The Family That Loses Together....

If you are a regular reader, you know I have been on this Weight Loss Journey for 18 months.  I have lost 110 lbs as of this morning's weigh in.  My family and friends have been incredibly supportive and motivating, especially my sister, Kari, and her husband, Josh.  Josh called me last weekend and had a great idea for us all to do this together.  By all, I mean him, my sister, my husband Roger and I.  Saturday we met at their house, I shared my knowledge, took measurements and got them all started on My Fitness Pal to begin tracking their calories.

I will let them introduce themselves:

My name is Joshua Bryant. I am 33 years old with three very active boys all under the age of 5. With a very busy and hectic lifestyle I've never put a big emphasis on my own health. I've always tried to put the health of my kids and my wife before me. As I now look at myself, I am starting to realize that I can't keep up with my children, I am always tired, and my body feels like it is falling part.  I decided to start this journey down the path of a healthier lifestyle.  Not to deprive myself of food, but to be more conscious of the food that I put in my body.  My goal for this journey is to lose about 50 pound. To get down to a healthy weight of 150.  I want to be able to run with out being out of breath within 2 minutes. To be able to enjoy my children as they grow up and to enjoy my grandchildren as they come along and to overall become a healthy and vibrant person once again.

Hello!  I am Kari (Josh's wife and Kristy's sister).  I stay at home with our 3 crazy young boys.  I also have a craft business I run from our home...oh and an accounting job I do one day a week.  To say my days are busy and hectic is a complete understatement!  Out of the four of us, I am probably the most apprehensive about this journey.  I understand the importance to get and stay healthy but struggle with finding the time and energy to make it a success.  This is why doing this as a family is so important. My goal is to be comfortable in my body, whatever weight that may be.

Hi.  My name is Roger.  Kristy and I have been married just over 11 years.  I've always been a big guy but fairly active.  My wife is a great cook and after we married, we just stopped paying attention to how much we were eating.  I have a physically demanding job, keeping me on my feet for 8 to 10 hours a day.  My goal is to be able to do my job the best I can, curb my sugar addiction and catch up with my wife.

Weight Loss Journey: Not Giving Up

I am very frustrated and depressed.  This thyroid issue is pissing me off.  I started medication the first of April.  Almost 8 weeks later and I am still in the low 390s.  The first 5 weeks, I was very diligent in staying under 2000 calories and working out 4 or 5 times a week.  I did drop from 399 to 395 but the last 3 weeks I have been pretty lax and not working out very much.  My low weigh in was 390.4 and my highest was 396.2.  I know weight can fluctuate but it is getting frustrated.

I'll be honest with you all.  Maybe I wasn't working as hard as I should have been.  In my mind I was telling myself I was working as hard as I could and eating as healthy as possible.  But honestly, I wasn't.  I was being lazy in the gym and letting my mind tell me I was tired or wore out when I actually wasn't.  And while I was staying in my caloric goals according to my tracking, I was eating things and not tracking them.  That number on the scale was really getting under my skin.

I decided to start looking at old photos for some inspiration, to show myself how far I have come.  Apparently I didn't really let anyone take full body shots of me.  I did find a photo from March 2016 in the same dress that I wore to a friends wedding on May 21st.  Like I said, my weight hasn't dropped but maybe 5 lbs in this time period but I can tell there is a body difference.  My hips, belly and midsection look slimmer.

I don't have much else to talk about at the moment but I wanted to show that even I get bogged down.  And even though that damn scale isn't showing any changes, there are great changes going on in my body.  My sister, Mom and nephews came down the other day to have lunch with me.  We went to a local park and played on the toys.  I would have never been able to climb up the ladders or slide down the slides a year ago.  I even ran with the 2 year old and I wasn't dead tired afterward.  This is the reason I started.  I wanted to be able to play with my nephews and maybe, some day, a child of my own.  Only time will tell but I am not giving up.

Fall Decor - Fabric Pumpkins

These Fabric Pumpkins were the second project we completed on our epic crafting day.  Check them out and see if you want to make them yourselves or if you just want to purchase one of these, go see Kari at the Cedarville Barn Autumn in the Country event in Oakville on Friday and Saturday September 25th and 26th from 10-5 or at the Country Chicks Harvest Fair at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds on Friday and Saturday October 2nd (10-6) and 3rd (10-4).  Both of these events are really a great place to get inspiration and some really awesome handmade goods from talented people.  On to the craft...

I have to admit this is one of my favorite projects that we have done.  It was fun, quick and pretty easy.  We got our inspiration from here.  The best part for me was picking out the fabrics.  You can choose 1, 2 or 3 different fabrics.  You could do more but I think they look best with 6 sections.  No matter how many fabrics, you want your total overall size to be about 24" wide and no more than 12" tall.  These make a good size pumpkin.  Any taller and you will have some trouble with getting the long needle through.

Chose your coordinating fabrics and iron them out.  Measure your pieces on the reverse side and mark were you need to cut.  These pieces are 13 1/2" by 4".  Remember when I said no longer than 12"?  Seriously, no longer than that.  It was really difficult later.

Once your pieces are cut, match them up and sew the long sides together.   You will end up with all six pieces in one long sheet.  Now sew the ends together to form a cylinder shape.

Thread a needle and double the thread.  Tie off the thread and begin sewing one end of the cylinder closed using a running or basting stitch.  Basically just in one side and then in the other side.  At the end, pull the thread taut and tie off.  This will gather the fabric in a tight zig zag.  This is the bottom of the pumpkin.  Flip the fabric right side out and you should end up with a sack like shape. 

Stuff the sack with Poly-Fil or other soft fiber filler.  Take the same thread from before and do another running or basting stitch around the edge of the open side.  Unlike the bottom, this stitch runs around the rim and then pull it taut.  This will mostly close the other side, leaving you with a stuffed cylinder and small opening.

Take a long, slim needle (5" or so) and thread it with embroidery thread of a corresponding color.  Tie off the end and start in the center of the first side you sewed together, the bottom. Push it through and out the small opening in the top.  Go around the outside of the pumpkin, on a seam.  Continue this process for all 6 seams, pulling each tight, tufting the fabric.  Do not tie this off yet.

Use a small piece of felt, about 2 1/2" x 3 1/2".  Fold it in half and using the same black thread from before, use a whip stitch to close the top and open side.  Leave the bottom open.  You can turn the felt right side out or leave it with the stitching on the outside.  Next you will fill it with the Poly-Fil or other filling, then stitch the bottom closed.  Take the large needle and embroidery thread and attach the stem.  You will run it through the bottom and top a few times to secure it before tying it off.

 Here are some of the finished pumpkins.  As you can see, you can use many different fabrics, textures and sizes.  Variety is the spice of life, right?

 We both disliked this fabric with anything else but it works great on it's own.

 Pardon the multiple backgrounds.  I did some of these at Kari' house, a few in my bedroom and a few in my living room.  It's a great craft to do while watching tv. I love this green pumpkin.  The leaves and stem are precious.

 I got lucky and found this sequined fabric in the remnant bin at JoAnn's.  It looks fabulous.

You can see the different sizes and variations I used.  Did I mention I loved this craft?!?!?!

March Goals, Week 4: Positivity

I was on a real high Sunday.  I was happy with my loss last week and I was really excited to see all the support and love I have behind me.  I got private messages, phone calls and texts.  You all know how to make a girl feel awesome.  My goal this week is to say 5 positive things that happened in my day.  I will share some with you.  Sunday's things included posting my blog, getting a call from both of my parents, getting a text from a really good friend and not having to leave the house all day.

I rewarded myself with Pizza on Monday and I was utterly disappointed.  I ordered a thin crust Chicken and Mushroom pizza.  I hated it.  I don't see the point in wasting the calories if it isn't going to be satisfying.  I can eat 2 slices for 500 calories.  There are much better tasting things I can have for those calories.  Maybe next time I will just get the wings.  I like those better anyway.  My positive things for Monday included another call from my Dad to ask me how much water he needed to make a recipe.  I love getting calls from my family to ask advice on cooking.  It must mean I'm doing something right.

Tuesday was a long day at work but I still made dinner when I got home.  I threw together Penne with Chicken and Turkey Meatballs.  I ate very little of the pasta but the meatballs were so good.  I just added some cumin, a couple eggs and a little panko and baked them for 20 minutes.  The recipe made 40 meatballs that were 26 calories each.  Tuesday's positive thoughts included that it was payday and I have a job.

I am becoming a really strong believer in a low carb lifestyle.  I have done hours of research on the subject and with my own personal experience, I don't think I will ever go back.  I sleep better, I have so much energy and I am losing without working very hard at it.  I know that I will have to start working out a lot more but for now, I am focused on food.  The month of March has been a real breakthrough month for me.

Friday I got off work an hour early, went to the grocery store and then headed home for a baking extravaganza.  My Aunt Nancy asked me to make the cake for my Uncle Rick's Surprise 50th Birthday.  I made a main Carrot Cake, which is his favorite, and then Orange Cremesicle, Chocolate Nutella and Caramel Apple Cupcakes.  Saturday I went to my sister's house to decorate them and hang out with her and my nephews.  Logan, who is 4 1/2 helped me make chocolate toppers but fell asleep before he could help me frost them.

Saturday night was the big party and we had a great time.  Then Sunday, I came back north to stay the night with at my sister's because I had to be in Olympia early on Monday.  I have such a good time with my nephews.  They are a big reason I am choosing to get healthy.  When one of them asks me to play tag or sit on the floor with them, I want to be able to do it.  Right now I just say I am too big.  Logan asked me to play freeze tag and I told him I couldn't run so he suggested we just walk really fast.  It's what I love most about him.  He is so considerate and genuine.

Monday I took my friend J to get a endoscopy.  My nephew Landon, who's 1 1/2, had woken us all up at 4:45 that morning.  Of course, he napped at 5:30.  I was pretty tired but stayed awake to get J home and back to his place.  I hung out with him for a bit to make sure he was ok and then started the 90 minute drive home.  I stopped in Grand Mound at McDonalds for food and ordered like my old self.  I ordered two 3-piece chicken selects and 2 McDoubles.  I ended up only eating one of each.  Old me would have slammed it all down before I hit Centralia.

All in all March was a great month.  I feel more focused and my mind feels clearer.  I got a lot of people encouraging me to keep it up and many comments on how I seemed happier.  I guess I just feel more alive.

Lessons Learned From Making a Baby Quilt

It's time for us to take a break from all the Diabetes and Diets because we here at the Pink Elephant Sisters are more than just that.  We are crafty chicks.  If you have ever wanted to make a quilt, or wanted to prove that we are not perfect, this is the post for you.  While making a baby quilt doesn't seem all that difficult, and this wasn't even our first time doing it, we managed to run into a few problems and learned some lessons along the way.  

The first place to start is choosing your fabrics.  To me, this is the funnest part of the whole process!  I could walk the aisles of the fabric store for hours!  However, I have 2 small boys that don't care for that certain store, so they force me to make quicker decisions.  I came home with 7 different fabrics that I strategically selected.  And here is where we learned our first lesson: always have back-up fabric.  Once I got them home and shared them with my sister, we decided that they just didn't all work.  But luckily I have a rather large stash of fabric and found the awesome owl fabric that I forgot I had.  Easy solution to our first problem.

Now comes, in my opinion, the worst part of the process: cutting out all of the squares.  It is SO time consuming!  This is where we learned our second lesson: whenever possible, purchase pre-cut squares.  When we made a Dr. Suess themed quilt for my son, we purchased pre-cut squares on etsy.com (because the local craft store didn't have Dr. Suess fabric at that time)....we had no idea how great they were until we began cutting all of the squares this time.

Next we laid all of the square out on the floor to decide on a pattern.  We definitely compromised on this part.  I love a random pattern, but Kristy's OCD demanded that there be a very strict pattern.  As you can see, she won.  The lesson we learned on this step: don't let your 4 year old anywhere near this.  While he seems to be just innocently walking by...nope.  He purposely kept moving the blocks around with his feet and messing up the pattern.  So he was then banned from the room!  :)

This next step, sewing all of the squares together to make rows, is where we learned out biggest lesson: don't trust your sister's measurements!  While we agreed on a 1/2" seam allowance, I assumed that Kristy would actually measure...nope.  Kristy started at the top, I started at the bottom and we met in the middle.  Sounded like a grand plan at the time.  We would do half of the sewing so it would be done faster, right?...nope.  After both halves were completely finished, Kristy said "why are my seams smaller than yours?"  Well, that is because she was actually sewing with a 1/4" seam allowance instead of 1/2".  This was a hard blow after working on this for several hours that day.  We ended up just re-sewing her part to make the seam allowance the 1/2" it should have been.  It all worked out but this was a lesson learned the hard way for sure!

The next step was to sew the diagonal lines to hold together the quilt front we just made, the batting, and the backing of the quilt.  When we made the Dr. Suess quilt we did the diagonal lines as well and I don't remember having any trouble.  However, this time it was a struggle (I know, seems to be an ongoing theme for this quilt, huh?).  About the 5th line into it, I kept getting puckers on the back.  It didn't seem to matter how well I pinned it, the fabric just kept bunching up.  

After several days of struggling, I learned our next lesson: ask your mother-in-law for help!  I wish I would have asked her sooner because she had one of these amazing little tools, the quilt basting gun.  This thing was a life saver!  It punched these purple little plastic things through the quilt and held it together perfectly.  I finished sewing the quilt in no time at all...and no more puckers!

Next I just needed to cut off the excess batting and add a border of some kind.  Luckily, we didn't seem to have any trouble of this step (surprising, I know).  We used double fold bias tape and it worked great and was easy to sew. 

Of course, in true Kari-style, I finished it the day of the baby shower!  

Either way, all lessons learned, our cousin loved the quilt we made for her new baby girl.  Now hopefully we will remember these lessons for when we make a quilt for my new baby boy!