Bikini bodies and Buddies!

Have you thought about our Move It And Lose It Buddy Challenge?  A BYOB – bring your own buddy for motivation?  The challenge starts in April, and is accepting registrants until the 31st of March.  Have you been on the fence about an exercise program?  Are you tired of the same old, and want to do different?  Join April and other challengers for Fun, Fitness and Finesse!
The buddy challenge is a way to keep motivated, a friend to schedule workouts with, a way to keep on task.  Not only do you get 12 weeks of workouts, but nutrition tips, and MOTIVATION as part of April Hartsook’s Want Different/Do Different Movement.

• $300/pair

• Both participants must be 30+ pounds overweight

• We must have 15 pairs signed up and no more than 20

• If we do not reach the minimum number of participants, the event will be cancelled

• Must be 13 years or older to participate

• A doctor’s note is strongly encouraged, though liability waivers may be signed in lieu of a doctor’s note.  Participants ages 13 – 17 MUST provide a doctor’s note

• The $300 fee includes:

• 12 one-hour group sessions for two at 8 AM every Saturday between April 6 – June 22 at Linebach Park.

• Beginner nutritional meal plan suggestions

• Facebook

support page

• Packaged valued over $1400 in personal training service

Get started, get moving and get ready for shorts and bathing suits of summer – especially when you experience change with your BUDDY!
For more information and registration!

http://forsythwoman.com/moveitchallenge/

Our February LOVE winner! Drum Roll Please….

What wonderful stories of love!  Our readers are so special to us, and as you shared your love stories you reminded us of how special you are!  We tallied up the stories, used a random number generator and have a winner.  Unfortunately we could only have two lucky couples so here are their stories:

Julie Adams Blue Spitzer – I love how I met my husband but I am going to write about my parents, Sam and Shirley Adams. They met on a blind date in Jan 1955 . Daddy was in the Army, stationed at Ft Knox in Louisville, Kentucky and my mom was going to secretarial school in Louisville. Some of my dad’s army buddies were going out with some of my mom’s friends but no one had a car. My dad had a shiny red Chevrolet convertible so they talked Sam into driving and going out with pretty Shirley. There were 4 couples in that Chevy and they went out dancing. They danced the night away. My dad was getting ready to leave for Germany but they were able to have one more date before it left. They wrote weekly letters back and forth for almost 2 years. I am not sure what were in those letters (we’ve never been allowed to read them) but they must have been powerful because Daddy came home from Germany and went to Ky to see Mother. They had a beautiful church wedding planned for May 25 1957 but that was not to be. My dad had an appendicitis attack just prior to the wedding. I have seen newspaper clippings about the wedding, “Nothing Would Stop This Determined Bride” They were still married on May 25, 1957 but not in a church. They were married in my dad’s hospital room. My mother in her beautiful wedding gown and my dad in his stripped pajamas. My mother was not allowed to stay in my dad’s hospital room so she went back home after the wedding with my grandparents. My mother says her wedding night was not as much fun as she had dreamed it would be. Now 5 kids and 9 grand children later they are still going strong and I followed their example. I met my husband on a blind date too.

Erin Dedmon Blakely - It was January 28, 2002. I walked into my Painting 1 class at UNCC and saw this boy, I walked right up to him and said “you got your hair cut, can I sit beside you?”. I had never talked to him before, but after that, we talked for the whole 3 hours of class. He then invited me to Bojangles for lunch, we talked more, he dropped me of at my dorm, exchanged numbers and talked more. I knew within the first few minutes that this boy was something special. He became my best friend, the love of my life, my husband and now he is Daddy to our beautiful little girl. We have now been together 11 years, married for almost 7 and share the love of a precious 3 1/2 year old redheaded girl. We would love to have a special night to ourselves. Since you are picking two couples, you could pick us and my friend Kandice Sage! They deserve it too!

Erin and Julie – contact Kelly Melang with Forsyth Magazines – kelly@forsythmags.com for your prize – two tickets to the Rascal Flatts concert AND dinner at Jeffrey Adams on Fourth!

Apollo 13 at the Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts

by Kat Bodrie

Distress lights flash on my console. The astronauts are yelling; my bosses are shouting. One of my coworkers flails her arms and shouts, “I don’t know what I’m doing here!” Another screams, “Alien attack! Alien attack!”

I don’t know where to look, what to think, or how to act.

But I know what I’m feeling: complete chaos.
The cast and crew of Apollo 13: Mission Control put audience members right in the middle of history, helping them feel what the actual crew of the mission might have felt during the April 11, 1970, Apollo 13 mission.

All of the ways audience members with “Console Gallery” tickets are involved means people of all ages can participate. They might determine the answer to a critical formula, listen for the astronaut’s signal on a headset, flip switches on the console, diagnose the astronauts’ medical condition, or say “Hello” in Russian. (And be prepared for one lucky audience member to play a starring role in the show!)

Even those with “Press Gallery” tickets, which gives them a more bird’s eye view of the performance, have opportunities to participate. At a special, roped-off area before the show, they can sign in, flip through copies of the original Apollo 13 press documents, and write down their questions for the astronauts. (Walter Cronkite might ask the astronauts yours!)

Forget the movie from the 90s. Go see Apollo 13: Mission Control and put yourself right in the middle of the action. You might even learn a little about history–and the ability for ordinary people to make extraordinary successes–in the process.

For tickets and information, visit their website:  www.apollo13live.com

Consignment Shop Hop – SO MUCH FUN!

Want to spend a special day with your girlfriends?  Want to go and enjoy shopping without the hassle of driving?  Lunch included?  Think about Forsyth Woman’s Consignment Shop Hop!

I went on the Shop Hop last year and had a blast!  I didn’t know everyone on the bus but we became great friends by the end of the day.  The bus stops at local shops, everyone goes in and shops for a short amount of time, then we board the bus for the next stop.  Forsyth Woman has great prizes all day long, pulling out tickets and giving away spa time and other goodies after each stop.  Some of the shops had a great prize to give away after shopping in the store.  We hang out on the bus looking at each others deals, with plenty of room to hold the bags.

Some shops are clothing, some are clothing and housewares, and many have decor.  It’s a great way to start the Christmas shopping early and get it out of the way.

What did I love the most?  I spent the day with some friends, someone else did all the driving, lunch was provided and I won a prize!  What a great way to spend a Saturday with my friends at Forsyth Woman!

Think about the Consignment Shop Hop – only $25 for your seat to a day of shopping and fun!

Move It AND Lose It – Today

Today I choose….

Today I choose happiness over fear.

Peace over Anger

Joy over sadness.

Today I blame no one,

Love everyone,

especially myself.

Today I will make mistakes

Learn and Grow

Educate others.

Today I stop complaining

Accepting what I cannot change

Throwing away the rest.

Today the mask comes off

I am open and honest

I am who I am

Today I make a choice

for a better tomorrow.

Move It And Lose It – Plan B

Yesterday was our first Move It AND Lose It Workout!  Part of our workout challenge is for the women meeting in different parks around Winston Salem for their Saturday or Sunday workouts!  They get to see beautiful places AND get some great workouts.  Outside workouts sometimes comes with complications, but isn’t that life?  Complications where you work on Plan B?

Our Plan A started with “I need EVERYONE to show up tomorrow, to pick up packets, to receive your nutrition information and writing journal, and to be present for our first drawing (door prize- $50.00 gift certificate) just for showing up, to get instructions moving forward and most importantly tobe placed on your respective team! (remember this is NOT optional)”

When the heavens opened and lightening hit the ground, we immediately went to PLAN B, a change in venue.  ’This is good for everyone, it shows that you have to have determination, that you are coming to workout no matter what the weather.  Work with Plan B and learn to be flexible but keep the workouts going,” says Coach April.

Forsyth Woman Magazine reps went and called everyone about the change, and yours truly went over to PLAN A meeting (Wake Forest Track) and made sure no one was missed.  Sadly for me, I got to watch the Wake Forest Men’s Lacrosse team battle NC State (say it together, poor you) as I made sure everyone was at the new covered park.

Our first meeting started with workout instructions, journals for self discovery, and a meeting of friends with shared goals – friends that will support each other, make each other come up with Plan B’s to fit their workouts in their schedules, friends that will hold each other accountable so everyone can MOVE IT AND LOSE IT!

The first meeting and workout went off without a hitch (ok, a few hitches) but everyone gave it everything AND a few even threw up when done (sign of a GREAT WORKOUT.)  Congratulations to everyone in our Move It AND Lose It, despite the weather and many a good excuse to go MIA when it came to being outside in the rain, you came, you conquered, you DID IT!  Now put your Plan B in place and we’ll see you next weekend!

Part of your challenge is going to be to stop doing what you WANT TO
DO, and learn to DO Different!”

So when the heavens opened and the lightening hit the ground, our first workout had to be moved to a more sh

Move It And Lose It – Words to get you moving!

There’s so many great quotes out there, we want to share a little inspiration with our challengers!  Just signing up and making the decision to change is motivation enough.  You may not know it, there’s a lot of other women watching what you are doing and taking inspiration from it!  First workout is this weekend and we can’t wait to get started!

“It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect It’s successful outcome.”
William James

Accept who you are right now and start this task with an open mind and heart.  Any decision you’ve made, choice you’ve made, thought you had yesterday stays exactly where it belongs – yesterday!  Today is your new day to be happy, healthy and leave everything else yesterday, where it belongs!

“I believe life is to be lived, not worked, enjoyed, not agonized, loved, not hated.”
Leland Bartlett

So much new opportunity is out there simply waiting for you, if you choose to see it.  Not happy?  Pretend to be happy and sooner or later you’ll find out you’re not pretending.  

“Be who you are, everyone else is taken.”
You are beautiful, you are unique, you are special!  The outside beauty is reflected by the beauty inside, know that you are a unique part of this world and here for a reason!

Find the attitude in the work and find the beauty!

As you start your new workout, meet new friends, and find a new you – know that we are here behind you with support, many are living vicariously through your adventures!
Now get out and Move It And Lose It!

Move It And Lose It – Spring Anew!

Today is the first day of Spring, and new beginning!  The “vernal equinox,” vernal meaning Spring, and equinox meaning “equal length.”  This is the celestial tipping point where day and night are of equal length (let the inner geek out.)  Sure it’s, MARCH but the trees are blooming, you can hear the frogs in the creeks, there’s birds everywhere.  It’s an exciting time to renew your vow to yourself.  Make it a point to celebrate who you are and then make your list of where you want to be, not just the BIG things but the little things.  A sampling of my list:

Get a raw egg to stand upright!  Yes, you can do this on the Spring Equinox, I won’t tell you how long I was in my kitchen (it’s still dark at 430am) but I got it!

Take my dog for a walk everyday – she’s so much happier AND she really needs it.  A daily walk is the dog’s therapy – she gets to read the poo poo bulletin board and I get to stand and watch her while doing NOTHING.

Write my morning pages every morning, one page long hand that is then thrown away.  This is my daily brain dump (could be great writing, could be drivel) it helps prepare me for the day.

Work on adding some type of fruit and veggie to every meal.

Packing my boys lunches for school – have you seen cafeteria food lately?

Call one person a day to just chat – especially my friends that don’t live close.

It doesn’t take much to make yourself happy, not a single thing on that list costs any money – but as the Earth starts a new, I choose to start anew too.  What would you add to your list?

Move It AND Lose It Challenge – In The Beginning There Was The Decision!

Everyone at some point stands at the edge of a cliff in life, looking over the edge trying to decide what to do.  Many turn around and walk back, backtracking to what is safe, what is familiar, away from that edge.  For over 25 women though, they’ve held their breath and jumped off that edge, they’ve entered unknown territory.  We met some of them at our Girls Nite Out at Bermuda Run Country Club and the excitement was in the air.

Some heard about our Move It And Lose It Challenge from sitting at a car wash and picking up a magazine, other’s found out from our Personal Trainer, April Hartsook while others heard from our favorite way – word of mouth!  “I signed up for the challenge because my friend is signed up and I want to do this with her.”  These women will share this journey and most will become lifelong friends as a result!

How does it feel to stand on that edge?  Some have said, “exciting,” “scared,” “hopeful,” and we say COURAGEOUS…you decided THIS time you weren’t going to walk away from that edge, you were going to take that step into the unknown and put your heart into it!  You are going to Move It AND Lose It!  Congratulations ladies for accepting our challenge and letting our readers be inspired by women taking a chance and moving toward a better life!

We will chronicle their journey with personal trainer April Hartsook, share with you the inspiration, the healthy living tips, the great workouts to get these women moving and losing it!  Are you standing on the edge?  There’s still time to signup and join these women, why not Move It AND Lose It with them?  www. forsythwoman.com

What edge are you standing on?

A few simple ways to say I Love You!

We’ve moved past the Superbowl and Valentine’s Day looms ahead.  Why celebrate love on only one day a year?  Why not say I Love You every day!  Here’s a few more simple ways to get their attention:

1.  Write them a note – yes, actually write and note and hide it somewhere where they will find it during their day.  In a lunch box, in a DayTimer, with their keys to the car.  They will be surprised you chose this archaic form of communication but it will make them smile.

2.  Give them some space.  You don’t have to spend every minute of every day together, there’s nothing better than a spouse taking the kids out to eat and giving Mom or Dad a quiet hour at home.

3.  Be nice – when was the last time you complimented your spouse?  Make it a point to point out something wonderful every day!

4.  Don’t be selfish – sometimes taking one for the family is the biggest gift you can give them – your time, your sunny attitude always shows you care.

5.  Don’t wait – do it today and every day, then Valentine’s Day becomes just a day in the story of your love!

What are some simple, yet effective ways to say, “I love you?”