DIET

Exercise at Every Size

April 7, 2015 By Shannon Bird Leave a Comment

turquoise tank (prism sport) / capris (prism sport) / athletic sandal (yosi samra) / sunglasses (prada) / tie around shirt (emoi-emoi)

Today I want to talk about working out. If you look at my third trimester body, obviously I am not the epitome of a super thin, toned workout guru. I want to first say that I struggle so hard to get motivated to workout when I know that I am not trying to lose weight and that when and if I workout I knowingly will probably eat more calories than I burned during my workout.

I also love playing with my kids. And sometimes use the excuse well we played basketball or tennis or something.

But there is something to be said about setting some personal time for yourself, and just focusing on your own personal workout.

What motivates me when I workout when pregnant is I tell myself it will help me lose weight faster after I have my baby, but most importantly it helps me with my mood.

I don’t know about all you other pregnant ladies out there, but it’s really hard for me to gain weight. Not in a I can’t sorta way, but in a I don’t want to show up to my Dr’s appointment because I dread the scale sorta way. It’s lame I know. For me this is the hardest part about being pregnant. Losing control over my body. As soon as I am pregnant I change my closet out fast. I am instantly in maternity pants and dresses and I hide all my “skinny” clothes. Trying to squeeze in them or being reminded of them is not good for my mood. I even take the batteries out of my scale. It is no longer a time for me it’s all about the baby.

So when I workout I feel like I am at least trying to maintain some sanity and I feel for the brief hour that I am normal Shannon. -minus the waddle 🙂

Meet the Manny

March 4, 2015 By Shannon Bird 1 Comment

Today I am shouting out my little brother. He is seriously amazing! I mean who looks like this? So this young man is my manny/photographer/personal grocery shopper and nutritionist he is also Hudson’s personal trainer. Hudson wakes up in the morning with him and does ab workouts on Youtube (he is the one that introduced 8 min abs to me).

Anyways I am so inspired by my brother. He goes to BYU full time and still looks like this. I see no signs of the Freshman 15 going on here. I am looking forward to trying out his diet this summer when I am going to try to lose about 30 lbs. (my average weight gain when I am pregnant)

He introduced the Ketosis diet to me, it is what he does to get super ripped, hence the pic and the 20-pack.

*my brother was forced/bribed and made to do this pic. b/c I have always been obsessed with his abs from the time he was little. We would always compare abs, he would obviously always have a way nicer tummy, but now I have a pic:) if you haven’t noticed I love my little brothers and making them do crazy things. ie purple shampoo canidate, cutting off my brothers mullet he had been growing out since before Hudson was born, and now take a pic of my other brothers abs lol

The Ketosis diet is a low carb diet he aims for 100g of carbs a day 80% protein and fats and 20% carbs, that includes sugars-even BBQ sauce, milk and yogurt have tons of hidden carbs.

Why my brother started to do this diet is because on his 2 year LDS mission he gained over 50 lbs and started getting stretch marks. He found out about this diet and he says he has never felt better and never had a diet work so drastically while getting the results he was looking for.

An average daily meal plan:

First off My brother wants to say that diet is way more important than exercise. You are what you eat!

16 oz. of water right when you wake up

breakfast: 3-4 eggs w/ wheat toast

mid morning snack: 30 grams whey protein mixed w/ water or skim milk

lunch: 4-6oz of chicken with seasoning not sauces(salt, pepper, garlic) and veggies(a bag of veggies assortment)

afternoon snack: handful of peanuts, beef jerky, cottage cheese, nonfat, low-fat greek yogurt, protein shake

dinner: any type of meat with a 1/4th cup of wheat rice

*don’t eat 3 hrs before bed

*drink a gallon of water a day

*if you have to have a post dinner snack do a whey protein shake

*you want to be eating every 2-3 hrs to keep the metabolism going

*30 mins of cardio a day will get you added results (he recommends Insanity

He recommends to get the Hip-Hop Ab CDs

Birdalamode Pregnancy Workout Routine

January 14, 2015 By Shannon Bird Leave a Comment

When I am pregnant I am not trying to lose weight or hurt my baby, I am just trying to tone and feel good about myself as I face the ever increasing scale for the next 24 weeks. It’s all about raising those endorphins. I am just now starting to workout as I am starting to feel better, less vomiting is a plus, oh how I love the second trimester! For those of you who want some tight tummies for the summer and who are not pregnant enjoy and you have to tryout the abs as well. After I am done being pregnant I will be doing 8 min. Abs whenever I have a spare 8 mins. I swear by these workouts, and a lot of cardio and running to take off post pregnancy weight.

Don’t Try This At Home

July 16, 2014 By Shannon Bird Leave a Comment

So the other night I was CRAVING chocolate. I kept opening my pantry only to find Nutella. I really don’t know how to use this spread, but I decided to try to learn.

and ended up regretting every bit of it.

My idea was to dip the watermelon into the Nutella and eat it like a chocolate covered strawberry. But the Nutella just slipped off the watermelon. So I decided to lay the watermelon out on the cookie sheet and spread the Nutella on top of the watermelon.

Then to keep the Nutella on the watermelon I decided to freeze the watermelon + Nutella “treat” for 45 mins.

Only to find that Nutella doesn’t harden and does not taste good with watermelon! #desertfail !

I decided to share this with you because I am not a recipe follower and like to get creative in the kitchen. If you are like me and ever get in a pickle and find yourself looking in your pantry at a watermelon and a jar of Nutella do yourself a favor and don’t make the same mistake as I did.

Repeat

Don’t try this at home!

How I Transformed My Body Through Eating

June 12, 2014 By Shannon Bird 5 Comments

I have completely changed my body with just a couple different eating tricks. I am a firm believer that eating is 90% of what we look like. If I follow my diet, working out is a bonus and that is only for toning. I was working out pretty hard at the beginning of the year, but running around all day chasing 2 kids I found myself needing to eat a lot more and I was getting pretty tired. So I decided that if I work out its a bonus and I am not going to sacrafice my sleep for it or eat more so I have energy to work out. So here is what I eat.

Breakfast

Protein Shake

*protein, water, ice, banana

Lunch

PB&Honey on a whole wheat tortilla

*smear one side of tortilla w/ peanut butter the other with honey fold in half and enjoy

Snack

snap peas, carrots, orange, or apple (these are all great for the digestive system)

*don’t snack on a banana too many bananas will constipate you

Dinner

I either grill, bake or crock pot a chicken breast with wing sauce or Jamaican jerk sauce not BBQ! BBQ too many sugars

Brown rice

Veggie

Desert once a week, Sunday usually.

I don’t eat a lot of sweets.

And I only drink water besides protein shakes.

I take lots of vitamins, prenatal, vitamin E, and I want to start taking Biotin.

My diet it very easy to eat, plan for and shop for. I only grocery shop along the perimeter of the grocery store, with the exception of the baby aisle.

Not too glam, very boring actually, not a foodie, I use food for fuel and energy. The only time I get overly excited about food is when it comes to ribs, Mexican food (Cafe Rio) and ice cream Sundays.

I never buy treats. If I want a treat bad enough, I make it so that I have to drive to get it. And I have found that that is close to never.

If you have any questions please ask. I do this same diet when I am pregnant and nursing I just through in an extra granola bar in there either a mid morning snack or before bedtime snack . And I drink tons of water.

I am very simple and don’t like to stress, especially about eating.

Drink Yourself Skinny!

September 13, 2013 By Shannon Bird 10 Comments

top: albion fit / shorts: old-vs sport / earrings: kate spade / bottle: blender bottle

Since having a baby I have been asked many times how I lost the baby weight, especially how I was able to do it quickly. So, I thought I would share my secret on the Blog today.
Since graduating from BYU with a degree in Health Education, as well as having a minor in P.E./ Coaching, nutrition, exercise and an active lifestyle have been essential to my physical well being.

At times I am asked, “What diet are you on?” I must admit, I stare blankly at them as I try to come up with some easy answer. The truth is, I have found that what works best for me is to drink plenty of water and incorporate protein shakes and smaller healthy meals. I know they say breakfast is the most important meal. This is why I hydrate immediately after waking up, then follow the glasses of water with a protein shake mixed in my Blender Bottle. I feel this give me more energy and reduces my need for unnecessary sugars. My first solids of the day are around noon, or later

I am not sure if this exact routine will fit everyone, however, I have found that it works well for me and I feel less lethargic in the mornings and throughout my day.

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