let's get physical

A few weeks back I wrote a post called "4 strange reasons why I want to lose weight". Well I didn't have a plan for how I was going to lose the weight... I was just talking about why I want to lose weight. So needless to say after I posted that, no effort was made to get the ball rolling on shedding the pounds. 

 

Last week, I stepped on the scale at my mothers house and was absolutely horrified by what I saw.

Not only have I gained back all 40 lbs of the "baby weight"... I've gained a total of 90 lbs since I met my husband four years ago!! WHAT?!?!? YES!!

My husband has never complained about my weight gain or even mentioned it but a heads up would have been nice. Something soothing and gentle like... "Er, honey, I love you and you're the most beautiful woman I know... but... you're getting pretty fat."

 Time to get to work... and fast!!

I've never been this big before and it freaks me out. I was in such denial about my weight gain. See, we don't have a scale and I'm finding that's not really such a good thing. I just told myself, "Oh that dress must had shrunk in the wash... along with everything in my closet..."

So that's why you don't see much about fashion on my blog. I've nothing to wear.

 So whatchu gonna do about it?

Last Monday I started a paleo-esqe diet. I cut out grains (pasta and bread), sugar, most dairy, and salt. That's pretty much what my daily diet consisted of... and LOT's of it. So now you see how I got this way? Damn you Pinterest! You an your delicious recipes!! I'll sue you blind for making me fat! Care to engage in a good old fashioned frivolous lawsuit??

So now I'm just waiting for erm... "my aunt" to leave town so I can start bronzing my buns and steeling my abs. This is the second time I've ever gone on a diet and exercise regimen. The first time I became a temporary vegetarian and danced like a wild witch in my bedroom for four hours a day. It worked and I lost 40 lbs in four months. I know this whole diet and exercise thing will work for me again.

Lucky for you, I'm not going to turn this into a health and fitness blog. That crap is boring. But I will give you all updates every now and then on how this is working out for me.

Ninety pounds... :sigh: wish me luck.

the only living girl in New York pt 1

I spent all day today trying to plan the perfect outfits for my trip to New York coming up in five days. With the weight gain, massive breastees and sagging post-natal belly, my clothing options are a little thin these days - but I think I managed to scrounge up some decent outfits. 

Since it's New York, I really wanted to exercise some fashion creativity, you know, really push it and get a little weird  (like bunny ears and fairy wings kind of weird) but I'll be with my in-laws and they don't know I'm a freak, so I can't really go "all out" the way I want to. Ugh, that frustrates me so much! I'll be going to New York, freak capitol of the United States!! I wanna get weird!! :sigh:... moving on...

Thursday - Roaming about doing touristy stuff

I don't know what the heck got on this dress while I was taking these photos but it's sticky, goopy and oily and looks a bit like syrup or melted bubble gum. It got on my legging too so this outfit might be out if I can't remove the stain. I plan to cut off a few inches to make the dress shorter. Shorter looks better on me I think.

Dress: rummage sale / Leggings: Etsy / Boots: local beauty supply store / Hat: Dollar Tree

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Friday - rehearsal dinner

This was my outfit for the wedding, but seeing it in photos I think it'll work better for the rehearsal dinner. I think the dress is a little too plain and casual for the wedding. I plan to pile on necklaces and bracelets for this outfit. I think that'll help make it look less boring.

Dress: Walmart / Shoes: Hand-me-downs / Necklace: Garage sale

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Saturday - Wedding

You can't tell in the photos but the cardigan is covered in sequins and the dress is silky with a nice sheen. I think it'll work great for a garden wedding. I'm on the hunt for a massive honking fascinator to wear with this outfit. 

Cardi: Goodwill / Dress: Ross Dress for Less / Shoes: Citi Trends / Necklace: late Grandmother's

Sunday & Monday - more touristy stuff and shopping

We'll be doing a lot of walking around and I'll be toting a baby and tons of shopping bags so I've gotta focus on comfort here

Sweater: Old Navy / Shirt: Goodwill / Skirt: Target / Chucks: Salvation Army

Another comfort focused outfit. Last time I wore this top it was a dress down to my knees. I don't know what the heck happened.

Top: Goodwill / Jeggings: Walmart

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 I'm still trying to put together an outfit for the bachelorette party and a "night on the town with the husband" outfit. I'll post that in part twooooooooooo.

I'm definitely going to wear more jewelry and (ahem) makeup when I go. Shut up. And I'm pretty sure I'm going to go deliciously ghetto for the week and wear my fake ponytail. I love it!! You can do so much with it! I think everyone should have one.

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So any suggestions on how to make these outfits more unique? More... New York?

4 strange reasons why I want to lose weight.

Before I get started, let's take a trip down Hollie's memory lane:

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Here, I was dressed as a "personal" secretary for Halloween at work. Tiny waist, cute sassy sass.

Later that day I dressed as Amy Winehouse for Halloween party. This was my first time feeling confident enough to wear skinny jeans in public.

And this is me after giving a belly dance performance for my family on Christmas...

A novice belly dancer showing off for the camera...

flaunting my moves in my parent's living room...

shaking it for all it's worth...

That was six years and 65 pounds ago.

Before those photos were taken, I had just lost 40 pounds through diet and exercise. That was the thinnest I had been since I was about 12 years old.

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I bet your're wondering...What the heck happened to you?!?

Marriage, happiness and a baby.

So now you're thinking, "Oh, ok. She wants to lose weight so she can be hot and lean again. I get it!"

Mmm... no. At 200 pounds I think I'm still pretty hot. (Oh what confidence I have!! LOL!!)

So why DO I want to lose weight??

Let's start at the bottom of the list shall we?

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#4: Clothes

My closet is a torture chamber, full of cute dresses and outfits that I haven't been able to wear in a very long time. Over time as I gained weight, I usually just give the too-small clothes away but there are some garments I just can't let go!! I want my clothes back and I am totally willing to lose weight to get back into them.

Losing weight is a heck of a lot cheaper than buying a whole new wardrobe.

#3: Boobs

I'm not going to go through the whole spill about my giant knockers again but I have realized since I wrote that post that my massive jugs are probably the result of my weight gain. So maybe if I lose a little weight, I'll be able to buy my bras from an actual retail store and not some specialty online shop that charges $50 for A STUPID PLAIN WHITE BRA!

#2: Belly

So I had a baby four months ago. I gained 40 pounds during pregnancy but most of that came off within the first two months so the baby weight isn't really the the problem...

The problem is this weird jiggly, pouchy thing I've been left with. That's got to go!! I don't really care about the stretchmarks- it runs in my family so I knew what to expect when I got pregnant and had a long to time to come to terms with that fact. What I didn't expect was how saggy and jiggly my belly was going to be after having the baby. I thought, ok, I'll just wait to see how much of this will go back on its own... well I've waited long enough. I'll never have my cute little belly back (and I'm ok with that) but I would like to not have my belly sagging over the waist of my pants and skirts.

My belly looks like a sad old man.

And last but not least:

#1: My rings are stuck!

YES! This is my NUMBER ONE reason for wanting to lose weight!!

I've been wearing the cross ring on my right hand for ten years now and my wedding set for three. I NEVER take them off and now THEY ARE STUCK. They are stuck on my fatty fat fingers!

 I've tried oils, soap and everything you can imaging to try to get them off. I just can't bear the thought of having my rings cut off!! My wedding ring was designed by my husband and hand made by one of the Elders in our church. My husband put A LOT of thought into this ring and I can't have it destroyed!

I'm not going to go into the full details about the significance behind the cross ring because I don't want to make people uncomfortable with my Christian talk- but I will say that I put the ring on ten years ago and um... waited... :ahem:... until... I was married...

It's pretty significant to me.

So there you have it! My four weird reasons for wanting to lose weight. I'm not motivated by what doctors say because according to them, I'm obese and I should never eat McDonald's delicious hot tasty french fries. Society says I shouldn't be above a size 10 because after that you're ugly (a little A&F humor there).

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I don't have a goal set for how much weight I want to lose and I don't have a time frame that I want to lose it in and I'm not going to say that I'm dieting- I hate dieting. Instead I'll say I'm going on a mission. A mission to slim my body for the sake of fashion, frugality and a non-jiggly belly.