Logan Can

A Lifestyle Blog about Marriage, Parenting, Fashion and Fitness

Fitness Friday

Via

Hello hello my loveys! I’m so excited to start Fitness Fridays again! I’m mostly excited that I can get into a good work out routine! Like so many, one of my 2014 resolutions is to lose weight. Most of you know I had a baby 2 months ago and I gained quite a bit of weight. It shed off of me pretty quickly probably due to breastfeeding, but I am really struggling to lose these last 12 pounds. My goal is not only to lose weight but to also eat healthier this year. I didn’t do so well last year as far as diet goes. If you remember last year when I started this series, I told y’all that I HATE hate hate all these fad diets that so many people get into. I hate to hurt your feelings but they don’t work (I’ll talk more about this next week). They may work temporarily, but they do not help you keep the weight off long term. The only thing that will help you shed weight and keep it off is through regular diet and exercise.

Via

Does that D word scare you? It terrifies me. Confession time: I love junk food. I am a chocoholic and I hate the idea of not being able to eat what I want. That word makes me feel restricted and I don’t like that at all. That’s why I trick myself by eating whatever I want for lunch and keep it healthy for breakfast and dinner. I do some serious portion control however. I’m trying to shrink my stomach back down after eat all those cookies during my pregnancy (terrible craving, I know).

So how am I going to lose this last bit of weight and keep it off?

Plan of attack: Diet

Breakfast: 1 cup of fruit and coffee

Lunch: Whatever I want as long as I keep it within my allotted calorie intake based on my weight and how much I want to lose.

Dinner: 1 cup of Vegetables whether it is Veggie Soup or sauteed or grilled veggies, salad etc.

Drink: Water only

I’m going to limit my sugar intake(with the exception of fruit and creamer in my coffee).

Exercise:

This week I started a pretty good routine.

Sunday: Rest
Monday: C25K and strength exercises
Tuesday: Zumba
Wednesday: Eliptical and walk
Thursday: C25k and strength exercises
Friday: Zumba
Saturday: C25k and strength exercises

I’m using the C25K app and MyFitnessPal app for Iphone.

My routine will change because I like to keep it fresh so that I don’t get bored. For now and the next couple of weeks, this will be my workout schedule.

I knocked it out of the park this week with both my diet and exercise so I’m pretty fired up and really ready to shed these last few pounds so that I can feel better and fit into my skinny jeans again.

I’m hoping my plan of attack works. I am not only trying to lose weight but also to tone up. I am in a wedding in April and want to look my best for my favorite 2014 Bride. I’ll keep you updated with my progress and give you tips on what I’ve learned based on my experiences.

What is your fitness plan for 2014?

*Please note that I am not a professional. I have been trained in several styles of dance and danced most of my life. I was also a dance instructor for several years, but I have not been professionally trained in fitness. I will only give you tips and advice based on my experiences.*

Bookworm Review: Christmas at the Cupcake Cafe by Jenny Colgan

Christmas at the Cupcake Cafe by Jenny Colgan
October, 2012


Synopsis from Goodreads: Issy Randall, proud owner of The Cupcake Cafe, is in love and couldn’t be happier. Her new business is thriving and she is surrounded by close friends, even if her cupcake colleagues Pearl and Caroline don’t seem quite as upbeat about the upcoming season of snow and merriment. But when her boyfriend Austin is scouted for a possible move to New York, Issy is forced to face up to the prospect of a long-distance romance. And when the Christmas rush at the cafe – with its increased demand for her delectable creations – begins to take its toll, Issy has to decide what she holds most dear.

This December, Issy will have to rely on all her reserves of courage, good nature and cinnamon, to make sure everyone has a merry Christmas, one way or another
My Thoughts: This is the sequel to Meet me at the Cupcake Cafe. It was a good read although not as good as the first book. I loved the quirky characters that she brought back from the first book, but it lacked that certain festive flair that most people look for in a Christmas novel. It was too serious and was more like a novel that happened to take place around Christmastime rather than a lighthearted Christmas themed story that I was looking for at the time. It was a touch and go love story that made me a little anxious about what was going to happen. It ended well with a happy ending but I don’t recommend reading this as an feel good Christmas novel. Overall I gave it 4 stars.

Monday Mingling Blog Hop #49

Welcome to the Monday Mingling Blog Hop! Please take the time to introduce yourselves to our co-host! If you are new to this blog hop, please leave us a comment letting us know you are following and we would be happy to follow you back.Thank you for joining us this week, and don’t forget to link back to us by grabbing our button. Happy Mingling!

NEXT WEEK: we are doing a one time only Instagram hop! I’m a little obsessed with Instagram and recently created an account for my blog. Come back next week and link up your Instagram accounts! I can’t wait to connect with you all.


Southern Sunflowers and Coffee Beans


 








Rules:

1. Follow both of your hosts via Bloglovin’.
(first 2 links below)

2. Follow your co-hosts via GFC or Bloglovin’
(next two links)

3. Link up your main blog URL, not a specific post.

4. Link back to us by grabbing our button.

5. Tweet, Facebook, and Pin this blog hop. The more you spread the word the more people will link up, and the more success you will have! 






6. Be sure to visit other blogs! Don’t just link up and wait for others to find you. 

Let’s get this party started!!…


Don’t forget to enter this awesome giveaway that I’m a part of!


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Friday’s Letters



Dear Christmas, I can’t believe you are already over. That break was way too quick. Dear Hampton, thank you for sleeping through the night. Life is so much better when mommy gets some sleep. Dear New Year, please be as good to us as you were last year. I can’t wait to see what you have in store for us this year. Dear hubby, thank you so much for buying me a kindle! It will save me lots of money and space.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year from our family to yours. I hope God blesses you all in the new year.

This year, my resolutions are simple. I want to be better at everything than I was in 2013. I also of course want to lose weight, I mean come on! I did just have a baby 2 months ago. I’m proud of the weight I’ve lost so far (32 lbs.) but I’ve still got a bit more to lose and it is becoming more difficult at this point. Challenge accepted. With that being said, I’ll be bringing back my fitness Fridays, so get ready!

I hope you have a great new year and I’d love to hear about some of your resolutions!

Monday Mingling Blog Hop #48

Welcome to the Monday Mingling Blog Hop! Please take the time to introduce yourselves to our co-host! If you are new to this blog hop, please leave us a comment letting us know you are following and we would be happy to follow you back.Thank you for joining us this week, and don’t forget to link back to us by grabbing our button. Happy Mingling!


Southern Sunflowers and Coffee Beans


 








Rules:

1. Follow both of your hosts via Bloglovin’.
(first 2 links below)

2. Follow your co-hosts via GFC or Bloglovin’
(next two links)

3. Link up your main blog URL, not a specific post.

4. Link back to us by grabbing our button.

5. Tweet, Facebook, and Pin this blog hop. The more you spread the word the more people will link up, and the more success you will have! 






6. Be sure to visit other blogs! Don’t just link up and wait for others to find you. 

Let’s get this party started!!…


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Bookworm Review: “Bringing Up Bebe” by Pamela Druckerman

Bringing Up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman
February 2012

Synopsis on Goodreads: When American journalist Pamela Druckerman has a baby in Paris, she doesn’t aspire to become a “French parent.” French parenting isn’t a known thing, like French fashion or French cheese. Even French parents themselves insist they aren’t doing anything special. 

Yet, the French children Druckerman knows sleep through the night at two or three months old while those of her American friends take a year or more. French kids eat well-rounded meals that are more likely to include braised leeks than chicken nuggets. And while her American friends spend their visits resolving spats between their kids, her French friends sip coffee while the kids play.

Motherhood itself is a whole different experience in France. There’s no role model, as there is in America, for the harried new mom with no life of her own. French mothers assume that even good parents aren’t at the constant service of their children and that there’s no need to feel guilty about this. They have an easy, calm authority with their kids that Druckerman can only envy.

Of course, French parenting wouldn’t be worth talking about if it produced robotic, joyless children. In fact, French kids are just as boisterous, curious, and creative as Americans. They’re just far better behaved and more in command of themselves. While some American toddlers are getting Mandarin tutors and preliteracy training, French kids are- by design-toddling around and discovering the world at their own pace.

With a notebook stashed in her diaper bag, Druckerman—a former reporter for The Wall Street Journal—sets out to learn the secrets to raising a society of good little sleepers, gourmet eaters, and reasonably relaxed parents. She discovers that French parents are extremely strict about some things and strikingly permissive about others. And she realizes that to be a different kind of parent, you don’t just need a different parenting philosophy. You need a very different view of what a child actually is.

While finding her own firm non, Druckerman discovers that children-including her own-are capable of feats she’d never imagined


My thoughts: I really enjoyed reading this book. It was written like a woman telling a story which I loved. I really enjoyed reading about Pam’s experiences in France and raising her children. I found it very interesting the differences in our culture versus theirs and I think we could learn many useful things from the French when it comes to raising our children. I especially found “the pause” very helpful with my little one. It is amazing the amount of times he will put himself back to sleep if I just wait a few minutes whether than running right to him, picking him up and really waking him up myself. There are several little tricks throughout this book that have been helpful to me. I gave it 4 stars. 

My Christmas Miracle

My Christmas miracle blessing, as you may have guessed, is my son, Hampton. Last December I had some tests done. Ryan and I had been trying to get pregnant for a few months with no luck and I wanted to make sure everything was okay. On Christmas Eve last year, I got a phone call from my doctor saying that it was not okay. I had not been ovulating. At all. Do you know how devastating it was? After all those months of trying and then to find out it was never going to happen. That something was wrong with my body. That it was me who was keeping us from getting pregnant. I felt like my body had failed me. I started thinking “what have I done to make this happen?” It was devastating.

I remember sitting on the bathroom floor crying that night and begging God for not only a baby but just a little bit of hope. I didn’t want to lose hope. I didn’t want to give up and probably never would. I begged him to give me a sign that things would be okay.

During Christmas I had a very hard time getting through the day and all the festivities. I’ll never forget when my FIL asked when we were going to have kids and I had to all but run to the bathroom to ball my eyes out. It was awful. Of course they didn’t know because we had not told anyone at that time. The thought of me never being able to have children plagued my mind. I have always wanted kids. I love them so much.

At the end of January, I took an ovulation test and got a smiley face! I had ovulated! There was all the hope and sign I needed. Thank you, Lord!

My doctor is a close friend of my family’s. She is a precious woman. She prayed for me daily during those devastating months. She prescribed me clomid and my 2nd month taking it, I got pregnant!

February 21st I saw two pink lines! I cried and cried and I couldn’t wait to tell Ryan so I called him at work and balled/screamed it into the phone. He was in a meeting and had to make a quick exit. He came home for lunch and we danced around all giddy and I cried for probably 2 days straight.

Because I was on clomid I had a greater risk of miscarrying so I immediately began praying fervently. I begged God not to take this miracle from me. I told him I didn’t know if I could handle it but that I definitely didn’t want to have to handle it after everything we had already been through emotionally and physically.

I had to have my blood taken the next day and everything was confirmed. I had to have blood taken every week for the first 4 weeks and then had our first ultrasound. My baby was perfectly healthy! We told our family when I was 12 weeks along.

He blessed us with our sweet angel on October 24th, 2013. My life has changed forever and God’s timing was perfect. I told Ryan that maybe God wasn’t ready for us to have a baby until then. I am holding my baby extra close this holiday season. We are so blessed and God is so GOOD!

Merry Christmas, to all my readers! I have been so blessed by you for the last year and a half and I’m sure I will continue to be.

What are you thankful for this holiday season?

         

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