Nutrisystem going-away party

Well friends, I've spared the gory details and pictures of the meals but if you've been around here for any length of time you know we started Nutrisystem about two weeks before Thanksgiving.

Man that was smart.

Really, it was. There were moments of sheer happiness biting into a green salad during Thanksgiving that I likely would have just skimmed right over...but eating real food during the festivities was magical. Even if said real food consisted of salad, green beans, and turkey. Food tastes so good! Laugh if you want to. I did just now typing that because I know how silly it sounds. We are slowly phasing real food back into our lives and what could be better than a new cookbook to get you off to a good start?

For Christmas I got a copy of the Pioneer Woman's cookbook. It's basically the opposite of Nutrisystem and well worth every penny mom and dad spent on buying it for me! I guess it's not fair to call it the opposite--she does use veggies quite a bit and that's what Nutrisystem helped us with--but everywhere you turn there's good old favorites: buttered rolls, sliced beef, cinnamon rolls, apple pie...I can't wait to make all of her recipes in moderation. My goal is to have a really scrumptious meal on Sunday nights out of her cookbook. As you well know, my goals/plans don't always become my reality. If I quickly start gaining the weight I've lost that is probably why. Darn you, Pioneer Woman and your cooking skills!

I need to take a picture with my hubby for you to see the before and after. It's a great feeling to be excited about trying on clothes, (old and new,) and like how they look and feel. I haven't worn some of my clothes for three years for obvious reasons and yesterday during a lull in activity I took the girls in my closet with me and we tried on mommy's back-of-the-closet clothes.

Y'all, they all fit. All of them. The jeans that I hadn't tried on since the winter before Ty was born. The dresses that I haven't worn since my working days, the belts, (belt? What's that?), the pants, the shorts. They all fit. Shoes? Well, there's my only problem right now. Having the kids has made my foot grow a size and a half. Slowly but surely my size 6 1/2 feet became a size 8. Has this happened to you? Mom's feet grew too so maybe it's genetic? Maybe it depends on how much weight you gain during pregnancy? Mom and I both gained A LOT so I'm not sure which it is in our case!

The actual number of how much we have each lost is a mystery because we don't have a scale. I carefully orchestrated not replacing batteries in our old one and giving it away because to me, it's easier and more fun to figure out weight loss/gain with your clothes. So there you go, we've both lost a lot. Jeans don't lie (unless they're stretchy which is a huge plus can I get an Amen,) and I've lost two jeans sizes. Sean has lost one jeans size but looks completely different. He has worked hard on trips to stick to a mostly Nutrisystem diet even when it was hard and it has paid off. We have about three days left of their meals but I have been cooking dinner for the last few nights to change things up before we really finish. Instead of what I used to cook, I've been cooking much lighter, smaller meals and we feel satisfied. And we eat a lot of salad. Let me rephrase: we eat A LOT LIKE FIVE OR SIX HEADS OF LETTUCE A WEEK EASY and good Lord you can put whatever you want in a salad and it tastes better. Dressing is the key for me and my new favorite is a cranberry walnut vinaigrette (I think it's Ken's and I buy the Light one if you're shopping for a new dressing.) Anyway, salad is a great help on days when we feel like we can never fill our stomachs up.

We feel better. We look better. We sleep better. Well, I do. Sean still doesn't but that's a genetic thing that the men in his family all deal with and I pray daily that it never happens to Ty. Dear Lord, keep my little boy sleeping like his momma. Thank You. Amen.

So farewell Nutrisystem. Hello Pioneer Woman. You two might never have met had it not been for me. You're welcome.