Body Beast Week 2

Just finished up week 2 of Body Beast. So far I am half in love and half shocked with myself. I set out to work on this program from beginning to end, my goal was if I missed a workout I would make it up and I would follow the meal plan 80%. Two weeks in I can say I have accomplished that. This is a 90 day program so I definitely have aways to go but so far so good. The workouts are long about 40-50 minutes each so there is pretty much no way I can ever miss a day. The chances of me being able to find time to fit in a 90 minute workout are slim to none so it is a must to wake up everyday and push play. I said in my Facebook post earlier that I feel like I am on autopilot for sure. I wake up between 5 and 5:30, drink my preworkout, lace of my shoes and push play. Ever. Single. Day. I really am a creature of habit. But I feel so accomplished knowing it is done for the day. Honestly I am not doing this for anyone else but myself. To prove to myself that I can finish this. I loved the 21dayfix and sticking to that for two rounds was impressive for me but I knew I had more in me than 21days of commitment. So the workouts aren't the problem, as with most people the struggle is in the kitchen.

After my husbands wonderful but unexpected arrival early from military training on Tuesday it through my whole week out of whack. He was home for 5 days and my eating was not perfect but I did not miss a workout. I would say it was at about 80% with the eating but there was definitely room for improvement and I am becoming much more comfortable with the meal plan and what it entails. Yesterday I prepped and planned my meals during the day while I am home with the baby. Dinners are planned and I am ready to tackle the week. I feel so much better when I have everything prepped and ready to go and it makes staying on track that much easier. So here's to start Week 3!

 

Starting weight: 135 lbs.

After Week 1: 133 lbs.

After Week 2: 134 lbs.

I have been weighing myself weekly to see where I am at. Not that I want to lose any weight but I was worried about the meal plan and I had heard of other ladies gaining weight (a lot and not from muscle... my guess is they weren't following the meal plan well enough). I know how crucial the meal plan is and ensuring that I am getting enough food. I just like to keep myself accountable and it looks like I am holding steady. Thanks for following guys!

Body Beast Week 1

I just finished up Week 1 of Body Beast which is a Beachbody home workout that is pretty much weight lifting and body building. Yeah, I am doing that. Not only does it sound cool it completely pushes me outside of my comfort zone (I am beginning to love that!). Now before you all freak out and say how huge I am going to get let me assure you I will not let that happen. A little back story on me is that I never really lifted a weight in my life. I was a straight cardio girl who ran or would spend an hour on the elliptical (awful, I now know). Anywho, once I started doing Beachbody workouts in my living room and incorporating weights into my routine I began to love it! So after doing 21dayfix for awhile and getting great results I decided to take this to another level (insert Body Beast.) Even the front of the nutrition guide is intimidating.

 

 

 And I was intimidated for sure. I'll be honest in preparation for this I was scared to death. Not that I was worried about getting all big and buff but I was worried about gaining some weight if I didn't do the nutrition part right and I was scared about the workouts. It is like real lifting.

Okay so anyways week 1. This is a 3 phase program over the course of 90 days and it starts with the Build Phase and the workouts are Dynamic Set Training. Lots of learning for me for sure! I had no idea what single sets, drop sets or giant sets were but I got it figured out. Equipment needed for this program is a stability ball, weights and a resistance band. So with minimal equipment it can be done! I only had 5lbs and 10 lbs. weights so this week I am going to pick up some 15s. Most exercises I was comfortable with those weights but already can tell that I will need to increase soon. So the workouts are crazy and there is a lot of men with big muscles screaming but overall I love it!  I will be honest though I do miss my cardio a little bit!

As far as the nutrition that is the tough part. We are so spoiled with the 21dayfix containers because you just put the food in the container and count the container and call it a day. While with this each food has to be counted and each measurement has to be made. My planning and prepping are becoming easier but I really struggled the first couple days. Especially with a program like this I do not want to screw up the nutrition part.

Okay so how do I feel? I have lost 2 pounds and feel really good but I have noticed increased fatigue this week. Now this could be a number and/or a combination of many things. First, day light savings time. Second, a cranky baby. Third, husband out of town (results in 100% of everything is on my plate). Forth, could be the change up in my workouts. I went from a cardio/light weight training program to pretty much heavy lifting I use that term lightly(lol!) because I am not lifting a ton but yet, but it is different. So sticking to the meal plan is key to ensure my body is getting enough food. I will be honest the meal plan has been easier to stick once I got it figured out because my husband is out of town. No distractions and I can plan and prep and eat accordingly. This week should be a breeze as well, but after and going into Thanksgiving it will take a ton of willpower and discipline. But I am excited. So week 1 was a success and excited for week 2! Let's do this!

 

 

Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats

These are not on the top of the clean eating list but sure are cute for a class treat in 1st grade or perfect for a treat for a kid's Halloween party.

Audrey and I made these last night and if you are looking for a treat that is NOT messy and comes out perfect these are probably not for you (or do them after your kids go to bed). But for us that was part of the fun! No in progress pics because my hands were covered in orange sticky marshmallows the entire time! They did not come out looking perfect but I guess most pumpkins are a perfect circle either. Audrey's were the best!

Ingredients: (Makes about 12 pumpkins)

4-5 cups Rice Krispie cereal
3 tbs butter
10 ounces of marshmallows
Orange food coloring
12 tootsie rolls
Green gel frosting

Melt your butter is a big saucepan on low heat
Add you mar mallows and stir until melted
Remove from heat and add the orange food coloring to desired color (I wish we would have added more to make them more orange!)
Add in your Krispies and then form into balls
They get REALLY sticky! I would use pan or Crisco on your hands before forming the balls. Even a damp cloth to wipe your hands on helped. It gets messy and crazy! And it didn't seem like they were going to form but eventually we had a shape that resembled a pumpkin.
Pop a tootsie roll in the top when they are warm and design a leaf with frosting

So cute! And how is it possible that we were making these for Audrey's SEVENTH birthday treat at school?!

I Spy Avocado. (Clean Breakfast Egg Scramble)

Anyone that knows me knows I am not a good cook. I wish I was. I wish I enjoyed it. But I cook solely to feed my family and generally get no joy out of it. That is the truth. Remember my "Becoming More Domestic" posts from Chris' deployment? Yeah... still struggling in that department. So you can imagine the struggle when not only to cook to feed the family but also to keep it clean. Anyways, I could eat eggs for every meal in the day. While that is not advisable I do enjoy that they are a healthy part of a clean diet in moderation. I threw together this little scramble this week to "hide" the avocados. I am trying so hard to like avocados. I mean there are people that would do just about anything for avocados, like the obsession is real. I on the other hand, cannot get used to them. But I know they are soooo good for you so I have been trying to incorporate them into my diet as much as possible.

So here is my Clean Egg Scramble recipe with my hidden avocados.

 

Heat 1 tsp. of coconut oil and sauté diced onion. Add in 2 eggs. Season to taste (not with salt!). Add a handful of chopped spinach and (in my case) finely diced avocado (about 1/4 of one). I think next time I may almost smash them before adding.  Scramble this all up and done. So simple, good and healthy. I barely tasted the avocados! A success! I feel like when you are trying to hide veggies in your kid's other food to trick them into eating it! Hey, it works :)

And just like that we had a 1st grader

Where has the time went? No really? How is this possible?  I still remember that cranky sweet baby that would never sleep and now we have a 1st grader.

What a good kid she is though. We are so lucky. She is very athletic, you could even call her a tomboy (that is actually what she prefers). But at home she likes to put on make up and play dress up. So she is a little bit of everything. She goofy and uncoordinated and can be a little shy sometimes too. But the next minute she can be loud and in your face. She continue with gymnastics and is now in the "big gym" as she calls it for class. She started level 1 progressive classes this summer and it is amazing to watch her improve and grow every week. This will be her 3rd year of soccer and up until now I don't think she ever took it to serious. She was the kid to busy talking to her friends or waving to us on the sidelines during the game. (we would call it social hour) She never really made an attempt to go to the ball but would follow the girls that were kicking the ball down the field (hey, she had to make it look like she was doing something, right?) No, but she was only in kindergarten and had fun so that is all that mattered. After really watching the Women's World Cup this summer she is really excited to play this fall and says she is going to take it serious so we shall see :)

Audrey is also starting another new adventure this fall and that is volleyball. We've gotta put those legs to use somehow! Over the summer she went to a volleyball camp at the high school and really enjoyed it. So she will start that next week as well. Needless to say, she will keep her mama very busy. But Audrey thrives on a schedule and busyness. While it was great to be a little lenient on schedules this summer it is nice to get back in the swing of things!

I hate to brag but she is also very smart and kind. She was lucky enough to get her same teacher from kindergarten for 1st grade and she is very good at pushing Audrey above grade level. It definitely is a collaborative effort with educating our children but it really does help when she has a teacher that is so good. I am excited to see how far she can go this school year. So that is about it. Audrey Grace our 1st grader. Oh, I forgot to mention what a fantastic big sister she is. I was very worried about the age gap when we had Eleanor because Audrey had always been the only child. I was super afraid she was going to have "only child syndrome" (is that a real thing because I feel like it should be). No, but I was worried how the transition would go. I have to say that we could not be happier. She is so good with Eleanor and constantly wants to be around her, have El lay by her, eat by her, smile at her, anything. She is very helpful and it is so nice that Audrey is so independent that I can concentrate on Eleanor without Audrey starving or dying of thirst. She's a good kid! And we are very excited to see what 1st grade brings!

Clean Shredded Buffalo Chicken

Simple. I like simple. This shredded buffalo chicken recipe is just that. Simple. I put a couple pounds of chicken breast in the crockpot and then shred if for sandwiches, salads, and snacks through the week. This week I tried buffalo chicken which is like one of my favorite things!

 

 

Shredded chicken

1 scoop of plain non fat greek yogurt

1 pour of Frank's Red Hot

 

That is literally how I made it. Mix together and voila!

 

Adjust to your likings depending on how hot you like it and the amount of creaminess. Eat on lettuce wraps, whole wheat pita, or I scooped it like a dip with celery. Healthy, healthy, healthy everywhere! 

Adventures of a stay at home mom

So much has changed in the last few years I am not even sure where to start. When you last seen us on here Chris was home from deployment and we were adjusting to life. That took some time and things were crazy for awhile but we settled in and life went back to "normal". Chris has been in the states for 3 years with no looming deployments so I have to say that I beyond happy about that. He leaves a lot for training and schools but we can handle that. At least he is in the states!

Audrey is starting 1st grade and becoming such a nice kid! She plays volleyball, soccer and gymnastics and keeps her mama very busy. And she is a BIG sister! Eleanor Finn joined us at the end of March and completed our family. She is the best! And so thankful for her blessing.

After having baby Finn we decided that I would start a new adventure as a stay at home mom! This was so exciting because when Audrey was a baby I had always worked so for once I found what I was meant to do. Be home with these two amazing babies everyday to nurture and teach them as best as I possible could. They keep me busy and don't get me wrong there are long days but at the end of those days I look around at the messy kitchen and the toys thrown all over and think how truly blessed I am to be able to do this everyday and not miss a thing.

I have worked in school, preschools, taught after school programs, am obtaining my teaching license and masters degree and there is nothing more than I want to do other than be home with these crazy girls. I always say "I love kids but I love MY kids more". I do really love working with children it has been so rewarding but there is something about being home that I just cannot replace. I refuse to miss it. So my latest adventure is working from home! Something I never in a million years thought I would do. Simply because I had no idea how to. I have found a passion and love similar to working with my little preschoolers of helping others. As a fitness coach I can reach out and help so many people everyday that the reward is something I never thought possible. And the best part? Being home with my girls and working when they are sleeping, or napping or when Audrey goes to school. I do not have to miss a thing!  This is the best of both worlds. For so long I was so focused on building a career in education that it took so much time away from my family. Now I don't have to pick between building a career and being home with my girls (most of you know how hard that decision was for me). I get to do them both. I am building a business from the ground up, from my computer, while my babies sleep. Seems to good to be true right? Wrong. I have two of the most amazing jobs I have ever had! And as my babies grow, my business is growing right along side of them. I cannot wait to see where we are a few years from now. Hold on, it is about to be a crazy ride!

And it is bacckkkk!!

I am so excited to have the blog up and running again. Bare with me while I make many necessary changes since it has been like 2 years since I have been active on this bad boy. But I sure do miss it! I wanted to blog the whole time I was pregnant with El... I got one post in. Then I said, "After I have her I will blog everything". I have gotten zero posts in. Since Chris has been home from deployment for almost 3 years now I am looking forward to changing up the content and the material. Look for updates on my family (duh) of course I have to post a gazillion pictures of my kids. And my new adventures with the girls as a stay at home mom and as a health and fitness coach. Whew! This is a ride. So I will be sharing lots of fun health and wellness stuff here also for your viewing pleasures!

Disclaimer: Many of the posts from Chris' deployment are very raw and real. If you are new here, thanks for visiting but I want you to know I held nothing back when posting on here and sometimes I think I was a complete mess. So please do not judge if you come across a post where I...umm... maybe... had a meltdown, or vented hard core, or just had a bad day. That deployment was the worst. But all is well now! Home for almost 3 years with no deployments looming so we are happy, healthy and loving life now as a family of 4!

I look forward to sharing our fun with you guys!

31 Weeks

During the deployment I would post weekly updates on what was going on here as sort of a recap, a journal and a resource for Chris to know what was going on while he was gone. Since I decided to get the blog back in motion (I can't believe how many of you have said, "I am so glad you got the blog back up" by the way! You guys are the best) Anywho, why not a more exciting weekly update on Baby Miller now! 31 weeks today and where has January gone?! Almost February and baby girl is due April 2nd. Call it mother's intuition, call it impatience, call it what you will but I feel like I can expect this little lady by the end of March. Maybe I am wrong but either way we need to be ready to go in March which means there are only a few weeks left. In the midst of all of this I will be starting my new position at Mercy before I go on leave and things will get even more hectic. Although, I could not be more excited about that! So how are we? Baby Miller is moving so much and it is so exciting for Chris and Audrey to just stare at my stomach as she decided to do flips and kicks in there (maybe she will be a gymnast like her big sister!) Short of being tired and pretty much unable to sleep I feel good. But that can be expected by this week. Starting to feel a little overwhelmed as the weeks dwindle down and I still have a lot to do to prep for her arrival. Although honestly what do newborns need? Somewhere to sleep, something to eat, and something to wear. We pretty much have that all nailed down.  So at this point its a matter of organizing Audrey's things out of her playroom which will soon become the baby's room. I saved EVERYTHING of Audrey's in hopes that we would have another baby one day and while they will be born in different seasons I hope that we are able use most of her baby stuff. Audrey could not be more excited about a sister! And before we know it she will be here! See ya later January... take your snow and cold somewhere else!

Two Years Later

Hi Guys! Last post was June 2013... whew that seems like ages ago! I wanted to get the blog back up and running so here we go! Many of you followed us through our 2012 deployment (which also seems like ages ago) but for many of you this may be the first time visiting. I am so thankful to everyone who followed, supported and showed us so much love during the crazy time. Seemed like the blog was an outlet for me to come and write my feelings, stories and share some of the craziness that goes along with deployment. After Chris returned home from deployment the blog kind of took a back seat and I will be honest I kind of forgot about it. But here we are a year and a half later... lets open this book again! If this is your first time here, thanks for checking us out! Feel free to look back at the "madness" of our last deployment but please don't judge. If you followed our journey before you know the gist... I cry, laugh, vent, and share what makes me happy here... my family! I will be in the process of revamping the blog and while Chris is still in the Army his training and deployment schedule has been VERY quiet lately. No deployments, long trainings, no long times away from home... just the way I like it. Although I can tell he is getting a little stir crazy though.

So much has happened since June 2013 I will try and keep it short and simple. Lets start with that last post. (Baby News) Man oh, man that was a doozy. It was nearly two years ago and surprise we are pregnant again! Two years ago after going through that craziness we decided to wait to try and have another baby. So I started graduate school, Audrey was getting ready to start kindergarten and Chris was changing jobs. But soon enough the "fever" was back and I finally went for all the blood work and testing to see why we were having so much trouble with having a baby. Everything came back normal! I mean as normal as can be. No problems with any of my tests. This was great news! While it was no explanation for why we had so much trouble 2 years ago it did give us piece of mind that we could try again. So we decided now was the time. And at 30 weeks pregnant today I can say we are expecting a healthy baby girl in just a few short months! This pregnancy is nothing like Audrey and it has been anything but easy. I've had doctor visits every two weeks from the beginning to monitor everything (that was a very uneasy time for us) and I was very sick for a long time. I have never taken so many naps in my life! But here in the 3rd trimester I really feel great! Doctor says everything look great and things are progressing as they should. We could not be happier! Audrey is very excited to finally become a big sister and we are beyond excited to make this family of 3 become 4!

In the midst of baby fun I also started graduate school and was very lucky to be offered a position through Mercy at an Autism Clinic working with preschool children. I have shifted my focus from Early Childhood to Intervention Specialist for my masters and look forward to this new opportunity!

Audrey is half way through kindergarten now and is very smart! I am not just saying that because she is mine :) but I have to say we are very lucky to have such a smart and good kid.

 

 I volunteer at her elementary school weekly so it is nice to be there with her (while bulking up that resume) and see her progression not only at home but at school as well. She loves to read and is becoming a very strong reader. She still enjoys gymnastics and is involved in FitClub at school which is an exercise club where they work out, do sports, obstacle courses, ect. Audrey loves to sing. I mean the kid is singing 24/7 but says she has stage fright. She still visits Donna on a weekly basis and I am not sure what those two would do without each other. Donna was heaven sent when Chris was deployed and was very helpful with Audrey that we cannot imagine life without her.

Like I said Chris' deployment and Army schedule has been very quiet lately. Just a few days a month he trains and we have him home otherwise. We are so thankful for that. While I know he is itching for something to "come up" I am content with life as we have it now. He works for an insulation company her close to home and works long hours but we have him home for dinner every night, he has been so supportive during the entire pregnancy and Audrey and him are so close. Life is much different than we knew it for the first 4-5 years of our marriage but so much better now!

Christmas and the holidays this year were awesome. Chris was home and we could not have spent it any better. We were lucky enough to visit Washington State over the holidays to visit Chris' family and what an amazing vacation that was.

Flying and traveling 26 weeks pregnant was not my favorite but we survived. Definitely the most beautiful part of the country I have ever been to. We always said we would move there under the right circumstances. I would love to not live through these snowy, Ohio winters anymore :)

Mine and Audrey's crafting is still underway. Not as much as before simply because we are just so busy but we try to find time to sit down play with paint. :)

 

My latest adventure is getting organized and reducing the clutter in the house. Audrey has so much stuff that it is hard to fathom having twice the amount when the new baby comes. So for the last few months (with the help of pinterest) I have been on a decluttering journey and slowly but surely we are getting there!

So right now I could not ask for anything more. No looming deployments, Audrey is great, and we are expecting the family of 3 that we have only ever known to quickly become a family of 4!