Moving on to a new beginning...

I know I’ve been such a slacker on the posting lately, but it’s been so busy in my world (which is a first). So a few weeks ago, I was really stressed out with my job. Seriously. It was taking over my life. I came home every day with such a negative attitude, and I finally decided it was time to start looking for a new job. Don’t get me wrong…I love the people I work with, and I loved my job before they tried making a 2 person job, a 1 person job. I just realized that it was out of my hands now, and I needed to find something I could do where I am actually happy. I prayed and prayed for God to help guide me in the right direction of a decision about the job thing. I actually interviewed at 3 places I got 2 of the 3 jobs. The job I accepted ended up being PERFECT and there couldn’t have been a more clear answer for God’s will. So I’m starting my new job on Monday at an eye clinic, and they’re actually going to help me get my Eye Tech certification. I have my new scrubs (which are SO CUTE) ordered, and I'm ready to go...I’m so excited! So wish me luck ya’ll. I feel like now I can finally focus on my weightloss, because this has been such a battle these past few weeks. I have been eating alright, but not exercising whatsoever. I’m still stuck in the plateau, haven’t lost, haven’t gained, but I feel like since my career is back on track, I can now focus on my weight which is so important! I miss ya’ll though & please write me to let me know how things are going with ya’ll! Say a prayer for me if ya’ll think about it!

Why You're Single

You’re single because you’re single. It’s not because you texted too much or too little or waited 33 minutes to respond because he took 23. It’s not because you met up with your ex that night at 5 a.m. that no one knows about, or because you kissed another boy after a date with a loser.

You’re not single because you spit food on that date or tripped coming out the the movie theatre. You’re not single because you hurt your first boyfriend really badly when you were 15 or because you have yet, to this day, to apologize. It’s not because you were secretly jealous when your friend got a boyfriend or that a guy you dated for two months now has a really cute girlfriend and looks really happy. And you’re happy for him. But still ill that he found someone before you.

You’re not single because you slept with your ex boyfriend. You’re not single because half the world found out when you didn’t even want to remember it yourself. You’re not single because you think the guy your friend wants to hook you up with is ugly or not tall enough. It’s not because you’re not willing to put up with someone who doesn’t brush their teeth on a regular basis.

You’re not single because your standards are too high. Good for you for having standards. It’s not because you didn’t like that really, really good guy who wanted to take you on a date and you just weren’t feeling it. And it’s not because you like to wear pajama pants as soon as you get home and wash all the makeup off your face. You’re not single because you didn’t learn enough from the past or would rather chill on a Friday night with your blanket and a cold beer than shower, get ready, and go out. You’re not single because something is wrong with you.

You are single because you are single. It’s really as simple as that. You haven’t made the connection with another heart yet. You can get dolled up, dress cute, cut your hair, dye your hair, tweeze your eyebrows, put on lipstick and you may still. be. single. You can go out to a bar hoping to meet the love of your life and not find a damn one in the place attractive. And it’s going to remain that way until it’s time for you to find one. Stop hoping for it. Start living the life that you do have instead of wishing for things that you don’t have. There will come a time you’ll meet a boy and you’ll have to give up some of this single freedom you currently have. Start being more thankful. Start doing that now.

Plateau Hiatus...

UGH! I've disappeared off the blogging planet these past couple of weeks because I've been stuck in this awful plateau. Yep. I way the same now as I did ummm...last time I updated. STUPID. I guess it's better than gaining, but whatever. Anyway. If you were wondering...thats whats been going on. So I'm back and better than ever. Bring it on tomorrow :) will only lose from here on out (say a prayer for me) I'd love to hear from ya'll..it's been awhile!

He's just not that into you...

YA'LL. Okay..here are the highlights, lowlights & lessons learned of my weekend:

1.) If you even have to question if he is or not...he's just NOT that into you.
2.) LSU LOST :( wahhhhhh!
3.) Keep your true friends close. Especially when they deal with your BS.
4.) Your mom...she always knows best. ALWAYS.
5.) Backroads, country music, beer & friends...cures almost anything.
6.) Having sisters is probably the greatest blessing God has ever given me.

So this week has been pretty much one of those weekends you look back at and say, "WOW. That's the weekend my life turned around." Ok maybe that was a little dramatic, but seriously. I feel like I really learned a lot about life, myself, and other people this weekend, and it all kind of got put into perspective for me. I got closure from an ex-boyfriend that I've really been waiting on for the past month or so, I realized that true friends are very rare & that you need to appreciate the ones that you have, I realized that nothing feels better than a night with your friends cruising the backroads and singing country music at the top of your lungs, I came to the conclusion that my mom's advice is ALWAYS spot on whether I like to take it at the time or not, and I realized that my sisters are really the most wonderful treats EVER that God has put in my life.

Over the weekend, I read the book "He's Just Not that into You" on iBooks, and let me tell you...that book is probably the most straightforward piece of advice I've ever laid my eyes on. It was kind of like listening to advice from a friend that you KNOW is telling you the truth...but you just don't wanna hear it. That being said, it really opened my eyes up to my last relationship that failed...and I have no intentions of ever going back down that road again (which I really wanted to these past few weeks). It was the closure I needed. My best friend posted a quote on Instagram last week and it really spoke to me. It said..

"The moment you have to prove your worth to someone is the moment you should absolutely and utterly walk away."

So that being said, I went into this weekend with a really clear mind. Kind of like a fresh start that I've BEEN needing. I went to my dad's house to watch the LSU/Georgia football game this weekend. THEY FREAKING LOST. Grrrrrr. No pun intended on growling like a tiger when talking about the Tigers, ha. Since the game was early (2:30)...I kind of got my night started early too...meaning I had a little too much to drink. And by like 7...those 6 Bud Light Platinums were really making me feel a little adventurous. So 4 of my friends and I decided to go "ghost hunting" at a haunted cemetary right up the road. Needless to say, it didn't really turn into a ghost hunt. We were all way too scared, so drove thru instead...and nothing happened. So yeah. That's how that went. After that, we rode backroads, listented to music, and just had a really genuinely good time. I love nights like that. Nights where you can just hang out with your friends, enjoy the country life, and sing relatable songs at the top of your lungs. That always works out. I realized that my friends really are those friends that I can't live without. I mean...who really WANTS to ride around until 3 AM and listen to my shout out lyrics to every depressing song ever written? Not many people...so I'm very grateful for my friends that are there for me no matter what. They always step up when I need them.

Another highlight of my weekend was spending time with my mom and my sisters. My mom actually lives about 2 hours away, so it isn't often that I get to see her. When I do, it's always nice though. She cooks up some good homecooked meals & gives me advice to stuff that always comes back to prove it's credibility (like the ex-boyfriend she told me to get away from months ago). And yesterday evening, me, my 8 year old sister, my 22 year old sisters and my 2 nephews piled up in bed and took a Sunday nap after a much needed afternoon together just bonding, talking, painting our nails, you know..just stuff sisters should do together. I love days like that.

Actually I just love weekends like that. They really make you thankful for the little things in life.

Obviously my nephew Levi wasn't up for my photo shoot.

But my youngest nephew Liam was...

Mom time!

Not a real post unless you post a selfie. 

My one and only niece, Mercy

Game day...night. Obviously I was a struggle at this point in the night. 

Sister time!

Ok y'all. Until next time :) let me know how y'all's weekend was!

Where I Thought I'd be at 25

Hey ya'll :) So it's been awhile since I've updated, and you know...not too much is new. Still kind of at a plateau with the weightloss thing. Didn't gain, didn't lose today...so I guess it could be much worse, right?!

Anyway...this weekend was pretty cool. Got to spend alot of time with my family and friends, finally ended my last relationship completely. Well, it's been over, but we were still doing the whole hanging out and texting each other thing...we both decided to just cut it off completely so we can move on. It hurt alot at first, but ultimately, I really think that was the best thing for me emotionally. I won't feel like I'm getting "lead on" anymore. You know...we've all been there. Well, most of us have anyway.

If you would've asked me when I was 17 years old, where I thought I would be when I was 25...I would think I would have a couple of kids by now, a husband, and be living the whole perfect little dreamhouse with a white picket fence, story. Yeah right. Now that I'm 25, I see that life isn't always going to be that fairytale that you had dreamed of, and that maybe waiting for a husband, and kids, and all that...isn't so bad afterall. Of course there are days where I'm jealous because I see my sister that's 3 years younger than me with her little family and realize that 90% of my high school graduating class have all of these cute little families that I have always wanted...but you know- the more I think about it, the more I think that God is going to bless me with something amazing when the time is right.

Or I hope so at least :)

Here are a couple of pictures from the weekend! 

Me and my sweet sister :) 

Stuck.

This is going to be a somewhat short post just because I'm tired and haven't updated in a couple of days.

Do y'all ever feel STUCK?! Like just stuck in life in general? It's been one of those days that I feel like...I'm just running in place.

You know...just a weird day. 

But it is raining outside so hopefully I'm about to get some good rest. I wrote a cute little quote on my chalkboard tonight that I'm going to share with y'all. Have a good weekend. Feel free to write me- I'm not up to much. 

Take your own advice.

So this morning, I was reading through my blog feed and Roni (a blogger I follow) had a blog on "10 things you tell your friends that you should tell yourself" and it was such an inspiring post. There are so many times I look in the mirror thinking I'm not good enough, or I wish I looked like so and so, I hate my body, I wish I didn't get upset over everything...you know. ALOT of things that I wish I could change about myself. I don't really recognize my self-worth and that's SUCH a problem.

Time after time, I find myself giving my friend's advice...and thinking "Kari, what kind of person are you to give them advice that you can't even take yourself?!"

And it's so true. My friend Katie has been going through a tough break-up (as have I) and I always tell her:

"Just be patient, the right guy is out there"

"It may not get better today, or tomorrow, but it will eventually, just give it time"

"Be happy with yourself first, that's all that matters"


Why can't I tell myself those things? Why can't I take my own advice and boost my own confidence?

So starting today (or trying to start today) every time I give my friend some encouraging advice, I'm gonna secretly give myself some advice :)

And by the way y'all...the new iOS7 update is SWEET! 

Text messages look all cute & girly now.

Inbox view.

The iTunes Radio is probably the best idea EVER. It's like Pandora, with the option to buy the song at the top. LOVE THIS!

New icons!

iPhone 5s, iOS7, Selfies & A FREAKING PLEATEAU on Weigh-In Wednesday!

Well as ya'll see there's definitely a bunch to get to today!

I'm gonna start with my technology rant. If you've been following me, you know that I'm a tight wad. Kind of. I'm a tight wad when it comes to spending alot of money on one thing, but I'm actually a compulsive shopper when it comes to a bunch of little things. It's really strange. I just don't like to see my money go..in chunks. So with that being said, I've mentioned before that I broke my screen on my iPhone 5. UGH. And unfortunately, it's over $200 to get it fixed over here in my neck of the woods (I voided my warranty by trying to repair it myself)...so at the moment, I'm using a ghetto iPhone 4. BLAH. And the iOS7 update comes out today at noon. I'm extremely bummed out that I won't get to experience the full effects of it with my iPhone 5 :( so if ya'll know where I can get a good deal at to replace my iPhone 5 screen...PLEASE let me know. That being said, I'm also kind of jealous they come out with this champagne colored iPhone now. Call me trashy, but I LOVE gold like noone's business. I mean check out these earrings I'm wearing today. 

So either live with this horrific iPhone 4 and keep my money, pay $230 to fix my iPhone 5 screen, sell my broken iPhone on eBay and put that money towards a FULL PRICED iPhone 5s since I'm not due for an upgrade until like December of 2014, or one of you shoot me and idea on how to get that phone screen fixed for cheap.

On to the next topic...weigh-in Wedneday. I'm not going to publicy broadcast how horrible I did this week, but let's just say..the plateau remains in effect and I have lost ONE. FREAKING. POUND. since last week. I guess that's the "right way" to do it and blah blah blah. But it really sucks when you get on the scale to see that...after you worked your @$$ off all week. Whatever. I'm gonna keep the ball rollin' and hopefully see better results next week :)

Soooo....ya'll holler at me and let me know what's up with ya'll.

I'm either starving or I hate food.

Oh my gosh ya'll. Please tell me that ya'll have days like this too.

It's a little past noon, I'm at work, and I have yet to eat anything today. Well...I drank a cup of coffee, and two cups of water- but that's it. I'm not really FULL...but I am a little stressed out and really tired so maybe that has something to do with it. The thought of food doesn't even sound the least bit good right now. I know this isn't good for my metabolism to just...not eat, but at this point, I would literally be shoving it down my throat. AHHHHH! What do I do? Have ya'll ever experienced this?

No Weigh-In Surprise.

Hey ya'll! Happy MONDAY! Ok ok ok...I know most of you aren't happy it's Monday (including myself) but I figured I would make that sound a little exciting ;)

My week tends to go something like this:

MONDAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
TUESDAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
WEDNESDAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
THURSDAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY

I had a pretty fun weekend though since my last update on Saturday. Yesterday, me, my sister and her boys went to my grandma's house for lunch and it was pretty amazing as you see. It's not really possible for me to turn away from a good, homecooked meal. We had roast, rice and gravy, macaroni and cheese, green beans & cornbread. Welcome to the south ya'll.

I mean...that right there explains the post of this title. I'm going to quit weighing every single day because I'm sure that'll just drag me down...especially on days I eat like that. So from now on, I'm going to weigh in every Wednesday. You know...do the whole "weigh-in Wednesday" thing. We'll see how that goes. It may last...it may not. So yeah. That's my new challenge.

Last night, I watched the Miss America pageant and have to say I was highly disappointed. Like alot of folks, I was definitely rooting for my home state, Miss Louisiana- Jaden Leach, to take the crown. Unfortunately, she didn't even get in the top 15. And she's really drop dead gorgeous. ANNOYING. Get your stuff together, judges! Grr. A guy I went to high school is actually dating her, so I thought that was kind of cool.

On the food side of things, today is a new week...so starting out kind of fresh again. I had a turkey, cheese & mayo sandwich along with a diet coke for breakfast. I was kind of in a hurry, and dropped the newspaper off at my grandma's before work this morning- so she had that waiting on me when I got there. I ain't gonna complain :) But now...i'm REALLY FULL.

Do any of ya'll have any quick meal recipes or ideas I could try while I'm at work? I'm here 8 hours a day sitting at a desk, so I need to keep it light.

Paying my respects to sleep-in Saturdays.

Y'all...I honestly can't even believe I'm about to admit to this. BUT...I slept until freaking 1:45 today. Like in the afternoon. Which means...I'm extremely refreshed and I've wasted like half of my weekend. That's kind of bad. No...that's really bad. But on the bright side of things, that means I haven't ate anything today :) So now that it's 2:00...I'm laying here, in my garden tub, blogging. It's kind of nice though...I mean there aren't many days that I can just waste my whole day away and do what I want, on my terms...for like the entire day. So I'm definitely soaking it up right now. Literally. 

I was gonna go to the LSU game this weekend with my family, but that didn't work out...so tonight I think I'm gonna go hang out with my sister, she's 22, and one of my best friends from high school and just visit, maybe eat (lightly) and watch their kids play...then it dawn on me for the 47th time this week that my biological clock is ticking and I need to get this show on the road. 

Update: I'm now at my sisters enjoying time with her and my sweet nephews while watching Johnny Football and Texas A&M get put to shame by Alabama. Ugh. Not that I'm a Johnny Football fan, but I am an LSU fan and we hate Bama. So go Aggies! 

And there you have it. My Saturday college football weakness appetizer things I rant about constantly.  

I'm a weekend hermit.

It's FRIDAY finally finally finally. And Friday the 13th at that.

Ha...can't wait to see what kind of chaos life decides to throw my way this evening.

I know that sounded kind of Negative Nancy, but ya'll...my week has been laughable at this point. But not laughable in a fun, happy way. It's like one thing after another and I hate to ask, "what's next?" You know...I think everyone has weeks like that, so I'm not going to let it get me down. Just say a prayer for me that something positive comes my way soon :) To give you a brief summary...my iPhone screen broke and it's over $200 to fix it (for the 3rd time), my ex-boyfriend has happily moved on while i'm still over here grieving, my weightloss plateau is about to drive me to insanity & my laundry pile is like...Mount Everest. I know this sounds so dramatic, and there are people in the world that have it way worse than me...but like I said, it's just been one of those weeks.

So yeah, on to better things. Like my diet. Everything's going wonderful as of this morning weight wise. I'm FINALLY down to the weight I've been aiming for all week to get back to, so hopefully it's all downhill from there this weekend (unless I have another crazy binge I'm going to have to fight another week to work off) BUT....THAT WON'T HAPPEN. Trust me. I just hope to move out of this plateau now that I'm where I wanna be. Binging is for the birds.

What do ya'll do to stay away from the tempting food on the weekends? Sometimes I almost wished I worked 7 days a week...because seriously. I have no issues staying on track during the weekdays.

So my weekend plans are pretty bare at the moment. Don't really know what I'm going to do..but sometimes those are the best weekends to have, right? I have a severe social problem. I hate going out in public sometimes because I feel SO FAT...so I will stay at home...and literally do nothing. Well except catch up on Keeping up with the Kardashians, Honey Boo Boo, Duck Dynasty, Teen Mom 3, and the Rivals 2. Hahahaha. That's my life ya'll, that's my life. Let me know what ya'll are up to.

And here is some advice I found very encouraging on another blog today:

To walk far, carry less.

Maybe part of growing up is learning that it’s okay to set something down, just because it’s heavy.

You may really love that thing. You’re likely attached to it for reasons even you don’t understand. You may have held it tightly against your chest for so long that it feels like part of you… But you simply cannot carry the weight of it anymore.

So you let it go.

You let it go, and it makes you free.

Letter to my Future Husband

So, these past few days have been a little tough for me if you've been following my blog. Yesterday, on my down time at work I was just browsing through blogs on heartbreak, and you know...mushy stuff like that. I came across a blog by a girl that writes letters to her future husband and plans on giving them to him on their wedding day. She hasn't ever met this guy, and isn't in a current relationship. I thought this was such a good idea, but I also know that guys aren't really into the whole "I'm gonna write you a letter every single day, and you have to sit down and read every single one of them" kind of thing. So I decided to alter this project a little bit, and type one letter to my future husband before I meet him. One when I know he's the one, one on my engagement day, and one on my wedding day and give him all 4 letters on my wedding day. Cute right?! So here is letter #1 ya'll. Hope you guys enjoy...let me know what you think and let me know if any of ya'l have done this.


Hello there my future husband (well this is kind of awkward),

So this is my first letter to you. I really have dreamed my whole life of the “perfect little love story”, although I’ve constantly been reminded that fairytales in real life don’t exist. I completely believe that, but I also believe that when you find the right person, sparks really do fly. At 25 years old though, I’m starting to wonder where the heck you are.

Right now, I have absolutely no idea if I’ve ever met you, if you’re someone I talk to on a daily basis, or if you’re some stranger I’m just going to randomly come across one day. We haven’t even begun our love story yet…well I don’t think we have. UNLESS, I revisited the cemetery and you’re that ex-boyfriend that I really ended up “not being able to live without” haha. I do want you to know that, whoever you are, I think about you often. I see all of these happy couples around me, all of my happily married friends and family members, and really look forward to us being like that one day.

I wonder what we will fight about, what our home will be like, and what our kids will look like. I wonder about our wedding day often. I don’t do very well with large crowds, so fingers crossed we run off and do this somewhere not so public. I wonder if we’ll fight to save our marriage if things get rocky, and I wonder if you can put up with my temper tantrums that come in week long spurts. I wonder if you’ll roll your eyes at me when I get dramatic, which I tend to do often, or if you’ll just laugh at me and understand that’s just how I am. I wonder if you will sit on the couch with me on Mondays nights to watch the Bachelor, or if you’ll be the one person that can stray me away from that addiction. I wonder what my friends will think about you, and I wonder if they’ll see me light up when I talk about you. I wonder if you’ll get along with my dad…because my track record isn’t looking too good…and I wonder if you’ll get to meet my grandma, because she’s taught me so many life lessons that I will bring into our marriage. I can’t wait to tell you the cute love stories of my grandparents, and I promise you that my mom will love you like you’re her own son.

I’m nowhere near the woman God has called me to be. I have major sins and major faults, as everyone does. So I wonder if God is waiting for me to make those changes before handing you over to me, or if he’s going to hand you to me to HELP me make these changes. I want you to know that we are going to be given so many challenges throughout our marriage…everything isn’t going to always be butterflies and flowers, and I pray that we will be able to get through them hard times and come out stronger than we were before.

Obviously, I think about us a lot. But I can’t wait to start our life together.
Starting tonight, I’m going to start praying for you. I really do want you to make good decisions and I want the best for you. I’m going to start the most important part of this early, and center our relationship around God.


Yours truly,
Kari

Food, boys, work & cleaning.

Good morning, or afternoon, or evening...whichever you prefer. I've been coming back to my blog trying to update since 8:30 this morning. It's now 11:45 and you see how far I've gotten. Shows you how busy it's been at work this morning. I guess I spoke too soon when I acted like my job was a piece of cake :) On the brighter side of things, I won't complain because at least my day is somewhat flying by.

So I'm finally down a few pounds from my horrible binge this weekend. 2 more pounds to go before I'm back the lowest point I was about a week ago. Gah, now that I just read that sentence it sounds awfully confusing. Let me word this out more appropriately: I'm not near the lowest point I've ever been in my life weight wise, but I'm almost to the lowest point I've been in the past 4'ish years or so. Ok. That sounded better.

I feel like during the week, I stick with my diet SO well, but on the weekends, I completely mess up all the hard work I did during the week. I've GOT to work on that.

And ya'll. I am so lazy when it comes to cleaning & doing laundry during the week. LIKE I HATE IT. I find so many excuses to wait until Sundays to catch up on housework. It's so ridiculous. BUTTTTTTTTTT, yesterday...I got home from work and cleaned my place from top to bottom, washed dishes, did laundry, organized all of my jewelry. I was so proud of myself. Eeeek! So here's a little peak...once again. My iPhone lighting sucks. Sorry. 

But anyway...I had a random emotional day yesterday. I really hate those. Sometimes it feels like everything is going so wonderful, then out of nowhere..here come your feelings just slapping you in the face. I got a little down about a stupid boy. That I shouldn't even give the time of day. I have a bad habit of "visiting the graveyard" as my grandmaw would call it. DUMB DUMB DUMB. Instead of putting myself out there to meet new guys, I always revisit the past...which is by far the stupidiest thing to do if any of ya'll were wondering. If the past calls, don't answer...it has nothing new to say. So I thought I would post a little quote on here that might lift some of ya'll up, it sure helped me look at things differently yesterday.

And now for a little diet motivation for those that eat out of boredom:

Have a good day ya'll, feel free to write me :)

A day in the life of a single, childless, 25 year old full-time worker.

So I decided to dedicate today's post to show you guys what my daily routine is like. I mean, maybe, ya'll will see just how much time I do have...and throw all kinds of tips my way since the last thing I have is the excuse of..."I don't have time". Although, I have used that excuse way more than I would like to admit.

Keep in mind this is my Monday-Friday routine.

5:00 A.M- First alarm goes off. Turn off my alarm, reset it for 6 AM.

6:00 A.M- Second alarm goes off. Turn off my alarm, reset it for 6:30 AM.

6:30 A.M- Press snooze every 5 minutes until 6:55 AM.

6:55 A.M- Get in the bathtub, thumb through my Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and emails.

7:15 A.M- Dry my hair, throw it together, find some scrubs in a HURRY, pop in some earrings.

7:30 A.M- Jet out of the door, realize that it takes me 45 minutes to get to work, and STILL continue to leave at the same time every day.

7:30 A.M- 8:10ish- Do my makeup as I'm driving to work while jamming out my "Newbies" playlist on iTunes, which mainly consists of mushy gushy love songs, and depressing breakup songs and well, songs that aren't really "newbies". Well some are...but some are like REALLY old school. 

8:10-8:15 A.M- Arrive at work...LATE. Pour me some coffee with 3 sugars and 3 creams, and a cup of ice water.

8:15-10:30 A.M- Take my adderall, and WORK. LIKE. CRAZY. Have about 5 anxiety attacks in the process because I'm not getting every single thing done within the 30 minutes I wanted to have everything done by. Feel like this during the anxiety attacks: 

10:30 A.M- Realize that I am only 2 1/2 hours into my day and have nothing else to do.

10:30 A.M- 12:00 P.M- BLOG. Text. Look at blogs. Take selfies. Read the news. Look up recipes. 

12:00 P.M- 1:00 P.M- Lunch break. My co-worker, Tressa and I usually take lunch together every day. We usually go to McDonalds, order a grilled chicken patty dipped in BBQ sauce with a small water (90 calories and 1 gram of fat), then we go tan for 20 minutes at the local tanning salon. 

1:00 P.M- 5:00 P.M- Sit here, blog more, text more, drink ALOT of water, work if the opportunity presents itself. Try to figure out the wifi password that the management won't give us. And just. Be here.

5:00 P.M- Rush out of these doors as fast as I can, clock out, jump in my car. Set the same playlist...again.

5:45 P.M- Pull into town...pass up every single amazing fast food restaurant and town. Fight the urge.

5:50 P.M- Get home, check the mail...go inside. Put on some comfy clothes...

*Now this is where I should be exercising*

6:00 P.M- 9:00 P.M- Catch up on my DVR shows, watch anything that looks interesting on TV, think about washing clothes, decide I'll wait for the weekend, frequent the Humor and Quote section of Pinterest on commercial breaks. Save the funny stuff and send to all of my friends. You know...things like this..

9:00-11:00 P.M- It always depends on how tired I'm feeling as to when I go to bed, but it's usually around this time.

So yeah. Now all of you see how much of a life I DON'T have. I mean, it's really bad. So any suggestions that ya'll have on what kind of activities I should do would be pretty awesome. I know I should add some kind of fitness activity into my routine...problem is, sometimes I feel so fat that I HATE being in front of people. I like to be all alone, by myself, and it's hard to do that in a small town. Therefore, I just hardcore diet all the time. It's like I would much rather just compensate in the food department what I'm lacking in the exercise department. DUMB THINKING RIGHT?! So I need advice ya'll...maybe some tips and tricks to get me out of this funk.

College football is the devil & breakfast muffins are yummy.

Hey ya'll! So it's been a couple of days since I've gotten the chance to update. Thankfully, I'm finally finding a little bit of time during my morning at work. This weekend was absolutely terrible when it came to my diet. I've had more terrible days than good days here lately. Seriously. College football is the DEVIL. Once again, I went to my dad's house for the LSU game and binged on some good grilling. I ate like 5 of the little boneless pork pieces stuffed with cream cheese & jalapenos wrapped in bacon. Best appetizer dish ever for a cookout if ya'll are wondering. That doesn't include the cheesy potatoes, boudin, or BBQ'd grilled chicken I stuffed my face with 5 minutes prior. Geez. Welcome to Louisiana ya'll. We keep our bellies full. It's crazy how ONE binge like this can cause you to gain like...5 pounds. UGH. So I'm back at this hardcore dieting again. I gotta drop around 5 more pounds to get back to my lowest I've been on this diet so far. WAHHHHHHHHH. This sucks. REALLY. Hopefully I learned my lesson not to pull that crap again. The saying is true, "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels." Because this fat thing I feel right now....is awful, awful, awful, depressing, stupid, regretful. And I mean, I really don't even know what skinny feels like, but I'm pretty sure it feels better than this overflowing stomach thing I'm experiencing right now. Haha. Ok. Anyway...on to other things. Like selfies from the weekend:

Ok I really dont know why this mirror makes me look skinnier than I really am...but FYI, I really ain't that small ya'll. And I'm sorry that the brightness sucks...I'm currently using an iPhone 4 while my iPhone 5 screen is out of service (until I cough up $230 to get it fixed). So yeah..that's my reasoning for the horrible quality pictures.

I've been in this weird music mood lately where I like all these sad, breakup songs...and right now I'm completely obsessed with the group Passenger, and their song, "Let her Go". It's such a cool song...the lead singer's voice is such a different sound, and I don't even know how to explain it. I guess it sounds like, Indie'ish <-- if that's even a word. Ya'll should definitely go download it and listen to it. Great lyrics. And I'm all about strong lyrics. Especially when they're that relateable. Back to food while i'm jumping from subject to subject. I made some really cool breakfast muffins for the week yesterday that are really yummy. They consist of hashbrowns, eggs, cheese, sausage, salt and pepper. You bake them in a muffin pan, and I made 12. 6 for me and 6 for my little sister. Here's the recipe: Kari's Breakfast Muffins (Serving size: 12 muffins) Ingredients: 6 eggs 1 cup of shredded cheese 2 cups of cooked ground sausage 1/2 TBSP of salt 1/2 TBSP of pepper 3 cups of thawed hash browns 3 TBSP of melted butter 1/2 cup of bell peppers (optional) 1.) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 2.) Mix together hashbrowns, butter, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl. 3.) Spray muffin pan, if needed. 4.) Put the hashbrown, butter, salt and pepper mixture in the bottom and up the sides of each muffin holder (note: this will not look very uniformed...it doesn't matter, it will all mix together evenly in the end) 5.) Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes. 6.) Take out of oven and evenly distribute sausage into all of the muffin pan cups. 7.) Mix together cheese, eggs, and bell peppers (if you used them) 8.) Pour cheese, eggs & pepper mixture over each muffin pan cup. 9.) Turn oven down to 300 degrees, and bake for an additional 15 minutes. 10.) Let cool for 5 minutes, take a knife to make a space around the edges, and pop them out. I keep mine in the fridge for the week in a tupperware, and every morning I take out one, heat it up and have my breakfast :)

Not even the scale can get me down.

Or so I say at least...

If you've been keeping up with me over the past week, you should know that this whole diet thing has been going...ummm...less than pleasant. Especially after I ate like a cow this weekend.

Yesterday wasn't too much better either. Well it wasn't BAD, but it wasn't wonderful. For breakfast I stopped at the convenient store on my way to work and picked up a Yoo-Hoo (my weakness) and a chicken and cheese crispito. That was my breakfast. Not the smartest choice I've made. For lunch...my coworker and I went to McDonalds and each ate a grilled chicken patty by itself dipped in BBQ sauce. That was probably the smartest decision of the day. And last but not least, my ex-boyfriend and I (yeah...weird) went to his parent's house and had a bowl of gumbo. If you aren't aware of what gumbo is...let me tell you. That is like the best dish from the south. It's sort of like rice and gravy, with chicken and sausage...and whatever else you feel like adding. It's pretty good. But not too smart either. That was all I ate yesterday. So it was a so-so day. I still lost a little, but I'm still not very happy with where I am weight wise. I'm still a pound or two heavier than I was at this point last week, which is kind of disappointing. But I won't give up. I'm just going to push even harder now.

Even though this has been such a short week at work, I can't WAIT for the weekend. What are ya'll all up to?! Let me know where you guys stand. I'll try to post pictures this evening, and if not...I will tomorrow. Have a good day ya'll!

And the plateau sets in...

Well ya'll...I'm pretty aggravated at the moment. I PLATEAU'D! Noooooooooooooo! I've been stuck between the same 3 pounds for 4 days now and I really have no idea what to do. I haven't exercised (which I'm sure is contributing to the problem)...I haven't been watching my fat grams, although I KNOW my calorie intake has been under 1200 a day.

It sucks pretty bad, and I'm discouraged so say the least. So I thought about taking the extremely unhealthy route and going on a water and lemon fast for the next few days, but after thinking about this for awhile, I decided I'm just going to start watching my fat grams, what I eat, and start exercising again today.

I think the problem is that it was Labor Day weekend and I've been off work, so I haven't really had a routine going on.

Saturday was the LSU game and if you know anything about sports in Louisiana, you know college game day in a HUGE DAY in the south! My dad had a big party at his house and they grilled all kinds of good food. Which by the way, I discovered my new favorite little appetizer dish. It was boneless pork stuffed with candied jalapenos and cream cheese, wrapped in bacon. AND. THEY. WERE DELICIOUS. So I ate alot of stuff at my dads on Saturday. Now that I think about it, all that stuff was probably well over 1200 calories.

Sunday, I ate at my grandmaws house...she always cooks a big lunch after church. That consisted of roast, rice and gravy, macaroni and cheese, fried okra, fried chicken, black eyed peas and rolls. So that wasn't very "healthy" either.

And yesterday, I ate a cheeseburger from Dairy Queen.

Ok yeah...now that all that's written down, I see why I hit a plateau.

GEEZ. Starting today though, I'm back on track ya'll. Some encouragement would be great if you have any to give ;)

Hope ya'll had a wonderful Labor Day and I look forward to catching up with all of ya'll!

Lowest of lows...in a good way!

Hey ya'll. Soooo I have some pretty amazing news! I now officially weigh the lowest I've weighed in about 5 years. I know you are probably so annoyed that I won't blurt out the numbers right now, but trust me...it's coming. I only have 14 pounds to go until I tell ya'll where I started off at and where I'm at now. So just keep the good vibes coming and you will get to hear the big secret rather sooner than later :)

This week has been a really tough week diet wise. I've hit a plateau. According to MyFitnessPal...the weight chart, it doesn't really look like a plateau, but I've been battling between the same 3 pounds for almost a week now, and it's really annoying. I need to get out of this, and I really haven't done much research to be honest of what I should do to come out of a plateau. So if you have ANY success with this or any words of encouragement...I would LOVE to hear it.

One thing I've noticed is how much water helps when dieting. If I'm consistently drinking water all day, I don't really want to eat. I know, I know. A bunch of small little meals are the best thing for you...but see...I just can't do that. I don't really have a reason why. I just can't. I mean I can snack on chocolate like nobody's business...but that's way unhealthy. So I'll stick to my 3 tiny meals a day and lots of water. UNLESS getting out of my plateau will involve many micro-meals.

Other than the diet thing, I've been sick this week, so I don't really have any other exciting news. Keep me in ya'll thoughts this week though, because I have about 4 more pounds to go until I'm at another pound that ends in "0" and like I've mentioned before...those are my FAVORITE. It's almost like a milestone.

I'm also looking into some cool at home, living room excercises so if any of ya'll wanna share your routines, I would love to know them too! :)

On a completely different subject...I'm kind of obsessed with reality shows. Well, to be honest...I'm REALLY OBSESSED with reality shows. The Bachelor/Bachelorette series is my weakness. Right now, it's off season....so the other shows I'm into at the moment are Keeping up with the Kardashians, The Rivals- Real World/Road Rules Challenge, Duck Dynasty, Teen Mom 3, and Honey Boo-Boo. So that is pretty much my nightly TV routine. Sighhhhhhh, life of a single girl.


Speaking of single...I got some pretty funny advice today from a coworker..."Don't expect a guy to just come knocking at your door...well, unless you throw a nail out in the street."

Godly goal.

Happy Tuesday y'all. 

Ok not really HAPPY because its only Tuesday and I kind of feel like from Monday on, I'm completely focused on the weekend. That's a bad way to live life- I just realized how depressing and negative that sounded. So maybe I should be more positive. Lets try this again. 

IT'S TUESDAY Y'ALL! Ahhhhhhh! I love Tuesdays. I cant even stand it. I love waking up and it not being Monday. I love how tomorrow is midweek. Ok. I give up. This is dumb. You get the point, it's Tuesday and I'm sure I don't have to fill y'all in on that ;) 

Back to the basics. So I don't really want to blog about what I ate today or how wonderful my diet is going (which btw is going pretty spectacular). I would rather focus on something that has been weighing pretty heavy on my heart these past couple of days. 

God. I don't think I've talked about my spiritual life on here before, but I figured why not?! I know people have their opinions and stuff but I mean really. I'm not going to hide who I am because of what others think. God is the most important thing in my life. I feel like I have so much room to grow in my spiritual life, by no means am I perfect, but here lately, God has really blessed me and really shown me how he can work in my life. I have a really bad tendency of leaning on God when I'm having a hard time. Well, I don't know if that's a bad thing necessarily, but it causes me to feel extremely guilty that I don't focus on him as much as I should when I'm happy or when things are going good for me. It's like the second I see heartbreak, or the second things go downhill in my life...I turn to God. So one of the biggest goals I have set for myself this week is to start having a best friend type of relationship with God. Like it should be. Happy, sad, mad, excited....he's gonna hear about it all :) 

Downsizing..

Well hey y'all. I feel like I haven't wrote in this thing in forever which in reality it's only been like 3 days'ish...if that's even a word?!

But yeah. I'm downsizing scrub pants and I couldn't be more excited. I'm going to a MEDIUM. And that sounds pretty skinny. Which I'm far from skinny but hey...at least I'm not ashamed to check out at the store with my medium scrub pants like I was with the large. Lol. Still not down a size in my top though. GRRRRR. I have pretty large tata's so that may be my excuse in that department. Although that excuse won't last forever.

But yeah, I'm feeling pretty good today. It's nice when you can see results in your clothes. Like I've never been so happy about busting a sag. Seriously.

SOOO! There's my feelings in a nutshell. What have y'all been up to?! Any fun stories? Let me hear em because I'm kind of sitting here staring at the rain for the rest of the evening. Hah. 

You can't really see my baggy pants there. Ugh. Let me try this again....

There's a better idea...and last but not least. A facey. My terminology for a selfie of the face ;)

Ok. Bye. 

10 pound presents.

So I decided that rewarding myself for every ten pounds I lose would be a pretty cool way to keep me motivated. So for every ten pounds lost, here are things I'm going to reward myself with. Let me know what y'all do to stay motivated?!

 I've already reached my first goal and got me some cute Nike's for work :) 

 

Love and Food.

Well y'all. love and food. Two of the most important things in life...or my life at least. 

But really. I noticed something really ironic today. I eat most when I'm happy and in love. I think alot of people can relate to that. I find that I have really packed on the pounds when I was happiest in my 2 serious relationships. What makes this even more ironic is the fact that as soon as I kiss that "love" goodbye...I start losing weight and motivation to get skinny pops up basically out of nowhere. It's weird. But it makes sense. So now I've finally pinpointed what makes me fat, and I'm going to blame the boys :) that's about to change though. Old habits die hard and I'm about to nip this one in the butt. From now on, I'm going to eat to survive, not survive to eat. 

Finally I'm gonna post a picture for y'all because I downloaded the blogger app where it makes that easy. Woohoo! So take a look. This is the Kari you will NEVER see again. Mark my words. So does anyone want to take some guesses on my weight?! Ugh! 

So I'm pretty psyched that I can post pictures now so I'm just warning y'all...it might get a little crazy around here. Happy Hump Day folks!

Pounds that end in zero..

Well the title says it all ya'll. Pounds that end in zero are possibly the best thing EVER! Especially when you cross that bridge and go UNDER the pounds that end in zero. Well that's where I'm at right now. I crossed my first weightloss milestone and I am quite excited over that! I've lost a total of 23 pounds so far (since April).

Ok enough of the bragging. I'm going to change the subject and talk about FOOD. I work at a doctor's office and we have drug reps that cater to us a couple of times a week and bring us lunch....WELL....today they brought fried catfish, chicken strips, hush puppies, and cheesecake. I mean it's REALLY hard to sit here and smell all of that good food and just suffer through it. So guess what? I'm going to have 2 pieces of fried fish dipped in tartar sauce. I mean that isn't THAT bad is it?! I feel like if I cheat every now and then just a LITTLE BIT then I won't want to binge in the longrun. So that's what I'm going to have for lunch and I really hope I don't regret it a few hours from now. Crossing my fingers.

On the other negative side of things, my dad's birthday is tomorrow so my sister is cooking up a big ol' Pinterest inspired meal tonight, and I'm going to join in on the celebration. I'm going to test my willpower for SURE because according my MyFitnessPal...I only have like 700 more calories left for the day. Eeeeeeek. This should be interesting.

I finally got on BlogLovin'. Hopefully I can get some more followers through there because I really feel like noone reads my posts, haha. I would love to hear from you if you do so I know that I'm not putting all my words to waste :)

Other than this diet, not much else has been going on in my life. I'm still single, and I can't say I'm really a fan of that. I've never been the kind of girl that relies on guys for happiness, but I must say...it's much better when you at least have someone to keep you from being lonely. BLAH! Hmmmm...what else...oh yeah. I shattered my iphone 5 for the 2nd time this month last week. Yeah. I know. RIDICULOUS. But the first time I paid $240.00 to get it fixed and I will NEVER make that mistake again. So this time I actually picked all of the broken glass out of my phone with tweezers, peeled off the little adhesive thing, and repaired it myself. Well...almost. I'm still waiting on the new adhesive strip to come in the mail. But after that, it'll be just like new. So before ya'll go pay a ton of money to get your phone screen fixed...if it's possible, just pick the glass out yourself. It ended up costing me a total of $10 to fix my phone. I even researched a little prior to fixing it to see if anyone had success doing it on their own, and I really didn't find anyone that did. Well I'm lying. I found like maybe 2 people out of 50. And I'm not really smart when it comes to all that, but it indeed worked.

Ok now that I rambled about pointless stuff, I'm gonna let ya'll go. But I will update soon. I will add pictures and stuff on here as soon as I figure out how to do all of this from my phone...so it shouldn't be long. Take care!

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Monday Blues...

Well it's Monday again ya'll. So another long week at work it is, and for some reason...I'm feeling a little blah today.

On the good side of things though, I weighed today and I'm down another pound! I'm pretty excited about that. I did pretty good this weekend when it came to eating. We celebrated my dad's birthday yesterday at my grandmother's house and I had a bowl of chicken and dumplings, and a fried chicken breast (I know, I know..that part wasn't very smart) but we had a good time. Being that I even lost weight in the process, made it for a GREAT time :)

I'm so excited that I'm finally starting to make some friends on here! I've gotten a couple of e-mails from some of you guys and that really makes me feel like blogging this experience was definitely the right route to take. So feel free to write me anytime, I get SO excited when I get emails!

So far today, I have drank a Yoo-Hoo for breakfast, and oh my gosh...those are by far, the best drinks EVER! I only drank about 2/3 of the bottle, but according to the bottle, there are some pretty good nutrients in those things. I ate a grilled chicken patty dipped in BBQ sauce from McDonalds for lunch which was really good...and surprisingly, it was pretty filling. I've drank a bunch of water which usually keeps me full. Still don't know what I'm doing for supper, but we'll see :) Ya'll enjoy the evening and please feel free to contact me if you wanna chit chat and accompany me in this weight loss journey!

Friday finally...

So it's Friday ya'll. I can't even tell ya'll how thankful I am for that. I'm thankful for every day but really...Fridays are just the cherry on top.

Last night, I went out to my dad's house to visit & catch some supper. I ate a grilled chicken salad over there...it would've been extremely healthy if I wouldn't have piled on the Mexican shredded cheese and the ranch. I don't even like ranch, but who wants a dry salad?! But overall..it wasn't too too bad nutrition wise. I mean it beats a big ol' hamburger and fries any day.

So this weekend, I have no plans. It's the first time in a long time that I can remember just being completely planless. It's kind of nice. I'm thinking tonight I may see if my little sister wants to stay the night with me. She's 8. And she is a DIVA! If she does, I'll definitely post pictures for ya'll. Usually our ideal slumber party consists of painting our toes and nails, and watching re-runs of Keeping up with the Kardashians.

So on the eating side of things...today...I have had a bag of chips and a piece of watermelon so far. The chips...like I have said before, I'm a snacker. And I really have dropped the amount of snacks I eat daily tremendously...so I know it'll take time to eliminate them completely, but I'm trying :) I think instead of eating lunch today, I'm going to the tanning salon. I know that I need to eat and stuff, but I ate enough for breakfast that should carry me on until about 3 P.M'ish. I didn't weigh today. I'm going to try to make it through the entire weekend without weighing...so let's see how that goes & WISH ME LUCK! Really. I need it. Weekends are so hard for me to stick to my diet. TEMPTATION EVERYWHERE--haha. But I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend and I will update ya'll as much as possible! Bye bye friends.

I'm OBSESSED with seeing results...really.

Well hey again ya'll. Sorry I update so much, I just really feel like this is my way to vent. I like knowing I have all of this stuff documented and can go back and see how I feel every day as well as keep ya'll in the know about what's going on.

Oh and sorry I say "ya'll" so much too. I'm from Louisiana, so I got a little twang ;)

So anyway..let's see get on with the good stuff. Yesterday I felt like I ate SO MUCH! Like I was so full all day and I just kept on eating. I have no idea why, but I've really gotta kick that habit. THANKFULLY it didn't effect me though because this morning when I weighed, I weighed in at the absolute lowest I've weighed since 2009! YAY! I was very excited and I guess I realized that a bunch of little snacks and small meals really are better for you (which everyone's always told me anyway- I've just been too stubborn to believe it) So yeah. You can check out myfitnesspal if ya'll have that app and we can keep up with each other- my username is on the side of my main page somewhere. It's "imkarisanders" if you're lazy and don't wanna look.

I didn't exercise yesterday unfortunately. I really don't like exercise. I know it's really pathetic but I really hate it. I used to say I would rather starve myself than get a good workout in, but I really think that I'm gonna have to change that mindset as well, because results are so much better when you get a good fitness plan. So that's definitely one of my "to-do's" and i'm gonna do it SOON! I have no problem with walking a mile around the block or something every evening when I get home from work, but here lately, I've been so tired by the time I get home. Still...I shouldn't have excuses. How do ya'll do your fitness routine?! I would love to hear what you guys do so I can get my mind right.

So I'm sure all of you are so confused as to why I'm not posting my weight or full body pictures on here yet. Well first of all, I'm not going to post my weight until I get it where I'm comfortable saying it..and I have about 21 more pounds to go. Just know that my BMI is completely ridiculous and my weight is in the "obese" category. Which really gives me a complex. But as soon as I knock out these next 21 pounds, I will make all of that public knowledge :) and if you e-mail me or find me on social media, I will tell you. I'm just not comfortable putting that out there to the world yet and I hope ya'll understand. I do think I'll post a full body picture on here soon though. That doesn't scare me as much.

So this is really random blogging today because I'm typing as I go through my work day, but my old roommate and friend from high school, Katie, is getting married next April and I have got to stay motivated to get in shape for that. Because the other bridesmaids are all cute skinny divas. So ummm, yeah. I have to fit in there. And I love pictures, and I really have to bring my A game ;) I really don't want to be the whale in the sea of beta fish.

Anyway...back to the rambling. I REALLY need some good chocolate snacking options. I crave chocolate literally all day long. And I know I've mentioned this before, but really. What do ya'll do when this happens? I have a big bag of the little Snickers Minis that I love to snack on. I keep it to a minimum of like 2 or 3 a day considering each one is 45 calories...but hey, it's better than the big ol' bar, right? So any reccomendations ya'll have...feel free to share! Hope everyone has a great Thursday...I know I'm sure ready for the weekend, so bring it on Friday!

Let the calorie counting begin...

Well it's day 1 of getting at this diet HARDCORE. I am dead set on getting my body how I want it, and I won't give up until I'm there. As of today, I have lost about 15 pounds total from the heaviest I've ever been. This is over about a 3 week course prior to my start of this blog. I have been looking around on other blogs, and they are so inspiring. It's so nice to actually SEE progress and realize that it's possible. I feel like for so long, I've had this feeling that it's almost impossible to shed all of the weight I want to shed, but after seeing some of these other women out there that have came SO FAR...I have realized that I'm going to do this too, no questions asked. So thank ya'll for having your story out there.

I'm going to rewind a couple of days and tell ya'll what happened on Monday. I went to my primary care doctor to get my prescription of Adderall filled. I have to have that stuff for work. But anyway...I did the routine "weigh in" and the numbers still looked completely obnoxious. UGH. But as I was sitting in the office, talking with my doctor, he said my weight had went down 15 pounds since April at my last visit, and that this is the lowest weight I've been since I've been going to him. WHEWWWWWWW! So that was a breath of fresh air to hear. Even though my weight is nowhere NEAR what I want it to be. But still. Progress. Good progress. I don't know if it's just me, but I have a serious problem when it comes to getting on the scale. When I'm dieting, I have to weight every. single. day. Almost several times a day. I know that's just completely ridiculous and I should do it probably once a week to see more progress, but I CAN'T HELP IT! Ahhhhh! Does anyone else have this problem?! I need tips and tricks to stay away from that thing.

So if any of ya'll want to share with me what ya'll do to keep the calories to a minimum, please let me know. I'm going to try to stay under 1200 calories a day. I'm a really bad snacker, I guess you could call it. I work in a doctor's office, so I'm literally on my butt at a desk all day long craving chocolate. I've actually realized that coffee usually settles that craving, but by the time I load it up with all the cream and sugar...I might as well have had a fun size Snicker bar. Haha. Sad, but true. Anyway. So far this morning (it's 9:18 A.M as I'm writing this) I have already ate a full bag of Cheddar and Sour Cream Ruffles (which is 450 calories) and a cup of coffee (105 calories). So I don't have many more options today. I really shouldn't have ate those chips...but....BUT NOTHING. I have no excuses. So. HELP!

Tell me what ya'll do to kick the weight fast, I'm dying to know! :) And you can email me if ya'll want. Kariellesanders@yahoo.com. Oh and if someone wants to tell me how to add pictures to this thing...please do.

BYE YA'LL!

Keep up with me. Let's get SKINNY!

I clearly remember a couple of years ago, my friend Brittany was in this “I want a tattoo and I want it now” phase. Myself, being the friend that’s always along for the ride, decided to ride with her and witness this whole situation. We were sitting in the parking lot googling “quotes” for her to tattoo down her ribcage; this wasn’t an easy task. We had to find something that wouldn’t sound stupid reading off of her body 30 years from now, but she also wanted something that she could relate to. After a few minutes, I came across this quote that simply said, “Life won’t wait.” Those words have stuck with me since that day, and they really have so much impact on how I feel about my weightloss journey I’m about to experience. Oh and by the way, Brittany did get the tattoo.

So my name is Kari, and I’m 25 years old. I haven’t always been a “big girl”. As a matter of fact, in high school, I was REALLY in shape. Sad thing is, back then…I thought I was huge. PSH, yeah right. I think we all look back at pictures sometimes and just WISH we looked that good now. But I played softball and volleyball in high school, so I was constantly active and constantly getting some kind of work out in.

Now let’s fast forward 6 ½ years. Now I have resorted to comfort eating, emotional eating, bored eating, tasty eating, sitting down at my desk all day long, and reality shows taking over my life. So needless to say, my body has completely gotten out of hand and I don’t even have any excuses anymore. I’ve completely ran out. So now it’s time to do something about it. One of my ultimate goals in life is to have a family of my own. I truly believe that you can’t be fully happy with someone else, until you’re happy with yourself.

So all of that being said, my weight loss journey is not going to start with a bad photo or tight clothes (althought those do play minor factors), it's actually starting off with a bad breakup. I know that sounds completely crazy and 99% of ya'll are going to be like, "REALLY!? Don't change for a man...", but that's not why I want to change. I want to take something negative that happened in my life and turn it into something positive. After all, I wasn't truly happy with myself in that relationship anyway. So I figured if I put my feelings and thoughts into something like bettering myself instead of how I can change a guy's feelings, maybe I can bring more happiness to my next relationship and to myself.

I know I'm capable of being the girl I want to be. But there's alot of things that have happened between 18 year old me and 25 year old me that have caused my confidence to almost go completely down the drain. I actually recall a night at the bar a few years ago, and a fairly attractive guy told me that I "have a pretty face". Talk about an eye opener. However, I got on the scale one day during college not long after that, and realized "WOW. I've GOT to do something, and I've got to do something fast." I was at 200 pounds and it really freaked me out. As traumatizing as it was to see those numbers on the scale, I still didn't really do anything about it. I crash dieted every now and then, got on diet pills, got off, then gained it all back plus some. Nothing ever seemed to work, so I was always starting back at square 1. The painful realization was that I was a 21 year old girl who had packed on fifty pounds since graduating high school. I had no idea what healthy eating even was. For me, a normal meal was my roommates and I riding across the street to the delicious Mexican restaurant that we could never get enough of, salivating over chips, salsa and queso then still having enough room for a three course meal.

So as tough as this is going to be, I'm going to make a promise to myself to do this the right way and shed these pounds so I can finally be myself and be comfortable in my own skin. I read on someone's blog a few days ago that said, "Weight loss has ups and downs, tears and cheers, beliefs and doubts" and that couldn't be more believable. Like I mentioned before, I LOVE FOOD but...nothing tastes as good as skinny feels, right?!

So follow me and my journey and I promise to you guys that I will update this frequently, post pictures, and tell you stories. We can be friends as long as you can keep up :) And remember...LIFE WON'T WAIT.