Lifestyle. Health. Fitness.
Today marks 3 years of marriage for the hubs and I. 3 whole years as a Montana. Crazy balls.
Happy anniversary Zacky. Thanks for being the best best friend. Doing life with you is my favorite. I can’t wait to see what our future holds.
Like many moms, I have struggled to have a consistent work out schedule since having a baby. Life before babies was much easier for getting to the gym, Monday was leg day, Wednesday was back day, and Friday was shoulders, arms and plyometrics. I never wavered, I never made excuses,and I held strong to that schedule. When Max came along, my expectations to get back to that schedule were high. Unfortunately, teething, no naps, no sleep at night, and many other things that I let pile up, made my M/W/F routine impossible. I have been able to get two workouts in a week no matter what. Sometimes that means I workout on Saturday and Sunday. If that is the case, I make sure I stay active during the week. Max and I walk almost every day. I randomly do push-ups, tricep dips on the bathtub, and sometimes I will feel like lunging throughout the house. Ha. While that little stuff is all fine and dandy, for my sanity (and my butt), I have to make it into the weight room at least two times per week. I feel like I’m rambling, so let’s cut to the chase.
Everyone has excuses. Period. Everyone has the opportunity to work out and stay healthy. Whether that means searching for home workout videos on youtube, going to the gym, a bootcamp, or just hitting the pavement for a run. It is up to you to seize your opportunity and make it happen! It’s not easy, it’s not always fun, but it will always make you feel better. I promise.
Tips for Finding Your Groove
Do you guys have anything that works to keep you on track? I want to hear!
Y’all. I have been swamped the last few weeks. With an overwhelming amount of orders (which I’m so extremely thankful for), a crazy toddler, selling our house, and buying a new one, blogging has once again been thrown to the side. Not only that…my workouts have taken a toll. When my workouts are lacking their usual intensity, my eating isn’t as great as it should be. This, my friends, is one slippery slope. It is so easy to get out of a routine. One missed workout can lead to another, and that donut you had for breakfast, can lead to that burger at lunch. I have always preached that staying consistent is key to any type of result, I feel like such a hypocrite when I tell people this..and it’s been a week since my butt has been in the gym. Thanksgiving was my wake up call. I had absolutely no desire to get my usual Thanksgiving day workout in. When a nap sounds better than a workout, I know its time to reevaluate and get cracking! This week has brought new life into my workouts and meals! I’m feeling SO much better. When my health and fitness routine is on track, so is everything else. When I feel good on the inside, I am a better mom, a better shop owner, and a better wife!
Here are some tips to keep you from falling down the slippery slope or to help get you off of it!
I hope y’all had a great Thanksgiving!!
XOXO
Tavia
Oh good ol’ nap time. It’s one of the best parts of the day. Don’t get me wrong, I love being a mom, and being able to stay home with little Max is such a blessing, but he is non-stop. When he is awake, there is no such thing as a little me time. Sometimes I just want to go to the bathroom without a little person trying to climb on my lap or eat the toilet paper. Ya feel me? The question during every nap time is, what should I do? Laundry? Clean? Complete orders? Sometimes just thinking of these tasks make me want to take a nap too, so instead, I try to do something active right when he goes down. Whether it’s something small, like a few 1 minute plank holds, or lunging around the house, I know that getting my blood pumping will give me just the amount of energy I need to get my daily tasks completed!
Here’s a quick heart pumping workout:
25 squats
15 push-ups
1 minute plank
1 minute bicycle crunches
50 jumping jacks
Repeat 2x!
You’ll be feeling energized, excited, and ready to tackle those nap time chores!
Happy Nap Time Hustling Mamas! 😉
XOXO
-Tavia
Every once in a while Max gets this grand idea that taking a nap would ruin his day. So selfish of him, right? When he does this, it puts a major damper on my workout plans. I decided that just because Max doesn’t take a nap, it does not mean I will skimp on my workout. I just have to get creative. I took my butt to the backyard and got my workout on. Everything I did can be modified! Remember to listen to your body!
Warm Up: 25 jumping jacks for three sets.
Set 1: 1 minute plank (if this is too much, go for thirty seconds!) I did this with my feet up on Max’s swing. This adds an extra core challenge. If this is too challenging or you don’t have a swing, just keep your feet on the ground. Remember to stay up on your toes. Don’t fall into your heel!
Repeat 3x through. I try to move through everything pretty quickly. Only rest for about 20 seconds between sets. This adds an extra challenge, and will also help get through the workout fast, so you can avoid too many messes that your littles may make while you are getting your sweat on.
Set 2: Mountain Climbers. 1 minute. You can modify by going for 30 seconds. It’s important to listen to your body. Remember to move quickly and stay light in your toes! Repeat 3x through.
Set 3: Alternating side plank. Hold a side plank for 30 seconds – 1 minute on each side. Think about keeping your belly button drawn to your spine. Don’t forget to breathe.
^^ but seriously, don’t forget to have your coffee first. 😉
Set 4: Modified Pull-Ups. I used the side of our swing set. Get as many reps as you can with good form, rest for 20 seconds and do it again! 6 sets of these babies!
Last but not least, don’t forget your calves! Find any ledge (stairs work great for these!) and knock out 30 reps of calf raises on each leg. Repeat 4x through.
Done! You should feel so good! Remember that even a quick, small workout will make you feel better than nothing at all. It is so important to be active everyday. Every little thing counts!
When mama’s happy, baby is happy. 😉
Happy workouts friends!!
XOXO
Tavia
It’s Monday. Again. The weekends go by too fast! I have made a conscious effort to change my relationship with Mondays. We used to be enemies because they mean that the hubby is back at the office, laundry is piled up to my eyeballs, the house is a disaster, and the pantry is empty. I have decided we are not going to enemies anymore, we are going to be friends. So, I am grateful for this Monday because it means I have time to do laundry, I get to clean the house, meal plan, and hit up the grocery store! I mean, who doesn’t love to go to the grocery store with a toddler?!
Any who! The purpose of this post was to show y’all how I meal plan every week. I am a HUGE believer in the saying “failing to plan is planning to fail”. In order for my family and me to eat consistent healthy meals, I try to sit down at the beginning of every week and write down what each dinner is going to be. This also keeps me from buying out the whole grocery store. Here is this weeks meals:
Monday: Home made chicken fried rice
Tuesday: Chicken & broccoli casserole (the sneakiest way to get your toddler to scarf down some veggies)
Wednesday: Crockpot teriyaki chicken served over rice
Thursdays: Leftovers (aka the least amount of cleaning the kitchen day)
Friday: Big Green Egg Pizza
I base my grocery lists every week off of the recipes I need to make each meal. I use the leftovers for our lunches throughout the week. We try to avoid eating out. It is so much healthier and cheaper to eat in as much as possible! I probably sound like a broken record. Or my mother.
I will leave y’all with the homemade chicken fried rice recipe that was the bomb.com. Zack and Max gobbled this down. Getting Max to eat anything other than mac and cheese and pizza is a huge feat, so I am patting myself on the back right now. 😉
What you need:
4 Chicken Breasts
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup honey
2 cloves garlic
1 medium white onion
1 cup green peas and carrots
2 eggs
2 cups white rice
What to do:
Cut up chicken breasts into 1 inch squares and sauté on a skillet with a smudge of butter (yes, a smidge….that means less than half a tbs) until cooked all the way through. Set Aside.
Cook rice according to package
Saute green peas, carrots, chopped onion, and garlic until soft. Add two eggs and scramble.
Combine rice, chicken, and green pea, carrot, onion and garlic mixture. Pour soy sauce and honey over top and mix together!
I couldn’t leave this out of today’s post….while cooking dinner my hubby was home (which saved my house from a mini tornado, aka Max). The two of them experienced some quality bonding while sanding down our patio chairs. My heart just might explode.
Happy Monday Friends!
XOXO. Tavia
Has it seriously almost been a month since my last post?! How has this happened? I’m blaming it on the mom time warp. That thing that turns hours into seconds and days into hours. Trust me, it’s a thing. So much has happened in almost a month. Our little shop has grown to almost 1000 followers! So. Surreal. Max is growing by the minute, he is one years old y’all. We had a big ol’ bash for his 1st birthday, those pictures will be up soon! He has started saying, “doggy, ball, hi, bye, dada (nothing new there lol), mama, papa” , and pointing to airplanes like it’s his job. Are you ready to be bombarded with Max pictures that you’ve missed out on the last three weeks? I hope so……..
I promise to never fall this behind again! Stay tuned for quick outdoor leg workout that will be posted tomorrow! You won’t be sorry!
I hope you all had a great weekend. We sure did. The weather was perfect and we were finally able to really get some good use out of our backyard kitchen Zack built this fall. Baby Max had his friends over…and luckily for us, we love hangin’ with their parents 😉 
^^ How cute are all of these little nuggets?! There is something so entertaining about watching babies interact with each other. It’s hilarious. We’re hoping this kind of get together happens a lot this summer. And with all of those precious baby pics to make you happy…I now want y’all to suffer enjoy my butt burning, heart pounding, favorite workout day of the week….
Monday Bunday.
Here was my workout this am:
10 sets of 10 reps seated hamstring curls
10 sets of 10 reps leg extension (keep the weight doable, but challenging!)
Stiff legged dead lifts (20 reps) super set with box jumps (20 reps) Repeat 3x through
Plie squats (20 reps with a super challenging weight) super set with step-ups (20 per leg) Repeat 3x through
One-legged squats (15 reps per leg) super set with alternating jump lunges (30 total) Repeat 3x through
DONE! This should make you guys feel SO good! 😀
One more thing….we have new onesies and Hustling Mama colors in the shop! Go check them out 😉
For any of you that know baby Max, or even if you have just seen his pictures, you know the kid is a pretty happy camper. Well, today just put the icing on the cake. He woke up talking in his usual baby babble (which I will miss so much one day) and when I walked into his room he clapped. Clapped y’all. I don’t know how your day can start any better then that. Tuesday’s are one of our favorite days around here. We have music class in the morning, so much baby dancing and clapping your heart could explode….
..Then, we pretend we are a dog like Bailey… 
Then, we flirt with pretty girls….(or steal pacifiers…)
We eat snacks on the patio..
And finally….we drop some new designs for Little Nugget Apparel’s shop. 
BE BOLD, Or Italic, Never Regular. And that y’all, should be everyone’s life motto…am I right?! 😀
I hope you all had a great Tuesday! Stay tuned for a butt kickin’, heart poundin’ workout this week! I’m already scared. Hehe.
We had our first traumatizing baby experience this weekend. Our baby proofing efforts proved not good enough for our little crawling monster. Max decided it was a good idea to pull a speaker off a shelf.
^ I don’t know why we didn’t think to move that little bugger. It now has a tentative new home on top of the cabinet.
Enough about the speaker….you all probably want to know what happened to his poor little finger. He got it wedged underneath the speaker when it fell. His fingernail will not be hanging on much longer. He also had a pretty decent sized cut, I couldn’t get it to stop bleeding so we decided to head to the kids urgent care. He cried the whole way there and almost the whole time we were there. There is nothing worse than hearing your baby cry in pain like that, I felt so bad! The doctors and nurses were so great to us and baby Max. They had him all wrapped up in no time and sent us on our way. When Max was back to his flirty, smiley-self, I knew he would be just fine! Me on the other hand….still somewhat traumatized. Being from a family of four…with two crazy, fearless, sometimes stupid (no offense guys) brothers, I know this will not be our last visit to the urgent care. So until next time (hopefully a few years from now)! Ha!
Stay tuned for a super exciting post about some new exciting things we have going on around here! I. Can’t. Wait. To. Share.
Happy Thursday Y’all!
These Crazy Montanas 