Life 7 Months Post-Baby...

I am the healthiest I've ever been. I'm physically fit. Why did I avoid vegetables, push-ups, and natural remedies for so long? My taste buds were trained to love grease and high fructose corn syrup. Taste buds can change! I was lazy and worked out in aggressive spurts only to release anger. I was only told to trust the doctor. Yikes. I'm experiencing spiritual and emotional growth. Why was I so afraid of sharing my feelings and even crying on occasion? I thought I was alone and that if I shared my traumatic past and my feelings about it that I would scare people off, get pity, or worry others. And if I cried I wasn't sure I'd ever stop. Turns out, I'm not alone. I'm not unique and I did stop crying.

I'm frequently asked how I got in shape so here it goes...

PHYSICALLY:

• Paleo Diet! No grains, No dairy, No Soy, No Legumes. Very little sugar. Lots of Veggies, Meat, Fruit, and Nuts. I saturate everything I cook in Coconut Oil! The Vitamix and Juicer are used regularly. I tried adding rice back into my diet when I started dropping weight too fast but my body did NOT like the reintroduction of rice so I cut it back out and just upped my avocado and sweet potato intake. 
• Primal Workouts. Dancing. Now that winter is here we haven't had the regular trips to the park where we were sprinting and exercising together. The past month or two I've been doing planks, push-ups and squats very infrequently. The kids keep getting heavier so I lift a 17 and 25 lb weight many times a day. And we gig a couple times a week so I'm on my feet for a few hours making sure I move continuously.
• doTERRA's Essential Oil, Slim and Sassy. (Silly name.) It's a completely safe, natural effective weight loss aid. It's a blend of Ginger, Grapefruit, Peppermint, Lemon and Cinnamon. Most importantly it's treating my hypoglycemia. It regulates my blood sugar level while detoxing my fat cells. Impressive. Find it here, www.mydoterra.com/blazeanderic/ or contact me if you'd like to try a sample! Also doTERRA's Essential Oil, Breathe which has replaced my 2 asthma inhalers that I puffed over 35 times a week. Now my asthma is completely manageable with 1-2 drops a day of Breathe. Miracle for me.
• Supplements! With extra Vitamin D!
• Pre-Pregnancy Weight with Baby #1: 130 lbs. Gained 40 lbs during the pregnancy. Born 3.29.11
• Pre-Pregnancy Weight with Baby #2: 130 lbs. Gained 35 lbs during the pregnancy. Born 5.4.12
• Weight Today, 7 months post-partum:118 lbs. with more lean muscle than my body's ever had!

MENTALLY:

• A strong program of continuous recovery that enables me to help myself, help others and live the life of my dreams!
• Limited screen time. We took a month long tv break to let our brains relax a bit.
• Choosing Acceptance over Control and Faith over Fear.
• doTERRA's Essential Oils; Basil, one drop 2-3 times a day for mental renewal. I was struggling with becoming extremely overwhelmed on long days alone with the kids and this oil has turned that around. I finally feel capable and stable. Serenity layered with Frankincense or Balance to help me cope with stress, especially at bedtime. Find them here, www.mydoterra.com/blazeanderic/
• Incredibly supportive, wise, helpful husband.

If you'd like any recommendations on easy Paleo Meals, Primal Workouts or doTERRA Essential Oils just shoot me an email, blazemusically@yahoo.com or send me a message on Facebook! Life is good. It used to be such a struggle. I was choosing to sit in my pain, medicate with things that made it worse and I didn't know how to stop. I realized if nothing changed I'd be stuck there forever so I've been working hard to be the person I've always dreamed of being and life gets better every day! 

Just BREATHE!

DoTerra. Mind. Blown.

Here's my first ever VIDEO for those anti-reading types. If you'd like you can turn it into a drinking game for every time I say "excited"...ha! ;)

I've suffered from asthma and allergies my entire life. The severity of both has lessened as I've gotten older but as a kid I was hospitalized multiple times with pneumonia, resulting from an asthma attack triggered by an allergy. I also endured terrible side effects from pharmaceutical inhalers and nebulizers I was given. As an adult I'm down to two inhalers daily.

My son, Lyric got the same massive amount of allergies and he's now one of those snotty kids that has a runny nose 24/7. Not attractive. He also has a terrible time sleeping because he can't breathe through his nose.

A friend brought me a sample of an essential oil blend called, Breathe. She said her father in law had replaced his inhaler with it. I said thanks we'll try it out but I assumed her FIL's asthma probably wasn't very bad to begin with. (Sorry Jane...ha!)

The first night we put Breathe on Lyric his sinuses cleared and he slept through the night for the first time in 5+ months! He now goes days without his nose running at all! I started using it and within 2 weeks I went from using my steroid inhaler twice a day and my rescue inhaler at least once a day to completely phasing out the steroid and using the rescue inhaler once a week! And I think the little I'm using it now might be out of habit since I've had it on my person for the last 29 years. I have replaced 35+ puffs a week of pharmaceutical chemical/side effect laden asthma drugs with 1 drop a day of DoTerra's oil blend Breathe. It feels like a miracle. This is a completely mind blowing discovery for me and anyone who's experienced my awful respiratory issues over the years. We are SO GRATEFUL to have found this and absolutely have to share it with everyone!

If you suffer form asthma, allergies, bronchitis, or any other respiratory ailments please give this a try! Contact me and I would LOVE to bring you a sample to try. Or you can go to our DoTerra site and buy a bottle. You can find it in the Oil Blends section. If you end up not liking it then I'd be happy to take it of your hands.

I'll do future blog entries on the other oils and how they've benefited us but for now I want to focus on this amazing change in the health of my family.

Contact me!
Call or Text: 907-440-6815
Email: blazemusically@yahoo.com
Website: http://www.doterra.myvoffice.com/blazeanderic/

To learn more about DoTerra Essential Oils visit our website!

It's a reputable well respected company with a product that works wonders! The only question is, what physical and mental part of you could use some natural healing?

Emote, Eat and Take Your Vitamins

Emotions are not emergencies. Deep Breath and Repeat.

The past two weeks have been chock full o' emotionally charged dates. There was the anniversary of a traumatic event that changed the course of my life and the anniversary of the day (years later) that I decided to stop escaping every emotion by any means necessary. I got through the tough day without doing anything to make it worse, which was a feat. I let the memories surface. I felt the fear, anger and pain and I did my best to let it go. Then the happier date came along and I felt the gratitude, humility and the hope that was deserved. Apparently feelings don't kill me and sometimes they even make me all warm and fuzzy!

Before- 8 months prego w/ Jazz and After- Last weekend at Humpy's Great Alaskan Alehouse gig.
I'm excited about the muscle definition in my arms. Carrying two babes has an upside!

The worst thing I did was some emotional eating but I've forgiven myself. :) Have you ever had a Fast Break candy bar?! It's like Mr. Snickers and Ms. Reese's knocked boots and had the most glorious baby ever! And I ate 3 of their babies...

My diet is still 90% Paleo 10% shitty sugar. I'm considering doing Balanced Bites 21 Day Sugar Detox or The Whole 30. Have you done either? Any suggestions?
I've been asked a lot lately what I eat so here are some pics from this week:

Breakfast-Banana (I have to force them down. I can't stand the texture but they're so good nutritionally. Sigh.) Steak strips w/ peppers, onions and asparagus and of course, COFFEE!

Love hydrating with Coconut Water!

I'm a big advocate of supplements! Most of us have deficiencies we aren't aware of that are bringing down our quality of life. I learned so much from the book, "Depression Free, Naturally" by Joan Mathew Larson. I notice a dip in my mental state when I stop taking B vitamins. D is an essential which I already preached about here. Iodine, Iron, Calcium, Potassium and Magnesium are my other dailies. I've recently upped my Flax intake to help with my Omegas since I'm allergic to Fish. And after most meals we take Papaya Enzymes to help with digestion. (Pregnant ladies, papaya enzymes are a life saver for heart burn.)

What supplements do you find work best? 

We're kind of a big deal...

Eric and I were "Interrogated" this week by the Anchorage Press, the coolest news publication in town that all the indie kids dig. It was awesome to talk about our lives as musicians, spouses, parents, and more! For those of you out of town, my husband and I gig around town a few times a week as a badass funk/soul/jazz/cuban/pop influenced cover band. For those of you in town here's a link to the gig calendar. Come check it out. We have a blast!

We're finishing up our first album and honing in our duo act. It's gone from me on vocals and Eric on keys to both of us on vocals, keys, guitar and a few more surprises I don't want to reveal yet. The album will be out in time for this holiday season. We just pre-sold the first one yesterday! You can also "like" our Facebook Page, if you're into that kinda thing.

Thanks for all the local (and global) music support! It's awesome to live a dream. :)

4 Months Primal Check-In!

Current results since going PRIMAL!

That's a picture from yesterday. Jazz is a few days over 4 months. So with almost 4 months of eating a Paleo Diet (plus lots of added sugar binges) and 2 months of sporadic Primal Workouts I'm already seeing and feeling GREAT results!

My husband is doing this all with me and yesterday he flexed...YEAH BABY! I was pretty turned on, not gonna lie.

Lyric is the only one in the family that's not eating paleo since he's allergic to most meats and some veggies...and some fruits...and some nuts. Poor little dude! Jazz is thriving on my paleo breast milk though!

The MDA Primal Blueprint Challenge started this week so go to the website and join in! I can't wait to see how I feel and look in another 4 months! Lean mean fat burning machine! As someone who battled bulimia for 10 years, eating well and feeling strong is an amazing accomplishment that I'm really proud of and incredibly thankful for.

Will you join the challenge?

A Typical Day of My Paleo Eats

Thank you Jenny for my first Paleo Cookbook, "Well Fed" by Melissa Joulwan! Paleo recipes for people who love to eat. Grain, Legume, Dairy and Sugar Free. The layout is amazing and I can't wait to share my favorite finds!

I've had a few people ask me lately what I eat, so here's a day in the life of my tummy:

Breakfast - 3 eggs w/ veggies and sometimes bacon or turkey bacon. And Coffee w/ Coconut or Almond Milk and occasionally a few drops of liquid Stevia.

Snack - Nuts (Pistachios or Macadamia lately) and Dried Fruit made in our Dehydrator. Water.

Lunch - Big Ass Salad! Tons of lettuce, kale and/or spinach. Veggie-Palooza and sometimes chicken.

Dinner - Veggie, Meat Combo. Beef, Chicken, or Steak w/ Peppers, Avocado, Asparagus, Any and All Veggies I can find in our fridge! Coconut Water.

Late Night Snack - Hopefully I'll omit this someday but lately I want sweets all the time so I've been indulging in Larabar's uber. Not the healthiest but much better than what I really crave, frosting. ha!

What are your favorite Paleo Cookbooks?

Vitamin D and some Burpees...

I just finished reading The Vitamin D Cure by Dowd and Stafford. First of all, I'm so excited that I read an entire book and even learned something in the process. I was voted "Most Avid Reader" as a youngin' but when adulthood rolled around I had "better" things to do. Ugh. Bring on the books, baby!

I don't have the energy to re-cap the entire book but here are the highlights:

HOLY SHIT DUDE, TAKE YOUR VITAMIN D!

Supplements (at least 2500 IU if you're an AK peep!)
Diet (Cut cheese, grains and most dairy)
Exercise (Moderate Level Walks and Muscle Building Moves)
oh, an SUNSHINE!

Vitamin D is so incredibly vital to our health in ways I never knew. Correcting your levels can completely diminish aches and pains, fibromyalgia, depression, seasonal depression, fatigue, obesity, gout, and so much more! The book goes into great detail about your risks for low D based on your ethnicity, location and genes.



It was also personally awesome to read another health book that totally mirrors our new primal lifestyle. Yet again, the pro's are seeing the facts that grains and dairy are not only not necessary for us but they are detrimental to our health, vitality and longevity! Plus the workouts were right on par with the Primal way!

The new wallpaper on my phone. Motivation!

Speaking of workouts, I'm getting buff. Not super buff yet but I just had two kids back to back and my body looks better than it's ever looked before. That's pretty freakin' crazy and encouraging! I'm totally out of shape which just feels like a great starting point. My diet and exercise aren't perfect but I'm doing great 85% of the time and right now that works for me.

Just tried some Burpees for the first time. Ouch. If you don't know what that is then check out my favorite fitness chick on youtube bust some out.

Until next time...

21 Day Total Body Transformation...Hopefully

Eric and I have been transitioning into a totally Primal diet (hunter-gatherer foods) since the birth of our 2nd babe three months ago. Cutting out grains was surprisingly easy for both of us. He's one of those annoying people who can go on health kicks as a behavioral experiment or just for the hell of it and stay 100% dedicated. For years he's wanted to cut agricultural grains knowing that they were the introduction of a vast amount of health problems for our world. I have babies with allergies so I decided to cut common allergens while nursing in the hopes that my daughter doesn't have to go through to agony my son did by being allergic to everything I was ingesting. Wheat and Corn were cut so when we got into the Paleo Diet there were just a few more grains to exclude.

Last week we started the Primal Blueprint's 21 Day Total Body Transformation: A Complete, Step-by-Step Gene Reprogramming Action Plan. We feel awesome! We are 6 days in. Eric's lost 5 lbs, I've lost 2. But more importantly we're getting buff and the eating is energizing! I no longer have a food coma after any meals! 

Our Workouts:

Circuits of - Planks, Reverse Planks, Push ups (Chest touching the ground), and Pull Ups. 

Grok Ball & Sprinting - We throw a 10 lb medicine ball as far as we can, sprint to it, throw it again, sprint, and so forth until we our sweating bullets and cant lift our arms. 

Walking, Stretching and Playing!

Go Barefoot! Eric's Vibram Five Fingers and My NB Minimus.

Our Typical Day of Eating:

Breakfast: 3 Egg Omelet or Scramble with celery, onion, bell pepper, cucumber and bacon or turkey bacon.

Lunch: Big Ass Salad. Romaine, Spinach, Kale, veggies listed above plus avocado and chicken. Olive Oil out of our Misto w/ salt and pepper as dressing.

Snacks: Macadamia Nuts. Fruit Roll Ups we make with our new Dehydrator using berries from the yard. Homemade Sweet Potato Fries & Chia Seed Muffin (Blaze only since I'm trying to up my calorie and carb intake while I'm still nursing.).

Dinner: Meat and Veggies. Steak and asparagus is my favorite.

Dessert: Dark Chocolate. 85% (Yuck. Eric's into it but my taste buds aren't there yet.) Coconut milk ice cream. Fruit.

Beverages: Water, Coffee, Tea, Coconut Milk, Nut Milks, Hemp Milk and occasional Red Wine. I don't drink but Eric was on board for a lifestyle change that included dark chocolate and red wine. That seemed sustainable for the long haul. :)

Lyric helping us pick raspberries in the backyard.

I'll report back at the end of the 21 days. At that time we'll be continuing this Primal Living but this is just a nice hardcore jump start. Maybe by the end of 3 weeks I'll have stopped my small sugar binges every few days. *sigh* Still it's progress. Now when I eat sugar I get shaky and dizzy so clearly my body is rejecting shitty foods and the insulin spikes they produce. Yeah baby!

Check out the Primal Blueprint and the 21 Day Total Body Transformation Guide! Living Primally is the cure to our ills. It all makes so much sense and our health has already improved as a result of tossing out the "conventional wisdom" of our food pyramid that's led to all time high obesity rates. Go Primal! 

My First Time Using a Recipe vs. A Microwave

Cooking, cleaning, and caring never came easy to me. I decided at young age that I was going to be rich and famous so I would of course have a cook, maid, chauffeur, masseuse, etc. That's still the plan but in the meantime I think I'd like a more serene living space. And it might be okay if I'm able to feed my children...

I've been having a great time keeping up with Paleo, Fitness, and Healthy Lifestyle Blogs. This week I tried out two recipes. That's two more than I've ever attempted before. 

Both recipes are Grain, Dairy and Sugar Free.

First I made Coconut Flour "Oatmeal" from Katie Did's blog. (She is an awesome Paleo Eater, Crossfit Monster and Sweet Photographer.)

The only variation I made was to add ground flax seed and honey as a topping and I omitted the peaches. I've been having the toughest time avoiding sugar but this was a sweet treat and I even felt like I was eating carbs again. I don't miss them but it was a nice texture. 

That was so much fun that I decided to try something a bit more ambitious. Protein Thin Mint Cookies from the awesome sisters of Purely Twins. I used Variation #5 No Carob. I struggled with this creation a bit. I decided to buy new measuring cups because I rely heavily on them! The cookies didn't turn out that great since I kept screwing with the amounts of ingredients. Instead of throwing in the towel I got creative and turned the runny mint chocolate soup into balls by adding Crunchy Flax Cereal, Flax Seed and Shredded Coconut. Voila! Delicious!

Making treats in the kitchen turned out to be a fun, calming, enlightening experience for me! For the first time I was able to hear both my husband and mom say, "Wow Blaze, that actually tastes good!" Maybe one day I'll be so good that they'll take out the "actually"... 

Do you enjoy cooking? Where do you find your favorite recipes?

Juicy Double! ...serving of veggies...

Old Blaze: The only thing nastier than vegetables is vegetable juice. No thanks.
New Blaze: These juiced veggies are giving me a serious rush, man!

I'm not on a health kick. I'm truly changing my dietary habits for the better. This week my man and I decided to make a pact to juice veggies every day for a week and see how we felt. It's been 4 days and I haven't felt this good in years! I have endless reserves of energy. My vision is more clear. My brain is calm. That alone is a huge change. We definitely aren't stopping at a week. My body's never been happier with me!

Benefits of Juicing Vegetables:

1. You absorb all the nutrients from the vegetables. Including all the enzymes. Raw food rocks!
2. Juicing pre-digests the veggies so you can easily assimilate and absorb the good stuff.
3. You're able to consume a wider variety and larger quantity of veggies.
4. It's great for weight loss since the amazing nutrients immediately satisfy your appestat (the part of the brain that controls appetite) so you feel full for a freakishly long time.

Tips:

-The darker and leafier the better! Kale & Spinach are our go-to's!
-Drink it immediately after juicing. That's when you'll get the most out of it.
-If you get a tummy ache after drinking a bunch, (I did the first day) drink a big glass of water right away. It solved the problem and I've found not having it on an empty stomach helps too.
-As you're juicing taste the different individual vegetable juices. In the pictures below we're taking shots of yellow pepper and red pepper. And since my drinking days are behind me I felt like I was really partying! Ha!

Veggies in the last batch we juiced: (We split the juice 50/50)

2 Peppers, 1 large Cucumber, 2 cups Kale, 2 hearts of Romaine Lettuce, 3 cups Carrots. Then at the end it's always good to add 1/4-1/2 a Lemon and a chunk of Raw Ginger! Awesome.

What are your favorite veggies to juice?

It burns so good! Work it, Sweet Thing!

This week's workouts have felt so GOOD! My legs are so sore today that I can't stop smiling.

In 2010 I was pregnant with my son, Lyric. To stay in shape I did Denise Austin's Fit & Firm Pregnancy DVD. It had separate  workouts for each trimester and had a cardio workout I did for the whole nine+ months. Plus she had this weird gravely voice that didn't match her perky peroxide persona. I felt like I was being coached by a retired cheerleader who smoked 2 packs a day. Amusing.

In 2011 I was pregnant with my daughter, Jazz. To stay in shape I took care of Lyric and...well that's about it. Throughout both pregnancies I gigged quite a bit so those counted as a workout since I was on my feet singing and dancing for hours.

Now it's 2012 and my uterus is baby free, people! I can move like a foxy little minx again! I can ride roller coasters and sleep on my tummy without endangering any lives. Best of all I can break a sweat EXERCISING!

This week's workouts are:

1. Body For Life Weight Training.

Years back I joined a friend in the BFL diet/exercise program. I half assed the diet but still saw almost immediate results from the workouts. I feel that my cardio is good right now from chasing my 1.5 year old around all day. My upper body is getting toned by the second since I'm lifting and bouncing 25 and 12.5 pound weights all day long! (My kids) So I'm focusing on the lower body workout. It's so helpful for me to go to the gym knowing exactly what I'll be doing. Here's a look at the sheet to follow.

2. Purely Twins Plank Workout

Purely Twins is an awesome blog I follow. They are super fit twin sisters that blog about fitness and food. Mostly vegan/gluten free recipes. They recently posted a video they made of a plank workout. It looked easy until I tried it and after about 15 seconds I was sweating shaking and had to stop. Wow. For now I'm modifying the workout to 10-15 second intervals until I'm stronger. It's great. Try it!

3. Zumba

This week I'll be going to my first Zumba class! Thank you Groupon. Dance and Exercise are on the Top 5 of the "Things That Make Blaze SUPER EFFING HAPPY" list so I'm sure I'll instantly love it. I'll let you guys know next week when I post about new workouts.

What are doing to keep in shape? Have you tried Zumba? Was it fun or silly?

Smudge Monkey Art!

"In Your Grip" by Jess Baker

Jess Baker of Smudge Monkey Studios is my absolute favorite artist! Here's a commissioned piece of me that she did as part of her Prego Wood Collection. I am sooooo in love with it! The drummer in my band said, "That is the perfect showing of the Blaze essence and vibe. Plus the profile is right on".

"Blaze Bell Prego Wood" by Jess Baker

"Like" her Facebook page! Smudge Monkey Studio FB Link.

Check out her website: www.smudgemonkeystudio.com/.

Drool over a few more pics and buy some of your own. She's amazing! Here are a few more of my favorites...

"Smoke in my Hair, Music in my Soul" by Jess Baker

"Fire Starter" by Jess Baker

"Smoked Codger" by Jess Baker

Who is your favorite artist? What do you enjoy about their work?

My Transition from Hot Pocket Hottie to Coconut Cavewoman

Eat like a caveman. Yum! Live like a caveman. Logical! Workout like a caveman. Roar!

PRIMAL LIVING ROCKS MY SOCKS!

Almost 3 months ago my daughter, Jazz was born. Her older brother had such extreme allergies that I was convinced to stop nursing early on because he dropped in weight dramatically from a lack of nutrients from my breast milk. I felt completely at fault. Nursing had been a struggle from the get go so I was ready and willing to let the nastiest formula ever, Alimentum, nourish him, since I couldn't. I feel some guilt still for not trying harder to do an elimination diet but he was allergic to 16 out of the 20 foods tested. Living off of rice, potatoes, garlic and carrots sounded beyond difficult and to be honest I was so stressed by that point that my milk was drying up fast. Our horrible pediatrician had yelled that I was "Starving!" my poor baby. It was a bit traumatic for me so we did our best. He's a strong healthy 1.5 year old boy now! (And he can snap his fingers which is just plain impressive.)

With Jazz's arrival I decided to eliminate all common allergens in case she had severe allergies to. I was determined to breastfeed her so she could get the ultimate nourishment!

Foods I Eliminated:
Wheat
Corn
Soy
Dairy
Sugar (For my Hypoglycemia.)

While I was researching allergy-free recipe sites I found, Mark's Daily Apple. It was dedicated to Primal Living. The Paleo Diet (or Caveman Diet, Hunter-Gatherer Diet) was exactly what I needed:

No grains, No sugar. Meat, Veggies, Fruit & Nuts!

His website got me so fired up about the entire lifestyle. Everything about it made perfect sense to me. My husband had been wanting to phase out agricultural grains, knowing that they're completely unnecessary to our diets and that their introduction to us brought about so many health problems! We decided to GO PRIMAL together!

I saw a change in my digestion immediately. There was a cleansing process that was slightly shocking. I felt bad that I'd been clogging my body with so much disgusting fast food, etc! Now I am an amazingly clean running machine. (Hopefully you all know what I mean without me getting more graphic...)

My skin stopped breaking out and is shinier. Weird.

I've had zero grains in over 2 months and it's been surprisingly easy to avoid them. No sugar has been a struggle though! I thought I could have it in moderation but when I get a taste it's a lot like alcohol or any other substance I've been addicted to in the past. I just want MORE! So I've had a couple sugar binges but nothing too drastic and it hasn't derailed my success. MDA says go for 80/20 with your eating. I've been about 90/10. I try to use the 10% for cooking sauces, salad dressing or any occasional bite of sweets.

Most importantly, Jazz is doing beautifully! She's eating well and growing well. Her skin is perfect unlike the awful rashes and eczema Lyric got from his allergies. The new wonderful pediatrician said it's good I'm eating this way because she can see small signs that Jazz is a sensitive baby as well.

Lately I've been getting sick easily, which is really not cool since my profession is singing and it's no fun (and not very pretty) when I have a head or chest cold. I know that lack of sleep is a huge part of it. Being a new parent doesn't afford much rest. I decided to count my calories and make sure I'm getting enough as a nursing mom. I realized that they might be too low which would be giving Jazz all the good stuff and leaving me with little to keep my strength up. The absolute least amount of calories a nursing mom should have is 1800, and that's if she's still trying to lose a lot of pregnancy weight. I'm 5 lbs from my pre-prego weight and figured I should be getting at least 2,000 calories a day to be healthy right now. At the end of my first day keeping track I'd taken in 1,200 calories and I'd felt like I'd eaten a lot! Uh oh.

I am now keeping a detailed journal so I make sure to get:
Calories: 2,000
Carbs: 100
Protein: 100

I've decided to modify the diet a bit while I'm nursing to include sweet potatoes and quinoa to up the carbs. I'll let you know how it goes!



Typical Day of Meals:

1. Superfood Smoothie: 1 tbsp Flaxseed, 1 cup kale, 1 tbsp Hemp E3 Live w/ Maca Protein Powder, 1 tsp Camu Camu, 1 tsp Mesquite, 1 cup frozen fruit, 1 tbsp Chia Seed, Coconut Water and 15 drop Phytoplankton.

2. 1 bell pepper w/ hummus

3. 1 large piece of chicken. seasoned with salt, pepper, cinnamon and cooked in 1 tsp coconut oil and 1 tsp soy sauce. 1/2 avocado. 1 cup lettuce.
OR
Steak and Asparagus

4. 2 egg omelet w/ 1 tbsp Flaxseed and 1 sausage link. Cooked in 1 tsp olive oil.

5. Handful of almonds, pistachios and/or pecans.

6. Raw Foods brand Super Cookies. Marsala Chai, Lemon, Carrot Cake and Chocolate are my favorites.

And I sip on water with lemon juice, Yerba Mate tea and Perrier Water throughout the day. Oh and of course 1-2 cups of Coffee with a dab of coconut oil.

I'll keep you updated on my Primal Journey!

What results have you seen from living primally? Did you have any difficulties with babies with allergies? Any tips for the rest of us?

BEE POWER!

Superfoods! Did you know there are foods that can truly make you Super? Super-healthy, Super-clean, Super-freaking-awesome. David Wolfe is da MAN when it comes to learning about these foods and every amazing thing they can do for our bodies and minds.

Today I want to share about the Original Superfood, Bee Products.

I'll give brief rundowns on the different products and their benefits but for more information definitely check out, Superfoods by David Wolfe. I had no idea bees were so impressive and that we could benefit so greatly from their hard work!

Honey: (in it's raw organic state) It is rich in minerals, enzymes, probiotics, antioxidants and is one of the highest vibration foods that exist! Mohammed said, "Honey is a remedy for all diseases." (Please don't give honey to children under 1 because potential contamination that could bother their tiny systems. But when they're bigger it can be used to topically to cure all kinds of boo-boo's!)

Bee Pollen: It is a complete protein containing B-9 and 22 essential amino acids. It is an alkaline food that's been used to treat fertility and prostate problems. It's also been used by many athletes to increase performance!

Propolis: Its the waxy substance that holds the hive together. It's a highly medicinal and antibacterial substance. It's been an effective treatment for arthritis, asthma and allergies.

Royal Jelly: Ooh! This one is what's made for ONLY the Queen to consume. Throughout history it's been known as the "fountain of youth and beauty". It's treated tumors, glandular and hormonal imbalances and nerve diseases. I can feel my super powers growing when I partake in the royalty!

We take our Bee Products in the morning on an empty stomach with a big glass of water, as directed. They are all so packed full of vitamins, proteins and more. This is a food that you can actually live off without eating anything else! Badass Bee Shit, Yo! It's important to find bee products made locally. That will mean they can help fight local allergens.

Please continue learning about amazing bees and the products they work so hard to create! My seasonal allergies have already improved and I'm sure my immune system is just getting stronger and stronger!

Have you tried any bee products? What were your results?

Veggies! Vitamix! Victory!

I eat vegetables now. Raw. Nutrient filled. Healthy. 

A few years ago my diet consisted of (in order of importance) 1. Champagne 2. Hot Pockets 3. Skittles 4. Wine. You might think that's a joke but unfortunately it's not. I wasn't overweight or particularly sick. I functioned through long days of work, rehearsals and partying...for the most part. And I clearly didn't care much about myself.

But then I decided to have some babies with this dude I thought was the shit and suddenly there was someone I really wanted to take care of. And since that someone was living in my body I had to consider changing up my habits! Thankfully dude or "my husband Eric" as some call him, was a real nutrition aficionado and he encouraged me to eat a lot of good foods. We made a big chart to check of food groups, we went on walks, I quit boozing it up, and I slowly but surely started changing my mind about this crazy idea of healthy living.

Today, nearly 2 years and 2 kids later, I can say with confidence that I am healthy and I LOVE IT! I took ample time to grieve over the loss of my microwave and my addictions. Now the fog has cleared and damn I feel good!

My first born had TONS of allergies and because of that I was asked to stop breastfeeding very early. I really wanted to nurse my new baby so I decided to take a preemptive strike against allergies and just cut out every common allergen food group. That meant no wheat, corn, or dairy. And because of my hypoglycemia I'd just cut waaaay back on sugar. On my search for allergy free recipes someone recommended the site, Mark's Daily Apple. HALLELUJAH! That discovery set the path for the way of living my husband and I are embracing now! Mark Sisson is the author of The Primal Blueprint. It's all about the Paleo Diet and living life the way cavemen did. Hunter gatherer foods, specific non time consuming exercises like sprinting and heavy lifting, parenting skills such as baby wearing and homeschooling, barefoot or vibrams, no stress, nature, etc. There is so much that I'll have specific posts on later but basically it all made so much sense to us and we were fired up to get started!

The paleo diet is meat, vegetables, fruits and nuts. Exactly what I need and my body is loving it! It's been a month and I had a nice/uncomfortable detox cleanse from cutting out all the agricultural grains. I now have more energy, no sugar/carb crashes, no food comas, clearer skin and the baby weight is almost all gone! (She's 7 weeks old today.) Most importantly Jazz is still nursing, gaining impressive weight and has never been sick.

We're enjoying making new creations in the kitchen and for the first time in my life I want to cook! It's a creepy miracle that no one in my family saw coming. 

Vegetables lose so many nutrients when cooked that we try to eat them raw but I yearn for warm meals! We found a solution! 

Vegetable Soup in the Vitamix!

First we grabbed all the veggies that looked good from the fridge. Kale, Zucchini, Celery, Carrots, Orange Bell Pepper, Asparagus, Onions and Tomatoes.

Next we chopped them up and threw them in the vitamix with warm water (the exact amount to fill our two bowls) & bouillon (1.5 tbsp). We saved the tomatoes to mix in at the very end for texture.

Voila! Two warm bowls of nutrient filled vegetables. Seasoned to taste with fajita seasoning, salt and pepper. 100 calories per bowl. (2.5 cups) YUMMY!

What are your favorite soup recipes? Have you tried making warm creations in your Vitamix yet?

30 Minute Recording Challenge!

Eric and I have a band. Our band name is...wait for it...Blaze and Eric! Pretty freakin' clever.

Eric is an AMAZING musical freak-show that can play every instrument proficiently. He's incredible on piano, guitar, and saxophone. He's awesome on vocals, drums, bass and ukulele. And I've seen him pick up a violin, banjo, and didgeridoo and play them better than most. Considering that he's also smart, great at sports and has silky curly locks I am 69% sure that he's a robot and/or alien.

I love performing! Dancing is my biggest love so I use our music gigs as an excuse to shake my money maker for hours! Theatre, singing, dancing, playing piano and guitar have all been great creative outlets in my life. I feel so blessed that my husband and I can join forces and create!

Near the end of my pregnancy with Jazz I thought it'd be fun to record a song so I could immortalize my 9 month pregnant voice. It was a bit deeper and breathy than normal with about 1/4 my normal breath support. We decided to kick it up a notch and see if we could make a decent recording in under 30 minutes! We had some equipment set up on our kitchen table we took turns doing two takes each while the other person played with our 1 year old in the backyard. Then we spliced our favorite stuff together and voila. It turned out pretty good and we finished in 24 minutes! I can't wait to do our album recording without the challenges of pregnancy or time constraints.

Here's the end result. Hope you like it!

For more info on Blaze and Eric visit their band website!

What song would you like to hear us cover?

Jazz is Born! (The girl, not the music...)

Due Dates. Ugh. They are an estimate that falls in the middle of the month our baby could be born. But in this day and age with lots of scheduled C-Sections and unnecessary inductions a lot of people don't realize that it's okay to wait it out for awhile. Jazz was 10 days "overdue" aka born in her perfect timing but because of that damn due date I was anxious, ready for her and bombarded with texts and calls saying, "Where is she? Get her out already! Aren't you going to induce yet? Does it need to be at the hospital now? Is she safe? Get the pitocin and get that baby out!" AAH! Thanks to baby-daddy (he's also my husband but baby-daddy is much more fun to say) I was reminded daily of this concept I've always struggled with, Patience. Lo and behold, she eventually decided it was time to greet the world! Before I describe that magical morning let's rewind.

In March 2011 our son Lyric was born. The birth was ideal (an hour and half of pain with a purpose, everyone healthy, fast recovery, women now hate me, bouncing baby boy). The timing was ideal (professor husband off work for the summer)! And nobody's getting any younger. So, when my 6-week post partum appt rolled around and it was time to discuss birth control options we opted to not. I figured breastfeeding would keep things at bay for awhile but with my sons severe allergies the nursing didn't last nearly as long as I'd hoped and BOOM! baby number two was on her way!
We were very excited! Kids 13 months apart sounded like quite the adventure. Plus daddy-o would be finishing the school year just in time to help me with both little ones for the summer!

38 wks
www.VoAlaska.com

38 wks
www.VoAlaska.com

Pregnancy #2 was...long. I'd just recovered from the first pregnancy so another 10 months of fattening up didn't sound too exciting. Not long after I started showing it became challenging and eventually impossible for me to pick up and hold my son and since he couldn't walk yet that was not cool! I'm a singer and I must admit that gigging pregnant is great for tips! But it's tough for things like, I don't know, SINGING! Can't breathe, where are my lungs?, who's on my diaphragm?, I have to pee again band! Exhausting. At least I still had a full wardrobe of maternity clothes, books on pregnancy and midwives I loved! This time we decided to find out the sex so it was a blast sitting around daydreaming about my baby girl.

Natural birthing was very important to us and the ease of the first birth just proved to us we chose the right path with a drug-free midwife aided experience. We utilized the Hypnobabies program again. LOVE! I prepared mentally for the birthing day, hoping that my strength, faith and perseverance would make the experience go smoothly. And it truly did! Through much research and questioning we learned that hospital births are notorious for checking you in and getting that baby out whether it's the ideal time or not. Pitocin leads to unbearably strong contractions which then leads to an epidural, which in turn slows things back down because you're no longer able to follow the natural instincts of your body. In the end your baby is born and it was all worth it and you now have a war story to tell your friends (please dont tell the pregnant ones your negative birth stories!) but if there was a way to avoid that path we wanted it! And there was. The natural way that's been used forever, all over the world with WAY less complications. (I'll touch more on primal mothering in a future post.)

Visualization Collage I made!

Flashcards to help me stay strong on birth day!

Early in the morning on May 4th we went to the birthing center knowing the baby would arrive soon. I wasn't as far along as I'd hoped so they suggested walking stairs. I did that for a bit but I was very focused on listening to my body and I knew it was more important for me to rest and save my energy for the intense part that was inevitably going to come whether I ran up and down the stairs or not. Hubby brought a guitar and we sang songs in between contractions which helped keep me calm and distracted. And it really entertained the midwives! We had the Hypnobabies CD's playing in the background the whole time. There are CD's specifically for your birthing time stages and the pushing stage. It was AWESOME! As ideal as it was, contractions still freaking hurt like hell! I'm not at all immune to pain but I just kept breathing, focusing, remembering the pain had a purpose and I looked in the mirror and told my self what an amazing badass mofo I was. Ha!
Ooh! I remembered this feeling...it was time to PUSH! Hallelujah! At this point I stopped worrying and focused on helping Jazz get out as smoothly and quickly as possible. 13 minutes later she was in my arms! It was the most incredible feeling!
A few hours later we were home with our perfectly healthy bundle of poop, tears and cuteness. No, I won't be having baby #3 this time next year. I want the energy to play with these two for awhile! Then we'll see...

Welcome Jazz! :)

What were the major differences in your 2nd+ pregnancies? Did you change your birth plan the second time around?