Thursday, November 28, 2013

T-day

I hope everyone has an amazing thanksgiving today! 
If you are bored I updated my blog crushes on my side bar
I truly love these ladies on tier blogs and who they are in tier daily live.
Do yourself a favor and go check them out! 

Also I want to apologize for my promise of an alternative cardio post from Wednesday I will post it soon! Maybe if thing go according to plan I can post it tomorrow! 

Now go eat and drink a beer for me! 

Monday, November 25, 2013

This or That Link up THANKSGIVING!!!

Only two more days til the best day of the year... next to my birthday.
Turkey is my favorite, and I love pie...sooo yeah.
Thanksgiving. Love.

Our This or That link up theme this week is Easter...
Just kidding it's Thanksgiving Obv.

You know you love food, so I'm giving you a reason to deticate an entire post to talking about it!
Lets get to it so I can go eat....

This or That Link Up

Stuffing, or mashed potatoes
In true fat girl form I enjoy putting some mashed potatoes on my plate, then putting some stuffing on top, then putting some more mashed potatoes on top followed by a roll and some butter and gravy if I'm feeling frisky

Homemade cranberry sauce, or store bought cranberry sauce
I just tried cranberry sauce for the first time a few years ago and I shed a little tear.....for all those years I wasted passing it up. I think it was store bought that I tried first, but I'm not picky now I choose both, sometimes on top of each other.... I'm sensing a theme here....

Pumpkin Pie or Pecan Pie
Uggghhh who came up with these questions??
Oh shit I did.
If I had a gun to my head and I HAD to choose I guess I would choose....
Fuck I dont know can't I just put one slice on top of the other and eat them both?
OMG what about a pumpkin pie with a PECAN PIE TOPPING!!!

AH this is a REAL thing!

Cooking all day or Cleaning up all night
This one I know right away, cooking all day hands down.
I love cooking I hate dishes.
When left over food gets soggy in the drain, I want to throw up.

Thanksgiving Day Parade or Football game
Well I like to consider myself a Football widow. If you don't already know this I live in New England, and I'm married.
Wife in New England = Football widow.
So I choose the parade because I have to watch the game no matter what and the marching bands make me teary eyed...


That's all I got for you today folks, so make sure you link up so I can feel a little less crazy about my food piling tendencies.
Thank you in advance.
Make sure you come back tomorrow because I have been testing all sorts of alternative forms of cardio for you guys to do if your gym (like mine) is closed on Thanksgiving!


Biggest Loser # 3

I finally made it back to the gym today, and it felt frickin amazing.
I love getting the gym first thing and going hard. 
It sets my whole day off right. 

I needed it after being stupid sick for two weeks, and my weigh in this weekend.....
I was up .5 
I'm going to be honest. 
I hadn't pooped in a bit and if I would have waited until nature took its course I would probably have been the same or a little under my last weigh in. 
Damn morning craps so unpredictable! 
Tell me you pray for a big poop first thing in the morning before a weigh in????

The week is Thanksgiving 
*duh, what does she think we are idiots*
No I don't but I like to state the obvious, just ask my husband
I am determined to lose this week NOT GAIN. 
I usually do pretty well on Thanksgiving. 
My husband has a huge family, and by huge I don't mean he has 3 siblings, I mean he's one of 11 and they all have significant others, and children, and we ALL go over to my MIL's house for Thanksgiving. 
I'll do the math for you, that's over 40 people. 
Here's a little picture for you of just the immediate family. 
Did I mention we all live within two hours?

...and my side of the family?
Well my parent's stopped at perfection and I'm an only child, uh thank ya. 
Anyway, you can imagine our Thanksgiving spread with all those folks. 
It's insane. 
I usually eat the healthier things (which their aren't a lot of) but my problem is picking
ALL DAMN DAY
That shit sits out and taunts me for real. 
This year I am going to punch that pumpkin pie in the throat, and crescent kick (which I used to think was a roundhouse kick, but my niece and nephew are in tikwando however the F you spell that and corrected me) those dinner rolls out of the house. see what I did there

The gym is closed Thursday, but last year I started a tradition of running to my MIL's house which is 4.2 miles. 
I'm also working on checking the calorie burn with some alternative forms of cardio, which I will have a whole post for you lovelies about on Wednesday. 
Tomorrow is our Thanksgiving themed This or That link up so make sure you come back and talk about my favorite thing, FOOD. 
Here are the questions. 

Stuffing or Mashed Potatoes
Homemade cranberry sauce, or Store bought cranberry sauce
Pumpkin Pie, or Pecan Pie
Cooking all day, or Cleaning up all night
Thanksgiving Day Parade, or Football game

This past Saturday was my three best friends birthdays. It's fate they all share the same birthday so I can celebrate them all equally. 


Miley

SNOOKI!!

and my real best friend



Happy birthday babe!

Friday, November 22, 2013

Camo Colored Barbells

Happy Friday everyone!! I have a special story to share with you all today. I have mentioned before that I use an Online Trainer Sara Willis who is AMAZE!
Sara is competing this weekend in the NPC National Bodybuilding Championships!! Go show her some love on her facebook here 
Another one of her clients is Shelby who immediately stole my heart when she posted a picture of herself on Instagram in camo..... you know my fondness for camo.


Eat it  Hubbyjack!
I asked her to be a part of my October Inspiration series, but life got in the way as it always does and she wasn't able to.
I wasn't going to let her get away that easy though!
So here she is
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi guys, I would like to share with you my fitness journey!
Getting Started: At my highest weight I was sitting around 205-210 and hated myself.
 I was very unhappy and was looking for some change.
At first I tried weight watchers, although that didn’t last too long as I fell off the wagon.
One day while creeping through YouTube, I came across Trulyjess, a girl from Toronto, Ontario, that was doing daily Vlogs.
 I began watching her videos and relating myself to her challenges with weight gain. So, around the end of February, I woke up one morning, tied up my runners and headed to the gym.
This day, marking day 1 of a long, healthy, successful journey.

March 2013 to September 2013

 So for basic exercise I started with only cardio, I would do 35-40 minutes of cardio a 4-5 times a week.
 I hadn’t even began to lift weights and I was major intimidated by those big guys in the weight room at my gym.
I had started doing hot yoga every week and was really enjoying it as well.
 As far as eating goes, I cut out all fast food. I started drinking more water and eventually cut out all other drinks.
I stopped drinking a lot of alcohol and limited myself to Vodka, water and Mio.
I followed a lot of meals that I saw Jess making on her Vlogs, Trulydaily.
I ate a lot of greens, chicken, turkey and cut out condiments.
I learned to LOVE hot sauce and to use spices of my food. 
April to November

Getting a Trainer:
 I started losing weight pretty fast and was doing a weekly weigh in.
 I hit a plateau around 180 pounds and decided to get a trainer. After a long search, plenty of emails sent to trainers, I found the perfect match, NPC Figure Competitor Sara Willis. I signed on with Sara in June of 2013 and wouldn’t change it for the world. Starting with Sara was a really big change, I went from eating normal 3 meals with a couple snacks to eating 6 meals a day, and at the time seemed like 6 full out feasts.
I started following her plan, which consists of 6 training days a week and was quickly seeing results. In the meantime, I was introduced to weight lifting and have fallen in love.
Training with Sara I have noticed a huge change, not only in my body but also in myself. I have gained muscle that was hiding under that fat.
I am currently sitting at 160lbs making my total weight loss a 50lb loss. 

7 months progress!
I have gained a ton of confidence and absolutely love being in the weight room at my gym.
I am no longer that girl who one hides from those big guys at the gym, because now I’m right along lifting beside them.

 Challenges
Some challenges I have encountered since my journey started is, first off, fighting temptation.
 Yes I want that chocolate bar, ice cream and pasta, but I also love what my body has become.
 I still to this day find it very hard to sometimes not reach for the unclean greasy food.
With choosing a healthy a clean lifestyle I have noticed many people around me either support me or step away.
It is hard for people to understand what this lifestyle means to me. It’s hard to say no to going out for dinner, or explaining that you are bringing your meals with you.
Everyone in my life has at least once said “oh you can eat that, you won’t get fat”. But that is beside the point; I enjoy my clean eating and have worked too hard to ruin it over a slice of pizza. Something else I’ve encountered is jealousy and I have learned to brush it off, because I have a million people who support me and I don’t need people to bring me down.
 A few big changes I have had to get used to is not drinking every weekend.
I’m from a small town, which means weekends are spent at a bonfire, on a truck tailgate or in the garage drinking beer after beer.
Having all our friends over drinking every weekend, I still find it hard to sit with my bottle of water while everyone drinks their beer.
 There are some days I straight up don’t want to go to the gym and some days I find it hard to push myself there. But when I see results I am motivated beyond what I can explain.
When I drop a couple pounds or when I fit into a smaller pair of jeans, and especially when I see another muscle popping out I give it all I got at the gym and on my meal plan.
 I find that Instagram and Facebook are excellent sources of motivation. I myself post daily to hopefully inspire someone else, because not too long ago, I was that girl, unhappy and overweight.
I love what had become of myself, my body and I cannot wait to see my future progress.


 Information:
You can email me at sldempsey@hotmail.ca
Instagram: @shelbdemps
Facebook: Shelby Lynne
My Trainer: NPC Figure Competitor Sara Willis
 http://wonderfullymadephysiques.webs.com/
Goodluck & keep going!!!
Thanks,
Shelby
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So great right?!?!
I hope you all have a fun and healthy weekend!
I tend to slack on eating healthy and working out on weekends, but this weekend I'm going to make sure I KILL IT.
Only 5 more days til Thansgiving.
Make them healthy smart ones so you don't feel so bad about going ham (or turkey?!) on that food! 

Thursday, November 21, 2013

I'm Sorry Bum Cheeks

So remember how I told you all that I was going to try a Barre class this past weekend, and tell you all about it.
Well today's the day. 
I took the class Sunday morning, and I still am not walking straight. 
The class I took was called Booty Barre® at Strength and Balance Studio in Nashua. 
The space the class was in was amazing. The natural light was unbeatable and it was decorated in a very uplifting way. 

I saw all this pink and thought
"Aw this is going to be cute!"

I was wrong. 

The description for this class was a combination of dance, pilates and yoga. I love all these so I was super excited. 
My friend over at JustJacq has been taking Barre classes for awhile so it peaked my interest. 
Strength and Balance Studio is the only Barre studio in NH and it was worth the drive. 
We started with a warm up, with our amazingly fit instructor Becki

She explained that she would show the moves with a few different levels, including a challenge level, 
which I did not even attempt. 
The class was not entirely at the bar which I originally thought.
We did some cardio bursts, and light weight lifting as well as mat work. 
We also did some work with this little blue ball of death. 

I honestly could not tell if I was squeezing the ball or not my legs were jello. 

The hour long class flew by, and even though I could barely move I was sad to see it end. 
 While I could not walk straight for a few days after, I honestly LOVED this workout. 
It was a full body workout and I can't wait to do it again. 
It's a bit of a drive for me, but I'm willing to do it which should say a lot!
Her studio also offers many other classes such as Ballerobica® and Barre Toning which is my next adventure!
The best part... your first class is free! If you are in the area I HIGHLY recommend it!!

Tomorrow on the blog I am going to be sharing with you another amazing transformation story so make sure you check back!

Happy Thirsty Thursday!!, If I was still in college I would be drunk already, instead I'm on my second cup of coffee contemplating whether or not I should fold all that laundry...YAY ADULTHOOD!

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

A Girl Can Dream

I'm about to hit you all with another wordless Wednesday... this time it'll be my holiday wish list.
Family, Friends, Neighbors... please pass this along to the hubs. 
Thank you. 
Nathan Hydration Vest
Pretty much any of these
Yes Please!

I need long sleeves though... 3/4 kill me
New Pillows for our couch!

Okay that's it! I'm sure there are plenty of other things I would be happy to receive so give away!

Tomorrow on the blog I am going to review my Booty Barre class!!

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Don't be a Scaredy Cat...

When I was pregnant with my daughter, I would have a reoccurring dream that I couldn't find anyone to babysit so that I could go out to the bar with my new friends I met at the mall
Then just in the knick of time Lindsay Lohan shows up and says how she has always been "super awesome" with kids.

I hand over Mabel, and go to the bar
After my fifth vodka and tonic when I'm reaching up to grab someone's hand who is helping me stumble climb up on top of the bar for a Coyote Ugly style dance, I wake up.
I wake up and think,
"Shit, did I seriously get drunk last night, I'M BREASTFEEDING!!"
Then I remember I am living 3,000 miles away from all of my friends, I feel asleep at 7 pm watching America's Funniest Home Videos, I would NEVER drink while breastfeeding (or go out to the bar with people I met at the mall....well maybe not...okay I probably would)
Oh and I don't know Lindsay Lohan. 

If you haven't figured out what this post is about through that awesome intro, I'll just go ahead and tell you.
It's TUESDAY BITCHES, that means time for...

This or That Link Up

This week is Fears, so here are the questions
a.       Heights or deep water
I don't really care about heights, but deep water scares the shit out of me. There is way too much down there, and I'm not feeling it. I will not swim with any dolphins, or mantaees, or whatever else people put on their bucket list. You can take my turn, I will be sipping my frosty beverage, on the beach with my back towards the water.  


b.      Snakes or spiders
I don't love either, but I'll take spiders. I can kill those with a shoe... I need a 2x4 for the snake....or a shotgun


c.       Losing all your teeth or losing all your hair 
During both pregnancies I had lucid dreams, if you never had these, or haven't heard of them look it up. 
Most of my lucid dreams were of my teeth falling out of my head one by one.
No thanks. 
Hair grows back, and I've always wanted to be able pull off the head scarf. 

d.      No voice, or no hearing 
No hearing, I would like to know when my children are screaming at me, because "I'm not their best friend anymore!!", but I would like to not be able to scream back. 


e.      Eating a bug or eating intestines
Easy, bugs hands down. I hear those chocolate covered crickets are a blast in a glass!

So lets hear what you would choose! Link up so I can read what haunts all you scaredy cats dreams! 


Come join us for some fun on Tuesdays

Monday, November 18, 2013

Biggest Loser # Dos and a Big Face

No that's not a hashtag, it's that old thing called a number sign.
You remember.... you might also know it as the pound sign. 
Either way. 
Saturday was my second weigh in, and are you ready
I'm down 2 more pounds!! 
2 pounds exactly. 
That was my goal and I hit the nail on the head, so I figure I'll set myself another goal for 2 pounds this week. 
With all the stuff I'm coughing up I'm sure it'll be easy. 
The chicken salad I made this weekend was good, but not amazing
I'm going to keep working on it and when I perfect it I'll give you guys a holla. 
I tried a Booty Barre class this week with Blog&TweetNH and my legs and booty hate me today for real. 
I will do a full review on Thursday so keep an eye out!! 

In the past few weeks I've been doing a lot of blog exchanges, such as the Post Exchange with JustJacq and The Friendly Fall Swap with Alicia, Jodi and Britney. I also did the Cara Box exchange which is run by Wifesionals, I sent mine to Veronica, and I received mine from Katie

I love getting things in the mail, but through all of these exchanged I have gotten way more than just mail. 
I can honestly say that I have made some great friends through them. You may even have noticed that two of those girls up there (Jodi and Katie) are co-hosts on my Tuesday This or That link up (which is tomorrow so get ya shit together, questions are at the bottom!). 


I love love loved my package from Jodi and you can read all about it here
My package from Katie was insane, like I cried and my husband rolled his eyes. 
She wrapped everything individually with cute little "clues" on each one.

I can honestly say that she took the time to thoroughly stalk me through my blog and Instagram and sent me stuff that was clearly right up my ally. 
Clif bars are my new obsession and the Mint Chocolate is out of this world. 
She included the whole family in on this gift including our mutts.
Side note, Katie did not give me a car... or anything that needed a key... Mabel refused to take it out of the picture!


Mae was super impressed and thought my friend was friends with Santa... no joke.
The last thing I opened said "something to add to your collection" and my husband said "oh great just what you need another scarf"
What I got was 10 million times better than a scarf. 
It was a new Big Face shirt
So. Good. 


Okay questions for tomorrow's link up!
Fears dun dun dunnn
  • Heights or deep water
  • Snakes or Spiders
  • Losing all your teeth, or losing all your hair
  • No voice or No hearing
  • Eating a bug, or eating intestines. 
See ya back here tomorrow! In the mean time check out this picture I found when I was using my big girl camera. 

Friday, November 15, 2013

You Know You're A Mom When

A few weeks ago Justine from Sassy Shoes in the Snow posted this link on one of my posts, and it was so good.
Too good not to share.
For Five on Friday I wanted to share my five favorites from the list.

You know you're a mom when...

1. You've been doing the same load of laundry for 3 days because you keep forgetting to put it in the dryer. 
2. You use baby wipes to clean up any sort of spill, as well as the dash of your car. 
3. You would rather go to sleep than have sex. 
4. Peeing with an audience is part of your daily routine. 
5. You can hear a sneeze in the middle of the night through two closed doors, while you're husband snores next to you. 


Do these pertain to you because every single one fits me... most every day.
My kids drive me bonkers on a daily basis, but they are damn cute so I'll keep them around.





This weekend is pretty jam packed, but the most important thing
OUR NEW COUCH!!!
This is the one we got
The Quimby
Before we went I told the hubs that I hated the "pancake" cushions, but when I sat down my booty fell in love.
So. Excited.
This morning I'm also trying to create a healthy version of a chicken salad, with a mexican twist.
If it comes out good I will def be sharing the recipe with you guys.
I'm working on a clean eating meal list for the cooking tab, so when it's up and running I'll let you know!!

Be sure to come back Monday for my Biggest Loser update!!

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Step up to the Bar(re)

I’m super sickies today.
I have had a horrible cough for the past few weeks but haven’t felt that bad.
I got sent home from work Tuesday because I work in the medical field, and no one wanted to hear my hacking up a lung.
I swallowed my pride and went to the doc and she said bronchitis and possibly walking pneumonia.
She said I would need a chest x-ray to diagnosis the pneumonia definitively so being the good patient I am I said told her there was no need for her to schedule it, I would call them when I left….
…meaning I’m not going.
This morning I woke up and there was a boa constrictor around my chest and my voice is totally gone.

DAMN IT
Looks like I’m going in for a fricking chest x-ray today.
Oh well I brought a book, and I love waiting in doctors offices because I get a chance to read.
I hope this shit blows over before the weekend, because on Sunday I am going to a Barre class to review for the blog!
This is my very first bloggers meet up.
There is a group in my state that does meet up events such as the Barre class as well as water fall repelling and Ice climbing…yeah don’t sign me up for that.

This is the first one I can actually attend, so I’m excited to meet other bloggers, but even more excited to try this class.
My friend Lauren and I would love to try other crazy types of exercise and I would love to review them for the blog so you guys can laugh at me before you try it yourself!!
Somethings I would be interested in doing are Bikram Yoga and Fitness Pole Dancing.
There are also some more main stream fitness classes such as Body pump and Zumba as well.
I’m looking into all of these so I’ll keep you updated.
If there is some crazy class or not so crazy class that you have always wondered about let me know.
If it’s available in my Podunk town or near by I will do it!

It’s also Thursday and that means…drum roll…. THANKFUL THURSDAYY


This week I am thankful for

My friend Lauren, her support, advice, talent, and inspiration is astounding.

My friend Becky, she juggles more than she can handle and she makes it look so easy, she’s loyal to a fault and if I ever wanted to go white girl crazy on a bitch I know she would be down.

My sister-in-law Joni who is also one of my very best friends. I don’t think she’s aware how monumental her presence has been in my life, we went from co-workers, to friends, to family.


Happy Thursday Ya’ll ….just kidding I live in NH