go to school. I have gone through many options and I definitely will not willingly work in customer service. HA! I also have been thinking about the whole stay at home thing. I wasn’t to sure if I am really doing what I am meant to do in life. Since summer is here and I am not going to the gym anymore I have been making more of an effort to be outside with the kids. Everyday we go for a run/jog/walk in the morning, play out side when we get home, Then go to the pool, ride bikes, play with the kids more, run up and down the stairs in the house, clean and then walk the dogs in the evening. Basically….I am working out all day. But it didn’t dawn on me until my husband said something to me the other day. He said “must be nice to workout all day”….epiphany. I am actually doing what I wanted to do in life and never realized it.

I am a nutritionist and a personal trainer who gets to workout for a living.

It is a very tough job to be a stay at home mom/wife. It seriously is. Yes, we do have fun. But on the other hand I am a referee with the boys and someday’s I don’t get down time at home. I get frustrated, I am worn out a lot of the times at night. Its a thankless job and there are a lot of things to be done. But, since I realized what the heck I really was doing. And I am basically doing my dream job, I just step back a bit and just smile. I am also a fit mom and that is really what I have always wanted to do. So I will just sit back, smile and enjoy the time I have with my boys and teach them to be active in life. I workout for a living and I love it!

debt, Family, Food, money, post partum, Stay at Home Mom, Uncategorized, Women, workout

New adventures…..we are SO ready! 

Hannah Lucio

I have been away from blogging because we have been preparing to move. We have been looking forward to moving for at least a year. We finally found a place that was best for us. So today is moving day! 

When we first moved to Virginia we had never been here so we just picked a place we thought was good temporarily. And it was. But, living in an apartment gets old quick! We saved a bunch of money so that was probably the best part. The other great part is that if something breaks you just call the complex and they fix it. Honestly, that the best part about renting, period. We bought a house in California and it was ok. But, we started Dave Ramsey’s Financial peace after buying and quickly figured out we shouldn’t have. It wasn’t expensive for us. But we would have rather followed his plan beforehand. So anyway, fast forward to today. We are starting back on his plan after taking a break to move. It will be a challenge at first but after a month…probably two we will be set again. I am excited for our new adventure with moving and getting back on track. 

The only kinda bummer thing is my last day at the gym was yesterday. I’ve come so far after this pregnancy but I know I can keep it up outside the gym. After our first kid was born I lost weight and toned up great without the gym. So, I know how to do it which is great. Starting Monday I am going to be on my new “get fit” workouts. It’s exciting! New start, new location and super positive outlook on life. 

Hers my last day at the gym pic. I am under pre pregnancy weight and want to slim down and tone up in the next few months. My goal is not to be skinny. My goal is not to be hugely muscular. My goal is to be toned and slimmer.  

The absolute best part is that we are living in our “dream” neighborhood now. Across from a golf course, kid friendly area, people always outside enjoying the weather and a very clean area. When we got to Virginia we drove through this area and said “one day we would love to live here”. We are so stoked! We are currently in the middle of our move but it’s nap time for the boys so I took a much needed blogging break 😉 Oh! And I almost forgot to mention, we are now going back to our original church we started at when we got here. AMEN to that! I’ve been praying we go back because I absolutely love the worship music. It reminds me of North Coast Church in Southern California. It’s my way of worshiping God. Everyone has a way to worship and that my way of connecting more with God. 

So cheers to amazing time, exciting new adventures and living out one dream at a time. I will be able to blog more also 🙂 So cheers to that! 
Live happy

Live your dream

But always

Live simple

breastfeeding, Family, Food, post partum, Stay at Home Mom, Uncategorized, Women, workout

Yummy and Healthier Pancakes

Hannah Lucio

Our family absolutely loved this recipe. It’s easy, fast and we had all the ingredients already. Nothing out of the ordinary is needed for these pancakes. I even was able to try out the new avocado oil from Costco. I love the healthier oil options we have these days. (Picture below) I hope you get to make these and enjoy them as much as we all did. And not to mention….toddler approved 🙂


Ingredients: 

1 cup Unbleached all-purpose flour or whole wheat  flour (I used 1/2 cup unbleached flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and only King Arthur brand flour)

1 Tbsp Raw sugar

2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

1 cup Silk Almond Milk

2 Tbsp Avocado oil or Melted butter (I used butter the first time around)

1 Egg

1/4 tsp All Spice

Splash of Real Vanilla
Directions:

1. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, all spice and salt in a small bowl.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together Silk, oil/butter, vanilla and egg.

3. Add flour mixture to egg mixture and stir with a wooden spoon just to moisten—a few lumps are fine.

4. Cook pancakes on a cast iron pan with avocado oil over medium heat. I put just enough oil to cook the pancake, maybe 1/4 tsp.

5. Cook until you see little bubbles and flip, continue cooking until done. Maybe 1 minute longer once flipped.
I served these delicious pancakes with uncured turkey bacon from Costco (I highly recommend this turkey bacon brand-picture below) and scrambled eggs with almond milk whisked into the eggs.


Have a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend!!

Live healthy

Live simple

Family, Food, post partum, Stay at Home Mom, Uncategorized, Women, workout

Coffee Creamer and Awesome Fat Burning Workout

Hannah Lucio

I am a firm believer that black coffee is best. I typically (like 99% of the time) do not add anything to my coffee. But, the other day I was at the store and saw Almond Milk creamer. I love almond milk and very rarely get cow milk. So I decided to give it a try. Holy cow y’all! It taste so darn good. It is non-gmo, non-dairy, lower calorie deliciousness. I bought the Carmel flavor. If you need to add stuff to your coffee this would be a very good choice. This is the bottle and back of the bottle information. 

As for my amazing workout this morning…..I need to get my body firmer, if you know what I mean. So I decided to try pushing myself a bit. I try to run on the treadmill at the gym for 20 minutes and the least. With my body type I have found that cardio is what “slims” me down. I’ve tried doing a lot of weight lifting and my goodness. I do not like it. Lower the weight and up the reps is best for me. If I mix the two together my body starts to shape out nicely.  That is why I do a lot more cardio. On to what I did. I started out with 1 minute of walking at a 1 incline, then I ran 1 minute. After the run I slow it down to a walk, increase my incline by 1 and walk for a minute. After that minute of walking, I run 1 minute. And I repeat these steps (literally, ha!) until I get to a 10 incline. Once I complete my 10 incline I lower it back down to 1 incline and run for a minute. Then cool down for a few minute. I felt like I was going to throw up. It was that amazing! Ha! It is truly an amazing “fat burning” workout. 
Have a wonderful Tuesday!!! 
Live healthy

Live fit

Live simple

Family, Food, post partum, pregnancy, Stay at Home Mom, Uncategorized, Women, workout

Pizza recipe revised and absolutely perfect! 

Hannah Lucio

When I first set out to make pizza at home from scratch I found one recipe and kept tweaking it. I now have the best and most delicious recipe that I want to share. I love simple, I love easy and I love good food! I also found a pizza sauce without sugar added and without other junk added. It was maybe a dollar more but gosh, for $2.50 and using only half the bottle is darn cheap. Picture is down below.  Also, I cut out the oil out in the recipe and the crust is spot on amazing! I hope you get to try this recipe out, we absolutely loved it. 

Ingredients:

1 cup warm water

2 1/2 tsp yeast (I only use Fleischmann’s brand)

1/2 tsp raw sugar or regular sugar if that’s all you have 

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 Cups White whole wheat flour (I only use King Arthur brand)or just regular white flour if that’s all you have

Shredded cheese

Pepperoni or whatever topping you like

Pizza pan
Directions:

Warm you mixing bowl by adding hot water and let it sit for 1 minute. Pour out the water and then start your first ingredient.

Add 1 cup of warm water to mixing bowl, yeast and sugar. Mix the yeast mixture enough to make sure all the ingredients are wet. Let it sit for about 5 minutes until yeast rises. 

Add flour, salt and garlic powder and mix the ingredients with a dough hook until all are mixed together. 

Lightly flour a counter and put dough on it. Let it sit for about 10 minutes. Sometimes I let it sit more if I get sidetracked, which is very easy with kids. Ha! 

Now is the time to preheat your oven to 425 degrees. 

Once the dough is done sitting, roll the dough out into a circle or whatever shape you need for your pan. I make sure the dough is about an inch over on the sides so I can roll it up to make crust. 

Lightly spay your pan with cooking spray.

Put the pizza dough on pan and roll the sides up two times. Make a small crust border. Not sure how else to explain it, ha! 

Set aside and let it sit for about 10 minutes. I know, sounds like a lot of waiting…..but you want a really good tasting homemade pizza right? It also gives me time to clean up the kitchen and tend to my boys. That way I don’t have a mess to clean up after dinner is done. 

After the 10 minutes, add the pizza sauce.

Add the desired amount of cheese

Add your toppings. Our favorite is pepperoni. I use the Applegate pepperoni brand. It’s way healthier than other brand. And they do not have nitrates in it. Thank goodness for that. 

Put in your preheated oven for 20 minutes. Check the pizza to see if it is brown on the edges. If not keep in the oven for 5 more minutes. Our pizza came out perfect in 25 minutes. 

Cut and enjoy! Try not to eat the whole pizza at once. Hehe! 
If you have any questions just ask me! 

Live healthy

Live simple