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
My husband and I absolutely loves Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. I was about to make my normal Healthy No-bake Energy Bites and Simple To Make and thought….hmm maybe I can try to make a different version that everyone would love. Ya’ll!! They are SO good! They taste like oatmeal raisin cookie dough. De-licious!! I really hope you get to try them and let me know how you like them.
So I started out with the typical Oatmeal, peanut butter, flaxseed, honey, vanilla but this time I added; raisins and cinnamon. This time around I did not add a lot of cinnamon because I’ve done that before in recipes and it was not good. So to keep it on the “safe side” I added just enough. You can also tweak the recipe if you like more raisins and cinnamon. Oh and next time I’ll add my typical walnuts, I am out of those currently.
.
Ingredients:
1 cup Oatmeal
1/2 cup Natural Peanut Butter (smooth this time)
1/2 cup Flaxseed
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup Organic Honey
2 tsp Vanilla
1/2 cup Organic Raisins
1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
Directions:
Put all ingredients in a food processor (I use a Ninja) and mix together. You’ll probably have to stop the mixer to scrap the sides to get it completely mixed together.
Once all mixed together, put it in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes and then form them into little bites.
I store them in a glass container and leave them in the fridge until I eat them.
Enjoy!!
Live Healthy
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
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!
I have found my new favorite super-sets. I actually made it up as I went because I want an awesome workout daily! I typically have about 30-45 minutes a day that I can workout and I want to get muscle definition. Because I do not have a lot of time I put my workouts together and boy does it burn! I absolutely Love Love Love it! The number one reason people tell me they cannot lose weight is because they do not have the time. I feel ya, but honestly, we all have time. We just have to make it. So I really want to encourage you to start somewhere and go workout. If you do not have a gym membership (another huge excuse I hear) then buy dumbbells from Target or Walmart and workout at home. I did not have a gym membership for 4 years and finally have one again. Before the gym membership I had 2-10lb dumbbells that I worked with. It is not a lot but it worked for me. I was able to lose my baby weight the first time with at home workouts, walking/jogging outside and eating better. If you really want it you have to believe in yourself and do it! At first it sucks but honestly it is the best thing you can do for yourself. Get healthy, get fit. Ok so on to one of my amazing workouts….I have a few but I will share the one I did today and post the rest later. Now remember these are super-sets not one set, rest, one set, rest. No resting involved. I rest my muscle when I workout a different muscle.
Back workout Superset
Bent over row with palms facing your body, return to starting position
Bent over row with palms facing each other, return to starting position
Bent over reverse fly, return to starting position
Repeat for a total of 12
Rest: Just kidding! Do 20 lunges each side
Rest: Nope
Do the Top super-set again
Do 20 more lunges each side
Do the super-sets again
Do 20 more lunges each side.
Done!
On to the next workout, abs and legs. Do these workouts all in one set, this time you rest for one minute in between.Remember super-sets, its a better burn and a faster way to get all your muscles worked.
Grab a Mat:
30 crunches
30 side crunches-each side
50 bicycle crunches
20 push ups
20 side plank dips/lifts
50 outside leg lifts
50 inside leg lifts
20 side plank dips/lifts on opposite side
50 outside leg lifts on opposite side
50 inside leg lifts on opposite side
Rest one minute and repeat for a total of 3 sets
Remember to stretch, I am not very good at the whole stretching thing. I typically skip it if I do not have time, but most people need it.
I really hope you try this workout and if you have any questions just ask!
I have been doing this workout for two weeks now. Between this workout and the other ones I will post I have been seeing results faster! I am 8 months postpartum and have recovered faster this time around and am now at the toning and improving my body part. I just started working out with heavier weights and see a big difference. I am not skinny and not super toned just yet 😜 I absolutely love working out and love to eat. So finding a balance has worked for me. I posted two picture of me from this morning.
1. My tank top is to big on me now, huge.
2. I am not toned as you can tell but my muscles are getting bigger, thankfully!
3. Don’t buy targets workout clothes with drawstrings. It literally bunches up around your waste and make me feel like I have a bigger stomach 😟
4. Trying to take a “flexing” picture after your workout leads to a blurry picture hahaha 
Live fit
Live healthy
Live simple
Flourishing Home with Hannah 