creating a story Archives - Page 10 of 11

The “every day”

When I started doing photography it was 100% for the money. Not because I was passionate about photography or shutter speeds or f-stops. Not because I was artistic or creative and I needed an outlet. Not because I had a “good eye” or was naturally talented at taking pictures. I saw an opportunity to make money (which I like) photography sports (which I LOVE) so I went for it.

My perspective when I first started as a photographer and my perspective now are radically different.

The truth is, I still don’t take pictures because I’m passionate about photography. I take pictures because I’m passionate about the people IN the pictures. And the stories of their lives.

When I learned how to take pictures of people (not just sports), I knew my style wouldn’t be typical. I quickly started to learn how powerful a photograph can be. Sounds dramatic, but it’s true. A photograph can be more than just a photograph. A photograph can show a persons soul. It has the ability to tell the world who someone IS. And that’s not a small thing.

As my style developed as a photographer, my mission became to focus on personality and relationships. To have emotion in my photographs. To tell, without words, who someone is.

“Sometimes a perfect memory can be ruined if put to words“ Nova Ren Suma

I attended a seminar where another photographer said “The power we possess to bring out someone’s inner most soul is an art form. We allow people to see pas their insecurities and see who they really are.” I believe that.

This has completely changed the way I take pictures of my own children. And the importance I give to the photographs I take (and display) of them.

As a parent, one of my main goals is to allow my children to be who they already are. Images are one way I can help them discover who that is. Photography has become a tool in my life to help me be a more intentional, present, and aware mom. To appreciate my children more. To be aware of who they are and who they are becoming. To document their lives. The good AND the bad. And to document our families story.

Photography has given me more patience. More love. More compassion. More awareness. And most importantly, more intention to live a purposeful life. That’s why it’s SO important to me and why I want to share that gift with other people.

It’s the every day stuff. What they do from day to day that show who they are. So in my opinion, the pictures I take of my kids in my own home are by far the most important kind.

“Photography is a gift because it allows us to see the beauty in what can feel routine and mundane.” Ashley Campbell.

The EVERY DAY

“The mom stays in the picture”

To all moms.

If you read nothing else in your lifetime (besides God’s scriptures), please, please, puhlease, read this:

“The mom stays in the picture“

I can’t expound too much, because she says it so perfectly. But. I always have something to say.

We send messages to our kids all the time. Intentionally and not intentionally. They’re always watching. Always listening. And always paying attention whether we think they are or not. They say moms have eyes on the back of their heads. Well kids have ears on every inch of their body. And eyes that see and then mimic what they see.

What is the message we send to our kids, girls and boys, when we won’t get in pictures? How do they interpret that?

We tell them to love themselves. To be happy with who they are. To know they are a literal child of God and their soul is worth something. We say, say say. Tell, tell, tell. But what do we DO? What do our actions say to our kids? Because that’s where they’re getting the real message. From what I do. Not usually what I say.

I get it. It’s not always fun to be in a picture. Especially when we’re tired, bloated, feeling gross, and on and on and on. For me, I don’t love asking other people to take a picture of me. I just don’t. It feels weird and kind of embarrassing (even if it’s my own husband). “Hey, I’m awesome, take a picture of me.” But I’m getting SO much better at it. Because I think it is so so so important for our kids to see pictures of us. WITH them. Being a part of their lives. No matter how we look or feel. Because they don’t care. They just want us. Just the way we are.

And some of us allllll by ourselves. Doing nothing. Or doing things we love! So our kids can see we are people to. And we like to DO things.

(this was my very first time waterskiing, thus the “holy crap I’m going to die” face)

And now that nearly all of us have smart phones with built in cameras and self-timers, there’s NO excuse!! Stay in the picture moms!!!

Getting Healthy. Part 4. TIPS

To read Part 3 of “Getting Healthy. Exercise” click here.

Here are some things that helped me while working on getting healthy.

1. Use weight as a gauge, but NOT as an “end”. It truly isn’t about weight as much as it is how you feel. Muscle weighs more than fat. So if you’re gaining muscle, but losing fat, you’re doing great.

2. Drink more water than you think you can handle. It helps hunger, but also helps flush all the crap out of the body. And makes you pee a lot (only disadvantage).

3. Leave a water bottle out where you can see it. And drink everytime you pass it. Take water in the car with you. Have a bottle of water on your desk at work. Keep it in your sight throughout the day and drink, drink, drink

4. Eat smaller meals, more often. I ate 5 meals a day, about 300 calories each. To calculate how many calories you should be eating a day, click here.

5. Exercise smarter, not necessarily longer. I recommend some form of interval training. But you have to work hard.

6. Find a way to be accountable. I’m self-motivated when it comes to exercise. I wanted to lose weight and be healthy. That was enough accountability for me. But if you need more, tell a friend or family member what your goals are and have them ask you about it every so often. Or find a workout buddy. I like to exercise alone, but some people do better in groups. Just make sure you’re all there to work hard and not socialize. 🙂

7. Try to exercise at the same time every day. I realize this can be tricky especially if you have kids. I have 4 kids under the age of 9. And my youngest was only 8 months old when I first started my exercise/eating program. There’s a way to do it. You may have to be creative, but if you really want it, you can figure out a way to get it done.

8. Don’t feel guilty for the time it takes to exercise. This may sound silly, but if you’re a mom, you know what I’m talking about. The ever present mom guilt. I often felt guilty for exercising. Because it does take a big chunk of time. But. My kids get to see me do it. And know it’s important to me. And it’s sending a VERY important message to them that exercising and eating right are an important part of creating a great life.

9. Try not to get discouraged. If you don’t see pounds melting off like they do on the Biggest Loser competitors, don’t get down on yourself. I only lost about 1 pound a week. Sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more. Just stick with it.

10. Don’t weigh yourself obsessively. My rule of thumb was to only weigh myself once a week. Sometimes I even went two weeks. As long as I was consistently feeling healthier and stronger, that was good enough for me. If you have a lot of weight to lose, the scale can be a helpful indicator if you’re moving in the right direction. But. It can also be discouraging if pounds aren’t coming off as fast as you think they should. Don’t give up!!

11. Plan ahead for your meals. I don’t have a lot of spare time throughout my day. I rarely sit down and am usually running around from one thing to the next because someone allllllways needs me. Always. So if you don’t have your meals figured out ahead of time, you’ll eat crap, or even worse, you won’t eat. You HAVE to eat consistently to keep your metabolism going.

If I can do it, you can do it. I promise. Make it a priority. Be consistent. Celebrate even the smallest of success’s. Be positive. Work hard. And get healthy!!!!

If you have a WHY, you can figure out any HOW.

Good luck and STICK WITH IT!!!

Read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of Getting Healthy. And my history with weight here.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. I’m happy to help wherever I can!

Getting Healthy. Part 3. EXERCISE.

To read Part 2 of “Getting Healthy” click here.

The next key for me to getting healthy was exercise.

I’ve been athletic my whole life. I grew up playing sports with all the neighborhood boys. Started playing competitive soccer when I was 12. And played soccer in highschool. I didn’t start running just for the sake of running until I was 22. I had never consistently run for exercise until I decided I was going to run a marathon. Go big or go home.

And then I had four babies. And only exercised intermittently during and between each pregnancy.

After my fourth baby, I finally felt motivated to lose all the baby weight and get in good shape.

A few factors played into my decision on what type of exercise to do. The only time I have to exercise right now is when my kids are awake. A few of my kids don’t sleep well, so getting up early is out of the question.

Running outside with kids in a stroller seems like a sin to me. Running is my sacred time. My alone time. My “I can do this really hard thing called being a mother” pump up time. Pushing kids in a stroller fetching thrown sippy cups and passing out goldfish just seems wrong.

Running on the treadmill wasn’t an option either for fear something would get thrown at me by a child while running resulting in treadmill burn on my face.

I also wanted something that required no equipment. Cause if momma’s lifting weights, the kids want to lift weights too.

So I decided to do Insanity. If you haven’t heard of Insanity, it’s basically interval training. But it’s 3 minutes of high, intense exercise, and then a 30 second “rest” (you never really get to rest), then another 3 minutes of high, intense exercise. When they say it’s insanity, they aren’t kiddin’. It’s hard. Harder than any form of exercise I’ve ever done in my life. More painful than even the last mile of the marathon I ran.

It hurts. It’s hard. It’s intense. It’s insane.

But.

It got me in the BEST shape of my entire life. It literally changed the shape of my body. Gave me muscle in places I’ve never had muscle before. Toned. Burned fat.

The pain was worth it. Because I have truly never felt better. Ever. I’m in better shape and stronger than ever.

That’s how I got healthy and lost weight. Not running. The comment I usually get is “you’ve been running a lot haven’t you.” Nope. Just did insanity.

It doesn’t have to be insanity. But I think interval training is amazing for the body.

Smart exercise. Not hours and hours of exercise.

Even after I got to the size I felt healthy at, I continued to do insanity. I did it for about a year.

Then I did Focus T-25 5 days a week for exercise. Because it’s only 25 minutes. And I’m just trying to maintain. Not lose weight.

And right now I’m doing P90X3 because I want to get toned. And it’s only 30 minutes. (And I don’t get paid by Beachbody. I promote their products because THEY WORK).

I run on Saturdays when my husband can watch kids. Because running is good for my soul. And I like to listen to music while I run. (Check out my running playlist here)

Sometimes I just run 4 to 7 miles (depending on how much energy/time I have). Other times, I do an interval treadmill workout. You can check that out here.

I never thought I was an exercise to a DVD kind of person. But I love these. And the kids have learned mom can’t talk while doing these. I literally can’t talk. I’ve nearly puked on several occasions.

The TYPE of exercise you do will be critical in losing weight. If you pick the wrong one, you have to exercise for MUCH longer. It is definitely possible to be efficient when exercising. You can burn MORE calories in LESS time if you pick the right kind of exercise.

{Updated to add. You can read my article about using a heart rate monitor so you know exactly how many calories you burn when you exercise}

To read Part 4 of “Getting Healthy. Additional Tips” click here.

Getting Healthy. Part 2. What to eat and when to eat it.

To read Part 1 of “Getting Healthy” click here.

What to eat and When.

Here’s what I did. This wasn’t super specific. It’s not an expert opinion. It’s simply what worked for me. The hard thing about weight loss and general health is that it is very specific to each persons body. So what works for one person may not work for another. But there are definite general guidelines we can all go by.

Burn more calories than you consume.
Eat wisely (not all calories are equal).
Eat small amounts more often.
Drink boatloads of water.
Exercise.
Eat breakfast every day to get your metabolism going.

5 meals smaller meals throughout the day.

This helps your metabolism keep going throughout the day.
The best analogy I’ve heard to explain this is comparing your metabolism to a fire. You have to get the fire going in the morning by eating breakfast. And then you have to keep the fire going throughout the day by feeding it small amounts of wood often. If you don’t put wood (breakfast) on in the morning, the fire doesn’t get going. If you put on large amounts of wood and then have long breaks, the fire dies down. But if you consistently put smaller amounts of wood on the fire all day long, the fire stays consistent and continues to burn throughout the day.
Small amounts, more often. I’ll repeat that over and over and over because I think it’s so important!

Here are some ideas of things I would eat.

Breakfast:
*A protein bar. This is what I ate almost every morning. I found a kind I liked and stuck with it. This will be very personal as some protein bars are horrific and chalky. Shop around. Right now I like the Zone Perfect protein bars. I’ve tried the Chocolate Mint, Peanut Butter, and Cinnamon Roll. I like Cinnamon Roll the best. They have 15g of protein and are 210 calories. I also like ClifBars with protein (usually around 10 to 12g). My favorites are White Chocolate Macadamia Nut and Coconut Chocolate Chip.

*Eggs and Wheat Toast
*Occasionally I’d eat some sort of cereal high in protein (Kashi Go Lean cereals have protein)
*Breakfast burrito. Scrambled eggs and a little cheese in a warmed up wheat tortilla
*Omelete with spinach, mushrooms and cheese

Mid-morning snack:
*Protein shake. I used the Chocolate Whey protein from Costco. 1 scoop of that blended with half of a banana and a scoop of peanut butter. Ends up being about 300 calories and 30g of protein.
*Or for the BEST spinach protein shake ever (that I am now having almost every day), click here.

I exercised around 10am on most days (6 days a week), so as soon as I finished exercising, I would drink my protein shake. If you exercise at a different time, adjust eating so you have a high volume of protein within about an hour of working out.

A hand blender became my new best friend.

Lunch:
*Almost every day, I ate a Turkey burger (frozen ones from Costco that I would grill on a stove top pan), carrots, and watermelon. If you don’t have a pan like the one picture below, they’re worth buying. My kids will even eat Turkey burgers. And that’s saying a lot. Picky little buggers they are.

*Ham and Turkey sandwich on thin wheat bread. You can get thinner sliced bread shaped like a bun at any grocery store.
*Chicken tacos on corn tortillas. If I didn’t eat a turkey burger, I ate chicken tacos. Just grill up the chicken on a stove top pan griller thingie (like the one I used for turkey burgers). Or you could use a George Foreman grill. Or if you’re really motivated, you can use a BBQ. Then just grade a little cheese and some lettuce and put them on a warmed up corn tortilla (I put two in a pan on the stove and heat them up).

Afternoon snack:
*cottage cheese and crackers and an apple. Cottage cheese is a great source of protein without many calories in one serving. It’s not one of my favorite things to eat, but I grew to like it. I like the Walmart brand. It’s less thick.

*string cheese, triscuits and a banana

*handful of nuts (cashews or almonds) and carrots sticks or fruit

Dinner:
*different proteins on different nights. Chicken, Turkey, Pork Tenderloin, Shredded Pork. And one side. Salad, vegetables, long-grain and wild rice.

For me, protein means meat (or cottage cheese). I think yogurt is disgusting. And Tofu, don’t get me started. I know there are other sources of protein and you obviously don’t have to eat meat to get your protein. But I like meat. So that’s what I ate.

The biggest keys for me was eating TONS of protein (way more than I ever use to eat on a daily basis). I tried to eat around 100g of protein a day.

And, drink TONS of water. I bought a Camelback water bottle and left it out on the counter throughout the day. Every time I walked by, I’d take a big drink. I tried to drink at least 5 of those a day.

You’ll notice there wasn’t a lot of variety in my diet. That works for me. I can eat the same kind of things every day. And I’m a pretty simple eater. There was some variation from this eating, but for me, it was easier to stick with a basic eating plan. I planned ahead, made sure I had the food on hand I needed, and cut out most of the crap foods (anything processed).

Sundays were my free day. I ate whatever I wanted that day. But I noticed the more I exercised (smart exercise) and the healthier I ate, the less inclined I was to crave stuff that’s not so great for the body. But still. I ate dessert. Almost every Sunday. And still do.

In the beginning, I was admittedly a little hungry. I’m used to three bigger meals throughout the day. Not small meals. And I’m an eater. I reeeeeally like food. But it didn’t take long for my body to adapt. And I honestly felt like I was eating all the time. And after about the first 2 weeks, I never felt hungry in between meals. In fact, several times I had to force myself to eat even though I wasn’t feeling hungry.

Small amounts, more often, of the RIGHT kinds of food. This is huge.

To read Part 3 of “Getting Healthy. Exercise” , click here.