Training: Glutes and Potty

If someone told me that one day I would be sitting on the floor of the bathroom nursing my daughter while urging my son to go potty, I would have looked at them and continued doing drugs. I kid, I kid. It's from that commercial, you know. The one where the guy's in rehab. Okay this totally isn't funny anymore. I'm laughing. Okay so I'm potty training Little Beast and two days ago, he finally got it. He now tells us when he has to pee and then actually pees in the potty! It's a miracle. I'm overjoyed. My little man is all grown up in his Elmo and Thomas the Train undies. So adorable.

Everyone told us to offer rewards when he first starts going potty to encourage him. So one of our rewards was a blue knife. Don't judge. It's a plastic knife that Hubby got him. Totally safe. Anyhow, here's Little Beast after his first successful trip to the potty!

Meanwhile back at mama's (country anyone?), I've been working on my glutes. Back extensions, bulgarian split squats, and squats squats and more squats. Since it will take time for my belly to go down to size, I figured I might as well focus on something else so I can see some gains and boy did I! Here's a pic 30 days ago and one today. I'm going to continue adding glute exercises to my workouts. Check out this article on training your glutes. She's got it right.

Do you see a difference? It's minor but progress is progress and I'll take it!

Little Beast is going to turn 3 next week. I can't believe how fast time flies. We're having his party at Pump it Up and boy is it nice. I don't have to do a thing! Love it. Sadly, a week after his birthday, I will be going back to work, which means I have to leave this beautiful face.

Life's been fantastic lately and I just can't complain. I've been working on eating clean and making sure I work out at least 3 times a week. I've also been spending a TON of time with my kiddos and enjoying every minute of maternity leave! 

Were you able to work out on maternity leave? Was it easier the second time around? How else did you spend your leave, aside from quality time with your beautiful little one?

Baby Got Back Extensions

As I mentioned last time, I'm working on my bootay. Seriously. I am. Squats, Bulgarian Split Squats and Bret Contreras's 30 day Back Extension Challenge. Well I am proud to say today I managed 2 sets of 25 back extensions! When I started a little over a week ago I could barely manage 10. Progress. I like it. Especially when it comes to my posterior chain. Nice. But not in a creepy way. Ok I'm a creep. I like big butts and I cannot lie.

Since having a well rounded ass means nothing if you have a big stomach, I have been working on my diet too. With breastfeeding, being on maternity leave and it being Fall, I have a sweet tooth. I usually want something sweet after I eat. So I've been looking for healthy recipes online. This past week, I've made Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies and Date Energy Balls. I substituted coconut flour for almond flour in the cookie recipe and  it was delicious. The date energy balls are equally as good if not better. The Detoxinista really knows what she's talking about. Check her out and make some stuff. You will not be disappointed.

Next week is Diwali, the Indian festival of lights so we'll be going to my parents house. Since the date energy balls sort of taste like mithai but are MUCH healthier, I'm going to make a batch and take it over. I will be indulging in the mithai my mom makes though (you would too, it's that good!) but at least I won't feel too guilty if I snack on some of mine as well.

I'm just about at my pre pregnancy weights for some of my lifts and I'm EXTREMELY happy about that. I did 5X5 at 75lbs for Back Squats today. I had my numbers from before I had Little Diva and a couple days before I found out I was pregnant with her, I did 3 sets of 5 at 90. So I'm getting there. 75 felt easy for me so I'm sure I'll be at 90 in no time.

It's really great to be able to workout like I did before. It's also really great to not worry about what everyone else is doing since I workout alone. I do miss my CrossFit friends and my box but working out at home takes away a lot of wondering how people can lift so much and allows me to focus on me. It also saves me money which is necessary these days with two kiddos.

And I'm Baaccck!

I'm bouncing all over the place, aren't I? My brief stint at Wordpress is over with. The amount of spam comments and inability to track stats was driving me bonkers. Also, for some reason, my homemade yogurt post got way too much attention. Attention I like, attention from non kid friendly websites, no thank you. I much prefer Blogger. Okay moving on.

So far for the month of October, I have worked out all but 4 days! I am proud of myself and getting back on track. I haven't been running much due to Little Diva being a little too young for the jogging stroller but I have been strength training and writing down my weights. I am working on form and hope to be at my pre pregnancy weights soon!

In addition to my regular workouts, I have started Bret Contreras's 30 Day Back Extension Challenge. When I first started, I could barely do 10 in a row. Today I did 3 sets of 20. I already see a difference in my butt. I swear I do. I unfortunately didn't take a before pic but I'll take one today so I have something to compare it too.

The end of this month will mark 3 months since I had Little Diva and a picture update of my progress so far. I haven't seen much movement on the scale but I'm really trying not to focus on that. I'm getting stronger everyday and that's all that matters!

That gave me the motivation to workout this morning. I did overhead presses with 45lbs (5X3) and then did 3 rounds of back extensions, ring rows and wall squats. I ended with pull ups. I am no where near where I used to be with pullups but this time I'm going to work on getting a strict pull up before I start kipping. I honestly think you need to be able to do at least 1 strict pull up before you can kip. Maybe not but I didn't have luck the other way around, so might as well switch it up right?

Non workout related, I am going on month 3 of exclusively breastfeeding. I am thrilled about that. I supplemented with formula my first time around so this is a big deal for me. And for the record, I am not one of those people that think breastfeeding is the only way to go. You have to do what works for you and your little one. It was easy for me this time around so that's why I continued to do it.

Yesterday Hubby and I went outlet shopping and my purchases surprised me. I went to Nike and got some comfortable tops that I can wear with leggings or yoga pants. I then when to Eddie Bauer and got a bunch of fleeces and a plaid shirt. My style has changed and I'm leaning more toward function over fashion these days. Not that I don't make plaid look cute, it's just that I have realized that I never wear heels on the weekend, like ever. So now my mission is to make functional comfortable clothing look cute. Seriously I will not be a frumpy mama. End of story.

What do you wear on the weekends? Are you a mama that rocks heels (I give you credit if you do!) or do you live in yoga pants and make them look cute?