5 Ways To Have A Healthier Pregnancy

When I got pregnant with my first little guy, I thought I had it in the bag when it came to "healthy pregnancy." I already had good habits of exercising regularly, drank a superfood shake which acted as my prenatal vitamin, and was semi-good about clean eating.

BUT 47 pounds later, lots of swelling, an 8lb 11oz baby boy that took me four hours to push out (without medication mind you), and I wasn't so sure I had this clean eating thing in the bag.

This second pregnancy I look and feel much better. My midwife is always commenting about how great I'm looking, that baby is smaller (she feels my body would do better delivering a slightly smaller babe), and is comfortable with me going longer between my appointments, so long as things continue to go well.

So, what did I do different this time? Here are 5 things that came to mind!

1. I was in better shape BEFORE I got pregnant the second time. I was probably in the best shape of my life and the healthiest version of me I've ever been. If you are already pregnant, this one isn't going to help you, but keep it in mind if you plan to have more kiddos.


2. I learned the art of meal planning and prepping my food ahead of time. We all know how intense pregnancy cravings can be. When you're craving something unhealthy, it's hard to resists in the moment, but when you prep your meals and snacks ahead of time, food that is delicious and nutritious, satisfying cravings can be easy and quick AND healthy.


3. Exercise! I exercised throughout my whole pregnancy with Toby, BUT what I didn't do was follow a specific program/plan. I kind of did the whole, "Today I feel like a dance cardio workout, and ummm... 10 minutes is plenty!" This time I found out I was pregnant on week 5 of an intense 6-week program where I followed the meal plan and workouts to a T. That helped launch me into a successful healthy pregnancy. Since then I've completed a 12-week, 25 minutes a day cardio focused program, and just recently started a 12-week strength training program. I'm also walking about 30 minutes a day pushing Toby in the jogger.


4. Yoga. I was never a fan of yoga in the past, but last July I forced myself to only do yoga for 3 weeks to see what I could gain from it. Throughout this pregnancy, I've done some prenatal yoga workouts and also a lower back pain routine whenever my lower back hurts, and—take it from me—it works!


5. Hydration. With my first pregnancy I was pretty good at this, but I only drank water (nothing wrong with that, but there are no electrolytes to help replenish my body after my workouts). This time I've also been drinking an all natural hydration drink during my workouts that not only tastes yummy but is good for me and the baby.

All of these things I believe have helped me maintain a slower, lower, healthier weight gain, on top of keeping swelling to a minimum. Overall, I feel loads better!

Now if I could just convince my body to sleep through the night ;-)

Hope this was helpful! If you have had more than one pregnancy and found the later one to be healthier, I'd love for you to share what you think was different.

If you'd like to know more about the workout routines I've been doing, where I access my yoga, or more about that amazing hydration drink, feel free to drop your email below or contact me above <3

Filled with HOPE,

Well Hello There 2018!

Whenever I look back on the outgoing year, it's often easy to find myself focussing on the failures, the missed goals, the things I didn't do, the things I did that I shouldn't have, but I refuse to go there this year!

Instead, I want to share a few highlights, as obviously I did a TERRIBLE job at keeping up with this blog ;-)

It was a joy and privilege to watch Toby grow and learn from 6-18 months. It's incredible to remember what he looked like and was capable of a year ago compared to now. He learned to sit, crawl, walk, run, say words (too many to keep track of at this point) and he is an unending source of energy and joy, filled with giggles and optimism. Being his mama has been one of the hardest and greatest opportunities in my life!

Earning an all-inclusive paid trip to the Dominican Republic in April was SO FUN! I left behind daddy and Toby for one week to relax in the sun, hang out with my teammates and friends poolside, try a new fitness program live with the trainer, swim with dolphins, and spend a day at the spa. It wore me out, but it FILLED my heart!

June brought our little man's FIRST birthday! We celebrated with a Little Blue Truck theme because that was the first book he took to. Many of our Hawai'i ohana came and celebrated with us as we enjoyed breakfast food (Toby's favorite meal at the time was breakfast), cake, and games.

Jake and I celebrated 5 years of marriage on June 30th! Time has flown by. I can't believe we've already been together that long, but at the same time it's hard to remember life before "us." We didn't manage to actually celebrate until August with a fancy dinner at one of our favorite restaurants with a gorgeous ocean view.

In August I went all in with a new fitness program and eating plan—the same program I had tried out in the Dominican Republic. I was getting amazing results and sticking to the nutrition 100% UNTIL I found out I was 7 weeks pregnant with our second little one! I was so proud of myself for following through with the workouts until the end though and setting myself up for a healthy and fit pregnancy.

In September, Toby and I flew to New England to spend the month with family and friends. Jake joined us two weeks later. The trip was filled with hiking, apple picking, cousin time, family dinners, apple cider making, meals with friends, new babies and lots of catching up. It was so fun to see Toby interact with his grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and our friends. While we were there we found out baby #2 is another BOY!

We had our first Friendsgiving here on Maui—actually, we had two! It was different than what we were used to, but we are thankful to have had a Thanksgiving filled with delicious food and great company.

In December we made a bucket list of Christmas activities we wanted to do around Maui and one-by-one we ticked them off the list—a holiday train ride, tree lighting ceremony, driving and walking around looking at Christmas lights, the "snowfall" at the mall, and our annual Christmas Cookie Baking Christmas Movie Watching Marathon where we packaged up all the goodies and delivered them to our friends.

And that's about it in a nutshell.

One thing I've found myself struggling with as we head into the new year is a sense of direction. Typically, by this time, I have a "word" for the year and a verse to go with it. I've thought of several words such as brave, growth, courage, etc., but nothing has really jumped out at me. Instead of rushing and forcing this theme to happen I'm choosing to continue to be open to what God might want me to focus on. I already know this year is going to include growing my business with the goal of one day buying a home here, working at deepening my prayer life, learning what life with two little boys will bring, serving our church, and lots more I'm sure!

What was the highlight reel of your 2017? Do you have a theme, word, or verse for 2018?

Filled with HOPE,

How I lost 5lbs In Two Weeks On My Porch!

Do you ever find yourself settling for less because you think it's the best it's ever going to get—it could be your job, finances, living conditions, health/fitness, kids behavior, etc.?

That's where I found myself recently. I had worked hard at my personal health and fitness over the course of three years. Even though I was proud of what I had accomplished, I was still comparing myself to others: "She's doing the same program as me. How come her results are better?"

But it wasn't a question of who was getting better results. It had to do with commitment. If I was completely honest with myself I would realize that I wasn't pushing myself like I could have.

Was I following the eating plan 100%?

Was I pushing myself to the max in each workout by upping my repetitions, weights, and effort?

No?

Well, then why was I complaining?

Two weeks ago I decided to stop the comparison game. Instead of making excuses and complaining that I wasn't getting the same results, I decided to own my process and my results.

I went all in. I began meal prepping four days at a time to make it easier to stay on track. I picked a fitness program that is cardio agility based along with strength training and increased my weights from ten to fifteen pounds. When I wanted to stop before the clock hit zero I went even harder.

I still have a whole week left, but the five pounds I've lost along with several inches from those stubborn places like my waist is inspiring. I plan to charge through week three!

Here's a sneak peek of my results so far!

If you've found yourself settling in your health and fitness, making excuses, hitting a plateau, or just needing to up your game, then this program is for you.

It's only three weeks long, but it's delivering inspiring results, and that's hugely motivating. If you are looking to step up your fitness, get some quick results to keep you motivated, and/or get past a plateau, then let me know. I'll give you more details about what I'm doing and help you reach your fitness goals too!

Meal Prep: Take 2 – With Limes This Time!

You guys!!!

That first four days of meal prep I did last week was SO NICE I jumped into round two on Thursday. Below is photographic proof of how much this mom rocked it!

So what made it so nice? Well, even though the prepping itself can easily take 2-3 hours, depending on what you make and how much, once you're prepped you're prepped. No more scrambling 30 minutes before meal times trying to figure out what to eat. It is WORTH it!!

So, here's what I made for the next 4 days. If you read my last post (How To Meal Prep When You Don't Meal Prep) you might recall that I doubled up two different menus, as in I eat the same thing on Thursday and Saturday and eat another option Friday and Monday.

New Recipes I used:

Instant Pot Chili Lime Chicken

Baked Chili Lime Potato Chips



Thursday/Saturday Meals

Breakfast: 1/2 frozen banana, 1 cup frozen spinach, 1 cup water and Chocolate Shakeology.

Snack: 1/2 large apple with 2 teaspoons of peanut butter.

Lunch/Afternoon Snacks: 1 cup lettuce, 3/4 cup shredded Lime Cilantro Chicken, 1/2 cup black beans 1 tablespoon oil based dressing along with 2 hard boiled eggs.

Dinner: 1 lean hamburger patty served with lettuce and tomato (not pictured for freshness), choice of cheese, baked sweet potato fries (mine were Okinawan so they are purple), mixed veggies of zucchini and carrots.



Friday/Monday Meals

Breakfast: 1/2 frozen banana, 1 cup frozen spinach, 2 teaspoons of peanut butter, 1 cup water and Chocolate Shakeology. (I seriously love it that much! If you want to try it for yourself feel free to contact me through my email at the top of the blog.)

Snack: 2 eggs cooked your favorite way, can add veggies and make a scramble or omelet.

Lunch/Afternoon Snacks: 1 cup lettuce, 1/2 cup cut up strawberries and blueberries combined, 1/4 cup feta, 1 tablespoon oil based dressing along, chili lime baked potato chips, carrots.

Snack: 3/4 cup 2% plain yogurt with a few blueberries and strawberries.

Dinner: Shishkabobs made of chicken marinated in lime juice, zucchini, tomato and pineapple, baked diced potatoes with your choice of seasonings, steamed broccoli with 1/4 cup cheese.

If you're wondering, what is up with all the lime? Well, there is a good reason. A friend of mine has a lime tree and so she has more limes than she can spare. She gave me over a dozen, and so for this meal prep I Googled all things lime to use what I had been given but also add some different flavors to the prepared meals. It worked splendidly!

If you have any questions about my meal prepping game, the Shift Shop program, or any of the recipes or links above, feel free to comment below or contact me <3

How To Meal Prep When You Don't Meal Prep

I am not by nature a meal planner/prepper even though I encourage my clients to do so—yep, I went there!

Truth is, my biggest struggle is the food! I LOVE all things sugar and carbs and it takes me great discipline to stay on track with a healthy, clean eating plan that has little to none of those things in it.

So when I go "all in" and fully commit to a fitness program and eating plan it requires me to do things I don't normally do. In this case, it was meal prepping.

In order to make it a bit more fun, I snagged the Instant Pot on Amazon when it was on sale for Prime Day along with ordering some Bento Boxes to make my food look like the professionals.

This is what I got: (affiliate links)

• Instant Pot DUO80 7-in-1 Multi-Use Programmable Pressure Cooker, 8 Qt | Stainless Steel
• [20 Pack] 3 Compartment Meal Prep Containers BPA Free Portion Control Bento Boxes (39 Oz.)

With these items, it seemed as though I could conquer the WORLD, or at least the food prep world. Even though when I started out I was COMPLETELY unorganized. I hadn't nailed down exactly what I was going to eat each day, but I had purchased plenty of options to fit into the Shift Shop eating plan so it was just a matter of portioning things out.

So, with Google in hand, I put my new Instant Pot to work cooking sweet potatoes, eggs, and broccoli.

Recipes:

• Hardboiled Eggs Using The High Pressure Recipe
• Sweet Potatoes - Will warn you that the 2 that were on the smaller size became MUSH, but the 2 true medium sized ones came out perfect!
• Broccoli - pretty basic, but I didn't know how long to cook. Remember I JUST got my Instant Pot!
• The only other recipe I used to make my meal was for sweet potato chips!

If you're dying to know what I made, here we go!

Keep in mind I am in the "A" plan for the Shift Shop, which for week 1 is 3 veggies, 2 fruits, 4 proteins, 2 carbs, 2 teaspoon, 1 healthy fat, and 1 seeds and dressing.

To make it easier I started with 4 days worth, but doubled up two different menus, as in I eat the same thing Monday and Wednesday and eat another option Tuesday and Thursday.

Monday/Wednesday Meals

Breakfast: 1/2 frozen banana, 1 cup frozen spinach, 1 cup water and Chocolate Shakeology.

Snack: 3/4 Cup 2% plain yogurt with a few blueberries and strawberries.

Lunch/Afternoon Snacks: 1 cup lettuce, 1/2 cup cut up strawberries and blueberries combined, 1/4 cup feta, 1 tablespoon oil based dressing along with 2 hard boiled eggs and 1/2 cup grapes, sweet potato chips from 1 medium potato.

Dinner: 1 serving of grilled chicken, 1 cup cooked broccoli, 1/2 large sweet potato with cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of butter.

(The other allotted teaspoon I account for extra virgin olive oil I used for cooking my chicken and sweet potato chips in.)

Tuesday/Thursday Meals

Breakfast: 1/2 frozen banana, 1 cup frozen spinach, 1 cup water and Chocolate Shakeology. (I seriously love it that much! If you want to try it for yourself feel free to contact me through my email at the top of the blog :-) )

Snack: 3/4 cup 2% plain yogurt with a few blueberries and strawberries. (Mostly the same because I want to use up the yogurt before it goes bad ;-) )

Lunch/Afternoon Snacks: 1 cup lettuce, 1/2 cup black beans, 1 serving grilled chicken, 1 tablespoon oil based dressing, 1/4 avocado (not pictured because I like it fresh), along with 1 cup of grapes.

Dinner: 1 serving of grilled steak, 1 cup sauteed zucchini, 1/2 large sweet potato with cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of butter.

(The other allotted teaspoon I accounted for on my steak before grilling and when I sauteed the zucchini.)

And there you have it! It's not too fancy, but all the meals are full of flavor and super yummy!

I also went ahead and made my husband these same meals (with his permission of course). In order to make it easy for us to grab food from the fridge, I used a dry erase marker and wrote on the top of each lid: name, meal, and day.

My plan is to do the next 3-4 days of prep on Thursday to round out the week. I may or may not pick two new meals for those days just to change things up. If I do new ones you better believe I'll share it with you!

So there you have it, my easy, simple, but delicious meal prep for Shift Shop. Having those cute containers to pull out of the fridge today really helped me stay on track 100% for day one.

If you have any questions about my meal prepping game, the Shift Shop program, or any of the recipes or links I shared above feel free to comment below or contact me <3

The Newest At Home Fitness Program - Shift Shop

I always get excited when Beachbody announces a new fitness program, but this one I'm especially
excited for! It's called Shift Shop and was created by NASM certified trainer Chris Downing. He's put together a 3-week rapid rebuild program that will give you quick results and help you rebuild your body and reinvent your life.

One of the things that impressed and stood out to me about Chris is his ability to motivate and inspire you to leave it all on the floor. It doesn't matter if you are at the peak of your fitness journey and want to push a little harder or if you are just starting out, you can always reinvent and become a better version of yourself.

Not only is Chris inspiring, but you can tell he genuinely cares about you, your results, your journey, and your success. I got the awesome privilege to do two of his workouts when I went on the Beachbody Success Trip to Punta Cana in April. I fell in love with this program immediately! Here is a little video from one of the workouts there. Sorry for the poor quality, my phone got killed and I salvaged this from Facebook :-(

If you are familiar with Chalene Johnson and love how she is always so inspiring and uplifting, you are gonna love Chris. He's like her male clone ;-) He has the ability to make you believe in yourself and that you can do anything. It's that belief that will help you crush this program and get your results.

So, what exactly is the Shift Shop Workout?

• It is a 3-week rapid rebuild program, which means instead of repeating the exact same workouts from week to week, you'll progress through a series of increasingly challenging routines.
• It is for anyone who wants to ramp up their fitness to the next level FAST!
• It starts with basic 25 minute workouts and increases to advanced 45 minute routines, all while honoring your nutrition for optimal results because we all know how important nutrition is.
• It is a great program for all fitness levels. If you have a lot of weight to lose, shift shop will be your on-ramp to fitness. If you have spent time away from your regular routine, Chris will lead you through a fitness tune-up.
• The workouts are 25-45 minutes a day, 6 days a week for 3 weeks.
• There is a workout modifier in every workout, so anyone can do this.
• It will be officially available on July 12, 2017, so make sure you get on my list to stay up to date on the latest release information.

I will be hosting a Shift Shop Virtual Fit Camp starting on July 24! If you want to get my personal mentoring, coaching, support, and be a part of our awesome fit fam and one of the first to try out this program please fill out my online form.

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Blueberry & Avocado Muffins - Toddler Approved

I've been on the hunt recently for food that Toby can eat on his own, as he's proven very independent
when it comes to eating. I'm by no means a perfect mom but I do try to give him wholesome food when I can. Last week I was gifted a dozen avocados from my landlords uncle, and so I went on a mission to find a good recipe to use them in.

I cam across this Blueberry Avocado Mini Muffins at Baby Foode and adapted it to make it work for us.
Blueberry & Avocado Muffins

2 cups whole wheat flower
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 ripe organic avocado, seeded and peeled (I used 1 1/2 because they were on the small side)
1/3 cup organic coconut sugar (original recipe called for 1/2 cup of organic raw sugar)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup plain whole fat yogurt [I used  Fage]
1 pint or 1 1/4 cup organic blueberries (I used frozen)

Heat oven to 375 and spray or line a regular or mini muffin tin.

In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, scoop out avocado, discarding seed, and beat until smooth and creamy. Add sugar and beat well. Beat in egg until completely combined. Add vanilla, yogurt and cinnamon and blend well.

Pour in the flour mixture 1/3 at a time, mixing until just combined. Gently fold in blueberries. Spoon into muffin tin, filling 3/4 way to the top.

Bake for 15 minutes for mini muffins (check to be sure they are done mine took longer) or 25-30 minutes for regular muffins, or until toothpick domes out clean. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes before transitioning to rack.
Makes 36 mini muffins or 12 regular muffins. Store in air-tight container on counter for 1 week (I stored in the fridge due to how quickly food spoils here in HI)

*I did notice my batter seemed to be pretty thick and upon doing a little research it looks like it may be due to the coconut sugar as it absorbs a lot of water. They still came out fine, just an fyi :-)

Toby loves them, he is able to eat them fine with only 2 teeth and the only downside is the mess he makes ;-)

Let me know if you try these for yourself or your little one and how you liked it!