Anyone who has had a child knows the struggle that you have trying to lose belly fat. We all just cross our fingers and hope that our belly will just go back to normal. That does happen to some, and for those of us that does not happen to can’t stand the ones that it does! The truth is, anyone can get their belly fat to go away after having a child, but it is going to take some work!
If you think that I am crazy, check out this story about Maria who has 5 kids. Yes, 5 kids!! This will prove that it is possibly to lose belly fat!!
Maria – a mom of five – continues to achieve fat loss results!
A recent trip to a “nutrition bar” only confirms the path that she is on.
“Jennifer (fellow FYMer) and I got these coupons to a new “nutrition” bar in our area. It was for a free smoothie, tea, and body analysis. So we thought we would go and check it out.
Well, when we arrived, I noticed everything was from Herbalife. Which I have never been impressed with their products but we stayed and talked to the owner anyway. So she chatted with us and had us fill out a survey and then offered us our free tea drink which she stated would make our bodies burn 160 calories just for drinking it.
I asked her how it did that, and she said “I don’t know it just does”. We declined the tea and the “healthy” smoothie because they were made with the Herbalife protein powder (full of sugar), pudding mix, and sugar-free syrups.
Then the owner stated she had lost 10 pounds in one month from drinking these smoothies twice a day and eating a colorful dinner. I asked her if her body fat percentage had changed at all (since she had the fancy testing machine) but she hadn’t retested yet. So we proceeded to get our body analysis done.
Drumroll please…….
I was expecting mine to be around 25% but it came back at 20%! I was shocked. I guess I see myself differently in the mirror. Jennifer’s was 17%!! We were surprised but very happy.
It was quite funny because the owner of the “nutrition” bar was surprised we each had 5 kids and that we looked so good.
She then said, and I quote: ” I am going to start doing what you guys do! You guys look great” I really wanted to tell her to stop taking all these so called healthy supplements and shakes and just start eating supportively but I couldn’t do it.
So Jennifer and I walked out of there feeling pretty good about ourselves and our way of life.
We laughed at the fact that the owner and pusher of these supplements was envying the way we looked. We noticed the bodies of all the employees and the owner’s in there and compared them to Holly’s body and were glad that we were listening to Holly who obviously knows what she is talking about. Just look at her!!! So thanks Holly, you are the bomb!!”
~ Maria Simpson, busy mom to 5 wonderful children (oldest is 11 and my baby just turned 2) and proud Fit Yummy Mummy
“I am so thankful I found Holly and Fit Yummy Mummy. I was at a point where I was feeling so fat and down on myself. I was faithfully working out 5 days a week running and doing exercise videos but nothing was changing. I was so frustrated. Then I found Fit Yummy Mummy! I knew it was the answer I was searching for.
I started right away. It was hard for me, but I quit running and focused on following the Fit Yummy Mummy plan to the letter. Almost instantly I started noticing results. I had energy through the roof and my clothes were getting looser.
I still found that runner’s high during intervals. I had great success!! I was even chosen as a finalist in the first transformation challenge held at ClubFYM!”
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We all could use tips to help us create healthy eating habits. We all have a lot to learn when it comes to eating healthy!
About a year ago I learned the best tip to help me create healthy eating habits! It seemed so simple. Why did I not think of this before now?
Here it is ….. prep your food for the week before the week begins! Wow! Something so easy will help to make sure that you are making supportive food choices, and better yet, creating healthy eating habits that you will take with you for the rest of your life.
This is how easy it is. When you get home from the store, instead of putting your produce away, leave it on the counter. Get out the cutting board, the knife and the ziplock bags and you are ready to go.
Wash all of the produce and prep away! Throw it is bags and stick it in your refrigerator. Now, you have healthy food ready for snacks! Plus everything is cut and ready for any recipes that may call for the produce too, so it will cut down on your prep time for dinner.
Here is a video of me prepping food for the week.
You can also do this with nuts or anything else that you would like to measure out and have ready for the week.
I hope this helps you create healthy eating habits for your lifestyle too!
Oh know, I said a look into your grocery cart, but in reality, this is MY grocery cart! For my last post, I showed you a video of everything that I got at the grocery store. The purpose of this video was to have Holly Rigsby, creator of Fit Yummy Mummy, review everything that I got. Well, she did it! Check out what she had to say.
It’s a Fact….
90% of Americans’ household food budget is spent on processed foods, the majority of which are filled with additives and stripped of nutrients. Filling our bodies with these foods leaves us feeling drained, suffering from headaches and most of all frustrated from a lack of results.
Good news is that you are HERE and as you begin to implement the Fit Yummy Mummy strategies you are making positive changes.
But let’s be honest – doing so can sometimes be so difficult.
Why?
1. We are busy!!! it is way to easy to grab what is perceived as “convenience foods”
2. We are overwhelmed!!!
There is SO much information on what to eat — what to avoid – and many of the messages conflict…then you walk into the grocery and it is so hard to assess the choices and make a sound decision.
The food industry knows this and takes advantage of women in this position by creating a variety of “easy Foods” that go out of their way to TELL you just how Healthy they are for you. In reality — they are not. You are wasting your money, your time and your valuable energy on crap.
So, how much easier would it be to reach your fat loss goals if you knew just what to buy at the grocery store and had a kitchen stocked with just what you needed?
Alison Liddic, who was the third place winner of the Summer Transformation Challenge and is founder of the blog www.WaysToBurnFatQuickly.com, had mentioned on our coaching call together that she wished I could just go to the store with her. While I would love to make this happen, the next best thing was to ask her to video her grocery store purchases and I would do a Fit Yummy Mummy critique.
Well here is Alison’s Video and what follows is my review of her purchases.
Alison!
Great video and here are my thoughts – I basically went straight through the video.
~~~~~~~~
- Salad Greens – Picked up 3 bags so she has enough for the week! Great for salads and to add to wraps. Full of fiber and nutrients!
- String cheese is a quick and easy protein source
- Celery — great veggie to have on hand! It is Cheap and Versatile. Full of water and fiber – satisfies a crunch when you have cravings. Line it with PB, dip in Hummus or cottage cheese — makes for a simple and complete snack. Chop and add to salads, sauté with onions to give new flavors to your chicken.
- Dairy
Milk and Yogurt — also good protein sources.
Just watch the milk intake. One reason – for intolerance’s and secondly for drinking your calories. It is super easy to go over your calories for the day when they come in the form of a drink. Just watch the portion size.
- Bag of Apples — affordable way to keep fresh fruit on hand. LOVE that you made homemade applesauce — way to make the most of the produce you buy.
- Bag of Onions — great to have on hand as a flavor enhancer Combine chopped onions, tomatoes, avocado and jalapeno for an all-in-one guacamole salsa dip. To perk up plain rice, sprinkle some green onions, also known as scallions, and sesame seeds on top. Sautéed chopped onions are so versatile that they can be added to most any vegetable dish. Enjoy a classic Italian salad-sliced onions, tomatoes and mozzarella cheese drizzled with olive oil.
- Coffee…any consideration in switching to Green Tea – loaded with antioxidants!
- Horizon Yogurts — easy and healthy kids friendly snack – one of Tyler’s Favorites!
- Juicy Juice — when you say for lunch — everyday? I would limit this- even though juice has loads of vitamins, still drinking sugar — if this is the 8 ounce box she is taking in 4 teaspoons of sugar with each one she drinks.
- Oh no — so she also gets Fruit snacks in her lunch…increase the amount of sugar she is eating!
Not sure how much that brand has — BUT — name brand Brachs has 21 grams of sugar –so now she is taking in 8 teaspoons of sugar at lunch. Take a look at the ingredients list too… what is in this stuff?
- Pancakes -- yes, choosing a brand that is not full of refined carbs (acts just like sugar…not to mention if there is syrup added on top of this?) and has fiber and some proteins from quality grains. Be sure to read the ingredients.
Pancake/Waffle Toppings? What do you use? I have convinced Tyler our house does not have syrup. If he wants something, I will cook frozen berries in a sauce pan, add jelly and/or PB. Just like with Salad Dressings – we need to account for what the topping on these items adds to our nutrition plan.
- Oh yes and the Peanut Butter — make sure to choose Natural (and he should know this!) Look at the ingredients list – notice sugar and hydrogenated/partially hydrogenated oils — this is code for “Trans Fats” — which many Mom/Kid friendly name brands push. Watch out for those!
- Sugar Cones….I know I do not need to point this out…hoping these are once in a while for you guys. How often do the kids get these? Know that this significantly adds to their sugar intake during the day.
- Excellent Buy on the Almonds! Great way to stock up. Just watch portion sizes. Grab some snack baggies and pre-portion these into ¼ cup servings to prevent overeating. Also when you say every snack…how often each day are you having them? Have to be careful for while they are a great source of protein and healthy fats — these fats can very quickly add up and exceed your total daily intake of fats.
- Mighty Bites is a better version of many kid cereals. Just watch portion size on this. While 1 cup contains 110 calories, 5 g protein and 3 g of fiber — the second ingredient is still sugar — each 1 cup serving contains 23 carbs — 5 of which are sugars. So she is getting 1 teaspoon of sugar with each serving.
- Yes — any cereal that is Chocolate Filled would not be considered a supportive choice — sorry (and Special K is notorious for trying to say otherwise). Let’s see….just a ¾ cup serving has a whopping 20 grams of sugar. I would say this is a Once In Awhile Cereal treat.
- Glad the cookie mix is just for the neighbors — make and take away! Be careful with the chocolate chips though…this is where a taste here and there can really add up.
- Cheddar Bunnies — I get this for Tyler too — it is a once in a while snack — for while it is made with organic wheat flour — look at where the majority of calories and “stuff” going into the body is coming from….Fat and Salt. So this is just a replacement for a fruit or veggie. Use in moderation and it can fit into the nutrition plan for your girls.
- Brown Rice is a great, unprocessed, high fiber grain that can compliment your meals. Just watch portion sizes. ½ cup cooked is a little over 100 calories.
- Excellent protein sources — Fresh Chicken — buy in bulk and save money! Cook it all up at once or portion out, stick in ziplock, add a marinade, stick in fridge or freezer based on how quickly you will use it.
- With Ground Turkey — just be sure to choose the leanest type. Ground turkey can sometimes be made with skin and dark meat increasing the amount of fat.
Eggs
Love ALL the fresh produce you have brought home! Easy to grab, chop and toss into any meal or snack!
- Cucumbers
- Bell peppers
- Jalapeño peppers – kick up your meals and your metabolism!
- Pears
- Strawberries
- Tomatoes
- Bananas
- Grapes
- Cilantro — great to have fresh herbs available — livens up meals!
Apple Juice — what is this used for? Who drinks it? How much? How often? Have you looked at the label? How many grams of sugar.
(TIP — 4.3 grams of sugar = 1 teaspoon of sugar)
- Which then brings me to Chocolate Milk. Now Tyler DOES have this once in a while — calls it his special milk — we buy Horizon. However keep in mind that chocolate adds sugar. Take a look at that label. How often are your girls drinking this? How much per serving? What does the label say? Many commercial chocolate milks have High Fructose Corn Syrup.
Excellent Strategy — Post Shopping Routine
Taking inventory of what you just brought home and what you can begin to cook and/or prep is a HUGE time saver!
You know you have many supportive strategies in place. Loads of quality proteins and fresh produce. Sure there are some foods that have been purchased:
where you would say….”I know this is not approved….”
(hot dogs, Pringles, store brand pancakes, Fruit Snacks, cheese crackers, chocolate cereal, chocolate milk..)
All areas of improvement and I hope I gave you some things to think about.
But there is one big question that I MUST ask is….
A lot of moms say….”this is not for me – its for my kids”
WHY?
And yes, Alison and I have talked at great length about this…but I think it is important for ALL moms to be aware of this habit we seem to have acquired.
Our children are more dependent upon us than ever to set the guidelines and the boundaries for what supportive nutrition is all about. It is VERY difficult for kids to make the switch …
1. If we are not taking care of ourselves and eating supportive foods
or
2. Even if we are modeling good habits it will still be hard IF the not so good foods are still there and readily available.
Supportive Substitutes
As far as ideas for what to use in place of the usual processed foods our children eat – hope you and all the Fit Yummy Mummy’s caught the video with Tyler… 7 Healthy Snack Ideas for Kids>>> HERE
Essentially all I am doing is using the create a meal menu planner in the Fit Yummy Mummy Handbook and giving Tyler options along with the freedom to create new snack combos.
You can do the same.
If this is a new transition and your children have been used to eating a certain way, plan ahead and expect it will be rocky – please know that typically things get worse before they get better.
What will make it EASY on everyone involved – be firm and stand your ground. Be sure to turn to the forums for ideas and support as you begin to carve out a new path for you, your children and your family!
So you know…this is your task for the weekend!
1. Plan out your meals for the week.
2. Take inventory – what do you have – what do you need – what do you need to toss>
3. Make a list – and stick TO this List
4. Shop!
You can get a jump start on it now by giving your kitchen a makeover : )
What do you get when you go to the grocery store? What all is on your grocery list?
Are you buying foods that are healthy and supportive? Do you think you would know what is good for you, and what is not?
Well, listen to the deal I made. During a private coaching call with Holly Rigsby, creator of Fit Yummy Mummy, I said, “Man! I wish I could take you to the grocery store with me!”
Surprise! Holly offered to critique the foods that I bought at the grocery store for me. So, what I did was made a video of all the foods that I got at the grocery store. Holly is then going to take the video that I made and tell me what I need to stay away from, and then what I can get in place of the foods that I got. I think you will see me with a new grocery list soon!
