After almost 6 years of marriage...

...We finally got ourselves a toaster.
I have no idea what took us so long. I think it somehow got turned into a game- let's see how long we can make it without a toaster.
Answer: 5 years, 7 months, 11 days, 18 hours and 35 minutes.

My husband was excited to have a toaster strudel.I took one bite of his, and that was enough for me. Reading the ingredients and nutrition facts on these things, will help you do just that.

And I couldn't wait to get my hands on a nice and toasty
BLT, with turkey bacon.I like mine lightly toasted.
My husband likes his burnt.
Who knew? :)

Can you live without your toaster, or do you use it everyday?

Today was a Good Day

Today, something seemed to be in the air. Spring?... Whatever it is, it has me in a joyful mood!

Today, I had the perfect lunch, and I just had to share it with you!

While my father-in-law was here, he went on and on about how good a grape and tuna fish sandwich was! As Joe and I gave him funny looks, he would say, "Don't diss it, before you try it!" He had actually bought all the stuff to make it, but we never got around to it. So, today as I was raiding the fridge and pantry, trying to find something for lunch that hit the spot, I couldn't get my father-in-law's voice out of my head.

"What the heck Brittany. You only live once." I told myself.

So, out came the whole wheat bread, the canned tuna (in water), the low-fat mayo (gross. If I had low-fat plain yogurt I would have used that. I just used a tiny tiny bit), the already chopped onion I had left over from tacos, and the grapes.

I chopped up the grapes, mixed everything together, and put together my sandwich. I gave myself an extra side of grapes, then let out a sigh, "Here goes nothing." I took a bite.
"Oh my gosh! This is so good!" Light bulb moment: "This is blog worthy!"
I rushed to grab the camera, took a couple pics, and sat down to enjoy my YUMMY
Grape and Tuna Fish Sandwich!!"Don't diss it, before you try it!" ;D
Seriously. It's pretty darn good folks. The grapes add the perfect sweetness!
Calories:
About 220, not including the extra side of grapes.


After lunch, and some cleaning around the house, I finally sat down to see how everybody was doing in blogland.
I clicked on over to CBG blog, and saw that she was hosting a
photo comparison challenge! You take a picture of yourself today, and compare it to a picture of you at your heaviest. Then you compliment yourself on the changes you've made!!

It's hard to compliment myself, or to even see the difference between me at 206, and me at 180. Sometimes I convince myself that I'm exactly the same. This challenge was a great way to help me see the progress I've made, and give myself a pat on the back!!

Here it goes! :

Before picture:
(February 2007)This isn't actually me at my heaviest. I was about 190-195 (my heaviest was 206). This was either right before or soon after I found out I had low thyroid, and got put on low thyroid meds. And it's before I found out I had PCOS. It's pretty weird that I'm only about 10 pounds lighter now, then I was in these pictures. Back then I was bloated, and my hormones were all out of whack. This was a very painful time for me. I gained 50lbs in 1 year. I didn't know what the heck was going on. All I knew, was I was fat, unhappy, and embarrassed. I refused to meet new people, and to be honest, I didn't go out of the house much. I never wanted a picture taken of me. The only reason I have these pictures, is because it was valentines day, and my husband insisted on getting a picture of his beautiful wife, on v-day. I love my husband so much for loving me during that time, and still telling me I was beautiful each and every day. Gosh I'm lucky.

Today's Picture:I see quite a big physical change. My chubby cheeks aren't so chubby. I don't have as much acne now (glad that's gone!). And I have a bit more of a jawline!!

But the true changes I see, go way past my physical appearance.
For one, I'm posing for the camera, and I was actually having a fun little photo shoot (in my bathroom;). I actually feel pretty enough to snap away with the camera! I feel worthy enough to be apart of the world (although I'm realizing now that I was always worthy...).

Looking at my before pictures, reminds me of all the struggles, heartache, and confusion I had back then.

Today I'm happy.
I can see it in these pictures, and I can feel it.
I'm taking charge of my life, and my health. I'm no longer confused, and feel like I have no control over what the heck my body is doing. I'm in control. I'm on one of the most wonderful journeys. Everyday I wake up, I know I'm getting closer and closer to my happy ending, and that fills my heart with excitement, and hope, each and every day. Two things I did not have, in my before picture!
Today, I'm :Deliciously Healthy! And man it feels good!!

Whole Bunch of Randomness ;)

HI EVERYONE!!

Oh how I've missed you guys!
I survived week 1. Hopefully next week will be the last week of this, "duty" I've been assigned, and I can have my life back!

Because I haven't had the time to blog, I'm going to squeeze all the posts I haven't had the time to do, into one big blog post! So, it's going to be a little all over the place! I hope I don't make you dizzy! ;)

Let the complete randomness begin! :

1st of all, I got 2 blog awards this week!

The first, is the "Creative Writer" award, from the wonderful Molly Marie Gets Healthy blog!Here are the rules:
1. Thank the person who gave this to you
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog
3. Link to the person who nominated you
4. Tell up to six outrageous lies about yourself, and at least one outrageous truth
5. Nominate seven “Creative Writers” who might have fun coming up with outrageous lies
6. Post links to the seven blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know you nominated them.

To comply with the 4th rule, here are 6 outrageous lies about myself, and 1 truth! Can you guess which one's the truth? :

1. I'm really a man
2. I love sea food
3. I like to walk on the wild side
4. My favorite color is puke green
5. I was a child beauty queen
6. I'm a chocoholic
7. I'm an excellent artist

Now, I pass along the award to the following 7 creative bloggers:

Dawne
CBG Blog
Swimming it off
Project 365
Jewlia Goulia
Fat Girl Dives In
Doin' It For Me

THANK YOU MOLLY MARIE!!

The 2nd award is the "Sunshine award", given to me by the totally awesome CBG Blog!Here are the blogs I pass along the award to, and who bring sunshine to my day! :
(There's no limit, so I'm gonna go a little crazy!)

Dawne
Loser Girl
Bella
Project 365
Anonymous Fat Girl
Endurance Isn't Only Physical
Molly Marie Gets Healthy
Chubby Girl Diary
Watch My Butt Shrink
Two Pounds a Week
Corletta
Deborah

THANK YOU JESSICA!

Alrighty then. Now on to the next subject, which would be the results from my weigh in! ...Which was almost a week ago! Last Tuesday, I weighed 189!! Whoo hoo! It's been over 3 years since I've been in the 180's! It was a nice little milestone for me! I also did a sneak peek weigh in, a day or two ago, and I weighed 188! That means I'm only 2 pounds away from losing my first 20 pounds! (In October/November, I weighed 206. Whoa!) I'm very excited to reach that milestone! ...and for the little award I get for reaching it! ;)

A few days ago, I found out that a website called, budget life, did a blog post listing the top 25 weight loss blogs (In their opinion), and what do you know, I was listed! I was pretty flattered! This is what they said about Moi! :
"Twentysomething Brittany has more reasons than simple vanity to lose weight (although looking great in skinny jeans is a goal, too!). She’s got quite the number of health problems, and for all her dreams to come true, she’s got to lose some weight. However, she doesn’t want to give up her love for food while she’s at it. Now she shares her trials, tribulations, and triumphs in her pursuit to better health and a happier life. With her tips and recipes, you can be :deliciously healthy, too!"
I LOVE it! ;)

Next up, is my new favorite quick and yummy, Deliciously Healthy dish!
Do you like sloppy Joe's? Well, my husband and I live for them! Before going on my little diet, we ate sloppy Joe's ALL the time! A couple weeks ago, I was craving them like a mad women! Finally, I got the idea to simply make a few tweaks, to make them Deliciously Healthy! And boy did I ever!

I cooked up some lean ground turkey, added some seasonings, including cinnamon (Trust me. It's AWESOME!), and stirred in some Manwich sauce! Then, I just put a couple nice big spoon fulls on a whole wheat bun, and sprinkled on some low-fat mozzarella cheese! I dug into that messy goodness like nobodies business! It was totally yummy, totally filling, and totally simple and quick to make! Plus, It totally satisfied my craving! We've had them several times since then!I've also used hotdog buns:
Now for a couple little random side notes! :

~Yesterday, I went pant shopping, and bought a size 16! I used to be a size 18! I'm 1 pant size smaller! Whoo hoo!

~My husband made some cinnamon rolls today, and I'm totally not having a problem passing them up (knock on wood;). That's pretty darn amazing to me, since I LOVE cinnamon rolls!

~I've been having lots of fun going through my closet, and seeing what I can fit back into! It's so rewarding!

~I think I should have a little more time this week to do some blogging! I have a few posts in mind, including some yummy recipes I want to try! I'll keep my fingers crossed that I'll have the time!

~I totally miss reading all of your blogs, and I'm going to do my best to catch up on all my BF! I hope everyone has been doing well!

XOXO