Inspire Me: Healthy Week 3: where I reveal what I eat, what I weigh and show you myself in a BIKINI!

Kristen and I are back for our get healthy weekly link-up!

<center> <a href="http://www.allinmytwenties.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="All In My Twenties" src="http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e379/raven123smith123/newstuff/getfit.jpg"/></a></center>

Or as I like to think of it, Operation: Get Skinny. But again, that's my opinion, please don't let it offend you if being healthy is the most important thing to you. I mean, it is, but I've never shied away from stating how I really feel, and that's how yes, I do want to be a skinny bitch.  (Minus the bitch part...maybe. *wink*)

Ok. The before picture. The dreaded before picture. I must preface and say how I never, ever in a million years thought I would show the world* myself in a bikini at my heaviest weight ever (minus being pregnant, but even then, where am I now is only about ten pounds less than when I was nine freaking months pregnant). Why did I decide to do it? Well, for one, seeing Kristen show her before pictures totally inspired me (and that bish is a looker to start with) and two, I am very vain and I knew if I showed a before picture, I would be so embarrassed to have to report that I went up in pounds the next week. 

So. Let's just get this over with. Rip the bandaid off in one fail swoop.

Prepare your eyes...




Just NO. 

Two things about when and where I gain weight: I gain top to bottom, hair follicle to toenail. Except, my face never really seems to budge. Which is why sometimes, when I tell people my current weight, they look a little shocked. Because my current weight?

166.5

Again, I can't believe I just let the world* in on that fact, but the reason I did? Because by letting everyone know, I am forced to get my ass into gear and GET. SKINNY. Because if I can help it, I will never, and I repeat never weigh an ounce over 166.5 in my life. This weight is the maximum for me. The end. It's all downhill from here.

My goal weight?

130

Which is almost where I was exactly three years ago.




The left picture? Me today. The right? Me at 134 pounds. What a difference thirty pounds makes! Of course, my sweet tan needs to find itself back to my epidermis, but we're working on an upcoming Hawaii trip that will do just that.

Side note: A few of you asked about stretch marks, and why I don't have any after birthing two children. For one, I hear stretch marks have a big part to do with genetics, and my mom nor my grandma have any themselves. Two, I bathed myself in cocobutter the entire nine months I was pregnant. Some say this tactic doesn't work, but for me, I've always compared it to this: if you take a simple rubber band and don't moisturize it, when it stretches way far out it will get dry and crack in various places, but if you take that same rubber band and moisturize the heck out of it, when it stretches out and goes back in, it will retain it's shape because it was nice and oiled up. Again, this is only my opinion and I'm no expert when it comes to stretch marks. End side note.

In the meantime, I need to get Hawaii-worthy. 

Which is why I have majorly changed my eating habits. The most drastic change is my decision to go back to being a vegetarian. After re-reading a book that totally changed my outlook on food, and after re-watching a documentary that did the same, I am right back where I was here, three years ago and at my leanest weight ever. Being a vegetarian isn't a "fad" I'm going through to lose weight quick (although it is a great added benefit) but it's a lifestyle I plan to hopefully implement for life. I did it before, and I will do it again. (Again, this is the approach and the convictions that are personal to me. I don't try to force my beliefs on anyone nor judge someone for doing differently.)

At the country club the other day, while watching my kids swim at the pool, I got hungry and ordered myself a walnut strawberry chicken salad. I had ordered it a few times in the past, and it had been a favorite of mine. Until this particular time. I went to cut the chicken into bite sized pieces and I encountered little stringy "plastic-like" vein-y tentacle-like bits (best way I can describe it) that were hard to cut apart. It brought me right back to the chapter in the book Skinny Bitch about how chickens were raised and brought up to be slaughtered and produced for human consumption. And right then and there I almost puked in my mouth and set aside every piece of chicken and ate only the salad. 

I just couldn't bring myself to eat the meat.



And thus started my re-entry into living a vegetarian lifestyle. We're going on four days now and so far? So good. (Btw, I am not a fan of Peta whatsoever. Even though I think their message is good, their tactics are horrible and offensive and totally counterproductive.)

So what do I eat? Fortunately for me, I LOVE vegetables. For the past few months, breakfast almost always is a wrap with goat cheese (my favorite), onions, tomatos, lettuce and Franks Red Hot. Trust me, about 8:30 am? I'm craving this wrappy goodness.



Lunch lately has been a grilled goat cheese, pesto, onion, tomato and mayo sandwich on whole wheat bread. I just pile it on and grill it over medium heat until the cheese is melted and the crust is browned.



Dinner? This one is a little harder, because hubs and the chitlins have not yet jumped on Mommas vegetarian bandwagon. (However, my boys have become accustomed to vegetarian chicken nuggets. They can't even tell the difference. This brand is their favorite.) So, I usually always make a full meal which consists of meat, veggies and some sort of starch. However, kind of like back when I was a full-on vegetarian, I only eat the salad and a smidge of the starch. 

And like I said earlier? I LOVE veggies. I just slice up a whole bunch of 'em, drizzle a little olive oil, shake some salt and pepper on and put them over the BBQ. And then I eat by the handful.



So. No meat for me. Vegetarian all the way. Thirty pounds to lose. 

It can be done.

It will be done.

Now go link up on Kristen's page so we can see the progress ya'll are making!

world* Just a little tongue in cheek. No, I don't think the whole world is reading my blog.

{Notice the blog name change? You can read about it HERE}