Guest Post: Peanut Butter Lovin Mama

Hey guys, I am probably swimming with the dolphins right now but that's irrelevant :). I just wanted to introduce you all to my last guest post, Mandy. She has a great story and is such a sweet girl. She is an inspiration to all!! Enjoy.

~Justine


Hello blog world!

First of all, I have to say a HUGE thank you to Justine for asking me to do a guest post! I have been a follower of many of your blogs for the past year and excited to have the chance to do something of my own :)

A few facts about me:

I am 29 years old and live in Nashville, TN

10 years ago, I looked like this


I was overweight my whole life until I was 19 years old. I was tired of being the "fat friend" and even though my friends and family always made me feel loved... I felt like the outsider. After many failed attempts on different diets throughout the years, yo-yo dieting and a binge eating disorder - I finally learned the secret to healthy weight loss - there is no secret!! It's all about eating well and working out!

I have been married for 7 1/2 years to this stud



3 1/2 years ago, we were blessed with this little angel



Still nine months after having Maddie I looked like this
(I gained 60 pounds during my pregnancy! Eek!)

Balancing a newborn, working full time and being a wife was much harder than I expected! It was far too easy to give in to the convenience of fast food and working out was the last thing on our minds...especially when we were running on two hours of sleep every night!

We did eventually get back on track...We work out at home in the mornings using The Firm's workout videos. I have used them for over five years and though have tried a couple of other programs, I always go back to my Firm videos! My husband, JR and I were actually in their latest infomercial for losing "baby weight" with their videos. We are featured in various parts throughout the infomercial. Here are the links if you'd like to check it out!

Firm Wave Part 1 Firm Wave Part 2 Firm Wave Part 3

And now I look like this
(Give or take about seven pounds more than I normally have! Too many vacations lately ;) )

I have lost somewhere over 1oo lbs over the past ten years. This has definitely been a long learning process of how to treat my body physically and emotionally. I've learned that denying myself of my favorite foods only leads to feeling deprived and binging. I've learned that carbs are NOT the devil and definitely have a place in my daily life! Balance is still something I am working on...I have SUCH a sweet tooth - but when I want a cookie, I have it! Life's too short to not indulge every now and then! At the same time though, we have learned that we can make healthier versions of our favorite foods and still enjoy them just as much and sometimes more!

My absolute favorite food is pizza. We used to order Papa Johns every weekend...but knowing we could do this ourselves, we started making Saturday night in the Arostegui household homemade pizza night! Okay, so we cheat a little...We are not patient enough to make our own dough, so we buy pre-made whole wheat dough from Whole Foods :) We do actually make the sauce... we found a great quick and easy recipe from Cooking Light's website... to try it click here

This has been MUCH cheaper than $80-$90 a month on pizza... and better on the waistline!

This weeks creation included: grilled chicken, roma tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach and part-skim mozzarella cheese

Before going in the oven:



and after:

Oh yeah!!! That's the good stuff right there :)'

Thanks again Justine for giving me the chance to get my story out there! I'd love to hear from any of you... feel free to email me at mandyarostegui@yahoo.com.

That's it! For smiles, I leave you with some pictures of the little one showing off her "muscles"...


Confession of the Day: I am a total make up addict... I can never have enough eye shadows or lip gloss! I am obsessed with MAC and Urban Decay products. I'd love to be a Make Up Artist... but never had the nerve to fully pursue it! Maybe someday...