paleo

Two Meatballs: I Guess We’ll Just Eat Again…

September 29, 2015health, fitness, beauty, motivation, plus size, make up, hair, hairstylist, oribe, bumble and bumble, MAC Cosmetics, comedy, Paleo, besties, best friends, meatballs, exercise, life change, lifestyles,AIP, aquariums, cemetariesb, fun with your parents, healthy cooking, hi kelly we missed you, historic beaufort, paleo, rain rain go away, relaxing vacations, the beach, vegetariantwomeatballsgetfit View all 4 comments

Oh my gosh you guys!!! I missed y’all so much! I have to say this may have been the most relaxing vacation that I have ever been on. Before we hit the road, I went to Class 5 of Beginners yoga with my yoga soulmate, Nancy! This totally set the mood and my intentions for a restful week at the beach.

My mom has decided to do the next beginners series with me in October…Nancy!!! We are going to get to spend so much more time together and I love practicing yoga with my family. Any who I digress…Postponing leaving for my vacation to exercise was a new one for me. But I honestly didn’t want to miss a class and feel behind. #nerd As always an hour and 15 minutes flew by and then I was headed to the beach, after I grabbed a healthy lunch at Chipotle.

And instead of a giant suitcase full of clothes that I had no intention of wearing, my car was loaded down with cooking supplies. This food allergy diet has been such a blessing. I literally couldn’t cheat at the beach, I needed to cook and my family was super on board. This go round, the kids had school so it was just me, mom and dad. It was so weird not having Kelly and the boys there!!! Miss y’all! We get along really well and are all pretty laid back. We got onto the beach pretty much as soon as I got there! This day was oh so sunny and beautiful. In fact I did not take one single picture, we just sat in our beach chairs at the waters edge and took it in. I think each one of us individually said, This is heaven….like 1,000 times! Then I made our first healthy meal…

It feels so nice to cook for other people, especially your family. My parents have done so much for me and anything that I can do to make their lives easier feels like such a nice way to give back. On the menu was sautéed chicken over mushroom zoodles with roasted turmeric asparagus and a brussel sprout salad with avocado basil dressing. YUM. The next day, we were up and at em. Today we went to the pool. It was pretty sunny this day, but it was starting to get overcast for sure. I took a nap after our taxing time in the sun winky face! Before you knew it, it was dinner time and night number two of eating healthy on vacation began!

Tonight was turmeric and coconut milk chicken with green onions and roasted brussel sprouts with crispy shallots! Soo good and just look at this view!!! #dinnerandashow

Oh how I LOVE THE BEACH! #happyplace

Day three was a little dicey. It was super overcast and looked like it was going to pour. We stupidly did not take advantage of the sunny moments. It was a jommers, iPad, book, Pope Francis coverage, HGTV kind of day.

It didn’t even rain until the afternoon…oh well! Hindsight am I right ladies!? #foreshadowing I made peach ice cream today. This was a homer for me and mom. JB just kept saying…ice cream is supposed to be chocolate…hahahah!

And dinner ( I swear we did more than eat, that’s just all i took pictures of haha) was a Mexican feast!

Mom and dad manned the grill and cooked some yummy chicken. We also had cumin black beans, a grilled pineapple salad and baked sweet potato chips!!! The pineapple salad had red onions, lemon juice, olive oil, basil and salt and pepper and it was the winner for me for sure! We had major cabin fever so dad and I reinstituted the late night swimming crew. We like to jump into the cold pool and then scurry into the hot tub…so fun! #polar plunge

The next day was SOOOOOO OVERCAST. But we weren’t going to make the same mistakes as yesterday. This segment is called…hoping and wishing and thinking and praying for the sun to come out!

We said fuck it and laid out anyways….fah-reezing!

That’s us wrapped up in towels! Mom coined the phrase of the week…everytime we would get even a glimpse of the sun she’d say It’s lightening up!!! My dad thought she was saying that it was lightening and hilarity ensued! We were getting so tickled, the sun would pop out for 30 seconds and we would complain about the heat! (Spoiler alert, there was no heat!) We finally had to give up and go in. So we all got showered and trekked it into Beaufort…the best little North Carolina town.

Look at those hands on shoulders…aren’t we just the cutest!? I love everything about this town, there is so much history and so much to do…

but most of all, I love the cemetery! Cemeteries always remind me of my Grandma Apple. Not in the depressing morbid way that it sounds! Gigi used to always take me, Kelly and Kristina to cemeteries when we were little. She loved history. We would try and find the oldest headstone and take etchings of the old world, eloquent writing. We were fascinated by everything. So going to the Old Burying Ground in Beaufort always feels like an afternoon with Grandma.

I find cemeteries to be hauntingly beautiful and sad and full of nature and stories and folklore. We learned a lot and enjoyed the time and exploration together. #missyougigi #bicyclebuiltfortwo

When we got back, we decided to give the pool another go and dad came along!

The sun came out for like a full minute!

But then it immediately looked like this…

We walked down to the beach to check it out.

And got distracted by how adorable we all are…

Towel hair is the funnest. We hopped on the elevator just as the bottom was falling out! Apparently someone caught a whole bunch of stinky fish and brought it back to their place one second before we hopped on.

More uproarious laughter. #whofarted #allthefish

The sun would not be back this week. What’s there to do…I guess we should eat again. Thank gah we were eating healthy otherwise all this lumping would have made me feel really guilty!

Tonight we had a low key vegetarian delight. Roasted, pureed butternut squash with garlic and onions with sautéed mushrooms and shallots. This is the meatiest, most comforting and filling meal! It really felt like fall. The next day my roommates went to the gym to work out, but even after my last post about loving exercise now, I just was notttttt feeling it this week.

I read my book Taking Charge of Your Own Fertility. My chiropractor thinks that my birth control is affecting my bodies pH so I’m going to give it a go and get off of it for awhile. It’s mildly terrifying but this book is helping my understand how to understand my period and ovulation and take care of my own pregnancy prevention needs. This book has also fueled my feminist fire BIG TIME. More on that in another post. Then I took another nap. It was raining when they got back but that didn’t stop us from going swimming!

Which really means hot tubbing! Tonight we finally ate some seafood!

Deveining shrimp is disgusting, but fresh local seafood is delicious. Tonight we had lemon and garlic sautéed shrimp, whipped parsnips and turmeric roasted broccoli florets. Holy hell this was so good!!! The next day we tried laying out but it was so damn breezy and with no sun, it was too cold!

This weather was so Seattle. So, we took the stairs 4 flights back up to our place (my first exercise of the week thank you very much) and decided tonight would be a great night to venture out. We had dinner at a Beard family favorite, Amos Mosquitos!

We all had serious cabin fever and were losing it! It was dumping buckets, but we had to get out.

We made it inside…cheers

Look how cute this place is…and look at the sky!?

#theresnoplacelikehometheresnoplacelikehome

But we have so much fun together. We just talked about everything and laughed a lot. Look at these happy faces.

And to top it all off, this place has the living best food with several healthy options annddd great service. Somebody look at this scrumditilioumptios meal!

Then we drove over to Morehead City and did a little car tour around the waterfront. I love coming back to the same place, all the memories at every turn. When we got home, it was iPad city quickly followed by bed. You guys aren’t even going to believe what happened when we woke up the next morning….it was fucking raining!!!! So over it. But it was already Friday somehow! We had a yummy brunch.

And spent the rest of the morning cooking up all the things left in the fridge!

We went for a hot tub dip since it was pouring and even got a quick workout in before we went down,

then mom and I showered and went to the Aquarium!!!! I love this place and a solo date!

My mom is so funny and so much fun. Dad has been to the aquarium so he doesn’t ever need to go again, but I could go every single time every single day! Also, dad was super over having his picture taken, so I suspect that is the real reason he bailed! But fun was had by all!

If you can’t tell from the darkest picture of life…we are eating this fish! Ha! There is so much to look at here!

They had a speaker in front of the shark tank and we learned that they feed the sharks twice a week and that the sharks hardly ever eat the other live fish in the tank…because they are lazy!

We explored all that there was to explore and even got some shirts at the gift shop! And our yearly cheesy pic!

I love traditions!!! Especially this one!

We came home and had lunch!

And then I packed up, gave lots of hugs and kisses and drove home! It was so rainy and I really just wanted to get home and not have to worry about getting up early to come home for my Beginners Yoga. Mom and dad!!!! This was so great! We ate healthy the whole time and made the most of a rainy week at the beach. I came home stress free and really feeling like I had a relaxing and fun vacation. Thanks for everything! #itslighteningup Love you guys so much!!!! And I am so glad to be home. Until next time my sweet beach! Xo

Two Meatballs: Hips Don’t Lie!

May 27, 2015health, fitness, beauty, motivation, plus size, make up, hair, hairstylist, oribe, bumble and bumble, MAC Cosmetics, comedy, Paleo, besties, best friends, meatballs, exercise, life change, lifestyles,#fatkini, 4J's, eating healthy, family first, Memorial Day Weekend, memorial heyyyyy, NC, og beards, paleo, Salter Path, the family that loses weight together stays togethertwomeatballsgetfit View all 4 comments

Sooooo, right after we worked out with Sandra, we enjoyed a lovely little Whole Foods breakfast date! Starting the day off riggggggggghhhhhht! #getitrightgetittight #ohsarathathair

Then, I skidaddled home, hopped in the shower, packed, scooped up my sweet dad and we headed to the Beard home away from home….the beaaaaaaaaach!!!!!!! First we stopped at Trader Joe’s to stock up on healthy food! #homerunnumbertwofortheday Nothing makes me happier than being at the beach with my family. I have been really unable to disconnect my brain from learning my new job at work and my constantly growing to do lists. My mind races at a thousand miles per hour lately, so quiet is very hard to come by and sleeping has become a thing of the past! #manic I am really striving to create balance in my life. I am trying to learn how to be organized and how to prioritize and my ultimate goal this year is to find a way to keep my energy a little more even. And I don’t know, try to smile when I talk so I don’t sound like a fucking bitch when I’m overwhelmed. I have also been feeling so guilty and frustrated with myself over gaining weight and not really being able to get my mind back in the health game. I crept all the way up to 291.8. This is what I’ve felt like since I got pneumonia in January.

Which then made me feel like this!

Which made me feel like this!

What is happening. This is happening fast. Am I going all the way back to the beginning. I can’t make it to 300. Why am I flirting with danger!?!?!?!? I am a huge believer in fake it till you make it. But I was never really making it and I was just eating terribly and not working out that much and hoping for a miracle that wasn’t going to come before each weigh in! It is extraordinarily hard to fake it when you are naked behind a chalk board and your weight is clearly printed on it. The cost was beginning to add up and fast. So I had a lot of eggs riding on this long weekend at the beach. Last year when we came down we did amazing as you’ll remember from such posts as Two Meatballs: Memorial HEyyyyyyy #gahImfunny! We cooked and worked out as a family every single day and I ended up losing weight. I was so scared last year because it was my first vacation without drinking, smoking and trying not to eat every fried piece of seafood on the island.

We had so much fun and even though I’ve been in a really bad place lately I thought this would be the perfect restart. After all we started the day off right; right?! My dad and I have a tradition of driving to the beach together! It used to be because we both worked Saturdays but now it’s because we both have the most flexible schedules in the fam! I love this guy so much! WE love talking about everything and singing Led Zeppelin. We got to the beach in the blink of an eye…because of my overly aggressive driving skills 😉 #movebitchgetoutthawayyyy and guess what the first thing we did was!? EEEEAAAAATTTTTT! And we DID NOT make good decisions. We shared chicken and shrimp nachos and a patty melt with fries and ranch….dammit! #firstfailoftheday Then we checked in, got our keys and hauled our stuff up to Summer Winds! We immediately got our bathing suits on and hit the beach!

Look at that view. I could feel myself instantly relax and start breathing.

One win, one fail! #nipple

Then, Aunt Deb and Uncle Steve…you remember, my moms sister who is married to my dads brother #notincest invited us out to dinner! A hell of a storm had erupted so we scurried to the car and went to The Crab Shack on the sound side. Another terrible decision was made…softshell crab sandwich with fries and ranch! #faileo The conversation was great. I was completely distracted by the dark clouds rolling over the sound. I love looking at everything and people watching. It was nice to catch up. Then as we were leaving it seemed like a great idea to go to DAIRY QUEEN! Holy shit, all hell has broken lose! It was mediocre at best and I had the worst heart burn that kept me up half the night. #servesyarightdummy Day two, we made bacon and eggs for breakfast…starting out right! Then we hit the beach for the better part of the day. We snacked on popcorn and pistachios #goodnotgreat and waited for mom to arrive! She got there and we were so excited! We ended up going back to the Crab Shack bc the traffic was getting nutty. This night I enjoyed the Scallop Burger….with fries and ranch. Yikes. Again, it was great and the conversation was great but my decision making capabilities were not. Ok Day Three has to start better. I woke up and dad and I did some circuit training…

First great decision! Then, mom and I went and got coffee at our favorite place 4J’s!

Instead of a latte, I got a black iced coffee! Great decisions number 2! Then dad made bacon and I made eggs! Great decision number three!

Thennnnn, Kelly showed up and we hit the beach hard! #marathontanning #tanwars #finally

Then we took a break and cooked a super healthy lunch as a family!

Yummmmm!!!! Murdering healthy decisions! We grilled all ready marinated pork tenderloin, roasted asparagus with panchetta, roasted broccoli and had a carrot broccoli, cabbage slaw with a yogurt chive dip from trader joes! Feeling so much better already. Then we did what we do best. We told stories, sat around and talked and died laughing!

#stevvvvvv #brothsquirts #alwayspoopstories

I actually went back on the beach with everyone until it got dark!

I usually stay in bc I’m Irish. Then me, mom, Kelly and dad made a simple dinner of sausage, eggs, sweet potato fries with sriacha ketchup and some leftover pork!

It was so good and super easy. Then Kelly and I stayed up all night talking! Oh how I love the rare alone time I get with my did. #hikelly Bedtime! The next morning the girls got coffee…dad cooked bacon, mom made eggs and we hit the beach…late start today but what a gorgeous day!

We stayed out until the late afternoon and ended up just having an early dinner of flank steak, roasted sweet potatoes, roasted cauliflower with garlic and lemon, and a squash, zucchini, onion dish that my sister makes that I swear tastes like mac and cheese…and a salad that Deb brought over!

I got wayyyyy too much sun so I was freezing after dinner and being blinded by the sun…gotta be resourceful when you aren’t at home am i right ladies?!

And honestly, can you smell me!? I love being filthy at the beach and never showering and never putting on makeup and pickling myself with seawater!!!! For dessert my sister makes her own Larabars and they are deeeeeeeee-licious. These tasted like blueberry donuts! Oh my gahhhhhh, who are we!? So healthy! The trip was a blast and by the end a healthy success! The day my sister arrived we made a family pact. We are all going to lose 10 pounds by our next family beach vacation which is the last week of June! We all weighed, wrote down our numbers and are going to report every Saturday morning our progress until we get to the deadline! I love another level of accountability! I also love doing things with my family and we all do so much better when we are all on the same page. We all also came to the conclusion that we alllllllll feel so much better when we cook, eat healthy and work out! Imagine that!? Why is it so hard to remember!? Any who….we left with a great plan for June…we even started planning menus! I love my family so much!

Monday morning we left bright and early and Kelly and I went grocery shopping so that we could have a Memorial Day Cookout and a great way to prepare some healthy meals to start the work week out right! What’s more American than a Mexican fiesta! And another excuse to hang out. #seperationanxiety

We grilled carne asada, spicy chicken, jalapeno sausage and pineapple. Then we roasted sweet potato chips and had guacamole, pan roasted corn and green chilis with cumin, and caramelized peppers and onions! Dad kept saying…it’s the perfect combination…I love everything on my plate! Kelly and I still had not showered!

Honestly you guys, the bottoms of my feet were jet black #dirtybird #overit We even got to play with the kids!

Overall, what an amazing and much needed break from Raleigh, time with my precious family and finally recommitting to my new life. It is so hard not to beat yourself up for gaining weight. But it has also given me time to reflect. My life really has changed. It’s been over a year and I am still down from when I started this weight loss adventure. No matter what ups and downs we’ve had we still work out with Sandra and we are still committed to the change and our end result. I thought to myself the other day, how many times are you going to restart this. And I had a moment of clarity and answered myself with…as many times as it takes. There is no time line on this journey. My hope is that I find myself back at a place where there are more good days than bad, and that I find ways to be active all the time. I love cooking. I love goals. I love my other meatball. I love my family and all of you who read our story. This is going to happen. Crossed out last line. This is happening! You know I love a before and after…so here are some last year to this year pics. It’s only about a 10-15 pound difference but it makes me feel better!

I can really see the difference in my face from last year!

And while I was at the beach, Facebook showed me a memory from 4 years before! That difference feels huge!

Progress! It feels great to be moving in the right direction and for the scale to be going back down. For the first time since January, I can’t wait for weigh in! Xoxo

Two Meatballs: Pampered Chef

November 13, 2014health, fitness, beauty, motivation, plus size, make up, hair, hairstylist, oribe, bumble and bumble, MAC Cosmetics, comedy, Paleo, besties, best friends, meatballs, exercise, life change, lifestyles,cooking, crock pot paleo honey garlic chicken, dairy queen, dirty little secrets, dissapoinment, distractions, evolving, facials, Jennifer Orr Compton, meal planning, overcoming obstacles, paleo, pampering, planning ahead, reuniting with high school friends, roasted carrots and mushrooms with thyme and parsley, rodan + fields, self discovery, shame, skin caretwomeatballsgetfit One comment

Ok sooooo, Sara and I really do well when we plan out the week. Especially our meals. Having food prepared keeps us both on track. So I left work with Sara’s house key and threw her chicken into the crockpot. Check. Cross it off the list! So I thought we were being so productive. I would just show up at her house that night and have fun finishing the meal together. So I came in and the chicken smelled aaaaaaammmmazing!!!! I sat on her couch and got into such a deep conversation about how we were both feeling!!! Unexpected turn of events!! Oh and it gets worse, after all this talk of how exhausted we were, we talked our selves into blizzards at DQ!!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhh Our dirty secret is out!!!!!!!! We got back to the house and both had an overwhelming feeling of regret!!!!! We felt so disappointed in ourselves, which lead to a deeper conversation of, “what are we doing”? This conversation felt so different then any other in the past. We both want this and want it for the other. We Are so strong together, but we both easily slip into the others dark place and give in. But not anymore!!!!!!! We are capable of change!!! We have come so far!!!!! Today was a new day, we both feel strong and empowered! We cooked today and followed our plan!!! Love you Sara, thanks for being on this ride of self discovery with me!!! So here is this yummy recipe for tonight’s meal……Honey garlic chicken and roasted carrots and mushrooms!!!

Lets fucking cook Sara!!!!

Half way through we got really fired up just looking at past fatty pictures on sara adorable collage on her refrigerator.

Then we got really distracted and walked around in one boot each….omg whos’s who????? #lifeofa4

Sara and I were so distracted with our conversation we didn’t even take a picture of this chickkkkkeen!!! so here is a generic one!

and our veggies!!!!!!

Now onto the pampering!!!! Hi guys it’s Sara!!! It was a night full of high school revisits!!! My super best girl friend from Sanderson, Jaclyn Devita and I went to dinner while Jenny was finishing up her shift at work before the cooking began! We hadn’t hung out in 12 YEARS!!! Which is the craziest thing everrrrrr. But we didn’t skip a beat. We had a great dinner at North Ridge Pub and caught up on everything. Shout out to our favorite bartender and buddy Keyvin!!!! We love you and your support!!! Xoxo. I am so grateful to have always had such strong and positive women in my life and it was the living best hanging out again! Backstreet Boys were our obsession back in the day (she loved nick, I loved kevin) and ironically enough quit Playing Games with My Heart played as we ate our healthy dinners!!! Jack is in the nutrition and wellness world so it was fun picking her brain. We chatted about staying healthy, our time at NC State, our families and the anamoly that is dating in the world of technology! She is also a successful and single woman so it was so nice to be on the same page!!! Ugh literally can’t wait to see you again Jack!!!

So then, my other sweet high school pal Jennifer Orr Compton reached out awhile back and said that she loved the blog and would love to send Jenny and myself some mini facials to pamper ourselves from Rodan + Fields!!! She sent the sweetest little package! Look at all the goodies!

Inside were two little packages and a sweet note with instructions!

And after sweating over the oven, we needed a little brightening and refreshing! Both Jenny and I are terrible about a skin routine! The best I can do these days is use a MAC face wipe before bed!!! We started by exfoliating(this smelled like heaven and felt even better, Then a calming night serum and then a hydrating lip serum!

We both feeeeel amazing!!! Something to consider for sure! Thanks so much for reaching out Jennifer!!! She sent along some info in case anyone would like to get a skin care system of their own!!! Happy shopping!!! Love y’all!

And to Jenny, I am so thankful every single day to have such a wonderful, judgement free relationship of mutual love and respect with you! It feels so amazing to dig deep and find out what is at he core of it all. I love rediscovering ourselves together on this super challenging journey and striving to become better people. You are the best and I love you so much!

Two Meatballs: One Piece, Tankini, Bikini…Oh My!!! (aka the 7th Weigh In)

September 30, 2014health, fitness, beauty, motivation, plus size, make up, hair, hairstylist, oribe, bumble and bumble, MAC Cosmetics, comedy, Paleo, besties, best friends, meatballs, exercise, life change, lifestyles,beach, Before and Afters, best friend love, black eyes, broken nose, exercise, family vacations, getting healthy, old navy, paleo, plus size swimwear, real life struggles, weigh intwomeatballsgetfit View all 20 comments

It’s that time again!!! This month we knew I was going to be on vacation for our weigh in…so we had the most genius idea ever…Jenny came down and we did the shoot on the beach!!!! We are soooooo smart! So let me just say before we get started…when two super grown women are being photographed in bathing suits on the beach frolicking and holding hands…people assume that you are a happy couple taking engagement photos!!! We were cracking up! But now onto the main event! Lets see that chalkboard!!!

A little change in scenery would be nice!!! #meatballnationtanks

Beach Time in our favorite swimwear!!!

Off the pier and onto the sand…

This is def the shot that got the rumors going…

More adorableness…

Time to Plaaaaaank!!! This one is for you Sandra!

Our lives have changed sooooo much that the rest of the shoot was super active!! We cartwheeled…

Jumped for joy…

Splashed around…#ifyoureabirdimabird

More planking…

A little sprinting…

Here we come…

You hate to see us go…

Buuuut, you love to see us walk away winky face…

Off to the pool….onto those ‘Merica bikinis!!!

Time to lounge!?

But not for long…

Time to get a little less comfortable haha…#illfittingsuits #meandmybrightideas #itshilariousandtotallyworthit

Time to get wet!!! #activitypoints #cannonball

Time to jackass around!!!

Time to dry off!!!

Then a quick game of find the meatball before we reveal the results!!!

Now….the moment we’ve all been waiting for…how did we do!?!

Jenny, you’re up first!!!

I am so grateful to be doing this with my best friend! She is always there to listen and get deep about weight loss. We need each other in so many ways!!! Love you Sara!! I am so grateful to be down 5lbs this month!!! More often then not I am making the right decisions . Im choosing the right foods and Im at the gym when my day seems done. The hard part is staying focused. I struggle some days to see the long term goal because of my momentary success. I feel great!!!! I think I feel most great because of the hard work it took to get here. I’m feeling proud and excited! I want to always feel that way!!! I am ready for October!! I turn 30 on the 2nd, and i am beginning to see what 30 looked like in my imagination. It is looking better everyday! I loved hanging out with the Beard’s this week, I had the best time!!! And I love my own family so much!!! Thanks for putting up with my ups and downs and being my inspiration and my comfort!!

Congrats Jenny!!!! Sara, you’re up!!!

You guyyyyyyssss!!! I wish I could say that I have no idea how I ended up with a big fat zero for my weight lost this month…but I thoroughly enjoyed checking out for a few weeks and living a little fast and loose! I remember every fry and every single morning that I slept in instead of going to the gym. And I had to fight just to get to zero…gaining 3 pounds was super humbling. But between vacation and a surprise broken nose and two black eyes #thankgoodnessforconcealer I felt super unmotivated!!! I really needed a reminder of the hard work that it took to lose 73 pounds. So now it’s bust ass time…I have a timeline and a plan so getting back on track is a must. This is real life…I checked out and now I’m paying for it!!! I don’t feel discouraged, I feel refreshed and ready to reengage!!! Jenny, thank you so much for being strong for both of us when I was weak! Also thank you for always being game and playing into my crazy ideas…especially baring all in a piece of shit, flimsy, super unflattering Old Navy bikini and jumping into a freezing pool one thousand times….you are the living best. I’m back and I’m fucking serious. It feels so good to have this weight off of me and I can’t wait to keep working hard and feeling better. #notdrivingbackfromthegrandcanyonEVER #toococky #thisisnoteasy Love you guys to the moon.

We really appreciate you guys going on this bumpy but ultimately successful road with us!!! We really really really love y’all!

Another weigh in down…time to start getting ready for November!!! #nomessingaroundthismonthbeard

And Kelllllllllllllly…thank you so much for taking these beautiful pics and always being so supportive! You make everything a million times more fun!!! Xoxo

As always…here are your especially heinous outtakes! #yourwelcome #mybottomscameoffinthepool #eeeek

Two Meatballs: Two Sister + Two Meatballs + Four Hairstylists = A Great Time!!!

September 9, 2014health, fitness, beauty, motivation, plus size, make up, hair, hairstylist, oribe, bumble and bumble, MAC Cosmetics, comedy, Paleo, besties, best friends, meatballs, exercise, life change, lifestyles,beet salad, Bettie Salon, bok choy, catching up, Ceremony Salon, corn, downtown raleigh, dtr, eating healthy, female empowerment, feminism, gluten free, Hairstylists, healthy, Hopscotch, old friends, Oro, paleo, pork belly, salmon, Sanderson High School, scallops, sisters, supportive, vegan, vegan black bean caketwomeatballsgetfit View all 2 comments

This is Nichole and Michelle!!! They are sisters and through several different ways, friends of myself and Jenny and two of our biggest supporters for the blog! Couldn’t you just die…they are the living cutest!!!

Michelle is a super talented hairstylist and owner of Bettie in Sola Salons in downtown Raleigh!!! Jenny and I used to work with Michelle and she is just the most lovely person! I actually went to high school with both Michelle and Nichole. Nichole is also an amazing hairstylist and works at Ceremony Salon in Pittsboro. Both of these ladies have been super supportive of the blog and wanted to catch up over a paleo friendly dinner! So we met up at Oro!!!

Y’all…this place is gorg and had sooo many options for all of us!!! Michelle is vegan and gluten free, Nicole is gluten free and paleo but with cheese…so primal maybe and the meatballs were paleo…ish tonight!

We even got to meet the chef…he was presh as well! We had a hell of a time parking though because of Hopscotch…we could see one show from our parking deck!!!

Anywhoooooo…back to this yummy dinner and catch up sesh. Oro is a small plate restaurant so me and Jenny split two sets of proteins and two sets of veggies!!! We started off with bok choy and scallops (with rice noodles…#guiltypleasure)…

Michelle ordered a vegan mixed greens salad and Nichole started with a beet salad…

We were def that table of people taking food porn pics…I always feel the need to tell people that we are bloggers, but no one really gives a shit…it’s totally the norm now!

The conversation was flowing, we all got up to speed on each others lives and also talked a lot about getting healthy, physically and mentally!!! The theme of the month…women building up women!!! Next course the meatballs split pork belly #yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm and baby corn on the cob!!!

Nichole had the salmon and Michelle had a black bean cake…

You guyyys…everything was so good and there were honestly at least five or six more things on the menu that I wanted to try…always a good sign! But we were stuffed…for the moment at least! Time to jackass around…where did this fan even come from!?!

#webothlookweird

I love good company and great conversations even more! We are all 4’s so in typical 4 fashion…we were all over the place…we talked about Jenny’s gorgeous daughter London, how hard it is to date in your 30’s, redefining who you thought you would be at a certain age, opening yourself up, how Michelle got engaged, living in NYC during 9/11, laying in a truck bed looking at the stars, bad choices, sexual harrassment, ginger beer, drinking, guns, mase, annnnd how hard it is to be a girl sometimes!! We had an amazing night…everyone should be so lucky to have such great women in their lives!!! We love you guys, lets do it again sometime soon! XOXO Ps Oro was so yum!!! You should go there for sure! PS…I literally never get to feel tall…best night of life!!!

Two Meatballs: Six Month Strip!!! (aka the 6th Weigh in)

September 2, 2014health, fitness, beauty, motivation, plus size, make up, hair, hairstylist, oribe, bumble and bumble, MAC Cosmetics, comedy, Paleo, besties, best friends, meatballs, exercise, life change, lifestyles,adorable, best friends losing weight together, commitment, fitness training, fleet feet, getting healthy together, inches, innovative fitness training, paleo, paleo ftw, plus size fashion, results, scale, Success, Torrid, ups and downs, weigh in time, weight loss, weight loss journey, weightstwomeatballsgetfit View all 8 comments

(chanting quiet whisper) weigh in time…weigh in time (getting louder) Weigh In Time…Weigh In Time (YELLING) WEIGHI N TIME….WEIGH IN TIMMMMMMMMMMEEEEEEE!!! You guyyys….guess what time it is…BINGO! It’s that time again!!! Can you believe this is our 6th weigh in?!!? We have been on this meatball journey for six months and the progress is crazy! This time we thought we would do something a little different!!! We changed up the scenery…we blared Beyonce in the background #iwokeuplikethis…we had our makeup done #thankstiffy…we had a different set of eyes #thankscaraandbeth annnnnnnnnd…we put clothes ON! #whoarewe!? Here is a little trip down the oversized dresses of Bobbies past!!!

I mean…they are hanging off of us now!!!

Sooooo we decided to slip into something that fit a little better…

But something was missing…

Our sweet little chalkboard and reppin 6 months harrrrrd…but something still didn’t seem right…

Getting there…

Closer….

There it is….much better!!! Then we slipped into something just a tad more comfortable before the big reveal…

We made ourselves at home…

Annnnd finally got down to business…but how did we do!?!

Should we be bummmmmmed!?

Or just suuuuuuper excited?!!

Lets find out…drumroll please…Sara, you’re up!!!

You guyyyyyyyssss…I was soooo worried about this month!!! I started August out so rocky with missed gym visits and eating out all the time! But I rewrote my plan to adjust to all the new great things and it really paid off!!!! I am sooooo capable of change and I feel so great that I don’t ever want this feeling to end. This is the most weight that I have ever lost consecutively and it is really empowering. I have a long way to go but I have honestly never felt so good, committed and completely capable. Thank you to everyone for their encouragement and support. Your love means the world and we feel the same about you! xoxoxoxxooxoxoxoxoxox ps….I look and feel soooooo tiny!!!!! #wahoooooooooooooooo

Jenny…it’s go time!!!

I feel great you guys!!!!! I wanted to get to 50lbs this month but I am so excited to be this close. And I have never felt better. I can’t believe it has been 6 months! 3 is about all I can handle usually, but this is starting to truly feel like lifestyle! And that is my biggest goal out of this really, to live a healthy balanced lifestyle. I have a month before my birthday, so I wanna give it my all before I turn 30!! I couldn’t be happier or more excited for it. I have to thank Sara for always being my go to girl! And Brandon for all of his constant support! I love you!! And thank you Sandra for taking us under your wing! I have learned so much! The support from the blog is just incredeable so thank you for always being there!!!!! I could not do this alone!

One more weigh in down!!!!

It is sooo nice to go on this journey with someone that you love sooooo much…

#success #literallycouldntdoitwithoutyou

Can’t wait to see you next month!!!! As always…here are the outtakes!!!

Love y’all so much!

Two Meatballs: Will Cook For Labor!

June 11, 2014health, fitness, beauty, motivation, plus size, make up, hair, hairstylist, oribe, bumble and bumble, MAC Cosmetics, comedy, Paleo, besties, best friends, meatballs, exercise, life change, lifestyles,art, chimichurri, co dependency, curtains, diy, extreme makeover home edition, family first, fintess, grateful, grill, grilled steak, grilling, healthy cooking, healthy recipes, home, home depot, home goods, home makeover, home projects, love, love my family, my healthy journey, new healthy ideas, paleo, paleo recipes, patio furniture, target, teamwork, thankfultwomeatballsgetfit View all 4 comments

You guyyys?! Little inside scoop on me…I am not handy! I have great ideas and I’m a good worker but the inner workings of the executions are lost on me. I am also co-dependent. I feel very capable but I just think all things are more fun when you do them together…am I right ladies!? (hello TWO meatballs!) Being single, vertically challenged, overweight and without a ladder of my very own makes even simple tasks like changing a lightbulb for instance DIFFICULT! So what’s a single gal to do…sweetly ask for the help of her family and friends!!! Lately I have been receiving soooo much help and just support in general and I couldn’t appreciate it more! I’ve been hooked on HGTV for awhile and needed a summer makeover at casa del Beard. If you saw my house you would say…yep that looks about right. It is chock full of neon pink bathrooms with dead doll chandeliers, tons of quirky art and one hundred thousand million pictures. BUUUUUUUUT there were some areas that were lacking. I think bc of my continual hangover that lasted all weekend every weekend from my former life…there were just a lot of things on my list to do that never got ta done. Well with a clear head and my new budgeting skills this girl went out and bought a grill, patio furniture and gave my prison inspired bedroom a much needed facelift. Home Depot, Target and Home Comfort are my new looooves. So I called in the troops and offered a barter system of food for labor and they oh so sweetly agreed!

Who is cuter than these two!?

Oh wait…maybe this little shark!

This was our oh so helpful buddy Doug at Home Depot who I think would rather be gored by a bull than take this picture!

Obvi I needed help and a wayyyyy bigger car than Jane Honda. My parents are total life savers. Now time to assemble this mess!!! Sidebar…I was helping not just snapping 1000 photos! Thank goodness my family likes the camera!

It wasn’t the easiest project but the end result was totes worth it…I can live outdoors now!!!!

On to my sad sack of a bedroom. I repainted awhile back and I wanted everything gray…I went full 50 shades…but then because of my intrinsic laziness and before mentioned challenges when it comes to projects…i never hung any of my artwork back up …and I chose a gray bedspread…and I felt super bummmmmed every single time I looked around! It so did not feel homey to me…time for change!

Ugh….sooooo much better!!!! Now I just love waking up in that beautiful room every morning!

On to the grill which was assembled minus the propane tank which I had to call my buddy and old roommate Matt over to help me bc it made a terrible…I’m gonna describe it as explosive…like impending death sound when I attempted to hook it up! He seemed to have no trouble at all…thanks Matttttt!

Loving this outdoor lifestyle now and grilling will open up so many more cooking options so that i wont get bored and my child like mind can stay entertained! Which brings me to my next segment called…how do you repay all these acts of kindness!? With healthy delicious food made with your love and appreciation…ding ding ding! So I invited my family over on Sunday to thank them and show off my new grillin skillz (yeah I did a z…what). So what’s on the menu today???

Chimichurri Ribeyes, Garlic Roasted Green Beans, Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Butter Roasted Corn on the Cob!!!! Holy yum balls this was sooo good!

Here are the recipes:

Chimichurri Marinade:

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 cups fresh cilantro chopped

1 cup fresh parsley chopped

4 cloves of garlic minced

1tsp sea salt

combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until blended.

Pour 80% of this over your steaks…we had 6 ribeyes in a glass cooking dish and cover and let marinate for at least an hour. Take steaks out of the fridge 45 minutes before cooking to let get to room temp. Turn grill onto medium high heat and cook for 3-4 minutes per side depending on your preference. yum yum yum

Then I preheated the oven to 450 degrees…where is the degrees symbol on a laptop!? hmmm….i digress. Take the husks and silky stuff off your corn, butter it and wrap individually in tin foil then place on a baking pan and roast for 30 minutes. Then toss your green beans with EVOO and garlic salt, place on a foil lined pan and place them in the oven next to the corn. Then slice 3 medium sweet potatoes and toss with sesame oil, sea salt and black pepper and place directly onto a baking sheet that you have sprayed with coconut oil and throw those bad boys into the oven as well! My house smelled like HEAVEN.

Reserve the last 20%…see there is the percent sign but I still don’t know where the degrees button is!?..of the chimichurri sauce for dipping that yummy steak and everything else in and blam…lunch is served!

I cannot explain to you what a total 180….where is that god forsaken degrees button!?!?!?… this is for me. I used to only be responsible for showing up at gatherings bc it was common knowledge that I could NOOOOOOT cook. At most I could be trusted with bringing a soda…maybe a store bought dessert. I’m def the baby of the family. And I know that this post sounds like I am helpless damsel in distress but really I’m just a lover of great company…I just want to spend endless amounts of time together! And I want to pay back the years of never contributing food to the family cause. And look at those faces…this was yumo! After lunch the kids were full of Urkle entertainment and we enjoyed the new outdoor options at Mo’s house (that’s me you guys)..

Chase is really good at going potty solo but just has no idea where those pants are supposed to go afterwards..it’s too high or too low…and Wyatt is always down to entertain. He will kill me one day for these pics!

Those hiney’s…those wedgies…I love these kids…they are so fun and soooooo funny! I hope that you try out these recipes and love them as much as we did. Have the living best day! Love you all…and thank you again to all my family and friends who help me out allll the time! PS JENNY I MISS YOU COME HOME!!!!

Two Meatballs: Pickled Meatball

June 9, 2014health, fitness, beauty, motivation, plus size, make up, hair, hairstylist, oribe, bumble and bumble, MAC Cosmetics, comedy, Paleo, besties, best friends, meatballs, exercise, life change, lifestyles,365 days without alcohol, binge drinking, drinking problem, fate, fitness, honesty, journey to health, lifestyle change, new friends, paleo, random acts of kindness, relationships, sobriety, support, Trader Joe'stwomeatballsgetfit View all 14 comments

Hiiiiiiii you guys!!! How was your weekend?!? My other half left for the beach yesterday!!! I’m so happy for Jenny that she gets to enjoy a week at the beach with family!!! Soooooo what’s the plan you say?!? I’m going to take over the posts for this week so she can really enjoy herself. What have I been up to…so nice of you to ask…This weekend I went to the gym Saturday and Sunday morning…check!

BAM

KABOOOOOM

This is my new favorite ritual…meeting my adorable parents and sometimes my sister at gasp…8am at the gym…on the weekend!!!

Oh how my life has flipped, turned upside down (do you see what I did there…fresh prince-in’ it up). Then we have breakfast at Whole Foods…what could be healthier?!

Just four months ago I would have been so epically over hung from a night out at Saints and Scholars that all I would have been capable of doing was eating Bojangles…main lining Diet Dr Pepper and hiding in my dark , freezing cave of a den…frequently napping and texting apologies to my friends and Victor, the owner of the bar for loud, inappropriate things I yelled and glasses I cheerfully smashed. I have always been a big drinker and quite frankly I never really trusted those who didn’t drink. I’ve briefly touched on this subject before. I don’t know if I’m an alcoholic but I do know without a shadow of a doubt that I have a drinking problem.

I’m your classic binge drinker…like everything in my former life this was just another excess. It’s safe to say that I was always the drunkest person in the room and I think the only reason I still have friends is that I’m a happy, fun drinker.

I don’t know anyone who had more fun than me in these pictures and in the moment…but the feeling the next day…to quote Jenny and Howard McLaren…wooooooooof! No one was more unaware of their limits than me! The regret, the guilt, the dress I barfed on in my sink, the actual hangover, the void in my bank account, the lack of a voice, the empty Cookout trays, the stranger in my bed, the inability to recover as quickly as I did when I was 18…oops I mean 21! This last picture is from Aruba on my 30th birthday. It was the best of times and it was the worst of times…We literally drank and smoked from 11 am to 3am for a WEEK! When I got home I felt like I was 130. I think my body was trying to prepare me for this ultimate fate…I was hitting rock bottom. But I’m the type of girl who has to put her hand in the fire and at the time I prided myself on not being a quitter…I persisted and just kept partying my ass off! My body had had it and at the beginning of this year I was sick for three months culminating in walking pneumonia…you guys…I GAVE MYSELF WALKING PNEUMONIA! Bc I couldn’t see the correlation between my partying ways and my declining health…probably because I was wasted! So when Jenny and I decided to change our lives, I knew I had to quit smoking (I only smoked when I drank…but I drank all the time!) And I knew the only way that was happening was if I quit drinking. I told myself…just for a month so you can really focus on getting healthy. Well a month flew by and I was shocked to find out two things…one I didn’t miss it…like at all and two I felt one trillion times better! Today is my 120th sober day. I feel amazing…I genuinely don’t miss it and am not bothered or even tempted in the least being around others who are drinking. Who am I?!? I believe so strongly that everything happens for a reason so I’ll close this story with this little coincidence. Last week I decided that I was going to give up drinking for a year. My boss sent me a link to a blog where a woman my age who I totally relate to gave up alcohol for a year. I hadn’t really started taking about it bc I wasn’t sure I wanted to commit…I had told a few clients and a handful of coworkers…but I still just didn’t know. So Saturday I went to my Mecca…Trader Joe’s. I stocked up on lots of healthy food for the week and even splurged and got some beautiful fresh flowers…fresh flowers are my favorite!

As I was checking out, Jackie whose line I had been in a handful of times, was so pleasant and just chatting it up about everything in my cart. She then slid my new obsesh…raspberry lime sparkling water over the scanner and said don’t you love this!? I felt an overwhelming urge to tell her about my newly found sobriety…so I did. And to my amazement she began to tell me about her own success…she had been exactly a year on her own journey! How cool for her to confide this huge milestone to me…a relative stranger. But this one small exchange between two people helped me solidify my plans for my own year without alcohol. Then she became even cooler and almost made me cry…she leaned over and quietly told me that my flowers had been taken care of by Trader Joe’s to celebrate the good news. So to Jackie…congratulations and thank you soooooo much for opening up to me…it happened at just the right moment, and thank you soooooo much for my flowers!

Who needs another reason to love Trader Joe’s?! But there it is. So many things have happened since Jenny and I started on our journey to health but what keeps getting reaffirmed for me literally everyday is that if you are honest and open…there’s no telling all the wonderful people and stories you will find. Xoxo Jackie! And here’s to the next 245 days of clean living. Love you all!!!!!

Two Meatballs Get Fit

We had so much fun getting fat together. Now we're going to have even more fun getting fit!