Happy Thursday everyone. It is a beautiful day here in NC after the torrential rain we had late yesterday. Lord knows we needed the rain but not all at the same time. Didn't know until this morning that there was severe damage in some areas with high winds and rain. So, actually we were blessed.


 There appears to be a trend that has caught on in and around the area I live with people getting serious about losing weight. Linda's daughter, Beth is selling a product that you mix into a shake that replaces 2 meals a day and then you eat sensible at the other meal. Many have lost up to 30 lbs so I decided to give it a try myself. You see I am the kind of person that if I have a structured system to go by I can stay on it better than just trying to choose the right things to eat. Yesterday I started and weighed to get a starting point and it was 202 lbs so time will tell how it will be by the time I go for my next surgery on February 2nd. I hope to really surprise the doctors with a significant amount lost.


 Linda is already noticing a difference in her energy level and is walking a lot more.  She also showed me where she has a lot more room in her clothes and has her excited. I won't go into what brand they are using because I found that Sam's Club has a product called Naturade Total Soy that does the same thing with only a few calories over the other product and costs about $19 for 24 days. I discovered that if you add a couple of spoon fulls of butterscotch pudding mix and low fat peanut butter you end up with a shake that tastes like you are drinking a Butterfinger. I just had my third one and I can't wait for the next one they are so good.


 We have scales here at my office that are actually like the ones found in doctors offices that we use for UPS so they are really accurate and yesterday I weighed to get a starting point and as I said above it was 202 and this morning before eating breakfast it read 198 which amazed me. Honestly I think this will actually work. I will keep you posted.


 This is Thursday and I am thankful today for so many areas of my life. Last Saturday being with my two sisters and all 3 of my girls made me realize how blessed I am with family that loves me unconditionally. I am thankful for my health which is awesome considering I will be 65 in March. A little over a year ago I never even thought about blogging and now it is a part of my life and I am blessed with friends literally all over the world and I am so thankful for the impact they have on my life as I share with them and read their posts that move me, inspire me, make me laugh or want to cry. I consider myself a rich man today with all that God has blessed me with, not material things or piles of cash but the important blessings of friends and family. 

Weight loss update for tuesday

A lot has gone on with my weight loss interests so it's time for an update. Last week on monday when I got to work I decided to weigh myself and it was at 195 which upset me since that is too close to the most I have weighed and didn't want to go back to that time in my life. I knew we were going to start the blog weigh-in on Jan. 31st but I decided to start a drastic change immediately and spent last week only eating fresh fruits & veggies. I did cook a pot of vegetarian chili and had some this past weekend.


When I got to work yesterday and weighed I was pleased to find that it was down 6 lbs to 189. This morning I was at 188 so I like the trend and will concentrate on making good choices and try to keep it that way.

Follow the weight loss

You can follow the weight loss blog at Downward Diva's here.

All I needed was motivation

I have been wanting to do better about we weight gain, loss, gain pattern for some time now and it appears February will be the start of a new leaf for me. You see I have always known what I needed to do, what I needed to stay away from, but I let circumstances rule my attitude and made wrong choices.


One of the points I have gotten from my new book "Made to Crave" by Lysa TerKeurst came out of scripture. 1 Corinthians 10:23; "everything is permissable -- but not everything is beneficial". So basically I can have that brownie or bag of chips but they would not benefit me, therefore my decision will be not to indulge.

This all may come as a shock to my wife but I have to do what I have to do. I will still happily cook anything she wants and help her in any way I can but will work on portion control and will concentrate on fruits and vegetables as my primary source of food. Not saying I am going the vegetarian way even though I did that for about 4 years and managed quite well.


So my friends this experience will begin next monday the 31st and I am really looking forward to the challenge. Again the site to visit and get on board is my friends over at Life in the Carolina Mountains and her email address is sukie175@hotmail.com .

Biggest Loser, Blog Version

There has been a lot of blogs regarding the need or desire to lose weight and the only real problem with doing that is being held accountable. Maybe we have a solution to that situation and it involves my friends over at Life in the Carolina Mountains. Starting Monday, January 31st we will begin our weight loss program and will post our weight and goal. If you would like to participate check out their blog and then email her at sukie175@hotmail.com and she will get back with you.

I am personally excited about this and will be posting another blog stating what I plan to do specifically to lose my weight goal. Join me and feel better about yourself.