exercise – Create You Coaching

Food prep the Mom2Squared way

It has been a while since I managed to do a post as I have been tweaking my schedule at home to be more mindful and spend not only time on exercise but also fit in meditation and other positive influences in my day. I have shared a few recipes with you on here now and I am not sure if you have noticed a pattern, but I have definitely found a method that works for my and the family.

We don’t do large batch cooking, yes, we do freeze extra portions but we make fresh and then freeze a few portions for when we need a meal quickly. What I do is use the entire day to prepare the meal in stages and it comes together at night for the dinner. We generally feed Austin and Aria at 5pm and then pull ours together after bedtime, but we are not starting from scratch. I would at the very least have fried the onions and vegetables in advance depending on what meal we are having.

I would say that roasting vegetables has become a huge part of my cooking because the vegetables love it, they morph into something delicious. They sizzle and crisp, soften and sweeten. What is not to love right? I would normally start off roasting a batch of whatever it is that I may need first thing, when every I have the time to chop dress and pop in. Normally around 10:00 while The Mini Music Makers are on and I can nip to the kitchen. There are a few key spices that add the flavour to our food and we have found them very baby friendly. The magic happens by using the right amount of the following; Mixed Herbs, Garam Masala, Ground Cumin, Paprika, Garlic powder, Ground black Pepper, Fennel Seeds, Onion Seeds and Rosemary. Start small with the spices and see what works for your family. We just add salt and chilli once we have removed the childrens portion.

Roasting the butter nut for our pasta sauce first thing or when you have 10 minutes to prepare it.

When need a quick meal, I always start with frying off onions and grating a carrot in, for me I then know that is the makings of a balanced meal. Add some mixed herbs and a splash of balsamic vinegar fry off the vinegar and add a can of chopped tomatoes or passata, now you have a nice pasta sauce, not from a jar, no hidden sugar. You can always put a teaspoon of maple syrup or sugar alternative in. I use the same sauce when making our rice balls and just use a little bit and then have plenty left for another dish.

Start frying the vegetable base when you get a spare moment in the day, here is the start of our healthy pasta sauce and Red pepper Pasta.

If you are doing anything you make in a pan, early in the day when you have time chop up your onion and other vegetables you are planning to use and fry them down. Sometimes I even do this without staying there I just pop back and stir once in a while or you can unpack the dishwasher will it is cooking away. As you get more used to cooking you will figure out your own short cuts, just know it doesn’t have to be a big job and a big clean up.

The finished product of the Tomato based pasta sauce, only two pans to clean

I use the same chopping board throughout the day, unless I have done meat on it. It just stays there until I am done chopping the last vegetable or herb, load the dishwasher as you go and rinse your utensils. By the time you have eaten you should only have the pan and the plates and cutlery you used. Yes, there will be exceptions but for the most part you have it under control. Happy cooking people!

Finding your Happy at home

Most of my blog’s focus has been on the children and what we do in our day, and while that makes for fun and interesting writing there is a lot more going on in people’s lives.

As it happens this morning, we did a Joe Wicks P.E session together as a family, they are rather challenging so that will be my exercise for today and I will commit to doing a hardcore HIIT session tomorrow. Mostly within a day I do at least one work out, whether that is a calming yoga, quick core workout by MadFit or a Peloton session with my husband.

We need to take the time to keep our heads straight, I can confirm that some days this has been so hard! You still have all the normal work to do coupled with all this fitness ‘malark’ and being a full-time good wife. It’s a lot so make sure to also cordon off time for you away from it all. Even the fitness, yes it will help but you need time to think or not think. On Monday after the children went down for a nap, I ran myself a bath and popped a Lush bath bomb( I cut it in half so I had some for another day) in and listened to a Podcast, Happy Place with Fearne Cotton and Russel Brand, confession I actually loves what he has to say! Yes, he makes it sound preachy and talks very fast but at least he is saying something and thinking about others.

While I know many people have been spring cleaning, decluttering and getting the garden ready we have not been that productive, well we have done the garden but it was only this morning that I gave our shelves in the lounge a sort. It seems that each time the babies can reach higher we just move items and after months it looked beyond messy. Giving areas in your home a freshen up can quickly and easily lift your spirits, like with most things you just need to set the time aside to do it. I tackled ours while in PJ’s and just did it!

Now the dust has settled it seems more and more social events are popping up. This evening we are enjoying a bottle of wine with above mentioned neighbours’ this evening. There is a garden between us, so safe distance sorted! Similarly, we have calls set up with some friends from our NCT group on Friday and Matt with the NCT guys on Thursday.

My lovely neighbour and Godmother to my children gave us a great idea that should have come to mind but in busy lives… They are ordering a takeaway and doing a date night every Saturday. Setting the table up like a restuarant and enjoying time together. We are looking forward to ‘going out’ for Japanese on Saturday night.

Casey from Sensoryland has scheduled Cuppa Club for the Moms or Dads to log in and have a chat on Zoom. We get the chance to talk about something that you struggled with/ found difficult that week or share an activity that was fun. I found it super helpful to just say out load what was bothering me and saying it to someone that isn’t my husband. I have been struggling to sleep or get back to sleep after waking up for the babies, one of the members had a tip to think of your thoughts as a train and each carriage is a thought. If the thought isn’t something you want to explore or that will serve you jump it and move to the next. So, go on connect with groups that you belonged to you never know if you can offer some support to someone out there too.

Remember your life before the lockdown and the things that made you happy and try recreating or adapt the things that made you happy. Create your own happy.

Return to Exercise

The story of my return to exercise comes with a bit of a twist. I was feeling much better and ready for some light work-outs, I had delivered our babies 4 weeks ago. Of course, what I do next is to accept the invite to the Christmas Party of the company I was working for. Feeling like I could fit into a nice dress, with some spanks to smooth the lines some, I got ready and ordered the Uber. At the party I committed to myself to a two-drink maximum, 3 at most…

On the dance floor I made sure not to go too nuts but as the night wore on and I was looking at the clock thinking I should really go now. Then a song came on and I decided to not join but start a conga line! Great idea, about half way in it felt like my hip gave way and I hobbled to the side and sat at a different company’s table. What could I do by call my director to rescue me, as I knew he would answer. Very embarrassing! Two of the company Directors carried me to where the first aid staff were. After checking my range of motion, they said it is not broken and sent my home with a colleague as I couldn’t walk.

Getting home my husband that stayed with the babies came down to help me get up the stairs. ‘I’m injured not drunk’ Much to his amusement and kept teasing me that I had too good a time. Hereby setting myself back another 4 weeks plus of no exercise, walking was the main goal at that point.

When I did return to exercise, I had to take it easy and build my strength. My much loved HIIT sessions would have to wait. I did this by working with a personal trainer, she guided me through various routines and increased my pace and reps. Learning the right way to do the different exercises and also how many of each and how many repetitions was so useful and something I will always use in my fitness regime.

The idea is that you do a kinetic or dynamic warm up to raise the heart rate and then do two or three groups of three to four exercises. You could take a minute rest between circuits or see how fast you can do all of them at a minutes per exercise and repeat 3-4 times. The best way I found to get workout programs was to search it on YouTube and Pinterest.

I do short workouts in the lounge, 15 –25minutes, so the kids can be involved or do some self-play on the play mat. Then 1 good gym workout a week and long walks with the pram. Yes long walks count, pick up the pace and get where you are going!

My children playing while Mommy exercises

This is a very rough guide of what I did and what worked for me, know your own body and limits. Please consult with your doctor before starting any new exercise following having your baby.