being resourceful!

This is why I LOVE my blog/twitter friends!
Yesterday while at work, I was struggling to eat my lunch because my bangs kept getting in the way
without having a bobbi pin with me, I decided to be resourceful and use the ever so useful
BINDER CLIP!

of course I'm a nerd, and took a picture and tweeted it showing everyone else my resourceful move!

AND

today, I get a tweet from Molly
that literally had me laughing out loud ..

look what she found me on pinterest!

Source: ffffound.com via Katherine on Pinterest

Thank you Molly for making my day!


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Weekend Wrap Up

I hope this post finds you well rested after a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Ours has been anything but calm, but I really wouldn't have it any other way! I love being able to spend time with my family and friends when they are in town for the holiday.

{warning picture overload!}

Thursday morning started off with the

Flying Feather 4 miler in Dublin

Myself, Bri and Ashley

It must have been the cold weather because I ran the race in 9:52 minute/miles... something that I never thought I could do! I had previously run a 10:20 miles in my 1/2' s but it could have been the fact that it was only 4 miles, or the fact that it was just brisk, windy, and COLD that gave me a little pep in my step to finish the race!

The reward for running the race, a bottle of wine

After the race we raced over to Justin's cousin's house for our first thanksgiving, and then we rushed back over to my grandma's house. Luckily I was able to drop off of this cheese ball after the race for my family to enjoy {because it was long devoured prior to us arriving}

which was inspired by none other than pinterest

{these just seemed like a LOT of cheese ball for not a lot of cracker - so I just made on large cheese ball}

Source: kitchensimplicity.com via Jaculin on Pinterest

Friday night I had my 10 year class reunion. I had been helping plan the event for the past year, and it was nice to have it come to fruition and catch up with my classmates. Unfortunately there were not as many students who were able to make it as we wished, but there were about 40 out of our class of 500+ students.

Did you go to your class reunion?

Do you find that Facebook has made it less intriguing to go to your reunion?

Our high school principal came to the reunion as well. The world needs more people like Mr. McCann. He is one of those people who can find the good in anyone. He has since retired since we graduated, but it was so nice for him to come.

Saturday we stayed around town and watched our beloved buckeyes put up a fight against the team from up north. In the end unfortunately we did not come out victorious.. but we had other big news coming our way today with the announcement of Urban Meyer coming to coach OSU next year!

Saturday night we drove down to Cincinnati to see our best friends who were in town from Boston.

Sunday morning we woke up to a rainy forecast and tickets to the Browns/Bengals game. I was BEYOND thankful that I had purchased a pair of hunter boots prior to making the trip down 71.

{if you have been reading the blog long enough, you may have remembered the fiasco that happened last time I tried one these boots! but luckily somethings have changed with my calves and they now fit}

We headed down to the game in the rain

Although the Brown's lost, we still had a great day hanging out with all of our friends

So that was our weekend in a nutshell! We are so fortunate that we were able to spend this holiday weekend with so many of our family and friends.

Hope your weekend was as fun as ours!

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weekend recap - a wedding an a pinterest craft

We were were rather busy this weekend.

Friday night we started out with one of my college best friends from college weddings. 11-11-11 was one busy day for weddings - we saw several just in our hotel, as well as the reception venue.

Mr. and Mrs. Wenning

Justin and I at the reception

myself, Brandy and Aly

{the 3 of us were roommates in college}

Their first dance

I love all the W's everywhere

Saturday morning we drove up the road for Justin to play golf with Jimmy and Jess and I went outlet shopping. Although we weren't completely successful in shopping, we were able to come back to their house and craft.

I saw on Pinterest the ruffle tree skirt that everyone was pinning. I decided to take on the challenge of this craft!

Source: anwjohnston.blogspot.com via Lindsey on Pinterest

Lets just say when the tutorial calls for snacks - they weren't kidding.

After 20 hours of working on this darn thing {and thats even cheating by using a sewing machine to make the ruffles rather than glue gun} I have a finished product for the basement!

Our basement is scarlet and gray {for our BELOVED buckeyes} and I plan on tying in the aqua blue for the holidays. {and please don't mind the fact I brought the tiny little tree upstairs to take the picture}

That was our weekend in a quick little recap. I hope you had a great weekend as well!

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oh you know... a few changes!

First off, I would like to thank Lauren from Blue Lux Studios for my blog over haul! This is the second design that Lauren has done for me. I gave her the color scheme and a few of the patterns that I wanted, and this is what came to life! I LOVE it and it was a must needed face lift for Lovin' My Life! Thanks again Lauren, its perfect!

Also, there is another big change in my life...

I have decided to cut my hair

AND add color!

This inspiration came from my none other than pinterest! I'm very fortunate that my hairdresser Jenny is also on this lovely little site and is able to see my "hairspiration" board and this cut

Source: thehairstyler.com via Lindsey on Pinterest

I will be the first to admit that I don't deal well with changes typically, however these are two changes that I will gladly welcome into my life!

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Pinterest... Love/Hate... Round 2

Because we all know how addicting Pinterest can be....

here is how it has influenced my life over the past few weeks since my last post!

Source: itsthesmallthingsblog.blogspot.com via Lindsey on Pinterest

my version for my sister's wedding

Source: minermoments.blogspot.com via Lindsey on Pinterest

my version

and of course it wouldn't be a pinterest post without recipes I have tried lately

**thankfully I have been able to share all of these recipes with other people, friends, family, co-workers, because otherwise i would be the size of a house! minus the avocado salad and apple chips, none of these recipes are healthy!**

Source: tidymom.net via Lindsey on Pinterest

Source: onceuponachef.com via Lindsey on Pinterest

Source: bakedperfection.com via Lindsey on Pinterest

Source: vittlesandbits.blogspot.com via Lindsey on Pinterest

Source: chef-n-training.blogspot.com via Lindsey on Pinterest

unfortunately, I did have one flop of a meal that I have made from the site and it was the following one - I should have known not to trust the one healthy/weight watcher recipe that i found! {i should have been skeptical from the beginning when the picture had corn, cilantro and lime in it and the recipe did not call for any of those ingredients!}

Source: laaloosh.com via Lindsey on Pinterest

I am obsessed with pinning things, and I love the fact that everything/anything is at my fingertips whenever I need it!

My Weight Loss Journey - Changes I have made

First off, thank you SO much for all of the sweet comments yesterday, every one of them made me smile. The support I have received from the blogging community has been unbelievable!

So THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

As promised, I wanted to blog about my changes that I have made to my lifestyle over the past 2 years.

{I posted this last spring, about my old habits, in case you missed this}

I truly believe weight loss is a combination of both diet and exercise, and these are a few things I have done over the past few years.

Although it took me 2 years to take off the weight, I fluctuated with my weight last fall after winning the biggest loser competition in June 2010. Looking back over my pictures, it truly has been a journey, my weight wasn't put on over night, and clearly, it won't fall off over night!

Diet

• I cut out fast food {yes, I will admit that I occasionally swing through Sonic and not only do I get a route 44 diet coke, but also a small tot! i mean - who can say no to tots???}
• I drink LOTS of water!!!
• If I need electrolytes, I drink powerade zero or g2
• I no longer eat chicken after a incident that happened last year at work, which means, I no longer eat fried chicken... which I think really helps! I do however miss buffalo hot sauce
• I have replaced all red meat when I cook with turkey {turkey burgers, turkey sausage} and also black bean burgers
• I make a menu at the house every Monday and we try to stick to it, that way we are not planning on meals the day of or just deciding to go out to eat because its easier than cooking that day
• I try and shop the perimeter of the grocery store... where the produce, deli counter, fresh meat, and dairy is located
• I now know the difference between boredom and and hunger, and fighting the urge to eat when I'm bored.
• Everything in the house is whole wheat rather than white, bread, pasta, pizza dough, ect
• I LOVE skinny cow sweet snacks, it is nice to know that you can have something that tastes as good as a nutty buddy, but its only 110 calories :)
• I try and pack my lunch rather than be tempted to go out to eat or eat from the cafeteria
• I never deprive myself of something that I'm craving, I just have it in moderation
• I don't go out and drink as much as I used to {its crazy to look back at my previous pictures, and most were taken at bars or with a drink in my hand}, however if I go out I try to get a lite/light beer, or a vodka {preferably ciroc which is made with grapes and not potatoes} and soda water with 3 limes. I used to go for vodka tonics on a big night out at the bar, but tonic is not good for you - its filled with sugar!

Exercise

• Obviously, I have been running over the past 2 years, and that has been a HUGE factor of my weight loss
• In order to keep my interest in running, I have always signed up for an event in the future so that I have to continue to train
• Occasionally I will take a class at my gym
• I still completely stand by Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred DVD. I saw inches come off during the 30 days I did the DVD. It is 20 minutes a day, and if you tell yourself you don't have 20 minutes for exercise a day, then you are lying to yourself
• I use my pedometer to keep me accountable for how much I have walked/ran that day. For a healthy lifestyle you should be moving at least 7,000 steps a day

Sweet Rewards

• I have more energy than I have ever had before
• Hearing so many compliments, from "I barely recognized you", or "how much weight have you lost?" it just makes me want to lose that much more! its sometimes that those compliments get me to the gym, or make me push that much harder when I'm at the gym
• I previously rewarded myself for anything with food... and now I reward myself with other things {going to an inexpensive nail place and having them shape and polish my nails for $6 if I train 5 out of 7 days in a week} {a new watch every time I finish a 1/2 marathon} {being able to buy new clothes - yes this has been expensive, but going from a size 16 to an 8 is totally worth it!!!}

These are just a few of the changes I have made in my weight loss journey over the past 2 years. I am ashamed that I ever got to where I was, however, I can hold my head high knowing that I have have lost as much weight as I have. I feel amazing and have more energy than ever, and wouldn't trade this feeling for the world!

Have you been on a weight loss journey? What have you done to lose your weight?

My Weight Loss Journey

I can't believe I am FINALLY able to write this post! It feels as if it has been a long {and rewarding} time coming.

I have finally lost 50 pounds 52.5 if we want be exact as of today!

I've been asked by a few blogging friends/twitter friends how I have lost the weight, so I thought I would take a moment and share with you what I have done throughout the last 2 years to take the weight off.

I will start off by telling you that I previously was deathly afraid of numbers! {i.e. I wouldn't check my bank account because that number kept decreasing, and I wouldn't step on the scale because that number continued to creep up}. I vowed to myself in January 2010 that I would no longer be afraid of numbers and I would start doing something about it!

I honestly did not step on the scale unless it was at the doctors office, so the heaviest that I ever weighed in at the doctor was 195 in the Fall of 2009. {GASP! did I really just put that number out on the www for EVERYONE To see!} And at the time of stepping on the scale, I had to be okay with the number.... I told myself, the day I reach 200 is the day I need to work on my weight. My other rationale that I took, was no one goes on the Biggest Loser under 200 lbs so what am I worried about?!

If I only knew then what I know now!

In January 2010 there were 10 of my good friends from college who decided to compete in a biggest loser competition. There was money on the line. My first weigh in for the competition was 189.5 lbs. We started the competition the same day as the new season of Biggest Loser aired, so I was less intimidated to step on the scale because I felt as if I was just like the other contestants at this point in time. It was the season where they had to face the crowd and declare their weight to everyone, and I did the SAME thing to myself in the mirror.

You know how hard it is to say you are 189.5lbs when you are in denial that you are overweight/obese based off of the BMI scale? At the age of 26, and the only person making myself this way, is me?!

Thats a tough reality!

So I was determined to win the biggest loser competition among my friends. Ashley encouraged me to start training for a 1/2 marathon... ummm excuse me, at this point, I only ran if I was being chased. But I figured I wanted the money so I should probably try it.

I started training for the 1/2, mainly walking, some running, and shed 27lbs in 5 months. I ended up winning the competition and feeling good about my weight loss and how far I had come.

The competition ended in June, and by July, I was eating like my normal self again, not worrying about the weight I was packing back on, not working out as much, and just reverting back to the "old Lindsey" so quickly it was scary.

In December 2010, I joined a gym. {Yes, I pay $170 in condo dues every month and there is a facility connected to the club house, however there are 3 treadmills and one that I'm lead to believe is the first treadmill ever made - there aren't side rails on the side of it! seriously!} So I figure, if I'm paying $28 a month to belong to a huge workout facility, I'm going to use it. I started to seriously train for the 1/2 marathon that was coming up in May 2011 and vowed not to let my self creep back up to my old weight.

In January I was approached once again by a friend to see if I wanted to participate in a Biggest Loser competition. UGH! Seriously? another one of these things? but once again, I'm motivated by money, so I signed up determined to go 2-0 on these competitions.

I continued to train for my 1/2 by running all the training runs, and completed my second 1/2 marathon in May 2011 {hurt IT band and all}.

Unfortunately in this biggest loser competition I finished second, only to a guy who had also previously one a weight loss competition at his work! But we are all winners when it comes to weight loss {i know corny, but i truly believe that!}

So now the competitions are over, and I need a reason to stay motivated to continue on my weight loss journey. I have continued to run {two 1/2 marathons} and I have continued to watch my food intake. I have a goal weight of reaching 140lbs and then I just want to maintain from there. I'm only 2.5lbs away from my goal! I can feel it in my reach, and it feels SO good!

I will be the first one to tell you this journey has not been easy, however it has been more rewarding than I would have ever thought!

Please let me know if you have any questions that I can potentially help answer for you? I'm by no means a fitness guru, nor am I licensed dietician, however, I will gladly give you my advice and what I have learned throughout the past 2 years.

Tomorrow I will post about how I changed my lifestyle {food, exercise, ect}