Fatty McFlabersons: A Weight Loss Story PART 1

Well I typical don't usually talk about this stuff (you know... my body. And any other crimes against humanity for that matter), but I decided to take the plunge and get real. 

Because our weight is something most of us mere mortals have issues with at one point or another (if you don't..Congratulations! Oh, and you suck.), so why not be open and honest and gross about it with each other?

I'm already feeling the bonding happening.

..Mmm. That's nice.

Ok, so here it is:

Picture on the LEFT: Uhh...Kill me.

(Alright, but let's be honest, my mayonnaise-esque skin tone is the real travesty in this situation.)

(Unfortunately that hasn't changed much..) 

(*sigh*)

Picture on the RIGHT: I took that yesterday morning.

 I think I'd only had half a cup of coffee at that point, and I'm really not genuinely happy until I've had at least two.

So if my smile looks kind of fake... that's because it kind of is.

Plus I'm not wearing any makeup.

What Happened Between:

So at the time of the first picture, I had just given birth, after having spent the last 4 months of my pregnancy doing nothing but baking.

Seriously.

I spent my days watching every single episode of Grey's Anatomy and eating cookies.

That was my life.

So I gained A LOT of weight during my first pregnancy.

But then I had this gorgeous baby, and here were my problems:

1.) I was jonesing for carbs every hour because I was breastfeeding.

2.)The Magical Breastfeeding Diet Where You Can Eat Nothing But Ice Cream And Cheeseburgers And Still Lose Tons Of Weight NEVER kicked in for me.

3.) I sat on the couch all day. Just staring at my baby and crying.

SO... obviously it's a big mystery why I stayed the size of Shamu for so long.

But it was hard, as being overweight always is.

I hated going in to the bathroom because it meant I had to look at myself in the mirror. 

NONE of my cute, pre-pregnancy clothes fit me.

I was engorged and sweaty and fat and hungry.

It was just crappy.

I think when Vienna was around 8 months old, I lost like 5-10 pounds.

Not much, but it was something.

BUT a month later I was pregnant again!

Hooray for Babies! But not for weight loss.

Thankfully, having a crazy mobile baby kept me relatively active and I only gained 30 pounds during the whole second pregnancy. Which was really good.

But by the end of those 9 months... I was just done.

I was done being huge.

Something clicked in me that made me so sick of being big that made me decide that as soon as I had this kid out of me, I was going to work my BUTT OFF to do something about it.

And I did!

By my 6 week post-birth doctor's appointment, in October, I had lost every last pound that I gained during the second pregnancy, and I was going to keep going to get rid of all of the extra weight I had gained during my first.

At the beginning of the year, when Luke and I sat down to write out our goals for 2013, I put down that I wanted to have lost 20 more pounds before my next pregnancy.

And I'm not pregnant yet (at least that I know of... huh.)...

...But I lost ALL OF THE WEIGHT!

I definitely have more to lose to be at my totally ideal weight, but I'm back to where I was before I got pregnant with Vienna.

There's probably a 40 pound difference between the two pictures above.

All of my old clothes fit me, and some are even big on me.

I'm comfortable again and looking in the mirror doesn't make me want to go throw myself in traffic.

I've worked hard for it.

For me. For my husband. For my kids.

And after 3 years, I finally feel good again.

Now go read PART 2 to talk about what I did and how I've changed my lifestyle...

Crockpot Saturday: Ranch Beef

So a few months ago I read on a blog that a gal and all of her sister-in-laws had a weekly tradition of making the same crockpot meal on a specific night and then they all kind of talk about it and review it.

I thought it was such a neat idea and since I'm a big, fat copy-cat, I decided to text my sister-in-law to see if it might be a fun thing for us to do together.

She said she was in, so we texted our other sister-in-laws and a close family friend, who were all game for trying this recipe club of sorts for crockpot meals a couple times a month.

At first, we picked Saturday as the day we would all do it...but that soon became kind of crazy to work around the schedules of 6 women. So now whenever a recipe is picked, we all just make it within the next two weeks, whenever each of us can.

SO much smarter.

But the name Crockpot Saturday kind of stuck and no other suggestions for a new name have been made.

Crockpot Club?

Crockpot Palooza?

Crackpots for Crockpots?

If you have any suggestions, let me know.

Until then, laziness shall prevail.

ANYwho! The first dish that I suggested we make was a Chicken Teriyaki that turned out to be absolutely ATROCIOUS. 

I don't think I even served it to my family.

WAY TO GO, ME.

But the next dish (that I obviously did not pick) turned out awesome!

A big ol' pot roast with delicious ranch and onion flavor, shredded, and served with melted provolone on a toaster kaiser roll.

Easy, simple, and a major Man-pleaser.

I definitely recommend it.

And so did all the other gals, it was a hit!

~~~

Ranch Beef

Recipe from The Tasty Fork

Ingredients

• Cooking Spray
• 1 Onion, sliced
• 3lb Chuck Pot Roast, Boneless & seasoned with Salt & Pepper
• 1/3 cup Distilled White Vinegar
• 1 Dry Ranch Packet (1.0 oz)
• 2 Garlic Cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp water
• 6 French Rolls, sandwich size (optional)
• 6 slices of Mozzarella (optional)

Directions

1. Spray crock pot with cooking spray. 
2. Add sliced onions and place beef on top. 
3. Mix vinegar, ranch packet, garlic and water. 
4. Stir and pour over beef. 
5. Cook on low for 8 hours.
6. To make sandwiches - shred beef and place in toasted rolls. 
7. Add cheese on top of beef. 
8. Broil in the oven until cheese is melted.

This Boy..

..is big.

...is usually naked.

....loves to poop.

...and is always happy.

I love him so.

Bedroom Furniture MAKEOVER

SO. With our bedroom renovation pretty much completed, I was feeling desperately in need of some non-hideous furniture to go in this pretty new room of ours. And maybe some that actually matched.

Oh, me and my ridiculous high standards.

And as what happens with a lot people who get married and don't have thousands of dollars sitting around to use on a American Furniture Warehouse spending-spree, we just have a miscellaneous collection of weird, random furnishings

And our bedroom pieces were really the best example of that, until I gave them a long overdue makeover.

With a few cans of spray paint of two different colors, a chocolate brown and a creamy off-white, they are as good as new!

..Ok well, kind of.

This one is mine, and has been quite a few different colors since I've owned it.

But it finally looks like it doesn't belong in a 6-year-old boy's room! Hooray!

For Luke's we had to buy a couple new knobs and some handles to replace the loud, brassy, 80's-tastic ones.

Much better, right?

This redo is probably my favorite.

 We picked this puppy up at a garage sale last year for a dollar! ONE DOLLAR.

The top was broken, in the sense that all it needed was to be glued back on to the frame. But before we did that, we matched the top with the drawers, to give it a bit more distinction.

I love the way the design on the top drawer turned out, and what a pick-me-up the colors and the new knobs gave to such an outdated piece.

So what do you think? Aren't they so fun?

Now that these are done, I think I'm FINALLY emotionally, mentally, and spiritually ready to do the promised post on our bedroom remodel.

Maybe.

...but I might have to go pray about it first.

(Life Tip: blame sheer laziness of something spiritual whenever you possibly can.)

(ex. "Sorry I didn't text you back for 3 weeks. I've been meditating. In greek.")

(You're welcome.)

2 Years of Vienna

Today is my little princess'  birthday!

I cannot believe it's already been two years since we had this amazing girl totally rock our world, but just to prove it to you... and mostly to myself.... I've put together pictures of her growing up.

[Warning: You might need a bottle of wine and a box of tissues for this post.]

(..Ok, well that might just be me...)

(That's how I spent my evening last night, by the way.)

(Not pathetic AT ALL.)

(....Aaaand I'm tearing up again..)

~~~

1 day old

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1 week old

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1 month old

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2 months old


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3 months old

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4 months old

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5 months old

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6 months old

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7 months old

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8 months old

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9 months old

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10 months old

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11 months old

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1 year old!

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13 months old

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14 months old

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15 months old 

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16 months old

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17 months old

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18 months old

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20 months old

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21 months old

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22 months old

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2 years old!

~~~

I will never be able to express how much I love this girl.

I love what a wild, free spirit she is.

I love that she has her own opinions about everything.

I love that she's independent, and wants to try most everything out on her own.

I love that she says 'Hi' or 'Heh-doh' to every person that she sees.

I love that she loves her daddy and her brother.

I love how she sucks her two middle fingers and combs through her hair with the other hand when she's tired.

I love how much she loves to read and be read to.

I love that she awkwardly stands by people at the park and just stares at them.

I love that she wants us to pray with her and that she says 'Amen'.

I love her bright blue eyes and her big, cheeky smile.

I love this girl so much, it hurts.

So we'll be celebrating her "Birfday" with cupcakes and balloons and streamers today.

And more wine.

And some seriously ugly crying.