A Slippery Slope

It's no secret that I have struggled with my weight for years (and years, and years) and most of the past five years I have spent fatter than I want to be. I got to a good place in 2012 and then my pregnancy, pre-eclampsia and breastfeeding threw all that hard work away.

I am a little over ten pounds less than I was at my highest weight and still thirty pounds more than I what is healthy for my frame. Bryan and I put our memberships on hold but that ended two days ago and we are going to start going to the gym together instead of going to the movies (and eating) or to dinner (and eating) when we have date nights.

My first step towards controlling my weight is always to start eating smaller portions. I think this is a easy and fuss-free first step when trying to lose weight. In my opinion, it is not always what we eat that is the main culprit in gaining weight but how much we eat that is the biggest problem. It is easy to do and if you start little by little you don't really notice you are doing it.

Tips for consuming less food range from using a smaller plate, eating half of your plate at a restaurant and putting the other half in a box, sharing a meal with a friend/significant other, Also, weighing and portioning your food, sticking to 'serving sizes' for snacks, etc. Easy decisions to make. Another easy tip is to stop drinking your calories. Drink water or unsweetened iced tea. Limit yourself to one to three sodas a week. Which reminds me, when you start to feel hungry, before eating anything, ask yourself when the last time you had water was? A lot of time your body is signaling you not to eat but to hydrate! Stay hydrated and you'll cut calories.

For me, the next phase after cutting down my portions is always chosing healthier meals. I recently heard to live the 80/20 lifestyle. 80% of what you eat should be healthy, body-fortifying whole foods. 20% should be pastas, breads, sweets, sodas, etc. I like that. I've never thought of it like that before, but it is essentially what I strive for. Instead of getting a normal hamburger at In-N-Out, I'll get a protein burger (no bread, it's just wrapped in lettuce) and Bryan and I will share fries instead of getting our own. I'll forgo a sandwich for a salad, pancakes for scrambled eggs with a little shredded cheese. Small exchanges. I'll think to myself "I'm not going to eat this cupcake right now because I really want a milkshake this weekend." Things like that. Instead of eating (another) piece of Halloween candy I'll grab an apple instead.

My typical phase three is to get moving. Sit less. Walk more. Do more stuff. Get active. Whatever that means. After a long day at work (where I sit all day) don't get home and sit. Get some projects done, go out and do something, go to the gym. Whatever.

Phasing in changes over time helps me to stay on track and not go binge eat. I can still have what I want, I just try to make better choices instead of being a vacuum when food is around.

However, and this is a big however, I have to really watch my thoughts when I start to do this. I can get extremely negative about food, eating, my body, etc. I find myself "turning off" my hunger, skipping meals, If I have a meal that is not the best, I'll get down on myself and will skip a meal to make up for it, which ends up hurting my body more in the long run. A thought will pop up "Wow, I can't believe I ate that sandwich. All that bread." And all of a sudden the meal I just ate feels like a ton of bricks weighing me down.

Don't do that. Don't be like me. Dieting is a slippery slope to an eating disorder. I kid you not. The way you view yourself and view your eating habits is integral when you are attempting to lose weight. Don't let dark thoughts cloud your mind. Stay encouraged. Look at the big picture. If you have a big meal, have a smaller one next time. If you eat a milkshake, have some veggies for your next snack.

Eating right CAN and SHOULD be about balance. Balance good foods with bad foods. Indulge sometimes and don't get down on yourself when you do.

If you are in the same boat as me, guard your thoughts. Be kind to yourself. As you crunch carrots, remind yourself that you are supplying your body with the best of the best and it'll run more efficiently for it. Last, don't be afraid to have a small milkshake here and there.

Halloween 2014

Last year, my family and I dressed up as Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and Elvis. This year, we decided to do something much more simple. 

Bryan's sister, Justus, had an Elmo costume from when she was three, so we borrowed that and Bryan and I got Bert and Ernie shirts! 

Of course, I used Halloween as an excuse to have a little fun with my make-up! I took this picture to send to Denise to show off my blending skills. :)

Anyways, back to what really matters! Shepherd was an ADORABLE Elmo, and we made sure to hit up all the grandparents homes before going to Papa Rick's Halloween party, which was held at Lee's house. Bryan took most of the pictures but here is a super cute one I managed to snap of my Dad and Delia with little Elmo. 

And here are some pictures of the get together Rick hosted:

We had a great (and effortless) Halloween which is my favorite type of holiday! What did you dress up as for Halloween? 

Our Anniversary Weekend!

*This post contains affiliate links. A small percentage, stipend or credit helps support my blog without any additional cost to you. Thank you!
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Bryan and I had planned on spending the weekend at Harris Ranch for our 5th anniversary, but the hotel was booked because of the horse races so the plan changed from "weekend" to "dinner". Then, it was so crazy on Friday night that I didn't want to deal with Shepherd out there on Saturday, for three hours and all those visitors in the lounge, so Bryan and I decided I would just stay home the whole weekend and we'd plan on going out another weekend.

Bryan was super bummed that we weren't going to get to spend time together, so I asked my boss if I could take a few hours off in the afternoon to surprise Bryan! I was going to go get him his gift (yeah, I'd lagged a bit) but then Bryan, Rick and Shepherd were at Round Table for lunch, so I just decided to "show up for lunch" and my lunch hour never ended! I think Bryan was pleased (and Rick was more than happy to take Shepherd for his nap and the rest of the afternoon) that we could hang out for a few hours before he left for work.

I had a coupon for a free mascara at Ulta as part of my birthday rewards, and I had a few gift cards for my birthday, so we headed there. I made out like a BOSS! I got so many things! I plan on putting up a haul/review of the products once I've used them a bit more. Stay tuned!

Then, we headed over to Famous Footwear and bought Bryan a new pair of Vans. He desperately needed them. We didn't have much time after those two errands so we headed home and continued to watch the Harry Potter series out of order, because Bryan is super weird. I went to pick Shepherd up after Bryan left for work and stayed for hamburgers and to hang out with Rick and Olivia. Shepherd had fun digging in their plant pot.

Later that evening, my sister Alison came over to hang out. We watched My Best Friends Wedding and played with my new make-up, ate popcorn, I taught her a pinterest hairstyle and we ended up painting our nails. We kept sending pictures to Kari to encourage her to hurry up and come over!

Kari, Owen and Parker joined us at about 10:00pm and then Bryan got home shortly after. An hour or so later, Adam showed up! He's been working on their new house until late in the evening so he was starving! I baked him some bagel bites and poured him a Dr. Pepper. Gotta love food like that after house projects! :) We all sat around talking and watching TV until about 12:30am.

It was so fun. I love having Alison and her family back in town. I love that I have both of my sisters and their families around to do life together.

On Saturday we slept in late, got ready and headed to the Friends of the Library Fall Book Sale. They have them twice a year and I rarely miss them. I stood in line for twenty minutes and then picked up eighteen books. FOR EIGHTEEN DOLLARS! Ahh, it's so fun. Bryan walked around with Shep and let him play in some dirt while I got my shop on.

Something that I love about the sale is that almost everyone there is so polite. We are all book nerds so we queue peacefully and move along at an appropriate pace. There is no cutting or book grabbing. Everyone is so kind and we all just end up chatting about our favorite books. It's a great community event!

I've been really into weird books lately, especially random autobiographies. Don't ask me why, I just enjoy reading other peoples stories! I already put them in my new library (yay! That post is coming!) but I'll try to remember what I picked up:

Kind of random but Kendra Wilkinson was my favorite when they had the show, and I love how tom-boy and crazy she is. I'm interested to read this. Don't judge me! :)
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Yup. For all the internet to see, I picked up Roseanne (Barr) Arnold's autobiography. I couldn't put it down. That hair. That pose. She's always been pretty annoying to me but that doesn't stop me from wondering what her story is.
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A complete shift from Roseanne's autobiography, but Max Lucado's In The Eye of the Storm looked really interesting, especially in the season of life I am in. I can't wait to read this one!
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The Vacationers by Emma Straub looked like a good vacation book, so I picked it up. Basically, an America family goes on a two week vacation and a bunch of stuff happens. I should write book descriptions for a living. ;)
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Not sure if I've mentioned it before, but I'm a HUGE Castle fan. Castle is a show on ABC that airs on Mondays. I watch it on Hulu on Tuesdays in the morning now that I don't have cable, Anyways, I knew that they released books based off the books that Richard Castle writes about his muse (and now fiance) Kate Beckett. I'm extremely interested in reading this books to see if they really feel like the Castle character wrote them.  (Heat Wave is book one, Heat Rises is book three. I couldn't find book two, Naked Heat, at the sale so I'll have to pick it up on Amazon.)
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I remember when the Jon Benet Ramsey fiasco happened and how it consumed the nation. It was so sad, all around. I'm interested in reading Jon Benet: Inside the Ramsey Murder Investigation to see where the author is coming from and what their research has determined.
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This books hardly needs an introduction because I'm sure everyone in America has heard of it. But I've somehow gotten away with not reading it. Again, since I'm going through a season of growth in my personal and professional lives, I figured this book may contain some tools that will aide me in my journey!
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I picked this up mostly for Bryan, since I am always on the lookout for books that he may want to read. I know that he wants The Fountainhead but I only managed to find We The Living. I still need to read Atlas Shrugged.
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Again, random autobiographical books. Who doesn't like Michael J. Fox though? Seriously.
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I've heard that David Sedaris books are pretty funny, so when I saw this I thought it was the perfect chance to see if I like him as an author.
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I've read Barbara Taylor Bradford before and I enjoy her books. This one is about an art consultant in London with a gritty past. Playing the Game will be a perfect rainy day read.
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WHAM! You didn't even see that coming huh? I picked another weird autobiography, this time from Fran Drescher, She's a pretty spunky woman and I bet she has a lot of hilarious stories.

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Of course I had to pick up a Nora Roberts book! Her books are always quick reads, but are interesting and the characters are always realistic.
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None of you are surprised that I picked up a Danielle Steel book are you? Cause you shouldn't be. I am a huge Danielle Steel fan and I had to add this book to my collection. Yes. Collection. I have a LOT of her books. 

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I also purchased a two books for Shepherd (they were pretty picked over by the time I got there. :( ) and a Kit Carson book that I need to take to work. I couldn't pass it up! My books are a lot like my music choices - all over the place! I will pretty much read anything, I do not judge a book by its cover - or it's author! You'll never know if a book is good until you start reading it and when you buy used, you have a lot more freedom to explore authors. 

Okay, back to the weekend, so Saturday I had plans with my Mom and Larry to eat Chinese food, so Shepherd and I zoomed over to their house when Bryan left for work. I got a call about an hour later from Bryan saying they weren't going to have him play since they had customers that wanted to watch the World Series that night! He got to come home! We hung at my mom and Larry's for a little while and then we dropped Shepherd off with Rick and Lee so we could go catch a late movie. We saw St. Vincent, which was great! It was funny but with lots of feels. I'd recommend it!

We slept in too late to make it to church on Sunday so we got ready and took some bread to the park to feed the ducks and geese. Shepherd had a great time throwing bread at them and then he played on the play places there. That evening we met up with my Dad and Delia to attend their church harvest festival! My Dad, Bryan and I all took turns taking Shepherd on the little train and Shepherd got an Elmo balloon animal!

Our plans may not have worked out as we had hoped but we still spent meaningful time with each other and the people that we love. It was a great weekend!

It's Amazon Official!

That's right! I've been approved to be an Amazon Affiliate!

Basically, all that means is that if I buy something, love it and link it and then you happen to click on that link and buy the something I love, I get a small percentage from your sale. It doesn't cost you a thing, you get all the amazing deals Amazon has to offer, but you'll also be supporting my little blog and the costs associated with running it!

I find this to be the least invasive way to 'monetize' the blog. I have zero plans to have sponsored posts, sidebar advertisements or even Google Ads. I would love if I could not do that...ever. But if you could use my referral link and maybe buy from the product links if I link to something you are interested in, I sure would appreciate it!

Also, if you'd like to go a step further, you could replace your Amazon bookmark with this link, http://www.amazon.com?_encoding=UTF8&tag=embrthecraz-20, so you would support my blog even when I don't link to items on Amazon! The funds I receive from this program will go directly back into the blog. I have grand plans of buying a domain name and asking a pro to help with the 'brand' of my blog, among some other things. I have a lot of pots cooking in the kitchen and your support would mean the world to me.

Thank you for being awesome readers!

October 2014 Ipsy Glam Bag (Value, Swatches and Reviews!)

*This post contains affiliate links. A small percentage, stipend or credit helps support my blog without any additional charge to you. Thank you!
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What is better than an Ipsy Glam Bag review with pictures taken with zero natural light because they were taken at 9:30 at night, after a hours and hours of homework?!

Nothing, obviously.

I am working like a madwomen trying to get all of my homework done so that I can celebrate my five year anniversary without it hanging over my head! Yup! This weekend marks five years that I've been married to my musician and I want to spend it relaxing as much as possible!

So, forgive me if this post is a little loony tunes. Let's get to reviewing this Ipsy Glam Bag! 

The October 2014 Glam Bag is themed Beauty Candy although, if I'm being honest... I don't know why. I mean... I don't feel like this bag is candy-esque in any way. There is nothing in the bag that smells like candy. And nothing tastes like candy either. Don't ask me how I know that. Ha! It's because it's October. Halloween = candy. Still, instead of fall colored items, we should have gotten like vibrant purple lipstick and eyelashes that had feathers attached or something. However, I loved the bag. It leans a little blue in the picture but it'd say it's a little more green in real life, but its very cute and it will definitely be something I use consistently! And, if you are new here, Ipsy is a beauty subscription service that costs $10 a month. A subscriber receives four to five deluxe size samples (with the occasional full size thrown in!) and a cosmetic bag monthly. 

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This month, the bag held some cleanser wipes, a mini lipstick, Mango scented hand cream, eyeshadow pigment and some false lashes! I like when the bag comes with three to four cosmetic items and one to two skincare items. It's a nice ratio, in my opinion! 

What: Figs & Rouge Mango & Mandarin Shea Butter Hand Cream (20ml)

Value: $6.56

Review: This UK-based brand is made with pure and natural ingredients. If you are expecting this hand cream to be really thick and heavy you couldn't be more wrong. It's one of those creams that is not watery at all, but it kind of has that texture where it just disappears and dries really fast when you spread it. You need a little more than with a typical thick hand cream to cover the surface area of your hands but the formula absolutely softens your hands. I have this weird complex where I ABHOR lotion and I specifically don't like that greasy feeling on my hands. I will often lotion my arms, legs, etc and then wash my hands because I just can't stand it. This hand cream does not bother me in the slightest! The scent is fresh, and while I feel like I'm more of a vanilla girl than a Mango one, the scent doesn't stick around long enough to become obnoxious in any way! 

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What: Noyah Deeply In Mauve Lipstick 

Value: $4.50~

Review: This is an all natural brown-red (very Kylie Jenner) lipstick that is very pretty, very creamy and is not sticky. Other than applying it once to check it out, I haven't worn it to see the lasting power of the product. Typically, natural products don't last as long as preservative filled ones, which doesn't bother me in the slightest. When I swatched it, I didn't notice any staining of the skin or any emphasis on dry, cracked lips (which mine are since the weather is all over the place, going from cold to hot in a moments notice) which is really great! I think I'm going to love this product and I can't wait to check out other items from the brand!

Here is a swatch of Deeply in Mauve along with a swatch of the Mineral Eye Shadow pigment in Harlequin!

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What: Mica Beauty Cosmetics Mineral Eye Shadow in Harlequin

Value: $14.95

Review: This is an interesting product. I want to preface what I'm about to say with this, I haven't worn this loose eye shadow on my eyes. However, this is what I've noticed so far. The packaging has a typo. The back lists my color as 'Harliquin' while the website spells it correctly as 'Harlequin'. Okay, no big deal. But the eye shadow I received is definitely green. The picture on their website looks silvery. The pigment swatched beautifully, but I noticed that when I wiped it off, it left a brown stain. I am almost willing to bet that when I wear this, my oily eye lids will break it down and I'll end up just having a patchy, brown stained eyelid. I hoping that isn't the case, but I'm not optimistic. 

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What: Kiss i-ENVY Premium 100% Human Hair False Lashes in Diva 01 

Value: $2.99

Review: I love false lashes! I'm still a total novice and applying them but I am learning and getting better. I'll wear them semi-regularly and then stop and for me, it's not like riding a bike! I get worse the longer I go without wearing them. I love that these are natural looking. The lashes aren't extremely long which I like because I have small, hooded eyes. I haven't applied these but I know I'll like them! Can't wait to play with them. 

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What: skyn Glacier Cleansing Cloths 

Value: $5.00

Review: As I sat down to write up this post, I realized that I hadn't taken my make up off and that this would be a perfect time to use these cloths! I had extremely sensitive skin and these were abrasive on my skin and not in a good way. The scent didn't bother me much, but dang, did my skin feel uncomfortable. I immediately went to wash my face. I would NOT recommend using this to clean off eye make up if you have sensitive eyes, however, on the rest of the face I think it could be fine. The formula definitely broke down the make up really fast, so that was nice!

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Total Value: $34.00

Overall Thoughts: I joined Ipsy because I like trying new brands. In this bag, there was only one brand I've received before in an Ipsy bag and one brand I have purchased before. Trying three new products from three new brands for $10 is totally worth it to me! While I wouldn't say I absolutely love any of these items, I like the variety and I have some new brands to check out. I would say I'm mostly excited to see what else Noyah has to offer! 

So that's my review! I actually feel like I didn't get too crazy, even though it's really late now! I only rambled on like once or twice. Pretty decent, all things considered! What did you think about the items I received? Have you signed up for Ipsy yet? Do it and let me know what you think!