Operation Pre Baby Body

Hi there!

So we are officially 4 weeks post partum and feeling great!

I have decided that it is time to get my butt in gear ::slowly of course:: and start getting back into shape.

Now when I say "getting back into shape" I guess I should really just be saying get into shape. I wasn't in the best shape pre-baby but I wasn't the worst either. I had some extra fluff here and there but overall I was fine. I'm not a twig but not a rollie police either.

During pregnancy I was really concerned with gaining weight. I have never been super impressed with my body and the idea of gaining weight had a little effect on me mentally. I stressed about weight gain at each doctor's visit and that they would tell me I had gained too much weight.  In the last month of pregnancy I decided that my baby and I were both healthy and that was all that mattered. I stopped worrying about weight gain and in the end gained a total of 33 pounds.  This is only 3 over what my doctor wanted so overall I was thrilled.

Now that our precious little boy is here and Mama is healing well I have decided to start getting in motion.  Me and the babes will be walking everyday that the weather permits us. I also will be using my Jillian Michaels DVDs and let her yell at me and I will yell back - well only loud enough to not wake the sleeping prince of course. I also have a Danskin Pilates box set that I bought on Groupon a couple of years ago and have never used. I can't wait to start using these helpful tools.

I also will be tracking my walks with MapMyRun. I love this app.  I used it everyday during my maternity leave before baby came and loved seeing how it tracks your workouts. It tells you distance, speed, average, mapping and how many calories you burned. I also love it because you can link it to you MyFitnessPal app. This is a wonderful app that tracks your calorie intake per day as well as your water intake and workouts. I am a person who needs structure and reinforcement. These apps keep me focused and disciplined. Although they are just apps, they will let me know when I am doing a good job and a poor job.

I can't wait to start meal planning for us again. Meal planning is good for us on multiple levels. It keeps our bank account happy by us not eating out as much and it is healthier. We can control the sodium and fat levels in every meal if we stay home and make them ourselves. I need to look up some tasty recipes and get some variety going for the hubs. If you have any good ones, please send them our way :)

I want to lose all of my baby weight and possibly an additional 10 pounds over the next couple of months. Ideally I would like to be 10 pounds lighter than when I got pregnant by the first of the year, my birthday :) I know that it will take a lot of hard work and discipline but I am motivated. I don't want my husband to forget who he married ;)

Wish me luck!!

Budget Friendly February

Hello lovelies! 

It has been a while since I last posted.  I was doing so good there for a while and then jumped on the freeway in personal life and am just now making it back - kind of.

I thought I would update everyone on how our month is going.  We are trying really hard to purchase a house and just be more budget conscious.

We have decided that we will each start saving a certain percentage of each paycheck no matter what.  We have a bad habit of pulling more out of savings than we put it.  It kills me a little inside pisses me off every time I see our savings number go down and I decided that we couldn't do it anymore if we wanted to buy a house and have a family.  Ryan and I both compromised on what percentages we will contribute and have made an agreement that we will be saving 20% monthly of Ryan's checks and 20% monthly of my checks.  We are hoping that this will give us a better security blanket and allow us to be more aware of where we are spending our money.

Speaking of being more aware of budget, the Army told us about this great website to use when tracking our money after this last deployment and we absolutely love it!  It is Mint and we use it all the time.  It uploads your bank accounts each time you open it and it tells you exactly how much money you have where.  It also breaks it down into categories for you and shows you where you are spending the most of your money.  It gives you an estimated budget for each category and will send you emails when you are going over or getting low on a bank account.  We have found it very helpful, although it is very honest and makes you really think about what/where you are spending your money.  Go check it out!  It's free and they have apps for you phone or tablet. :)

As you can see we are doing pretty well with the minor hiccup of Movies & DVDs.  We went to one movie and those suckers are expensive now!  

To also help us not spend as much money we have been eating at home more this month.  We have planned that instead of eating out 6-10 meals a week we will only eat maximum 3!  We have changed our eating out days from Friday - Sunday, with the occasional night that we don't want to cook, to just Saturdays.  I know that this is hard for both of us, especially because Ryan gets tired of sandwiches for lunch and loves going out and I do not necessarily cook the best, but we are making it work.

We have come up with some fun dinners and have even tried new stuff, which is always exciting and terrifying at the same time.

I want to start sharing my recipes on here soon and I hope you all enjoy them.  I think that we take the best of both worlds and make something delicious.  I DO NOT hand-make everything we eat and I think that is where some people will be able to relate.  We use everyday items out of our pantry and make it the healthiest and best tasting that we can.  We are in no way, shape or form dietitians and have no real ground to stand on when it comes to what is "healthy" 

Here are some of the recipes that we have eaten most recently that I plan to share very soon :)

Hamburger Pizza - my mom's recipe that she has been making since I was a little girl

His and Hers Calzones

Raviolis with meat sauce

Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

We are headed out to Colorado this Thursday and are so excited!  Can't wait to spend some time with our fambam.  We have been really good with our budget so we can indulge a little bit while we are there :)

Do you have any fun new recipes we should try?? :)

Weekend Recap and New Goals

Hello All!

I hope that you had a wonderful weekend!  Ryan and I had a very busy one, but fun.

Our weekend started on Friday night.  We made dinner at home - and by make dinner I mean he had a skillet thing and I made a bowl of chili - and then went to see a movie.  We went to see Lone Survivor and it was amazing.  I didn't know how I would do considering that Ryan just got home from Afghanistan and the thought of him going back is always around, but, surprisingly, I did pretty well.  I did not cry - SHOCKER - but was very moved by it.  It was intense and detailed and I recommend it to anyone.  I am so glad it came out after Ryan was home and that I was able to watch it with my own hero.  He was very quiet and still during the movie and I could tell he was captured by it.  An amazing story of how life can be is over there.  Thank you military! :)

Saturday we woke up were awaken by our lovely baby Hank and started our day.  We planned on looking at some houses and continuing this home hunt.  There was something wrong with each of them and it had me defeated (yes, I know, a little bit dramatic) and determined that we were being too picky or there just isn't a house for us.  After multiple conversations we concluded that we aren't being too picky and that the right one is out there.  Ryan thinks that it will come to be in the next week or so and I am truly hoping that he is correct!  We ended our day with dinner with a friend and hit the hay.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!  We were once again awaken by our darling littlest one and started our day much earlier than we had wanted.  We lounged around most of the morning watching back to back episodes of Property Brothers and Diners, Driver Ins and Dives.  Super exciting huh?  We made our way to lunch, Petco for more dog food (it seems that we are there every week!) and then up the hill to a friend's house for the Super Bowl.  We had a good evening there full of football, cocktails, yummy food, horseshoes, fire pits and good company.  We ended the night slightly after the slaughter game was over and went home to go ni-night.

I have to mention the only commercial from the Super Bowl that I loved and in case you missed it, I included it right here :)

Overall, it was a great weekend and I couldn't have been happier.  Any time I get to spend the days with my love and babies is great.

Now onto the goals.  The hubby and I have a few goals for this month.  First, we are going to eat dinner at home every night except for maybe Saturday.  Now, this does not exclude going to the parentals for a free, home-cooked meal, so if you are reading this Mom, we are available any night! :)  Because of this, look out for some recipes and most-likely failed attempts at me cooking.  Second, I would like us to really watch our spending.  We definitely live a good life and we aren't poor, but inevitably I get upset about money every month.  I want us both to be more budget conscious and do better at this.

Wish us luck!!

I hope you all have a great rest of your Monday and have a splendid week :)