First Time Mom and Losing It

**I received the products below free for my review. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be a good fit for my readers. All opinions are 100% my own.


An activity tracker has really helped me become more active. It was the competitor in me that wanted to beat my friend's steps. Being the only one left that continued to use a tracker I had no one to compete with and my activity lessened. Last week I didn't even feel like exercising the entire week and kept busy with other things.

When I got my REM-Fit Active band in the mail I was so excited to have some new fitness gear that I went on a walk to try it out the very next day. I quickly learned that the REM-Fit Active was going to give me more of a challenge than I thought. It doesn't just count steps but it counts distance, calories burned, ActivePoints, SleepPoints and a 360 LifeScore. The challenge comes with the ActivePoints which are given with the intensity and duration of your activity. When I saw that my walks were not giving me many ActivePoints I stepped it up by doing some TaeBo! Wanting more ActivePoints is really motivating me to step up my exercise game so I am planning on hitting the gym this week.


After an active and long day I was excited to try my REM-Fit Rest 400 Series pillow. It is easily adjustable to your preference of thickness by removing or adding the little balls shown in the .gif before. It was kind of heavy and big so I wasn't sure how comfortable it would be. Then I woke up after seven and a half hours of deep sleep. I woke up with no aches and pains in my shoulders or neck like I have before. Sleeping over 7 hours is huge for me since I go to sleep so late and then have to wake up early with my little preschooler. If you wake up achy or have trouble getting more than 7 hours of sleep I highly recommend this pillow.



Get 20% off at rem-fit.com when you use code MF20.

I lost 1.1 pounds for a total weight loss of 33.6 pounds.

• Take vitamins and probiotics.
• Get in 8000 daily steps. 
• Strength training workouts at least 4 times this week. 
• Go to gym at least 2 days this week
• Stay on plan even on Thanksgiving!

To indulge or not to indulge? What will you be eating this Thanksgiving?

Twelve weeks into my journey and I have no desire to cheat or have a cheat day. Thanksgiving is a huge eating holiday where you get together and get stuffed. The old me would have a cheat day because it's the holidays. Then the cheat day would continue because I had to eat the leftovers. Then with the thoughts of Christmas dinner coming I would always talk myself into starting again on January 1. That's not going to happen to me this year.

This way of eating has really been easy for me because of the foods we can eat. There are so many alternative recipes to carby foods so I never feel like I am missing out. To keep my Thanksgiving low carb & keto I am going to be eating the following recipes.

Chipotle Crispy Skinned Pernil: Being Puerto Rican we usually have a pernil with every big family get together. With the pork being fattier than turkey it is a perfect substitute for the main protein. I love how I spiced it up with chipotle and the crispy skin really gives it decadence.


Low Carb Sour Cream and Chive Mash: Mashed potatoes has always been my husband and I's favorite side dish. I am so glad that by steaming cauliflower and adding some cream, sour cream, butter and cream cheese to it, it tastes just like mashed potatoes. My secret is to squeeze out all of the water using a ricer and putting it into my Ninja blender. This makes my mash super smooth and creamy.


Low Carb Baked "Mac" n Cheese: A Puerto Rican Thanksgiving would always be arroz con gandules (rice) and potato salad. Since rice is a no-go in a low carb way of eating I decided to substitute it with my "mac" and cheese. It has all of the taste of a mac and cheese without the carbs and heaviness of pasta.


Screaming Heads: Brussels Sprouts Gratin: I saw this recipe on the Food Network years ago and have been making it for Thanksgiving ever since. I will be making this recipe without the flour and substituting a little bit of xanthan gum as the thickener.

Low Carb Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake: I love cheesecake and I love pumpkin pie so what a perfect way to have them both. This pie looks so rich and decadent that I know I will only need a little sliver of it.


Do you stay on plan when you are celebrating the Holidays? 

When I was shopping for some cereal I was so excited to see the Star Wars boxes by General Mills! My daughter quickly got excited too and asked if we could get a couple of boxes, one for her and one for her cousin. My nephew has been such a huge fan that he loves to act out stories with my daughter and his sister. It's cute how he explains to a couple of three year olds who each character is.


My daughter loves snacking on cereal and I love that they are made with whole grain oats. I made some cute little Star Wars snack bags. I also made some Star Wars headbands and light sabers to go along with the theme. After snacking on the cereal I let her look in the boxes to see which droid view finder we got. There are 6 collectible droid view finders shaped like the characters from The Force Awakens movie. Each droid view finder features a unique, exclusive scene from the movie.


Yoda Headband

• 2 sheets of light green felt 
• 1 sheet of green felt
• plastic headband
• fabric glue
• hot glue gun
• yoga ears template

Step 1: Print out the template and carefully cut out the pattern pieces. Place the pattern pieces on top of the two sheets of light green felt and cut out. You should have two pieces of each ear.

I have been on this weight loss journey since August 31 and have lost __ pounds so far. Keeping track of my successes really helps push me to do better and better as the weeks go by. I wanted a fun way to keep track of my weight loss so I added a new addition to my Weight Loss Command Center.


When I first started, I kept track by putting a magnetized pom pom on the weight lost side for every pound I lost. My board was getting full of pom poms and I didn't want to have to keep making pom pom magnets for each pound that I lost. I decided to make it easier for me to track and count my pounds lost by making magnets for each number in the 10s. I think it will also be fun to collect the magnets as a milestone and a reward for each time I hit another 10 pounds lost.

Supplies 

• Numbers template
• Flat Craft Bottle Caps
• Clear Epoxy Adhesive Seal Stickers
• Tacky White Glue
• Super Strong Adhesive

Step 1: Print out the numbers template using the fit option onto card stock. Cut each circle out and set aside.


Step 2: Use a strong white glue to place a little bit of glue on the front of the bottle cap. Place one of the circle templates in the middle and press and glue in place. Repeat with the rest of the templates.


Step 3: Carefully place a seal sticker on top of each glued bottle cap.


Step 4: Use the super strong glue to attach a magnet to the back of each bottle cap magnet. Allow to dry for at least 6 hours before using.


**I found most of the supplies on Amazon.

What fun ways do you use to keep track of your weight loss?

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #VivaLaMorena #CollectiveBias


Growing up in a Puerto Rican household we always had Pernil (roasted pork) as one of the main dishes on Thanksgiving. Thinking back, pernil was always a staple in any of our family get together's. There is something about all of that garlic, oregano and crispy pernil skin that always takes me back to my childhood.


My grandma was the cook of the family so I loved helping her in the kitchen while I memorized all of her famous recipes. Now that my grandma is in her 80's and retired from the kitchen I get to follow in her steps and take over the kitchen. While I have all of her recipes in memory I like to add my own spin on things and make them spicier! One of my favorite ways to spice up my meals is by my favorite Mexican food brand, La Morena. All I have to do is head to my local bodega right in the corner and pick up some La Morena Chipotles.


Chipotle Crispy Skinned Pernil

8 pound pernil (pork shoulder)
2 heads of garlic (you want at least 20 cloves of garlic)
1 1/2 tblsp olive oil
1 tblsp vinegar
1 tblsp dried oregano
1 tblsp black peppercorns
2 tblsp La Morena chipotle (more or less depending on how much spice you like)

**We usually marinate the pernil for two or more days in the refrigerator before cooking it. For the best flavor you should marinate the pernil at least overnight.

1. Take all of the spice ingredients and place into a mini food processor (I used my Ninja). You want to make a paste with the ingredients that is well combined.


2. Cut slits into the pernil at least 1 1/2 inches apart and carefully add some of the spice paste into each slit. Rub the outside of the pernil with the remaining paste.

3. Place in a baking pan, cover and place in the refrigerator to marinate for at least 2 days for best results.

4. Take out of the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to get the chill out of the pernil. Cover with aluminum foil and place in a 325 degree oven for 5-6 hours, depending on the size. Remove foil and cook on 375 degrees until the skin is crisp, about 45 minutes.


How would you use the La Morena chipotles to spice up your traditional Thanksgiving recipes? 

I lost 1.2 pounds for a total weight loss of 33 pounds.

I just didn't feel like exercising this week so I spent all of my energy homeschooling my daughter and getting lots of blog work and promoting done. My daughter is going through a stage of not wanting to do "Learning Time" so I have so sit with her and make sure she does it right. I also spent a lot of time promoting my posts this week. I never knew how much work went into promoting a Holiday Gift Guide!

• Take vitamins and probiotics.
• Get in 8000 daily steps. 
• Start TaeBo and strength training workouts at least 4 times this week. 
• Test at least two Thanksgiving keto recipes. 

How do you motivate yourself to exercise when you don't want to?