Benefits of Using Coconut Oil

Did you know that you can use coconut oil for a lot more than just cooking? Yep here are some benefits of coconut oil for moms and babies! 

Uses of Coconut Oil for Moms: 

During Pregnancy:

~While pregnant you can use coconut oil on your ever growing belly to help prevent itchiness. It can even help reduce the amount of stretch marks or reduce the stretch marks you already have with regular use. (it's cause of that fatty acid chain)

~Use it to help with dryness, if you have any, you know, down there or to help aid in perineal massage when approaching your due date.

~If your face is super dry you can use it as a moisturizer at night. I have been doing this for about 2 weeks now. I tend to break out while pregnant and I have noticed that all my zits are gone.

Post-Partum for Moms:

~I use coconut oil as a nipple cream. It is safe for babies to consume, and doesn't taste too badly but because of the anti-viral, anti-viral, and antibacterial properties it will help to safely keep your nipples happy and healthy. Cracked nipples, it will help them heal faster and stay healed. And it is not sticky like lanolin. In January a friend of mine just had her new baby and within 2 days had sore cracked nipples. She started using coconut oil and within a few days they were healing and by a week they were completely healed. Apply a small amount with breast milk all over nipples  after every feeding and allow to soak in through "air drying".

~Again use it on your now shrinking belly to help reduce itching.

Uses of Coconut Oil For Babies: 

~Does your baby have cradle cap? It is one of the most common things that babies develop. It looks like a yellowish dandruff. And it is ok. Coconut oil is great to treat this, instead of buying the expensive cradle cap ointment at the store which can be full of things we really don't want to put on the baby. Coconut oil might be in a solid form when you buy it but it melts very quickly from our body heat. Easy to apply to a sensitive newborns head that has already been traumatized from birth. Rub some coconut oil on the babies head and allow to soak for 20 minutes. Gently rinse the oil out and using a soft brush, brush the flakes off. It can take a few treatments for all the flakes to go away but you will notice a difference.

~Diaper cream is expensive. If you already have a good quality coconut oil on hand you can use it on your babies sensitive bum. If you apply a small amount just after birth it can help reduce the stickiness of the meconium (the tar like poop on the diapers for the first few days of birth) on the babies behind. Making changes faster and a little easier.

~Also it can help reduce and heal diaper rash as it is a lubricant and helps heal owies.

~Last thing for babies, great as a lotion and as a massage oil for your baby. Babies love being touched and it help to grow your bond with each other. It will soak into their sensitive skin easily and keep it moisturized just like it does for you!

Dietary Uses:
Plus 15 dietary uses for coconut oil. Are you going to start using coconut oil? 

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No More Mom Guilt

MOM GUILT! How many of you have felt guilty for wanting to get your hair cut, spending some time away from the kids to regroup, for working out maybe when your kid is crying for a little bit, for spending money on you and not your kids, for just taking some time for you. STOP IT! DROP THE MOM GUILT! You are not supposed to be last. You know what happens when you take care of everyone before yourself? You will crack! You will not be happy. You will feel sad and even angry at times. YOU NEED YOUR TIME TO TAKE CARE OF YOU!

The number one thing that most women feel about taking care of themselves, especially moms, is GUILT! You are no being selfish finding time to workout. You are not being a bad mom for maybe letting your kid cry a little so you can knock out the last 30 seconds of a move before you can hit pause, take care of your kid and then hit play again to finish it up (and sometimes a 30 minute workout can take 45 minute when you have to do that, and IT IS OK!) You are not horrible for taking 30 minutes just after you get home from work, exhausted, to bust out your workout. YOU DESERVE to be HAPPY. You DESERVE to kick butt! And you are WORTH IT! NO MORE GUILT for doing what you need to do to take care of you!

I have been there. Mason's first year, I never, ever had time for myself. Matt was deployed and I thought I had to do it all myself. Thankfully Mason was often held at church for me because, maybe I looked like I needed a break, I don't know, but just a few months after Matt returned and I was still doing everything first over me. I cracked! My facade I put up just shattered. I finally told Matt how I was feeling, how I felt like I just "lost myself" I didn't know who I was. I was first just a wife. Then just a mom. Then I was a wife and a mom and was still doing EVERYTHING and never ever took a break for me. I thought I had to do it all to be happy, but the one thing I forgot was ME! And without taking care of me, it just didn't work.

Why am I sharing all this here...YOU ALL NEED TO HEAR IT! Stop the guilt. Self shaming. And do what you can. Put aside 30 minutes a day to take care of you. Taking a nap, alone time, EXERCISE. Whatever you can fit into your day. JUST DO SOMETHING FOR YOU! You are worth it and deserve to be as happy as possible! Your kids are great and deserve your love, but so do you! 

***Comment below with some experiences where you didn't allow yourself to take care of you and what you should have had to do in the past to overcome the Mom/Self guilt and shaming for taking care of you over other things. Learn from your past and do better!

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Fit and Healthy Plus Size Pregnancy: Exercise

I have no idea why but most women, including myself with Mason (pregnancy #1) once we get pregnant, our mindset changes to EAT ANYTHING I WANT AND YAY! I CAN STOP EXERCISING! Seriously! So many women, the moment they get pregnant they just stop doing what they know they should be doing. I get it, the first trimester though, backing off from exercise because that is the most crucial stage and when most miscarriages happen, but once you hit 12 weeks there isn't really anything stopping you from continuing exercise. 

With Mason, I was so scared to do anything. I worked so hard to get pregnant with him after 8 years of trying. It literally terrified me to exercise. But I didn't take care of me. I didn't do what I knew I should have. Even just walking would have been better than nothing. And walking regularly. I went walking more once I hit 32 weeks or so because I was trying to get my body ready to have the baby and I needed to have him ready a week early since Matt was being deployed to Iraq. 

Let's change the mindset for pregnancy. Here are 5 tips to help you start right away with exercise! 

1) GET STARTED RIGHT AWAY! 

When you get pregnant, yes, back off from doing HIIT, jumping, running even. But continue to walk, or do the elliptical. Do as much as you can before morning sickness sets in. And when you do get morning sickness, still try to do what you can, but know it is ok to back off for now.

2) GET BACK TO IT! 

Once you hit 12 weeks or feeling better from morning sickness. GET BACK TO IT! You will have to go slowly, especially if you took some time off because you were sick or exhausted. But slow down. And you might be out of breath more because of the increased blood flow requiring more energy to move oxygen around your body.

3) DON'T GIVE UP! 

At times it is going to be hard to want to get your workout in. But don't give up. It is exactly what you need to be doing to keep you healthy and to keep the baby healthy. Added bonus, exercise while pregnant helps with labor! So if you are wanting labor to faster, more controlled, DON'T GIVE UP! 

4) PICK SOMETHING FUN! 

For me, what keeps me interested in exercise is to pick something that I enjoy. About one day a week, I am doing something that allows me to shake my booty and dance! Why? Because it always puts a smile on my face. I might be horrible at dancing but it is still fun. Or yoga. I never, ever thought that I would enjoy yoga but it is my relaxing me time every week and just stretching out my sore muscles and keeping my back from hurting even worse is a BONUS! And you don't have to do hours, on hours of exercise. I am honestly doing 30 minutes 5 days a week right now. The exercises I do, 21 Day Fix, Beachbody On Demand Active Maternity, Cize are specifically cardio + strength training. A 2 for one as it were. Which cuts down on me having to do cardio on top of it. Would I benefit from doing cardio, of course. But I don't have a treadmill at home and being a stay at home mom I can't get into the gym to walk on a treadmill. We are getting outside more and walking since it is getting warmer. But since I have the boys walking with me, we aren't going too fast. But something is better than nothing! That is why I am specifically doing cardio + strength training. 

5) DON'T LET YOUR CRAVINGS CONTROL YOU

You are working hard to stay active and do exercise. That does not mean you earned a candy bar or cupcake. Nope. Exercise does not have a reward system. For so long I thought it did but it doesn't. It is OK to eat treats and cravings OCCASIONALLY but not everyday. Eat right, eat whole foods, and be smart about how you treat yourself. DO NOT feel guilty for enjoying a treat. There is nothing wrong with having a treat. And honestly to stay on track with your progress you need to allow yourself treats otherwise you will go back to old habits. Which for me include binge eating the foods I am depriving myself of! Or find new cravings. Frozen grapes are AMAZING! Strawberries! Watermelon! Homemade Granola! YUM! Buy exotic fruits, like mango or pineapple and enjoy them. Your body will love them and will thank you! 

Want more daily motivation and inspiration? Click here get free advice, support and encouragement + a free copy of my Clean Eating guide to help you get started on your health and fitness journey! 

Bump Update: 20 Weeks

HAPPY HALF WAY POINT TO ME!!!!! Yay for finally being at 20 weeks! this is so exciting and HUGE for me. With 3 miscarriages under my belt, making it half way is such a huge sigh of relief. I am feeling Elyse kick so much now. Everyday, multiple times a day and often I ask Matt if he can feel her kicking. Not yet for him. We even did the remote control test. (Where you lay on your back and put a long remote controller on your belly and it should move when she does.) Well it didn't work. Not yet. I give it another 2 weeks before Matt and the kiddos can feel her moving. 

Things, pregnancy wise have been going pretty straight forward. I have the normal round ligament pain, but a little more since I pulled it in my last pregnancy with Collin. I have to be careful when I move so that I I am having Braxton Hicks Contractions already. Not regular or anything but maybe one every other day. 

Total Weight Gain: 7 pounds total weighing in at 244.4 pounds.

Symptoms: Feeling great overall. I had a bad migraine on Tuesday so that wasn't fun, but it went away after about a day. I do have some shoulder pain from sleeping on my right side. 

Baby’s Size: Mango/Banana

Maternity Clothes: Yes, bottoms need to wear maternity or stretchy pants. Tops still good to go on regular shirts, but quickly starting to get too big! 

Stretch Marks: I already have a ton that I got when I gained weight years ago. So nothing new.

Gender: GIRL!!! 

Sleep: I am only waking up once a night to go to the bathroom. But started having some crazy weird dreams! Having some hip and shoulder pain from sleeping on my side. I just hate it. So I am flipping over from one side to the other a lot. 

Miss Anything: Sleeping comfortably flat on my belly or back! Sleeping through the night. 

Cravings: Nothing really this week. Maybe veggies and Shakeology. I have been really good about getting in my Shakeology every day!

Aversions: nothing yet

Excited About: HALF WAY TO MEETING OUR LITTLE GIRL! And feeling her kick so much more than before! That has been fun. Pretty soon Matt and the boys will be able to feel her kick from the outside.

Workouts: Got in my workouts 5 days a this past week, which is awesome! Still getting lots of massages from Matt for that. I have been doing 21 Day Fix yoga & pilates specifically, Cize, Diary Of A Fit Mommy's Fit For Two 2nd Trimester workouts and the Beachbody On Demand Active Maternity 2nd Trimester workouts. Did you see my post about how my belly is different now compared to my other 2 pregnancies? Be sure to CHECK IT OUT! 

Want more daily motivation and inspiration? Click here get free advice, support and encouragement + a free copy of my Clean Eating guide to help you get started on your health and fitness journey! 

How Different Can Pregnancies Be?

The story of my 3 different pregnancies. All pictures are at 20 weeks!

Pregnancy #1 (Mason)

I lost a ton of weight before I got pregnant with Mason. But once we got that + sign I stopped all exercise and just started eating whatever I wanted. I didn't care. I was finally pregnant after 8 years. I earned it. And I "assumed" I would lose the weight while breastfeeding. (we all know what assuming means and oh yeah, I was an a** because I did not lose 1 pound from breastfeeding!) Oh, and I gained 55 pounds making me 255 pounds day of birth!

Pregnancy #2 (Collin)

I had again lost a lot of weight through eating right following a nutritionist given plan. I had gotten into running that summer and even ran a half marathon at 29 weeks pregnant. AMAZING RIGHT! But again once I got pregnant, all I learned before went out the door and I let my comfort eating take over. And once that half marathon was over, I stopped all running and most exercise. I was tired. I was sore. I was done! And I gained a total of 20 pounds putting me to again, 254 pounds day of birth.

Pregnancy #3 (Elyse)

First time in all pregnancies that I was the heaviest starting weight. 200 with Mason, 234 with Collin and 237 with this one. But...I was determined to continue exercising (which I have) and eat right (again doing!) And have gained the LEAST amount of weight while being pregnant at this point in all 6 of my previous pregnancies (including my 3 miscarriages!) Only up 7 pounds as of today. I have more energy. I feel better. My belly is carrying differently. I am doing more strength training with cardio this time around. Really mixing it up. And only doing 30 minutes 5 days a week. AND IT SHOWS! I think I look better than I did when I was a cardio queen with Collin. (even though I am actually about 10 pounds heavier, NOW, on the scale than I was with Collin at this point) All because I am taking care of me from the inside out. Feeding my body what it needs and wants, and still allowing myself some treats WITHOUT guilt. Hoping to be at 255 at time of birth, but only time and baby will tell!

The point is, don't stop exercising. Don't just do one thing to stay healthy. To truly be healthy it takes a mindset change, a lifestyle change. A desire to change. And doing the whole package to stay healthy, pregnant or not. Doing just exercise doesn't work. Eating right only doesn't work. You have to do both exercise, and eating right along with working on you mentally for the changes to truly last and work. 

This is what it truly means to have made a lifestyle change. That I continue WANTING to do the things that make me feel better, look better, be better during any changes that occur in my life. This is what it is like to LOVE myself and to finally ACCEPT myself and it feels amazing!

Have you gone through life changes that just rocked you off your goals or health and fitness plans? What did you do? What are you willing to do to get back on them? Comment below!

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