Author: ThriftyMomma

I’m going to post my baby steps in how I have managed to lose over 75 pounds in the last 10 months. I’m doing it slowly, but for me this is a lifestyle change and not a diet. The first step I took was to quit drinking all soft drinks. I still needed my caffeine fix so I switched to regular iced tea. I don’t believe in artificial sweeteners so I used regular sugar but much less of it. I would make a gallon of tea and add a 1/2 cup of sugar. That wasn’t very sweet at all. I also increased my water intake. I didn’t feel like I was depriving myself. The best part was I started saving money by not spending $40-50 a month on soft drinks. Making a couple of gallons a tea weekly is so much cheaper. I was spending about $5 a month on tea and sugar. I did wean myself off the sugar by decreasing how much sugar I added. Once I got used to the 1/2 cup then I cut it down to a 1/4 cup. After a couple of months I was using no sugar at all. I just squeeze a little lemon juice in it which helps. If I eat out, then I either order iced water or unsweet tea with lemon. I do occasionally drink a soft drink, but maybe like once a month to every 2-3 months. The desire to drink them often is gone. I prefer to drink herbal tea now with no caffeine on a daily basis. The best part was I lost 6 pounds in 10 days by not drinking soft drinks. That gave me great motivation to continue losing weight.

The main reason I quit drinking soft drinks was for health reasons. I was suffering from heartburn on a daily basis. I kept thinking it was the red sauces, but once I quit drinking cokes, then my heartburn went away. It was amazing! Many people will drink diet drinks since it has no calories, but it still has all those awful ingredients and colors. Most people know that coke will eat away acid on a car battery. Well imagine what those same drinks are doing to your insides? Many people drink 2-3 a day! I find it quite scary, and that just reinforced my desire to quit drinking them. It’s a major step that many people feel that they can’t do it. I will say not only will your body thank you, but so will your pocket book.

Here is a great offer that I am getting and wanted to share. Canvas People is offering a free $55 Gift Certificate to redeem one free 8×10 canvas of your favorite digital picture. You do have to pay $14.95 shipping and handling but this is a great savings! You can order a frame for it as well, but I’m going to frame it myself since I already have a perfect one at home. This site is really cool. You can add special effects to the canvas. I think this is a great gift idea for anyone. Why not use a vacation picture which would make a great memory for hanging on the wall. This deal is also a great gift idea for grandparents. I’m buying one for my husband as a surprise gift so I can’t get into more details just to be safe. He really doesn’t read my blog but you never know. If you would like to browse or take advantage of this great deal then just click either on the picture above or click here to go to Canvas People. Enjoy this great deal.

I have been so behind on posting that I totally missed my 2 year anniversary. On 5/14/10 Thrifty Momma Ramblings celebrated it’s second year! This is huge news! It’s such huge news that I decided to give a $25 gift card to one lucky reader! I have a list of the following stores that the winner can choose to spend their $25 gift card. This drawing will end on June 30th at midnight CST. The winner will be announced on the blog the following day.

To enter this drawing all you have to do is leave a comment about my blog. It could be about why do you like, a favorite post, or whatever that is relevant to my blog. No anonymous posters please. You don’t have to have a blog but leave your name at least. I’m planning to post some really great content for this blog like more reviews and giveaway’s. I will also discuss my weight loss journey as I continue down this path. I’ve met some really great people and am enjoying writing this blog. I can’t wait to see what this year will bring. Thanks so much to all my readers. I wouldn’t have much of a blog without you guys.

EXTRA ENTRIES:
2 Extra Entries- Blog about this drawing on your blog linking back to this post. Leave me a comment with the link that I can follow and see it.
1 Extra Entry- Subscribe to my email list located at the top right hand side below header.

A list of the stores you can select your gift card from is listed below. Good luck!

1) Wal-Mart
2) Target
3) Amazon (online)
4) CVS
5) Walgreen’s
6) Best Buy
7) Rite-Aid
8) Blockbuster
9) Academy
10) Michael’s or Hobby Lobby

Today’s thrifty living tip is instead of using an expensive makeup primer, you can use Monistat Chafing Powder-Gel. You read this correctly Monistat. I can hear you saying I am not putting stuff made for feminine itching on my face! Gross!

I realize this sounds a little crazy but it really works great as a makeup primer. The reason it works so well is that it contains dimethicone which is the same ingredient that the other expensive makeup primers use. It’s a fraction of the cost plus you will get more for the money.

I was skeptical at first as I have used MAC primer which is wonderful. I never tried Smashbox, but I know it’s another very popular makeup primer. I found it at my local Wal-Mart for $6.37 plus tax, and I read that it will last for at least a year. You don’t use much as in the size of a dime. Trying is believing, and it really does work!

I live in very humid south Louisiana and if the heat doesn’t melt off your makeup then the humidity will. My makeup still looked wonderful at the end of the day especially my eye makeup. I couldn’t believe how well this stuff works and for a fraction of the more expensive primers. I also have oily skin but my face doesn’t look like an oil slick at the end of the day. My foundation went on flawlessly and it just feels nice. Some people say it can be hard to find and not found in Canada.

Leave me a comment either if you have tried it or you want to try. I would love to hear from you.

So I haven’t posted in over two months. I know it’s terrible, but life has really gotten in the way since last year. I finally gave my blog a long overdue face lift. I hope everyone likes it. I’m not sure if I’m happy with all the text colors but it will do for now. I’m pleased with the template design, and I find it a little whimsical. It fits with my blog perfectly I think. So let me know what you think.

I had posted an update in February about how things were going for my family. If you had read then you know that I had a lot going on between my son and myself. I am happy to post that things are so much better for both of us. He finished the 2nd grade making straight A’s most of the year with only 2 B’s on his report cards. He finished the year very strong and should have a much easier time in 3rd grade. I’m very hopeful and just extremely grateful we found some wonderful people to help us.

I had decided to start losing weight at the end of last August. I had tried several times in the past, but I would never stick with it. I would quit all my bad habits at once which would overwhelm me. Then I would completely quit and undo any bad habits I had stopped. I decided to try a different approach by doing it with baby steps. My first step was to quit drinking soft drinks. I thought I had acid reflux, and I was drinking alka-seltzer 3-5x a week. Some days twice a day! It was craziness and I had to stop. I switched to sweet iced tea so no caffeine withdrawls or headaches. I would make a gallon of tea and put 1/2 cup of sugar so it wasn’t very sweet at all. When I got used to that, then a couple of weeks later I cut it down to a 1/4c. Then I finally got used to drinking it without any sugar. I drank more water and I lost 6 pounds in 10 days! That was amazing and 2 weeks later I noticed that I wasn’t having heartburn anymore. It finally dawned on me that the soft drinks were causing my heartburn. Once I quit drinking them it magically went away! That saved me lots of money as soft drinks are expensive. Then I was able to take another step by watching my calorie intake. I made switches from honey wheat bread to dark German bread. I also quit eating white rice by switching to brown. All of these small changes made big impacts on my appetite. I started walking with my Leslie Walk-Away-The-Pounds DVD’s at the end of December. I began slowly and kept challenging myself with slightly harder workouts. I was out of breath but I never quit. I also didn’t berate myself if I had to modify or quit. I just told myself tomorrow you will do better and I did.

I will say that my biggest motivator came in October. I got my prescription for Zoloft and my doctor ran a blood test on me. The results came back that my sugar level was elevated (126) and my cholesterol was 190. The worst part was she wanted me to take Glucophage since I was pre-diabetic! I was shocked and refused it. I had already lost 17 pounds at that point, and was committed to losing this weight on my own. I knew I could do it and I would prove to her that I didn’t need a diabetic medicine when I wasn’t truly diabetic. I had talked to a good friend of mine who is a diabetic and former nurse. She was also shocked and told me no way. She advised me to get a glucose meter and just check my blood after eating to see what would trigger it. I learned a lot by talking with her and really changed my eating habits more than I had. My blood sugar level went to normal quickly and has stayed that way since. I haven’t had a formal blood test but am planning one soon.

We finally got to Disney World at the end of April. I was down 65 pounds and it felt wonderful. I got to a size 16 in bottoms and XL in tops. I had prepared myself for all the walking before we went. Walking around WDW was a piece of cake. We also hit the beach in Panama City. It was a very long overdue vacation and our first family trip ever. I wasn’t even worried too much about the long drive. It was fine and we saved a lot of money by driving instead of flying. We broke up the drive by spending the night in Tallahassee. My husband and son have never been outside of MS or TX so it was a great experience for them. We had a wonderful time and didn’t want to leave. We can’t wait for our next family trip which we hope will be next year. I’m going to wrap up this super long post soon. I am down 75 pounds as of today. I have lost 10 dress sizes and am currently wearing a LG in tops/14-16 in bottoms. I still have another 55 pounds to go but I know I will get there.

I have also started working part-time again as a merchandiser/mystery shopper/demonstrator. It’s not really steady right now, but it’s harder with the summer. My son is home with me so I can’t really dive into it like I want. I did just pick up a great job that has wonderful hours and nice pay. Once he’s back in school, then I’m sure work will pick up for me. I’m going to try really hard not to neglect this blog anymore and adding posts regularly. Thanks for letting me share. I’m not planning on leaving for long periods of time anymore. I will make this blog more of a priority again. I really enjoy having it to share my good deals, thrifty tips, and even about my family.