No matter how nice we try to put things, there is no denying that life is a battle. Everyday is a struggle.
However, with every struggle is a blessing. We are blessed to be alive and given the chance to make changes everyday.
People say, “live your life to the fullest”; I am here to do just that.
Hi, My name is Nadrah and this is my story.
I'm a daughter, a sister, a granddaughter, a cousin, a friend, a wife and a mother but most of all, I will always be a little girl at heart.
This blog is about my life and how I try to live it to the fullest while keeping it well balanced.

Sunday 31 August 2014

Zara's Diet

Deciding on how to wean Zara was not an easy task for me. To be frank, I would really like to use the Baby Led Weaning (BLW) approach where instead of starting with purees, they straight away start with healthy whole food for the baby to hold and munch. It is believed that this method teaches the child motor skills and contrary to what the old school taught us, studies shown that BLW babies has minimal chances of choking compared to babies who started with purees. However, the method can be very tedious and it is hard to apply when someone else is taking care of Zara when  I am at work. So we started her with natural purees of vegetables and fruits. 

As time passes by, we (hubs and I) give Zara the chance to explore. We do get a few stares for feeding Zara watermelons, nasi beryani, rice soaked in vegetables, pasta and what not. Seems like she is eating anything like we grown ups do, just at a much softer diet and minimal (like very minimal that there isn't most of the time) salt. Alhamdulillah, she seems to be eating well (not a picky eater). We get asked a lot on what's her diet like. Our answer is simple, as long as the food is not processed, NON-GMO, not salty and does not contain MSG, if she wants to try it, we would give it a go. For example, we were at Hokkaido Sushi when we gave her some of my Salmon Teriyaki (sans the sauce). She really enjoyed it and looking at her excitement was definitely pleasurable.
feeding Zara Mushroom, Chicken and Brocolli Soup.

We really try our best to avoid junk food but give way to rice rusks to help her with the gum itch she's been getting when her teeth is about the come out. Sure, her well being is our main concern. We only let her have the rusks or Organic Puffs when she had her milk and main meals.
Zara sharing Organic Puffs with her cousin Khyra. There's a lot of debate on whether these banana snacks are junk food. However, I'ld rather have her munching these than those GMO stuffs.
One of the best thing about this is watching her enjoy her food and I am glad that I get to contribute by cooking for her. I bought the App called Annabel Karmel's Guide to feeding your baby and toddler. There, they taught us ways of how to add flavour to our food without using salt. For example, prunes and thyme add flavour to bolognaise. The tips I got from there gave me ideas on how to improvise the recipes for my lunchboxes. Eating healthy does not have to taste boring. :p Zara loves the meals i tried from Annabel Karmel. If you have a baby, you should try it. Good luck and Enjoy the Process! 

Saturday 30 August 2014

Back After Long Hiatus

It's been months since my last post and my blog is starting to get outdated. Well, it is already outdated. So many things has changed. My hands are pretty much tied up. Sure, I get a lot of people telling me that If i really want to, i can surely have time for it. I just smile back at them. Sometimes, I feel tired of explaning to them what my priorities are. Sometimes, I wonder whether do I need to explain myself. If you have me on facebook, you might notice that recently, my post has been about packed food, health and fitness; and my family (especially my daughter). Well, that is pretty much what i'm into. Here's what I've been up to:

A) My Family
Being a mom can be pretty handful especially when you have an active daughter. Regardless how my husband and I believe that we must always keep our identity and maintain good relationships with friends, our daughter will always be our number one priority. Next week, she will turn 1 year old. Can't believe how fast time flies but watching her development is a blessing. 


B) TTl Health and Wellness
Previously, I managed to help my husband to reduce his body fat from 23% to 12%. He wanted the same result so I started preparing meals for him based on proportionate eating. We don't go on to strict diet because we want something that is eating to adapt instead of a yo-yo kind of diet. Moderation is the key. A healthier option is chosen but that doesn't mean that we dont cheat once in a while. That way we can avoid cravings. After preparing meals for ourselves, we were requested to prepare meals for others. One thing lead to another and now, we've been preparing lunch packs and delivering them to a few places like Cyberjaya, Mines, KLCC and Taman Tun Dr Ismail. 

C) Health and Fitness 
Health and fitness has always been something that Both Hubster and I are interested in. However, my mommy duties keeps me away from the gym. I did join a few events but just 2-3 sessions a month won't suffice for my body to change for the better. Luckily, my husband just told me that he is confident enough to take care of Zara alone so I spare some time at the gym. Big yeay! I have started 2 warm up sessions with my colleague, YanaZ as we aim for a 4 month challenge to get a bikini worthy figure. #projekbikinibodykami Will prolly talk about it more the next time. 


D) Shaklee
My post on Shaklee may have gotten less but that's only because i'm sharing the space with TTL lunch packs. There's no denying how effective the products are. I'll prolly be repeating the benefits over and over. Being safe for breastfeeding mothers is definitely a plus point. The supplements helped me to exclusively breastfeed up till today and their household cleaning products has definitely made my life easier. I only found that their dishwasher is the best I've ever used! If you are interested in them, please feel free to contact me. 


Being a mom with a day job, part time business which requires me to wake up as early as 4.30 am every morning, fully breastfeeding, a wife to an engineer who is a part time dance instructor, active in gym and football can be pretty time consuming but Alhamdulillah, I can still manage it with a lil help here and there. Of course, I wouldn't be able to make it without my husbands support. Lets pray that I'll be able to keep this blog alive. It should be possible right since I'm a Superwoman in the making! 😉 Haha!! Gotta Aim for the Stars kan? Wish me luck!