My 24th Birthday

Yesterday was my 24th birthday and it was a blessed one at that! I am so thankful to God for another year of life. I had SO many people wish me a happy birthday and it made me feel so loved! Here's a recap of my day yesterday:

First, I woke up and came downstairs to see this ...

An adorable chihuahua card

... and a beautiful white gold necklace

Then we went to lunch at Hot Rod's '50s Diner. Hi, Brad!

Birthday girl! :-)

I got a salmon burger with sweet potato fries

Brad got a house club with sweet potato fries

What birthday is complete without Starbucks? Yum!

Later on we went bowling. Here are a few pictures of us ...

I found this picture of me from 3/24/10 and compared it to today

My jaw dropped! I could totally see a huge difference. WOW!

Brad won the first game ...

BUT, I won the second :-D

Then we went and picked up some delicious BBQ for dinner.

Once we got home, we rested for an hour or so and then hit the gym. Can I just say, you know you are serious when you go to the gym on your birthday!

That about sums it up. I had a great day. :o)

Monthly Weight Loss with Pictures

"You've got three choices in life: give up, give in or give it your all." -Unknown

I lost 7 lbs this month and I'm happy with that. It would have been 11 lbs (I lost 6 lbs before we went to Ohio) but since I gained 5 in Ohio (read last two blogs) that didn't happen. That brings my total weight lost to 39 lbs. I'm hoping to lose anywhere from 5-15 lbs a month.

Slow and steady. This has to be a life change. I don't want to lose weight super fast in some unrealistic way and then gain it back because it wasn't practical to my lifestyle. Besides eating healthier and watching my portion sizes, I've been going to the gym 5-6 days a week. Monday through Thursday I do 15 minutes of weights and then 1 hour on the eliptical (level 13-16) where I push -- I mean, really push myself to burn at least 800 calories in an hour.

On Friday I swim and then on Saturday I either go to the gym and do the weights and the eliptical or we take Oopsie to the park and walk him (depends on the weather). Sunday is a day of rest for my body.

More and more people are telling me that they can really tell that I'm losing weight (which is SO motivating!) and my clothes that I couldn't even button and were super tight on me now fit me just about perfectly! I can literally pull off my jeans that I used to wear; they are super baggy! I'm keeping them to see how far I've come each month; they will always be a reminder of where I was and where I never want to be ever again.

I thank God for the grace to embark on this journey and not give up. I want my body to be a healthy temple for Him. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13

"It's about the journey, not the destination." -Unknown

Reminder of me around my heaviest ...

Click here for last month's pictures.

Today ...

In other news ... today is my 24th birthday! I'll post a blog tomorrow about my day. :)

Done with the Cabbage Soup Diet ...

I know some of you were waiting until I was done with the cabbage soup diet on Wednesday morning for me to tell you how I liked it and so forth.

The soup tastes fine at first but after the first two bowls I wanted nothing to do with it. The first day was fruit and the soup and I could handle it. Yesterday was just veggies (no salt or butter), the soup and a baked potato with butter and a dash of salt for supper.

It was hard. I could hardly stomach the veggies with no salt or anything on them and the soup, well ... it literally made me want to vomit by that point. Seriously, I spit my soup back into the bowl last night. I was going to stick with the diet and be a trooper until I decided to Google it and found out that the majority of weight you lose (10-17 lbs in a week) is water weight, so you end up gaining almost all of it back.

Not the mention, it says that your body goes into starvation mode because you're not getting enough calories and it stores your body fat and eats away your muscle and your body isn't getting the nutrients it needs to be healthy.

I really should have done my research before I started the diet but I was in such a rush to start it the day after we got back from Ohio so I could go out and eat with Brad for my birthday on Wednesday.

After telling Brad about everything I was reading, he didn't want me to do it anymore and neither did I. Needless to say, I DO NOT recommend this diet to anyone.

So, my weight loss this month isn't going to be as good as it could have been because of gaining five lbs *sigh* in Ohio. I'm back on track, though. I'm eating right and have been going to the gym every day since I got home. Lord willing, I'll NEVER do that on a trip again.

Until next time ...

Ohio Trip + Cabbage Soup Diet

Brad, Oopsie and I went to Ohio to visit family (all of his family lives there) for five days; we just got back today around 4:00. It's about a 7 hour and 15 minute drive, if you only make one or two quick stops. My tush is sore! Lol.

 

Anyway, I'm finally all unpacked, showered, etc. We had a really nice time but it's always nice to get back home. Like the old saying goes, "There's no place like home." We were super busy the whole time visiting family and friends. Oopsie isn't used to going non-stop ... needless to say, he is passed out in my arms as I type ... with his cold wet snot dripping down my arm. Niiice!

 

Before we left for Ohio, Brad and I said we were only going to have one soda a day and not eat too much or too bad. FAIL! We are both SO disappointed in ourselves. We stuck to the one soda a day (we never get soda at home) and Brad's mom, Sandy, always keeps candy (chocolate bars, etc.) in a dish for the grandkids and we ate some of that. Plus, pizza, ice cream, cake, etc. We both feel like CRAP. We both gained some weight.

 

I'm embarrassed to even tell you all this but I need to because I don't want it to happen again when we go visit family. It's like when you're on vacation, time just stands still and you think you can do whatever you want with no consequences, and that's just not the case. We can't wait to get back to the gym tomorrow and start eating right again.

 

I know I'm going to get the weight I put on up there off, plus some. Starting tomorrow, I am doing the cabbage soup diet; it's a seven day cleansing diet that my friend told me about (she did it and lost weight) and you can lose up to 17 lbs in a week. I don't do diets but I think this would be a good diet to do for a week every once in a while just to cleanse your body and lose some weight.

 

Here's the diet plan and here's the cabbage soup recipe. I'll let you know how it goes for me. Anywho, I'm super tired but I'll leave you with a few of my favorite pictures from the trip. Much love.

My precious nieces, Kellie, Katrina and Kassie

My mother-in-law, Sandy, and her little yorkie, Frankie (my goddaughter)

 Oopsie enjoying some of Grandma's homemade maple ice cream

My sweet little piggy and I

Brad, Oopsie and Ghost ... Oopsie wasn't too happy.

I love me some Frankie :)

Healthy Summer Salad

I just recently started making this salad. It's super healthy, easy and delicious.

All you need is LOVE <-- I couldn't resist:

A couple of big handfuls of baby spinach leaves
About 5 cut-up fresh strawberries
A handful of fresh blueberries
A few sprinkles of goat cheese
2 T. of poppyseed dressing (I use Marzetti brand; they have the best dressings)

You can add more or less of any of the above ingredients. Mix and enjoy! :-D

The Story of Us

Warning: This is a sappy love story. Oh, and this is the majorly shortened version. Enjoy!

Brad and I met online. It was January 12, 2006 on a website called hotornot.com (NOT a good website anymore). He requested to be a match and I didn't think he was cute by his picture (it was a terrible picture of him!); he was 28 (almost 10 years older than me -- I've always liked older guys but that was quite a stretch for me) and he was holding his niece, which I thought was his daughter at the time.

I matched him, though, because we had so many keywords in common about God and being a Christian, etc. He wrote me right away and there was just something that was drawing me to him. I wrote him back and found out that the little girl he was holding was his niece and that he and I had so much in common.

After a few emails back and forth, we started chatting on AIM (he sent me some better pictures and I thought he was very handsome, btw). Shortly after that, he wanted my number so he could call me and eventually I gave it to him. Shortly after that, I asked him to get a webcam so I could see him and we could chat that way.

By this point, I was already falling in love with him but when I saw his face, I just knew. We chatted on cam (and phone) all the time and totally fell in love with each other. I eventually got the nerve up to drive to Pensacola, where he was living at the time. We met in the Walmart parking lot (gotta be safe, just in case!) and it was amazing! I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with this man.

When we were apart I missed him so much and felt like a piece of me was missing. He felt the same way, too. So, I went to see him again and then I told both of my parents about him (my mom already knew); I just couldn't keep my happiness from her.

My stepdad (very much a dad to me) was upset with me but happy for me at the same time. He didn't like the fact that we met online and that I drove from Gulfport, MS to Penscola at the age of 18 to meet a 28-year-old man off of the computer BUT he knew that I was truly in love and that he was a Christian and sounded like an amazing, mature and well-rounded man.

So, Brad drove over the next day to meet my parents in person and my mom ADORED him and my stepdad REALLY liked him ... A LOT. It went SO well! I was so very happy. Brad and I already knew by this point that we were definitely going to get married and after everything going so well with my parents we decided that we didn't want to be without each other again. It was hard living 2.5 hours away.

So, we annouced to my parents THE SAME DAY THAT THEY MET HIM (the day after my stepdad found out about him) that I was going to move out and that we were getting married. You should have seen my parents' face; it was priceless. Haha!

They cried but they were so happy for us at the same time. They knew that he was THE ONE. So, a couple of days later, I packed-up my room and headed out to spend the rest of my life with the love of my life. We got married on March 24, 2006 (less than three months after we met) in Penscola and shortly after we moved to Ashland, Ohio where Brad's family lives.

We lived there for two years and then The Lord led us to move to Maryville, TN where we have been living since October of 2008 and we absolutely love it here. This past March we celebrated our five-year wedding anniversary.

I love Brad more than words could ever express and I am so thankful to God for blessing me with such an amazing husband. I am so blessed to be able to spend the rest of my life with him.

The end. :)

Us then

Us now

Our rings ...

What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate. Mark 10:7

'In the Zone'

I have exercised harder this week than I have in my whole life, pushing myself beyond what I thought I could do. If you know me, you know my FAVORITE show is The Biggest Loser (MAN, is it ever motivating!).

I've seen them do the step-up things many times and I've always wanted to try it out. So, yesterday I did 100 straight and today I did 105. I'd like to try to increase it by five each time.

I've really noticed that exercising is becoming easier for me as the weeks go by. Today, for example, I did 30 minutes on the treadmill and around 20 on the elliptical. I burned around 500 calories in an hour. That is amazing to me! There comes a point where you can hardly feel your body anymore and you're pouring sweat and you feel like you can just keep going and going ... I call it being 'in the zone' and I never thought it would happen to me.

My weight-loss goal this week is to lose at least three lbs. Weight-in is tomorrow, so time will tell. I'm having Brad measure me each week now so I can see the inches lost when the scale shows 0 or a weight gain.

It discourages and frustrates me when I lose nothing or gain weight, so I'm hoping that being measured will help. I know that when you're doing weights it tends to happen, though.

Like I said a couple of posts ago, I'll post a blog once a month with a front and side-view picture with total weight lost. I've been looking at before and after weight-loss pictures (not gastric bypass or lap band surgery, just eating right and exercising) each day to motivate myself. I love seeing the pictures and reading about how they did it. These are some of the ones I've been looking at. I've been looking up tasty-looking, healthy recipes and I found this one last week. I made it tonight and I really liked it.

Well, that's about all for today. Have a great night!

PS: If you leave a comment as anonymous, please write your name so I know who you are. Thanks! :)

A Step in the Right Direction

Today I took another step in the right direction. Brad and I had gone to our fellowship's monthly first Saturday of the month potluck. I had eaten my share of food there (I didn't overdo it, though) and after I had come home, I went shopping.

I really need some new t-shirts for the summer because a lot of my other ones are too big (yesss!) and some other ones are too small (boo!), so, I'm left with very few shirts that fit me right now. Anyway, I didn't buy anything because I didn't find anything that I really liked that fit me the way I wanted it to. They were either too low cut or the arm sleeves didn't come down far enough, etc.

I am very happy to say that I went down a couple of sizes in my shirts and I'm down 1-2 sizes in pants.

To the point, it was around 8-ish and way past my supper time.

I was going to get a sub from Subway and after I left Belk I sat in my car for a minute and just thought, am I REALLY hungry? No.

Will you be upset after you eat it, knowing that you weren't hungry to begin with? Yes.

Just because it is past your supper time doesn't mean you need to eat just to eat. You CAN skip a supper. Needless to say, I skipped supper (I'm still not hungry, btw).

I've really started to change my mind about the way I eat and think about food. I was so used to just eating, just to eat. I'm really trying to just eat when I'm hungry now. I try really hard to just eat until I'm satisifed, not full. However, I fail sometimes in these areas. I try to eat healthy but I don't deprive myself of something that I want (in moderation). So, after I got home I really felt like doing a brisk walk around our neighborhood and I did.

God has really given me the desire to exercize lately. I've always hated excersizing and getting all sweaty but now I really WANT to do it. Don't get me wrong, I HATE sweating any other time but while I'm exercizing and know I'm going to get a shower right afterward, I love it. It makes me feel like I'm doing something.

So, I skipped supper and I went on a long walk. Brad and I also went to the gym for an extra day this past week, which I think we're going to continue to do for the most part. I'm definitely becoming more active and desiring healthier food, which I am SO thankful to God for.

These small daily victories mean so much to me. I'm really trying to take this whole weight-loss journey one day at a time. If I don't, it's way too overwhelming. I've been setting weekly goals for myself instead of thinking of how much weight I have to lose until I hit my goal weight. I've been told a few times in the past couple of days by friends that they can really tell I'm losing weight. I cannot even begin to tell you how motivating that is.

That's about it for this blog. I basically just wrote a book. Wow! Haha. I'll leave you with a dress I tried on in Belk. I was tempted to buy it but I didn't. I have to say, I can defintely tell a difference in myself in this picture. That makes me very happy! :)

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

Faves.

Book: The Bible (NASB)

Movie: Fireproof
TV Show: The Biggest Loser

TV Channel:Food Network

Childhood Movie: Wizard of Oz
Childhood Cartoon: Rugrats
Childhood Show: Full House

Website: Facebook

Music Genre: Christian

Music Artist: Jeremy Camp

Band: Casting Crowns

Smell: Fresh Laundry

Perfume: Clinique Happy

Candle: Cinnabon's Caramel Pecanbon

Clothing Store: Cato

Food: Sushi

Fruit: Watermelon

Vegetable: Corn

Drink: Starbucks Caramel Frappuccino

Dessert: Hawkin's Maple Cream Sticks

Cookie: Chocolate Chip

Ice Cream: My Mother-In-Law's Homemade Maple Ice Cream

Candy: Ghiradelli's Milk Chocolate Caramel Squares
Cereal: Blueberry Frosted Mini-Wheats
Chips: Salt and Vinegar

Place: In My Husband's Arms

Season: Fall

Bird: Hummingbird

Insect: Butterfly

Sea Creature: Dolphin

Animal: Dog

Color: Red

Number: 7

Footwear: Flip-Flops

Hair Color: Brown

Eye Color: Green

Nail Polish: Opi Bubblebath

Accessory: My Wedding Ring