Hood to Coast & belVita Prep You for a Morning Run! | +Giveaway

August 15, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls 12 Comments

I still can’t believe that I am a mom of two and that at 15 days postpartum I am feeling pretty good, especially compared to how I felt at 15 days postpartum with Edith. We have had a busy two weeks and I have shared our first week over on Naturally Family. This week has been just as busy especially now that I am finally feeling up to doing a little bit more moving around, oh yeah and we are moving tomorrow. Don’t worry though I won’t be doing any of the actually moving we have a wonderful group of friends who are going to help us move out and into our new place which is luckily not too far away.

One thing I have learned over the past two weeks is that starting my morning off with a nutritious breakfast is essential. Having two kids is no joke a huge life change and I need to have steady energy in the morning to make it through the day. I know it’s going to be even more important when I am finally cleared to get back to working out and running.

Edith and I have been enjoying coconut, soy or almond milk yogurt with belVita Breakfast Biscuits most mornings and Neil has been enjoying the biscuits as a midmorning snack. These are seriously tasty! The big claim with belVita Breakfast Biscuits is that they provide nutritious steady energy all morning long and you know what I am here to say it’s true! I was skeptical at first but paired with a non-dairy yogurt (or dairy if that’s your thing) and a piece of fruit they are perfect for long lasting energy. As any mom will tell you energy is a must to make it through until lunch and/or naptime – seriously how do toddlers have so much energy?

A few other tidbits about belVita Breakfast Biscuits:

─ 18-20g of delicious whole grain per serving

─ Good source of fiber (3g per serving)

─ Part of a balanced breakfast with fruit and low-fat dairy

─ Crunchy belVita Breakfast Biscuits are available in five flavors including my favorites Blueberry and Golden Oat.

Having (lots) of steady energy throughout the morning and day is going to be essential for me to make sure that I fit my workouts in while taking care of two kids and a house. I want to be a healthy, active and inspiring mom though so I know making time for me is important. My own happiness and my kids inspire me to achieve my goals for the day especially my goals to be active and healthy.

Are you an Oregon local? Hood to Coast (a race on my bucket list) is coming up August 22-23rd and belVita is the breakfast sponsor! belVita will be providing samples of the crunchy biscuits to runners and spectators so head on out and cheer on the amazing runners and pick up your own sample of belVita.

GIVEAWAY:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Visit belVita on their social networks and website: Twitter: @belVita | Facebook: facebook.com/belVita | Website: belvitabreakfast.com

Disclaimer: I was provided with the same giveaway package from belVita in exchange for this post. As always all opinions are my own.

Fit Pregnancy: The Birthing Month

July 7, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls 1 Comment

I have finally reached my birthing month. Today I am 36w4d pregnant and that means this baby could come (almost) anytime now. Since I was 10 days early with Edith I am keeping that in mind by also preparing myself to go to 42 weeks as well if that so happens (which I hope isn’t the case).

I have to say this pregnancy has been less intentionally active than I was when I was pregnant with Edith and more active as a result of having an active toddler. Before I go further lets compare the two pregnancies:

Pregnancy With Edith: (Working a desk job) daily 1-2+ mile walks, yoga class once per week, strength training 2-3x per week and yoga at home once per week
Pregnancy With Baby #2: (Stay-At-Home-Mom) chasing a crazy toddler, 1-2 mile walks 2x per week and yoga or prenatal workout video 2x per week.

As you can see my pregnancy with Edith had me sitting more hours during the day at my job but I was making time for consistent and intentional workouts. With baby #2 I have been trying to stay active with semi-intentional workouts but most of my time has been chasing Edith, cleaning or being up around moving around the house (less just sitting). However, once 35 weeks arrived I suddenly realized that this baby could come in as few as two weeks and I suddenly felt this crazy urge to get myself more intentionally active.

Since around 35w4d I have been going out for daily walks with Edith and/or Neil, working on squats around 10 per day held for 30-60 seconds each, lunges, and lots of cat-cow on top of chasing a toddler, packing our house and nesting. While this may not seem like much it is actually a significant change in my activity levels and I’m feeling great. Feeling ready to have this baby and want to make the point that it’s not too late to be intentionally active.

I don’t over do it, try not to push myself to much and am making sure to rest, drink tons of water and listen to my body. Now on to having this baby!

Postpartum Weight Loss “Plan”

June 10, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls 13 Comments

Here I am at 31w3d pregnant with baby #2

I’m not going to lie I am really hoping that I actually lose the baby weight this time around. With Edith I gained around 25-28lbs and within the first 8 weeks I lost 15 of those pounds. Then I got the Paraguard IUD and quickly the weight came back on. I will also admit the Oh She Glows Chocolate Chip Cookies and the stress of moving didn’t help with my weight loss either. When we moved to Oregon I made an effort to get my diet back on track, started running 4 days per week and doing 1-2 days of strength training. Despite all of that I simply wasn’t (and didn’t) lose any of the baby weight.

1 Year Postpartum after having Edith

Finally at 16 months postpartum I decided to have my IUD removed due to negative reactions to it (I’ll write more about that another time) and while I had it removed due to non-weight related reasons I was as little hopeful that I might start to see my weight go down. Well as you all know we are pregnant with #2 and due in 7ish weeks. So I never had a chance to test my theory. Also that means I started my pregnancy at the same weight I ended my last pregnancy and I have gained 20lbs so far and if you want to do the math that means I have between 45-50lbs to get back down to my baby #1 pre-pregnancy weight oh and on top of that I was already about 15lbs over my ideal weight when I got pregnant with Edith. So that is 60-65lbs to get down to my goal weight.

Summer 2011 before getting pregnant with Edith <-- also my goal weight

August before getting pregnant with Edith

Baby #2 Postpartum Weight Loss “Plan”:

I am not going back on birth control as we are two and done so birth control is officially all Neil *snip snip*.
My first priority is feeding baby #2 so for the 12 months my focus is to keep my milk supply up so I can feed my baby.
I plan to get back to running at around 9-12 weeks postpartum depending upon my healing this time around (with Edith it took me a lot longer to heal then I had hoped).
I plan to incorporate 2 days of strength training into my workout routine and light cardio once I am cleared to get back to normal activity.
I also plan to get back in a yoga routine since I have a 10 punch pass to a studio by our old house (and now by Neil’s new job) that I was lucky enough to get the expiration date extended until sometime in December.
Keep my eating in check! Postpartum/nursing hunger is no joke. Seriously when I first had Edith and was nursing non-stop I could have eaten everything in site. This time around instead of lots of Oh She Glows cookies I’m focusing on keeping it healthy but also making sure not to be too hard on myself when it comes to having a treat here and there.
Drink lots of water! Nursing makes you crazy thirsty and staying hydrated helps to flush toxins out of the body and helps to prevent water weight (I know crazy right?).
Buy myself postpartum clothes in whatever size I have to buy. I wore maternity clothes until around 8 months postpartum with Edith because I was just waiting to lose the weight and didn’t want to spend the money on new clothes that I hopefully wouldn’t have to wear too long. The thing is that wearing maternity clothes after the first six weeks of being postpartum is just depressing. Wearing clothes that fit well and look nice is an incentive to keep with it! It’s motivating! Feeling confident in what I am wearing helps me feel good and keeps me on track so this time around I’m not going to be wearing maternity pants for months and months postpartum. I actually have been consigning maternity clothes as the seasons change so that they just won’t be in my closet ie. I won’t be tempted to wear them.

So that is my current plan. How did you deal with losing the baby weight?

Friday I’m In Love: Vega Bars

May 2, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

Disclaimer: This post was made possible by Fit Approach and Vega. I received a variety of Vega Bars to try and review on my blog. No other compensation was provided. As always all opinions are my own!

Happy Friday! Who is excited for the weekend? I am! I have a few events this weekend and plan on enjoying some quiet time with my family and my new computer – my old Mac officially died earlier this week and my new one should be here sometime today.
So let’s get down to the love of the day: Vega Bars.

I recently had the opportunity to try four different types of bars which included: Vega Snack Bar, Vega One Bar, Vega Sport Energy Bar, and Vega Protein Bar. Now I am not new to Vega, my husband and I have been long time consumers and fans of Vega products but I honestly haven’t really given the bars a try. Mostly we buy protein powders and the Vega Sport products but I think that might change now.

Let’s start with my favourite bar of the four- the Vega Snack Bar. This bar is brand new and I absolutely loved it. Seriously one of the best snack bars I have had recently and perfect for on the go or a quick snack while chasing my toddler. Speaking of toddlers, Edith also enjoyed sharing the Vega Snack Bars with me. I sampled two flavours of this bar: dark chocolate mixed nuts and sea salt and the cranberry almond. Both flavours were tasty but which one do you think I preferred? The chocolate one obviously! There are three other flavours that I now need to try once they are in stores. Which Snack Bar do you want to try first?

On to my next favourite bar- the Vega One Bar. I was a little hesitant when I opened this bar because I mean it looks like a glorified candy bar, so I mean how healthy can it really be? While it is coated in chocolate and might look and even taste like a candy bar it is also filled with protein, fiber, omega 3’s and lots of other vitamins and minerals that keep you satisfied.

I was out and about yesterday running errands so I through one in my bag to try and of course mid-morning I was getting hangry for a second breakfast (pregnant + 6am wake up = two breakfasts) so I broke out my Chocolate Cherry Almond Vega One Bar. Let’s just say this was oh so good AND it gave me the pick me up I needed and kept me satisfied until lunch. I also was sent a Chocolate Peanut Butter one that I handed off to Neil because I can’t stomach PB right now and he enjoyed it and shared a bite with E who went nuts for it.

Third kind I tried was the Vega Sport Energy Bars and well I liked them but I didn’t love them. These bars are part of the Vega Sport series which have three categories: Prepare, Sustain & Recover. The Vega Sport Energy Bars are part of the Sustain category so they are intended to be eaten mid activity to help provide you with the energy needed to complete your workouts. They come in two flavours Chocolate Coconut Almond and Apple Cherry; of the two I preferred the chocolate. I can’t see myself buying these right now because I didn’t love them for snacking on and I am not currently doing any workouts that require fueling mid-workout. I do however think that these are perfect for those who are long distance runners or cyclist or hikers who need a snack to provide them with energy and is easy to eat and digest.

The last bar I received was the Vega Protein Bar which is also part of the Vega Sports series. It is intended to be eaten post workout for recovery. These bars are filled with protein and nutrients to help recharge you and repair your muscles post workout. Now I received two of these bars and realized just before I started this post that I didn’t get to try either of them because someone (I’m looking at you Neil) ate both of them before I had a chance to even sample them! What I can tell you is that he enjoyed both the Chocolate Coconut and Chocolate Mint flavours that he tried. Now I really was looking forward to the Chocolate Coconut flavour so I guess I’ll have to get my hands on one so I can actually try it out.

Have you tried Vega bars or products? What are your favourite? What kind of bar would you most like to try? I plan on stocking up on Vega One and Vega Snack bars for postpartum nursing snacks because I know with a toddler and a newborn I’m going to need quick and easy snacks on hand and I remember newborn nursing hunger with E was 10x worse than pregnancy hunger.

#StyleNeverStops: Reebok Skyscape Maternity Style

April 11, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls 1 Comment

The following post is sponsored by FitFluential LLC on behalf of Reebok. All opinions are my own.

Reebok Skyscape’s are crafted borrowing the materials and soft molding process used to create lingerie <– doesn’t that just make these shoes sound sexier and well make you feel a little bit more sexy when wearing them? Huge bonus when you are 24 weeks pregnant with #2 and are showing like you are 30 weeks.

I have recently reached a point in my pregnancy where my feet hurt if I have a busy day of standing or walking and all I really want are a pair of super comfortable shoes but I also want to ~~pretend to~~ be fashionable. Insert the Reebok Skyscape a shoe that looks cute with most everything and is light weight (only 5.0 ounces) and has Skyspring technology aka they are designed to help support the foot and provide ALL DAY comfort.

I love the low cut design and they are perfect for wearing without socks (I have tried them with socks but prefer them without). I was concerned at first that wearing them without socks would result in blisters but I’ve been wearing them sans socks for weeks now and haven’t experienced any rubbing or irritation. Yay for seamless construction!

I have a very limited wardrobe right now so most of the time you can find me wearing them with the outfit above. I also love them with jeggings (best creation ever), maxi skirts or yoga pants (because lets be honest I spend 90% of the time in yoga pants).

Outfits I’m currently coveting that would go great with my pink Reebok Skyscape Shoes:

featuring Reebok Skyscape Shoes

FYI: I will be sporting these shoes with everything for the remainder of my pregnancy (and beyond) so this is not going to be the last you see of these shoes.

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Bonus Facts: not only are they cute but they have some traction so I don’t have to worry so much about slipping and falling, a concern that I have right now when rainy Portland streets are wet combined with pregnancy balance. Oh and did I mention you can throw these shoes in the washing machine?? Perfect for muddy park days!

Update: My Fitness Bucket List

April 9, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls 3 Comments

Almost two years ago I posted My Fitness Bucket List and to be honest I haven’t looked back at it since. I wrote it a month before Edith was born, seven months before moving cross country and 19-months before being pregnant once again. So needless to say things have changed a bit.

First off lets review of what my goals where:

In 2012 I wanted to attend postpartum yoga. Well that never happened. I ended up taking Edith to baby yoga but never made it to a postpartum class.
In 2012 I had grand plans of run/walking the Disney Wine & Dine Half at four months postpartum. Well that just didn’t happen at all. Despite my low expectations timing just wasn’t right for cost, travel and racing. Side note Neil & I was originally going to run the Disney Half in January 2012 but in October 2012 Neil got in a major bike accident which led us defer to the Wine & Dine and then I oops I got pregnant.
In 2014 I wanted to run the Vermont City Marathon as a relay team with Neil. Well we ended up moving across the country in January 2013 and well here I am pregnant again.
Sometime between June 2012-2017: participate in the Vermont 100 on 100, attend Wanderlust once again, participate in a Ragnar Race (specifically the Key West one) and do the Expedition Everest Challenge with Neil.
Lifetime Goal: Hike the entire Long Trail.

I have to say I had some pretty lofty goals. I mean seriously run/walk my first half just four months postpartum after NO running during my pregnancy?? Was I serious? While others were not unreasonable it’s more unlikely that I will be able to do everything on my original list in the time frame I set out purely for financial, travel and family reasons.

So what does my updated Fitness Bucket List look like?

April – July 2014: Stay active during the remainder of my pregnancy by getting out for walks, doing prenatal yoga at home and strength workouts.
Early Fall 2014: Get back to being active starting as soon as I am cleared for activity and am feeling physically ready. Starting with lots of walking, strength training and yoga.
Late Fall 2014: Start C25K or similar run/walk program. Continue with strength training and yoga.
2015: Run a 5K and a 10K.
2016: Run a 5K, 10K and half marathon.
2017: Run a Disney half marathon.
2018: Participate in a group relay race (Ragnar, VT 100 on 100, Hood to Coast, ect.)
Lifetime: Hike the entire Long Trail.
Lifetime: Take a Barre3 Class.
Lifetime: Try paddle boarding.
Lifetime: Run a race in every state (no specific length).

What is at least one thing on your Fitness Bucket List?

Fit Pregnancy | Latourell Falls Hike

March 25, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls 5 Comments

We have really been trying to get out and take advantage of the beautiful weekend weather here in Oregon. Two weekends ago we hiked up to Wahclella Falls and had a great time so this past weekend we decided to hike Latourell Falls.While I knew that this hike was going to be more challenging I didn’t expect it to be quite as much of a challenge as it was for me.

When choosing a hike I was looking for something that was had an elevation gain no more than 550ft and was between 2-3 miles round trip. Well, Latourell Falls hike has an elevation gain for 540ft and is 2.4 miles round trip. I thought this would be the perfect hike! Well it was a great hike but shortly into it (I’m talking about a half mile in) it really started to kick my ass. Who knew a 540ft elevation gain was really a lot more than I thought? To top it off the hike begins at a higher elevation than the Wahclella Falls Hike and add in that I’m a week further along in this pregnancy which also makes hikes more challenging.

Anyways I brought my hiking polls with me just in case I decided that I might need a little extra support and when we reached the half mile point and I realized we still had to go up and up and up before we started to go down (a little more up) and then down, down, down I decided that it was time to take them out. Looking back at things I should have started with them from the beginning because it this hike started with a pretty steep incline right from the start, at least there are lots of switch backs; if we had been in VT doing this hike we would have been going straight up!

By the time we reached the half way point I was slowly treking along behind Neil who was wearing Edith. Feeling proud that at nearly 22 weeks pregnant I was out there hiking but also feeling a little embarrassed at just how slow I was going and remembering back to the 10-15 mile hikes that Neil and I used to do back in VT where to be quite honest the trails were considerably harder in comparison.

We completed the hike and it felt great but let me tell you that all future hikes will be ones in the easy category with a 400ft or less elevation gain because while I managed to do this hike I know that as my pregnancy progresses that hikes categorized as ‘easy’ are a better option for me!

Q: What are you favorite types of hikes? Have you hiked in Oregon?

P.S. This is the link to the hike we did around Latourell Falls.

Naturally Lindsay

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