120 Day Healthy Mama/Healthy Baby Challenge

March 6, 2013 - Now that I've been nursing my babe for almost 3 months and established a great milk supply, I am ready to ditch this postpartum baby body for GOOD!  I just embarked on Monday on my own, personal 120-Day challenge (countdown to my 33rd birthday) and am excited to invite all of you to follow along!  Want to do your own challenge?  Here are my step-by-step suggestions of what I've done to ensure success:

1) Start with a Plan and a Buddy!  
My good friend Camille - who lives in Alaska and I have not seen for YEARS - and I decided we were going to hit this together!  We set up some ground rules for our first 30 Days and each put $50 in the pot!  The catch? It's ALL OR NOTHING!!!  This isn't about the highest score at the end of the day -- this is about being IN IT to WIN IT!  So if we fail to complete even ONE of our "ground rules" even ONE day - we lose ALL $50 to the other person!  Know how we're going to keep it really fun?  We're adding $10 each week to the pot!!!  So after we have our PERFECT first week, we move on to week #2 with $60 at stake - and so on and so forth!!!  When we finish without ANY mess-ups, we not only get to enjoy PERFECT health and fitness, we also get to enjoy a girls' weekend and/or shopping spree to celebrate!

2) Focus on Nutrition! 
This is ESPECIALLY important if you are a nursing momma!  Your baby can't get from you what you don't have to give -- and this first year is SO IMPORTANT for those little ones!  In addition to the prenatals, I am starting each day with a delicious, organic, nutrient-dense, perfectly-balanced meal replacement shake to keep up on the minerals, antioxidants, amino acids, and nutrients my body needs but doesn't always get from food!  I mix it with an energizing Orange Electrolyte drink to really boost my energy and focus for the day (tastes like a creamsicle or orange julius and gives me some added Vitamins A, B, and C without any artificial colors, flavors, or sugars).  I am also taking the IsaOmega Supreme (best I've found in purity and quality - and no fish oil burps -- YUCK!) for my and my baby's brain development.  Other than that, though, the FOCUS is on CLEAN eating!  Raw when I can stomach it -- whole foods ALWAYS -- organic when I can afford it! :-)

3) Don't Forget Exercise!
A perfect fitness plan for optimal health includes two things: Cardio and Resistance.

• For Cardio -- especially if you are like me and took a vacation on fitness for your pregnancy or longer -- I HIGHLY recommend the Couch to 5K Running program!  "But Melinda," you say, "I am not a runner!"  PERFECT!  Cuz this running program is for COUCH POTATOES who want to BE runners! :-)  But, to help with your transition, you might consider adding a supplement to your diet to help with cardiovascular health.  I am following the C25K program up with a Half Marathon Training -- running the Legacy Midnight Run on July 19. (WITH GLOW STICKS -- doesn't that sound FUN?  And really, if you were running 13.1 miles in JULY, wouldn't YOU choose a midnight run, too? I thought so!) "But, Melinda," you say, "my knees won't allow me to run like that!"  Well, that's why I'm taking this amazing joint support supplement to help my body adjust to this extra weight I've dumped on it and still carry me to the finish line!
• For Resistance -- I just started doing my morning POWER HOUR!  In that POWER HOUR, I do 20 min. of resistance training.  Since I am a busy mom with 4 kids, ages 4 to 3 months, I rarely have the time for a BIG routine!  And if it includes weights right now -- well, I end up spending the entire workout routine struggling with my kids about why I need my weights more than they do!  Can you relate? So thank goodness my friend Sarah introduced me to Tracy Anderson's routines on YouTube! For this first month, I'll be doing her Arms, Legs, Abs - and in 20 minutes, without props, I can do a little of each (even if my kids join me - no fighting over who gets the fun equipment).  

4) Make sure you SLEEP!
Yeah - I know.  The word sleep holds no meaning to the mother of small children.  BUT - I will explain later how IMPORTANT sleep is to your health and why you -- yes, YOU -- absolutely MUST get enough of it every day.  For yourself, your baby, your whole family!  If you need some help getting into a good sleep routine at first, I highly recommend this all-natural, melatonin-based spray - formulated to help even the most untrained sleeper get his/her body back into the routine.  It's non-habit-forming and will help you get healthy, deep sleep (which synthetic sleep support doesn't do - FYI).   Oh - and I heard you say that melatonin doesn't work for you -- yes, I DID hear you!  Well, I have turned non-believers who thought THEY couldn't get enough power from melatonin-based products into believers and helped them get off their prescription drug dependence for sleep. Don't knock it til you try it -- for only $13 a bottle (which could last you up to 3 months), you can't afford not to! ;-)

5) Get Your Water In!
Water.  Pure, clear, undefiled.  The perfect, most refreshing, health-enhancing drink out there.  You need more than you think!  I'll write about that later as well, but for now -- aim to drink 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water. So if you weigh 150 pounds, you need to drink 75 oz. of water (minimum).

6) Two Words: Rest and Relaxation
After you've planned all that physical stuff in to help you get healthy, plan in a little R&R for yourself. Studies have shown that even 15 minutes of some form of meditation reduces inflammation in your body immensely!  So - do yourself a favor and plug in some R&R.  If you don't, you'll be coming back and telling me you can't lose weight (not to mention you are incredibly moody, stressed, and un-focused/unhappy in your life) -- and I'll kindly re-direct you to one source of your problems! :-)

7) It's a Kodak Moment
Take a before picture. Not so you can show the world, but so you'll remember if you get back here after the next baby that you were here before - and it wasn't the end of the world. So you can see how far you've come and not get discouraged if your body stalls and adjusts a few times. So you can remember on the days when you feel like you aren't doing anything right that you ARE!  And - in the end - YES! So you can brag your head off about all your hard work, how far you've come, and that it IS possible to any naysayers in your world (and even inspire others to overcome the naysayers in their worlds -- even themselves -- and embark on their own journey to optimal health). Take your measurements, too - the scale is NOT the predictor or definition of HEALTH!

There you go, friends! Welcome to my 120-Day Healthy Baby/Healthy Mama Challenge!  I'm delighted to have you on board!

New Favorites

I have a few new favorite foods I wanted to share.

1) Chicken Fajita Salad.  I take 3 oz of chicken and 1/6 of an onion, 1/3 of a green pepper, 1/3 of a red pepper and dice it all up.  Then I cook it all together with cooking spray until it's pretty tender and stir in one serving of the Fajita seasoning mix with the LOWEST amount of Sodium from my grocery store (McCormick in my grocery store - but I don't know what it would be in yours).  Then take a mixture of salad greens - romaine, iceberg, Spring mix, etc. - and chop it into really fine pieces.  Think shreds of lettuce on your favorite enchilada.  Add the chicken fajita mixture to the salad and mix it all together.  VIOLA!!!  I honestly probably use four cups of salad to that one serving of chicken fajita.  You can also put the chicken fajita mixture in a whole wheat/low carb tortilla with a tsp. of sour cream - hold the cheese - and add a low fat dressing to your greens.  Or you can take the entire salad and put it in a whole wheat/low carb tortilla with a tsp. of sour cream.  Delicious way to get your veggies in when you are NOT in the mood for a salad! *Note: I make up a whole bunch of the fajita mix ahead of time and freeze it.  Then when I want a salad - I get the mix out of my freezer, cook it on the stove, add the seasoning mix, and I'm set for a FAST lunch or late dinner when I don't have time or energy to make anything else.  It's awesome!

2) Banana smoothie.  I place a medium-sized, medium-ripe banana and 1/2 cup of nonfat milk in my blender.  Then add a dash of nutmeg and a dash of cinnamon (careful with the nutmeg - a little goes a LONG way; go to town with the cinnamon, as much as you like).  Blend together.  Add in some ice chunks and blend that together until smooth and VIOLA!  I'm telling you - this is an AMAZING snack!  When I can't get my kids to eat anything else, I add in a small scoop of protein powder and sometimes a little fiber one plain cereal - they drink it RIGHT up!  And I'm not fighting them at the table for an hour to get them to eat their dinner and/or waking up to screaming, hungry two-year-olds in the middle of the night.  Win/win situations are my SAVING grace!

3) Yogurt and cottage cheese.  My mom used to make this fruit/jello salad.  You take some fruit cocktail and mix it into cool whip and then add a package of unprepared jello.  I am sure you have had this in MANY forms.  But the calories and SUGAR in this salad -- um, through the roof, even for a small serving.  So I reformed it: Get 6 oz of low or non-fat plain or vanilla yogurt, add 1/4-1/2 cup of cottage cheese, and mix in a serving of Crystal Light.  You get the same flavor/texture as my mom's old fruit salad jello mix but without all the extra sugar and junk.  And the cottage cheese and yogurt combined give you a good dose of protein while still getting some calcium in your meal.  It's so good my two-year-olds LOVE it!  A perfect pre-bed snack!

Hydrate Me!

Today is my first Weight Loss Wednesday post.  I've decided to give each day a theme so I can keep my thoughts in order and not get sidetracked or too focused on one aspect of mommy-hood over all the other important aspects that merit equal attention.

I can think of a million and one things I could post here as a tip or goal for the week.  But I think I will start with the fountain of all life: Water!

How much water do you need?  Well, for weight loss it is recommended that you drink 50-75% of your body weight in ounces.  While breastfeeding, it is recommended that you drink about 104 ounces of water every day.  When you exercise, it is recommended that you drink 34-68 ounces of water for every 45-60 minutes that you exercise.

I would suggest you take a few minutes (definitely less than 15 here) and calculate how much you would need a day based on your weight, your activity level, and whether or not you are breastfeeding.  Once you get a general number, divide it out into something usable - like if you need about 128 ounces a day, you know you need to drink a gallon of water a day and can just fill a gallon and keep it on the counter or in the refrigerator and drink through it all day long.  If you figure up how much you need and divide it by 32, you'll know about how many nalgenes of water you need a day and just need to keep track of those.  If you have a favorite cup and measure how many ounces it holds, you can use that to determine how many glasses of water you need in that particular glass in a day and then just need to keep track of how many glasses of water you drink.

A huge part of weight loss involves taking the guess work out of it and figuring out EXACTLY what you need and then getting it.  That's the magic formula.  Knowledge is power, especially when it comes to your body.

* Note: The only potential hazard of drinking a lot of water is water intoxication.  But, if you're smart and drink small amounts of water regularly throughout the day, along with your meals, you should be just fine!

Got Milk?

I don't know if my post title is breaking copyright laws or something, but I found some information on milk that I wanted to pass along to you.

You may have heard that milk actually contributes to weight loss. Well, I think I may have found some sound reasoning as to why that is. The following is an excerpt from an article on fluids and weight loss at shapeup.org:

Milk is important because milk is a "floo-id" which means that it is treated like a food (rather than a fluid) when you drink it and it is satiating. For this reason, milk has a special role to play in your weight management efforts. Milk also promotes bone health and it is important for lowering blood pressure.

We live in a country where people do not drink enough milk. Yet, because of advances in medicine and pharmacology, we are living longer and longer. That is why more and more people above the age of 60 have poor bone health and nearly all women (and many men) have osteoporosis in their last decade of life. To make matters worse, when people diet, they tend to drink even less milk.

A large, very important study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine showing how important it is to consume 3 servings of milk and other dairy products each day in addition to a diet rich in grains, fruits and vegetables.² Such a diet was successful in lowering blood pressure in both normal people and in people who are prone to high blood pressure (which is most of us as we grow older). This type of dairy-rich diet also lowers blood pressure in people taking medication for high blood pressure, a finding that took researchers by surprise.

So - if your body recognizes and processes milk as a "food" instead of an empty fluid, you will feel full longer; it becomes a filling food instead of a liquid that simply passes through your body, leaving nothing but the added calories behind. Plus all that other good calcium-boosting information like strong bones and things. Minor benefit, right? ;-D

HOWEVER, the trick is in making smart choices with your dairy products. The basic rule, whether pregnant, breast-feeding, dieting, or just maintaining your weight as you are, is to drink LOW and NON-FAT milk and choose LOW and NON-FAT DAIRY products. Shapeup.org (which I thought was a FANTASTIC site that I never knew existed until yesterday) used cream as an example to show how higher-fat creams (and milk would be included in that) pack on the calories.

For weight management, the big issue is not to eliminate dairy, but to eliminate the fat in dairy - because fat is where the calories are. Cream is really over the top, even light cream is 29 calories per tablespoon. Here are the facts:

• Light cream is 464 calories per cup
• Medium cream is 592 calories per cup
• Heavy cream is a whopping 832 calories per cup (!)

Compared to those numbers, when you consider that skim milk is a mere 85 calories per cup, you realize how extravagant cream really is. Besides the calories, cream is loaded with saturated fat. All that fat is not good for your heart. Who needs cream in the 21st century when almost none of us are physically active on a regular basis? We say, skip it -- unless it is a really special occasion, like a birthday or a holiday, in which case, even we may indulge a little.

Adding dairy to breakfast, lunch, and dinner will give you your "three a day" that your body needs. If you are breastfeeding, you need five a day, so be sure (wherever possible) to cut out the fat. It adds up a lot faster than you think.

Take cheese, for example. A regular piece of cheese has about 110 calories and 9 grams of fat PER ONE OUNCE serving. ONE ounce. Low-fat cheese brings you down the scale to about 80 calories and six grams of fat PER ONE OUNCE SERVING. Fat-free -- well, I've never actually seen fat-free cheese in our grocery stores here, but I have seen what they call "light" mozarella cheesesticks, and those have 50 calories and 2.5 grams of fat PER ONE OUNCE serving.

Milk is very similar. 2% milk has 122 calories and 5 grams of fat PER ONE CUP serving. 1% milk brings you down to 102 calories and 2 grams of fat PER ONE CUP serving. Skim milk brings you down to 83 calories and no fat PER ONE CUP SERVING.

Let's look at yogurt, another popular dairy fill-in. Plain whole yogurt has 149 calories and 8 grams of fat PER ONE CUP serving. Plain, low-fat yogurt has 154 calories and 4 grams of fat PER ONE CUP serving. Plain, fat-free yogurt has 137 calories PER ONE CUP serving.

So - let's add it all up. Choosing low-fat over regular (one milk, one cheese, and one yogurt a day) gives you 336 calories and 12 grams of fat instead of 381 calories and 22 grams of fat. Skim and non-fat products bring you down to 270 calories and 2.5 grams of fat (in the cheese, since we don't have non-fat in my area). That's 120 calories and almost 20 grams of fat if you switch from regular to skim/non-fat! WOW!!! The fat difference alone makes my arteries feel a little less cluttered just from reading all of this great information!

How do you switch? One day at a time! Try cutting back for a month, even, if you need more time. Slowly switch out your regular for low-fat and then your low-fat for non-fat. In the long run, it will help you in more ways than you think. Just one more tid-bit from shapeup.org:

A large, very important study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine showing how important it is to consume 3 servings of milk and other dairy products each day in addition to a diet rich in grains, fruits and vegetables.² Such a diet was successful in lowering blood pressure in both normal people and in people who are prone to high blood pressure (which is most of us as we grow older). This type of dairy-rich diet also lowers blood pressure in people taking medication for high blood pressure, a finding that took researchers by surprise.

They don't say it here, but I don't imagine those people in the study were consuming the extra 20 grams of fat a day and getting those kinds of amazing reductions in their blood pressure, do you? Hmmm . . . . food for thought.

Small Meals Throughout the Day

Tonight I wanted to share some more on calories. As I've said before, in general, women need 1800-2200 calories a day. If you eat less than that, your body will start to store fat, fearing that you might stop feeding it at any time.

I've written that pregnant women need 300 extra calories a day. But that is only true if you are eating within the 1800-2200 calorie range already. If you are eating 3,000 calories a day, you don't need an extra 300. You don't want to cut back, or your body might think you are starving it and somehow lash out to protect itself. You don't want your body on the defense while you're pregnant.

If you are breastfeeding, you need to eat at least 1800 calories a day to produce an adequate milk supply. If you want to lose weight AND breastfeed, aim to lose one pound a week. Now, if you are eating 3,000 calories a day, that means that you need to be careful to cut out and burn through exercise ONLY 500 calories a day. More than that could drastically reduce your milk supply.

If you aren't a mommy yet, aren't pregnant yet, or aren't breastfeeding, you should still aim to eat 1800 calories a day. If you want your weight loss to be lasting, sustainable weight loss, you want to slowly cut calories consumed through food and slowly add in calories burned through exercise.

If you are one of the women who has lost weight in the past by drastically cutting back on the number of calories you eat and need to add calories in to reach the 1800-2200 calorie point, you also need to do it gradually. Otherwise, you will just put on a lot of weight.

So - how do we choose what we are going to eat to get these calories? Well, I have read that you should eat six small meals a day. The article on stress and weight gain from the previous post suggested five. For the six small meals a day plan, you need to eat six 300 calorie meals at regular intervals throughout your day. Or maybe you want to eat three 400 calorie meals and three 200 calorie snacks. Whatever your preference, find what balance works with your weight, your needs, your levels of hunger throughout the day, etc. THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU SHOULD HURRY OUT AND START EATING 1800 CALORIES STARTING TOMORROW. Again, gradually cut back and work into it. If you eat around 3000 calories a day (the average in 2003 was 3770 for most Americans), you want to just start cutting 500 calories a day, aiming for 1 pound a week weight loss. Then see how your body handles that and cut back a few more.

To help in this process, we are going to add a new sidebar item: A sample menu for six meals a day. Dinner will be up to you, since dinner is usually something you eat with your family. BUT, since we're giving you great recipe ideas, dinner shouldn't be a problem; and cooking dinner means leftovers for lunches or other small meals throughout the day.

As a general rule, each of our six meals will include a lean protein and a complex carbohydrate. We'll also try to throw some guiltless snacks in there and some dessert options -- but remember, you have your FREE DAY, so whatever you decide to throw in or leave out from our menus, you're bound to LOVE what you eat all week long and get a little bit of EVERYTHING YOU WANT!!!!

Catching Up -- Nutrition Information

I have found some nutrition guidelines for breastfeeding moms. NOW -- if you are not or have not been pregnant, don't overlook this and think, "That doesn't apply to me." Because, the truth is, that it WILL at some time; and if we can form good habits that will give our bodies the best nutrition possible BEFORE and DURING pregnancy, we will be able to meet our bodies' and our children's nutritional needs when THEIR growth and development and OUR strength and ability to contribute to their growth and development are essential.

Here are the guidelines:
1) The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists suggest that, after the first six to eight weeks after the birth of your baby, you should ONLY lose about 1 pound a week. No more. More can cause you to either NOT produce enough milk for your baby OR not produce enough nutrients for your own sustenance while your body is taking from you what your baby needs.
2) Eat the following quantities of the following foods:
Grains: 8 ounces a day
Veggies: 3 cups a day (about three 1-cup servings of fresh veggies; six 1/2cup servings of cooked/steamed veggies)
Fruit: 2 cups a day (about one medium banana, one medium apple, etc.)
Dairy: 3 cups a day (aim for fat-free or low-fat options first; limit amount of cheese)
Meat and Beans: 3 servings a day (stick with lean proteins wherever possible)
Healthy Oils: 3 tsp. a day (includes Olive Oil, avocados, nuts, etc.; you and baby need the Vitamin E)
Water: At LEAST 8 glasses per day (more for when you exercise/sweat a lot)

That's it -- now evaluate where you are. If you start to lose milk or find your baby isn't gaining weight as quickly as necessary, it may be because you aren't eating enough of the right foods for your body and baby's needs.

Calories Count!

Okay, so I have a little secret to reveal this post. Are you ready? If you want to lose weight, you have to burn more calories than you eat. No. Seriously! You didn't know?

Honestly, though, there really aren't any shortcuts besides cutting calories and increasing activity. And, putting it back into the perspective of being healthy and active and able to ENJOY YOUR LIFE TO THE FULLEST, doesn't it just make sense? Remember how you feel when you eat too much? Think Thanksgiving. What does everyone do after dinner? Sleep! Yeah, no energy to go and do and create memories beyond the turkey and pumpkin pie! That's FABULOUS a few times a year, but every day? Well, you may not be eating Thanksgiving dinner every day, but you may be following the same pattern in your daily living: not eating on a regular basis and then overeating as soon as you get a chance and can stuff everything in sight in your overly anxious face!

Someone told me about a woman who wants very badly to lose weight. She's a veterinarian and is on her feet all day long. So, she decided that she wanted to get surgery done to lose weight. Problem: She found out that she isn't fat enough to qualify for the surgery. Bummer, right? How often do you hear, "I'm sorry, but you are just too thin!"? Know what she did? She started eating milkshakes every break she had, all day long. Know what happened? Well, believe it or not she must have engaged her metabolism because she lost five pounds! Who would have guessed, right?

Well, it makes sense. Our bodies need fuel throughout the day in order to function properly. And really, the only way to make sure it is getting the BEST fuel is to identify what you are getting vs. what you need. I know what you are saying: "Melinda, I am NOT a calorie counter! I don't have time to count calories. I will never BE a calorie counter. It just isn't me." Well, there is something we can work on together because the big secret still stands: Calories out have to exceed calories in; but your body still needs a certain amount of calories to function and run. If you are going to be in control of this, you have to first be aware of it.

I'll write more on how many calories your body needs in order to function in a later post; but for now, here are some simple calculations to help motivate you to get informed and START EATING THE RIGHT KINDS OF CALORIES and BURN THE UNWANTED CALORIES YOU ALREADY STORED.

Number of calories necessary to lose 1 pound of body fat: 3,500
Number of hours of exercise needed to lose 1 pound of body fat: 2 1/2 (more or less)

Now, let's break that down to TODAY:

To lose 1 pound of body fat a week (that's 52 pounds a year - more than most of us need to lose; but still -- perspective), cut 500 calories a day, through food intake and exercise. Divided equally between the two, that means you need to burn 250 calories (about what you would burn running two 10-minute miles a day) and cut out 250 calories (about a bowl of cereal with 1/2 c skim milk and an apple) a day.

If you're pregnant, did you know that you just need an extra 300 calories a day? And that is only if you are already eating only the recommended amount of calories for your fitness, age, activity level. If you are already overeating, you don't need extra calories at all when you get pregnant. If you're overweight and pregnant, you actually need to eat less. Again, we're talking about an extra apple with peanut butter, a bowl of cereal and two apples, 1/2 cup cottage cheese and a banana, etc. If you watch yourself now and don't go overboard, you'll reap the rewards later and have a healthier, easier, happier pregnancy and delivery.

If you are breastfeeding, you need to eat 1800 calories a day. That will be enough to give you an adequate milk supply. And they say the average woman burns 500 calories a day breastfeeding (I didn't, I don't think -- but I'm apparently not average!). I have also read that if you ARE breastfeeding, you really shouldn't lose more than about 1 pound a week in order to keep your milk supply. So - there are some guidelines for us, no matter our category.

There -- now on a day-to-day basis, that doesn't look so bad, does it? Why is it so hard? Well, we miscalculate what we are eating or aren't aware of what we are eating and cannot, therefore, make those few tiny cuts on a daily basis to reach our goals. So - now we know what lies ahead on our journey to success!

Start watching how many calories are in your favorite, daily foods. Just for fun, keep track one day and see where you honestly are in an average day.

Remember: Slow and Steady Wins the Race!