Holiday Party Video

Lily and I made it down to Florida on our first plane ride together, she was the center of attention on the plane and loved every minute of it. She loved it so much that she pooped during landing and left a nasty aroma in our section :-)  Ben is meeting us down here Thursday for Christmas in Florida.  Lily and I have been getting spoiled by Nana, good food, and lots of love and laughter.  It's this quality time with family that makes the holidays so special to me, not to mention I am also enjoying the beautiful weather.  Nana is a built in babysitter so I have been getting my workout on here in Daytona.  I ran the beach this morning, it was sunny and 65 degrees...could not ask for better running weather!  I am trying to break even burning calories and my mom's famous Christmas cookies!

ALSO...

Watch this video before the big holiday weekend coming up! 
http://eating-right.servicefoods.com/
Merry Christmas - enjoy your time with family and friends

Another reason to eat chemically pure foods.

Check out this radio interview that I posted on the Service Foods "Eating Right" blog.  The interview was with an oncologist who was explaining the relationship between the harmful herbicides in most of the mainstream foods and it's direct relationship with the increase in breast cancer cases in women...SCARY!!!!  Our food system is crap (I'm just keeping it real), and you have to be a cautious consumer, don't buy into the marketing schemes- if it is too good to be true, THEN IT PROBABLY IS!  Everything has a price, if it taste sweet and there is no sugar you are ingesting harmful chemicals, if the food is cheap and has a shelf life till next year, you are ingesting harmful chemicals. 
http://eating-right.servicefoods.com

From breathing treatments to eating solid foods!

Lily started her breathing treatments every 4-6 hours (last Wednesday) and we stayed home most of the weekend to rest... thank the Lord, we ALL feel better!  Lily and I slept until noon on Sunday (I don't think I have done that since college) the extra rest really helped.  Breathing treatments were very scary for me, (not Lily) she basically fell asleep every time she had the mask on, my little angel knew what was good for her.  It freaked me out to see her with a mask on and her eyes closed.  Last but not least, Otis, (the dog) is also getting over his respiratory infection with $70 worth of antibiotics - Merry Christmas to us!

On another note, Lily is starting to look at us when we eat with curiosity, almost like she wants a bite of what we are eating.   I asked the pediatrician if we could try to feed her some solid foods, because I know this is an indicator of when they are ready to add in some solids.  In my nutrition books from college they say that you should wait until 6 months to try solid foods, but my little pop tart is ready to EAT!  We tried some rice cereal and she is getting the hang of it, next week will be some veggies.  I plan on making all of my own baby food and we will start with vegetables and then slowly introduce the sweet stuff (fruits) later on.  I have a bad sweet tooth so I need to get Lily started on the right foot with veggies, because she will definitely love her shuga later on :-) 

Tis the season! we are sick :-(

The tree is up and most of us are sick!  This is baby girl's first cold and mom hates it!  I have to give Lily's respiratory treatments every 4-6 hours to break up her chest cold.  Otis came home from he vet with a respiratory infection (don't worry it's not contagious to Lily) and now I have picked up my little one's bug too and to top it all off it's finals week for Ben.  Hopefully it will all go away before Lily's first Christmas!Keep us in your thoughts and feel free to drop any mommy advice to me in dealing with baby colds, besides "don't freak out" because I already did.  Keep building your immune system up!  Vitamin C...oranges, grapefruits, and your daily supplements... you all know what to do!

Have a healthy and happy holiday!

Lily Bug

This is attempt on coaching Lily to sit up.  She is enjoying her new views of the world from sitting up against the couch or in her bumbo seat...I love her Mary Jane socks, we have a pair in every color- Who needs shoes???? thank you Karen for the socks!

 Beautiful big blue eyes!

Not  a happy camper...even with all of these toys.  It is still a mystery how she gets that teething ring around her thigh, I have never caught her in the act, but it always ends up there.  When she gets fussy like this I sing twinkle twinkle little star and it usually gives me about 3 more minutes to finish what I am doing. 

Egg Scramble...YUM

One of our favorite things to do it to have breakfast for dinner, here is one of my latest creations, modify it or prepare it just like I did. 

3 large turkey sweet sausage links
3 eggs/6 egg whites
2 red potatoes chopped and cooked
white Cheddar cheese (1/4-1/3 c)

Chop the below and add to taste:
cilantro
jalapeno
red onion
mushrooms
Spinach

Brown and cook sausage in a cast iron skillet, add vegetables, add potatoes, once vegetables have become soft add eggs and top with cheese and bake in the oven for 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Top your portion with fresh sliced avocado and salsa.ENJOY!

Cold Run

Today was our first really cold run of the season.  I was not sure if I should run with Lily, but as you can see I layered her up like it was 20 below, but it was really 50 here, haha.  Running is getting easier but the hills with the jogging stroller are killer.  Today my heart rate monitor was reading 99 bpm on my way up a steep one, obviously the battery was dying and that made the run more frustrating because I love to see my progress with my heart rate monitor calorie burn and zone training plans.  The first time I tried to run after I had Lily it was humbling, I was running down hill and hit zone 4, I used to have to run at 6 minute pace to even touch zone 4.  Needless to say if you are trying to get back in shape, post baby or anything a heart rate monitor is a necessity! 

It's Friday and Ben does not have any school tonight so I want to cook something special- baked salmon with lemon and herbs, broccoli and brown rice, BUT since it is Friday you bet wine will be served with dinner! I'll work them extra hard in my Pilates class tomorrow!

Gobble Gobble...you turkey!

Lily had a great Thanksgiving she slept through most of the football!  I am thankful for my health, my family and my ability to help people make healthy lifestyle changes.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Pre-mommy triathlon race!

My wonderful and supportive husband, Ben. 

Lily and mommy duirng her first photo session. With the awesome Simona http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Atlanta-GA/SimonaD-Photography/112188728841824

This one was after the shoot, Simona had to get a picture of Lily's full belly after her bottle.

Welcome!

There have been many changes going on in the Yarn household starting with the arrival of our Lily last July.  I went from working 60 hours + per week in the corporate fitness world as a Dietitian, Personal Trainer and Pilates Instructor while following a strict training plan for my first Half Ironman triathlon in Augusta, 2009.  Two weeks after Augusta I was pregnant with our daughter Lily!  Life went from 3 hour bike rides on Sunday mornings to morning sickness and slow walks on the treadmill.  We decided it would be best for our family if I moved out of full time corporate fitness world to working as a nutrition consultant from home.  I had a great connection with a all natural food company (www.servicefoods.com) and the transition to working from home was seamless. 

So, here I am...I have created this blog to keep you updated on the latest Lily milestones, (and so my mom (Nana) does not have to waste too much time attaching pictures in e-mails to all of her friends, now she can just refer them to this link).  I also want to share my latest fitness and nutrition research and tips with you, and my journey on getting back to pre-pregnancy shape.  Triathlon season 2011 here I come!

Enjoy, and please leave comments! 

In Health,
Dana