Its almost Christmas!

As a mom of 3 young toddlers days like today can be very hard. Both of the twins are teething so they are crankier than normal. They day started with a little bit of crying but they were fine once all three were fed, dressed and watching a cartoon. I was able to catch up on wrapping some presents. The only thing I have left to do is print off some pictures for a frame I bought my parents. I also have to practice a song to sing for church tomorrow. After they all went down for a nap the day went from ok to terrible. My son wouldn't stop crying all afternoon even if I held him, and his twin sister crawled around following me whining and even managed to almost get her mouth stuck on a dining room chair leg trying to bite it. Ah the joys of children. My oldest daughter played with water beads for awhile until it became clear she wouldn't keep them in the bowl. She had fun though. I also made a great recipe for paleo gingerbread cookies last night and posed our elf Ginger with them this morning. They turned out a lot better than I thought. I highly recommend them to anyone who is vegan, eating clean, gluten-free, paleo, or even someone eating a normal diet. If you want the recipe go here Tonight I made copper river red salmon our friends caught this last summer. It was delicious. I also made some roasted cauliflower. You use butter on a pan to keep it from sticking, you don't need a lot, put the salmon skin side down (make sure its on medium low) sprinkle salt, pepper, and a little onion powder (or use your favorite spice blend) let it cook almost all the way through on the one side, then flip it and cook it for about 5 minutes or less. It turns out so moist and tasty!! I learned to cook it from watching Master Chef. HeeHee! The cauliflower is easy. Cut it into florets, put in a baking dish, drizzle with olive oil (use as much as you want, a little for crunchier cauliflower or a bit more for more tender) cook at 375 for about 20-25 minutes Well have a wonderful night and Have a Merry Christmas!

Going Paleo...

Since my last post I have been having amazing success with eating Paleo. I've lost 10.5 lbs so far. I love eating this way, its like clean eating on crack as I told my friend a couple days ago, but I feel great. I don't crave anything and I'm rarely hungry unless its time for the next meal. I am also still doing T25 occasionally in between going to Zumba since my gym membership expires at the end of the year. I'm going a bunch now cause I can't afford the new membership for awhile. On or around the 1st of the year I will be doing P90X3! I can't wait to do this program. I had so much success with power 90, I know this program will do wonders for me! We had a family date night with friends the other day, and one of the things I can totally tell you is that when I start feeling good about myself, I love to "dress up". The reason I put that in quotes is because I don't own many cute clothes that can fit me yet. At least not till I lose more weight. We had fun, even though it took us just as long to get the kids dressed and ready to go as it did to eat dinner. I am now a huge fan of the sock bun! I found an awesome video on pinterest showing how to do it, and I'll definitely be doing my hair that way often! I am in the process of filling up my calendar with lots of things for the babies and my older daughter to do, activities to do at home, toddler tea time, tot tumble,toddler tango, baby boogie, mighty mites. Too bad I can't in alone time for this mommy. It will be good for them and for me to get out of the house and socialize. My oldest spends most of the day trying to tear ornaments off of our Christmas tree and crying about anything and almost everything the twins are doing to her. I am really looking forward to the day that all three can communicate. Another big thing I am changing is moving the girls into the same room and out computer to the living room in a play yard so I cant start doing preschool with my oldest. I'm also mourning the loss of the morning nap the twins used to take. Now all three of them are down to one nap. It makes me need a nap even more. I will be posting more over the next few days on the food I've been eating and adding links to the websites that I got them from. I love the food I've been making and can't wait to try more.

Thanksgiving and the tryptophan effect

For moms Thanksgiving seems to be a double edged sword. You work so hard cleaning and preparing the meal and then everyone leaves after about an hour or so of eating. Then you have to clean up. In years past before I had children I spent the afternoon napping and enjoying my tryptophan induced coma. As a mom those days are over. It's the time a day after the naps are done for the kids so you are stuck fighting your husband (who is snoring from the said coma) to watch the kids and trying to clean up so you can decorate for Christmas the next day. 

I'm sure someday when the kids are older and not all under 2.5 years old, they won't be so demanding and we can actually enjoy the holiday as a family. Instead of it feeling like a well fed zoo exhibit around here. 

As for working out and eating healthy I used Thanksgiving as a cheat day and had planned to workout, but I let the day consume me and didn't workout in the morning and was too full in the evening to do it. I will remember next year to workout in the morning, or even workout Christmas morning. 

I am playing catch up again today and since I'm a couple days behind, today is my double day, so I get to do two workouts today. I was very happy that I got a workout in yesterday. I definitely needed it. 

I haven't budged much in numbers, but I plan to do my hardest not to eat anything extra (like my kids little leftovers). I'm sure that will make a difference.

Happy Holidays to you! 

Week 3 day 1 of T25

Yesterday I started to play more music for the kids and turned the tv off for most of the day. It was actually really nice. I played Chistmas music and got a little bit of cleaning done and spent more time playing with them than normal since none of us were glued to the television. I also made some some yummy whole grain pasta with meat sauce for dinner and had the sauce going in the crock pot most of the day which made the meat super tender. I didn't get my workout in until almost 10 pm, but I did it and thats all that matters. It was total body circuit, which is one of the hardest workouts of T25 and I pushed myself very hard even though I was just a few feet from our wood stove that was burning. I sweat a whole lot more than normal because of the heat. This morning I had two great surprises. I was another 1.5 lbs down on my weight, and I had to tighten my belt to the last notch. WOOHOO! Considering I bought it about 2 months ago, I'm glad I am getting smaller. My 1 year old daughter is about to walk any minute. She began to stand more often yesterday. Her twin brother isn't quite steady yet. Soon I'll be chasing them both (along with their older sister) around. I had to keep myself from putting up anymore Christmas decorations than this until the day after Thanksgiving. My excuse is having the hang dry the twins' stockings since I had just put their names on them. My kids with Santa

Day 7 and rest day

I've been very busy cleaning my house the last couple of days because I haven't had a workout to do on the two rest days. I'm beginning to get antsy about not having a workout to do, so I keep busy doing other things around the house instead. 

My twins also had their well child check up today and had five shots each. It was so sad but I am a very big advocate for getting your children immunized since we found out about Jordan's CHD. So as hard as it is hearing them cry for a few minutes, they are so much safer that way. 

On a funny note, I bought my two year old a new tooth brush and she was so exited about it! While I was putting the groceries away she managed to get the package open and came into the kitchen trying to brush her crotch cause she had taken her diaper off. Apparently that's the thing to do. Needless to say I need to wash and sanitize it before it goes near her teeth. 

The culprit :)

One of my favorite recipes for vanilla or chocolate Shakeology is 1 cup coconut milk, 1 cup blueberries, 1 scoop vanilla or chocolate Shakeology! Blend it up and enjoy!!! So good. 

If you're interested in T25 or Shakeology please visit my websites or follow me on Facebook www.beachbodycoach.com/laurakilian www.myshakeology.com/laurakilian 

My little man's surgery

I didn't plan to take the last week off from T25 but I ended up taking it off because my 1 year old son had surgery. He had a hypospadius repair as well as a couple other things done at the same time, so we had to drive 6 hours to Anchorage for the surgery and were there for 5 days. The first two days were my rest days, then after his surgery the poor baby only wanted to nap or sleep on mommy. 

So tomorrow I am starting week three. Now that we are back home and getting back to normal. I was able to eat healthy about 50 percent of the time, the other half was at the mercy of fast food sadly. 

I am so exhausted after such a draining trip. I know the kids are glad to be back on schedule too. I got a little antsy for Christmas today and wrote the twins' names on their stockings and hung them today.

Now I just have to wait for Thursday to put the rest of the Christmas stuff up.

As I have been writing my son woke up and is laying on me and my 2.5 year old daughter is using me as a chair and is getting rowdy, so I will post two of my concoctions that turned out delicious.

Week 2 Day 4 Making Time

I have had a crash course in making time and prioritizing the last two weeks that I've been doing T25. I have never been a great house keeper, but surprisingly since I started working out I don't need to nap when the kids do in the afternoon, I don't feel the need to sit down all the time in between doing things with them either. I keep moving and my house (most days) is noticeably cleaner. Not that its dirty, its just cluttered with all the toys and things I pile as I move them out of reach of my 2.5 year old and my 1 year old twins that are beginning to reach things more each day. I love that I have more energy. Once I get the last few things in my house caught up I will have a lot more time to spend with my kids, and have the energy to keep up with them and play! The workouts are also great because they are short enough my older daughter tries to do them with me and the twins can watch a cartoon or I can do it during their naps and still have time to clean. Its awesome. I did the total body circuit workout on Tuesday and its by far the hardest, but I am getting better. I can do some more of the higher impact moves (some of the time). Yesterday was Speed 1.0 and I was also able to do more of the higher impact stuff. I'm looking forward to marking off that I "Nailed it" instead of "Barely made it", on my calendar. I'll get there someday. I started at 247 lbs and I've been at 243.5 for a few days, but I am noticing that my workout pants are getting more loose every day. I know I have a lot of muscle to build since I was on modified bed rest for the last couple months of my pregnancy with the twins as well as not doing any kind of exercise for over a year. Today is Cardio and I'm looking forward to doing it this morning. My daughter also has a birthday party to go to today so I'm going to do my best not to eat any junk. It will be super hard but I can do it. Luckily the twins are staying home with their grandma.

One of my favorites, Chunky Monkey Shakeology: Coconut milk, one scoop chocolate Shakeology, 2 tbs PB2 or 1tbs peanut butter, 1/2 banana, and ice. YUMMY

Light Dinner Salad, Quinoa, and 3 oz roasted chicken breast.

Day 7 and rest day

I've been very busy cleaning my house the last couple of days because I haven't had a workout to do on the two rest days. I'm beginning to get antsy about not having a workout to do, so I keep busy doing other things around the house instead. 

My twins also had their well child check up today and had five shots each. It was so sad but I am a very big advocate for getting your children immunized since we found out about Jordan's CHD. So as hard as it is hearing them cry for a few minutes, they are so much safer that way. 

On a funny note, I bought my two year old a new tooth brush and she was so exited about it! While I was putting the groceries away she managed to get the package open and came into the kitchen trying to brush her crotch cause she had taken her diaper off. Apparently that's the thing to do. Needless to say I need to wash and sanitize it before it goes near her teeth. 

The culprit :)

One of my favorite recipes for vanilla or chocolate Shakeology is 1 cup coconut milk, 1 cup blueberries, 1 scoop vanilla or chocolate Shakeology! Blend it up and enjoy!!! So good. 

If you're interested in T25 or Shakeology please visit my websites or follow me on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Shrinking-Housewife/218396048241756 www.beachbodycoach.com/laurakilian www.myshakeology.com/laurakilian 

T25 and playing catch up

Today was day 3 of T25 and I did the Total body circuit! Holy smokes is it intense! I did the modified moves most of the time, and it was my fist attempt doing a workout with all three kids around. Anytime I did planks my oldest (2.5 years old) kept using me as a jungle gym. I guess I should be thankful for the extra weight resistance! I love that it is only 25 minutes. It's the perfect amount of time to get a workout in before the kids start being very needy and wanting attention. They can watch one cartoon and I'm done. I have already lost 2 lbs and I'm stoked.

This is what it looked like while I was working out.

I have been trying out a new laundry and cleaning schedule and it is great when I'm not behind. I do each persons' laundry on a specific day, I also do cleaning (other than normal everyday stuff) in one room in each day. 

I have these schedules posted next to my washer and dryer. They work great until we take the children to Anchorage for medical appointments, then I get a little thrown off. But now we are back on track and things are getting south more organized around here. I love it. If you have kids this is the best way I've found to keep things from piling up.

Week one day two!

Speed 1.0 was the workout this morning. It was another great workout. I did as many of the normal moves as I could then did some modified moves finishing off with the normal moves. I made sure I pushed myself. I can't wait to see improvement. 

I have struggled with depression ever since I had my first child, and had it under control up until I had the twins. I recently figured out that the cause for my mood swings and lack of interest in things may have been cause by my IUD. Sorry it that is TMI but I had it removed a couple weeks ago, and within days I felt more like myself! It's crazy the difference I've seen in my mood and also in my motivation. I finally feel like doing more and not just forcing myself to do it. 

I'm excited to finally be back on track and be healthier so I can have the energy to chase my twins and their older sister around once the twins start walking!

 

Delicious vanilla shakeology with pumpkin, coconut milk, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, and honey yogurt. Great breakfast!

Great Motivation!

Starting over

One of the things I learned the last time I completed a beachbody program was that you can't let one mistake, like a donut (or five) derail your progress. You keep going. 

So here I am almost 2 years later heavier than I have ever been in my life, pretty close to the weight I was pregnant with the twins, and I'm starting over from scratch on my weight loss. Why? Because I gave birth to the two most beautiful babies ever a year and a coue weeks ago. I may be starting over from scratch but last time when I lost 20 lbs and 6 pant sizes I learned that I can do it! My body is capable of pushing itself to the limits and I'm ready to push it again! 

I started T25 today! I know it's become this huge fad right now, but I bought it as soon as it came out months ago, but now I'm ready to do it! I'm a little sad that I'm no longer breast feeding the babies, but they have both moved on, so I finally have my body back!

The workout was hard, but I did the modified versions when I needed to, and did the normal ones for as long as I could. I had the window open and was still dripping sweat! I loved it! I am excited for tomorrow!

I will also be going to Zumba when I can and doing some Couch to 5k because I actually do have a love for running, it really seems to clear my head and give me even more of a mood lift :)

Those of you who don't know, I'm a stay at home mom of three. A 2.5 year old girl and boy/girl twins that just turned 1 at the end if last month. I just started working 1-2 days a week at a local assisted living home and I actually miss spending time at home with my children those days but it's nice to have a little peace and quiet. We live in a small town in Alaska and I may not have very many close friends here but our family is here and it is the most beautiful place to live. 

I'm excited to share my journey with you and I'm hoping to get better and blogging by the end of it. My goal is to make it through the whole T25 program! I will post my starting weight tomorrow.

My family a few months ago

My twins :)

Getting my body back!

PMy twins will be 11 months old next week and I have very mixed emotions about the fact that they are both weaning themselves from nursing without much help from me. I'm sad because I am going to miss that special bonding time, but I'm so excited to be able to take better control over my appetite. Hopefully they can and will still nurse once or twice a day for awhile but I won't ever have to feel bad about working out diminishing my supply. 

So with that said I'm finally back on track.  At 245 lbs last week I am starting out with even more to lose than when I started almost two years ago. I am going to be eating as much clean whole foods as possible, and also keeping track of my calories on myfitnesspal on my phone. I need to make sure I don't over eat. 

Unlike last time I won't be doing a 90 day or 60 day program. I will be doing whatever workout I can when I can around my kids' an husband's schedule. I want to stick to and finish the couch to 5k program but have to be careful about it hurting my knees and ankle since I'm a lot heavier now. I will also do some T25, 30 day shred, and possibly some Zumba classes if I can make it to the class at the gym. I'm also going to use my new treadmill as often as I can.

So far in the last 3 days I've lost 2 lbs. so far so good. Wish me luck, it's going to be hard with a 2 year old and 11 month old twins!

Progress pic of my face, I need to take a full body one.

Dinner tonight. Baked chicken breast, corn on the cob, peas and carrots and roasted beets.

Feeling good after a break!

My day to myself ended up being about 3 hours to myself or a little more, but it was what I needed to get motivated and back on track. I went for a walk/jog and restarted week 2 of the couch to 5k. It went great and I think my ankle and my knees are ok for now, but I won't push it. 

I also got T25 in the mail and I'm super excited to try it. They are 25 minute workouts by the guy who does Insanity. It's going to be difficult but I'm so excited and am going to start tonight after the kids are all asleep and do the 5 day quick start and start the regular 60 day program on Monday. I can't wait!

A day to myself!

I am taking a much needed day to myself and leaving my husband at home with the kids. I've been stressed to the max lately waiting to hear when my baby girl will need a cath ballooning on her heart. I called the hospital and its going to be sometime in August but if I don't hear by Thursday morning I'm calling them back. 

My day off includes my breast pump, kindle, laptop, band of brothers on Netflix to watch while I pump, a yummy sprouted bagel with cream cheese, and hopefully a jog. I am enjoying the sun since I don't get out of the house when I'm babysitting and have 5 kids to take care of two and under. Now to take a few hours and breath and enjoy the peace and quiet.'

A bit behind the group..but still going

I decided yesterday to try a new group started by an acquaintance of mine who recently got her personal training certification and started a workout class called Valdez Moms on the Go. I thought it would be a great way to be around other moms and get some weight off so it would be easier for me to run. Well I was a bit confused or delusional in my thinking that this class wouldn't be way too difficult for me. It is actually a lot of jogging to a bunch of stations that we stop at (while pushing kids in strollers) and do different workouts. I have no problem pushing myself and doing as much as I can, but when it comes to jogging, there is only so much my almost 240 pound butt can do! By the time I reached the first station and trying to jog as much as I could, I felt like I may just puke. Then came the lunges...I HATE lunges, the sad thing is they are one of the best workouts ever. Here I am, sweating, panting, legs trembling, and feeling like jello while yelling for my daughter and the 2 year old I babysit to get back in the stroller so I can "jog" or more "walk/waddle" to the next station. It was an amazing workout, 4 play grounds as stations across town to jog to and workout at, and I felt totally worked out and fantastic after. I am definitely putting myself through the pain again, I just hope I can work up to jogging the whole time! As far as food goes lately I'm trying to get back to eating clean and having all of us eat clean, because I don't think eating the toddler's scraps and leftovers and everything else in sight don't make a very balanced meal plan. I'm thinking my daughter is beginning to look at me more like I'm a dog sitting there begging for her food and waiting for scraps. One of these days I'm going to be told "no begging" by my 2 year old. Its definitely time to plan ahead for my meals so I'm not the last person to eat. I'm going to start trying to plan breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks for the week for both me and my family, as well as the children I babysit. Then there will be a lot less chance I can go berserk and eat a whole bag of cookies. My husband is also finally getting on track with working out. I'm very glad, cause it will make him feel a lot better too.

Surviving my daily chaos!

I think my children are amazing beautiful little miracles. I can't imagine my life without them. That being said I honestly never thought I would ever be strong enough to handle the constant state of chaos my life is in right now. My two year old screaming and whining and dumping things all over and pulling things off the counter, and screaming and fighting nap time and bed time. The twins screaming and whining and crying because they are teething and just want to be held and have unsleep trained themselves and have almost monthly appointments to a urologist, cardiologist, an opthamologist...tests and scans. This mommy is exhausted. I finally started doing a walk/jog program and ended up hurting my knees so I have to lose weight so I can try again when I'm not as heavy. I try to enjoy every minute of my babies lives, but I can't wait till I can sleep all night and have them go to bed with out needing me here to help so I can actually take some time for myself and workout or go for a jog. I want to get this weight off once and for all, but it seems like nursing twins and taking care of my own plus two more is so exhausting and draining that I eat constantly and can't get out of the house very easily or even to my garage to workout. I know it won't always be like this. Someday my babies will grow up and I will miss this stage and wish that they were still small. I promise someday in the next few months I will be working out regularly and blogging a lot more often. Right now my attention is all babies and as much housework as I can accomplish which is never much. Hope to see you all soon!

Finally working out!

A week ago on June 6th, I finally started working out. This time since I have more kids now and a lot less free time, I'm starting with the couch to 5k program and walking and/or workout dvds on my days off from the jogging program. I've done the first week and just started week two of the program today! I have done it once before and forgot how much I love it. I'm starting over again after having twins in October and also an older girl that turned two in May. In the pics I'm 239.0 lbs and wearing a size 20 (old navy) jeans and xxl old navy shirts. I'm totally motivated again and am not going to stop till this weight comes off and I'm not going to let any little slip up no matter how big or small throw me off course, I'm in this for the long haul!!

Super Mom...

What makes any mother a Super Mom? I see that on facebook all the time when people are commenting on my status or pictures. I never feel like I'm a super mom, I feel like I'm just a mother doing what I need to do for my family and for my children and rarely for myself. I do the best I can when I can. When my daughter was born I thought it was hard just having one child, but God had a lot more in store for me. I ended up having twins and being pregnant with them before Olivia was even 1 year old. If being a super mom means having 3 kids under 17 months old, having twins, and watching your child go through heart surgery not knowing whether they will live long after they are born, and then watching your other child go through eye surgery, soon to have a second surgery, then I guess I am a super mom. I certainly don't feel like it while my 6 month old twin daughter Jordan screams (which is 90% of the day) or when my older daughter throws tantrums and stopped being an amazing sleeper. I feel like I'm failing somehow by not having a spotless house, and having a toddler that never stops getting into things. I do feel good knowing that despite Jordan being on IV nutrition the first 3 weeks of life and not being able to nurse till 4 weeks old that I am still breast feeding the twins almost exclusively and only having to supplement two bottles at the most a day. I feel good knowing that if I have to go to the store with all three children I am not afraid to do it and can totally handle it. I am afraid of not knowing if Jordan will ever need more open heart surgeries, I am also afraid that Corbin will need more than two eye surgeries in his life, but I try not to worry about that until it happens. God has thrown a lot of challenges my way and I wouldn't trade my children for anything. I love them sooooo much! Even if they are stubborn or colicky. Someday I'll look back on all the days I've cried with them or for them and cherish those moments. Happy Mother's Day Holding the twins together for the first time Holding Corbin for the first time Holding Jordan for the first time. She was 2 days old and had been taken to a different hospital Holding Olivia after bringing her home Jordan after open heart surgery

Finally did an actual workout!

After all the kids were in bed last night I was able to get on the stationary bike we have in our living room for the first time. It was tough because I'm too short for it, but I did the 20 minute workout and burned about 300 calories. Tonight I want to go for a walk/jog and burn off some of the extra carbs I ate at lunchtime. I admit that I was stress eating. Today has been rough because Corbin my six month old son decided to wake up and keep me up every 15 minutes for a few hours the last two nights, so I'm exhausted. Luckily I was able to get a 15-20 minute nap when my pastor's wife was here to help at lunch time, because only two of the five kids were awake. That helped so much. I'm running on fumes, but I think if I workout a little and not stay up till 11pm like I have the last two nights, then I should be better off even if someone wakes up too early (like 5:30 and 6 am) or keeps me up all night. I plan to weigh in tomorrow for my official beginning weight (hopefully I remember, I keep forgetting). I found a great recipe on 100 days of real food for a whole chicken in the crock pot and its super delicious and she also has a recipe for making chicken stock from the leftovers. I'm using some of the stock I froze to make rice right now, I'm excited to try it. Especially since I finally bought a bigger crock pot! Here is a pic and the links to the recipes. http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/02/25/recipe-the-best-whole-chicken-in-a-crock-pot/ http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/01/24/recipe-overnight-chicken-stock-in-the-crock-pot/