Meal prepping

It is imperative for me to have my meals ready for the day * or the week* otherwise, if I am hungry and I have nothing healthy to eat, I will run to closest drive thru.  And if i want to change my eating habits then i need to meal plan and have my meals ready for work. Specially because i have a full time job, 40 hours a week. It definitely makes my life easier and helps me stay on track.

The container System

In case you are reading this and you didn't know. I am doing the 21 day fix. An amazing workout/meal program that has taught me so much and has allowed me to change my life. The program comes with 7 containers, one for each of the food groups.
Veggies, Fruit, Protein, carbs, healthy fats and cheese, seeds and oils.
For my meal prepping, i mainly focus on 3 containers.

 

The day I start using as meal prep is Sunday, sometimes i will do some some cooking on saturday to help me on Sunday. Like for example. I had made a big batch of brown rice and cooked some chicken in the crock pot.

 With the chicken ready and the rice ready, on Sunday i focused on my veggies. With the 21 day fix i have learned that in order for me to stick to this lifestyle, i need to eat things that i like. If i had to eat celery all day every day, i would quit immediately, not a fan of celery. LOL

So I threw in a pot a bunch of my favorite veggies and cooked them.

Once I have all my pieces of the puzzle ready, it's time to put my lunches together.

For my lunches I usually use two green , one red and two yellow

I had cooked mixed veggies. I used my yellow one with brown rice and my red one has  the shredded chicken.

I throw everything in a pan with some olive oil. MIxed it all together and add any spices that i want.

I put my one day meal in a container and repeat these steps five more times, and BAM my meals for the week are ready.:) At least the main meals, I usually throw other stuff in my lunch bag, but i will post about those another time.

What is the 21 day fix?

Sweet potato fries

I wanted to share a very common recipe that it's quickly becoming one of my favorites.
I make this at least once a week They are super yummy!

2-4 Sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped

Olive Oil

Salt, pepper, paprika *sometimes i use cinnamon instead*

Preheat the oven at 450

Peel your sweet potatos and i cut them up. I like the french fry shape.

Put them in a cookie sheet and drizzle some olive oil

Move your sweeet potatoes, make sure they are coated well with the olive oil

Add the salt, pepper,paprika *or cinnamon*

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes

Enjoy.

These are not only healthy, they are 21 day fix approved!

I believe in my self!

  

I have been "overweight" or chunky all my life, that is just a fact.
I remember being in 5th grade and noticing that my legs (thighs) were really big and even had stretch marks.
Even at my smallest, i was a size 12, This was back in high school.  It was just the way my body is shaped and my culture. I was born in Mexico, land of of the enchiladas and tacos and sour cream on everything. My genes didn't help either. My family is on the heavy set side of the scale. So I thought it was just my destiny to live unhealthy and be "chunky"
35 Years, 3 children later.. my "chunkiness" has just gotten worse.
I would try to eat better, i would try to work out, but I never would stick to anything.
I would start running, only to quit a few weeks later, I would try to eat smaller portions, with no success.

I have cried because i don't have clothes that fit. 
I would get winded just tying my shoes or going up the stairs
I would avoid taking pictures of me, but if someone managed to get me in a picture, i would hate the way i would look in them.
I have been depressed and just sad all around. 
I am not confident at all, there are days where i didn't give a rat's ass on my appearance.
No liking the person i see in the mirror doesn't help your depression, doesn't help your life, and it just drags you down.
In my case, i am emotional eater, which means that when i have issues or something going on, all i can think is what fast food places I am going to go for lunch. 
Eating unhealthy food, just makes me look and feel worse, which just makes me sad, and being sad....well, you get it, just a never ending vicious circle.

I love instagram, I follow a lot of inspirational people, people that are losing weight or that have lost weight, because being healthy and being thin has been a wish of mine. I didn't know if it was ever going to be possible, but I always look for inspiration. Specially on social media.

On Instagram I hard about the 21 days fix, a beachbody fitness program. Now i had heard about Beachbody before, but i had never payed more attention to it.
I don't remember the details, but I ended up purchasing the product from one of the people i follow on instagram. 

I was excited, i thought to myself...wow, maybe this is it!! Maybe this time i will stick to something.
I got my box in the mail a few days later. I am not going to lie to you, i was scared  overwhelmed. This little box came with workout DVD's, a meal plan, food containers, a bag of shakeology and a lot of information. 

I thought...what the heck...what do i have to lose?? Let's try this thing and see what happens.

The first few days, i was so confused about the food and the amount I should be eating, but as days went on it just got easier and easier. The workouts?? Well those were hard, why?? because I was heavy, a heavy girl trying to do pushups or jumping jacks?? Not fun, not fun at all.

Today a couple of months later, i can tell you that I BELIEVE IN MYSELF!!
I have stuck with this, i have lost about 10-12lbs. My clothes fit better. I have energy, and my confidence is improving every day.
Now, there are days where i see myself in the mirror and the old me creeps up, the negative one that thinks I am too fat, yes, i am still overweight, but I just gotta keep reminding myself that this will take time. It won't change in a month or two, it will take time, but i gotta tell you. This is the first time in a long time where i have hope, i have plans, i have goals. And this makes me feel amazing!!

Inspired by Pinterest

 I have been inspired by Pinterest. Yes, like many others i have been sucked in to the wonderful world of pins, delicious food, gorgeous houses, millions of DIY and I want to do it all..LOL

About a year ago we bought a house. With this, it came this overwhelming sense of being crafty.. I wanted my house to be pretty and i wanted to do it by myself.

So if you follow me on Instagram you will see that i have tried every little craft out there from painting the inside of vases to putting cute scrapbook paper inside frames.:)

Our bed didn't have a headboard. I started looking on pinterest and saw gorgeous pins about DIY Headboards, pins like these two

 

I was inspired!

So I knew that we needed a headboard, and I knew that we had some wood leftover from our fence. 

I knew that i wanted my headboard tall. so I grabbed like 10 boards and I sanded them.

 Until they were smooth. I sanded both sides with a 40 grit and only one side with 100 grit (Since only one side is what you really see)

 Then I stained the wood

 

The hubby had to come and help with this part. But he screwed  3 woods pieces to the wall.. and then screwed the boards to those thin pieces

 

This is my finished product. Thank you pinterest!

It's been a loong time!

I haven't used this blog in ages. So much has happened since i last posted. My youngest is 2 1/2 years old and he is amazing. In my last entry i had posted part of the struggles that we were going through. Now it seems like all that happened forever ago.
The new year just started, and i have so many goals and  things i want to do and achieve in my life. I hope that blogging helps me to clear my mind when i need it and keep me focused.:)

Starting all over again..so unprepared

It's been such a long time since I posted in my blog, a lot has happened since i posted pictures. I feel like i need somewhere to rant and unwind about everything that is going on my life, so here I am.
Last Halloween I found out i was pregnant, with my third child, a total surprise, a total whoops. I am going to be honest..the moment i found out..i cried, I cried because I was sure that i was done having kids, I felt like i was done with all baby related things.
Fast forward 9 (almost 10 months later) and I am in Love. Emmett Ryan Landolt was born on June 25th, 2011. At a whooping 9 lbs 10 1/2oz and 22 1/2inch. It was a difficult delivery, He was "sunny side up" or facing up when he was going to be delivered, before delivery, the doctor flipped him in utero. And let me tell you, that was painful, and maybe even a little traumatizing, looking back now, there are parts of the delivery where I can't remember certain details. I don't want to bore you with a birth story. Since I can't remember all of it..so it probably wouldn't make sense.
At this point i got to clarify, this is my third child, and before Emmett, both of my children were such easy labors and deliveries, that i wasn't prepared for this. I didn't get to hold Emmett right away, because of his "sunny side up" condition and another condition that was discovered short after birth *He skips a beat, so his heart beat is/was abnormal at birth.
They worked on him and checked his vitals and cleaned him up for what it felt like an eternity, finally they gave him to me and I held him. My son, daughter, mother in law and a couple of friends were able to meet him and hold him, not for long because of his heart condition he had to be monitored and they took him for an EKG, He had to have this EKG done for four hours. So for four hours he was gone from my side, and the only thing i kept thinking was that I didn't even nurse my baby, i didn't get to hold him for long.:(
After delivery i got really sick. I was nauseous and throwing up, so much that they had to sedate me, so part of those four hours i was asleep..totally passed out.
Ok, here, our breastfeeding struggle begins.
Four hours later, they bring in little Emmett, I start breastfeeding and he seems to be having issues latching.He opens his mouth and sucks, but a few seconds later, he pushes my nipple out with his little tongue, I tried and tried and tried, until he finally latched on right, only to nurse for a few minutes to do this again.
We do this for a a couple more days, he wants to nurse, but keeps "rejecting" my breast, will sleep most of the time.
We go home, two days later, still having the same issues, by now he started showing breast preference, he wants nothing to do with my left breast, screams bloody murder every time i even attempt to put him on it.
After working for a couple of days and the lactation consultant from the Naval Hospital, he starts nursing via tubing, he is getting hungry, my milk is not in yet and it's not coming fast enough for him.
I work on him latching better, he actually started latching on my left side,he does not nurse as vigorously on my left, but i feel like he just "gave up" and did it to keep momma happy.LOL
All this time, he has been cranky, he is not content and cries bloody murder..I am starting to feel like a failure, I feel alone, sad, disconnected, sore, and maybe eve a little depressed. Why is my baby acting so different, his brother and sister weren't like that. I know it's not good to compare, but at this point I was realizing that this baby was going to be different.
Also, on top of this, he is jaundiced, not severely, but enough where they are talking to me about supplementing.
My milk comes in, and he starts nursing a little better. He behavior hasn't changed much, he is always acting hungry and never satisfied, you know that "milk comma" or "breastmilk drunk" face that so many babies have after a good "meal" My baby has never had that..:( He sleeps and is happy now..but i feel like my milk has never totally filled him up. There was times that with tears in my eyes i had to make him formula.. the thing that I didn't want to do..Just thinking about giving up, without a fight, and using formula..even just a little bit..to fill him up..How could I fail my baby!!
He started going for weight checks..and he went down to 8lbs 14 oz. For his lenght and weight he could only go down to 8lbs 10oz. So i start stressing out.:(
I start doing some research. And i found this link
Forceful letdown, Emmett had all the symptoms, specially the gagging, chocking,gulp and gasp. He even has stopped breathing for a few seconds, giving me big scares.
I start working on this, changing positions and feeding him only one side at a time. Sometimes this was so much work because he was so little and so hard to feed him "sitting up"
From the moment we came home from the Hospital i noticed that he preferred to lean his head to his left side, I assumed that he would grow out of it, but as days go by, I notice it more and more..sometimes when I am changing his clothes and move his head a little too much to the right, he will scream bloody murder..again, feeling like a failure, because there is something wrong with my baby and I am making it worse.
I start putting two and two together, his neck and him not nursing on my left side are related.
 Also he has failed his hearing test, 3 times, and yes only on one side..and yes..you guessed right, he has failed on his left side.
Right now..almost 5 weeks later. I feel like such a failure, i pump and pump, not not enough to start a stash of breastmilk for when i go to work. Most of the time he is crying, he has very few happy content moments.He acts hungry all the time and it seems like my breastmilk is not enough I gave in  and  I started giving him formula.
I am losing my supply on my left side from him not nursing as vigorously as he does on the right. My right breast still has a fast letdown but he seems to be dealing with it better.
I took him to the doctor for his neck and they did an X-ray, everything looks good on it and they are calling it Torticollis and they think that he will/should grow out of it. We have been working at home by moving his head gently to the other side and he got a referral from the doctor for Physical Therapy.
Some days feel like such a struggle, him not nursing well, him not being happy, him not being totally full..I feel like i am starving my child and no matter how much i feed him, he is never happy.


Because of my fast letdown and him choking and gagging during feedings, outings are NOT fun..it's really hard to get him to latch when we are out in public. He really hates to be held by somebody else and lately, the only thing he wants is to comfort nurse..even if he falls asleep, he doesn't want to let me go. I am hoping that this last behavior is just a growth spurt.
I still feel like i need help and advice, I am going back to work in a couple of weeks and feel like giving up. I don't know what to do and don't have a clue how i am going to make it work.
I love him so much, and i want to do what's best for him

Day 9

Day 8

Day 7