Fat Little Legs

Rain Rain Go Away!

Before and After April 26, 2017

Do These Stripes Make me Look Fat?

Apple Shape April 24, 2017

Happy Monday! Hopefully you are rested from the weekend. Here in the middle of Minnesota it was actually amazingly gorgeous spring weather and I spent a lot of time outside just soaking up some sun! I am loving a red lip lately with a really natural face - I think it plays off my pale skin (aka white girl ghost emerging from winter).

Makeup: Younique foundation/concealer and 3d+ Fiber Mascara
Lips: Blu-Red Lipsense

And now it's Monday and we are back to our regularly scheduled gray and rainy April! Honestly the cure for me on a gray day is a bright, fresh, and usually floral outfit. Let's talk about florals for a minute. So as a fat girl, I always thought there was NO WAY I could wear florals - I would look like a beached whale in a mumu. Oh boy, oh boy was I DEAD WRONG! Case in point, my outfit from Sunday

Blazer: Gap (a few seasons ago, but recently fits again!), similar style here: Old Navy striped Blazer
Floral Top: Dolman Top from Agnes and Dora
Jeans: Torrid
Shoes: Steve Madden - found at DSW!

The key for me and my apple body shape is balance - basically doing things like make me look less blob like! What I've done here is a super easy combo that any of you can easily recreate by following the rules I'm going to give you. Also these pieces are basics! Think of how many other ways you could remix them!

1. Pick a way to break up the pattern: You could do a solid bottom with a floral top, or a floral bottom with a solid top. Or if you are working with a dress think about a cardigan or denim vest or jacket as a layer to accomplish the same effect. Above I used a solid bottom with a patterned top.

2. Add structure: There are lots of ways to add structure to an outfit, but basically this means again to do something so there is a "nipping in" sort of effect at your waist, top or legs. You could use a belt, a structured cardigan, jacket, or blazer, or use sleek/straight/skinny bottoms with a fuller top or a more fitted top with a fuller bottom. Any of these will add a nice amount of structure to your outfit and accentuate your curves! Above I used a fitted blazer to accomplish this

3. Pattern Mixing: This goes along with the concept of "breaking up the pattern", but seriously do some amazing mixing here! And don't be scared! I'll write another full post about the "rules" of pattern mixing, but for now know that florals pair great with polka dots or stripes! And seriously... do not even get me started with the whole I can't wear stripes - they make me look fat crap! Are the stripes I'm wearing making me look fatter in the pic above? If your answer is "no" then don't tell yourself that! The more we tell ourselves something the more we believe it! So look at yourself right now in the mirror - or on your phone if you don't have one, and say:
"I am beautiful!"
"I am worth it"
"I am enough"

Keep on rocking what the good Lord gave you ladies XOXOXO!
Sarah

Fashion, Body Positive, and Finding Myself

40 April 21, 2017

Thanksgiving - Lightened!

November 22, 2016

I'm sure that you are busy getting ready for the ultimate eating day of the year - Thanksgiving!

For me, the best way to control my eating during the holidays is to make healthier alternatives of my favorite foods. That way I don’t feel a bit of deprivation. This post contains the best of my favorite tried and true Thanksgiving side dishes!

Now on to the recipes…ENJOY!

Cranberry Orange Relish

Picture Credit: Martha Stewart Living

Makes approximately 4 cups of sauce.

½ cup Honey

3 Tbsps of Stevia

2 cups Orange Juice – I use Trop50 Light Orange Juice

2 Tbsp peeled and grated fresh ginger root
2 Tbsp fresh orange zest
1 cinnamon stick
3 cups fresh cranberries – basically 1 bag
1 tsp sea salt
In a medium saucepan over low heat, combine the honey, stevia and orange juice. Simmer until everything is completely dissolved. Add the ginger, orange zest and cinnamon stick. Stir. Next, add the cranberries and simmer stirring occasionally for 45-60 minutes. The mixture should become thick. Remove from heat and stir in the salt.
This can be made several days in advance and kept in the refrigerator.

There is nothing I love more than a tasty cranberry sauce. It is SO easy to make… and tastes 1000 times better than the canned stuff. This is awesome as a condiment for sandwiches, and even a dessert topping!

Sarah's Stuffing

This is an adaptation of a recipe I found about 5 years ago on www.allrecipes.com. I’ve changed some of the ingredients to my tastes, and lightened it a bit, eliminating unneeded butter, and using reduced-fat sausage.

12 oz Jimmy Dean reduced-fat sausage
2 cups chopped onion
2 apples – peeled, cored, and chopped
2 cups chopped celery
1 Tbsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 cup dried cranberries
14 oz Pre package stuffing mix – like Pepperidge Farm
2 cups fat-free chicken broth
1 Tbsp fresh sage leaves
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet over medium heat cook the sausage until brown. Transfer the sausage to a large bowl. Now, use the same skillet over medium heat and add the onions, apples, celery, and poultry seasoning. Cook, stirring frequently for about 10 minutes. Stir in rosemary, cranberries, and sage.

Mix the onion mixture with the sausage mixture and Stuffing Mix in the large bowl. Add the chicken broth and salt and pepper to taste.

I’ll be honest; I usually don’t stuff the turkey… I actually make this the day before, and then put it in my crock pot on low to reheat on Thanksgiving Day. Easy Peasy… and delicious!

Green Beans with Yellow Pepper Butter

Picture from Better Homes and Gardens

This is a classic recipe that makes an excellent substitution to the traditional Green Bean Casserole that is found on many Thanksgiving dinner tables. This recipe was taken from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, and adapted by me to lighten it up. I think it tastes just as great as the original.

1 Tbsp butter
1 medium yellow sweet pepper, coarsely shredded
4 Tbsps margarine or butter, softened
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
4 cups green beans, trimmed
1 large yellow sweet pepper, cut into thin strips

In a small saucepan melt the 1 tablespoon butter. Add the shredded sweet pepper. Cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Set aside.

In a blender or food processor bowl combine the 4 Tablespoons softened butter and the pine nuts. Cover; blend or process until almost smooth. Add cooked sweet pepper, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper. Cover; blend or process until almost smooth. Set aside.

In a covered saucepan cook beans in a small amount of boiling water for 12 minutes. Add the sweet pepper strips the last 3 minutes of cooking. Drain the beans and sweet pepper strips.

To serve, transfer beans and sweet pepper strips to a serving bowl. Add the blended margarine mixture; toss to coat.

Baby You're Worth It

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12 week challenge October 28, 2016

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Inspiration October 24, 2016

Throwback Thursday - Forget Past Mistakes

A-ha moments October 20, 2016

No Fear Friday - What are you afraid of?

12 week challenge October 14, 2016

When Life Gives You Lemons

A-ha moments October 13, 2016

Is anyone out there?

Is this thing on?

It's me. Real, honest me. Here I sit now almost 6 years since I hit my lifetime goal with Weight Watchers after losing 116 lbs! Not even months after that moment I got pregnant with the baby that most of you know now as the ever joyous and fabulous Lily. Along with that pregnancy and my miracle girl, came a pregnancy in which I gained 80 lbs and NEVER lost them. Add another oh say 50 lbs to that over the last nearly 5 years and I'm fat... really really really really fat.. AGAIN. Please don't tell me not to say that. It's the truth, and please also know that unlike before Lily I no longer let it define my worth as a person. I don't care. I love my life. I love my face, my hair, my outfits. I walk with confidence. I'm a smart bad ass lady! I rock!

But... just one but... I hurt. My feet hurt. I can't play with my kids like I want to. I'm scared of dying of diabetes or heart disease. So... this is my journey to get healthy ... AGAIN! I hope you are still here to follow along because you should know that there isn't a moment that I don't think about this blog and how I can get back here to what my passion once was. But my life... in the last nearly 6 years has changed. I've been thrown A LOT of LEMONS!!! See, before I was on this journey to get healthy so I could have the perfect pregnancy, and I did get healthy, but I didn't have the perfect pregnancy AT ALL. My pregnancy was a LEMON! And what did I do, I threw it back and asked for chocolate... lots and lots of chocolate! And wine! And cake! And chips! And... well, you get the picture. And now here I am ready to declare to world once again that I'm FAT and something needs to be done about it.

I will do this. The alternative is that I die. Please join me. I offer you encouragement and ideas and food, and fuel to make you love yourself. You offer me accountability in return.

I plan to be open and honest. I plan to rock this, and I plan to only look at how far I've come and not how far I have to go. Let's rock this thing! Who's with me?