Where do I begin?

I suppose I'll begin at the beginning. Novel concept I know. Don't worry, not "the" beginning, but "this" beginning.

In June of 2005 I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy we named William (Will). Prior to his pregnancy I was an average size 8 sometimes 6. I was bigger than I had ever been, but still respectable for a person of my height. His pregnancy left me with about 30 lbs of souvenirs and a determination to get my old self back. I nursed him exclusively and waited for those magical pounds to just fall off, because that's what they do for breastfeeding mothers, right? Ha!

Fast forward to November 2008. I am now very pregnant with baby #2, still carrying around those 30 lbs plus a newly acquired 40 more. Of course I was 8 months pregnant, but still, not a pretty number on the scale. I hit a number I never thought I'd see and hoped that I would have better luck this time loosing the weight. I was really going to do it this time. I wasn't sure just how yet, but I was thinking about it in my spare time (because you know SAHMs with 3 year old boys have loads of that right?). On November 24th, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Sara Catherine. 8 lbs down, 72 more to go. Ack! Time to get serious now.

I came home and began life as the mother of two. In an effort to loose weight I started really paying attention to what I was eating. Not just studying the box of Hamburger Helper as I fixed it for dinner yet again, but really being conscious. On my own I decided to try my best to stay away from the boxes and to try to cook at home from scratch using as much flavor, but as little fat as possible. (A stark contrast to the pregnancy when I baked cookies at least once a week ;) I hadn't really thought of the health benefits to this new plan, my motivation was strictly aesthetic. Somehow, the magic weight fairy smiled on me this time and I saw loss after loss on the scale until by about 3 months PP I was almost back at my pre-pregnancy weight; pre-second-pregnancy that is. Excited by this new found success I was determined to ride the wave of weight loss momentum as long as possible. At 5 months that day seems to have come. I have plateaued. So here I am, having had great success but still 30 lbs over where I want to be. I have a closet full of cute clothes that are wasting away in the attic.

About a month ago I clicked on a link from a friend and discovered My Charming Kids blog. I was immediately captivated by the story of her miracle baby and the struggles he was now facing outside of the womb. But, as I dug deeper I found that before all this illness there was a blog dealing with day to day life with 4 under 4 aka MSC (Many Small Children). She posts about nutrition and the things she feeds her children and I was intrigued. Steve and I have always tried to expose Will to many different foods and for the most part have succeeded in creating a wonderful eater, but could I do better? Since this whole healthier eating things had been on my mind for a while I took this as a sign that I really needed to make this a priority. Not only for myself, but for my husband, whom I want to have around for a while longer, and my child(ren)who has fallen victim to my reliance on convenience foods to a greater degree than I ever thought I would. Now although I'm not a junk food girl- don't get me wrong, I love it, which is why I almost never buy it- my pantry would frequently be filled with the aforementioned Hamburger Helper, Shake and Bake, canned veggies, store bought bread, commercial peanut butter, pop tarts and many other oh so tasty, but so unhealthy foods. I had gradually weaned myself away from my boxed dinner foods during the initial Post-Partum weight loss spree, but I still had have a long way to go. Thanks to MckMama and the good old Internet I am learning more about nutrition. I might not never eat from a box again (that sounds a lot like a double negative, but it is not, I promise) but I am on a journey to eat better, feel better and look better.
I'm discovering new recipes, and new foods every day and I'll be posting them here. If anyone but me actually reads this I'd welcome their ideas and input as well. I need all the help I can get.

So here I am, Learning to eat outside of the box. For those who know me IRL outside of the box is something I have never really been, but I feel myself drifting that way in my personal life too. I am opening my mind to some new ways of being and feeling like a better preson because of it. Perhaps this outside of the box thing is good for me after all.