Life Lately.

So I am trying to get into Nursing school. It's super competitive and because of that I have to re-take 3 classes due to a time limit on prerequisites. I also have to take the HESI at some point...and test out of a math class so I need to study for that. I am feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment with 3 classes and having a newborn. I wasn't feeling overwhelmed until my online, PSYCH 101 class started and oh my goodness there is a lot of work for it. I have taken a few online classes and know they are a lot of work, but this one seems excessive. I feel bad because I have been trying to do work for it today and have been ignoring my kid. Also I was getting frustrated with him taking so long to nurse (it wasn't that long, I just have no patience). He's only 5 months old so I CANNOT feel like that. Time management is going to be so important and I am just going to have to find a way to make everything work.

I have an interview to volunteer at a hospital next Tuesday which will also be good for my application. I have volunteered there before in high school and really liked it so I am excited to do it again. Hopefully I can volunteer Tuesday morning before class or on Friday when my mom can watch him. I know I will be able to get everything done that I need to this semester to apply to nursing school, but I am currently stressed out by the sheer volume of everything combined with trying to be a good mom.

How am I handling the feeling of being overwhelmed completely? Well I have had two beers and am typing this up. I know I know, not the best idea. Sometimes I am a completely well-adjusted individual and use working out as my stress relief. Other times I need a beer (or two) and feel a bit of a mess. I'm much better than I used to be though. Also, my baby is napping so give me a break.

In baby news, having a 5 month old is AWESOME! I love the stage he is right now. He laughs, he loves his bouncer, he is good at going to bed, he sleeps until at least 5 am. I really think my kid is perfect (even if he wasn't I would think he was because I love him so much). This is why I feel so bad for ignoring him to do school work today. I don't know if I am just lucky with a great kid or as my mom says, I have a good attitude about it. I don't know, but I know I love him to pieces. I think one problem that new moms have is they expect too much from their baby. We can not expect babies, or children, to act like adults. Heck, I am an adult and sometimes I protest the things I need to do. They get done, but some days I miss playing WoW all day with no responsibility. With having a kid my responsibilities have increased a ton. What with keeping a child alive. That's why on some days like today when I get overwhelmed, I drink beer (or two) in the middle of the day. I shouldn't, but we are not all perfect so shhhhhhhhhhh.

So hungry!

I am so hungry right now. Day 3 of healthy eating and staying around 1600 calories. I just killed legs at the gym and it is hard for me to not binge eat after that. So I had some eggs whites, chicken breast, and spinach. I had to cover it in salsa to make it less boring haha. I have to wait one hour and ten minutes to eat my next meal. *sign* I'm not sure if this will work for very long. One problem is breastfeeding makes me sooo hungry. At least I'm not craving sweets as much anymore (unless you count peanut butter). I did order some of that powdered peanut butter so that may help. I may just have to go over in calories today. Leg day is just tough! I'm still on the fence about adding extra calories due to breastfeeding. I want to drop weight quickly though. I'm rambling. I'm tired because the kid woke up at 4 and 6.

I haven't failed yet!

It is day TWO of me eating well, honestly tracking my calories, and sticking with an exercise routine (not that that was ever the problem). I know I will eat like a fatty fat when we go to San Diego next week, but for this week I am doing well. so far. Not that that is saying much since it is only Tuesday haha. I've made a few small changes that I can sustain for quite some time that will help cut back on calories. Number one, is switching my morning eggs to egg whites and cutting out the cheese. Now, I'm not going to do this forever because let's be honest, real eggs are much better and cheese is great, but for now this is working for me. I also made these Italian Zucchini Turkey Burgers and they are fantastic. Fantastic and only 144 calories. AND packed with zucchini.

Tonight for dinner I am going to make mahi mahi. I have some brown rice cooked up and I am going to grill up some portobello mushrooms. I'm definitely craving a beer, but I don't have any beer that I want to drink. Well, that's not entirely true. I'll be drinking enough beer in San Diego anyways so I can survive a few days.

30-Day Challenge

I somehow agreed to a 30-day challenge group on Facebook. It's one of those Beachbody things, but I said I already have an exercise routine I like...plus I don't want to spend money for a 21-day fix thing. Mostly because I don't have money and mostly know about nutrition due to my mom. Anyways. so this morning I weighed myself and took some before pictures (if you ever want to depress yourself, do that). I'm trying to get my kid to sleep so I can do some meal prep stuff, but it' not working. I did find a fitness routine I am trying. I started yesterday. It is Lee Labrada's body trainer. I did day 1 yesterday and am surprisingly sore in my biceps. I have been sort of lazy with them since Lucas was born since he weighs so much it is hard to carry him if I work my arms really hard. Anyways, let me post the before pictures and try not to barf. Also starting weight is 165 this morning.

Gross, gross, gross. Also, the no makeup, gross hair because I haven't had a chance to shower is not a good look. Oh well. I swear I can be semi-attractive when I try.

I actually made it to the gym 5 times last week! I was super proud! I switched gyms and now am a member of a much closer to me, LA Fitness. I like it. I've missed LA Fitness because there is a lap pool. I got the childcare also which I am summoning the courage to use today so I can do day 2 of the workout that I am supposed to. I'm nervous. New things make me nervous, especially where my kid is concerned. The kids club is open 8-12 and 4-8. He sleeps more in the am so I am not sure if I want to mess with that. However I feel it will be busier in the pm and that makes me nervous. I don't know why since I will be like 50 feet away haha.

I Dislike Scales.

I weighed myself this morning. It's a little discouraging how the weight is not going down anymore. I just expected it all to fall off. They always say it just falls off when you are breastfeeding. Well not for everyone. I have ran into quite a few people who have said "oh you can't even tell you had a baby!" Of course that is nice to hear, but the scale does not reflect it. Not even close.

There are a few things contributing to this problem. One, I'm not working. At work I ran around all day. Now I sit around a lot, especially when I am playing with the kid on his mat. If it wasn't 100 plus degrees in Tucson the obvious solution would be to get outside. Unfortunately, it's summer in Tucson and my kid hates being hot. Two, diet. Everyone always says diet is the most important. My soda addiction is back in full force. I also need to chill on carbs, since I am not running around all day. Three, workouts. I am getting to the gym and doing yoga regularly, but the intensity has not been there. I need to up my cardio for sure.

I always find it easier to set small goals. Especially with diet since diet is what I struggle with. My goal for this week is to cut out soda. For my fitness goal this week, I want to add 20 burpees to my daily routine. So two small goals, easy to manage. I'm fact I just did my burpees. Man are they tough!

Clean Eating? Is it something I can do?

I'm pretty good about eating "real" food. I could do better with it of course, but I have a pretty solid base. Over the next few weeks I am going to work on cleaning up, nip and tuck, my diet to attempt to get to that magic 80/20 ratio of "clean" food to junk food. Let's be real, I love junk food and sometimes I just really want some Goldfish crackers.

There are a few things I need to work on eliminating/substituting for something better:

1) Diet-freaking-Coke! I had successfully broke my soda habit, but it came back with a vengeance once my son was born. I just need to not buy it. I'm almost done with my current supply. Then no more, I swear, I promise!

2)  Corn tortillas (Mission brand). I need to find a brand with a few less ingredients. That being said, I am not too concerned with this.

3) Cheese: I have a huge bag of pre-shredded, monteray jack cheese that I use because it is so easy. Pre-shredded cheeses are a no-no.

4) My vietnamese, instant coffee mix. I am addicted to the stuff. I buy it at the asian market in town. However, it would not be considered a clean drink. I need to go back to regular coffee with a splash of almond milk.

5) Bread. Every day for lunch I eat a tuna fish sandwich. I love sandwiches. I eat whole grain bread from Oro Wheat, but need to search for something else. I had heard Ezekiel bread is a good alternative.

6) Mayonnaise: For my daily tuna fish sandwich. I know I could make my own, but heard it is very hard to find pasturized eggs. I was considering substituting plain, greek yogurt or just finding the most healthy pre-made mayo I can. Or I could eat something else for lunch for once...

Basically I have a few substitutions I need to make. I do refuse to substitute my Heinz ketchup. Moderation. Maybe I will drag the kid to Sprouts today for some grocery shopping.

On the kid front, he has learned how to blow raspberries and it is hilarious.

The Reasons I Want to Smack my Husband.

Being a new parent is hard. It becomes more difficult when you and your significant other are not on the same page. I am in that boat right now. My husband thinks I should just put our son down when he is crying after he has been fed and changed because he thinks he needs to just reset. Sure, that is logical, but newborn babies are not logical. It's just lazy parenting on his part and it is pissing me off. I'm home all day with this kid and up throughout the night with him. This is what I have learned about our son. During the day he likes stimulation and human contact. He likes to bounce and swing, but from a person, not a machine. You cannot spoil a newborn. I may leave the house tomorrow morning during his fussy time so he can become familiar with what it is like. I don't trust him though since he likes to think out kid will soothe himself. That is terrible to say and obviously something in our relationship we need to work on asap.

He is really freaking cute though.

Well it has been awhile...

So I haven't updated this in almost 2 years. My things have changed. For one, I got married. For two, I had a baby! Three weeks and one day ago to be exact. I have started this up again mostly to help me track losing the baby weight and getting back into fitness. Also, since I am home all the time with a baby, writing things out every once and awhile may help my sanity at times.

First things first; I got put on bed rest at 32.5 weeks. I had to stop working and stop working out. So it has been a long time since I have lifted any weights. Once I got off bed rest I cleaned out my garage and did yard work and stuff, but haven't been to the gym in a LONG time! I miss it of course. May 4th is my appointment with my OB to get cleared for normal activities. So I have been allowed to walk. I walk almost every morning and luckily we have a lot of hills in our area so I feel like I get some exercise. I ended up gaining about 40lbs with pregnancy (I ballooned the last couple weeks). So far I have lost 20 and that came off very fast. Now I've plateaued, but hopefully I can start moving in the right direction once I am cleared to exercise again.

Now about my diet. I need to clean it up a bit. I'm breastfeeding which makes me hungry all the time. I've never been one to limit food, but I do need to clean up what I am eating. I'm trying to focus on a lot of protein, veggies, and fruit. The problem with not sleeping much is I start to snack more throughout the day. That is fine, I just need to focus on what I am eating. I'm not going to count calories yet since the kiddo eats every 1-2 hours but maybe st 3 months.

Anyways, I'm getting tired and a little loopy so I may lay down since the kid is asleep. I will start documenting with photos soon, but they are not backed up on google drive so I need to work on that.