How To QUICKLY Get Your Tummy Back After Baby!

This is me 40 weeks pregnant!



Hello Dolls! This was one of my biggest concerns before I got knocked up. Every young girl fears that mommy "pooch" and wonders if they will ever be able to wear their clothes again. DO NOT BE AFRAID!! I will give you some personal tips of mine on how to get that sexy flat stomach back again in 6-8 weeks! I'm bringing sexy back ;)

Ok. Before you conceive get your health in order. Lose that weight you were always meaning to because you're only going to get heavier from here. Remember the term "muscle memory"?? Work those abs out my friends! If you begin in shape, it will be easier to get back there since your body has been there before. Duh.

-Postpartum. If you have a natural, uncomplicated birth as I did, you can begin light exercise 2 weeks after delivery. Light exercise meaning just getting outta bed. Haha, I mean pushing your new babes in the stroller for a short walk. Your hips need a little time to slowly move back together so walking is key, but sometimes feels very funny. :) 

-I began doing basic muscle flexing maybe a few weeks after delivery. There are specific moves new moms need to accomplish before moving on to a tough personal trainer. I will show you these in the pics below. 

-Prepare easy, healthy meals. I actually have a mini fridge in my son's nursery so I could always have something to snack on. I prepared turkey and cheese sandwiches and bought pre-made salads for meals. I kept washed, fresh fruit in a rubber container along with string cheese and yogurt in my fridge for snacks. I even kept cereal and milk in the room for breakfast. Keep granola or protein bars on your night stand or close to where ever you do the most nursing. 

-Water. Omg I can't stress this enough. You mamas know how freaking thirsty you get breastfeeding. There's a reason. Your body uses everything you've got to produce milk, and your body needs to be replenished!! Women worry about eating enough to maintain a good milk supply but the true secret is drinking enough. Got it?! 

Booby feed. Booby feed. Booby feed. Most mamas have 6 weeks maternity leave to heal/adjust/enjoy their new lives. Think how many times you nurse that little infant if you nurse on demand 24 hours a day? That's approximately 8-12 times a day. I don't care what kind of baby training you believe in but your newborn needs to eat when they want to. Get those babies FAT so they can overcome sicknesses easier. So that's at least six weeks of strictly "Mama's Diner". De-lish.

So. These are the things I did after I had my sweet baby Gram and I'm so grateful I lost my baby weight sooner rather than later. If you are going to have to lose the weight eventually why not lose it asap so you can enjoy your skinny jeans and pencil skirts for even longer. Besides, you never know when you are going to get that baby itch again and have an other baby. Better get fit before that happens! :) 

If you guys have any personal questions (about my UNmedicated PAIN free birth, why I still breastfeed after a year, my health/fitness routine, ect.) for me, feel free to email me at PorcelainDollBlog@gmail.com :)

The Moves-
(Don't mind my towel, I couldn't find my yoga mat!)

Lay on your back like this and breathe slowly. After you exhale, pull your belly button in toward your spine. Stay relaxed and be careful to only pull your muscles in and not curve your spine. Hold tightly for 15 seconds. Repeat as many times as you can. Keep doing this several times a day and each time pull it in tighter and hold for longer. You will definitely feel the difference just from this basic flexing.



After you accomplish this and you feel like you can move to the next step after a few days, move on to this next move. Slowly bring each leg up like in this pic and then lower it again to the starting position. Focus on tightening your tummy. Repeat 12 times on each leg.

After that you can raise both legs at once, but this took me quite a while to accomplish. So I stuck with the first move for some time.

After a few weeks of that, try this. Keep one leg bent at all times and rotate legs making one straight and lowering it toward the ground. Remember to be constantly flexing and pulling in those ab muscles!



Last, once you are very confident that your abs are pretty strong, straighten both legs. Raise them from a few inches above the ground to totally vertical from the ground. Rest in between to make sure you are focused on pulling those abs in instead of just busting out reps. It's all about form!

Once you are stronger in the midsection from doing these, totally move on to your usual hardcore workouts!

Ok, ok, I know this looks a little cheesy but I promise the moms with new born babes will know how weak their tummies are and will have to ease into working out. Plain sit-ups will not get you the results you want, that's why you gotta do these exercises :)

Thanks guys! Hope this helps you expecting mamas, mamas with newborns or mamas who haven't started working out yet!

xo

Polka Dots and Leather Pants

So everyone who has taken family photos knows that the mom usually picks the colors for the outfits and everyone needs coordinate, blah, blah, blah. We did family photos with my in-laws on Wednesday this last week with the colors being every neutral color with a pop of mustard yellow. No one in my mini fam looks good in the later color so we wore cream, black and tan. 

Then a few days later my family wants to do fam photos with the colors black, cream and red. We debated wearing the exact same outfits. Haha. When we get all the photos back from both sides of the family I will post them, because honestly, you will DIE. They are freakkkin adorable. These are just a few of the photos we snuck in while everyone else was setting up.

K seriously, how rad are these pants?! I picked them up last week because I had been dying to own a pair but am such a cheap skate when it comes to clothes that I had been searching for a less expensive pair. 

Also, I didn't have to edit these photos (mess with the colors since I don't know how to use my Photoshop yet) because I borrowed my MIL's camera. What a difference a decent camera makes! I had been using my husband's point-and-shoot because my nice Nikon camera SUCKS, bad. How can a nice camera be worse than a point and shoot I have no idea. Maybe I should have done less flirting and more studying in my photography class in high school. Ha. 

If anyone has some awesome recommendations for a camera that takes photos like these please let me know!! As Christmas is around the corner and I'm pretty sure Santa has me on the "Nice List". ;)

Five Star Pumpkin Bread Recipe

Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread Recipe

Pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, who doesn't love some pumpkin in the fall? This is by far THE best, most MOIST pumpkin bread recipe. Thousands of people have approved of it and given it five stars!

Ingredients:
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
3 cups sugar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
optional: a few cups of milk chocolate chips, nuts, raisins, ect. if desired



Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans (or line cupcake pans).
2. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar together. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until ust blended. Add additional ingredients now. *I throw in a ton of milk chocolate chips here. The more chocolate the better, I always say!* Pour mixture into pans or cupcake liners.
3. Bake loaves for 50 minutes or muffins for about 20-25 mins? I don't time the muffins when I make them I just watch to see when they turn a little brown on top. I like the outside a little crispy!*
4. After they cool you could put a cream cheese frosting or powdered sugar on top, too!



Enjoy your pumpkin treats and have a Happy Thanksgiving!! 

Orange Button Up and Leopard Flats

Hope everyone enjoyed their Veteran's Day weekend! We had an awesome get away with our friends to Las Palomas in Puerto Penasco. Vacations are never long enough!!

So. Let's get practical for a sec. Lots of style blogs show girls wearing cut off shorts and stilettos. Cool. They have some wear glamorous to go, not just Walmart. Haha. I love this outfit because today all I did was run errands and chase my little babe through the sprinklers! I threw on some comfy jeans and flats and paired them with my new button up (easy for breastfeeding :) Remember, breast is best!) 

But can I just say how much wearing a certain color can make your day? I love bright, warm colors. I have fair skin (obviously, "Porcelain Doll") so wearing those colors makes me feel awake. This fall/winter doesn't doesn't just have to be about grey and black!!!  

Shirt: Target

Jeans: Urban Outfitters

Loafers: Steve Madden

Shoulder bag: Coach

Watch: Nixon

I'm going to be doing a post on how to get your TUMMY BACK AFTER BABY and one of my favorite FALL recipes soon so stay tuned!!!

xo

Floral and Curls

They say the camera adds 10 lbs., I'm pretty sure these pants do the same. Haha. I've always tried to just dress for my body type by wearing only dark colored bottoms, but who cares! I've decided I am now just going to wear what I want and what I like, even if that means wearing white crazy leggings as pants. Haha don't judge me. 

Blouse: Gap

Leggings: H&M

Shoes: Aldo

Watch: Nixon

Gel Nails: Gellish

Well I hope everyone enjoys their THREE day weekend! We are escaping out of the country with some friends!! What are your plans?!

Cocktail/Formal Dresses for 007 Party

So every year our friends throw a Christmas party, but this year we are doing something different. We are having a "James Bond Casino" night. Everyone is wearing a tuxe, suit, cocktail dress or long dress. So I better get looking for a more dressed up outfit! Here are some looks I was thinking about.

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Which look do you like the best?! It's so hard to pick just one.

Military Boots and Vampire Lips

It's finally fall in AZ!! Not really, it's still in the 90's during the day, but it's November so it's time to stop wearing the flip flops. I like this outfit on easy days when you just want to be comfy. I FINALLY chopped my hair again after a year of not cutting it. In my recent posts its been up since it was soo soo freaking long. Yuck. Too long hair reminds me of hippie grannies that just can't let go of their pot-smoking days of the 60's. Haha.  

Top: Nordstrom

Pants: New York and Company

Boots: Steve Madden

Lipstick: Revlon "Wine Not" in Matte

So, do you guys like black and brown together?

Basic Makeup Recommendations

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm basically a makeup geek! I started wearing makeup since I was 12. There was a period of time that I felt I knew more about the products at Sephora than the actual girls did. (Big ego, I know). Haha. So today I'm going to share some of my favorites I have discovered over the years.  

Foundation: bareMinerals Original Mineral Powder spf 25 (there's a reason it always gets 5 stars!)

-buildable coverage, feel light on the face, improves skin, natural glow, I highly recommend for young girls suffering from acne.

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Liquid Foundation: Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation (Great coverage, natural luminous finish, feels soft on your skin) 

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Eyeshadow/Blush Palette: Stila's travel palettes (depending on the kit, comes with 4-5 eyeshadows, blushes and lipgloss, only $16!) *I got mine almost a year ago and use it everyday. So easy to not have to think about coordinating all my colors.*

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Brow pencil: MAC's eyebrow wax pencil (this is an absolute MUST. It's amazing and natural looking and they have the best colors. Enough said.)

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Mascara: Estee Lauder's Sumptuous Extreme in black (It's expensive but it does the perfect job of adding volume and lengthening, and never ending up smudged underneath my eyes!)

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Lipstick: MAC's lipsticks (only $15, they have several finishes and shades, and last several hours)

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Have you guys tried these products and what do you think about them if you have?!