Still Going Strong

I'm here, still going. Still hitting my workouts hard and living my life the healthiest way possible. I still slip and fall but I have taken this last month and a half to adjust this lifestyle for me. Eating 100% clean was never in the cards for me and I knew that. I'm a foodie and I love something new and good, yummy and gooey. I tried so hard in the beginning to really be something I never could be. Some people can say, I am going to spend the rest of my life being clean, being organic. I can't. So I had to learn to balance and find what works for me. When I did that, when I found it, it clicked with me. I live my life 75% clean, truly organically clean. The rest of the 25% I've learned to "control." I eat the yummy bad for you stuff but I do so in moderation which was never in my vocabulary. And yes, there are times when I know I can cheat, I hoard my calories and make it dirty, so dirty it's sinful. But I know how to bounce back and know that tomorrow morning I will have to add more to my workout. I will have to drink more water to get the toxins out of my body. Do I suggest this? No. But it works for me. I can't live my life 100% clean and I won't sit here and say that I do. Clean is good delicious food that makes you feel great and does amazing things for your body but for me I also need the bad stuff every once in a while. I feel like it's so hard to explain but if you've ever done a program like this, you probably totally get it.

My workouts have increased and I have grown to love them. I can not tell you how good I feel. My body is changing every day. I am not at my goal weight, far from it, but I am in the best shape I have probably ever been in. I never thought in a million years that I would love waking up every morning, grabbing my weights and doing 100+ squats, working my arms, shoulders, abs and so on. I'm amazed at the strength I have gained and how good I feel. I have so much energy and living life feels good. Really good.

I have so much I want to write. So many posts I've been thinking of and I hope I can get them down before Thanksgiving. We are leaving for a 2 week vacation which honestly has me scared because I want to keep up all the work I've been putting in. And if I don't write again before Thanksgiving and you happen to be reading this, don't eat your weight on Turkey day. Be thankful and spend your day loving your family and loved ones.

Clean Fall Favorites

Pardon my absence, first bronchitis and then a sinus infection that spread through our house like wildfire! I am still coughing and just finished a 2nd round of antibiotics... ugh! Eventually it will go away! The older I get, the worse it is when seasons change. But thankfully the season is FALL which is by far my favorite.

Besides being sick, me and little love spent the weekend hanging out with this lovely lady...

Taylor Swift was absolutely amazing. Anyone who says she is not good live, has never been to a concert of hers. She was amazing. Her voice was beautiful. She was absolutely inspiring and talked to the girls in that audience like she has known them for years. Her words to each person in that arena were so uplifting and she really put on a show! It has been years since I have been to a concert and she blew me away! Now I have the concert bug so we've already got tickets to some really great shows in November and December.

Anyway, after getting better I have got to get back on track! Yes I ate clean and still got my exercise in but by no means did I push myself like I have been because I honestly just didn't feel like it. But now it's time and I am full steam ahead!

With Fall comes busy schedules, football games, school, dance, soccer and so on. My Coach always says "Failure to plan is planning to fail" so I looked up so great crock pot recipes for those busy days. Remember, there are no excuses to living a healthy lifestyle! I know it's easier to go through that drive thru, order dinner out or just pick something up on the way home but think of how much better you will feel knowing you are feeding your body healthy foods and even more importantly you are feeding your family healthy as well!

Check out these recipes:

Buffalo Chicken Crockpot Sloppy Joes
Hawaiian Crockpot Pulled Chicken Sliders
Crockpot Sweet & Sour Chicken
Crockpot White Bean Chicken Chili
Crockpot Chicken Tacos

Those are really just the beginning. There are so many great recipes out there. Just remember, NO EXCUSES! If you search, you can find what you are looking for. If you don't take your recipe and "clean it up" Usually, that can be done with almost anything.

Happy Fall Y'all!

What are you doing today?

If you are sitting there thinking that today will be the last day, the last day that you feel miserable. The last day that you will eat whatever you want and feed yourself with junk. The last day you will find every excuse you can to not get up and make a better life for not only yourself but your family. If you are thinking that tomorrow is when your journey will begin... GET UP! Start your journey TODAY! Not only is it worth it, YOU are worth it. Your FAMILY is worth it. Get up, get moving. It's not going to be easy, you are going to want to quit every single day but getting there makes every bit of this journey worth it.

I am almost at my first goal. Where are you? Are you at day one? There is no better time than today. If I can do it, you can do it. I never thought I would love to exercise or that I would love how it makes my body feel but I do. I am here writing this drenched in sweat from my workout this morning, from pushing myself until I knew I pushed as far as I could. Don't make excuses because a year from now you will look back and say "I wish I had started then."

YOU ARE WORTH IT!

Pinterest Success!

Fall is in the air which means it's time to get your craft on. I blame Pinterest for the never ending crafts that I want to do. Soooo.... of course when school was getting ready to start I started searching great Teacher Gift's for the first day of school. Bad Idea! There are countless ideas out there but I finally settled on my favorite. Survival Kits!! What Teacher doesn't need these? Was I searching for brownie points? Of course! It never helps to butter up the Teachers that will have your child all year long. Also, they deserve so much for all that they do.

So I went here and did exactly what she did. Of course mine was a little different because you can't find the same exact things.

Here are mine:

 

I got the baskets at Target which were not a bad price at all. I let my kids pick out the goodies so they could have a hand in this as well ;) After all, it is from them. Haha! The Starbucks cups were actually a steal, I couldn't believe how inexpensive they were so I added a gift card inside the cup as well. So cute, right? I love how they turned out! (Excuse the horrible pictures, I forgot to take a picture before we loaded them into the back of my car to take them to school)

My newest obsession is burlap. I LOVE burlap. So of course I have wanted a burlap wreath for quite some time but I don't want to pay that hefty price tag for one. I mean really?!?! I was scared to even try one because I figured that it would be way too complicated and it would be the death of me. I started looking, started pinning and found a blog that swears it's so simple and easy to do! So I took off to Hobby Lobby determined to find what it is that I needed. Hobby Lobby = Burlap Heaven. So much burlap!! 

I started off with this blog but for some reason I found it confusing. I wasn't really sure how she was threading the burlap. So I searched again and found this blog and once I combined the thoughts on the two blogs I got it. I would switch back and forth and just incorporate what each lady was saying and find my own way. I was very pleased at how easy and fast it was to do. I decided to add things to my wreath and with that I just kind of had to wing it because I didn't really feel like searching anymore. However, I did search on how to do a bow and found this. (Sorry it's not a direct link but I couldn't get it to open for some reason) I have never seen an easier way of someone explaining how to do a bow. I again took her words but made it my own but again it was simple and easy. 

So here is how my burlap wreath turned out:

I love it! I am going to add our last name initial to it but I have to paint it and just haven't done that. And you may be wondering why the orange and blue? Well, I figured since College Football kicks off this weekend why not start our decorating now? Yes, I am one of those girls that enjoys College Football and actually understands it ;) 

So there you have it, my Pinterest Success stories... for now! I see a lot more in my near future and I think I am officially addicted to making burlap wreaths. I'm sure I'll have one for every occasion. :)

School Days

I'm sitting here this morning eating my apple and drinking my Shakeology when I realized, I have not blogged in a while. The end of Summer was spent making memories and that's exactly what we did. The kids and I had an awesome Summer and I am so thankful for every new adventure, every sunny day and every laugh and giggle. It was just a great Summer full of endless possibilities.

I was sad to see the school year come along, I didn't feel ready for Summer to end. But, I was also excited because it meant I would be back into the routine full swing and to be honest I am much better with my workouts when I am on a routine. First day of school meant hitting my workouts hard and it felt SO good! I have been on this journey since May. A lot of sweat and tears have poured into this journey, over 45 pounds shred and many inches (I don't know the exact number as I am not keeping track of this monthly). I feel happier than I have with myself in a very long time. I feel better than I have in a very long time. It's worth it. SO worth it.

At my heaviest, I felt so embarrassed to do things. I felt ashamed of how I looked, how I felt and how I thought people viewed me. I was very insecure even when I thought that I was comfortable in my own skin. It took me losing the weight and seeing the shape my body can take to look back and see how bad I truly felt inside and out. The first day of school would mean having to go to class with my kids and I would stare at my clothes wondering what would hide me the best. But not this year, this year I feel comfortable in my skin. My body is not perfect and it will never be because none of us are. I haven't met my goal, I am not skinny, but I am healthy and I feel confident and that's where I want to be.

I see people I know now who want that change. Who are where I was when I started this journey. I see the want that they have but I still see the choices that they are making that are horrible. And don't get me wrong I still have those horrible days. But this journey, this change, is like a drug. A drug I never knew I wanted or needed but it is. I can have my bad days but I am craving the change, craving how my body feels after I push it to it's breaking point and feeling the feeling of feeding my body exactly what it needs. I see people around me who are there, right there to their breaking point and I want this journey to be theirs as well. I want everyone to know how good this life can feel. It's amazing to be here when I thought there was no hope. It's a great feeling to know that I am no longer saying "I'll start tomorrow." TOMORROW STARTS TODAY!

If you are reading this, where are you? What are you feeding your body? How are you treating your body?

I have so much more I can add to this but I feel like my thoughts are everywhere. The craving for me is there and I want this for me but I want it for YOU even more. I know how it feels and it feels good!

Birthday Getaway

So we finished celebrating Little Love's Birthday by going to Atlanta for her Birthday weekend. She has been asking for another American Girl Doll so we decided this would be a great Birthday trip for her. We made plans to visit the American Girl Boutique and Bistro, The Lego Store and The Georgia Aquarium.

First things first, we went to the American Girl Boutique and Bistro. This is a MUST for any little girl who loves American Girl. Little Love received her first American Girl Doll after Grandpa visited New York a couple of years ago and they went to the store there. She loved the doll but it was never her favorite. She would play with her but most of the time that doll would sit in a toy box. When she started asking for another American Girl Doll I was hesitant but Little Love slowly started playing with the doll she already had more and more and the request for a new one became a daily thing. A friend of mine had told me that letting them pick out their own doll at the Boutique had a whole different meaning for a girl so instead of letting her pick one out of the catalog I figured this would be the best way to go.

The Boutique is amazing. It's really a little girl's dream come true. Every doll is there, every outfit. The Bitty Babies, the Historical Dolls, the ME dolls... it was amazing to see it all. They have a hair studio for the dolls to get all fixed up (expect long lines!) and they make every part of picking your special doll a big deal. Little Love set her eyes on a couple of dolls and wanted them but I made her look at every doll to make sure she was picking the right one and when her eyes met Julie, she was done! She picked out some outfits, matching pajamas for her and Julie, bathing suit and the special American Girl brush that every doll must have to tame that unruly hair! It was truly a magical experience and like I said, something every little girl who loves these dolls should do!

Julie and Little Love both received an American Girl Birthday button because after all, Julie was born into our lives that day and she truly has become a member of our family!

Little Love was so excited! 

Thankfully in the same shopping center this is a Lego store. We didn't know until we got to Atlanta that there was a Lego Discovery Center so we missed out on that this trip but have plans to return soon for that. Our Big Love (our son) needed Lego's (NOT!) so we headed over to stock up. If you've been to any Lego store you know how amazing it is to see all of the creations and how many Lego's you can find there. So Big Love got everything he needed (ahem... wanted) and we were on our way for more celebrating. 

After a yummy lunch and some Birthday sundaes we headed to the Georgia Aquarium. I have never in my life seen so many people. Even Disney World in the Summer didn't even compare and trust me we know Disney World in the Summer. After waiting in line for an hour just to get in, we were finally in the Aquarium. It's wonderful, it's fun and any kid would love this place. However, I feel like this one is one and done. Once you've seen it, your good and I wouldn't think that there would be a need to go back. Yes it's large but that also means it's crowded. Seeing things were hard because there are so many people in front of you. Lines are long and kids get restless. Our loves held up well and it was a nice day. This is something they have really wanted to do and see so it's 100% worth it. Just be prepared for crowds on a Saturday and very long lines.

I will say that the Shark Whale and Beluga Whales were amazing. I loved the sea otters, I have decided I want one of those ;) and Little Love was so excited to get to see the penguins up so close. 

After the Aquarium a Birthday dinner and cake (yes I had a piece as it's OK to cheat on days like this) were in order and then crashing at the hotel!

It was a great weekend and another Birthday is in the books. I did much better on this trip with eating and exercising. I had a plan (a more realistic plan) and stuck to it. Unfortunately, I got home and got sick. Bronchitis in the Summer is not fun! So, I'm a little off on my diet and month three weigh in has not been done. That will be done soon!

A Tea Party fit for a Princess

Our Little Love celebrated her 6th Birthday. Since she was a very little girl I have thought about a Tea Party but we always ended up doing something else as a different theme suited her more at the time. Well this year, she wanted a Tea Party and I was thrilled! Thanks to Pinterest, I knew the perfect type of Tea Party to have.... Vintage. The party was filled with feather boas, white gloves, pearls, vintage head pieces and hats for all the girls. The hubby and I stayed up late fluffing pom poms in the perfect shades of pink and teal. My friends and I went antiquing looking for the perfect tea cups and sets for the girls to use. It was perfection and my Little Love was thrilled! She had the best time and we are so thankful for all the love shown to her that day.

Here are a few pictures that perfectly describe that day:

 Let me add that the above picture contains my newest find at my favorite antique store. My new China Cabinet is by far my favorite vintage, repainted piece that I have found yet.

 My Little Love

I had this big post planned for this Tea Party but I decided to keep it simple. It was a perfect day and a perfect way for my Little Love to celebrate her special day. I wanted to share that on this blog but only in a small way as this is one of the very rare times that a picture of my children will be on here or that I share something outside of my healthy journey.

Happy Birthday Little Love! The celebrations are just beginning as we have another surprise for her this weekend :)