Meet the Shaneyfelts

Friday Favorites!

Happy Friday y’all!  It’s supposed to be sunny this weekend and I feel like it’s been forever since we got any sun around these parts!  It doesn’t matter if it’s 20 degrees out–if the sun is shining then I’m in such a happy mood.

I’m linking up with Andrea for Friday Favorites today.

ONE

I used to not be a fan of candles–so strange, I know.  The only scent I liked of anything was a fresh linen scent.  Then my sister became obsessed with Bath and Body Works candles….and I did too.  The last time she and I were at BBW together, I picked up this new candle because it smelled like spring in a jar 🙂  I was able to burn it one warm day that we’ve had and am hoping to be able to burn it on Sunday after church since the high is 65!


TWO

I posted yesterday about my weight battles and my new Diet Bet game.  I got a lot of great support from other bloggers and I really appreciate y’all!  Each email I opened really encouraged me.  I have enjoyed taking control of my eating.  I’ve really realized that I let my eating get out of control and it became gluttonous–which is sinful.  I would eat even when I wasn’t hungry simply because it tasted good.  I am striving to glorify God in my body (1 Corinthians 6: 19-20) and to be healthy, so I can serve the Lord my very best.


THREE

 Since I get up super early during the work week (I’m talking 5 AM, y’all) and I eat breakfast then, by the time break comes at school at 9:55, my stomach is growling!  I’ve found a great, healthy snack that fills me up so I’m not hungry before lunch.  I have been taking a low fat vanilla yogurt and mixing it with 1/8 cup of high protein granola.  SO good!



FOUR

I’ve been getting my nails done professionally once a month and so Tuesday was my day for February!  I enjoy painting them myself, but I just need someone to clean up my cuticles.  I picked this deeper purple from OPI–unfortunately the label was removed from the bottom so I don’t know the name!

Sense of Sarah: Weight Battles + Diet Bet

I haven’t done a Sense of Sarah post in a while and today’s topic is really all about who I am.  It’s something that I struggle with daily and something I know that I will have to battle my entire life.

Back when I first started blogging, I did a post on my massive weight loss.  I think this is a weird topic for people to talk about, but it doesn’t bother me.  I’m happy to talk about how I lost the weight and what I struggle with now.  Pre-weight loss I always heard (skinny) people talking about they still struggled with body image issues after losing lots of weight.  And I used to think those people were crazy because they looked so great!  How wrong was I to think that because after I lost so much weight, I still didn’t feel small enough.  

Like I posted back in 2014, I started out at over 200 pounds, and my 5’7″ frame was having a hard time fitting into my size 16 dresses.  Then I joined Weight Watchers and got down to 150 pounds which put me in a size 10, and I thought I was happy.  Then I got engaged and thought I needed to be smaller.
2-3 months before the wedding

A few days before my wedding

I don’t have any pictures of what I looked like after losing more weight after getting engaged, but I got down to 145 pounds, wore a size 8 jeans, and my chest/shoulder/neck area was extremely bony to the point where both my mom and sister would point out how bony I was. I ended up gaining back a little weight since I was basically eating nothing to get down to 145, so on my wedding day (and I wouldn’t weight myself) I weighed probably 152 pounds–and I still thought I was fat.  

This brings me to today’s topic.  Since getting married in July 2104, being extremely happy, and then starting grad school in early 2015 and being stressed out ever since, I’ve gained some weight.  So after reading Annie’s post on her experience with Diet Bet, I’ve decided to do the same thing.  I had briefly heard of Diet Bet before, but after reading her post, I thought it would be the perfect thing for me to get motivated.

You simply join a game or create one yourself (I joined one), pay the money, and you have 28 days to lose 4% of your body weight.  If you do, you get to split the pot of money with all of the people who also lost 4% of their weight.

So how do they know you actually weight that and/or lose that much?
You have to submit two pictures (I am using the app I downloaded on my phone–super easy to do it) wearing something light and then another picture of the scale, your feet, and the word they give you for your game.

Since grad school literally takes up so much time and keeps me exhausted, I know that I’m really going to have to control my eating.  No longer can I indulge my sweet tooth (which is huge).  I’m tracking my food on the My Fitness Pal app and really trying to keep my macros in check and my protein at 30%–which is really hard by the way, so I’m okay as long as it’s in the 20s.  Exercising on Saturdays are a must for me and really easy, so I am working on getting 1-2 days during the week.  When I was at my smallest, I ran 4-5 days a week.  I know that my time will free up once I finish grad school, so I do know that this 2-3 workouts a week goal is just for a small time.  At least the key in losing weight is controlling your eating and that’s something I can control now–I’ve always heard it’s 80% of what you eat and 20% exercise.  You can’t out exercise a bad diet.  And my bad diet is something I’ve got to get control of–I love sweets way too much!

So I submitted my pictures on Tuesday and my final weight in is March 24th!  I’m really nervous in sharing this, but I know that it will help keep me accountable!!  

And if you’ve read this far, thank you!
Linking up with Annie today.

What’s Up Wednesday–February 2016

Happy Wednesday, y’all!  I’m linking up with Shay today for What’s Up Wednesday–and I’m in a VERY good mood today!  Why you ask??  I finished all of my assignments for the week yesterday!!!  Yes, you read that correctly….yesterday!  I think since my finals are next week, both professors decided to take it easier on us this week and I am NOT complaining!  I seriously feel like my load has lightened tremendously since turning in that last assignment. All I have left is my finals next week, updating Livetext, and then one more term and I’M FINISHED WITH SCHOOL FOREVER!

What we’re eating this week…
I’m making this recipe tonight–Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili.
This past weekend I was reading my Shape mag and read about how healthy brown rice is (which I love so yay) and how it’s even healthier when refrigerated overnight because it’s a resistant starch.  Sounds great, right?  They had a few easy recipes in the mag so I tried one Monday night and let it sit in the fridge overnight.  I took it for lunch yesterday…..SO GOOD!  Recipe coming soon 🙂


What I’m reminiscing about…
Monday night D and I booked our summer vacay/celebration of Sarah’s graduation from grad school and we’re going…….TO THE BAHAMAS!  We booked a 5 night cruise and I am so excited because I’ve only been on one other cruise (which was insane because who knew that a cold front in the ocean created 16 foot waves = cruise from hell) so this one should be much better.  So basically I just wrote all of that to tell you that I’m reminiscing about the awesome weather one my first cruise (until the cold front hit).


What I’m loving…
Monday night my friend Sarah came over for us to discuss our She Reads Truth Lent study and pray together.  She brought along…

Baby Nate!  
I kept him in the nursery on Sunday so I was so glad she brought him!


What we’ve been up to…
 Prepping our taxes

 Some of us have been resting

 DNOW hosting

And working out 😉


What I’m dreading…
the amount of work I have to do for grad school before the end of April….yuck


What I’m working on…
Eating healthier and losing weight…post on that tomorrow!!


What I’m excited about…
June vacation!  And my few days of a break in between terms–I’ll really be hitting up the gym with all of my free time


What I’m watching/reading…
I haven’t been reading a lot because of grad school, but check back with me on Thursday, March 10 because Victoria and I are hosting another Book Club Thursday!  Our first link up was so fun and exciting (plus lots of great book recs) that we’re doing it again!


What I’m listening to…
The Avett Brothers since I’m going to see them in May!


What I’m wearing…
This comfy little sweatshirt from GAP
Other than that, nothing exciting.  This weather is so confusing….muggy one day and cold and rainy the next, so I haven’t worn anything cute or picture worthy.


What I’m doing this weekend…
Taking my husband on a surprise date!  I can’t say anything else since Dustin reads my blog ha!  I’ll post about it on Monday 🙂


What I’m looking forward to next month…
SPRING BREAK


What else is new…
-Thinking about what I’m going to wear on our vacation this summer (anyone like me who books a vacation and immediately starts thinking about clothing??)
-Working on planning our second vacation this year
-Trying to get together a Shaneyfelt family vacation like last year 
-Looking around at options for a new car for me…yayyay


Bonus Question: 
What is your favorite Easter tradition?
My favorite tradition used to be buying my Easter dress until last year.  Last year we all wore…

Shirts from Forget the Frock–this organization gives the money you would have spent on Easter clothing (and actually probably one sleeve of Easter clothing) to Feeding the Orphans while you wear a shirt to raise awareness of the hunger and orphan issue in the world.  This year Forget the Frock is supporting Feeding the Orphans again along with two new organizations aimed at getting women out of the sex trafficking industry.