Food Prep, Food Prep, Food Prep, and Crock Pots

Losing weight as a mom is a lot different than doing it the pre-child time in your life. You no longer have free time the way you did when you were child free. There is always laundry, cleaning, a boo boo to kiss or Legos to build. Sure, I could forgo playing with the kids to get more done, but wouldn't that be sad for everyone?

I'm not saying there isn't a lot to do if you're still childless. I'm just saying that there is more likely to be something that comes up and ruins your perfect plan for how to get stuff done that day. It's a lot easier to get a workout in when you don't have toddlers crying for a snack, or a toy or to go outside.

That is my biggest downfall right now. My kids would live outside if I let them, which is wonderful and exactly why I moved somewhere we could enjoy beach, mountain and as much of nature as possible. However, it means all the laundry and cooking and cleaning that needs to get done gets put off and I sometimes forget to take care of myself in all of this.

That is exactly why food prep and crock pots are now such an essential part of my life. By the time 4/5pm rolls around, I may not have energy to put together a nice healthy meal, so having prep work done, or a healthy crockpot dinner already going is essential to my success, and really the success of any mom of young kids trying to shed the excess weight and get healthy.

I love lots of veggies on salads for lunch (and really, one should be consuming 8 cups of veggies a day), but I don't always have time to chop up fresh ones. That is exactly why I always chop up all the peppers and onions and carrots and zucchini or whatever other wonderful fresh veggies I have, as soon as I have any spare time. When I get the kids inside for lunch, I just keep chopping until I'm done, and put the ones I don't need into zip lock bags in the fridge so it is one less thing to worry about.

I will cook up a huge batch of quinoa or brown rice, rather than just what the recipe calls for so I have that on hand too, and finally, I live for crock pot meals. The middle of the day around lunch is usually the longest period of the day I can keep the boys inside and distracted while I get stuff done. It is the perfect time to throw things in the crockpot so I don't have to worry about dinner the rest of the day.

My favorite blog for recipes is www.skinnytaste.com, and I also love grabbing ideas from www.tlsslim.com/shopswartz. The database of recipes, and my easy ability to add those recipes to my food journal adds even more ease to my weight loss journey.

I also have found certain snacks I am obsessed with, and have them auto shipped to my house through www.shop.com/shopswartz groceries. I love me some Luna Bars, and they are not only completely in line with low GI eating, but are delicious and so easy for me to grab while chasing kids around or to pack with me while out running errands. This doesn't even include all the other staples like Annie's organic mac&cheese I can buy im bulk which makes trips to the grocery store that much faster, freeing up at least some time. Plus, getting cash back for having them delivered to my house never hurt either! :)

All of this contributes to how I am able to be successful. I know I said I would discuss exercise this blog, but I think this covers enough for today, so stay tuned to how to fit in exercise while taking care of twin toddlers and a newborn! Also stay tuned for food journaling, and why it is sugh a vital part of my weight loss journey.

The Journey Begins...

Mason arrived four weeks ago now. Between our renovation, and adjusting to life with a newborn while still taking care of twin toddlers, it took me a few weeks to get motivated to take my "before" pictures, and to get started on my journey.

During my pregnancy with the twins, I got something called diastasis recti, which is a splitting of the abdominal muscles. Most women get this to some degree when pregnant, but it is so negligible that they may never even realize it happened. With the twins, my abs split over a full hand apart. They went back together for the most part, but this pregnancy it happened again. It is only four fingers this time, but it still limits what exercise I can do. It doesn't, however, restrict my nutrition, so for the beginning of this journey, what I put in my body is going to be the most important thing. It really is the most important thing anyway, but it's easier to feel like you're making progress towards your weight loss goal when you're working up a sweat every day.

In the one week that I've started to focus on eating foods that are high in fiber, and replacing the sugary junk foods with way more fruits and vegetables, I've already lost 2 lbs. Some people may say that's the breast feeding, but I know it's because I'm finally putting good foods into my body consistently. When I was nursing the twins, I barely lost any weight until after I was done because any time I started to restrict calories in the slightest, my supply would go down, and nursing my twins properly was way more important to me than losing the weight right away.

This time, I know nursing is helping, but I believe I am able to start dropping the pounds because I'm not focusing on calories, but rather the quality of the food I'm eating. I make sure I am putting food into my system at least every 3 hours while I'm awake to keep my supply up. My snacks include things like protein bars, or celery with peanut butter, or a TLS nutrition shake with some spinach, kale, and berries thrown in. Before I was reaching for chips, or just a banana. What I've learned already through TLS, is that if I have protein every time I eat, not only does it help me keep my energy up, it helps me keep the all important milk supply up too.

One day last week, I did what everyone does, and I decided to not follow what I knew I should, and only did snack on an apple to try to speed up the weight loss process. That led to a fussy Mason because I didn't have as much milk as usual at his next feeding, and a grumpy momma because I was hungry again so quickly with no time to grab a snack.

Here are my before photos, as promised, and I can't wait to give you more updates. My next post is going to focus on how I manage my time, while watching the kids, so that I don't start eating what is "easy" and completely terrible for me. It will also focus on how to fit in some extra, easy exercise that doesn't just include chasing around the kids. I need it for my sanity as well as my health!