The Emperor Has No Clothes On!

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When you gain weight I think your family and friends tend to ignore the fact and don't say anything, much like the story of "The Emperor's New Clothes," because they are afraid of "hurting your feelings."  But, when you decide to go on a weight-loss program, everyone sighs in relief and then the truth comes out with plenty of really nice comments.  At least, that's the way it is with our family!  

No one wants to hear, "Gee, sure looks like you have packed on a few pounds."  But we all love to hear the opposite, "Gee, you are looking good!  How much have you lost?"  Huh?  I didn't think you even noticed!

Our 21 Day Challenge with Synergy Worldwide is coming along really well.  In just a week, Frank is down over five pounds, half of his goal, and I am down almost three pounds.  Darn these digital scales!  They record every ounce.  

We have been very consistent in our healthy eating this past week and haven't even missed all of the carbs and sugars.  We are also counting calories which is a big help.  I don't think you really realize how many extra calories you consume when you don't track them.

Veggies and cottage cheese is a great alternative to pasta or spuds!

Lettuce works really well instead of bread or tortilla's!  

ARE YOU READY TO JOIN US?

This Little Piggie Went To Market

Starting to eat healthy again requires a trip to the market!  

At least in my house it does!  

When I open my pantry I'm seeing way too many packages of cookies, chips, pudding cups, and other snacks.  Of course we have to have these for the grandkids.  Uh huh...  So it's time to clean out the pantry and go shopping.  Of course little Ashtyn is going to love taking home a big box of cookies!  

Frank and I went to the store and instead of the usual garbage spilling over in the cart, we loaded up on fresh veggies and fruits.  I find if I eat fruit I don't want sugar snacks, so why not indulge? Especially now when the mango's, pineapples, strawberries, and melons are so tasty. I felt a little like a hippy when I was at the check out with all my healthy foods!  

We are starting each day of our Challenge with a healthy protein shake by Synergy Worldwide called:

SLMsmart - Slim, Lose, Maintain

We like to add a few little extra's to make it more like a tasty milkshake. It's actually very good and satisfies me for hours. Frank even likes it!  It also helps me count calories, which is how I can eat my elephant!

This is working because I lost 1.2 lbs and Frank lost 1.8 lbs the first day!  Yes, we are going to weigh and track our weight each day because it makes us more accountable.  I am actually looking forward to each day and a renewed sense of getting on the right track.  

Learn more about the SLM System 

How Do You Eat An Elephant?

One bite at a time!  Corny, huh?  But it pretty well describes the only way I can wrap my head around losing weight.

About five years ago Frank and I were getting rather fluffy.  That's a nice way of saying we were fat!  We went on our first-ever weight loss program and both of us lost around 40 pounds in about four months.  It wasn't easy but it was necessary.  We not only looked better, we felt better!  We maintained our weight loss for about three years and then due to major lifestyle changes and going back to poor eating habits the pounds started to come back on slowly. Creeping at first and then running and jumping on our bones! Before we knew it we had both gained over 20 pounds back.  Ugh!

Time to get them back off again.
  
Two good friends, Mark B and Marty H, called and invited us to join them in a 21 Day Lifestyle Challenge. This challenge not only encourages us to make changes in our physical life but in our spiritual and financial life.

I am going to concentrate my blogging on the physical challenge. We set up a goal to lose 10 pounds by the end of our 21 days.  At our age, this ain't easy!  
Having a goal without an written action plan is like saying, "When I grow up..."  It just doesn't happen.  

GOAL: 
Drop 10 pounds in 21 days!  

PLAN OF ACTION:
Weigh and Measure - We will weigh daily.

CHANGE EATING HABITS:
Drink at least one SLM Synergy Shake daily
Healthy meal planning - more fresh veggies, salads, lean meats and fish, and fruit
Drink more water - at least 64 oz daily
Eliminate unhealthy snacks and sweets
Count and track calories - no more than 1200 to 1500 daily 
No eating after 7:00
GET ACTIVE:
Brisk morning walk of 45 to 60 minutes daily
Minimum of one hour alternate physical activity daily - swimming, working on houses, yard work, gym, etc

JOIN ME AND GET ACTIVE TODAY! LEARN MORE

Month of Love and I Mean LOVE!

Tera finally snagged the man of her dreams! Thanks Brendan for making her so happy and being a great Dad to Tenlee. They were married on Feb 18th. It was a beautiful wedding with Tenlee leading the way, carrying the rings, and stopping to smile at the photographer every few feet. Then came Tera with Frank and Terry both walking her down. It was very important to Terry to have this honor. After the beautiful ceremony, performed by Brendan's uncle, we then had a delicious Chinese Haystack dinner, followed by the reception. They had a nice turn out with several of Tera's old high school buddies attending.

Thank heavens for Valene as she took charge of serving the refreshments - Hot Fudge Brownie Sundae's. Theresa did a beautiful job on the invitations and on the slide show for the reception.

Darling, cute little Maci J had to let everyone know she was important as well, so she pee'd all over my lap during the dinner! Frank just told people that I forgot wear my Depends! Luckily, my dress was a silky print so you couldn't see it.

The next morning we met the newlyweds at Smitty's for breakfast. That is where Frank and I had our first breakfast, nearly 44 years ago! They then went to Southern California for a honeymoon, staying on the Queen Mary! It sounds like they had a lot of fun. She called me every day, it wasn't me calling her.....

The Month of Love - February - Part One

Even though it was a short month, it was packed full of events.

First came Super Bowl Sunday on the 6th. Yes, we did go to Church! Priorities, right? We didn't have much of crowd for Super Bowl but we loved the company we did have. Theresa, Rich and Maci joined us for the afternoon but left shortly after the game started to go his mom's house for a Family Home Evening. Tera, Brendan (the only Steeler's fan in the group) and Tenlee were here and the we were joined by our good friends (and my co-worker) John & Peggy Taylor and her mom. Everyone was rooting for the Packers to win and they did! Yes, we ate way too much but that's the best part of watching the game. Again, priorities!

We then enjoyed Family Home Evening at Dad and Merlene's houseon the 7th. Merlene fixed a great supper for us all and then Dad gave a lesson based on the experiences of Larry H Miller, owner of the Jazz team, and his conversion and belief in paying tithing. Excellent reminder for us all.

Ashtyn Sophie Garrett

Jana designed this card. Her father-in-law, John, took the pictures.

Love it! Good job Jana and John.

January and I Already Blew It!

My New Years resolution is to update my blog at least once a month. So far, I'm doing terrible. It's already Febuary! But, this post is going to be for January 2011 and I WILL post again this month!

We started our New Year off with Jana and Dave and our new little granddaughter, Ashtyn Sophie. She is named after my grandma, Sophie Neisess. Ashtyn was born Dec 2 and we didn't get to see her until Christmas Day! That was awful...

Ashtyn is such a little sweetheart. We spent nine days with Jana and Dave for the holidays. Ashtyn was blessed on Dec 26th. Jana chose to have her wear her own blessing dress. What a special thing to do and the dress is still beautiful. It was made by my good friend and one-time drapery business partner, Lynn Francis, while we lived in Alberta.

Jana and Dave are going to be wonderful parents. Dave is a "hands-on" dad and doesn't even mind changing dirty diapers!

While we were in Texas we visited the NASA Space Center. It is such an interesting place I hope we go back again and spend more time. We also spent a day at a huge flea market that had close to 1000 vendors! They sold everything you could imagine, new and old stuff.

Frank had knee surgery on October 27th to replace his ACL and do something about his huge menisus tears. He has done really well. During his down time he has been working on our Freelife and TAIslim business. We attended the Las Vegas Success School on Jan 14th - the 16th. It was a great time other than the six hours spent in the Twin Falls airport. Our plane blew a tire and they finally brought another one in from Washington so we didn't get into Vegas until 3:00 am! Bryan and Ali received a lot of awards and recognition for their accomplishments with Freelife. They are top qualifiers for the trip to Alaska in June.

As a family, we have started having Family Home Evning once a month. We rotate from family to family where we go and the host family provides dinner and the lesson. This month we went to Layne and Val's for a terrific evening.

On Sunday the 23rd we took Rich's mom, Glenna, to Rexburg where we had dinner with Sam and Kendra Angel (Richs nephew) and then went Jake's Eagle Court of Honor. Jake is Richs youngest son. It was a nice evening and Rich did a wonderful job speaking. He is a natural speaker.

Theresa is so happy with Rich and her beautiful little Maci Jeannette. What a special little girl in our family. She has far exceeded our expectations! she really loves grandpa Frank and he has even babysat her.

On the 29th was Karlee's birthday. Zak, Tanner, Karlee and Brandi came over for Sunday dinner on the 30th. We played a couple of games and Yahtzee and had a nice time. It's hard to believe that Karlee is ten years old already! She is such a good little girl and so easy to be around.