Short and Sweet...

Hello friends! Sorry I've taken so long to post. My world is about to get VERY different, to say the least! 

In two days, my hubs will undergo the Gastric Bypass Surgery. We are both very excited, yet very anxious about what the future holds for him, as well as us! We have NEVER both been skinny, at the same time! He has NEVER been less than 250 pounds since we've been together. In the past, it seems like he would lose weight and I would gain the amount he’d lose or vice versa.

Thankfully, we have reached a place in our marriage and in our finances, where the surgery has become possible for him! So, after MUCH prayer and obvious favor and MANY doctor appointments, Thursdays the BIG day, LOL!!  

In the meantime, if you’re a prayer, please keep him, Jay, in your prayers, as well as, myself and our daughter, Elaina. Pray for wisdom, for Dr. Gorospe, while in surgery.  This is going to be a HUGE adjustment for Elaina and a test of compassion and patience for me!

Here is the link to my husband’s blog: jaywakefield@wordpress.com. Feel free to follow him as he personally blogs about his weight loss journey from the very beginning!!!

Now, to leave you with a recipe, since that is the point of MY blog after all.  This is a slow cooker or “crock pot” Granola recipe!! It is YUMMY!!!

ALMOND-CHERRY GRANOLA

Ingredients:

5 cups old fashioned rolled oats

1 cup raw, whole almonds

1/2 cup dried tart cherries(Craisins)

1/2 cup sunflower nuts

1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/4 cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

Slow cooker instructions:

Mix the oats, honey, oil,  almonds and vanilla in a 4 quart slow cooker. Stir. Leave uncovered and turn on high. Cook for 1 hour, stirring every 20 to 30 minutes. Reduce to low and add the coconut, sunflower nuts and cherries. Continue to cook on low uncovered for about 4 hours, stirring every 20 or so minutes. The granola is done when it looks completely dry. Cool on baking sheets then store in an air tight container. *(My first time making this, I made it EXACTLY like recipe. It was AWESOME! However, I'm the only one who can/will eat it. So, with the next batch, I cut EVERYTHING in half, INCLUDING TIME. I also didn't have the coconut or the whole almonds. So I omitted the coconut and subbed sliced almonds for the whole. Still turned out just as wonderful!!)

What you'll need(plus coconut and I added cinnamon to mine)

Step 1: Mix oats, honey, coconut oil, almonds and vanilla. Cook on HIGH, uncovered, for 1 hour. Stirring ever 20 to 30 minutes. (I did 30 minutes. But I'm OCD like that. I also sprinkled a lil cinnamon in with this mixture, just for fun!)

Step 2: Add remaining ingredients. Reduce temp to LOW. Stir every 20 to 30 minutes for up to  4 hours or until ingredients are dry. (I only cooked mine for 3 additional hours)

This is what my final product looked like!! It was YUMMY!! I ate it by itself, on my frozen"yogurt", on Greek yogurt, in cereal. I even tried adding a lil Natural Peanut Butter and Honey to it to make a Granola bar, that was mildly successful, but still delicious!!

Pop! Pop!! Popcorn!!!

My family LOVES popcorn!! Frankly, so do I!!  In an attempt to still indulge, I have come up with 2 yummy healthy alternatives!!  The "traditional popcorn" and "caramel" popcorn.

 Here's what you will need for both versions of popcorn:

1 Tbsp Coconut Oil

1/2 tsp Salt

2/3 Cup Yellow Popcorn (gluten free)

Directions for both:

On stove top melt Coconut oil completely before adding other ingredients. Cover and cook on Med/High heat. Once kernels start popping, keeping it on burner, begin to shake pot occasionally until popping comes to almost a complete stop (much like microwave popcorn). Remove from heat. Enjoy!!!

OR add:

Found on the Spice Aisle

or 

This is just yummy on popcorn!!

Now the additional ingredients for "caramel" popcorn: 

1/2 Cup Honey

1/4 Cup Natural Peanut Butter (or regular but not as healthy)

Directions:

AFTER popcorn is done...

In a small sauce pan, bring Honey to a SOFT boil on Med/High heat. Once boiling, add peanut butter. Stir consistently until smooth.  

At this point, I take 2 large plastic bowls, I put the cooked popcorn into a bowl. Drizzle the honey/peanut butter mixture over popcorn. Put the other bowl over and shake shake shake!!!  

Happy Snacking!!!

"Girl Please!! What do YOU know about it anyway!!"

One thing I HATE, skinny people tellin' ME how to lose weight!!!  I just want to look at them, cock my head, raise my eyebrows and say, "Girl Please!! What do YOU know about it anyway!!"   So, the post today is VERY lengthy. However, very personal! It's MY personal weight journey!  So whenever you're ready, let's begin.....

As I said in my first post, I started putting on weight at the age of 6. By the time I reached middle school I was probably close to 200 lbs! I was bullied, severely!! Up to that point I knew I was heavier then most kids, but I didn't realize how much heavier I was. I was short and round. Apparently very "ball-like" cause I was called, "Ashley the Bouncing Ball", as a group of my fellow classmates shoved me down the stairs to "see if I would bounce"!! This took place almost every morning of my 6th grade year of school. 

I would go home and cry to my mom, who was a registered dietian, people!!  She helped people get skinny for a living, seriously!?!?  However, she couldn't break through my walls of addiction.  As high school approached, thankfully we moved, I began to attend school with a lot of my friends from church. So I was, once again, comfortable with my weight and size. I knew I was bigger them by this point, but they didn't seem to care. And I truly believe they didn't!! What a blessing and a curse!!

It wasn't until 2002 that I was presented with my first true physical limitations due to my weight. God had called me into the Mission Field. I was to go to China for one year. Sounded easy enough, right?  WRONG!!!

At this point, I was 22 years old, 298 lbs and size 26/28!!  HELLO FATTY!!!!  Did I mention, I'm only 5'3"!?!?  Yep!!   So there I was, ALL off me, living in a culture with no A/C, no elevators, they usually walked or rode bikes everywhere they went. Again, SERIOUSLY?!?!  What was God thinking!?!?  I lived on the 6th floor, worked on the 16th floor. The closest bus stop was at least a mile, I walked there! If I rode my bike to work, it was 8 miles ONE WAY!!!   Yep, it was rough, REALLY rough.
I'm sure you're thinking, "The ponds have got to be shedding off with all that exercising, right!?!?". WRONG!! 

Asians LOVES their "Western Amenities"!  There were McDonalds, Pizza Huts and KFC's!!  A fat chick's dream!!!  The MickyD's down the street from my work became my daily staple. I also managed to find M&M's at the local grocery store, among other "comfort foods".  I did somehow loose about 30 lbs within those 6 months. 

In June 2002, my mom came for a 2 week visit!! What a glorious time!!! However, at one point she made a comment about how she would have expected me to have lost a lot more weight being over in China for 6 month!  OUCH!!!!!!!!  (Quick side note: mom and I have always been very candid and honest with each other. So this wasn't THAT shocking. But still a low blow.) 

As much as that statement stung, it was the thing I needed to hear!!!  So once mom left, I knew I had from mid June to December to really make something happen.  So I went to work!! 

Unfortunately, went about the wrong way. I quickly developed a eating disorder, becoming anorexia.  I would eat maybe once a week or very little if I was around the other missionaries. I began riding my bike excessively! I was loving the attention, the POSITIVE attention I was now getting!! 

When the time came to return home, I was so excited for my family and friend to see the new me, especially mom!! When I walked off the plane, literally no one recognized me!!  I was 163 lbs thinner!!!  I can still remember the looks on peoples faces when they realized it was me!! It was just the attention this starving fat chic needed!! 

Sadly, being home didn't fix my eating disorder. In fact, it got worse. I began taking laxatives every time I would consume anything!!! I could/can tell you the best ones to take. the ones that work the fastest and when to take them in the course of your meal or day to get the best and fastest results.  I WAS now a Anorexic, Bulimic, Fat chic trapped in a skinny body! I had a problem that I knew I needed to fix. But I really didn't want to fix!! 
Then September 27, 2003 I started dating my husband.  We had known each other for years and we good friends. So he already knew about the disorders.  Once we started dating, one evening, with my permission, he took my laxatives and flushed them down the toilet!! At that moment, I determined to stay skinny the healthy way.
I had no idea what my body was in for next!!! I had taken the laxatives for so long that my body was dependent on them.  It got to the point that I was unable to "go" without the assistance of some sort of laxative or enema. By the end of the day my belly would be so distended, I looked like I was 7 months preggers.  I was ILL!!!
Thankfully, my doctor is awesome!!  I was able to be VERY candid with him about my issues. He was able to prescribe to some OTC meds to get things back in working order again!!  So after almost 2 years of laxative dependency, I was finally able to relieve myself with their help!!  However, even now 8 years later, I STILL have residual issues from time to time!!

Are ya bored yet!?!?  Cause I'm only to 2005....

Fast forward 2006, I had maintained my weight loss, for about 3 years at this point. Then around August of 2006, I randomly began to start gaining weight. I'm not talking a pound here a pound there. I'm talking I would walk up daily to POUNDS gained. Nothing in my lifestyle had changed. My clothes began to not fit, almost weekly, sometimes, daily!! So I went to the doctor. He began to run some tests. August. September. October. November. December. January. February. March. Finally in March, I'm at my breaking point. I've not gone from 105 lbs to 250 lbs. That's right 145 lbs in 8 months!!  When I went back to my doctor, he was dumbfounded!!!
Long story short, I had thyroid cancer!!!  Apparently, the labs never sent the results to my doctor. Therefore, he thought that there was nothing to to worry about. So, June 4, 2007 I had my thyroid removed.  It took them almost a year to get my thyroid hormones regulated by use of Synthroid. During that time, I managed to gain an additional 40 lbs. Getting me back up to my top weight of around 290 lbs.
Once they finally got my level regulated, I began to drop the weight!! Within no time I was down to 180 lbs....and holding!!  And holding....holding...holding......I held there from mid 2009 to this past September!
This past September, I FINALLY had my AAH HA moment, I guess. I was dress shopping for my best friends wedding, which wasn't til December. I found the perfect dress and went ahead and purchased it. I was determined to not gain any weight between then and December. So I just decided to kind of cut back a little bit on my portion sizes. That's it, I didn't wanna get TOO crazy!! But all the sudden, I was loosing weight! There had been a couple of times over the past 3 years I had lost 5 maybe 10 pounds, but I could NEVER break past 169 lbs. Until, one in November, I got on the scale and it said 168.4!!!  HOLY MILK AND CHEESE BALLS!!!!  What was once just a dream, to break 169 lbs was now my PAST!!!  Granted by only 0.6 lbs, BUT STILL!!!  Instead of my goal to maintain 180 lbs for the wedding, I was now shooting to make it to 160 lbs! By late November, early December, I had made that goal just a memory also!! When I left for the wedding on December 13, I was at 155 lbs!! I felt good!! Proud!! I had lost weight, THE RIGHT WAY!!!
My doctor and I back in 2008, had set a weight goal for my at 150 lbs. When we originally made that goal, I figured I would NEVER see that number on the scale, at least not representing me! But now, flying across America, I could see that as an attainable goal!!
I am proud to say, I have made it through that wedding, Christmas, New Years, my daughters and my husbands birthdays, Easter and countless other gorging, pack on the pounds opportunities successfully!! I haven't had sugar since Christmas. Fried food since...September!?! Processed food since...???  I still go out to restaurants, I'm just THAT person who orders off the kids menu and still changes the majority of everything.  I eat off a salad plate at EVERY meal.
Sitting here typing now, I am VERY blessed to say I am down to 127 lbs!!!   So, I'm at a former fat chic, who DOES know, all too well, about the struggles of being fat!! That's why I started this blog! I want to impart some of my learned wisdom to you!!!
So enough for now.... Stay tuned for some Yummy recipes!!!!

1998

1999

2009 Smaller moments in time

The Hubs and me July 2012

The Bestie and me Dec 2012

Most recent Feb 2013

A VERY GOOD PLACE TO START!!

           Hey there!! Welcome to my blog. I would like to start by thanking you for taking time to even get this far. I hope you will continue on this journey with me as I discover new ways to enjoy my favorite "fat chick foods" without putting back on the "fat chick pounds"!!

Now then, a lil about me. I am a 33 year old wife and mom, well step-mom, I know my place, to an awesome 15 year old daughter!! I am a cosmetologist, going on 15 years now. As a family we are in love Jesus Christ and our church, LifeChurch.TV, where we attend and serve faithfully! My husband and I have a VERY "Jerry Springer" history, but we believe we have overcome many obstacles so we can, in return, help other couples overcome and make their marriages successful! In light of this, we have both set out on a journey to get healthy and fit. Mentally, PHYSICALLY, Financially and Spiritually.

  I have ALWAYS struggled with my weight.  At the age of 6, when my parents divorced, food became my comfort. I mean, let's be honest, food is always there! It will never let us down, right!! It has always proven faithful to pack on those pounds right on my thighs and behind!! I was definitely an emotional eater. 

I LOVED FOOD!! And frankly, I still do.

I would describe myself as an addict. If they had FAA, Food Addicts Anonymous, I would be the President of the American chapter, for sure. But, would it really be anywhere other then American!?!? Anyway.   I digress...Food Addict, that's me! Give me any reason to eat and I would. I'm happy, let's eat. I'm sad, let's eat. I'm mad, let's eat. It's a day ending in "y" and I'm alive, well I deserve an ENTIRE cake...ALL TO MYSELF!!!!!  Yep, that WAS me! Or rather is me. Once an addict ALWAYS an addict. I've just made the choice to put the beast to sleep and hopefully to NEVER awaken him again!!

So, as I embark on this blogging journey, I will share with you my struggles. As well as my husbands struggles, he will be undergoing the Gastric Bypass Surgery in 27 days!  I will share more of our weight journey, both victories and defeats, because that's just life.  But mainly, I will share my yummy, delish healthy alternatives, that can make any fat chick into the skinny chick she dreams of being!!! 

I look forward to sharing my world with you!!!! 

In Him I Live ~Ash