You may have noticed that it's been awhile since I've written a new post. The hubby was off work for the holiday season so we spent our time gigging, remodeling, moving, celebrating and best of all...PLAYING WITH OUR BABES!
Getting the time and space to blog has proven difficult with two little ones. How dare they demand all my attention, love and adoration?! Instead I've been giving and receiving lots of health and fitness inspiration via Instagram! I love that I can search #paleo #fitness #planks, etc and make "friends" with like-minded peeps!
Follow me on Instagram: blazerella
Here are some pics I've put up recently:
Paleo Cookbooks and Kitchen Experiments!
Vitamix. Juicing. Yum.
Shout outs for the people who inspire my eats and workouts.
Loving doTERRA Essential Oils!
Object Runway 4 Gig. Being body painted while singing with celeb judge Joshua McKinley from Season 9 of Project Runway.
Check out the girls at Tone It Up! I've been doing their workouts lately and loving it. Here's a sweet leg routine:
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!
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?
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.)
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. :)
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.
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!
