Tipping the Scales

I have a huge issue with my weight.

I'm always thinking about it, always checking it, and I randomly measure myself to see how I'm doing on the ol' inches.

I have been overweight off and on my whole life. My weight has flucuated by about 80 pounds since I was 17. And I was a fat kid. So things haven't been very constant for me, ever.

I came home from backpacking in Australia at about 200 pounds. I left here at about 160. It took me a while, a light switch was finally flicked on, and I got myself down to about 155 pounds after months and months of work. I stayed there for about 3 1/2 years, all through college.

Then came real life, the real world-a full time job, which meant full days sitting at a desk. And getting engaged, which meant lots of planning. And I was finishing up my degree. I'm sure I don't have to say it, but I didn't have much time for working out.

It wasn't the working out that got all though, because I did still go 2-3 times a week. It was the constant snacks and treats at the office. BBQs, donuts, popcorn, you name it, my office has it. I didn't even want these things a lot of the time, I was just bored, so I ate, and I ate, and I ate.

I put on 5, 6 pounds, getting me into the realm of the 160s. A dangerous slide, my friends, as this happened in a matter of months.

I put this weight on right around the time of my first dress fitting. I bought my dress at around 153, right after doing a cleanse, so going to a fitting at 160 was a massive shock to my system. I knew it was tight. I knew it was an issue. I subtly tried to sit down and I could barely breath. I got worried, and I got upset. The seamstress made the appropriate alterations so I would fit into it, but it was the wake up call I needed. I needed to make some decisions and make some changes. I only had about 4 1/2 months until the wedding.

First thing I did was swear off all food from the office. I was only allowed to eat the food that I brought in. I got back into packing my breakfast and lunch the night before. I began eating 4 times at work-breakfast, snack, lunch, snack. Breakfast was 2 pieces of fruit or a hard boiled egg and fruit, snack was veggies, lunch was usually a homemade broth soup or a salad, and snack was a piece of fruit, but only if I needed it. I meant business. Dinner was chicken and brown rice and veggies, or fish, or a big salad. Good, healthy food that made me feel good.

Second thing I did was get my butt back to the gym. Twice a day. It might sound extreme but I needed to do it. I did an hour of cardio and abs before work in the morning, and then went back at lunch and did weights and abs. I did this usually 4 days a week. In total I was at the gym on average 7-10 times a week. I was getting my money's worth, that was for sure!!

My last dress fitting came when I was about 145. The seamstress even whispered to me at the end, you've done so good. That meant a lot.

By the time the wedding came around I was about 142 pounds. I lost about 18 pounds from that horrible day at the seamstress. My dress fit amazingly. And it was comfortable. I could move, I could sit, I could breath. And I was proud. I felt so confident, I was so happy with the way I looked. It's the first time in my life I felt like I was really, truly happy with where my body was at.

The honeymoon was relaxing. I only put on about 5 or 6 pounds. Which I think is pretty amazing considering I ate and ate and drank and drank for 3 weeks straight. I think that shows that I'm learning the balance.

I will write more about that balance tomorrow, but I feel like this post has gotten huge!! Stay tuned...

Have a wonderful rest of your day!

Shauna

Intentions...The Market!

It looks as though Gareth and I are living up to our promise of doing new things around home! Sherwood Park has a farmer's market every Wed, so we went to check it out, walk around, and be out in the sunshine. It turned out to be really good!


Thats's a biiiig bag of carrots!

I'm always drawn to the lovely flowers.

And I had to sample something...pepperoni it is!

We still have lots of fresh food left over from the markets in the Okanagan, so we weren't looking to buy anything. However...did you know there is an Alberta winery?!?! There is! There was 4 kinds available yesterday, and we chose a rubharb zinfadel. Should be interesting to try! They are going to have a raspberry wine ready for next week, and that's the one I'm looking forward to!

We're saving the wine for the upcoming long weekend (woot woot!!) so I will let you know how it is.

I have more to post today, so there will be anothre one later today!

Much love,

Shauna

Book Reviews

Me and G reading on the beach (imagine the girl being red headed!)

Hello blog world!

Hope everyone is doing wonderful this beautiful day. It's supposed to be plus 29 (degrees) today!! Woo woo! Summer is not quite over yet. Thank goodness!

One thing that I love to do is read a REALLY good book! I might be a tad picky though...I want them to be like junk food, where I can't get enough and my life pretty much stops and I sigh a huge sigh of relied when I'm done. I found FOUR, count them, FOUR books like that on my honeymoon! I ate them up on the beach, out on the patio, it was glorious. When I read a good book, it's so much better than TV.

So here are my thoughts and reactions to beach, honeymoon reading!

The Time Traveller's Wife

Gareth's amazing best friend, and our best man, bought me this book right before we left for the honeymoon. As soon as I started it, I was addicted. If you have ever thought at all about time travel, this book brings up so many interesting points. It's so well written, and it's easy to follow. Which must have been hard to do, since some of it is written from the perspective of the wife and some from the time traveller. This means a lot of things happen to them at different times. Well written!
The ending...is hard. And it's sad. But it's worth it to read this book.

Now I can't wait to see the movie, and how they adapted it. Because there is way more in this book than can be put into a movie. Plus, I adore Rachel McAdams! She is pure beauty that woman.

Something Borrowed....Something Blue

Read Something Borrwed first. Luckily I did and it makes so much more sense than if I had read it the other way around.

I have read a few other books my Emily Giffin, so I was really excited to read these two books. They sounded so intriguing! The premise is this...two best friends, one is single, one is engaged. Something Borrowed is written from the perspective of the single friend...who has an affair with her best friend's fiance. WHAT?! IIII know!!

Something Blue is from the perspective of the best friend who is engaged...and has been cheated on. Again....IIIII know!!

Trust me when I say, it's not what you think. Whatever you're thinking, it's not that. I ate these books up. You just have to know what happens! Champion beach reads. Love love love!

My Sister's Keeper

This book...was unreal. So, SO sad. So heart wrenching. And just so honest. The premise...a couple has a little girl who develops cancer. They cannot find a match for blood, plasma, organ donation to save their child. So they genetically engineer another daughter who is a perfect match for the sick child so she has a donor, to save her life.

The book is written from a whole bunch of different perspectives-the 2 daughters, the parents, their son.

A huge number of ethical issues come up in the book. Especially when the younger daughter decides to sue her parents for rights to her own body. Seriously?! Oh...my...goodness.

Let me just say, i cried a river throughout this book. I might be crazy that I consider this to be a good thing, but it was so touching. And it really made me thinking. Knowing for sure that I want to have kids in the near future made me think what I would do...what would you do?! And how do you even answer that.

Good honeymoon reads!!

Now I am onto The Firm, by John Grisham. An older book, but I hear its a goodie. I've put a What I'm Reading Guide on the left there, so you can follow. I'll review what I read.

I'm also still working on Always Looking Up...., by Michael J. Fox. Almost done!

Reading is so much better than TV

Shauna xox

Intentions Update

There are a few Plans and Intentions that are going well right now!


Number 1

Gareth and I did pretty well on our honeymoon and ate well and exercised-went on lots of walks and even went to the gym a few times while we were gone. We indulged, ate, drank as we pleased so I am happy to report we were both really happy with our weight when we got back. If you know me at all you know my weight has been a life long issue for me, and after putting my butt into overdrive because of the wedding, I got down to a size I was really happy with. It is the most comfortable I have felt in my skin my whole life, so I have no intention of losing that just because I'm married now-contrary to popular belief it seems.

I am having a bit of a hard time scaling my food intake back again, but I have a rule that I only eat healthy food while at work, since eating crap food while sittin at a desk only happens out of boredom and not a real desire to eat the food. This doesn't always happen and it doesn't always work, but it's a good plan of attack and I'd say 8 times out 10 it keeps me in a safe caloric intake zone. I'm giving myself the week to scale back. It isn't that hard since we brought peaches and cherries home from the Okanagan, and so I have plenty of healthy, amazing snacks.

I have been to the gym 2 mornings in a row so far (Gareth came with!), and walked at lunch today. So the working out is def on track. Going for a minimum of 4 workouts this week! My goal now that the wedding is done and my weight is at a good place, to focus on making my body strong. New goals are the best!

On a bit of a downer note, I haven't been able to run pretty much all summer due to a mystery foot injury in the spring. I might have been a bit foolish, but I haven't been to the doctor yet. I was sure they would tell me to stay off of it, and I wasn't willing to do that before the wedding, so I didn't go. No use disobeying orders...better to just not get them at all :P So now that I am willing to stay off my foot if that's what needs to happen, I have made an appointment with a podiatrist for this Wednesday. It might put a wrench in the workout goals, but I'm sure I will still be able to do abs & arms if nothing else. Maybe up the yoga a bit! (I haven't been for ages) So I'll keep you posted on that.

Number 2

It may not count exactly, but Gareth made a totally awesome dinner last night! It was a baked red pepper stuffed with...let's remember here...mushrooms, leaks, gouda cheese...and a bunch more goodness, served with a spinach salad with cashews and cherries in a red wine vinegrette dressing. He didn't use a new recipe...but it was AMAZING! I will try to start remembering to take photos of these awesome new meals we try.

It's so amazing because we've gotten out of the habit of making meals based around meat. We're okay having a veggie meal, and that's relatively new for us. So yay!

The rest...we shall see.

Muah!
Shauna

I DO

Getting married is serious business, and I really don't think the severity of it has hit me yet. It's a huge commitment, it's a huge responsibility, and it's forever. Which is amazing to know the one person you want to be around is going to be around, but it's also very daunting.

But do you know what really got me?

The fact that I'm old enough to be married. The fact that I am 24 years old-I'm not in high school anymore, I didn't just turn 18 and have turned into a bar star. I am a full fledged adult now. There isn't any more running to mom and dad when things get tough (okay, they are still there to run to, but you know what I mean), there is no more bumming money off of them because I'd rather spend mine on clothes and trips. There is a mortgage, a full time job, and a whole other person I have to consider in every decision I make. CRAZY!!

Don't get me wrong. I know full well that I've had a mortgage for a year now, and I'm perfectly okay with these responsibilities, but I think it's realizing how fast life is whizzing by. It seems to be moving at rapid speed, and I'm constantly running to try to catch up.

The honeymoon was the perfect place to deal with all of these feelings. To deal with these realizations. I think it helps knowing Gareth and I are young at heart and just want to have fun and live the best life we can live. And the best thing is knowing that I'm going to be going through all of these changes with a pretty amazing guy.

I'm going to report back later today about how some of our "intentions" have been going since we got back, and stay tuned for more honeymoon flashbacks.

And you know I love a good picture, so I'll leave you with one

See, fun!

Much love,

Shauna

Wine Lovers

I call Highway 97 the road to heaven. There is no other way I can describe the place it takes me to. It gives me unforgettable views of Kalamalka Lake, with its sometimes blue, sometimes green, sometimes aqua water. Then it leads me onto the Okanagan Lake, which is even bigger, even more breathtaking.
The Okanagan is my favorite area in Canada. Hands down. It is where I want to live. It is where I come to relax, to get away, to bask in the sunshine.
It is also where I come to drink wine.
The Okanagan has an absolutely amazing wine country, with a vast array of vineyards and wines to choose from.
Take Dirty Laundry Winery for example. First of all, Dirty Laundry?! Ya, I know...if you're anything like me, you're thinking, how fun!
Their patio features vines growing right above you, what a canopy!

You can take a picnic here and buy a bottle of their amazing wine (their 2007 blush was my choice) and sit on the patio and just take in the day. Or you can buy a picnic from them as they have baskets already made up. Fun!

Then there are wineries like Gray Monk, which has an upscale restaurant attached. GREAT food, I was so impressed.



And check out this view!! (our rings in the foreground)



My personal favorite winery in the Okanagan is located in Naramata. I think I love it because it's one of a kind. It's orchard wines, fruit wines. AMAZING wines. It's a fun place to visit, and fun wine to drink.

And here are a few more fun pics from the honeymoon...involving wine ;). Gotta love it! We sure do.

On the patio at Predator enjoying some live music...and some wine

Isn't summer wonderful?

Much love,

Shauna

Newlyweds

Here we are, Mr. Roughley and I, sitting at the kitchen table in the cottage where we are spending our honeymoon. We are in Vernon, BC, Canada, one of our absolute favorite places in the world. What more can you ask for when you are surrounded by vineyards and beaches with the sun shining down on you?

We have just gone and seen the movie, Julie & Julia, and I have been inspired, for the third time now, to start a blog. Correct that, to start a personal blog.

We already have a blog, for Gareth's photography, which has been neglected for far too long as the wedding date closed in. So just as we are going to get going on that one again, I am going to use this one to pursue my passion-writing. Since I still don't know what I am passionate writing about, I am going to use this space to try to figure it out.

Along the way I hope to document my new life, as a wife, and what that means. Mr. Roughley and I have big plans and big dreams for our lives, so if things go according to plan there will be a lot to write about!

We have been discussing what we want out of life, what we want to do, and how we plan to get there. As most people do, we have the best of intentions to live life to the absolute fullest. I am going to report about this quest on here, and I promise to be completely honest! Because let's face it, sometimes it feels more right to stay in your pj's all day watching movies than it does to explore a new city, so it all shall be reported.

Gareth, my new husband, and I have crafted up a list on the right of the blog detailing some of our plans for our life together. I'm sure this list will grow and change over time, but as of today, these are our plans, goals, hopes and dreams. I will report back monthly about how the Intentions have gone, as well as periodically when we cover one of them. I think you'll even hear from him from time to time!

A quick note about the title of the blog. I wanted to inlude my new last name in the title, and also emphasize how I view life. In short, life isn't always easy, it isn't always pretty, but Gareth and I want to have a blast working through it all. So we will roughly get through everything life throws at us, and we will love every minute of it.

So please sit back, relax, and enjoy as we embark on this crazy thing called life together.

Much Love,

Mrs. Roughley