How to Survive an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet

First of all, I hope that everyone had a great Mother's Day. I know I did.

Second...I wrote this post a LOOONG time ago, but completely forgot to post it. However, I have a feeling that I am going to end up at one of those pesky restaurants tonight for my husband's birthday, so I thought now was the perfect time to review it! Simply follow this simple step-by-step instruction guide, and you’ll get through those tempting family dinners like a champ!



Step 1: Make a plan ahead of time, deciding what you will eat and what you will avoid

Step 2: Ignore your plan, realizing that it was too strict

Step 3: Order water. Restaurants use a ton of salt.

Step 4: Start with the salad bar. Fill at least half of your plate with ACTUAL salad and fruit before deciding on which higher-calorie options to sample.

Step 5: You do NOT need a sample of every bread product. Stop it!

Step 6: After the salad portion is done, move on to the main course. Try to fill half of your plate with vegetables (variety is key).

Step 7: Decide what you REALLY want to eat. You probably know the difference between food that looks good and food that tastes good. Treat yourself, but try to watch your portions.

Step 8: If your favourite food is really fatty, start with a small amount. You can always go back to get more (but chances are, you won’t...that of you'll go back 6 times...).

Step 9: Um, I see that giant spoonful you are about to scoop onto your plate. Cut your portion in half.

Step 10: Resist the urge to dive head-first into your plate. Eat slowly!

Step 11: The dessert course: perhaps the most difficult of all! I’d suggest reviewing all that the restaurant has to offer before putting anything on your plate. Decide what looks the absolute best, and get that. And enjoy it. Also, get some fruit. It’s good for you.

Step 12: Get to your weekly weigh-in (after giving yourself a few days to get rid of the extra salt you inevitably consumed). You haven’t gained a thing! Congratulations!

P.S. Last day to entre my Creative Designs GIVEAWAY!!!!

Big Hair, Car Accident, and other random stuff

First of all, just reminder that my Creative Designs Giveaway is still going on. Let's help boost this little business!

Second...I got in a minor car accident today. It was very minor - I got rear-ended. By a woman driving a hot pink Nissan. With Texas license plates. And she kept hugging me and rambling making sure that I was okay. It was kind of awesome.

And third...it's that time of year again. The dry winter weather is gone, and the fresh spring air has arrived. In fact, I'm already sensing a touch of summer humidity...and if you are a wavy or curly-haired lady like me, you know that only means one thing...

Time for the return of BIG HAIR!



I guess it could be worse? (It actually looked a lot crazier in person.)

Big hair, don't care.

Lately, I've felt my creative juices flowing. Once all of my favourite shows wrap up for the summer, I really want to start another craft project or projects. The problem is...I can't decide what to do. Another sewing project? Something for the home? For the kids? Deciding is always the hardest part. Any ideas?

Bikini Pic

Let me overstate the obvious: my body is not perfect. I've birthed two kids, and gained and lost 50 pounds. And I have poor skin elasticity to boot. Put that all together and you have a fairly flawed 28-year-old body.

With that said, I am proud of how I look today. And I did say that I'd post a bikini picture once I hit my goal, and a promise is a promise. So here you go. Don't vomit.



My daughter kept trying to creep into my pictures so I had to go to a different room, hee hee.



Look, I know that I don't have the amazing bikini body that others do. I have stretch marks, big thighs, and loose skin. (And today I have a "food baby" from eating too much at the Cheesecake Factory. Meh.) I may never wear this bathing suit outside of my own back yard. But...I'm still proud. And that's a "win" in my books.

P.S. Don't forget to enter the giveaway! You have six days left!

It's Giveaway Time!

First of all, thanks to those who left kind messages regarding yesterday's post. (If you haven't read it yet, please do...I FINALLY hit my final goal, and I feel amazing!) Encouragement like that is what keeps me going, and it means a lot to me!

Now, onto more important things...

It’s GIVEAWAY time!!!

Niki and Shannon of Creative Life Designs knew that I was looking for a sponsor for a new giveaway, and they generously stepped forward to host. It was so nice of them, and I am really excited to share what they have to offer.

Their online boutique offers both products and PDF files (which I highly recommend) to help you organize your life! There is something for just about everyone, whether you’re into fitness, financing, or home organization – there’s even something for you teachers out there! And better still, they do custom orders, so if you don't see something that's quite what you had in mind, they can create it for you!

Here's what they made for me:



This is a fun and vibrant way for me to track how many points I eat, how much water I drink, how I exercised, etc. Which is great for me, and will no doubt help to keep me on track – but if that isn’t what YOU are into, there are many other things to choose from. There’s even a cute little chore chart for kids! Check out their site to see the rest...it's a bit hard to explain!

Creative Life Designs is offering a 15$ credit to the winner – so you can choose whatever you want! Additionally, they are offering my readers 15% off any order made before the end of May. So it's a good excuse to check out their site now even if you don't win! Just use code BABYSTEPS when you check out!

Here we go:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Ultimate Goal: I Did It!

Remember those old grey pants? They're not fitting too well these days...



A recap of my story...

Almost six years ago, I got married. Prior to getting married, I felt fantastic. I had lost almost 40 pounds, and maintained most of that loss for about a year. But with marriage came new challenges, new experiences, and new goals. My healthy eating and exercise fell by the wayside, and I re-gained 40 pounds by our first anniversary. And the new, 195-pound me wasn't happy.

Around that time, about five years ago, I started looking at old pictures of myself. I found a picture of myself at 157 pounds, and felt like I would be happy to get back to that weight. I set 157 as my new goal, but I could never get myself back on track fully. I'd lose a few pounds, then gain most of it back. Sure, I was making progress, but very slowly. Throw two pregnancies into the mix, and my goal of 157 seemed like a pipe dream.

A little over a year ago, on March 2nd, I sat holding my one-month-old baby boy. I had stopped losing the baby weight, and was stuck at 198. I decided that I really, really wanted to set a better example for my son and his older sister. I started making small changes, and set my sights once again on that magical number "157".

I lost 15 pounds, then stalled. I wasn't exercising enough, and my eating habits were slipping. After once again losing and gaining the same 3 pounds, I had had enough. I figured that if I didn't do something soon to lose the weight, I was never going to do it. I got mad, then I got determined. I joined a gym, started following Mama Laughlin's blog (who had the same start weight as me), and recommitted myself fully to my previously-discarded Weight Watches food plan. I even started to blog myself! Here are two "comparison pics" from before I joined the gym (183 pounds) vs now at 148.



The weight started coming off - faster than I thought! Exercising really made the changes to my body become noticeable more quickly. I could fit into a pair of shorts that two weeks previous had been too small, my tummy started shrinking, and I just felt amazing.

Sure, there were some setbacks (vacation, anyone? Christmas goodies?) but this time, I really started to believe, for the first time in five years, that I could achieve my goal. And I did.

And then I went further. I hit my wedding weight of 153. Around that time, someone brought up the idea of having a goal RANGE instead of a goal weight. I realized that if I lost just 5 more pounds, it would mean that I'd lost exactly 50 pounds! And if I kept a goal range of 148-153 pounds, I would be in a pretty good place...healthy, without being obsessed with a number on the scale.

It took a lot of hard work, and a big overhaul of my eating, but I am thrilled to report that I finally did it: I achieved my ultimate goal of 148 pounds! And although I've struggled, in many ways it wasn't as hard as I thought.



(I know, my scale is kinda gross. Blame the leak under my sink)

My hope is that my blog can help others who are struggling with the same things I've struggled with. I hope you see my story and realize that if I can do it, so can you. I'm nothing special! If you ever need a kind word of encouragement, don't hesitate to email me!

One more thing...

...I guess I owe you that bikini pic, eh?

What? You DON'T Nag Your Blog Readers?

It's Thursday, I gotta work soon, and my little boy is dancing on the table and trying to send me into immediate heart failure, so this will be short.

I just wanted to say that if you haven't checked out Katie's Blog yet, you MUST! Really. Reading it improves the human condition in 99% of readers. It's a fact. Go. Now.

Also, look for a giveaway in the very near future! I'm excited about that! If you're into organization and planning, or just a fun way to simplify your life, you'll be excited too.

Happy Thursday!

Blog Swap with Katie!

Do you know Katie?


If not, you should. She's a fellow blogger, a fellow mom, and one of the most inspiring people that I have had the pleasure to get to know. Katie has had to deal with more heartbreak and adversity than any one person should have to deal with in their lifetime, and yet has managed to keep a positive outlook in spite of everything. I highly - HIGHLY - recommend that you check out her blog and read her story.

Katie and I are doing a BLOG SWAP. Or at least that's what I call it. What we've done is asked each other ten questions, the answers to which will be posted on each others blogs. So if you want to hear MY answers to HER questions...you'd better check out her page!

This is just our little way of sharing each other's story with the rest of the blog world!

Here is what Katie had to say:

1. First of all, tell us why you started blogging, and why you continue to blog.

I started blogging in 2008 as a way to cope with the loss of our firstborn son. It felt good to tell his story and be able to share with my family and friends how we were doing. Then, throughout my illness (kidney disease that led to a transplant) it became a great way to keep them informed on what was going on and not have to tell the story over and over, that got exhausting! Now I continue to blog more as a journal in hopes of preserving our memories as a family. I love to read back and see how God used my story to His glory, I've even had readers tell me that my story and faith brought them to Christ, amazing!

2. All three of your boys have great, unique names. How did you choose them?

I found Brenham's name on a baby name website, I loved it instantly but Robb took a little while to warm up to it, so in the meantime I continued my search for the perfect name. We also considered "Grayden" which I kinda came up with as a spin off on Grayson, which I also loved but was a little more popular. We obviously like names that you don't hear of too often. A day or two before Brenham was born Robb told me he really liked "Brenham" so that was it! His middle name, "Jay", is after my husband, my dad and my father in law, whose middle names are also "Jay". Then when it was time to name our second son we wanted to involve his birth mom in the naming process, we still liked Grayden and so did she. His middle name, Robert is my husbands first name and also his birth mother's late father's name. With Sadler, we again used a 'leftover' name that we had considered using for Grayden. His middle name, Graham is a combo of his big brothers first names.

3. You received a kidney from your sister, and somewhere along the line, you named it How did that come about?

Right before surgery my sister in I were hanging out in the prep room and discussing names for the kidney, I saw a sign pointing to the "PACU" so that's where "Paco" originated from!

4. You're a hairstylist. Any hair myths that you want to set straight?

The only thing I can think of is that even if you're trying to grow your hair out, its still important to trim your hair. If you don't your split ends will cause breakage that will cause your hair to seem like its not getting any longer.

5. Home-building: would you recommend it to others?

Yes, but you need time and patience. It was a very busy time for us with our 2 young boys, we needed people to watch them so often while we would spend hours picking things out or having 'walk-thrus' at the house. It was time consuming but definitely worth it, we got the house of our dreams and the boys loving having the extra room to play! I'm sure they'll also appreciate having their own rooms when they're older!

6. What is your favourite healthy food?

My favorite healthy food is the green monster smoothie I make, my kids love it too so that makes it even better!

7. Similarly, what's your favourite thing to do for exercise? Least favorite?

I love ZUMBA, I know I look like a fool while doing it, but I feel super cool! :) And I hate running, I wish I didn't but I just do!

8. Finish this sentence: "If I were 16 again, I would NOT…"

Rush to grow up. I seriously could not wait to get married and have kids. I wish I would have slowed down and taken the time to enjoy those teenage years instead of always looking to the future.

9. You seem like an awesome bargain shopper - from everything from baby clothes to cruises. Any advice for others?

Yes, I love a good deal! Not sure I have any 'advice', I think to find the good deals you have to WANT to do it! It takes some digging through clearance racks and waiting for the sales, but if its something you enjoy, it can be quite a thrill!

10. You have your dream home and your dream family. Any other "dreams" that you have yet to realize that you hope to in the near future?

I certainly have been blessed! My hopes and dreams for the future mostly include my children. I pray they grow up to be happy, healthy and successful and most importantly that someday they ask Jesus into their hearts and live for Him!
And, I also like to dream about vacationing with my family, we hope to have a few 'dream vacations' in our near future as well ;)

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Isn't she great? Don't forget to check out Katie's blog later today for my own questions and answers!