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/

The Portrait Gallery – a Headshot without the Headache!

If  there’s one thing most people hate, it’s getting pictures taken.  Right up there with hanging in the dressing room trying on bathing suits, getting my picture taken is such a wonderful joy.  So when asked, to get a Headshot for my bio, I cringed wondering if I could go through existing pictures and choose from there.  After sending too many pictures that didn’t work, I bit the bullet and called and made an appointment with Claudia of the Portrait Gallery!

The Portrait Gallery is located on James Rd in Clemmons, a beautiful white building.  Inside is a very comfortable studio, pictures on the wall show Claudia’s talent with children and families.  Beautiful black and whites, great pictures of children.  The only thing making me nervous was the large camera and a stool sitting in front of it.  Claudia immediately put me at ease.

“Don’t worry, just have a seat and we’ll knock this out in a few minutes.”  She’s looking at what I’m wearing and talking to me about white or black, we both decide that the black with work best and she asks what’s my good side.

“Hmmm, I have the Aargh eye on this side,” I say pointing to my right side.

“Aargh eye?”  She asks taking a few test shots.

“Yup, when I smile this eye likes to close.  My kids say I look like a pirate saying AARGH!”

Claudia laughs, “Don’t worry, just relax and we’ll try to keep you from looking like a pirate.”

Did you know that for Headshots, she’s got to be up high, with you looking up at her?  Claudia has me lean forward, look up at her turning my head to my good side.  “This probably feels wierd, but it’s the best way to get a great shot!”

After 10 minutes we’re done, and I’m amazed at how easy the process was!  We go to a computer and she shows me 15 pictures she’s taken, the start out really good!  When we get to my other side, we’re both laughing at some of the wierd smiles and of course my AARGH eye!  Immediately we decide that we’ll stick with my better side.

We go through the pictures, narrow it down to three then pick one out of the three.  Claudia agrees and says, “I’ll touch it up a little bit, and you’re done!”

All in all, it took about 30 minutes, and the result was something that even I was amazed with!  Claudia made me feel comfortable and with the resulting picture made me feel beautiful!  If you’re needing some pictures, headshot or not, think about Claudia and The Portrait Gallery – professional and FUN!

Is beauty really about wrinkles?

Are wrinkles that bad? Is beauty about the presence or absence of wrinkles? Is beauty about how big and full our lips are? Recently I saw one of my favorite 80’s actors on TV and she had made several, dreadful, plastic surgery decisions. She was interviewed and she said, “The plastic surgery mistakes I made are very apparent.”

Linda Evans was one of my favorite leading ladies from the 60’s through the 80’s and I had not seen her in years. Recently I saw an interview with her and I was shocked by her appearance. At age 68, she did not have any wrinkles on her face, yet I wonder how beautiful she might have been if she allowed nature to age her.

What is wrong with a face that has seen some years? Beauty can be seen in a face that has wrinkles; it can be seen in the eyes of a person who has lived life fully. If we look, we can see deep beauty in a smile and the twinkle of eyes, we can see it in thinning hair and we can see it in grey hair. It seems to me that beauty is about the life lived and the life being lived.

I am not opposed to plastic surgery; there are many good reasons to consider it. However, attempting to make a 70-year-old woman look 30 years younger just seems terribly sad. Gosh, what is wrong with our culture that beautiful people like Linda Evans and so many more think they need to “look young” to be accepted in this world.

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Do you have summertime hair?

Do you have Summer time hair?  Not the sun kissed sweet, flowing hair but the brittle, dry, straw feeling locks!  Here are a few tips to add some moisture back to your summer time hair!

Vinegar – we use it to clean the floors but this is a great way.  1 tablespoon to your hair and rub in well once a week before shampooing will help hair retain moisture.

Mayonnaise – fat free doesn’t work as you are looking for the fat in your hair.  Slather 1 tablespoon in your hair, wrap and cover with a shower cap and wait 30 minutes before shampooing out.

Banana and avocado – mash this together and cover your hair again with the shower cap and wait. 

Milk and Honey – even if there’s a song about that, your hair will love it.  Combine two cups milk with 1 tablespoon honey.  Rinse dry hair with the mixture then shampoo and condition as usual, make sure you clear it all out so you don’t smell like sour milk as you go on your day.

Finally our favorite – BEER!  Not it’s not happy hour in the house; it is happy hour for your hair!  Rinsing with a can of beer periodically gets your hair drunk enough to be happy!

Make you hair happy this summer with these simple remedies, it will thank you by looking fabulous!

Summertime Hair Care from Ollie Grayson’s

Denise Mosely of Ollie Grayson’s Salon had another great tip for protecting your hair during the dog days of summer.

“Each piece of hair is filled with tiny holes, whenever you jump in the pool or the ocean the water saturates your hair with the chemicals of the pool or the salt of the ocean.  That’s why hair always feels so awful after it’s dried!  The best thing you can do for your hair before jumping in the pool or the ocean is to soak it with regular tap water first!  This saturates the holes in the hair with water so that not as many chemicals or not as much salt gets in those holes as you enjoy summertime activities.  Always remember to rinse your hair immediately after a summertime dip, this ensures that the only thing sitting on the shaft of hair is what your hair wants.”

If you’re just hanging by the water, give your hair a break by saturating it in conditioner and wear a hat all day.  Pay special attention to the ends as this is the oldest part of your hair.  The curlier the hair the drier it tends to be.

Thanks Denise, as we show off our summertime tans, and let our hair down we know we’ve done everything to keep it healthy!

Act Your Age Not Your Shoe Size….

I honestly don’t know how old I am, I’m not talking about how many candles I’ve blown out on the birthday cake, and that’s enough to tickle the smoke alarm.  I’m talking about how I feel, I really don’t feel as old as I am and sometimes this gets me in BIG trouble.

I was getting ready to go out with some friends and wanted something new to wear so I started perusing all the boutiques out there.  I found a few dresses I liked and luckily the owner, who is a good friend understands my age deficiency.  When it looked like I was settling on the hot pink leopard print, she politely brought over a few more, ahem, old suggestions.  You see inside I feel like I’m say, middle to late 30’s but I have to realize that outside I’m slightly OLDER than that.  With her help I steered away from the dresses with the cut out waist (mine hasn’t seen the sun since I was 16) and into a beautiful sun dress that still accentuated my assets.

Not realizing my true age hurts me in my exercise pursuits, I readily agree to follow my friend on a bike ride through the country.  I thought, “Sure I can handle this, I ride my bike all the time.”  Friends, we didn’t ride the bike we RODE the bike like we were running from the law.  When we finally finished the 35 miles, I fell over in my driveway and lay there for a few minutes willing my legs to keep moving.  Later I sit with my husband two big heating pads on each thigh, “I don’t understand, I was dying out there.  How do they do it and still look like the fresh flower petal?”  My husband, the only time he looks at a bike is to ride to get the newspaper at the beach one block away on vacation says, “They’re 15 years younger than you, they have less on the odometer.”

I like feeling young inside, even if it does get me in trouble.  Feeling my shoe size inside helps me learn and explore like a child, but with my age comes the wisdom to know the difference.

Ever had an experience where you acted your shoe size and not your age?

8 smells that boost your well being

I just read an article about 8 smells that boost your health. We have millions of smell receptors in our nose that is 10,000 more precise than our sense of taste. Here’s a list of the smells that improve our health and well being:
To resist snacking – green apple or another favorite smell, thought I’d think smelling something you like would make you more hungry.
To calm down – try smelling lavender or orange. Spray a light lavender spray in your bedroom before bed and enjoy the light, fresh scent as it calms you down to sleep.
To help learn something new – sniff on the scent of rosemary that’s why we keep a rosemary bush planted outside, not only for cooking but for sniffing before memorizing for a test.
To help with pain – sniff on lavender or peppermint. Put lavender on an eyemask and sit and rest until the headache stops.
For your libido – baby powder, pumpkin pie or lavender. Maybe it’s the thought of babies, which would kill my libido, but these scents are said to turn women on.
To feel younger – sniff on the fresh citrus scent of grapefruit. I recommend Love’s Baby Soft, it always makes me feel younger.
For your workout – peppermint puts an extra umph in your workout, sniff that before and make sure you’re pushing your limit.
Whatever part of your lift you want to help, use these scents to put you on the right road to living a more healthy, better you!

These are a few of my favorite things . . .

What are your favorite things?  This is not meant to be a philosophical or religious question.   It is a very simple question.  I am not a big fan of Oprah Winfrey, however I do confess that I love her favorite things episodes. I love the surprised faces and seeing people get things they would not or could not buy for themselves. However, let’s face it; most of Oprah’s favorite things are not practical for the normal everyday woman.

Oprah’s favorite things verses Wendee’s favorite things:

2010
Oprah: Rouge d’Armani ($30.00 Lipstick)
Wendee: Stary Lip Gloss by Mary Kay $13.00

Oprah: Pretty Little Compact ($39.00)
Wendee: Whatever comes in the free gift!

Oprah: Channel Lifting Cream ($150.00 Day Time, $165.00 Night Time)
Wendee: At those prices I would prefer a weekend away . . . now that would give me a lift!

2009
Oprah: Ten 3.75 oz Fine French Chocolate bars ($42.00)
Wendee: Lindor Truffles, watch for sales!

Oprah: A Sunrise “cock-a-doodle-doo.” ($165 Rooster O.J./Milk Pitcher)
Wendee: The carton it came in! (Free)

Oprah: Southern Comfort (30+ dollars for 2 dozen buttermilk biscuits)
Wendee: My own homemade biscuits . . . less than two dollars!

What are the first five things that come to your mind when asked the question: What are your favorite things?

The first five things that come to my mind are:
          Purple Flowers
          Blistex Deep Renewal
          Candles
          Free Gifts with purchases
          Coupons

Day one of detox!

by Joy Bauer, M.S., R.D., C.D.N. a Yahoo! Health Expert for Nutrition

I am on a 5 day Ultimate Diet Cleanse from Joy Bauer found on Yahoo.com and actually made it through day one. This is not the all veggie, or all liquid, or no carb diet, this is one to make a conscious effort to avoid certain foods to clean out my system. Believe me, it needs cleaning out after two weeks of Winter Break that included Pecan Pie, turkey, prime rib, mashed potatoes, etc. Here’s what I am doing and not doing:
1. Avoid added sugar – I am not putting sugar in anything, no Splenda, no sugar, no honey. No Vitamin Waters, just coffee, tea and water flavored with lemon and lime.
2. Avoid added salt – I am not adding salt to my cooking or to any meal.
3. Avoid starches at dinner – not eating potatoes, beans, breads, etc for 5 days at dinner, this is when people tend to overeat these comfort foods.
4. Avoid alcohol – my liver is clapping on this one after all the Christmas and New Year’s cheer, so avoiding is a good thing!

What am I doing?
1. Eating on a schedule.
2. Drinking water (I always remember my Dad saying, “I’m thirsty, not dirty.”)
3. Eating an appetizer before dinner.
4. Addings lots of non-starchy vegetables to my meals.
5. Exercising at least 30 minutes every day (OK, I’m obsessed more than an hour)

This is not the bland, withdraw everything type of diet this one I think I can handle. I’m not stuck with birdseed and water for 5 days. Do I feel better yet? Nope, didn’t feel any different this morning but it’s only one day, right? I feel sore because after two weeks off, I made my first trip to the YMCA – 1 mile swim, hello back to a schedule!

So here’s day one:
Breakfast – coffee (hard without sugar), Special K with skim milk.
Snack – piece of cheese and apple
Lunch – Caesar Salad with chicken
Snack – celery sticks and carrot sticks
Appetizer – 2 pieces of cheese
Dinner – Chicken vegetable soup

What do you think? What type of cleanse are you making at the New Year? Any stories?

For more details on my cleanse visit: http://health.yahoo.com/experts/joybauernutrition/28419/7-day-ultimate-diet-cleanse/

Women: The Beauty of Friendships

What value do you place on friendships? Have you maintained a friendship since childhood? Are you a woman who prefers one or two BFFs or do you have a variety of friends? Perhaps you are a woman with a career and small children and you simply have not been intentional about friendships lately.

In the January 2010 issue of Forsyth Woman, you will find a new feature. Women: The Beauty of Friendships. This article will explore women’s friendships from pre-school through the golden years. We will explore challenges in friendships as well as the great blessings of friendships among women. We will explore serious questions that are common to all women, such as how to be a friend during serious illness and even how to handle the death of a friend or a friend’s spouse.

There are distinct differences in the way women relate to one another. From a scientific perspective, women who have meaningful friendships are found to be healthier, both physically and emotionally. Many studies suggest that women with meaningful relationships live longer.

Let me know about the subjects you would like to see addressed in this new monthly feature. In addition, I would love to hear from groups of women who have been friends for several years, as well as see pictures of you are your close friends.