I talked a little bit about my weight loss health journey {here} but I've gotten several emails asking about the program I followed so I thought I would kick off 2014 sharing a bit more about my progress.
I lost 40 lbs. in 3 months, 3 days following the Take Shape for Life program and went from this to this! Woo hoo! It's still so hard to share that before pic. I was very unhappy with my external appearance and I felt so sluggish. But one of the things that motivated me in the beginning was seeing pictures of others who had succeeded in achieving their goals so if I can inspire someone else to take that first step, then it's more than worth it!
I'm still amazed at how fast the weight came off. But the TSFL program is no joke - you HAVE to be mentally ready to do it. It takes a lot of willpower at first, but once you start dropping pounds and feeling better, you are so motivated to KEEP GOING! All in all, I lost 40 pounds and 4 dress sizes. I lost 20 lbs. the first month and the other 20 over the second and third months.
I followed the 5 & 1 program religiously the first two months. That's 5 Medifast meal replacements and 1 Lean & Green meal per day. In the third month, I modified the program to 4 & 2 (4 meal replacements/2 lean + greens) because I was feeling hungrier and I was still able to lose weight, but probably at a slightly lower rate. I like that there is a transition and a maintenance phase to the TSFL program.
My goal was 40 pounds and I achieved that, but I still want to lose 10 more and tone up. I'm working on those on my own, using the principles I learned on the TSFL program. Clean eating...mostly. The holidays have been tough, but today, I'm back on!
Just yesterday I was having a pity party over not having anything to wear {I need to go shopping!} so I kept digging and digging in my closet and found this pair of jeans from my freshman year of college. That's 1995, y'all! And guess what??? They FIT!!! I promptly sent the hubby and my mom a pic - ha!
Funny thing is I remember wanting these jeans SO BAD. They were very spendy and definitely not in my college freshman budget. But for my birthday, my mom bought them for me. She told me I better wear them every.single.day. Well Noonie, here I am 18 years later STILL getting to wear them - ha! See...they *were* an investment after all!
So no matter what plan you decide to follow, visualize where you'll be and make the change for YOU! Everyone else in your life will benefit too from your new, healthier, more energetic outlook. If you decide you want to give Take Shape for Life a try, I have a fabulous health coach for you...my friend Eileen! Here is her {page}.
And here are my favorite TSFL Medifast meals:
Do it for you.
Take that first step.
Make it count.
Be the best you...mind, body, and spirit.
Happy New Year!
We stayed up...{barely}! Toasted the New Year and enjoyed a little midnight snack...
Riesling + Gala + Colby Jack...Yum!
Super Hudson, who was still going strong way, way past his bedtime, wishes everyone a New Year full of every "super amazing super power ever"!!
Wishing you a 2014 full of sweet, unexpected moments like this...
...and blessings all around!
I love our annual Bake Days!
I love seeing how excited the littles get in anticipation of baking with Noonie. I love seeing them grow through these pictures...their little hands next to my mom's loving hands. I'm beyond grateful to have a HEALTHY Noonie baking with us this year. Take that, cancer!
C R A C K!
{laughter is always the main ingredient on Bake Day!}
P O U R!
S T I R!
S P R E A D!
Select your cookie cutters and G O!
Oh, these sweet little hands!!
Hi there, little Gingerbread Man!
Grace's turn!
{my two favorite girls...oh, how I love these two!!!}
The little pumpkin comes A L I V E in the kitchen! She L O V E S to bake!
This picture is L O V E to my heart!
Mama's turn!
Hudson is so cuddly. I could just S Q U E E Z E him all day!!
She is my S U N S H I N E!
Noonie showing off her decorating skills! he he he
Oh my! And this is why we B U Y our decorated cookies - hahahahahahahahaha! But the memories, oh the sweet memories - I wouldn't trade them for the world!
Another year in the books!
Noonie-62, Jessica-35, Grace-6 3/4, Hudson-4 1/2
Maybe next year we'll be in a N E W K I T C H E N!! *wink*
We set out cookies and milk...
We gave Daddy an early present...Superman PJs the littles picked out for him!
We had the annual reading of 'Twas the Night before Christmas...
We had a mini tickle fest...
And then they drifted off to sleep...
And sometime in the middle of the night...Santa came!
He ate the cookies, gulped down the milk...
Filled their stockings...
And left the littles sweet notes...
The elves came to their final resting spot for the year...
And Santa even brought back their wish lists and marked them both as being on the NICE list!
Bright and early on Christmas morning, two excited littles jumped out of bed! First stop...the cookie plate.
"He ATE them! And he almost drank all the milk!"
Then the craziness began. Santa kept forgetting where he had hidden the gifts and what he had for what child and Santa's elf went shopping and then one child had more than the other, and oh my...in the end two littles made out like bandits! Next year we are going back to simpler times!! But these sweet smiles and excited expressions sure made for a super fun morning!
The marker maker has been such a {messy} super fun hit around here!! Both of the littles have loved making crazy color concoctions!
Batman!
This was the year of the L E G O Christmas, that's for sure!!
Getting a kick out of the HUMONGOUS Darth Vader!!
{Daddy gets the credit for that one!}
A bunk bed for her dolls! Noonie has already been recruited to make blankets...ha!
Lego, Lego, and more Legos!
And then the two top most awaited and longed for toys...
The Lego Friends Dolphin Cruiser!
And...could it be???
For MONTHS, all I've heard about is this Jabba's Sail Barge that would be the coolest-most-awesome-bestest-Lego-ever.
And Santa DID bring it! Whew...way to go, Santa!
My favorite toy that Santa brought...a LITE BRITE!! I'm a child of the 80s, what can I say!!
{best $10 Santa spent - that's for sure!!}
These superheroes have come in a close second!! I love seeing the littles play creatively!
{and can I just say that Superwoman was included in there??!!!?! woo hoo!}
Superhero wellies...are you sensing a theme?
A package almost as tall as Darth Vader for the little pumpkin. What could it be??
Disney's Frozen castle!
Just as excited over the little stocking stuffers as the big stuff...and proof positive to me that for my littles they have the most fun just unwrapping!
But out of all the madness...seriously the littles need no more toys for the entire year!!!...my favorite was when they exchanged the gifts they bought for each other.
Pajamas!!! I love how this happened too. I took Grace shopping first and she picked Superman pjs for Hudson. Then I took Hudson shopping and we went to JCPenney {which by the way, I don't know why I haven't been to in ages b/c they have some super cute kids' lines!!}. JCP has an entire section of Disney stuff, that's why we went. I let Hudson pick what he wanted to get Grace within our $15 price range. He picked out these pjs all on his own!!! LOVE that!
If I can only remember one thing about Christmas morning, I want this to be it:
Proof positive that we were there too! hahahahahaha!
We finished our morning with my very favorite Christmas day tradition...singing Happy Birthday to baby Jesus.
I made a super yummy overnight French Toast casserole that was DELISH! Thank you pinterest!
And since Noonie and Papa J were in town, we made an extra special delivery to bring them some of the fresh-out-of-the-oven yummy goodness!
I hope you had a beautiful Christmas surrounded by loved ones, and most importantly, surrounded by the love of God for all of mankind manifested through His son Jesus.
