Bras Across Tri-Cities

Taylor Morgan is an amazing individual!  She is compassionate, caring, and a mover and shaker.  She is a local on-air radio personality for WTFM, and she is my adorable niece!

For a couple of weeks, Taylor has been to initiating a campaign, to raise awareness of breast cancer.  Her idea was to collect bras from listeners, and string them across the radio station building, which is located in downtown Kingsport, Tennessee.  Her goal was to collect 1,000 bras.

Tonight is the campaign.  As of Wednesday night, Taylor had collected 3,000 bras!  The problem was that she had also collected pneumonia!  She didn’t have any help to string the bras, or to help set up for the rally.  She called in the troups…her mother-in-law, Donna Ferguson, who is a breast cancer survivor, and me.  I’m sorry to say that none of my 75 ladies showed up to help, but Taylor and Donna were able to recruit about a dozen women.  Yesterday afternoon, we strung the 3,000 bras, and I climbed to the roof of the building to help hang them.

Taylor’s boss didn’t believe she would get any response to her hair brained plan.  Was he ever surprised.  Not only did she get bras, but Wal-Mart came on board to donate $1,000.  They donated lots of prizes for gift bags, to be given out at the rally tonight.  She was able to get other sponsors to supply various prizes. 

As dark closed in last night, Daryl, the Wal-Mart executive, called to say he had another 1,000 bras! 

Granted, it is an unconventional way to raise awareness, but it works.  Motorists were honking their horns and waving to us as we worked yesterday.  I can’t wait for the rally tonight.  Even though it is raining, I believe in the power and unity of women.  I believe in the cause, and I want to stand for two of my sisters Donna McNeilly, and Suzanne Williams, who have had breast cancer.  I am standing for Joanne LaBarbera who has been fighting breast, and other forms of cancer for the past two years.  I am standing in awe and honor of my courageous sister-in-law, Donna Ferguson, who demonstrated the importance of keeping a positive outlook, throughout her battle, and  I am standing in memory of Anne Milam, my dear friend, who succumbed to this horrible disease. 

I am humbled by the women who cared enough to donate to the campaign.  Thank you so much!  The bras will be given to the Womens’ Shelter.

Hats off to Taylor, who is always thinking of others, and demonstrates her love for Jesus, not just in words, but in actions.

See the slide show below for a glimpse of the action.

Check out my Slide Show!

How to Lose Weight Without Dieting

It isn’t a hoax.  It doesn’t require taking a pill, ordering special food, or exercising until your tongue drags the floor. It does work, and it’s very easy to do!  But, it’s not a quick fix.

One might think that a fitness professional/aerobic instructor wouldn’t have any struggles with weight.  Oh, there are instructors and personal trainers who think that if they can pinch one-quarter inch of fat at their waistline, that they are over fat.  That isn’t fit, that is an unhealthy view of fitness.  And, it also isn’t me!

I’ve never been one of those.  I’ve had a healthy and fit body for for twenty-six years, but it hasn’t always been small.  My genetics come into play far more than I like, and my love affair with chocolate contributes a couple of lingering pounds.  Menopause and mid-life issues have invaded my body, and rearranged it.

Having tried the various weight loss programs, I had good results, but did not have lasting success.  A little over a year ago, I decided to take a different approach, and have lost twenty-seven pounds so far.  I have more to lose, but it’s coming off a little at a time.  This weight will stay off, because here are the subtle changes I have made.  None of them are hard to do.

Eat Breakfast Fasting is not good for your body.  Don’t fast through breakfast.  Eat some yogurt, toast, boiled eggs, fruit, cereal, something light, but eat!  Eating a light breakfast will jump start your metabolism, enter a schedule into the computer called your brain, and regulate your brain as to what can be expected.

SS  (Simple Snack) Eat a light snack.  Fruit, yogurt, pudding, ice-cream bar, piece of fruit, peanut butter on apple, anything that will hold you over until lunch.

Eat Larger Meal of the Day for Lunch This is the most important part of my plan to adopt.  Eat your larger meal at lunch.  Your body will have adequate time to break it down, burn a few calories while you are up and moving, and you won’t be famished the rest of the day.  Keep portion sizes down, and don’t eat seconds of anything.  Drink more water instead.

SS This snack may not even be necessary.  Don’t eat if you aren’t hungry.  If you do eat, make it something small, and easy to fix.  A sandwich is NOT a snack.  A small bowl of veggie soup is a snack and a meal.  Soups are, low calorie, healthy, and filling.

Exercise Though you will lose weight by adopting my methods without adding exercise, we all know you will accelerate your weight loss if you do.  It is the healthy thing for you to do, and the benefits are well worth the effort.

Eat a Light Dinner It’s nice to not have to cook in the evenings.  We eat things like a baked potato with broccoli and light cheese, or a bowl of soup and some pudding.  Whatever it is, it isn’t a seven course meal.

Go to bed Try to eat your dinner before 6:00 - 7:00 pm, and don’t eat anything after eight.  Go to bed early!  You won’t be tempted to snack out of boredom, and will you get adequate sleep to restore your body.

All of these tips, working in conjunction, will give you desired results over the long term.  No, the pounds don’t melt off, but the loss is slow and steady.  Some weeks you will lose two pounds and gain three.  Other weeks you will lose four and gain one.  It’s up and down, but as you settle into the plan, and begin to lose the weight, you will be more motivated to stay with it.

What I like about it, is that it is natural.  I eat what I want.  No foods are denied.  The discipline comes easily, because I’m not building up hunger for that all important evening meal. 

If you are tired of trying diets, and would like to get ride of weight that will stay gone, try my plan.  Let me know how it works for you.

Top Five Advantages of Menopause

Beverly Mahone wrote a recent post on the perils of menopause.  I can totally relate to the weight gain, hot flashes, increasing waistline, and to the sweating, bloating, anxiety, and all of the other symptoms of mid-life.  I laughed at her comments about metabolism slowing down, and the need to sweat like a pig and eat like a bird.  After reading her post, I turned my thoughts to thinking about the positives of going through menopause.  Here are my top five things I love about menopause:

No more menstruation, period!  One of the greatest advantages of this, is that I no longer have to walk around with a wad of cotton between my legs, or stuffed up my insides.  Of course, that Depends!  (incontinence could ensue)

I get to eat like a bird.   Sweet Bev, don’t you realize that birds eat constantly?  When do you ever see a bird that it isn’t eating?  Instead of three meals and two snacks per day, I can eat all day long if I want, then sleep in my feathery nest at night.  Can’t beat that!

I don’t have to shave as often.  Our hair on our legs and underarms doesn’t grow as fast.  I don’t have to shave them but a couple of times per week now.  I used to have to shave every other day.  I am one of the fortunate ones not to have grown facial hair post menopause.  Although, I colored my hair a little darker a couple of years ago.  I didn’t pay any attention to the fact that it dripped down the sides of my cheeks.  I woke up the next morning, looked in the mirror, and saw Wolfman Jack.

I don’t have to buy a coat.  Thanks to the hot flashes, and overall warmer nature, I can ride in a convertible in January, and go Christmas shopping without having to drag a heavy coat around.  I can go sleeveless year round.

I could cure meat in my house.  If I really wanted to make some money, I could hang meat in my house.  Due to the thermostat maintaining a constant temperature of 55 degress, the hams and I could cohabit rather nicely.

See there, Beverly.  There is always a silver lining to every cloud.  You just have to look on the brighter side of things.  You will be happier, and you won’t remember if you were miserable yesterday anyway.

To read Beverly’s post, click here http://www.fiftyandfurthermore.com/web/module/article/rid/2/aid/19/id/641/interior.asp