Shopping & Dropping!

SIZE UPDATE!!
Tops:14/16
Bottoms: 18
Dresses: 16-18

Yeah super excited!!
In the midst of my celebrating over the weekend, I was hit w/ a bit of a downer....I need more clothes!! My jeans are sagging and my tops look....well sloppy. So I started on this shopping quest last last week, but quickly realized that I didn't want to replenish my WHOLE wardrobe just yet because this is not the size I plan to stay. So of course I hit up various CLEARANCE racks, I am a Frugal Divah these days :) but I still felt like I was investing too much money in clothes that I was not going to be able to fit within a couple of months (speaking it into existence y'all). Anyway, while driving I saw a YARD SALE sign last Saturday and the rest is history!! I felt like I hit the jack pot LOL especially when I stumbled across a chuncky lady's yard sale and found 3 Lane Bryant Jean Trousers --size 18 :) for a BUCK each! YES, ONE DOLLAR for gently used LB jeans! #WINNING #SAVING Oh, and not to mention the UNUSED handbags (.50- $1 each) I have came across to go w/ my new heels that I have collected this season #WINNING again! Now, I will say that my bargaining skills have alot to do w/ the great prices I am able to get, here are a few tips and pics of some yard sale findings thus far, I'll keep you posted!

Frugal-nistic Yard Sale Tips:
1. NEVER accept the price on the tag! C'mon it's a yard sale, they are trying to get rid of it, so NE-GO-TIATE!
2. Let's say you snagg a pair of jeans priced 5 bucks, ask if you can get them for $3, and then quick pick up a handbag and a pot and ask for all of the items for $3.50!! Don't be SCUURRDD, just ask, they'll say yes! Less than $1.25 per item (Cha-Ching!)
3. Look for the more RITZY neighborhoods for better deals and quality stuff. There is nothing worse than a TORE UP FROM THE FLOOR UP wanna be yard sale full of JUNK, but have the nerves to want to charge an arm and a leg!
4. WASH, LYSOL, AND WASH SOME MORE EVERYTHING you get! **My rule of thumb: If it has a STAIN it REMAINS (there) LOL

Here are some pics!

 Soo these were a steal and were BRAND NEW! NineWest Heels $5!

Lane Bryant Trouser Jeans $1 cute little waist belt .50 Gotta Love it!



MUCH NEEDED Pant Suit JonesNewyork $7




BRAND NEW!! Weekend Tote Estee Lauder .75 #WhoMad?! LOL




Cute Bags---$1.00 FOR BOTH!



Marianne and Lane Bryant Tops $1 each!!!



And my ABSOLUTE FAVE!!! Summer Sweater BabyPhat $2!!

**Will go perfect w/ my nude heels and those trouser jeans above huh?!?

I hope this helps you slimming down FASHIONISTAS!

Eating to LIVE and not the other way around.

Healing in Progress...Do NOT Disturb!

So I had a bad case of writer's block, but I'm BACK! Not with a post though, just some pics to encourage myself...yeah, I said it, this one is for me. I am learning while in this journey to find inspiration and encouragement in the small things around me. Check out the video, will ya.....

Eating to LIVE and not the other way around.



Meatless Monday:Starting the week off the Veggie Way!

SO there is a new fad in the health realm, Meatless Mondays is the name. It was started by a non-profit and has swept across the nation, encouraging people to start their week off in a more healthy direction all while helping the planet! They have a pledge on their website, and honestly I have not gone that far yet....I just wasn't moved to commit a life time of meatless Mondays....just seemed a bit extreme to me IDK. Just my opinion! None the less here are some veggie dishes that I will indulge in on this Meatless Monday! Bon A Petite!

Veggie Lasagna

I don't want to give step by step directions on making lasagna, simply because I have found that in this journey I enjoy the ability to make the foods I like, but simply making healthier EXCHANGES. So in this dish I simply prepared lasagna the way I normally would, but I exchanged the lasagna noodles for Zucchini Slices! Here is a pic of the sliced zucchini, please don't laugh @ my rugged edges, zucchini is hard to slice length wise! Take a look:



You are probably giving me the side eye by now, and I TOTALLY understand, I did the same thing until I actually tried it, and believe me, you won't miss the noodles! Ok, now for the sauce, make it the way you normally would, for my sauce I used no salt added tomato sauce as the base, two cans of diced tomatoes w/ onions, and I added fresh mushrooms, and minced garlic. From here you go on to mix your ricotta, eggs and mozzarella as you would, I added Parmesan cheese to mine. Layer the ingredients as normal, although I found it easier to spread my ricotta mixture on the zucchini slices and then place them in the pan. After you layer your ingredients, put foil over the pan and bake for an hour or so, after it comes out of the oven I immediately put a layer of mozzarella on top and let it melt on it's own. Please note that the lasagna will be more watery than usual due to the water in the zucchini. There you have it! I have tried the same dish w/ ground turkey in the sauce and it is just as superb! Forgot it was MEATLESS Monday just that quick, oh well!

Now for my veggie quiche! Here is a pic:

This one is simple! I used a frozen pie crust (next time I'll make my own), five eggs, 1/2 cup milk, a tad of flour, cup of diced tomatoes, two cups of frozen mixture that had red and yellow peppers and onions, 1/2 cup mushrooms, 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, 2 tbl. spoons real butter. You can add what ever veggies you like really.

I mixed the eggs, all veggies, mushrooms, butter and cheese together and then separately mixed the milk and flour in a small cup first, and then added it to the egg mixture. After which, I poured the batter into the pie crust, and baked it for 45 minutes on 350 degrees. Let cool and set for ten minutes after you take it out of the oven and there you have it! Couple it with a nice salad and you are set! Oh this meal is great for on the go breakfast, make you a pan on Sunday and slice it up into small portions and freeze it, then take one portion out every morning and pop it in the microwave for an easy on the go breakfast!

Meatless Mondays aren't too bad after all. I can honestly say that I don't miss the meat! Not because I want to become a vegetarian or anything, but because in this journey of healthy living I am not so dependant on meat as a main course. I am okay with veggies, beans, eggs or fruit being the main dish and meat being simply a side dish. It works better for me that way, and I think it makes the scale move in the right direction as well, not too mention it's great for controlling your cholesterol and blood pressure. So happy Meatless Monday to ya!

Eating to LIVE and not the other way around.



It's JUST food, don't take it personal...

First things first, HAPPY MOTHERS DAY to all of the mommies out there! I hope your day was filled with love, rest, and good food! Speaking of good food, we had a wonderful spread on yesterday, prepared by my mother in law, a tender beef roast, macaroni and cheese, fresh squash, fresh green beans, white rice and candy yams (not to mention two Delicious pies). Boy was it good, but I have to admit, since I have opted for a cleaner and healthier way of eating, I kind of cringe when the holidays come around especially because in my family EVERY holiday is celebrated with an abundance of food, whether it be Memorial Day, Independence Day (America, Mexico, AND Texas Slave Independence Day-- Juneteenth lol) I mean we will take any holiday and make it a true celebration! But while one this path to a healthier me I cringe around these times because I know I will be TEMPTED to the 100th power with foods that I used to eat w/ out thinking twice about. Like yesterday's meal, back in the day I would have filed on the candy yams and macaroni, while taking a spoonful each of the squash and green beans but since my change, I now get a small portion of meat, file on the fresh veggies and get a TEAspoon of the PROCESSED carbs, like the candy yams and macaroni (I didn't touch the white rice) all while eating from a saucer, yes the small child's plate as my husband calls it!

So on top of being tempted, I also have to endure the MILLION and Eleven HUNDRED questions from family about why I am doing what I am doing....smh...why don't people mind their own business I DON'T KNOW, but let me share with you a list of the questions AND statements that I have encountered thus far, here we go:

-Girl, its _______ (insert ANY holiday, special occasion, hell any day of the week even lol) you don't need to be on no diet. <Who said I was on a "DIET"?>

-Oh so you are acting funny, not wanting to eat my food... <What if I'm not hungry?!?!>

-Ain't nothing wrong with a little cake (pie, ding dong, ho-ho etc.) sometimes.. <Yeah I used to think that, but you see where that got me...>

-My doctor told me that we all need salt to live, why you ask what kind do I use? <You only need a tablespoon A DAY, and I prefer unprocessed sea salt, and I asked because its my body and I want to know what I am putting in it.>

-When did you start this mess?!? < ...soryy but I usually ignore that question....>

 and my all time favorite (drum roll please!!!!)

"WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO BE ON A DIET?  YOU ARE FINE THE WAY YOU ARE."  <LIAR!Again, IGNORE, because what they mean is that they are more comfortable with you being unhealthy because your healthy choices are making them rethink their own unhealthy options...but I digress>

And the list goes on! Honestly at first I would entertain the questions and answer them, but I quickly learned that most of the time they really didn't want to hear the answer...*shrugs* But one thing I have started doing was not eating from a saucer any time I'm not at home (I will explain the saucer in another post) and also not making my plate look too different from every one else's and just taking the rest "TO GO" which usually means (pending on what it is) TO THE TRASH! No really, I had to start putting myself first and stop stuffing myself with unhealthy food for the sake of not hurting peoples feelings, I'm sorry but your sugar and margarine <yuck!> drenched sweet potatoes (Or any other unhealthy food options) are not worth compromising my health...It just isn't anymore. Period. Point Blank.

I'm sure many of you have been questioned when you decided to live a healthier lifestyle and I pray that you learn to make the best of it and not revert back to your old ways just to satisfy someone else, even your significant other (that's another post!). How do you handle the unsolicited questions and comments? Let me know.

Eating to LIVE and not the other way around.

My Curves...have YOU seen them??

So while in route to a healthier me, I have lost some things along the way, which was to be expected. Mainly pounds of course, some relationships (food relationships mainly) and just recently I have noticed that my curves seem to be doing a disappearing act, and the main culprit is the curve of my derriere!

Now being a big girl most of my life, I had to find ways to make big look good. One thing was to embrace ALL of my curves, I can recall saying things to myself like "I know I'm a big girl, but at least I have a booty." and was soo serious, I felt it was a blessing from above! See, I didn't have the skinny legs like some bigger women, or the cute little small feet, but honey I had my curves and I embraced them to the fullest. But lately my booty seems to be, well hiding or something...its not as round as it used to be. Exhibit A if you will:

A couple of years back.

For years, this, my derriere, has been my comforter. It even deterred me from loosing weight at one point because I had seen, with my own eyes, how some women loose weight and the booty gets lost in the shuffle as well, and at that time in life I was sooo not ready for that.  I embraced mine, loved it and worked it! But since it is slowly but surely melting away, I had to come to grips with one thing..I had to be honest with myself, I didn't earn my curves the right way, meaning I hadn't done one lunge or squat so in essence it was merely fat with NO muscle. Now below is an earned booty. Exhibit B:

Now Serena Williams, in my opinion has an "earned booty", and yes I do think genetics plays a part in the abundance or lack of curves, but I am just praying, and y'all pray too that mine will stand strong (and round lol) through this transition because I just don't know what I'll do! Actually, I take that back, there are exercises to help get that FIT "donkey booty" as ATL Housewife Pheadra Parks calls it, check these out below:

Squats

Lunges

Steps

Pictures and more details about these exercises can be found here:

http://exercise.about.com/od/butthipsthighs/tp/butt.htm

Fit bootys for everyone!

 

Eating to LIVE and not the other way around!

I am NOT that size...well it depends...

As I stated in my brief intro, I have managed to melt away 45 lbs since the beginning of this journey. Honestly some days I can see the difference and other days not soo much. I know for sure that I have went down a few sizes, and that is ALWAYS a plus, #WINNING! I am slowly but surely getting out of that depressing plus size section, now don't get me wrong, I have NEVER been solely loyal to the big girl side of the store..as a matter of fact I'm the big girl you see in stores like Forever 21 sizing up those XL tops trying to see if it has any "stretch" in it (ain't nothing that my handy dandy girdle can't hide lol), yeah that's me, or the girl wearing those XL dresses as a top w/ a pair of leggins, workin' it honey! Yes indeed! I will do a Charlotte Ruse- Lane Bryant combo quick and not slow, with no problem. Besides those plus size store accessories are soo expensive compared to the little girl stores. I guess they figure the bigger the waist, the more money in the bank?!? LOL I say all of that to say that size to me is a tricky thing, especially when loosing weight. In one store you can wear one size and 2 sizes higher in another, but I have come to realize that just like India Arie said "I am not my hair", look, I am not my <necessarily> that size on that tag. What matters most is the inches on the measuring tape, so as long as those numbers are decreasing then you too are #WINNING! Here is one progress pic, the one on the left I was a size 24w (6 months after my first pregnancy) and the one on the right is a 18w (3 weeks after my second pregnancy, oh and no girdle that day!)...slowly but surely y'all, slowly but surely!



Mango Salsa CHA- CHA-CHA!

You know how you can eat something and it reminds you of a special time in life?? Well maybe its just me, but when ever I make this salsa it makes my heart smile, it takes me back to my first year of graduate school while serving as an AmeriCorp member. One of my assignments was to co-teach an after school program about healthy snacks to a group of middle school kids. The kids were from an area of town that was crime and drug infested and making healthy after school snacks was soo not on their top priority list...long story short this was the first snack we made as a class. Imagine telling a group of  urban kids about mango salsa, yeah they laughed and most had never had mangoes, and the ones who did had never had it in salsa! Long story short, THEY LOVED IT! From then on they trusted every recipe that I brought in....aaaawww I miss those kiddos!

I present to you my rendition of MANGO SALSA CHA- CHA- CHA!

Ingredients

1 mango

1/4 red onion

1/2 cup fresh cilantro

1 tomato

1 lime

Dice the mango, red onion, cilantro and tomato into small pieces, mix together in a bowl and squeeze the juice from one lime over the mixture, and there you have it! You can couple your salsa with unsalted tortilla chips, be mindful of the serving size, once you pop you CAN stop!

Enjoy, let me know how you like it! 

Stawberry & Ruffage

I know, when I first sampled it at the grocery store I gave it the side eye too, but it is soo good and very refreshing! Eating healthy does not have to be tired iceberg lettuce and a soggy tomato, bring your salad to life!! Here I have romaine lettuce and five strawberries cute in 1/4 pieces and 3 tablespoons of watermelon vinaigrette dressing, don't knock it 'till you try it! This salad is a perfect companion to fish and poultry.

Good stuff! Great marinade for tilapia and chicken breast.

Try it and let me know how ya like it!

A little about me...Dre_Divah

Wife. Mother. Homie. Lover. Friend.

The End

If only it were that simple, but since it isn't, here goes.....

I am a mother of a toddler and newborn and a wife of a handsome, caring and supportive husband. I consider myself to be somewhat educated and a bit of a health nut...Yeah, I know, I'm overweight, for now, but I do care about my health, the health of my family and friends, and the health of my community. I have a Bachelor of Science in Health and a M.A. in Sociology...now that you know that, please don't look for any "Bougie" post w/ big S.A.T. words, it's not that kind of party! I will usually be writing these post in my pajamas so please look forward to the typos, although I will try to keep them to a minimum...I said TRY :)

As for this weight loss journey, I have been in route for almost a year. The first nine months I was not active due to my pregnancy, but during that time I read, read, read and read some more constantly about eating clean and healthy eating. You will hear me talk alot about eating clean, and I will go in to more detail about that, promise, just know that I am soo serious about it. While eating clean and home workouts I have lost about 45 pounds. I have recently just started going to the gym so I hope to see that number increase ALOT! Keep in mind that before I joined the gym and after I had my son I did home workouts and I love it! I still work out at home because being a new mommy I can't stay in the gym ALL day. So please don't think that results are not possible without a gym membership because let me tell you that you CAN do it at home or the gym. One tid bit that I keep in mind is the 80-20 rule, which simply means that weight loss is 80% of what you EAT and 20% EXERCISE. I had to let go of the notion that I can eat what I wanted and just "run it off"....I was kidding myself because number one, I was NOT going to run ANYWHERE and number two I probably was not going to RUN ANYWHERE! I was simply tricking myself into eating something and not worry about the consequences.....well those days are over!

The End :)

Eating to LIVE and not the other way around.

Pigfeet and Eggs...say wha?

....And finally a place that I can release my thoughts, rants, spills, or whatever comes to mind! I am on a journey of healthy living and weight loss,  and I want to share it with you and who ever else cares to read. I plan to share some gym tidbits, recipes, health related article discussions, and alot of randomness, because that is just how my mind works! Feel free to leave a comment and input your two-cent!

Oh yeah, about the title "Pigfeet and Eggs"......
Well growing up I was always pretty heavy for my age, and being the middle girl in a family of three girls (two who were "thin") and one boy, my parents didn't mind giving me what I wanted, especially when it came to food. I can recall my dad bragging to my granny that I could eat 5 eggs in one sitting, the conversation went something like this:
Dad: Hey mama, guess what, this girl can eat FIVE eggs at one time *huge grin on dads face*
Granny:What? Really?
Dad: Tell granny how many eggs you can eat! <insert this weird laugh my dad does>Literally sounds like "AHKEEEKEEEKEEEE" weird I know.
Me: FIVE! *I vividly remember holding up five fingers and waving them proudly, like it was a badge of honor*

Now before y'all start judging and looking all crazy, asking "Why they let her sit up there and eat five eggs", let me say that I personally don't remember eating five eggs at one time, and knowing my dad can exaggerate a bit, it was probably more like two eggs......and .......3/4 of another, like I said I don't recall, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Also, before anyone turns psychology-ish on me, NO I don't think my dad was responsible for my food issues NO I don't think I ate to feel accepted by him (hell naw, I know for a fact that's not it!) and NO I don't think eggs are the enemy lol

Seriously, I had to use eggs in the title because my earliest memory of overeating had to do with eggs.....and pigfeet, but we will save that for another day, just know that I do think pigfeet IS the enemy!

Eating to LIVE and not the other way around.