Friday, April 30, 2010

2nd Trimester - Feeling Great!

Hey Everyone,

Sorry its been so long since I've blogged, but I've been in pregnancy land trying to focus on that. I realized today that I've been making a lot of changes that are super awesome and healthy for me and my growin' baby so I thought I'd do a little blog to catch y'all up!

For a while I was just so sick all the time that I had to find simple, easy to make foods for myself that didn't make me want to run to the bathroom... but lately since I've been feeling so much better, I've found a lot of better foods to eat and am having to keep myself from over eating cause I am just loving everything. I am normally a 3 big meals a day kind of gal... but after re-reading all the pregnancy stuff - they drill it in your head to graze throughout the day... so I've really been trying to eat smaller meals, more often and make sure they are packed with goodies. A lot of veggies, fruit, wheat, and low fat whatever else I can find... and I'm feeling really good! I do splurge on occasion but I think as long as you are trying to make healthy choices throughout the day, a little treat now and then is just fine!

Also I've really picked up my workouts... in fact I think I'm working out more then I ever did before I got pregnant. Here's a good example of what I'm talking about. Because I always do my yoga on my wii fit - there is a very straight forward way to look at how often I am working out. Usually its very sparse, but lately its been a great deal better. For example in December 2009 (so before I was pregnant) I worked out 2 TIMES all month! January 2010 (very very beginning of my pregnancy) only worked out 1 TIME all month! (eek - first month was rough!)

February 2010 - started feeling a tiny bit better so I worked out 5 times all month! Twice in one week on 2 separate occasions! March 2010 I tried to do a little bit better and I reached 7 times that month! (again managing to work out 2 times a week). Now for April! I managed to work out 11 times this month and averaged 3-4 times a week!!! YAY FOR ME! :D I think I could have done better but I did take a whole week off when I had that cold in the early part of the month. Even still I'm quite proud of this improvement.

Not only am I working out more often, but I've stepped up the workouts. In the beginning I was just doing my Wii Fit yoga (15 min)... and then about a month ago I started with the "Summer Sanders Prenatal Workout" DVD I got... starting with the express workout (along with the yoga) which is another 9 minutes... getting my grand total of minutes to 24 minutes. Then this week I started doing the full length workout on the DVD and twice this week I did a total of 50 minutes! Feeling great! If any pregnant women stumble across this blog - I HIGHLY recommend the Summer Sanders DVD. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001VC995S/ref=ox_ya_os_product

Also starting designing the baby quilt for our baby - which btw the Doctors believe is a girl. My life is pretty simple right now - just trying to eat well, drink lots of water and take care of myself. Just for fun - here is a pic of the baby!


Thanks for reading! LOVE YOU ALL!

-Kela

Thursday, February 18, 2010

I'm Pregnant ... therefore eating is my friend...

Hey Everyone,

As you all probably know by now - I am Pregnant (just about 9 weeks right now - due September 24th, 2010 - and for those of you keeping track, yes that is THE DAY after Ryan's and I's 3rd wedding anniversary! Couldn't have done that on purpose if we tried, although we are hoping it will come early so our anniversary can remain "our" day.)

With all that in mind, I've been really trying to eat healthy, small portions as I've been told is best. It gets hard since I'm sick to my tummy a lot and not feeling any energy to put into feeding myself, but I've made some valiant efforts and I thought you all might be slightly curious what I'm eating!I started off eating pretty bland food, cause I was so sick to my stomach, here is the very un-elegant half of a Peanut Butter & Jelly and half a Banana. Not much to look at, but full of good things, whole wheat, protein, and fruit goodness! Sometimes I just can't handle even things this complicated so I'd go for a little:
Raisin bread and little Pineapple chunks in pineapple juice (No extra sugars, just good juice). Easy and still not too bad for me! As I started feeling better, or rather maybe the cause of feeling better - I started to branch out of the comfort bread and fruit routine and found that since I've gotten pregnant I suddenly like Cereal and Milk (2 things I never much cared for before... so I guess the rule is... don't be set in your ways... you never know what you might like... this should go for pregnant people and non-preggers alike!)

This is backed full of healthy goodness and sooo tasty - I used "Total" cereal, so it's got like practically all my prenatal vitamins in there! I love this breakfast, its easy, tasty and soo good for me and da-baby. :D

Then this morning I was craving something a bit more cozy so I went out on a limb and made this:
A nice 1/2 of an Everything bagel, 1/3 the fat cream cheese, a few little slices of tomato and a soft poached egg... with a nice side of super fresh crispy strawberries! OMG so indulgent yet not really that bad for me cause it has protein, dairy, veggies, grains, and fruit! Also made it for my step dad AL and he was totally into it. Next time I'm gonna add some steamed spinach... then it will be even better!

Dinner's are different every night mostly, sometimes we eat out cause I'm tired, but I've really tried to make an effort to make something. Sometimes its Turkey Tacos, or Turkey Spaghetti - both super crazy good if you haven't tried them. Sometimes its just a big salad. Last night I made this:
Some grilled herb chicken tenders, long grain wild rice and a nice little pile of fresh steamed spinach. This was a big hit as well, and really not hard to make. Also think of how good it is for you?

I eat other things of course too, but these are the items I thought would be accessible to most people and that I actually remembered to photograph.

I hope you enjoyed... and if any other pregnant mom's stumbled across this, I hope it gave you some ideas! Let me know if you have any questions or interested in any recipes (turkey goodness).

Thanks for reading!

xoxox,
Kela

Monday, January 11, 2010

The Joys Of Life

In this crazy world we live in, sometimes its the little things we must focus on... to realize just how wonderful the world is. I realize that I tend to focus on the negative, deciding to let them run my life. However today is not that kind of day. I've been watching Julie and Julia (Finally) and am stunned I didn't think to do what was done in this story. I've taken the last year off to do whatever I fancy... to find myself if you will... much like these women in the story... I know lots of people would view this as selfish or lazy... and of course it is... but it is also the most liberating, joyful experience of my life. I think that life is far too short not to follow your heart and do what feels right, as long as it doesn't negatively affect your life of course.

A few days ago I wrote down a list of things to accomplish for 2010... something I do every year... "New Years Resolutions" if you please. Most of the bullet points were generic - loose weight *and keep it off this time, try to be more patient and caring. Then I found myself writing down something I was surprised about - "keep a journal again". When I was younger... I wrote so much... I could barely take my eyes off the page... I'd right upwards to 10 pages a day and it never seemed like enough. Then... about 8-9 years ago... it just STOPPED. I could say it was Ryan's fault... but that's not really true. The reason I stopped is that I suddenly didn't feel I had anything of worth to write about - BECAUSE I didn't have any teen angst anymore... the constant inner conflict to deal with. So the writing stopped. Funny thing is... just because things aren't horrible doesn't mean I shouldn't write about them... in fact... as I said in the first paragraph... why only focus on the negative. This hit me like a ton of bricks this morning - as I realized I still had YET to start writing my journal. So I grabbed my purse and headed over to "Boarders" to find my new writing friend. The very first one I found was this beautiful spiral bound notebook... with the numbers 2010 on the front... and inside... one page for every day of the year. What a perfect motivation for me to stay focused and just write. This way if I miss a day... I'm killing trees for no reason... so I must write - FOR THE TREES! :D They died for me to be able to keep a promise to myself... so for them... I vow to do it. I wrote my first page today... I just hope I keep it up.

I know what your thinking.... "Kela -- Your writing on your blog right now... what's the difference?" For those of you who have not written in a journal... on a daily basis... I will tell you. The journal is for you... to look back and reflect on what your thinking and doing. The blog is to entertain all the folks who read online... I have been in this crazy limbo... deciding what to do with myself for the past year... experiencing new challenges and pushing myself to be a stronger more focused person. Yet... I've pulled away from what made me - me.

Back to food - cause you know that we all love to talk food. I picked up some of my favorite cheeses yesterday... and today... as my mom and I watched Julie and Julia we broke them out. From Raley's in Petaluma ... the ever elusive but highly sought after "Tuscan Pesto Brie" and the "Kerrygold - Reserve Cheddar (aged over 2 years - and imported from Ireland) - and as usual ... nothing can compare... it is really just THAT good. As amazing as the Reserve Cheddar is... if you have yet to try the Pesto brie... go... go get it now! You will not be disappointed. When I first found this cheese... not only did I not like Pesto ... but I wasn't huge on brie either. I know I'm Satan spawn or something, but its the truth... now... I just see its magic that much clearer. Also... I have noticed that my taste for food is ever evolving... things I never liked before suddenly are delicious and my tastebuds are yelling at me for not enjoying them earlier.

So with that said - I leave you with this. Life is too short to waste it on being good all the time. Indulge... enjoy... and savor life!

Thanks for listening,
Kela