Summer is coming up, which means your kids are going to be home all day long begging you for snacks. I get it. They're hopefully running around outside working up an appetite and need to refuel before they get back out there.
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When I was in high school, I would see all the celebrities on the cover of teen magazines with their perfectly flat abs. I honestly thought if I exercised hard enough, I could achieve that. I would do hundreds of sit-ups and planks on my bedroom floor, thinking I could just target that one specific area.
There's so much wrong with that scenario - comparing myself to celebrities, not realizing that I needed to nourish my body with good food - not punish it with exercise, and never thinking my body was good enough.
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My goal for moms is to make health and wellness simple and accessible. You shouldn't need an advanced degree in nutrition to eat healthily, and you shouldn't need to be a certified personal trainer to get a good workout. In the same way, you shouldn't have to pay hundreds of dollars each month on fitness classes (even though those can be fun, effective, and a good strategy for those who need accountability).
If you have the discipline and desire to exercise at home on your own, let me make some suggestions for setting up an effective home gym for the lowest price possible.
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I think sometimes we're looking for huge radical changes we can make in order to get healthy or lose weight. We think we can't succeed unless we completely overhaul everything we're doing because it's obviously not working.
After years of trial and error and plenty of experience, I am firmly in the camp that says small simple changes add up to the biggest results. They are more sustainable long-term and easier to implement in your already-established schedule.
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You know what's amazing about being pregnant? Not the morning sickness, heartburn, swollen feet, or headaches. No, what's amazing about being pregnant is that you have this glorious round belly that you can stick out as far as you want and people gush over how cute it is.
Postpartum bellies are a different beast. No one is fawning over your saggy post-baby stomach. No one is telling you how cute your postpartum clothes are. It's an awkward stage where it's almost impossible to get dressed in the morning. You're trying to avoid "are you pregnant?" comments in public, so shirts have to be flowy. Your maternity clothes are too big, but your old clothes are too tight in all the wrong places. If you're nursing, you need to have boob access.
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When I first started the MuTu System to lose the baby weight and heal my diastasis recti, I thought doing 10-15 minutes of core work each day was enough. I completed the 12-week program, and even made great progress!
However, once the 12 weeks was complete, I only remembered to do the core work a few times a week and tried to jump right into high-intensity interval training right away. Suddenly my back was bothering me again, and my insides started to feel like they were falling out through my belly button. I was right back to where I started.
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It's no secret that I love my protein shakes! I replace one or two of my meals with a high-protein meal replacement shake every single day. This is absolutely the best one on the market. Sometimes, however, I like to have a high-protein snack in between meals to eat along with a piece of fruit, or I want something warm to eat instead of a cold shake. In these situations, I like to make protein snacks with my shake powder for my kids, my husband, and me.
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I never used to be a morning person. In fact, my sisters used to laugh because I could barely utter a word before I had my cereal and shower. The older I get, however, the more I appreciate the beauty of a perfectly crafted morning routine to help me reach my goals.
Now that I'm a mom of 3, the only way to get some quiet time for prayer, reading, or writing is to wake up before the kids. Since my oldest is a pretty early riser, I have decided to start my day at 5 a.m.
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So you've tried everything - meal prep, giving up carbs, every diet out there, and out-exercising a bad diet, but you haven't been able to stick with anything. I was there. I thought intense exercise was my get out of jail free ticket to eat anything I wanted. Then I got married and had a child, and I started stressing about the nutrition choices I was making. Was I feeding my family healthy enough food?
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You guys. Nursing hunger is REAL. As a breastfeeding mom, all I can think about is what I'm going to eat next, while simultaneously thinking about how I can fit back into my pre-pregnancy shorts. The solution, of course, is to focus on filling up on nutritious foods, healthy and easy snacks, and lots and lots of water.
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Welcome to 2018! Where do you fall on the spectrum of New Year's Resolutions? Are you a goal-setter? Do you set an intention or pick a word? Do you avoid the subject altogether, and think of it as just another day?
Personally, I feel no need to wait for January 1st to start striving for new goals. However, it's hard to deny the pull of a fresh start: new year, new month, new week, new everything!
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Meal replacement shakes are a hot topic, especially when we know so much about the importance of whole foods and clean eating. What most people don't realize is that no matter how much they meal prep, buy organic food, and eat clean, they may still be missing key vitamins and minerals, causing them to feel sluggish or not see the results they're looking for such as weight loss or building lean muscle.
Schedule
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If you ask most moms of young kids who are "working on their fitness," there is very little time or money to spend on their health habit. Of course as moms we make due with what we have, but it often means skimping on equipment we could use or washing and rewearing the same workout clothes multiple times a week.
If you have a woman in your life who also happens to be a mom, and if she loves all things health and fitness (or wants to), here are a few items she may not spend the money on herself that would make the perfect gift.
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The "mummy tummy." The "pooch." The C-section "shelf stomach."
Honestly, all of these phrases make me shudder, and if you're a momma who can't figure out how to get rid of that post baby belly, you understand! It's super frustrating to lose all the baby weight and still look 4 or 5 months pregnant. It's disheartening to exercise your hardest only to make your stomach look even more bloated than before. It's emotional to get dressed every day avoiding half of your closet because it highlights your stomach pooch.
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I first discovered I had diastasis recti about 8 months after I had my second child. I had just finished nursing him, and was already back to my pre pregnancy weight, but noticed I still looked a few months pregnant. I figured I would be able to work off the belly fat through more strenuous workout, clean eating, and nutritional cleansing.
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When I first found out I was pregnant, I was determined to make it my healthiest pregnancy yet. I knew I would be stretched to my limit taking care of a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old, teaching part time, and running my business and blog, so I needed all the extra energy I could get!
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Anyway, this smoothie is such a simple way to eat healthily and meet your fruit and veggie quota for the day without stocking up on tons of ingredients. With kids in the house, anything that hits the easy, quick, and healthy categories is a win in my book!
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Lately I've been loving my cleanse days. By scheduling them on a Monday, I begin my week with a clear and focused mind, and it sets me up to make healthy choices for the rest of the week. Not to mention how energetic and refreshed I feel on the days following a cleanse!
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