Ashling Drew, Author at Joyful Messes

6 Secrets to A Clutter Free Home From Moms Who Have It Together

I want a clutter free home. I envy those mamas, who’ve conquered their clutter. I go on rampages where I pile things in the garbage and fill massive donation bags…then the clutter comes back….out of now where. What happens? I can’t stand clutter, but it always seems to rule my world with little ones pulling surprises out of the woodwork by the minute. Where it all comes from I have no idea. Some days I’d like to save my sanity and have a massive bonfire in the yard. A therapeutic session where I can just burn it all!! I’m afraid the neighbors will call someone out of shock, so I’ve opted to gather all the best tricks and secrets from the moms who handle it. The moms who boss that clutter and rarely let it tear its head in their home. Lets get into their secrets, so we can all…

Fit Mommy + Toddler Workout for A Fast Calorie Burn + The Best Yoga Mat Review

Working out with a toddler is interesting, but you can still get in an effective calorie burn if you do the right moves and make it fun. PLUS, toddlers act as a nice weight, and they seem to like being lifted and thrown around! Babies lay around more, which makes it easier to workout next to them, while toddlers add to the challenge by adding more weight, which is how I do this workout. I have to tell you about the yoga mat I am using from Yellow Will Yoga. This yoga mat doubles as a towel!! It is a blend of silky soft fabric, made from recycled plastic bottles & 100 % biodegradable. It is MACHINE WASHABLE!! Can you believe that?? It is also absorbs like a towel, so you are seriously good to go for any workout you use it for. They offered to send me one to…

Dark Chocolate Blueberry Lactation Shake For Postpartum Healing and Weight Loss

This lactation shake is good. Like so good. It is absolutely perfect for mamas looking to keep their milk supply up, while losing the baby weight. First, it is full of blueberries which are wonderful for milk supply. See my 5 best foods for increasing milk supply and losing the baby weight to know more about what blueberries do. Anyways, the dark chocolate aspect really takes the standard blueberry smoothie to another level. Think of the chocolate covered blueberries you can get at Costco. Like that but healthy. It also secretly has a handful of spinach, for an extra milk-boost, and you will never know it is there. Lucky you 🙂 Part of the reason this is so good for your milk supply AND weight loss is because of the protein powder I use. It literally is full of milk boosting ingredients, and it is low in calories and high…

Skinny Tropical Pink Summer Protein Shake for Breastfeeding Mamas

Yes summer is here, and the pressure for mama to lose the baby weight is a little more intense. I have a yummy, pink and tropical protein shake that will keep your milk flowin, while helping your body to burn fat and continue letting go of the baby weight. The reason this is so wonderful for your milk supply is because I created this protein powder. I talk about it way too much, but it is a staple for me and keeping my supply up while working out. It offers me the protein I need, PLUS greens and fruits and all kinds of wonderful things including digestive enzymes. It is clean and safe for mamas and babies, and tastes wonderful! You can read more on the ingredients and benefits, or get straight to the recipe!! INGREDIENTS: 1 cup frozen pineapple 5 BIG frozen strawberries or 5 fresh (because it is…

My 5 Steps to Staying Fit With Kids + How I Stay Fit With Three Kids At Home

Losing the baby weight is a difficult task, especially when you have multiple children. Even once the baby weight is gone, maintaining and staying fit with kids is also difficult. I have managed to lose the baby weight three times now, in addition to staying fit with three kids at home. I don’t have a gym membership, so there isn’t a time for me to workout with no interruptions. Unless I want to workout in the middle of the night after I get all my blogging-related/momlife things done. But that just doesn’t work for me. I also attempt to sleep more than 6 hours, so getting up before the kids doesn’t work well either. I’ve managed to get up and go for a run maybe three times in my life before the kids. It actually felt amazing, but it wasn’t realistic. So, how do I stay fit with three kids…

The Complete Guide To Losing Weight While Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding often throws a wrench in the weight loss process post baby. Milk supply maintenance, while also trying to lose weight can be tricky because your new little bundle is affected if your milk supply drops. Talk about a stressful situation, when mama is working hard to get back in shape, only to find she isn’t producing enough milk, so she throws it all to the wind and eats anything and everything with milk-producing ingredients. You can totally lose the baby weight while maintaining your milk supply. There are just a few keys to doing this, which I will go over here. If you are looking for a more in-depth plan that goes over healing postpartum, properly nourishing your body for milk supply, a meal plan and recipes and workouts to lose the baby weight, please check out my new program, The Postpartum Cure. So many mamas are having tons…

15 Brilliant + Useful Hacks For Tired Moms with New Babies

As a mom of three, I’ve found that tips, tricks and hacks are so helpful. I love the “aha. why didn’t I think of that?” moments when I see someone doing something I should’ve been doing all along. There are lots of hacks new mamas need to know, and I’ve put together a list of the super smart, super useful ones all in one place. I wish I was able to think of these myself, but I was just a normal tired mom, incapable of thinking about much other than when the baby was going to sleep. These people are rock stars in the parenting world because they’ve used what brainpower they have left to make life easier for the rest of us! If you are working on being as healthy as possible during pregnancy, I have an awesome, FREE clean-eating challenge for you! PS, if you just had your…

8 Important Water Safety Rules From A Mom With A Pool + Toddlers

Living with a pool in the backyard, I’ve learned some very important water safety tips, because for us, it is summer all year round. We are in the pool 300 out of 365 days a year, so becoming an expert lifeguard and pool-safety marshal is my second (or 53rd) job. With summer almost here, I thought is super important to remind parents and help with some water safety tips to keep you sane, and enjoying yourself while your children are enjoying the water. Whether it is the ocean, lake, a pool or even a small kiddy pool filled up by the hose, these tips will help you keep everyone safe, and give you peace of mind. Keep Life Jackets or Floaties on Non-Swimmers: The first set of tips are for little ones, who can’t swim yet. When we moved to our home with the pool, none of my boys could…

The Extra Calories Your Body is Actually Burning While Breastfeeding

How many calories are you burning while breastfeeding? One of the fun aspects of breastfeeding is that we burn more calories. Burning a few extra calories while breastfeeding is part of the process of producing extra energy. In reality, we are producing extra calories and transferring those calories, or energy, over to another human being. We are taking energy from our body and giving it directly to our babies in the form of breast milk. What a beautiful process! Breastfeeding typically means we are burning anywhere from 200 – 500 extra calories. This depends on how your body uses calories, how your baby uses calories, and the stage of growth baby is in. Your individual amount of calories burned while breastfeeding is dependent on a few factors. Here are some of the factors that will affect your calorie burn: Baby’s age Baby’s growth stage Your metabolism Baby’s metabolism Those main…

How Much Strength Does it Take To Be A Mother?

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Hefty®. Universally, I think mothers are accepted as strong individuals. The work of a mother never ends, whether working or stay-at- home, yet I wonder exactly how heavy is that work? How much weight do mother’s really carry day in and day out? I set out to see just how strong moms really are, based on research. Because strength is in essence, a power, and by looking at strength this way, I was able to find some astounding research to just how powerful moms really are. Many of us remember the very popular article on the Mental Load that makes us moms all so very tired…despite our sleep. The writer perfectly describes the crazy amount of thoughts we carry, “Often the most tiring aspect of this work is being the “Knower of All the Things.” So often the mom…

Ashling Drew