Workout Wednesday and Day off Recap

It's that time again! 

Linking up with Skinny Meg for Workout Wednesday!!

This week I'm bringing you my own "No Excuses" Full Body Slam! This workout hits every part of your body and gives it a run for its money!! 

BOOM!

Takes less than 20 minutes to bust this bad boy out, but I PROMISE you will be sweating and feeling it!

Let me know what you think!!

Meanwhile In other news..

I'm patiently awaiting my Advocare 10 Day Cleanse to come in the mail. I'm struggling with a plateau. I'm not gaining but I've stopped losing, wah wah waaahhh.

So I decided I'm going to do the 10 day cleanse to "restart" my body. I originally planned on starting it on August 1st BUT I have the Glow Run 5K on Saturday in Wichita and I know it doesn't start til 8:45pm and I KNOW the hubs and I will be stopping afterwards to grab some post race food. So why set myself up to fail?!?!

I think I'm going to go ahead and start it on the 4th! If anyone out there wants to join me, I'd love to have some buddies along the way! I'm doing the 10 day with the Peaches and Cream Fiber drink and as for additional products I'm adding on the Spark in mango strawberry! If you want to do it with me, shoot me an email or leave a comment and I'll get in contact with you!

I'm going to follow the guidelines to a T because it's only 10 days, c'mon.

I'll post before's and measurements when I begin.

With the AMAZING success I had with the Jillian Michael's 30 day Shred, I've decided to do the whole program again in August in hopes to gain some major toning. (Read about my first success HERE.)

If you want to join in on this challenge again, just let me know!:D

So Monday was my first day off in 8 days.

Yeah, EIGHT DAYS.

I'm a workaholic, whatever.

I was much overdue for a cut and color. I went to my amazing friend and she got me all beautified. Getting my hair washed is by far the best feeling in the world! (whose with me?)

After purchasing some more So Silver by Matrix Purple Shampoo for blondes ( if your a blonde and you don't use purple shampoo's I HIGHLY suggest you look into it yesterday) and It's a Ten! Miracle Leave-In Conditioner ( I swear by this goop!) my mom and I were off to the mall!

She was out to do some shopping and I was just kind of tagging along, cause well frankly, I like spending time with my mom. 

Let's face it, 

I was a nightmare of a teenager and we didn't get along very well durning High school. But Somewhere in that first year out on my own I got a good dose of reality and now our relationship is great. And I enjoy our outings!

As she was trying on clothes for real I was just trying on clothes for shits and giggles. I didn't even know what size of jeans I wore. I hadn't bought any or tried any on for that matter since I started my journey. So I grabbed a 10, 8 and 6 off the shelf not expecting even the 10 to fit. I was fully prepared for the normal, try on jeans, they don't fit, feel embarrassed  cry in the dressing room, pull myself together and then be bitter the rest of the day.

BUT

thats not what happened!

(if you follow me on instagram, I apologize because then you have already seen this)

The 6's fit. 

No shit.

With enough room I could have went down to a 4. 

I almost pissed all over Old Navy's floor

Clean Up in the ladies dressing room, Clean up

The top is also a medium with PLENTY of room. 

In the picture on the left I was wearing a XL Flowy top, size 14 jeans and I was stuffed into them. Like they gave me that ugly belly indention when I peeled them off at night.

While we were venturing around I also discovered I'm into a size small in athletic shorts! 

WHOOT!

In January I was poured into Larges, went down to mediums in June and now I'm ready for the small's! 

Watch out skinny girls, this former fatty is out for the smaller sizes!

We also stopped by Riddles Jewlery store to see about ring re-sizing. My ring falls off if I shake my hand.

Uh-OH.

My current ring is a 7.5, when they sized my finger I was a 6.5!!! I wasn't even that small of a finger when I got my finger size before I gained weight!

All in all the trip was a good confidence boost for me.

I did walk away from Bath & Body Works with a lotion that is normally $11 and I only paid $2.50. I freaking love sales.

I'm a sucker for them.

How'd you spend your day off?

I want to leave you all today with some motivational quotes, sometimes you really just need to hear these things....

Have a wonderful wednesday!!

-J

(ig- ms_st4tus)

My Breaking Point

First off I want to say: I'm jumping on board and going to do the advocare 10 day cleanse, I hope its here in time for me to start on August 1st. Is there anyone out there who would like to do it with me?? If you are interested in doing it go HERE to order. And send me a message or leave me a comment and let me know your doing it to!

Now back to the reason for todays post....

As you are all well aware of, I turned my life around on 1-1-13 to get healthy and lose weight. It was a change that was a long time coming and after a ton of starts to diets and programs with failure just a few days in, things finally clicked for me. Read about me and how I began my journey HERE. 

With that story I left out my breaking point, when I couldn't take being overweight any more and knew it was time to kick ass and take names.

Why?

Because I was ashamed, embarrassed and just not ready to put my self that far out there.

Now I am.

Here it goes..

There were a few that really led up to the tip of the ice berg, where I knew I needed to change for the better. I remember all of these incidents very vividly and I remember crying each time and feeling so ashamed of what happened to me.

*When I looked at all of the pictures of our wedding and honeymoon and cried. When I saw the pictures from the honeymoon and realized I only wore 2 shirts the entire time. Both baggy and figure hiding, both XL sizes, both barely fit. That's all I could stand to wear. A closet full of cute clothes and 2 shirts is what I was reduced too.

Two measly shirts.

* I was aware of my weight, but at this point it really didn't bother me. I was comfortable in life. I went to work in a new sundress that belted under the boobs and I was feeling really good about myself. Feeling pretty. When a lady I worked with comes right up to me and ask "hows your baby growing?" I looked at her puzzled. She proceeded to say "isn't your due date coming up soon?" I quickly informed her that I was not pregnant. She looked at me said "oh" and walked away. The nerve of her. My face burned red from embarrassment  as I went to the bathroom stared at myself and picked apart myself and cried softly sitting in a blob on the floor. I texted my husband and he told me not to let it bother me and that I was beautiful. I no longer felt beautiful. I felt repulsive  I wanted to go home. I wanted to slide under the covers of my bed and cry myself to sleep. Luckily I changed jobs due to opportunity with in a month. The lady, an older one at that, didn't mean any harm, but she sure killed my confidence that day and to this day I have never worn that dress again. I haven't even tried it on now. I just can't, It bothers me and breaks my heart.

* One night I decided to take a nice relaxing bath, no big deal right? Wrong.

I filled the tub with hot water and epson salt, came back when it was full and I stepped in and laid down. I closed my eyes thinking I was going to begin to relax. Opened my eyes to see that my stomach wasn't under water. I hadn't had this problem before, no matter which way I turned I couldn't get completely covered with water. I was ashamed! I began to immeditatly bawl my eyes out, I cried so much I made myself sick, my throat burned from crying and I had no more tears to shed. I crawled out of the tub grabbed a towel, went to wrap it around me and stopped dead in my tracks. The towel didn't go all the way around me. I began to cry again, I hurried to dry off ran to our bedroom, through on my sweats and went and curled up in bed and cried softly into my pillow until I fell asleep. When I woke up, still feeling the sadness of the night before I went straight to the couch and just watched tv while I searched the internet about healthy lifestyles. I cried on and off the entire day. Didn't eat, didn't drink anything. I just wasn't hungry or thirsty I was disgusted with myself and was sick from crying..

I was done. I didn't fit in my bathtub like I used to and I never wanted to feel  the way I did the night before again. I began researching like a maniac on the internet about, workout programs, healthy eating, proper nutrition and everything in between. I grabbed a trash bag and through out anything that looked unhealthy and things I knew would be my vice.

Thats the key to a lifestyle change. It has to click, you have to really want it with every fiber of your being, you have to want to change and make your life better. You have to want to put in the effort. You have to be strong enough not to quit when it gets hard. 

Don't underestimate the things that I will do

You have to keep going when everyone else is against you.

People are going to do everything they can to make you feel bad and bring you down. Why? I still don't know. The best I can figure is that they are jealous. 

Haters gonna hate, potato's gonna po-tate.

People told me slow my roll I'm screaming out fuck that

Imma do just what I want lookin’ ahead no turnin’ back

Research is also important, you have to see what you want to change and how to do it healthily. Slow changes ensure a long term change. Fast changes result in binges, short lived results, and most than likely weight gain.

Do whats best for you, start slow, don't jump off the couch and expect to run a marathon, don't try to starve yourself. Do little things slowly and everything else begins to fall in place behind it. Before long its not just a habit anymore it becomes your lifestyle. You go on living your life, and life gets better for you. You being to feel better about yourself, others notice and they get inspired, they complement you and your confidence goes up. Then that confidence keeps you going harder, faster and longer.

I feel so much better about every aspect of my life now. I haven't been sick once this year. I feel better, I'm not wearing a sweat shirt in the middle of summer to hide my body. Yeah I really wore sweatshirts in 100 plus degree weather to hide behind. My relationship with my husband has improved. 

Most importantly.

I'm happy.

I'm on the pursuit of happiness and I know everything that shine ain't always gonna be gold. I'll be fine once I get it, I'll be good.

Pursuit of Happiness by Kid Cudi was on constant reply while I researched and camped out on the couch, for some reason it just really soothed me.

Need some soothing, get happy songs? I reccomend:

Pursuit of Happiness - Kid Cudi

Good Morning -Chamillionaire

Carry On - Fun

Lights - Ellie Goulding

Mirror - Lil Wayne & Bruno Mars

Some Nights - Fun

Wide Awake - Katy Perry

Rolling in the Deep - Adele

Take Care - Rihanna Ft Drake

Fly - Nicki Minaj

Now the only time I cry because of my body, it has been happy tears. Happy I've came so far, happy I didn't let anyone get to me and stop my progress. Happy I'm who I am. Happy I hit a PR here or there.

I'm happy.

Along my journey If I can motivate some one else to make a lifestyle change and they get happy too. I hope that they inspire some one else. I hope for it to be a fitness domino chain reaction. Happy people motivating and supporting each other.

Ps. I'm here to support you in anyway. Ask whatever you need. Ask whatever you want. I'm very open anymore about my journey and everything in between.

Don't be shy, I share more with you guys than I do with some of my friends!

Have a great Monday Ya'll!!!

After working 8 days straight I'm finally off and going to head to Salina to get my hair done (FINALLY) and do some light shopping with my momma, maybe bring home a new mattress for the hubs and I! (we need a new one!)

What are you doing this week?

Going All Martha Stewart

Here it is for you!

 I've had a massive amount of requests on some of my recipes, all of these are not only my favorites, they are all Hubby approved!

Here you go!! 

Enjoy!

Turkey Meatball Muffins

Pre heat over to 375

1lb Ground Turkey

1/2 Cup Old fashioned oats

1 Egg White

2 TBSP Ketchup or Marinara Sauce

Chopped Onion, Green Pepper, Green Onion (to taste)

Cumin, Paprika, Garlic Powder (to taste)

Mix with hand till blended, shape roughly into balls and place in a muffin tin, bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Makes 12-16 depending on the size. 

Great with mustard and a side of broccoli or on a sandwich for a meatball sub!

Luau Chicken Sandwich

Marinate chicken breasts in Teriyaki sauce for a minimum of 30 minutes.

In a small skillet over medium heat, saute jalapeno slices, pineapple slices, turkey bacon and green onion.

In another skillet over medium heat cook chicken as normal.

Remove chicken from heat place on toast top with sauteed mixture and a slice of fat free swiss cheese.

Pairs perfectly with sweet potato fries!

Sweet Potato Fries

Preheat oven to 375

1 Large Sweet Potato

Spray Butter/Olive Oil

Sea Salt

Garlic Salt

Parmesan Cheese

Slice potato into fry shapes, soak in cold water for ten minutes. 

Drain

Pat Dry.

In a bowl toss with either spray butter or olive oil, sea salt, garlic, and parmesan.

Spread in single layer on cookie sheet.

Bake for 25 minutes flipping once or twice.

Great with everything!!!! LOVE!

Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad

Lettuce (Romain mixture is my fave!)

Chopped Jalapenos

Chopped Green Onions

Chopped Green Pepper

Chopped Red Onion

Corn

Black Beans

Chopped Turkey Bacon Slice

Cooked and Chopped Chicken Breast

Ranch Seasoning packet

Salsa

Cheese of your choice

Top lettuce with all vegetables and meats, sprinkle a spoonful of ranch seasoning over salad, top with cheese and salsa.

Enjoy!

Can be less spicy if you take out the jalapenos. Very filling meal!

Sweet Bacon Apple Hash

1 large sweet potato

1 granny smith apple

2 strips of turkey bacon

1 green onion

maple syrup 

Chop all ingredients and saute in a skillet over medium heat, drizzle a small amount of maple syrup all over, stir consistently until all ingredients are a golden brown.

Great by itself, with chicken breast or as a stuffing for green peppers!

For any other recipes you are curious about, just ask!

I'm always interested in hearing about your favorite recipes!

Enjoy and let me know what you think!!

-J

Gonna get down on Friday

TGIF YA'LL!!!

For this Friday post, I'm going to be linking up with The Good Life Blog for Five on Friday!

My Five today are going to be Hair Do's and Don'ts! Being a stylist I always love sharing with people and my clients ways to help their hair, not only do I beautify, I educate!

Here we go

 1, 2  Step.

1. Don't brush wet hair. Do comb wet hair, preferably a wide tooth comb. Brushing wet hair causes more breakage because when your hair is wet it's the most vulnerable!

2. Don't comb hair starting at the roots. Do comb hair starting at your ends and working your way up.

3. Don't Wash Your hair every day. Do use a dry shampoo between washes. Washing your hair everyday strips the hair of its natural oil, so your body assumes its not producing enough so it begins to over compensate, thus greasy hair. The less you wash it, the less oil it produces. Using a dry shampoo in between washes is great for volume, sweat absorption and smell.

4. Don't apply product to the front of your head. Do use product, especially a thermal protectant. 80% of your hair is in the back of your head, 20% in the front. When you apply product starting at the front your depositing 80% of the product on 20% of the hair, making a greasy look. Start at the back and it will be more evenly distributed and work better for your hair!

5. Don't apply conditioner starting at your roots. Do deep condition one a month if not every two weeks. When you apply conditioner at the top of your head and work down, your giving all the hair thats not very old the nutrients of the conditioner  Start at your ends that hair is years old and needs the moisture the most. Always rinse your conditioner with cool water to lock in the moisture!

Here's to peace, love and hair grease!

I will be working all weekend, 

womp womp waaah.

But come Monday, this girl right here is going to be getting her own hair cut and colored!!! WHOOT.

I can totally color my hair myself, but I prefer to pay to go to a friend since I do it all the time it's nice to be on the other end of pampering!!

I love getting my hair washed, whose with me???

Need hair help?

Ask away!

Have a fabulous friday my friends!!

-J

Get In My Belly!

Lately I've had a fair amount of people ask for a post about what I eat during a typical day, and what I choose off menu's when I go out to eat. 

This post is all about that!

Ask and you shall receive!

If you follow me on instagram, then you probably seen some of these pictures before, so sorry for the repeats.

Breakfast's

* 2 Whole grain waffles with Walden Farms Syrup and Cinnamon and topped with either fresh berries and almonds or almonds and sugar free chocolate chips.

* 3 egg white omelet with a slice of fat free swiss cheese and salsa and 2 slices of whole wheat toast with spray butter.

*2 slices of cinnamon raison swirl toast topped with Walden Farm Syrup and strawberries.

* A serving of Chex Vanilla cereal mixed with one Chobani Bite Expresso and Dark Chocolate Greek Yogurt.

  Snack's

*Kind Bar

*Think Thin Bar

*Fiber One 90 calorie bar

*Fit&Active snack pack

*Banana and Peanut Butter

Lunches

*Turkey Meatball Muffins with mustard and Cheesy broccoli with a mixture of fresh fruit.

*Carrots, Green Pepper, Celery and Ranch with a mixture of fresh fruit.

*Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad with Salsa and a Banana 

*Tuna Salad with Cheddar PopChips 100 calorie bag and a mixture of fresh fruit.

* 3 egg white pizza omelet with turkey pepperoni, fat free swiss cheese and marinara sauce and an apple.

Dinner's

*Turkey Sausage on whole grain rice with corn, black beans, jalapenos, green onion, green pepper, red onion and a sprinkle of cheese and hot sauce.

*Green pepper stuffed with turkey burger, rice,black beans corn, green onions and red onion with a slice of fat free cheese with sea salt and garlic sweet potato fries.

*Luau grilled chicken burger with sea salt and garlic sweet potato fries

*Sweet Potato Chip nachos

*Green apple, Sweet potato, green onion and turkey bacon hash, either by itself or with grilled chicken.

*Turkey meatball muffin sub on a 60 calorie tortilla and cottage cheese.

*Single pizza on a 60 calorie tortilla with pizza sauce, skim milk mozzarella  turkey pepperoni, green pepper, green onion, and red onion. 

Dessert's

*Skinny Cow Ice Cream

*Sliced banana, strawberries and pineapple with Walden Farms Chocolate Syrup

*Skinny Pie

*Kind Bar

*Fiber One 90 Calorie Bar

Eating Out

*Mexican Restaurants- fajitas with out the tortilla's, chicken taco salad with out the shell, vegetarian enchilada's. 

*Subway - 6inch Veggie delight with pepper jack cheese and southwest chipotle sauce on wheat bread with baked chips OR English muffin with egg whites,bacon, green peppers and american cheese for breakfast.

*IHOP- Garden Omelet with turkey bacon and fresh fruit or whole wheat crepes.

*Chili's - Something off of the fit menu

*Chinese Restaurants- Vegetarian Egg rolls, general tso's chicken, sweet and sour chicken and Crab rangoon.

McDonalds- Kid's 4 piece chicken nugget meal with no sauce.

These are just some of the examples of things I eat. I try to make smart choices that are going to be filling for me and full of good clean nutrients.

When we go out to eat if the nutritional facts aren't available at the restaurant  I look them up online on my phone.  

I don't have a set "cheat" day, but if I'm really, really craving something, I let myself have it in moderation. Like the other day I really wanted some peanut butter M&M's (my favorite!!!) So I had some. Because I did it in moderation and listened to my body, I avoided a binge later on. The hubby and I also share small shakes or root beer floats every now and then. (he eats pretty healthy himself)

I'm also cautious not to eat to late into the evening and to eat with in 30 minutes of waking up.

As for drinks I drink lots of water, unsweet tea, flavored water, skim milk, Bolthouse Farm drinks and vitamin water zero.

For recipes or more idea's feel free to send me an email or leave a comment!

I'm always up for new meal idea's, 

what are some of your favorites???

Bon appétit!!

-J

Workout Wednesday--Post Workout Munchies! & Giveaway Winner!!

Hello world!

It's Wednesday! So you know what that means!!! I'm linking up with Skinny Meg again! This week the subject is post work out snacks!

First off I wanted to announce that Nikki Williams is the winner of the Get Fit Gift Pack Giveaway! CONGRATULATIONS! Nikki, please get ahold of me via email.

It is so important to fuel your body after a workout! If you don't give it nutrients that it needs to fuel those muscles and burn fat, then it starts breaking down your muscles and slows your metabolism!

Oh haaaaaiiiiilllll naaaaah.

Boom.

These are my favorites.

* Chobani Greek Yogurt bite Expresso with Dark Chocolate Chips - CAN YOU SAY FREAKING DELISH?!?!?!?! I may or may not be hoarding these by the case in my basement or knocking people over at the grocery store to get the last one... I really like it with my vanilla chex cereal instead of milk! So good.

*Planters NUT-rition Energy mix- as if peanut butter couldn't get any better. Packed with protein and healthy fats you can't go wrong with this! Either by the spoonful or smeared on toast or all over my body.

*Cottage Cheese - when in doubt have a bowl of cottage cheese. The protein in this is a super duper way to fuel those muscles with only a few bites! The hubs hates cottage cheese because its white (TWSS) and looks 'gross' and unnatural. Whats more natural than curdled milk?!?! No?!? Eh, whatevs

*Protein Bars- Kind or Think Thin. The proofs in the puddin' or this case the bar. But these babies were made just for the purpose of fueling your body and thats exactly what they do!

*True North Cashew Crunch- Warning, love affair in progress. DAMN these little bits must of fell straight from heaven and made a pit stop in paradise before arriving to my mouth.

Okay maybe i'm exaggerating but they are SOOOOO good. Like a healthy version of a pay day candy bar!

Cashew's are good for digestion and a the good kind of fat. So go ahead, have a second bite. I won't tell.

*Bolthouse Farms Mocha Cappuccino- Why hasn't any one told me about these before????? I picked one up the other day, took a sip and kinky music started playing in the back ground. It tasted just like Starbucks to me. I love me some Starbucks  unfortunately  the nearest StarBucks is 45 minutes a way,

womp womp waaahh.  I blended it with some ice and add some fat free cool whip and VIOLA! StartBucks ala Jessi.

I made one bottle into two blended drinks

I'm a really bad creature of habit. So once I find something I like I stick to my guns!

And for just a tid bit of fitness:

Yesterday I went on three runs.

I just felt like runnin'...

I may not be a smart man Jen-nay but I know what love is

Love me some Forest Gump

I'm totally loving my Garmin Forerunner10.

Do you use a gps watch or fitness watch?

What kind?

I'm totes open to new snack ideas, throw me some good recipes or ideas. I love Chobani and am willing to try new flavors, do you have a favorite flavor???

Ok, now do it how you do it, gone and walk it out, I said  do it how you do gone and walk it out!

Until next time!

-J

follow me on instagram at ms_st4tus

Proceed and Progress

Hey everyone, this is kind of a random post, but this blog is for my thoughts of all kind, so I'm going to let it out on here.

Earlier I was taking some pictures to show a friend that I do have extra skin what else should I expect for losing 60+ pounds in 6 months that I need to work on. So I texted her these

I'm so extremely self conscious about my body when my tummy get's exposed. It must just be a fat girl thing. I've never liked my tummy out there for the world to see. But I do have to admit I'm feeling pretty proud of this body. I have worked my ass off to get to this point, I have sweated, wheezed and laid in the middle of the road. All of that has helped shaped the body that I'm looking at in these pictures. The more that I stared at these pictures the more comfortable I'm becoming with the reflection.

Anyways, I texted her these pictures and we talked about my body and so on and she asked me what my tattoo said.

It says "Make Jokes, No Stress. Live, Love, Life. Proceed ~ Progress" 

I got this as a 19th Birthday present to myself, it hurt like hell, I felt like a turkey getting carved up on Thanksgiving it only took 15 minutes but DAMN. But I choose the quote because I had always loved it as a personal motto. When I was bigger, I didn't look at it because in all reality mirrors broke at the sight of my reflection I avoided mirrors and kept my clothes on to keep from scaring my husband for life.

I had forgotten about the motto and the way of thinking I had when I got it. I guess you could say I forgot a little part of myself along the way.

I thought about it long and hard, what the motto means to me and how I can use it to bring some de-stressing into my life.

After I reflected, I realized I need to take life a little less serious all the time, have more fun not that I have a bahumbug attitude . We are so focused on making a paycheck, paying bills and saving money so we can move to Washington, that I think we really do forget to have a little fun. We sound so old, we are only 21 and 24 but we take full responsibility of everything and know what are priorities have to be.

It really sucks being an adult somedays. I've been living on my own since a few weeks after high school graduation. I'm not a stranger too this life, but so many days I want to run home to my parents and go back to that. When bills were minimal, groceries were bought and working part time was all I had to do. The hubs and I are SO CLOSE, SOOO DAMN CLOSE I CAN TASTE IT, to being debt free. Yeah thats our goal, to have ZERO debt before we move to a new state and half way across the country and work on buying our first house. By zero debt I mean no loans, no credit cards, no financial aid, no student loans, not a single luxury, like Robinson Caruso as primitive as can be. Thats why we both are working ourselves so hard just to get to ground zero.

Some where along the way I forgot to live a little, love a little more and enjoy life. I need to remember to enjoy the small things, cherish my loved ones because someday things I wish I would of done now, won't even be an option then. I need to proceed on with life and stop putting so damn much focus on the little things. Life is a constant progression, things go up and go down but always life goes on.

I needed this today, I needed a reality check, I'd been in a funk, this was a welcome opportunity to reflect on life. 

Ommmmm Ommmmm, Ommmmm

Ahh I feel better now :D

I hope you all will take a second and think about your life right now too.

Is what your stressing about really that bad?

Aren't there plenty of good things going on that out weight the bad?

As I wrap up my random ramblings, remember...

Make jokes, no stress

Live Love Life

Proceed ~ Progress.

Do you have a personal motto?

Have a great day ya'll!

-J

I'll show you Motivation Monday! & Weekend Recap

Heyyy!

It's least popular day of the work week, MONDAY!

But around here its MOTIVATION Monday!

I'm going to try and inspire you to light that fire!!

Burn baby burn, burn baby burn, disco inferno..

no? 

Okay moving on...

This weekend I was going through desks, drawers and baskets, OH MY!

Durning that total fun, I stumbled upon pictures from our rehearsal and from our honeymoon... three words for you..

OH

MY

GOD

Holy shit. I was SHOCKED! I'm aware of the fact that I've lost over 60lbs, I understand I look a lot better. But what I tend to forget is that I see my body changing day to day, so I don't see the big picture till I compare old pictures. 

 And thats exactly what I did...

Warning: Viewer discretion is advised, if you partial to fainting, dropping your jaw or gasping, the material you are about to view could cause just that, and in some cases, even death.

Now let's say it all together:

 HOLY WOW

I still am in shock. 

1. I can't believe I let myself get that big..

what'd you expect to happen to you on a fast food diet with a strict TV and couch regimen ?

2. I can't believe that It took me so long to get into a healthy lifestyle routine.

3. Daaaaayumm. I look good! haha!

After I found these pictures I had to show the hub, and he said the absolute sweetest thing... "You know I never loved you any less then. Your size didn't effect how much I love you"

Tears came to my eye. That was the most meaningful thing he could have said to me. I'm so lucky to have him by my side in this journey we call life.

Is that some motivation for you? Over 60lbs gone since the first of the year, from the girl who couldn't run around the block with out panting like a momma pig in the dead of summer.

I hope you got a good visual out of that..

This weekend we went grocery shopping. We eat relatively clean and extremely healthy.

What you buy girl?

Every two weeks my shopping list looks strangely similar. We shop at Aldi's, Big Lots and Dillon's.

My grocery list consists of:

Chicken Breasts

Ground Turkey

Turkey Sausage

Turkey Bacon

Lettuce

Green Onions

Green Peppers

Red Onions

Jalapenos

Spinach

Sweet Potatoes 

Tomatos 

Carrots

Celery 

Corn

Brocoli 

Kiwi

Pineapple

Honey Dew Melon

Raspberries

Blueberries

Watermelon

Granny Smith Apples

Whole Grain Rice

Skim Mozzerala 

Cottage Cheese

Black Beans

Fiber one 90 Cal Bars

Whole Grain Waffles

Skinny Cow Ice Cream

60 Calorie Tortillas 

Greek Yogurt

Think Thin Bars

Kind Bars 

True North Snacks

Bolthouse Farm Protein Drinks

Give or take a few items.

I try my best to eat as little processed food as possible and as much fresh and organic as I can.

What are some staples on your grocery list?

Lately I've been REALLY in LOVE with sweet potatoes.

Grilled Chicken and Sweet potato, green apple, green onion and bacon hash.

Sweet Potato Nachos. Sweet potato chips and beans, veggies, chicken and cheese to dip in!

Whats your favorite way to serve up sweet potatoes?

Around our house we have staple meals we always have, for us it includes:

Stuffed Peppers

Chicken and Rice

Southwest Turkey Sausage Bowls

Chicken Sandwiches and sweet potato fries

Turkey Meatballs

Meatball Subs

Omelets

Whats your go to meal?

Now that I've gotten you motivated, go forth and move mountains!

Or just make it to work on time with a smile..

Have a GREAT Monday!!

- J

Instagram  ms_st4tus