How I lost the Curvy in my pants size. (Fat picture included!)

For those of you that didn't know, I'm fat. Yes, I know I have a beautiful profile picture with a pretty, slender girl standing by the ocean. That really is me. But that was me about 4 years ago. That was the "skinny me." Since that picture was taken, I've packed on about 50 pounds. (YIKES!!) So, now you know my dark secret, and the reason that I don't post many picture of myself on here. (Other than I'm usually the one taking all the pictures.) I never really had a problem with my weight before. I was slender pretty naturally, and ate whatever I wanted.

When I moved to Jacksonville 4 years ago, I was 130 pounds. I was a bit on the thin side really. I think I was just a bit TOO thin. I was in pretty good shape, but, I just didn't eat enough, so I was thin. I started eating more, exercising less. I started gaining weight. I then obtained a job in a call center. There, I ate more. I ate because I was bored. I ate because it was there. I ate because we reached a goal. I ate because we didn't. I ate because it was someones anniversary. I ate because someone got divorced. There was always food around, and I was normally stuffing it in my face. I ballooned up to just under 200 pounds. I didn't LOOK that big, but I felt like a giant blimp. I felt like the largest cow in the pen. It was terrible.

If you look back thru my blog, you can see that I've tried before and failed to lose weight. It's been a battle for me. About 3 weeks ago, I really started to crack down on the exercise and eating better. Guess what? I've started to lose weight!! I've been sick and injured during that time as well, but I have managed to drop to 179 pounds. I'm starting to notice that my pants are fitting looser, that my tummy isn't bulging out as much. I'm starting to notice a difference!

I was in my closet the other day, and I was putting up shorts and whatnot for the winter. I looked at my shorts and said "This will be the last summer that I wear you. Next summer, I'm going to be back down to my size 4! Goodbye tight size 12!" (Yes, I was talking to my pants....) I started to pull out my pants and such for the winter. I found my FAVORITE pair of navy blue jeans and gave a heavy sigh. I haven't been able to wear those in a year because they were just too tight. I could get them on, but buttoning them up had become a problem, and when I did get the buttoned up, I had a severe case of muffin top. It was terrible! I looked at my Aeropostale size 12 "curvy" jeans, then I looked at my Old Navy size 12 regulars. I held them up to each other. The ON jeans were 2 fingers width smaller than the Aero jeans. I thought to myself "I wonder if my big fat bum can fit in these this year." So, I tried them on. Guess what??

THEY FIT!!!

Yeah, I know. I still have a ways to go. But that's me! That's my big 'ol fat belly and my smaller sized jeans. That picture makes me want to run and hide and never show my face to the light of day again. But, I'm being real. I'm not perfect.

I'm on my way to a smaller me. I'm exercising more. I'm currently doing Turbo Jam. It's SO much fun! It doesn't feel like I'm working out for more than a couple minutes even tho by the time I'm done I'm POURING with sweat! There is even a timer at the bottom to tell you how much time you have left in the workout and in the particular activity that you're doing. All in all it's a fantastic workout!

I was trying to figure out how to embed the video to show you all about it, but, I can't figure it out, so, I'm just going to give you a link to view it. Which is here. I'm still trying to figure out how to get all of my software and whatnot back onto this computer since we upgraded to Windows 7. I'm hoping that we can get everything to work. *please please please!!*

Anyways! Until next time!

Love ya! Mean it!

Life has a new look!

So!
What do you think?!

I think I drove Courtney crazy with the amount of times I went "I really don't know... what do you think??"

She was AMAZING to work with!

Thank you Courtney SO much!!

New design is coming!

I've been hard at work with Courtney over at Not So Homemade to roll out a new blog design.

It's not quite done, but, it's coming along fantastically! I'm IN LOVE with it! There are a few little tweeks here and there, but, it's looking great! This will be the first design change for Life Along The Way since shortly after it's birth almost 2 years ago! ACK!

Anyways! Go show Courtney some love over at her blog. She's got a fantastic Calzone recipe that I'm dying to try! Maybe this weekend... hmmmm....

Great Ways To Start Monday!

So, every Monday, I'm going to start telling you guys about Giveaways! So, it may come in more than one post, but, I will tell you about all the fantastic giveaways that I find on the good 'ol net!

The first two that I found are pretty awesome!

Dandy Giveaways has done it again!! They are offering two new giveaways that I'm interested in! There is the Stencil Giveaway. (I could really use a stencil for my kitchen. I want to use a stencil for a "backslash" for my counters and sink island!) And the eUndies Giveaway. (C'mon!! Who doesn't want cute undies?!?!)

More when I find them!! :-)

Yeah yea yeah.... I know! Sheesh!!

So, as some of you have noticed, I haven't posted in a while. I can explain! It's a legit reason I swear!!

Last week it rained every day (no joke) for almost an entire week! It started on Monday and didn't end until about Saturday. It was terrible!! No joke!

I did get a bit of a night out with the girls tho. (I had written a nice blog entry about all of this, but, it disappeared!! :-( )My favorite Nicole graciously invited me and a bunch of other girls to join her at Chili's for a girls night. Of course, I ended up going to APPLEBEES and then couldn't understand why I couldn't get checked into Chili's on foursquare. (DUH!!!) I got to meet a bunch of fantastic ladies and I got to have some adult conversation with someone other than my husband. It was fantastic I say!! I ended up having Salmon with broccoli and brown rice. It was super yummy, but I couldn't eat it all, so, I brought it home. Of course Bug decided that what I brought home was for her, and she stole all of the broccoli. It's okay. I don't mind sharing broccoli with my little picky eaters! :-)

Monkey got $40 from the Tooth Fairy for his very last tooth, and it has been BURNING a hole is his pocket for some time now. He did spend a little bit of money at his school book fair. I got very excited when he told me that he wanted to take some money to buy something. I thought just maybe he would buy a book! Alas, it was not meant to be. He bought a calculator that looks and smells like chocolate and a pencil sharpener. *sigh* He decided last week, when we went to pick up a bag of dog food that he just simply couldn't live without an African Dwarfed Frog. Now, don't get me wrong. They are incredibly adorable and docile. He picks out the smallest frog in the tank, and carry's his new prize to the register. He plops down $5, and even got some change back! He was very thankful that I bought his new pet, Hopper, some yummy food as well as some weekend feeders for the snails. (Which are getting REALLY big by the way!!)

Monday (the 4th) Monkey woke up and said "My throat hurts." That was all it took. He never complains about things like that. The last time he said something like that his blood pressure was thru the roof and he didn't have a bowl movement for 3 days! (It was terrible and he missed a WEEK of school!!) So, we went to the Doctors and wouldn't you know it, he had the flu!! So, one pack of Tamilfu later, and a note to go back to school the next day, and we were off and running! Of course, then on Friday, he decided to tell me that he's had diarrhea for 3 days! SHEW! This kid is killin me! LOL

Well, we decided that we were going to trade in our Pleco that we bought back in July for something that wouldn't poop as much. (Seriously... Spike pooped.... A LOT!!!!) So, we put him in a 1 gallon ice cream bucket and took him to our local pet/fish store and traded him in on a Corydora Catfish (Cory Cat) whom Monkey named Cory. I think I might have inadvertently caused Cory some harm today. The filter was running really slow and I decided that I would clean it and put it all back together, so I took about a half a gallon of water out and cleaned everything up, and then I put some rather warm water back in the tank. I didn't think it was THAT warm, but poor Cory came barreling out of his little hidey-hole and didn't look like he was doing so well. He floated for a little bit, and didn't move for about a minute, and then he went down to the bottom of the tank where he stayed for quite some time. I thought he was going to die!! I thought I had done Cory in! Nope! He's back in his hidey-hole after a bit of normal swimming. I just hope that in the morning I don't find half eaten bits of Cory in the tank.... :-/

I also have been a bit under the weather. On Wednesday I went to wake Sam up for work and I walked in the bedroom and felt like someone had skewered my from back to front. It was terrible! I couldn't breath in very much. I thought maybe I had pulled a muscle, took some Ibuprofen and laid down for a while after the kids went to school. Of course my wonderful 68 year old Philippine neighbor told me she could come over and rub some liniment on my back and I would feel better in no time! I love this lady to death, but I don't know that I want her rubbing some chicken poop on my back that she brought from the the Philippines!! (Okay, I don't know that it's chicken poop... but I have no idea WHAT it is, tho it's probably better for me than the meds the Dr prescribed!) So, I go to the Doctors (I joke with them that I deserve my own parking spot there.) and meet this fantastic guy! He, of course, was my very capable Dr. Perry! I think I now want to follow this man to whatever office that he is practicing in. He was that great! FANTASTIC guy! I wanted to pick him up, put him in my pocket, and drive home. I love him! Anyways! He said he thinks I have Pleurisy. What that is, is that at some point in time I had some sort of infection or something in my lung, and that my Pleura are rubbing together and they hurt. (I would make a wonderful Doctor wouldn't I?!) I have a follow up appointment with Dr Hotty (Or at least that's what the receptionist and the office manager and I have named him. His real name is Dr. Jones. Dr. Hotty is a better name tho.).

On a happier note!! I have a WONDERFUL person making over my blog!! It will be the first time that this blog has seen a new layout, background, anything, since it's birth! How terrible is that?? I'm such a bad blog-mom I swear! I can't wait to reveal it to you guys!! As most of you know, I'm not a very girly girl, but, she's doing a fantastic job of everything so far! I sent her about 2397234983 pictures for her to use. I just know that what she comes up with, you all will love, but even if you don't, I will and really that's all that matters!! ;-)

Anyways! It's 9PM and Sam and the kiddos are watching Wackos' Wish on Netflix and I can hear Pinky and The Brain planning to take over the world, so I should probably go spend some time with them before my

Giveaways!! Woo!

So, as some of you might know, I'm a sucker for a giveaway! I LOVE giveaways! I actually won one not too long ago! I won this fantastic little red, and blue purse that has white stars all over it. It's from A Happy Distraction. Fantastic shop!

. 

Anyways! That's not todays giveaway tho! I found this FANTASTIC site called Dandy Giveaway. It's all they do! Give away stuff! Well, they have DIY and recipes and such as well, but, they give stuff away! All the time! How fantastic is that?! That has to be the absolute best job in the world. I swear. Not only do I like to get free stuff, but I like to GIVE free stuff away as well! Which is why I'm telling you about their latest giveaways. One is a $50 gift certificate to Bella Michele Jewelry!! You can enter by clicking here! And for all you parents of little girls. They are giving away a Lalaloopsy doll as well! Serious cuteness there! I want to win this for Bug! She would LOVE it!! You can enter that giveaway here! 

Good luck! :-)

Stress-- It's A Killer!

So, last month we sort of went over our budget by a lot a smidge.  And so September is going to be a bit tight for us. We will be able to make it, but, the first half of September is going to be really really tight! I hate hate HATE being low on funds. I don't like how it seems to fuel Sam and I getting into arguments. I don't like it when something comes up and we have to try and move things around so we can make things work. I don't like thinking that I'm going to miss on something really big. I don't like living paycheck to paycheck. It's terrible!

I know I shouldn't complain because we have a lot. I guess that's why we're in the mess we're in. Bad choices made in the past. I got so comfortable when I was younger always having this or that or the other. Always being able to say "Hey Mom! Can I have $5 for gas?" and three days later ask for more. Now, mind you, $5 in gas back then was like half a tank or more! *I have come to terms with the fact that I am now considered an Antique* I got used to driving new cars. I got used to always having my Momma there to bail me out when things got rough. (And by rough, I mean I spent my money on other things that I more than likely should have never bought in the first place.) In the past few years, I've done a lot of growing up. Things most people learned when they were much younger, like, how to manage your money while living on your own, I never learned. I went straight from living with my Mom, to being married. From there, you would think that I would spread my wings and learn to fly. Well, I did, kinda sorta. I learned that living away from my family isn't all that fun. I learned that having a car with no heat in Colorado just doesn't work that well. I also learned that being married to a man you really don't like doesn't make for a very successful relationship. Don't get me wrong. I loved my ex-husband, but, I think the parts of him that I loved the most were my 18 year old imagination making him into more than he really was. I can honestly say that the only thing I learned about life while married to my ex was how to stand up for myself in a fight, not back down, and that I shouldn't let people get too close to my heart. Momma was there to help me pick up the pieces. She's a great Mom. She's more of a Mom than I probably deserve.

When I moved to North Carolina, I was full of hopes and dreams that I could start over, get a fresh new life and prove to everyone that I wasn't the person that I was before. I wasn't the 26 year old little girl that my whole family knew. I can take care of myself! I'm an ADULT! Yeah. It turns out that I really was a 26 year old little girl, just like my family told me I was. But, I have learned SO MUCH from being down here. I've learned to take care of my bills first, because they really do come back to haunt you if you don't take care of them. (Even if that means eating ramen and PB sandwiches for 2 weeks.) I've learned that I am strong enough to do things on my own. (Thanks for always telling me that Momma!) And just recently, I learned, just because I want something, doesn't mean I need it. (I really don't like that one!)

I'm still learning to manage money better. Sam and I are still learning life lessons together. But what really matters is that we are a family. We're learning this together. We try to teach the kids about money, that way they don't have to take the hard road like I did. I thought the world OWED me all the nice things that my mom provided for me. I mean, I shouldn't have to work for them because I'd had them my whole life, why should it stop just because I moved out of my Mommas house?! How DARE the world not give me what I want. Yeah, I was pretty selfish. Now, when we go to WalMart or the commissary, or anywhere else really, instead of saying "Oh Mom! I want THIS!" and then begging for it until I get mad and throw it in the cart just to shut them up, they comment on things. They will say "Oh wow! Wouldn't that be nice to have?" I'll admit, they still have their weak moments where they see something that they REALLY want and will beg, but after I tell them no a time or two, they usually drop it.

As I said in one of my previous posts, I'm now an Independent Beachbody Coach. When I started this I was so gung-ho! I thought EVERYONE should be using these products and I had no qualms about telling you why and what you should be doing and where you could go to get them, to my website, of course! I still think everyone should use these products, but I'm not quite as in your face about it as I used to be. It's finally starting to pay off. I've got 2 people that are signing up to be coaches with me, and one of those already has a coach prospect! It makes me really happy that I can share the nutritional value of Shakeology, that I can tell someone about which exercise program I would suggest for them, that I can help others lose weight and be in better shape! I still have that passion about it like I did when I first started, because I know that it works. I've seen it working in me! But, I can't make everyone motivated like me. Some day they will see what wonders it's done for me, and they will want what I have, but I can't force it down their throats.

I know I've done a random, ranting post about seemingly nothing, but, it helps me to get things off my chest. That's the ultimate goal of a blog, isn't it? One of these days, I'll be able to have a blog about how great life is, about how I can devote time to sewing, and crafting, and be able to go buy Sam and the kids gifts at random times "just because." That day isn't today tho. Today, I'm cleaning the house, doing the laundry, and making the kids clean their rooms as well. I think tomorrow I'm going to sit down and make a list of things that need done on a daily basis and start a "checklist" that I can print out and hang up so I can just check things off as I do them. Some day, I'll be able to tell you guys how great life is, but right now, life is just life. A little bit stressful, a little bit not, a little bit fun, and a lot of love!

Until next time, dear reader(s), I'm going to try and see what I can do about cheaply filling my fridge on the 1st!