Words From the Wise

Yes, I'm alive. I promise. I honestly have been thinking about writing this post but it just hasn't happened. Mainly because I forget about it. I keep trying to think about a clever title, too, but it was time that I just sat down and wrote the darn thing. So here's another post that belongs to more than one month. I'm starting to set a trend...which needs to change. Actually, a lot needs to change and you'll soon see why. So November. I'm trying to remember what even happened. I know Thanksgiving happened, obviously, but what happened other than that? I honestly don't remember. Not one bit. This is what happens to me after the holidays. It all becomes a blur. I knew I should have blogged sooner! So, based on my TWO logs in my app I can tell you that I managed to drop -1.2 pounds in November. But hey, I FINALLY MET MY GOAL... again.  I'll also add that I logged that weight two weeks in and maintained it after Thanksgiving which, I was darn proud of...

So it's November. I didn't even have a chance to write about October. In fact, I have been thinking about writing this blog post for the last month. Why? Because I didn't reach my goal, but I'm still ok with that. So the week leading in to my sister's wedding, my weigh was -66.8 pounds. My goal was 70. That's pretty dang close. Two weeks before the wedding, I got really sick. Of course. Which was totally awesome and knocked me on my butt. I also think I totally forgot about how much little details go in to the last week of the wedding. Could I have reached this goal? Probably. Did I reach it? No. Am I still happy? Yes. I say it every post. I am so proud of how far I've come. That's what's impressive. So how was October? BOO (and not the ghost kind of boo). That was not a good month and I didn't even binge on Halloween candy! I went on a vacation and wasn't as careful with my eating. The pound I lost at the end of the month of September ...

So we're less than two weeks away from the first goal I set for myself. All I have to say is why. Why don't I have more time?! Friendly reminder that goal #1 was to be down 70 pounds by my sister's wedding (Sept 23). So how have things been going? August continued to be a slow month. But the walks started back up again. Slowly... It took a week in to August when I finally decided to kick my butt in to high gear. I was not going to get defeated that easily. So we walked. I hit my step target majority of the days in August. I was hopping on the scale each Saturday with high hopes of getting closer to my goal....but.... I think we hit the point of the plateau. The first week in August was great. Then the weight was flaking off. And by flaking I mean half a pound a week. Woof. So, August came to a total of THREE AND A HALF pounds down. Whaaaaaat?! Yeah, it sucked. I was watching what I ate, back to walking, taking my vitamins. But, again, I reminded myself that I was st...

Let me start out my saying the month of July was not nice to me...not nice at all. I was busy with work and then life got hectic. AND I spent a weekend at my grandparent's house.... My grandparents are amazing and I love them dearly, but my Nanny is one to always have WAY TOO MUCH FOOD. Like, it's enough to feed at least 2.5x's the amount of people there. I get it, she wants to make sure everyone is fed and happy but did it put a damper on my weight loss. I tried really hard to be mindful of the amount of food I was eating. It was difficult when food is getting pushed on you, too. AND THEN we had my sister's bridal shower at this great pizza place. There was so much food and my sister and I felt so bad so we did a little binge eating. I can't believe the amount I ate. To be honest, it wasn't some ungodly amount but it was way more than usual. You know when you say "I'm so stuffed I don't think I can eat again..." and then you eat like 4 hours...

This title makes it sound like all I've done is sweat. I'll be honest, the summer months haven't been too terribly hot here. I feel like I'm usually melting throughout most of my summer but that's not happening QUITE as much this year. We've had some really pleasant days, too! Don't get me wrong, I'm still sweating and it's still hot...but it could be worse.... Things have been super crazy at work so I haven't really had time to sit down and look at my progress. So a new month meant it was time to take a step back to see how things panned out. Let's just be honest. I haven't been good at walking or yoga. Remember when I said it hasn't been too hot? Well there have been plenty of days where it's been too freaking hot to walk. And the humidity! OYE. That's what makes our summer terrible. And, while we're just adding more excuses to the pile, it's been super busy at work. I've been so exhausted when I get home fro...

I'm starting to sense a trend. I feel like I've been starting every blog with, "Where has the month gone?" But in all seriousness, I cannot believe it's almost June. I think I secretly keep hoping May will be a little longer so I can drop a few more pounds.... So April wasn't a great month for me, or at least I felt like it wasn't. I lost a total of 7 pounds. I wasn't happy but the more I reflect back on April, the more happy I am about the 7 pounds. Seven pounds is still a good dent. It's better than gaining weight. It's better than -5 pounds. I have to remember that I'm over half way to my goal (I'm at 63% of my goal..but who's counting!). I should be proud of that...although as I'm typing all of this, I'm starting to rethink my goal. My initial goal was -73 pounds....I'm thinking my new goal is going to be -90 pounds. I picked my first goal because I knew it would be a lot of hard work and I would be happy at that ...

HOLY COW. Where has April gone?? I cannot believe how quickly this month has flown by. I've been meaning to write my post regarding MyFitness Pal weight forever and just haven't gotten around to it. Today is the day. Long story short. No, I didn't not drop the 20 pounds my app said I would if I kept eating the same. So yes, I've stopped using that feature. I don't even look at it now. I just realized it was too discouraging for me. I was losing weight but not at the rate my app would show and that was a bummer for me. Also, I finally reached the point where I didn't lose anything...and I gained a pound. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. I know, I know. ONE POUND, why are you fretting Ashlyn?! Because I'm truly shocked. Here's the story.... ...we went to Disney. BUT I did my best at watching what I ate and watched my portion sizes. Okay, so I didn't eat super healthy all of the time, but I didn't pig out either. I also walked...

That title...oh boy. My wittiness is just at a whole new level. Just kidding. It's bad, I know, but it will do. Alright, so we are almost two and half months in (this all started January 2nd). For some reason I felt like February was a bit of a dud. I don't know why but I just felt like I wasn't shedding the weight like I did in January. And then March rolls along and I feel like March has been a big time dud. Enough is enough. I decided to really take a look at my weight loss and wrote it all down on a sticky note (reminder- MUST. DESTROY. STICKY. NOTE.). After looking at the weekly log ins, I found the following... 1. I tried to tell myself I would log my weight weekly after I QUICKLY realized daily weigh ins were DESTROYING my self esteem. It's crazy how much your body weight can fluctuate. HOWEVER, once I would drop a pound or two I would anxiously get back on the scale to see if I had shed another half a pound or so...and guess what? I would only log when I did...

Oh, how I tried to come up with a clever title when I realized we are officially 50 days in! Nope. It's not happening today. Part of me can't believe it's been 50 days...while another part of me is like, what?! ONLY 50 DAYS? Yep....50 days friends. So where I am in terms of my goal? Well, we have two scales in our house that are EXACTLY three pounds off from each other. So, according to one scale I am nearly 22 pounds down from my start weight. My favorite scale has me at 25 pounds lighter (I bet you can now tell why that scale is my favorite). I have a doctors appointment on Monday so that will be the true test. Alright, so we're making progress. I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again. You always want progress to happen much faster than it actually does. It actually took me looking back at my 33 days blog to see that I've lost ten more pounds since then. It sure doesn't seem like it. I'm ready to put the clothes on I own and for the...

When I first decided to make this lifestyle change, I struggled with getting adjusted to the portions and amount of food I was eating (or wasn't eating). But I was also surprised at how quickly I was able to adjust when I cooking at home. I've purposefully cook meals for two to four serving sizes because, with just my husband and me, there is no need to make more. I'm not a fan of leftovers either. I found when I was making food, I would just make a huge batch which lead to 1. a lot of waste and 2. us eating sometimes two to three servings a piece of food (which most of the time was really bad). Like I said, only making a serving for the amount of calories I want to consume has been an easy way to manage my calorie intake. However... What hasn't been easy is having lunch meetings with a catered lunch or going out to eat as an office. Where do I even begin? First, I NEVER thought I would be the person that would get annoyed with going out to eat. We all know portio...

Folks, we're 33 days in to my lifestyle change. It's definitely been an interesting adventure. I was just emailing back and forth with my dad about the journey thus far and his sweet words made it all worth it. I've been lucky enough to have a very supportive family and my husband who has been willing to not eat Taco Bell in front of me....he's too kind.  So, 33 days in and we're down nearly 14 pounds. I've been watching what I eat, eating smaller portions, and getting light workouts in every night. Here's a more precise description of what I've been doing: - Watching what I eat- I've been counting all of my calories via MyFitness Pal. Oye. This was rough. Actually, what was rough was typing in to see what the calorie count was of that cookie I was craving and see how many of my overall daily calories it was taking from.That one cookie would be my lunch. Can I survive just eating a cookie for lunch? Hell no. I'm not one of those people who ...

It's been a long time coming....I've decided it was time to make some serious changes to my lifestyle. And, I've decided to document it! I wasn't super active in staying healthy in college, but I did A LOT of walking. It's amazing how something as simple as walking can help. But let's be honest, walking was about as healthy as it got for this girl. I lived on cookie dough, Taco Bell, chicken nuggets, Crazy Bread....plus the ALL YOU CAN EAT DINING COURT! I hated food like lettuce, brussel sprouts, heck, anything green. My friends would joke and call me Ashlyn "I love brown food" Shaffer. When asked my favorite food I quickly replied with, "Carbs count, right?!" After college it was difficult to motivate myself to stay active. I found every excuse to not workout. I would tell myself, "there simply isn't enough time in the day to get things done" and forgo the workout. But on lived the Taco Bell, pasta, chicken nuggets, bread d...

Oh hey there! I've been gone for far too long. Why you ask? Life. That's why. I thought it would be a great idea to buy a house, get married, start grad school and teach a college class (for the first time) all in the same year..not to add but that's all on top of a full time job. And those last 3 events all happened at the same time. Crazy? Yes, I was. I was truly cray cray and out of my mind. But I wouldn't trade it for the world. One of the things I've also let go on hiatus is my crafting and scrapbooking. I am so. so. so very far behind. As you may remember from past blog post I have been doing Project Life. Well lets just say that Project Life 2014 is now in September, thanks to last night's late night scrapbooking. My book has turned from weekly to monthly. Somethings gotta give, right? But I'm here to say have no fear! 2015 will bring no wedding, no house hunting, or no teaching for the first time so this allows for a little (notice I said LITTLE)...

Buying presents for my mom is never easy. What do you buy for a woman who already has everything she wants? Homemade gifts are starting to become our signature gift for her. So this year I spent many hours brainstorming a mother's day present and finally had an idea. Clothespin people. This project was inexpensive, homemade, and I could get everyone involved! I bought a pack of clothespins at Hobby Lobby and told everyone in the family to create themselves. We decided to leave a blank slot for mom.  What you need: Plaque- I bought mine at Hobby Lobby for less than $2 Clothes pins- also a HL buy! Paint Paint brushes Glue gun ...that's it! I created 2 mes because I couldn't decide what I liked! Proof that everyone made their clothespin person ;) My dad, me, and Brandon. My sister, Hailey, with an eyeball necklace (she's studying Optometry)  When everyone finished their person, we glued in on a wooden plaque. Ta da! Here's one ...

Whew. I did it. I can check one of my 2014 goals off the list. I finished my 2013 Project Life album. Like always, I started out strong. Then towards the end I lost momentum. I just wanted to be done. Maybe I'll go back and add more to the pages, change them up a bit. But for now it's finished. And I'm happy. week of November 10-16- I'm sure you noticed my lovely eye picture- sorry about that. But this week was more about pictures, and less about journaling. I used cards from WRMK for this page. The "notes" journaling paper at the top is from the $1 bins at Target- what a find! week of November 17- 23 - More eye pictures...sorry (or am I?!). This week we celebrated Thanksgiving with Brandon's family since we were going to be in Hawaii the next week. Like usual, I forgot to take pictures at Thanksgiving. One day I'll take a pictures...one day. How cute are those little turkey and fox stickers?! Thank you Michaels $1 sticker books :) w...

Guys, I did. I found my wedding dress! If you've read any of my blog, you probably remember that I wasn't too excited to go dress shopping . I was nervous. I had no idea what my family would think/say, how the dresses would look, or if I would find anything that looked remotely good on me. And I wanted there to be that big moment, that moment where I knew this was the dress of my dreams...and tears would be shed. And that's almost how it went. Let's start from the beginning. My sister (aka maid of honor) said she wouldn't be able to make it to our appointment. I was a little sad, but also knew I wasn't going to find my dress that day so it would be ok. My best friend of 25+ years told me she couldn't make it either. Suddenly my list was dwindling down. That left my mom and my future sister-in-law. I knew I didn't want a lot of people to go, but I also knew I needed just one more person to join. And that's where my youngest sister comes in. Thank ...

My last wreath wasn't a huge hit with the fiance. I liked it (he didn't like it is an understatement), but he was right it wasn't very Christmasy. And when your favorite time of year there is no reason not to have a Christmas themed wreath.  I knew what I wanted to do, the problem was I just couldn't find the right supplies...which is frustrating. So of course I went straight to Pinterest. I knew I could get a few ideas from there. And that's when I saw this wreath made with fabric instead of yarn. I felt like it smacked me right in the face. Why in the world had I not thought of this sooner? Fabric and ribbon would be way faster to cover the wreath form...and I'm always looking for easy new ideas. So I quickly made a run to our Hobby Lobby store to pick up some new material. And now that I had decided to use ribbon it opened up another world of possibilities. It shouldn't be a surprise that I walked out with enough supplies to make 2 different Christma...