Checkin’ in

June 3, 2014 SweetHanrahanLeave a comment

Welllll, it’s been about 5.5 weeks since I gave birth…SO! let’s take a gander at my progress, shall we?

1 week postpartum // 2 weeks PP // 5 weeks PP

As you can see, there is not much change between 2 weeks and 5 weeks. I will say that I am having some trouble losing the weight — it’s not coming off as easily as I had hoped – who woulda’ thought?!?!

Therefore, I have decided to start really start watching what I eat (i.e. counting calories, #barf). So here’s a look at what I am eating in a typical day…

Breakfast is either oatmeal with a banana and apple or eggs with turkey sausage and avocado

Lunch is almost always a sandwich of some sort

Dinner varies but on this particular occasion, I had steak fajitas with corn and salad

Because I am still breastfeeding, I am constantly snacking and I am trying my darndest to keep it healthy around here

Hopefully all this work will amount to some REAL progress soon!

In other news, the baby is…a HANDFUL!!! People always tell you how hard it is to have an infant around and let me tell you, these people are not lying (as I type this, Penny is screaming bloody murder because I put her in her crib)!

Here she is at 1 week and 1 month…

Side note: people allllways assume she’s a boy even when I put her in a dress!

#mysonhasavagina

Enjoy your week, folks!

I’m over it and the 3rd trimester has begun!

January 20, 2014 SweetHanrahanLeave a comment

Hello lovers and friends! I hope it is warm where you are because Chicago sucks. I read a report where the meteorologist said that Chicago’s winter has been “impressive.” Do you know what that means? That means it’s been F@&king cold AND snowy 😦

Word.

I, for one, am OVER IT. I miss the summertime. I miss being able to wear sleeveless dresses as I did when I went to NYC to see my bestie in what seems like 800 million years ago.

A little while ago I, I promised myself that I would refrain from complaining about the weather because let’s face it, nobody cares. But I admit, it’s getting HARD. So there, there is my rant.

Thank goodness I am going to South Florida in early February.

In other news, I have officially started my 3rd trimester! I can’t believe it. In some ways, the time has flown but in other ways, it seems like it’s taking F-O-R-E-V-E-R. I am so done with being pregnant and it is only going to get worse as my due date creeps closer and closer. However, the good news is that my placenta has moved all the way up which means….I CAN WORKOUT AGAIN!!!! This makes me so happy. My first day back at the gym was on Saturday and it was slow-going. Today was slightly better with this workout:

Working out is so much harder now that I am 1) a little over 6 months pregnant and 2) out. of. shape. I would typically try to repeat this circuit about 3-4 times and I’ve got to be honest here, I barely made it through 2 rounds. So not only was the circuit difficult for me to get through but even my warmup on the the stair master/elliptical was miserable! Hopefully, if you try this workout, you can make it through better than I did.

Here are a couple of progress pictures in case you have nothing better to do on this fine Monday evening…

I thought it was pretty crazy how much BIGGER I got over the course of 2 measly weeks. The next 13 weeks is going to be brutal, waah!

I took a gander at some of the earlier pictures of when I was at first pregnant and laughed at myself and here’s why:

Did I really think that I was “showing”? Why did I even take this photo? Even my boobs are tiny in comparison to how they are now.

Ah well, only 3 more months, pray for me, would you?

Stay warm, my friends! And if you live in a warm climate, I envy you.

Recent food stuff, treadmill workout and 21 weeks

December 10, 2013December 10, 2013 SweetHanrahan4 Comments

Howdy friends, how’s life?

Life for me is jussssssst dandy. If you follow me on instagram, you know that I recently shared a photo of what it looks like in Chicago (HERE). It’s snowy, freezing and overall miserable. But, on the bright side, at least I’m pregnant and feel perfectly content sitting my lazy rump on the couch. 🙂

I happen to be feeling somewhat like my old self and therefore, I’m not AS embarrassed about what I’ve been eating these days so I thought I would share a couple of things. So here goes nothin’…

This is what breakfast has looked like lately: fruit, egg whites and turkey sausage with a side of english muffin

I also made Bryan’s favorite: mashed banana, egg whites, walnuts, strawberries and almond butter

Lunch has been pretty boring, I typically bring a salad and then also go pick up either a soup or sandwich from somewhere nearby. On this particular day, I made a spinach salad with dates, pears, walnuts and goat cheese tossed with olive oil and agave – I think I got a veggie sandwich on wheat from Corner Bakery as well (no photo because I feel like a weirdo taking pictures of my food at work).

Dinner has been all around the board including: chili, meatball subs, tacos and…PIZZA!!! Seriously, who am I?

Despite the abundance of shitty food choices of late, I have managed to keep my snacking pretty normal/healthy; typically, I go for fruit and yogurt (I used to eat carrots a lot but carrots are DISGUSTING these days, such as life).

Working out these days has also been a struggle. I’ve noticed that either a) I am just too lazy to bring myself to the gym or 2) I am having one of those days where I just feel like dog shit. However, even still, I’ve managed to get my whoopie cakes (according to the internets, this is another name for “butt”) to the gym about 4 times a week. Last week I did this walking workout on the treadmill:

It wasn’t too bad!

The other day this woman in the elevator at work asked me “I heard you are 5 months pregnant, is that true?” to which I replied “why yes, yes it is” … Apparently, I don’t really look like I’m showing which I guess just means I look like I’m getting fat, ha! Actually, I think I look like I’m showing. Here’s a side shot so you can decide for yourself:

On second thought, I guess this picture doesn’t really show much so here is one with my shirt up (I apologize for the grainy picture, there is zero natural light in my apartment so pretty much all my pictures look like they were taken with a disposable camera):

How have your meals looked lately? Any good recipes?

Progress, recent eats and a workout

November 11, 2013November 11, 2013 SweetHanrahan2 Comments

Hi friends! How are you?

Things for me have been chugging right along. My weeks have been pretty uneventful except for a couple of fun things that have been going on…Last weekend we went to go see Wicked (it was AMAZING) and this weekend my mom came to Chicago. The highlight of the trip was a painting class we took yesterday:

In case it’s not obvious (which I’m sure it’s not), we were taught how to paint peacocks. However, Bryan had his own idea of what he wanted to paint:

There may or may not have been people giggling as we were taking this photo. I told him that the black stuff on the butt of the duck looks like poop to which he replied “NO! those are his balls” ::sigh::

Anyway, in terms of my pregnancy, I have been making quite a bit of progress in the belly department…

I still feel pretty awful which means I’m still eating pretty awful so I’m sure that accounts for a portion of the ~~fatness~~ protrusion in my midsection. It doesn’t help that I typically take these photos later in the afternoon when the bloat is at an all time high but you get the point!

Here is a brief look at some of the things I’ve been eating. As you will see, my meals are not very healthy but for the most part, they aren’t completely terrible either.

French toast with strawberries, organic agave and a side of egg whites

Steak salad with romaine, avocado, bleu cheese, tomato and homemade dressing (olive oil, juice from the steak and chipotle peppers in adobo)

Grilled goat cheese with strawberries and arugula + a side of salad

My personal favorite lately: twice baked sweet potatoes with turkey bacon, fat free sour cream, tomatoes, scallions and cheese <—Heaven!

I have still been keeping up with my workouts (although they have been scaled back A LOT) and I thought I would share today’s workout since it was a goodie! If you try this out feel free to kick this up or down a notch — however you see fit 🙂

I started with 20 minutes on the elliptical followed by 2 rounds of this:

For the Russian twists, squat jacks and KB swings, I used a 25 pound kettleball. Also, the rope arm exercises got me really tired, I forgot how hard those things are!!!

And just because, here are a couple of wiener dog photos:

First, I saw this lamp at World Market today and I almost bought it (maybe later!?!?!)

More importantly, my poopsies:

Hope you guys enjoy the rest of your Sunday evening!!!

Do you have Monday off?

I don’t 😦

Why I’ve been MIA and yesterday’s workout

October 20, 2013 SweetHanrahan3 Comments

Hi there! It’s been a while, no?

If you’re wondering where I’ve been, let me break it down for ya…

That’s right! Baby Hanrahan is on the way! Which means I have been feeling like total dog-shit. I’ve been eating like I weigh 300 pounds and my workouts have been less than stellar. On top of it all, my work-life has been nuts-O…So as you can probably imagine, blogging has honestly been the last thing on the planet I’ve felt like doing.

I’m hoping things will soon take a turn for the better…Onward and upward Tobias!

As you can see by the pictures below, I’m not really showing just yet, but I think it’s safe to say that it will begin to look obvious quite soon. As of now, I think all the cookies, pizza and everything else is what’s producing the slight bulge…

In terms of my workouts, they have slowed down quite a bit. I won’t lie, I can feel my fitness slipping away and it is something that I’m struggling to cope with because of how hard I worked for it.

However, I am still working out and I wanted to share with you the workout I did yesterday because I thought it was pretty good given how quick it was. I started off with about 20 minutes of cardio (I think I did 10 minutes on the elliptical and 10 minutes on the stair climber), followed by 4 rounds of this:

1. Burpees with pushups x10

2. Russian twists x10 (15 pound medicine ball)

3. Kettleball swings x15 (20 pounds)

4. Plank jacks x30 seconds

5. Static lunge w/ overhead press x 10 (10 pound dumbbells, alternate your leg each round)

6. Vee-ups x10

That’s all I’ve got folks! I hope you have a wonderful week!

Some meals and a quick workout

September 17, 2013September 17, 2013 SweetHanrahan1 Comment

Hi friends! Can you believe it’s already almost FALL?!?! I am more of a “glass is half empty” type of gal so this just makes me sad because it means that winter is right around the corner…

Aaaanyway, since my life has been somewhat ~~boring~~ uneventful, I thought I would share today’s sweaty little workout and some pictures of the food I’ve been eating. This is really exciting stuff people, I know. But hey, you can’t say I didn’t warn you that this post would be a complete waste of time.

So yea, let’s get to it!

Today’s workout:

20 minutes on the elliptical followed by this circuit…

Bicep curl + wall sit x 15 (I used 12 lb dumbbells)

45 second plank

Kettleball swings x 15 (I used 20 lb KB)

Alt. standing side crunch x 30 (20 lb KB)*

30 second plank jacks + 30 second mountain climbers

Repeat circuit 3x (for a total of 4 rounds)

*Here is a visual of the standing side crunches

(source)

I’ve been dropping the ball when it comes to using my fancy-dancy camera but here’s a look-see at the pictures I did manage to take over the last couple of weeks. [Side note: it’s pretty pathetic that the ONLY pictures I’ve taken involve food but nobody is perfect]

Smoked salmon and cream cheese frittata (recipe HERE) with watermelon salad and roasted sweet potatoes

Eggs scrambled with avocado, onions and red pepper. Topped with hot sauce and served with a side of banana + pineapple

Brown sugar coated salmon (baked) served with a loaded sweet potato and roasted broccoli

This lunch was nothing special but it was healthy, easy and filling –> grilled chicken with spinach, wheat berries and sweet potatoes

Salad topped with figs, goat cheese, walnuts, sweet potato (ermahgerd, someone likes sweet potatoes!), balsamic vinegar and olive oil

Grilled chicken wrap with spinach, wheat berries, tomatoes, avocado and honey mustard

Homemade pizza + strawberry salad

Peach crisp from Run Eat Repeat (best served with a side of Light Cool Whip ;))

That’s all I’ve got folks!

Anyone have any vacations coming up (or anything that is exciting, in general)?

-I’m a bored little person over here so I don’t have anything coming up, waaah!

I have a problem and some random photos

August 27, 2013 SweetHanrahanLeave a comment

Hey party people! How’s your week coming along?

Mine has been a little rough but I guess that tends to happen from time to time, right?

Aside from my rough week, I have been struggling to keep my diet in check. For me, once I start eating shitty food, it slowly morphs into a problem <— where I’m at now.

SO, with that being said, it is time to clean. it. up. For the rest of the week, I am going to work on my path to eating clean again. Which means I am going to focus on cutting out the following:

1) Sugar (ice cream, I’m looking at you!)

2) Alcohol (waaah!!!)

3) Processed carbs

My weekends these days have been fairly boring so I haven’t been taking pictures like I usually do. There are a couple of random pictures from the last few weeks that I thought I would share.

A friend of ours, Ryan is going to run the Chicago marathon and so he and his wife had a little rooftop party to help raise money for PAWS. The rooftop had a cool view of Union Station.

And the food was quite delicious!

Sunshine + Beer (which I don’t ordinarily drink but…when in Rome, right?)

I went on a run for the first time in a loooong time and snapped a quick photo of the skyline. I did a .5 mile warm up + 3 mile run + .5 mile cool down. My legs are still giving me issues so I think I’ll have to continue to layoff for a while 😦

Now that the summer is winding down, we were sure to grab at least one more concert in the park. Boy was it CROWDED! Crowds are not my favorite (read: I am a total lunatic when it comes to crowds in that I. can’t. deal.) so we left at intermission.

We had a little lunch at West End because we could bring the dogs. I’m not sure why though because every time they come, I get so annoyed that I begin to question my life choices.

That’s all I’ve got for now!

Has anyone else been slipping up when it comes to food or fitness goals?

-As usual, I find that the fitness/working out part is easy but my real challenge is with my diet!

A couple of workouts and summer is almost over

August 16, 2013August 16, 2013 SweetHanrahanLeave a comment

It’s Friday, bitches!

My week has gone by somewhat slowly but at the very least, I did manage to get in a couple of really good workouts that I thought I would share with you…

Abs & butt workout

Warm Up:

20 minutes on the elliptical

3 rounds of 15 reps for each move:

Dead lifts, bridges, outer thigh with resistance band, inner thigh with resistance band, plank back kick

Then I did the Blonde Ponytail’s 5 moves for a solid core workout. It is good if you don’t feel like busting ass at the gym…not too crazy but still a good little sweat sesh.

This next little workout got me a little sore all over which was nice!!!

I started with about 15 minutes on the elliptical, followed by…

I don’t know about you guys, but I am getting really depressed about the fact that the end summer is quickly approaching us. What really gets my panties in a twist is the kind of summer we’ve had here in Chicago…a CHILLY one, what is up with that??!?!? If I had anything to say about it, I would request that the summers be so hot that my nips are literally sweating off!

So, I thought I would share a couple of pictures of this past summer to help us all focus on the present and not worry about the impending ~~winter~~ fall temperatures.

Me and my little Otis hanging out by the lakefront on one of the few days that it was warm enough to warrant a bikini.

It was also the weekend where all my in-laws (+the significant others) were in town.

On a nice toasty day, we went to go check out the gay pride parade and I stumbled upon this fellow with these killer shoes!

Enjoy sunglasses while you still can, folks!!!

On the bright side, we can all enjoy a nice cold beer no matter what season it is, am I right?!?!?!

Anyone have last minute summer plans?

Outdoor workout and I <3 NYC

July 15, 2013July 15, 2013 SweetHanrahan1 Comment

Happy Monday friends!

I know, I know…Mondays suck. But just think: if we had no Mondays, there would be no Fridays.

I have been MIA of late because there has been a lot going on. Rather than bore you with the details, I thought I would share an outdoor workout + some pictures from my recent ~~bender~~ trip to NYC.

I’m not usually one to take my workouts outside because it is always either too hot or too cold for me but this Saturday, it was perfect!

For the farmer’s walk, the field I worked out in had weighted sandbags that were easily 50 pounds so that’s what I used. However, if you do not have access to weights, you can replace that bit with burpees or any other move of your choice.

This was me after the fact:

The dogs came out and did a couple of sprints with me which really exhausted them, win!

Last weekend, I made my way to NYC! Boy, New York never disappoints so I thought I would give you a little recap of the weekend.

Friday Leslie & I landed at 10:30 PM so it was supposed to be a “chill” evening. Not so much. We ended up going to the Gansevoort rooftop (my friend’s husband owns the hotel so that’s where we spent a lot of time, fun!), got home at 4:30 AM and scarfed down some pizza (who am I???).

[from left: Me, Rachelle, Leslie]

Saturday we took a trip out to Brooklyn to go to the flea market but it was so hot that we didn’t stay for very long. Saturday night was a ~~hot mess~~ blast. I will spare you pictures from that night but let’s just say that it’s nights like those that make me very nervous about what pictures will surface on the interwebs. It was another late night! We got home around 5:30 AM, whoa!

Then Sunday was the rooftop pool party, followed by “cowboys and indians” themed bingo at the Standard Hotel.

[from left: Leslie, Miguel, Me, Iveline, Kristy]

Indian face paint!!

Karan is such a goof, I love it!

Fun times were had all around. Thank you to everyone who made this weekend unforgettable! I love you all!

Next week’s diet plan and a photo dump

June 19, 2013June 26, 2013 SweetHanrahan3 Comments

Hola! Como Estas?

I’ve got some familia in town so things have been a little bit hectic around here.

So far this week, I have been doing The Blonde Ponytail‘s Summer Shapeup plan. I wanted to do a spinning class this afternoon but I came to the sad realization that my gym membership expired (because we are moving in 1.6 weeks, I can’t believe it!!!). SO, yesterday and today, I did Day 5 and Day 6 of week 1. The upside is that my building’s gym has a pretty great view especially during the summertime where there’s lots going on in the park. I was workin’ out as I looked down on the peeps at the concert in the park!

Next week I am planning on eating super clean and I thought I would share an example of what a day will be looking like. In general, I will be avoiding carbs, sugar, alcohol, meat and dairy. I’ve been doing all of the above this week minus the alcohol 😉

Breakfast: 2 egg whites, 1 egg + coffee with almond milk (no picture because I’m lazy)

Lunch: Salad with a variety of fruit/veggies + oil and vinegar (in this picture I had 1/4 of an avocado, broccoli, tofu, red peppers, arugula, cucumbers, olive oil, fig-invused vinegar)

Snacks: 12 almonds + handful of grape tomatoes

Dinner: fish + veggies

If you try this, I urge you to eat as many veggies as you want. In terms of fruit, limit yourself to berries.

In other news, I got some new duds (sneakers) and am getting rid of some old duds (dishes). It actually worked out quite perfectly because my bro-in-law and his woman want the dishes I’m getting rid of for their new apartment: win-win!

I will miss those dishes but I am also looking forward to entertaining guests with the new ones 🙂

And in case you are bored, here is another photo dump from my weekend…

Saturday, we rented an electric boat and cruised up and down the river so I thought I would share a couple of pictures with you. Obviously, alcohol was involved (except for the driver, she did not partake…thanks for being the DD Leslie!!!).

Me and the blondie DD before things got messy.