Friday Foodspiration

My eating has been all over the place this pregnancy. I've indulged in all kinds of yummy foods...some made me feel wonderful and some made me feel quite awful. 

I'm not posting a fair representation of how I eat, but you don't want to see the bags of Cadbury Mini Eggs, the bowls of cereal or the copious amounts of chocolate chip cookies (Why does my local Subway have to have a drive up window??), and I don't really want to remember them either. 

So today I'm posting some of the foods I've been eating that always leave me feeling energetic and just plain good inside. 

Breakfasts:

My go to breakfast has always been rolled oats (not quick oats!) with chia seeds, flax, banana, cinnamon and plain greek yogurt. 

Egg sandwich with some "mexican relish" on top. This "mexican relish" had black beans, corn, cilantro, salsa, Trader Joes Cilantro Lime dressing and lime juice in it. I used it to top anything from salads to wraps. 

We've been eating pancakes a couple mornings a week. We use the Kodiak pancake mix (high protein, whole wheat).. I add flax seeds, top with plain Greek yogurt and then drizzle with Kodiak berry syrup. If I'm extra hungry I add a side of  scrambled eggs and ketchup.

Scrambled eggs with spinach over toast with hot sauce. 

Lunches:

Hummus, turkey, sauteed zucchini, romaine and Trader Joe's Cilantro Lime dressing wrap

 Chicken (cooked in crockpot with salsa) with "mexican relish" and guacamole salad.

 

  Leftover turkey, roasted broccoli, spinach and ranch wrap

 Black bean salad with sugar snap peas and guacamole

 

Snacks:

 Smoothies!! Berries, 1/4 a banana, spinach, plain Greek yogurt, light vanilla soy milk, and flax seeds

This one I added a peeled orange

 I've been obsessed with wasabi peas and apples. I always take this combination when I'm out running errands. 

 Leftover dinner roll, with soy butter (peanut butter substitute since I'm allergic to peanuts) and banana.

Sugar snap peas dipped in guacamole 

Dinners:

Baked chicken cacciatore with sauteed zucchini topped with parmesan cheese

 

Vegetable skillet lasagna. This dish is packed full of veggies with whole wheat egg noodles. So yummy! Served it with a side salad.

 Grilled chicken and steamed veggies is the easiest go to dinner there is. 

 Vitamins:

Thanks to my cousin Emily, I'm currently taking the USANA BabyCare prenatal vitamins. I'm really liking them so far. It is hard to see how vitamins help us, but my nails are noticeable stronger and my acne cleared completely up when I was taking them consistently. I missed a few days and had a boil pop up on my neck (seriously- I'm 31 and I break out more than ever). I'm going to take them for the next month and a half and then switch back to my other prenatal and see if the acne returns. 

Happy Friday ya'll!!! Make it a great one!

My pregnant body image

At the beginning of my pregnancy I remember feeling a bit scared of how I would handle my changing body and not being able to physically push myself the way I had been doing. Running/exercising has really saved me from depression and helped me love my body in a deeper way. Was I emotionally ready to gain weight? Was I going to be able to find ways other than running "x" amount of miles to deal with life's stresses? I was stepping into new territory. My first two pregnancies I didn't exercise (I did walk some) and gained about 40 lbs with each pregnancy. I went into this pregnancy with the hope and expectation that I would gain less than 40 lbs since I would be exercising. I had planned to only gain 1-2 lbs in the first trimester.

Well, that was in the beginning.

Here I am at 20+ weeks. My hope to keep running has been fulfilled. I ran 400 miles in the first 20 weeks (averaging 20 miles a week). These miles were slow and sometimes miserable, but I got them done. However, instead of gaining 1-2 lbs, I gained about 12 lbs in the first trimester. I'm up a total of 15 pounds now. I'm on track to gain about 45 pounds (5 lbs more than in my first two pregnancies). That's right, I'm gaining more weight exercising 5-6 days a week than when I did nothing. I have lots of opinions on why, but I'll save those for another post. Now I want to talk about how I'm doing with my body image.

I started to compare myself to the #fitpregnancy and #pregnantrunner mamas I was following on Instagram. It seemed their bodies were only changing in their uteruses. I started to feel self-conscience at the gym and wanted to post "I'm pregnant" on my forehead to somehow explain my weight gain. My lowest moment was when I looked at a side by side picture of me at 8 weeks and then 18 weeks. Instead of seeing me as a healthy fit women who was growing a miracle inside of her, I saw how much weight I'd gained in my arms, face, love handles, etc. I couldn't bring myself to post the picture because I was so ashamed of my "failure" to have a "fit pregnancy". This isn't easy for me to share. I'm the preacher of self-compassion, the hater of the lies society tells us that our worth is tied to our body fat percentage. How could I be feeling these feelings that I had put behind me long ago!? Through a lot of positive self talk, a few powerful conversations with God, friends and my cousin Emily, I think I'm seeing things more clearly. The negative chatter in my head is ceasing. I'm feeling more joy. I'm feeling more love for myself and my amazing body, and my thoughts are being freed from the lies! 

So today I post my 18 week picture with pride. I'm so grateful for this beautifully imperfect body God has given me. It truly is the greatest gift we have each been given. I'm so grateful for this precious baby boy growing inside me. I'm proud of how hard I try and am humbled by how much I have to learn. 

If anyone is struggling with negative body image, here is my advice. Try to find the lies. They enter slowly, through our own negative talk, through things we see/read and the comments others make. 

Think of people you admire, respect and love who don't make perfecting their physical bodies a top priority. Really let it sink in that we can have great worth, be successful, be admired, loved and respected for intrinsic values not because of how much effort, control or energy we put into our physical appearances. I pray and ask God to help guide me each day, so that I may put my focus where he would have it be. Quit noticing others' outward appearances and start looking deeper at the people around you. Notice their goodness, their kindness, their hard work and efforts. As you focus on these qualities in others, you allow yourself to judge yourself based on this same way of thinking. I can feel happy and successful when I work hard to be like my Savior Jesus Christ. I can feel great worth when I forget myself and go to work helping those around me. 

I hope sharing my feelings will help others to recognize how much worth they have right now... regardless of their reflection in the mirror. I hope we can all see ourselves as God sees us. 

What do you do to fight the negative body image thoughts that creep in?

I've actually been pinching my hand and telling myself out loud to, "stop it!" People may think I'm crazy, but it really works. 

When do you feel most beautiful?

I think I feel the most beautiful when I'm having tender moments with my children.

And because it is snowing outside....what about summertime are you most excited for!?

I'm ready for long days spent at the park, our annual beach trip and of course the arrival of baby #3!

My hot date to Salt Lake

We were invited to TJ (Kevin's cousin) and Emma's wedding in the Salt Lake City LDS temple. The wedding was the week after Valentine's Day so we decided to treat the day as our Valentine's Date. We were married in this same temple over 7 years ago, so it was quite nostalgic and romantic to go there together again. The temple sealer who performed the marriage quoted something that President Gordon B. Hinckley told him when he and his wife were sealed many years before. I loved it and want to share it here so I can always remember this advice:

"Live so that you may receive blessings out of righteousness instead of out of mercy." 

God has blessed me over and over and over again. I feel his love for me and know he is mindful of me. I also recognize that many of those blessing were out of his mercy for me, not because I was worthy of them. I'm grateful for those blessings and they make me want to try harder so that His blessings may come from my effort to be obedient to God's commandments.

New Year's Half

My friend Heidi runs this small half marathon every New Years. I always tell her "way to go", but no way in hell fire am I ever running a race in January in Utah. Well...never say never. 

This race was my slowest half ever (2 hours 33 minutes). I've never walked during a race (except my first 2 5ks) and walked numerous times during this one.  I felt pretty weak-sauce the entire time, and something about knowing I wasn't "racing" it made me pretty lazy. We treated this race as a fun run, and I have to admit I wasn't that cold. I loved running with my friend Heidi. We have the best conversations! I may just have to do this one next year too. 

That hill between mile 2 and 5 is where I did most of the walking.

The race provided hand warmers in their race packets and I loved having them for the first 2 miles. This race is more of a big gathering of running friends, and we enjoyed steaming hot chili, rice, french bread, yogurt and bananas at the end. 

Heidi, me and Missy

Yay for snowman medals!

2014, You were my favorite!

What a year this has been. I spent some time reading back through some of my posts and reminiscing about goals attained, failures, memories made with friends, lessons learned, mistakes repeated. I always say how much I love Mondays because I appreciate the fresh start they provide. Well, I love the beginning of a fresh year for the same reasons.
As a stay at home, I sometimes have a hard time recognizing my accomplishments.

2014~
9 Half Marathons
1 Full Marathon
1 Ultra Ragnar
Hiked all 16 miles of the Narrows in Zion
Survived the first trimester of pregnancy
Was consistent helping Cory with his school work (about 45 min each week day)
Implemented and stuck with a chore chart/reward system for Cory
Served as secretary in my church's Young Women's organization
Took my kids on several memorable vacations (Goblin Valley camping, Rock Hill S.C, Myrtle Beach, Glenwood UT) I consider these trips accomplishments because traveling with kids is dang hard.
Played single mom while Kevin went on his Wyoming elk hunt
Improved upon my patience as a mother (still have a long way to go on this one!)

I'm excited to make 2015 a great year!

Pregnancy Weeks 8-11

December began right in the middle of all the first trimester yucks. I only threw up when I had my cold. Mucus did it every time. Pregnancy makes me extremely rage-y, and my family had to endure some crazy mood swings. I had a lot of food aversions and was very opinionated about my food. Cory took this picture of me trying to cook some meat for dinner. Smells are so intense right now.

Some of my cravings were pears and scrambled eggs with ketchup. Of course I craved sweets, but that is just a constant in my life. 

 Here is one of those awkward pregnant selfies in the mirror. Not much going on as far as outward body changes. I keep telling myself that it is a boy, so that I'm not sad when we find out it is a boy. :) I was able to keep my normal workout schedule, but I had runs where I just plain could not breathe.  I had a cold that contributed to it, but I think my body was adjusting to the increase in blood volume or something. My heart rate would sky rocket at a really slow pace. Just when I thought I was done running until after baby arrived, I'd have a really strong run. I never knew how I was going to feel. I'm glad I stuck with it and didn't let the "bad runs" deter me. 

Luckily as the 11th week rolled around, by nausea and food aversions left. As the first trimester ended, I actually started to feel like maybe I wasn't pregnant after all. My runs started to feel better and better!

A Bird Christmas 2014

Our Christmas Eve tradition is to go to Holly and Jorge's house for soups, sugar cookie decorating, and watching The Polar Express in pajamas. This year was extra special because Holly and Jorge surprised their kids with a new puppy!

After eating our weight in sugar cookies and licorice, we got the boys to bed and let the Santa magic begin!  Somehow on Christmas morning Mason snuck into the living room without us knowing. I found him riding his new Strider bike around in the dark. The shiny red car was a second favorite of his.

The boys loved opening each and every gift.

 

Uncle Clark and Aunt Aimee sent them cameras. This was probably Cory's favorite present this year. He is quite the little photographer.

 Cory with his new Mouse Trap game.

 Cory made books for everyone for Christmas. Here he is giving Daddy his book.

My dad has a special relationship with the boys and they share a common interest in all things scary and gory. Grandpa definitely won the weirdest Christmas gifts ever award. He sent the boys a zombie horse mask and and creepy pug mask. Mason was totally freaked out by the horse unless it was on his head.

 We spent Christmas day at Grandma and Papa Bird's house. Don't we look completely exhausted. Ha!

 Here is a "normal" group shot followed by a picture that is more representative of how we actually are.