Weight Woes & Target

A few years ago, I lost a significant amount of weight fairly quickly by using the slimfast diet. My old roomie, Lindsey, kind of got me going on it :) We'd drink those chocolate shakes instead of meals and it worked really well! And the shakes were good! Right now though, I am on this "bar" diet- I am absolutely like a kid in a candy store when I go to GNC and look at all the diet bars. I have all sorts of bars lining my shelves. :) My favorite so far, is the chocolate raspberry Luna bar. Yuuuuuum. The slimfast peanut butter meal bar is pretty good too. I just got back from Target and found a morning Luna bar- blueberry or something like that. I'm excited to try it :) What I've been doing is replacing one meal (usually breakfast or lunch) with a meal bar. Somehow, I have more energy and I feel fuller than if I were to eat the normal "diet" meal like a salad or something.

As far as losing weight, Ryan and I made a decision- to remove the scale from the house. I was weighing myself on it like 30 times a day- plus I'm not TOO concerned with numbers- really, I want to fit into my old clothes. That's when I'll know that I am back to pre-preggo size. So I'm not sure what I weigh at the moment... but I can tell you that the whole bikini goal for spring break isn't looking too hot. Yes, I've been working out like a maniac, cutting calories and steering clear of bad food (except for a splurge or two on the weekends...) but it keeps coming back to the fact that my body is SO "disfigured." Okay- that may be too strong of a word to use- I am not TRULY disfigured, but if you were to see me naked, you'd know what I mean. My hips are SO much wider than they used to be- I think they're permanently widened!!!! I thought they'd go back to normal after the birth, but I don't think they ever will. My legs have always been pretty small, but I've got dimples and stretch marks (just like one or two) on each thigh- but of course my eyes always focus in on those exact areas. My upper body? Not too bad- and I do have to say that my bust line is looking better since working out. Yeah, my boobs have stretch marks on them from ballooning to a whopping size F during breastfeeding, but they're not looking too bad lately. Now my stomach? That is a whooooole different story. That is the disfigurement I am talking about- it looks like Freddy Kruger came at me with his blade fingers and did a hack job on my stomach. It also looks like I am either really bloated or 3 months pregnant; no matter how much I suck it in! I've heard the best way to blast tummy fat is cardio- so I make it a point to do 30 minutes of cardio EVERY TIME I go to the Y- no matter if I'm just going for a class or whatever- I always do those 30 minutes. And I can tell a slight difference, but ughhhhh.... its just not a pretty sight.

Today while at Target, with Ryan :):):):) I took the opportunity to try on some bathing suits while he chased around Miss crazy pants. I took in some bikinis for laughs and giggles... and some tankinis for more serious bathing suit options. Like I stated earlier, the whole bikini goal? Hmm... at the moment, not so great! The good news is that I still have a little under 3 months to get my belly and booty into shape! I am still holding out a glimmer of hope that I might be able to walk along the beach once again, in a bikini... seems so out of reach at the moment, but ya never know. To quote Whitney Houston "There can be miracles, when you believe!" (haha) I did find a bathing suit for my trip in January- its a black tankini top with some really cute ruffle black bottoms. Not too shabby looking... and I really must say, all those chest exercises I've done in body pump combined with the enormous breast size God has blessed me with since having Maeve has made my upper body look pretty nice :) As I sit here typing, my boobs are NOT hitting my stomach! What an improvement huh? They are nice and lifted, thanks to all of those chest presses! :)

We spent a hefty amount at Target this morning, which I always feel guilty about, but they were having some really good deals! Vitamin water-10 for 10 bucks. Baby stuff is craaaaazy clearanced! At the moment, all 4 of Maeve sheets are either in the washer or waiting to be washed due to yet ANOTHER diaper blowout this morning. (Ryan woke me up saying "Ashley, Maeve set a world record in poops! I've never seen anything like this!" So I got up expecting to see a mountain of poop- I was like "ummm Ryan this is what I've changed EVERY MORNING this week!!!") So we got her 2 new crib sheets (each on clearance for 4 bucks :) and a new blankie. We also got her an ADORABLE poodle hat and mitten set- since we all know what happened to her last set of mittens!!! And then I just couldn't help myself and bought an outfit for our trip to FL... ugh we have so much summer stuff- but it was the cuuuuutest skirt/top :) I also got a few things for her Valentines Day pail (all from the dollar section): A heart shaped sucker, 2 foam Strawberry Shortcake books, pink bows and a V-day shirt. Soooooooo that was our Sunday morning.

What are we doing for the rest of the day? NADA. Maeve is napping at the moment, Ryan is doing homework and I, as soon as I'm finished with this post, am going to take a nap myself. If anyone wants a workout buddy, I AM AVAILABLE!!!! For some reason, I am just not that into working out yet- I'm STILL not in that mode... although I do manage to get myself there 4 days a week (most weeks).