Naturally Lindsay

BODY AFTER BABY | THE REAL PLAN

September 21, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls 4 Comments

I call this “the real plan” because back in June when I wrote my postpartum weight loss plan those were all just ideas of what I would like to do. Now here we are 7+ weeks postpartum, have dealt with my postpartum realities and I’m ready to take on the task of refocusing on my health.

Photo from this weekend. 7weeks1day postpartum with Alder (baby #2).

I am currently 20 pounds away from my pre-baby #2 starting weight and I am 40 pounds away from my pre-baby #1 starting weight. Add in another 15 pounds that I had hanging on me before my pregnancy with Edith bringing the grand total to 65 pounds away from my happy weight (I’d say I’m about 80 pounds from my idea weight but that’s a whole other plan).

Right now I have three goals based on the above considerations. Goal 1: Lose 20 pounds. Goal 2: Lose 40 pounds. Goal 3: Lose 65 pounds. Now I’m not setting a timeline but I will say that I’d like to accomplish goal #3 by December 2016.

August before my pregnancy with Alder.

So let me start off by saying my first priority is nourishing my baby boy and taking care of myself. I am nursing and it’s going great and here are no plans to stop anytime soon so I needed to take that into consideration when I created this plan. So here it goes (based on my original postpartum weight loss plan) …

I plan to get back to running at around 9-12 weeks postpartum. Based on my original plan I said 9-12 weeks postpartum and I’m actually feeling pretty great. I have days that are better than others when it comes to healing ie. I still have some light spotting and soreness when I am overly active but have been cleared to start run/walk at 8 weeks postpartum That being said I am planning to start couch to 5k (or something similar) next weekend. I am terrified but also excited to get back at it. My plan is to slow (not like that will be hard) and just ease myself back into running.

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 haven’t started strength training but my plan is to start this week. What I have been doing is lots of walking and just this weekend a little bit of hiking. Oh and running up and down three flights of stairs many times per day is getting my ass in shape. So that all being said I’m keeping up with the walking and will be incorporating in strength.

I also plan to get back in a yoga routine. This starts this week! I signed up for my first postpartum class for this Monday night and I can’t wait to get back in the studio. I am starting back slowly with some restorative yoga and let me tell you I just can’t wait. I am going to be doing one class weekly or bi-weekly until my punch pass runs out. I am also planning to do at least one at home sesh per week.

Keep my eating in check! Bah. This has seriously been the hardest. Nursing is no joke and my appetite is often off the charts. Combine that with a busy toddler, trying to keep house and limited time I haven’t been doing my best at eating well. I have been eating far too many sweets and not enough fruits and vegetables. The plan is to BUY more fruits and vegetables because if we have them in the house we will eat them. The second plan is to buy/make less desserts. The third and probably most important thing is to menu plan so that #1 and #2 can be successful.

Drink lots of water! When I was pregnant with Alder I had no problem downing (reusable) bottle after (reusable) bottle of water. For some reason postpartum I have been struggling with this despite always being thirsty. My goal is to drink, drink, drink and drinks some more water. Cut back on the coffee and up the water intake.

Buy myself postpartum clothes in whatever size I have to buy. This is easier said than done but I did it. I bought myself (with some gifted from my parents): three bottoms (one of which is already too big), six tops and two pairs of shoes because my feet also grew. I was also sent a few nursing tops for review. My follow-up to this plan is to continue to buy clothes in whatever size I am at the time aka as I lose weight. I have the next size down in a lot of clothes and as soon as I lose a little weight and my hips (hopefully) shrink a bit they will fit me and then after that I will have to buy all new clothes because I have nada.

Have Fun and Enjoy Life. Stop focusing solely on the number and focus on how I feel. I have two beautiful, healthy children and an amazing, supportive partner and they need met to happy and healthy and to enjoy life with them.

Favorites |My Back to School Haul

September 17, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls 5 Comments

So I have been out of school for many years now and my kids have not yet started any sort of (in)formal education but I ended up going back to school shopping last week anyways. I seriously LOVE Autumn and the back to school season. As many of you already know I am ADDICTED to notebooks and love to write most everything by hand before I bringing it to my computer. It is something I have always done and I do my best work when I write it out first.

So while I didn’t need to go back to school shopping I did anyways and I did it after the back to school craze was over and everything was on major sale. Here is what I picked up:

Neil and I picked up a giant white board for our new office that I didn’t take a photo of it but I think you can picture a giant white board. Above you will find legal pads (for Neil) sticky notes, magnetic white board pens (no idea if our white board has a magnetic feature I mostly bought them because of the dry erase caps), and some arts and craft items for Edith (washable markers, water colors, gluex2, safety scissors and a pencil sharpener for her colored pencils). Oh and of course chocolate almonds for Edith because I promised I’d pick her up some; this kid is addicted to almonds especially dark chocolate ones.

Besides having lots of fun back to school supplies aka office and art supplies we have been snacking on so many tasty snacks. Above are a few that we have been enjoying which include old favorites like applesauce packets and Mamma Chia Squeeze and new favorites like Lentil Snaps and Made in Nature Fruit Fusion snack packs.

These Made in Nature Fruit Fusion dried fruit snack packs are so tasty and I can snack on them while nursing, grab them on the run for a snack or stick them in the diaper bag to have when we are out and about. I have only tried the tropical flavor (thank you to Made in Nature for sending me a sample to try) and I like it but I think the Antioxidant or Mediterranean flavors are more my taste just because I’m not into dried pineapple. I just saw on the Made in Nature site that they now have Organic Maple Madagascar Vanilla Toasted Coconut Chips <– don’t these sound insanely good? Who has tried them and are they as good as they sound? They are now added to my “must try” list.

My family (Alder excluded)is already a huge fan of Harvest Snap Peas but we were sent a box (thank you!) that also included the Snap Lentils and everyone is just crazy about them. We all could easily eat a bag in a day and well I have to admit I ate the entire back of Tomato Basil ones (sorry Neil and Edith). They are insanely good and while we could toss them on top of a salad we just like to stick our hands deep into the bag and dig right in. Who else has tried these? Seriously they are so good!

So these are some of our favorites from our latest Target, grocery and mail haul. If you like these types of post leave a comment below.

Question of the day: Do you enjoy the back to school season? What are your favorite parts? Also what are your favorite school supplies? I am all about these Piccadilly notebooks from Barnes and Noble that you find in the discounted books section that is usually right at the front near the check out. The covers are kind of terrible (as you can see in the photo back at the top of this post but they seriously have the best paper inside to write on. I’ll stop there before I write an entire sub-post on my undying love for these notebooks. I have been buying 2-3 quarterly for probably 8 years now. Seriously in love.

Run Edith Run!

September 15, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls 7 Comments

Neil had his second of three 5 dollar 5k‘s this past Sunday. At each of the 5k’s they have a kids fun run to kick off race morning and at the first 5 dollar 5k we just watched but this time Edith wanted to run. We woke up bright and early, got out the door 15 minutes later than planned (aka the new normal) and we headed to our old neighborhood for Neil’s 5k and Edith’s first race. We parked and as soon as she was out of her carseat she was ready to run. Edith was raring to go so Neil headed to the starting line to check in while I tended to Alder. When I finally arrived to the starting line I saw this:

Seriously dying! I know she’s mine but come on how cute is she all done up with her Nike’s?

As she arrived at the finish line E got a little distracted by my parents who were standing just at the end (as you can see above). I have to admit I teared up as E and Neil came into view and headed toward the finish line. I loved witnessing this moment and it just got me excited for the future.

E had an absolute blast at her first race and she spent the remainder of the day talking about how she ran and how she wants to run again. She is so excited for the next race in October and I couldn’t be more thrilled that she is so enthusiastic about running right now.

Check out more photos and a video over on Naturally Family.

Currently 9.14.14

September 14, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

Doing: We have moved into our new home and we are slowly getting settled in. We have unpacked most of our boxes and we are down to those boxes that I just don’t want to open and the ones that have things that I don’t know where to put the things in them. While our place is bigger the storage isn’t great especially in the kitchen. We have no place to put our small appliances and no pantry so right now we are using bookshelves from our office which means we are lacking storage in the office. Oh the fun of moving. I have to say we do really like our new place though and it’s so nice to be closer to Neil’s job.

Thinking about: How behind I am on so many projects. While we are settling in to our new place it also means that projects have kind of taken a backseat. I am thinking I need to get back on track. I am also thinking about getting back to regular workouts. I am spending the next two weeks slowly easing back into things and then I am planning to start back run/walking per suggestion of my doctor/midwife.

Watching: I haven’t really been watching much but last night I broke out the Gilmore Girls. There is something about Autumn that makes me want to watch Gilmore Girls and without fail you can find me taking out the first few seasons that I have on DVD by the second week of September.

Looking forward to: Our trip to the Coast next weekend. I am so excited to get to the ocean.

Reading: I picked up a few preschool homeschooling books and otherwise we are reading a lot of books about the potty over here. Loving: I am loving Trader Joe’s chocolate coconut milk ice cream, spaghetti squash and Saturday mornings lounging in bed with my little family of four.

As always this post is inspired by Sometimes Sweet.

Postpartum Body | Realities

September 6, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls 9 Comments

Life after baby is pretty wonderful. We are settling in as a family of four and I couldn’t ask for a better partner in life and father than Neil. Edith is loving being a big sister and she is pretty amazing at it. While all that is wonderful adjusting to my new body isn’t going quite as well as I had originally hoped. Here is the reality….

None of pre-pregnancy clothes fit. I’m 5+ weeks postpartum and none of my pre-pregnancy clothes fit. It’s honestly a little defeating. I know it’s still early and I know from my pregnancy with Edith that they weight doesn’t just fall off for me.
Buying new clothes sucks. I have attempted to buy new clothes that fit my current postpartum body and honestly I am just feeling super defeated. I am trying not get get upset about the size on the tag but it’s really a challenge. I am also feeling frustrated because I honestly don’t know how to dress this postpartum body. Nothing seems to fit right or fall in a flattering way and well it’s no fun, none at all. I ended up buying a pair of cropped pants from Loft and I bought them because I didn’t hate them and they fit. Now wearing them I feel like an old lady. Blah.
Being kind to yourself is sometimes easier said than done. I know that I have a beautiful baby boy and I am less than 6 weeks postpartum and not cleared for regular activity but I am not happy with how I look and feel. I know I need to be kind to myself and I really try to remind myself of those great things but some days it’s just not that easy.

When I was still pregnant I was feeling really hopeful and positive about things but right now I’m feeling pretty down about it all. I had vowed to go shopping for clothes that fit well and to not stress about things but when you have 10 pieces of clothing and 9/10 don’t make you feel like you look good it’s really challenging to stay positive. I’m working on it though. Everyday is a new day and I know I need to work on being kinder to myself. I need to listen to my husband when he compliments me or encourages me to do things for myself. I need to realize that 5 weeks is not very much time and that right now I need to focus on healing taking care of myself and my family.

I know this post is kind of a downer but I wanted to share my realities. Life isn’t always rainbows and kitty cats. I’m not always feeling great and sometimes I find myself feeling negative about myself and my body. Now that I have said all this I can tell you I am already working on changing the way I think about things. Improving myself and my attitude. I’ll be posting more on that and my “plan” next week.

Have you ever felt down about your body? How did/do you deal with it? If you have had children how did you react to your postpartum body? Two years ago I wrote a similar post all about my foreign postpartum body.

Weekend Adventures in Portland| Donuts and Brews

September 3, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls 4 Comments

My parents are in town which means two extra sets of hands to help with Edith and Alder while I work on getting this house unpacked. We are slowly settling in and the boxes are starting disappear but then I remember we still have a small storage unit filled with boxes (ugh). This weekend we were able to get a bit done but come Monday we decided to take advantage of the holiday and the beautiful weather and took my parents out for donuts, a walk on the esplanade and then out for brews.

For more photos and details about our weekend head over to Naturally Family.

@Foodie | 12 (More) Perfect Pasta Dishes

September 2, 2014 by Lindsay Ingalls 2 Comments

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by foodie.com. All opinions are my own.

It’s pasta time again! Who else loves pasta? I seriously could eat some sort of noodle dish every single day and for most meals. I love noodle soups, mac and cheese, Italian pastas, Asian noodle dishes and basically anything that includes some sort of noodle/pasta. Back in March I featured 12 Vegan Pasta Dishes for Your Sunday Night Dinner well here are 12 more perfect pasta dishes for any night of the week. This recipe collection includes a your more traditional Italian pasta dishes, Asian inspired and a few other favorites thrown in the mix. Some are hot, some are cold and some include non-traditional noodles such as butternut squash and carrots. I also wanted to make sure that I included a few really delicious recipes that could either be made in advanced or take around 30 minutes or less to put together for week nights.

What is your favorite type of pasta? What’s your favorite pastas dish?

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