Perfection is not our goal, living the way God intended us to live is.
Welcome to my rebranding and republishing of my blog. It has been a long time coming and I am excited to get back into what I loved to do. Write and share. Coming soon will be recipes, home topics, health topics including my own struggles, budgeting and getting back on track. We have been through so much in the past 5 years and I am now ready to talk about it. Stay tuned, sign up to get notifications and thank you for stopping by.
Live Healthy.
Live Faithful.
Last night we had a family movie night, our boys absolutely love movie night. We had the typical junk food; Oreo’s, BBQ chips and sprite. Not my pick but the boys pick from the store. I do not promote these types of foods for our boys, but I do also bend a little bit so I am not that “strict mom”. I am also not the only one that makes decisions for our family, so there’s that. We rented Toy Story 2 since the boys haven’t watched it yet. Maverick proceeds to eat chips like he was in a food eating contest, drank his little cup of Sprite super-fast and had about 4 Oreo’s. We warned him and told him he would get sick if he didn’t stop inhaling his chips. A 5-year-old typically doesn’t have that mindset yet. I cringed watching him eat and just kept thinking that this is not a good idea. I hate seeing them eat crap food, I literally hate it. After the movie was done, apparently the Oreo’s were not put away, Maverick was running around the house eating Oreo’s. I just thought he was running around while I did the dishes. No, he was consuming more crap.
So, one may tell me, “You are the mom just take it away.” “Don’t buy these foods, the kids can’t buy it themselves” or “You can stop him from eating too much”. Well, I do have to remind people that in life you must choose your battles. And sometimes people just need a learning experience. For years I have been on my husband about our boy’s food and feel like a strict broken record. I go through fazes and eat strict healthy and then get a little lax on things. I take things away and then give it back. Yes, it all comes down to be my fault and I need to be more consistent.
Well, last night Maverick threw up. I did not know or hear it, my husband did. My husband had to clean it all up and said it was a learning experience. He also told our son that he needs to listen to us and that we are going to cut out junk food. A part of me was happy to hear that it was a wakeup call for them and the other part of me cringed at the damage his body went through. So, this morning I told my husband that we are going to do a 30-day challenge with our family. 30 days without junk sweets, soda and junk foods. Our timeline will be perfect, in 30 days we should be closing escrow on our new (to us) home. We can celebrate with homemade cookies, by then I should be able to find a healthy chocolate chip cookie recipe.
So, what does this look like for me as a mom? I am on a journey to be the “strict mom” of food that comes into our home. I have no choice. To add more veggies into our diets, healthy fats, healthy green smoothies without apple juice. To have less “snack foods” and to make sure our boys eat their meals. And living a healthier lifestyle that I have been craving for our family. This is such a great and exciting time of our lives, even though I may be the only one excited about being healthy.
If you have any healthy recipes, green smoothies or toddler foods that they love, please let me know.
To start off, we are foodies at heart. I love to cook, bake, eat chips and sweets. But as we age it starts getting harder and harder to control our weight. Our bodies start to hold onto fat and weight easier, that means we need to be more aware of what we eat and how we workout. Both me and my husband are feeling it so I’m changing our food intake and we are working out better. Of course we are not strict but I’ve made a few changes. I firmly believe that diet should be a balance of 80% healthy 20% not so healthy. That way when you change the food you eat you don’t binge because you miss EVERYTHING. At least that is what I have been finding out for ourselves. So we have committed to changing our diets and it isn’t just a New Years resolution, it’s a life change. I am making more of an effort and really enjoying it so far. I absolutely love shopping at Costco, they have a far better selection and it really saves us money. Especially since we all eating the same kind of meals. I also should add that we are doing more low carb and higher protein meals. Here is a look at what our breakfast have been so far and we all haven’t gotten sick of it yet. It’s delicious!!
Husband gets:
2 whole eggs, 4 egg white
1 Tbsp Salsa (picture below)
1 Tbsp Almond Milk (picture below)
2 Sausage patties (picture below)
Cooked in 1 Tbsp Kerrygold butter
Me:
1 Whole Egg, 2 Egg whites
2 tsp Salsa (picture below)
1 tsp Almond Milk (picture below)
1 Sausage Patty
Cooked in 1 Tbsp Kerrygold butter
4 Year old boy:
1 Whole Egg
1 Sausage Patty
Cooked in 1/2 Tbsp Kerrygold butter
1 Year old:
1/2 Cup Cheddar Cheese
1/2 Cup Frozen Blueberries
This is what works for us and may not for someone else but it’s something you can look at and try it out. Me and my hubby drink straight black coffee also. If you aren’t a fan of black coffee, I hear ya. But with a little patience and practice you can learn to love it! It is also way healthier than adding creamers and other junk. There are so many different brands, flavors, boldness and other factors to try out. I prefer Pete’s coffee or any other organic dark coffee. I also buy whole bean and grind it myself. Why? Because I have noticed the already ground coffee is oily and doesn’t have as much flavor. Just something to consider.
I also have to add, my 1 year old is extremely picky (shocking right?) and teething. He loves the blueberries because they taste good but also they help numb his teeth. He lives off of Dino nuggets and I’m fine with that….for now. That is why he eats cheese and blueberries for breakfast, don’t judge hahaha
Oh! Also, I started buying block cheddar cheese because it has way less ingredients. It seriously tastes SO much better! If you need quick stuff just pre-shred your cheese and put it in a glass container in the fridge. I won’t be going back to bagged shredded cheese ever again. It’s completely different and super yummy!!
I added pictures of the brands below that we made for breakfast. Of course it doesn’t have to be exact but this is what we use and it’s delicious. Everything is from Costco, it saves us a lot! I am usually not a fan of sausage but this is a no junk sausage patty. And the most delicious sausage patty I’ve ever had, seriously.
And always remember to mix things up. The day after I posted this blog post I made this:
I made our eggs with about 1 cup of cooked broccoli from last nights dinner and added avocado. Super delicious!
If you feel good, you look good.
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
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!
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
I went through a period of time where I was grossed out my mayo (mayonnaise). I literally wanted to throw a sandwich at a lady who nicely bought me a sandwich with mayo on it. Just because I hated mayo so much. I know….what I jerk I was for thinking it. I do not think that way these days and would kindly accept it now. She didn’t know. Time changes people right? Yes. Well mayo has a bad reputation, the old styles of mayo that is. I was grossed out by my weight gain (in my early 20’s) that I went to the extreme on dieting. No gluten(That was the worst), no meat (terrible), no junk foods and drinking diet tea that is very unhealthy. So you could imagine what it would have been like to add mayo to anything. Yuck.
Fast forward to better eating habits. I started eating vegenaise which tastes good but it is hard to find. I had been eating that brand for many years. When we moved to Virginia I wanted to find it, so I looked everywhere over here. I couldn’t find it so I was on the hunt to find a better for you mayo. Well I found it and wanted to share. The brand I found is Just mayo. Truly delicious and better for you. It even tastes better than the vegenaise brand I used to get. Yes I could go with the trend of using avocado as my mayo, but sometimes I just don’t want to use avocado for everything. After all, avocado is HELLA EXPENSIVE now. I would have to spend $20 a week to add avocado to everything. Moderation is key when it comes to avocados. Especially the price. We are on a beans and rice, rice and beans budget now. Ok, so anyway. This just mayo brand is truly the best price, taste amazing and healthier. My main thing that I look for with eating healthier is Non-GMO and no high fructose syrup. This is a Non-GMO mayo. So if you are looking for a better mayo to use, look no further. Just mayo Is perfect!
I also found an affordable, delicious and healthier bread made by a big brand. It is called Whole Grains with Omega 3 ALA made with Flax, Sunflower and sesame seed. It has no High Fructose Corn Syrup or Artificial colors or flavors. 
I haven’t looked at the local store for it yet but have been able to buy it at Costco. It tastes amazing with Just Mayo and healthy shredded chicken. Chicken sandwiched are super yummy, higher protein and you get your great grains included! My husband and toddlers love it also. Its a win for all. Hope you get to try out these two brands and let me know how you like it or if you have tried these two brand yet.
Have a Wonderful day!
Live Happy
Live Healthy
Live Simple
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
Let’s talk about getting out of debt for a few. If you have read, listened or taken the class for financial freedom with Dave Ramsey’s program you should know what I’m talking about today. When my husband and I got married we had a lot of debt going into our marriage. We had the simplist wedding in Vegas with literally a few people. So that was a super smart move on our part to start with. So we didn’t start with wedding deb like the normal couple. I got pregnant 2 months into our marriage. Not a super shocker but it took us by surprise. Fast forward to 7 months pregnant. We wanted to buy a house so bad we went through 22 offers on homes in California just to get one. We moved in at 8 months pregnant and finally when I took leave I looked at our finances. I haven’t really been good with finances my whole life but it was time to grow up and look. We were trying to figure it all out before I stopped working for good. We had a huge decision to make but in the end it wasn’t a question, I had to quit working and stay at home to raise our boy. So I wrote down our finances with my husbands pay only. Well I almost had a heart attack but really I had a mega panic attack. We needed $1000 extra a month just to break even, without groceries. Uh, I freaked. When my husband drove home after a 3 hour commute I told him I had no idea what to do. He mentioned that he had heard about this guy Dave Ramsey and that I (we) should listen to his podcast. That night I downloaded it and started listening to it the next morning. From the first moment I started listening I was hooked. I started googling about getting debt free and came up with a plan. The first thing we started with was listing our debt from largest to smallest. Since I was going to get my paid leave for a few months I told him we HAVE to use every penny to pay off debt. Little by little and almost every week we paid off more and more little debts starting with the lowest debt. I cancelled, closed and shredded every credit card we had. Store credit cards are rip Offs by the way! You think you are saving by their rewards? Nope. Guess what? You have to spend to save…..think about it for a moment. So everything was gone! The next step….get rid of the horrendous new Honda Pilot I fleased, yes it’s a lease and the worst kind of car payment you can have. You are renting a vehicle and really burning a hole in your pocket. That’s why it is called a flease in Dave Ramsey’s terms. My husband looked shocked! He thought I was a little crazy to want to return this brand new vehicle I loved. It wasn’t important to me, what was important was changing our family tree. Taking stress off my husbands shoulders. He was the main and only money maker in the house now and I had to cut things out. Getting my hair done, not anymore. I go maybe once a year now instead of every 4-6 weeks. Going out to dinner, nope. Mindlessly spending, nope. That year we paid off thousands of dollars and so much that we actually had $1000 extra cushion in our budget! Love, love, love!
Let’s fast forward a bit. We got an offer to move to Virginia that I didn’t want to pass up. People were thinking we were crazy to move from “beautiful, sunny San Diego” to Virginia…..but we didn’t. We wanted out of our mortgage anyway. The area was closing in on us with pot growers also and I really wanted a safer environment for all of us. We put our the little house on over an acre on the market and sold it within 1 week! We were shocked and just ready! We packed up, moved to Virginia. We put our debt free on hold so we were comfy to move and wanted to start back when we got here. Well……we went backwards. We “needed stuff” when we got here. New bed (needed a king not queen size) , couch (all we had was a small leather couch), tv (ours broke within a month of moving), went out to eat and those sort of things. One thing we did well was biking everywhere which saved us mega! We only filled up once a month on gas and that was amazing. Instead of every week in California. So, 3 months after we moved I got pregnant again. So guess what? We kept the debt free on hold longer until he was born. It’s what you are supposed to do anyway in case something happens. Right when we were going to start back on our debt free journey we decided to move to a bidder house and better area. Prolonging our journey but honestly it was the best move ever for us. Oh and we also bought a Jeep. Ha! We don’t have share a vehicle anymore, which actually helps a lot. It’s older also, not brand new and it was not expensive, thank goodness.
So here we are two years after we move to Virginia. One kid was born(paid in cash), moved(paid in cash) , lots vet bills( paid in cash), dr bills (paid in cash) and acquired more debt(not paid in cash 😦 ).
Last week I got what Dave says, “I got mad at debt, like really pissed off”. Last week I told my hubby, “that’s it! Beans and rice, rice and beans. I’m done!”. He completely agreed and so here we are….. Mad at debt! Not prolonging it anymore and getting after debt once again.
A question people ask or what I’ve heard people complain about is that they don’t want to eat beans and rice. I had some say they don’t want to eat crap. Um, did you know that brown rice, black beans, ground turkey, bell peppers, zucccini and broccoli is not crap. It’s yummy and health. We eat more than just that though, just smarter eating. And Um, he doesn’t mean you have to literally eat beans and rice. What he means is cut your grocery bill down. I eat super healthy and defenitetly healthier when we are getting out of debt. I lose weight and feel amazing. It truly is such an amazing lifestyle to eat healthy. And no, health food isn’t more expensive, it’s something you shouldn’t over think about. Stop drinking you fattening, super sugary Starbucks drinks. I bet you’ll cut your waistline down by just stopping that. And your wallet will thank you.
Here is our action plan:
1. My goal is to cut our grocery bills in half and use cash. Using cash scares me because I typically pick up items I believe we need but really we don’t. I don’t want to look stupid at the register and go over our allotted cash amount. Well, sometime you need to do things that are scary to succeed in life. So that’s what I am going to do. Also, I love Costco. Like absolutely love costco, but I seriously spend like $200 a week easily there. Then go to a grocery store and buy more. That is not necessary. So, I’m going to try to do away with Costco for the time being. Also, until winter hits and it’s is to cold, I will ride my bike to the grocery store to save money also. You can’t buy a bunch riding s bike, HA!
2. No more eating out. We don’t do this a lot anyway, but it’s gone completely for now.
3. I unsubcribed to all the clothing stores I get emails on and any other emails from regular stores as well. It will keep my mind in check on things we “need” but really don’t need.
4. I’m getting back to doing my surveys to get extra money. Recently I did surveys and bought my husbands PS4. He absolutely loves it! I typically buy our extra things with survey money. So I’m getting back to that.
5. Listen to Dave Ramsey podcasts. This is one way to getting my brain retired back to saving, it really has helped us a lot.
6. Encourage others to get debt free and feel less stressed. I see and hear a lot of stressed out people working for money just to buy things. It’s not a fun way to live. So if I can even help one person get on track to getting out of debt, I’ve done something life saving.
7. Get back to working out and look into personal training option. I have a passion for working out and really think it may be time for me to put it into action.
7. Practice making cakes and cupcakes, especially in the design area. I also have a passion for cakes, cupcakes and decorating. I really think it’s time to put my skills to work. Who knows, maybe it’ll help me reach out to others more and make a few bucks. As long as I can bring a smile to others that is a job well done.
If you have any questions one getting out of debt, just ask. I’m here for anyone who may need some help learning about it all. Join me on this journey, you (we) can do it!!
Live happy
Live debt free
Live simple
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!
Flourishing Home with Hannah 