2013 and into 2014

Wow let me say that 2013 has been a very very fast year! It seriously just FLEW by. I wonder sometimes why that didn't happen while I was stationed in Alaska. Ha ha. It has been a wonderful year for me and I must say that I am very excited for 2014.

I am sitting here in my room with a glass of water and my candle burning and bringing me calm and I can't help but think of the possibilities that there can be in a persons life in a year but even so much as a day. People go into the New Year thinking about these monumental things that they want to do with their weight, person, and life in general and we start with this HUGE flame to succeed to be better people with a fresh slate that often times by Spring we have forgotten all of those resolutions and we start fresh every month. I hope that makes sense to you.

I hope for you that 2014 will bring a year of JUST doing it. Just go out there and get your dreams. While some of the things well most of the things that happened to me I didn't necessarily have to work for I stayed positive this year and had the most fantastic fun year! Make this year great and be A POSITIVE LIGHT!!!

This year was amazing for me.

I ran the Disney Princess Half Marathon something that I just looked at the Running Times magazine and thought was impossible.

I went on my photography retreat and met some of the most wonderful talented women in photography.

I watched my oldest son give his life to God.

I watched my youngest start his school years :(

I also saw my oldest start his middle school years :(

I was a bridesmaid at a wedding.

I helped 10 people lose weight (goal board goal that was met)

I paid off MOST of my credit card debt. (1 more to go!)

I photographed my first wedding by myself.

I am pregnant with my third child.

I have a better relationship with God.

I saw my first Broadway musical.

Among many other things.

So what now for 2014..........I do want to make this year an adventure year but I will be pregnant for half of it LOL SO I don't know HOW well that is going to work out for me so I have a few things that I want to accomplish and I want to work more on myself. SO I will save me "Resolutions" Post for tomorrow. Until then, enjoy the last day of 2013 and don't drink and drive. Stay safe!!!

Bumpdate: Into the second trimester

I find myself consistently looking for bloggers that talk about having a healthy pregnancy and I kind of have a hard time finding them. Most of them are bumpdates which is cool but I wanna know what you are eating and what you are doing to workout ha ha. I have not been able to find an inbetween with some bloggers some are HARD core and just look like they have a budda belly and others are lacking anyway I figured I would share bumpdates a long the way for anyone searching for someone that is a "normal" person who is trying to keep healthy.

My 14 week bump

I am 16 weeks pregnant now and I am SO happy to be out of the first trimester. For weeks 1-6 I was doing really well working out, running and eating really healthy pretty much my normal diet of meat vegetables mostly. Then week 7 came and week 7-13 were the PITS I was nauseous all day and eating french fries, crackers, rice, and pretzels were the only thing to keep me fed. As with most vegetables were NON-EXSISTENT in my diet so I started back on my Shakeology so I would know that I was getting some good nutrition in my body. Sometimes that made me nauseous but it wasn't vegetables so it worked. I was also car sick queasy (?) I know strange. I started gaining my energy back at week 14.5 and now I am good. Week 7-13 I worked out maybe 3-4 days a week most of them being 3 days and I didn't feel guilty at all. I knew I didn't feel well and I wasn't going to push myself past the limit my body was willing to go. This isn't about me anymore I am now living to keep my baby safe. Now that I am good I am working out 5-6 days a week. I DO find that the more that I do the more tired I am at the end of the day and it feels like the first trimester again.

WEIGHT GAIN: I know that is what some of you are here for LOL I know I looked at the weight gain to when I was reading the blogs. It's cool to see how every woman is different. This time around I am up 7-8 pounds in my 16th week. I think I am pretty good for wanting to gain no more than 40.

Eating: Overall it has been OK. I try to eat as healthy as I can but I always slip in a treat here or there. Lately my obsession has been candy canes and I have been eating about 2 a day. Yesterday was the first day I didn't have candy at all but it was really hard to ignore it ha ha. Right now my daily meals look kind of like this:

Breakfast: Cup of coffee, 2 scrambled eggs, 2-3 thin and crispy turkey bacon slices, and sometimes a whole grain waffle with natural jelly.

Lunch: A salad or chicken tenders with vegetables or tuna with potatoes and green beans. I even had a PB&J one time. It depends really on how I feel. When I am at work it is probably the most unhealthy of my day.

Dinner: Usually a lean meat choice with some veggies and potato I really like the feeling of being full so the potato really helps. Sometimes on really lazy days I will have pancakes but that is pretty rare. It was def a first trimester favorite.

WORKOUTS: I try to log my workout everyday. I am not sticking to any kind of plan right now as I don't always feel like doing the "same" thing. I wish beachbody had a maternity program other than their yoga DVD it would be really nice.

As a Beachbody traitor I did purchase Tracy Andersons Pregnancy Project (I love that it is aimed at a pregnant woman) and I plan on walking on the treadmill during my work week starting in Jan to get my steps in. So far I have done the following.... PS MY DOC GAVE ME THE OK TO DO THESE WORKOUTS I STOPPED CHALEAN EXTREME BECAUSE I WAS STARTING TO LIFT TO HEAVY BUT I WILL GO TO THE RESISTANCE BANDS. CHECK WITH YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE STARTING AN  EXERCISE PROGRAM ESPECIALLY WHEN PREGNANT!

December:
10: Chalean Extreme Push Circuit 3 and Turbofire HIIT20
11: Burn Intervals
12: Push Circuit 1
13: Fire 45 EZ Turbofire
14: Push Circuit 2 and HIIT 25
15: Burn it off and recharge (Chalean Extreme)
16: Rest
17: Push 3 and HIIT 15
18:Tracy Anderson Month 4 and Fire 45
19: Tracy Anderson month 3
20: Rest
21: Tracy Anderson Month 3 and Fire 45
22: Buti Tone 50 and Tracy Anderson Month 4
23: TAM Month 4 and Fire 45 EZ
24: Rest
25: Tracy Anderson Month 4 and Fire 45 EZ
26: Fire 55 EZ
27: Tracy Anderson Month 4

Today I am feeling a bit under the weather my son transferred his head cold to me and I feel like complete crap. I am super tired my head is pounding and my appetite is weird. Oh the joys of having children LOL. I must say that this pregnancy with a child already is a lot harder than just having it be my husband and I. It sure is a challenge that is for sure but totally worth it. Sorry for the super long post. I hope this helps!!!!

This was me then........pt 2

This was me at 146 pounds (I am 5'3). I was a sz 13. This was me on Jan 2 2011. This was the year that my husband would be gone for 8 months of the year and this was the FINAL year that I said that I had enough. I was tired of being a double digit size and I knew that I had it in me to be the ME that I always wanted to be after I had my kids. This was no longer my pregnancy weight this was me just being damn FAT and INDULGENT. SO THIS TIME I entered the Eat Clean Diet Challenge and again submitting my pictures to the website. This contest I think (?) was 6 months long so I had A LOT of time to accomplish this goal.

This was also a time where I had totally and 100% concentrated on myself with my husband being gone and my little guy being so small it was pretty easy to have lots of reflection time on myself. That is exactly what I did and when my husband came back I kept shrinking and kept growing as an individual.

I had gone to the gym 5 days a week during my lunch break and I took the weekends off and followed the Eat Clean Diet model about 80% of the time. I had one cheat day and fared really well. I went down to 125-127 and got into running and ran my first 5K and 10K that summer. It was such an amazing accomplishment I was in love with my new body but yet.....I wanted more. I was the same person that you see up there I was just a smaller version. I had no muscle tone and I wanted that so enter P90X.

I had that silly workout in my closet because like most I was afraid of it. This time I committed I went cray cray woke up at 5 AM and completed my workouts daily, I was sore as hell but I was consistently losing 1-2 pounds a week and I was getting the body that I wanted. By the time I was done I lost 10 pounds and fit into a sz 6.

Because of the Eat Clean diet and P90X and the discipline that I had I was able to gain the body of MY dreams and I was able to heal the wounds from my past. I put everything out there when I was working out. ALL of it my divorce, the distance from my big guy, the fact that I was alone with my son, taking care of my son. All that stress I gave to the pavement, the gym, and Tony Horton LOL.

To have a transformation you have to be OVER IT. READY FOR A CHANGE. It can't (in my opinion) be just a thing that you are going to do because it is the New Year or because your jeans are too tight........it has to be something that you are SICK of and READY to CHANGE. You have to have that clear vision of exactly what you want. It has to come from your heart not from a pages of a magazine. Envy my dears isn't going to do it for you, a light within you has to be ready to shine and you have to be ready to face all the bullshit and get down and freaking dirty to get what you want. FED UP with you and YOUR HABITS ready to change.

I didn't get here because I wanted Jennifer Lopez's body (she has a killer one though) I got here because I wanted to be the BEST ME THAT I COULD PUT FORWARD FOR MYSELF, MY SONS, AND MY HUSBAND BUT MOSTLY FOR ME! I wanted Jeannette back. I had to heal my heart and my health and now I am me. I had the love I had the family but I needed to be me to be the best for them and to appreciate everything that I had.

This is why today I am trying to be the healthiest that I can. To be healthy for me and my baby because without me being healthy my baby isn't either. I workout and I don't want to go to that picture or enter contests for motivation. The motivation is from me myself and I now. I know healthy, I preach health, and I love being healthy and the way it makes me feel. I am a better person all around. I am still scared as hell to gain more than 30 pounds but as long as I know that I am doing everything that I can to be healthy than I can smile knowing that this time I did something right for me and my child.

This was me..............

This was me.........165 pounds.........what I had left over after my pregnancy with my son. This is approximately 8-10 weeks postpartum. I remember being in the car on the way back from Florida telling my husband that Body for Life was the program that I was going to do and I was going to submit for the challenge whether I won or not. I needed some bait to get to the finish line and get back to my pre pregnancy weight because I had to do it to stay within the weight standards of the Coast Guard. In this picture I was about a sz 14 and was still wearing maternity clothes because I was ashamed that I had gained 70 pounds and only lost 30 after the baby.

THIS is the body that I am deathly afraid of going back to after I have my third child. NOT because of how it looks I do OBVIOUSLY understand that the body takes time to get back into shape and it took 9 months to get to where I was at the time. The fear comes from looking at this body knowing that I wasn't healthy at all, I was uncomfortable, my confidence was ZERO, and I did this all to myself. My baby didn't do this to me, I did. I gave into every indulgence and for the second time in my life I acted like pregnancy was a license to eat. That is exactly what I did.

Before this, I never really ate healthy. I was once a size 3 and 105 pounds (I am 5'3) by pure luck. I was the one that ate what she wanted and didn't gain a darn pounds......that is until after I had kids. I didn't eat vegetable (what are those?) and I didn't eat chicken breasts unless they were fried and dipped in ranch or hot sauce. I took my metabolism for granted and didn't learn a lick about health. SO I went to the gym bought the Body for Life cookbook and lost 25 pounds, made weight for the USCG and went on my merry way. I stopped exercising and maintained my weight some how but I was still a sz 10 and uncomfortable in my body.

Then I went to Alaska and was faced with being a single parent because my husband was underway for months at a time. I ate easy foods, snacked on cheeze-its and indulged in sour cream and cheddar chips (I can no longer keep them in my home) and white wine on the weekends. I went back to being sedentary (I also work at a desk) and went from 145-135 several times while I was there. THIS is the body that I earned myself while I was in Alaska..........

It doesn't look much different than my postpartum one huh? At least above I had the "I just had a baby excuse." I landed at 146 and I couldn't fit into my biggest size 13 "period" jeans. That was a deal breaker for me. I was disappointed in myself but once again I got myself right there AGAIN! You'd think that busting my ass for 6 months after the birth of my son would have given me the shock that I needed but nope that didn't work either. SO what did work???? I'll tell you tomorrow to spare you from reading a novel. :)

I have been waiting to tell you.

I don't know who reads my blog but I know there are many of you that read it. I have been waiting to spill the beans for WEEKS now! I just couldn't because of the obvious. I have been anxious to tell yu all so without further waiting from me!!

Say Hello to my little "nugget!!!!" I am 13 weeks along and I couldn't be MORE excited to have this little blessing in my belly. Let me tell you that this little one has been wreaking havoc in there lol. I was sick for about a month (just queasy) and tired as tired can be.

Being pregnant this time around I have made the conscious decision to keep it healthy at least 75-80% of the time. I say that because a craving is a craving and I will indulge. I was thinking about a macaroni salad for a week before I actually made it SO I do have some restraint.

I am not going to do the whole pregnancy bump posts. I thought that I would do them but the more I read about them the more redundant they seem so I will post a few maybe monthly posts? about the whole pregnancy so that I can go back and read about how I felt and so that I can share with all of my readers.

FIRST TRIMESTER RECAP:

Overall: My first trimester was somewhat of a blur but October/November was the WORST months for me. I was totally nauseous I was bloated like crazy and I was tired but also had to keep up with my 5 year old. Thank God for my husband lol. My earliest bed time was 7 and the latest during this trimester was 10:30 and I paid for that dearly LOL

Food: I was NOT healthy during this trimester ha ha. I ate french fries for dinner, bred, BLT's, pizza and a lot of homemade and store bought chipolte bowls, Maria cookies, pretzels, and more pretzels and ginger ale, did I mention pretzels? LOL. To date I gained 8 pounds in the first trimester which I think is absolutely terrible but I ate out a lot and I also went carb crazy like most pregnant women along with eating a lot of sodium.

Aversions: Right now vegetables are getting easier but they were no exsistent in my diet for weeks and I mean WEEKS I bought the stuff with good intentions and NOPE didn't work out for me LOL> Money down the drain. I recently started juicing and that is helping me with some of my aversions because it tastes like fruit. I tried a smoothie in my first trimester and I was nauseous for 2 hours after :(

Sleep: Fantastic there are some nights where I toss and turn but so far so good no big complaints.

Maternity wear: None yet I am still rocking my Size 4 jeans just unbuttoned thank God LOL

Gender guesses: Actually none I am pretty ok with whatever God blesses me with, but I mean I have 2 boys so there is a part of me that is secretly hoping for a girl but I won't be upset if it is not. I just can't wait to have a cute cuddle smell yummy adorable baby in my arms!!!!

Cravings: It changes every day. Like I said, macaroni salad for a week before I ate it. Pizza then got nauseous, and that's it really.

Workouts: The first trimester was good but there were three weeks there where I worked out for 1-3 times a week. I am now working out 4-5 times a week. I am doing a mix of different things as staying on a schedule is a bit much since I don't really know what or how much energy I have for that day. Right now I am doing Chalean Extreme and for 2 weeks I did Turbofire. I took half of last week off but I am still getting some work done :) These are probably the best workouts that I have done for a pregnant self but we'll see what happens this trimester. I have had some round ligament pain so it hinders yoga because the moves are a bit fast :( or the moves twist me in a weird way and getting out of it, I tried yesterday LOL and it didnt workout that great for me ha ha.


Well I don't want to ramble on and on but that's that!!!!!! I hope you follow to read about how I try to have the healthiest pregnancy possible. :)