Randi and Shelly Reunion 

   

                                   

 

     

Randi and I had the best mini-reunion. She came to my brother Bobby's house on Labor Day and we talked for about 6 hours. Very long walk down Memory Lane. I loved every minute of it. I adore her, and we just talked and talked like we were kids again. It was the best!

We spread my mother's ashes at Jefferson Rock in Harper's Ferry the day before. About 16 of us and my mother's cousin brought a gallon plastic bag of flower petals that we spread. Left a beautiful mark on the hillside and Mother has a beautiful view of the Shenandoah River.

Had a dinner at Bobby's house afterward and all reminisced about Mom.

 Shelly Greynolds Keller

 

 

Shelly and I got together on Labor Day, the day after the memorial service for her mother (a stunning woman whom I clearly remember).  It was as if no time had passed, even though we had only seen each other briefly one time since high school, at the 20^th reunion.  We spent hours talking about absolutely everything - including our singing duo days in junior high.  We laughed and cried.  She is still my dear friend.  The last time I saw Shelly's brother, Bobby, he was little more than a toddler.  Now, I was in his home, meeting his beautiful wife, two grown daughters, and Shelly's beautiful daughter.  It was a warm, wonderful day.  I have no doubt Shelly and I will be making great use of phone and internet connections between coasts.

 

                            Hakk's Story 

 

 So, we're past the holiday season and, like me, you may have gained a pound or two (or more). Well, read  classmate Richard Hakkarinen's story in his own words.... And get moving!

 

  

 

On Nov 8, 2008 I weighed 294 on my doctor's scale. I showed a photo of my new grandchild to my physician that day. He replied, "She sure is cute.  Do you want to be around to play with her in 10 years? ...  Wow, it was like getting sucker-punched right between the eyes!  When I replied, "Well yes, of course!" , he said that I'd better start doing something about my weight then.  That's all it took!  I suddenly realized my mortality was at stake.

 

I most recently saw him again on November 30,  2009 for my monthly weigh-in and blood pressure and pulse check.  I weighed 181 lbs, blood pressure was 112/60 and pulse was 60 bpm.

 

So that's 113 lbs in about 1 year.   How I did it was amazingly simple and nowhere near as hard as you might think.  This is what I did.

 

I stopped going out for lunch at work.  Instead of a fast food lunch, my wife, Kathy makes me a lunch and I eat it here at work.  Normally it's something like a turkey sandwich on low-cal bread, no mayo, etc.  just a little whipped margarine, a Yoplait light fat-free yogurt, a cup (margarine tub) of sugar-free Jell-O, an apple or orange, grapes or baby carrots for an afternoon snack, and either cinnamon almonds or a Quaker chewy granola bar I have stashed in case I get hungry later.  I still have a normal breakfast for me of OJ and cereal w 2% milk before I leave for work and my morning coffee with a Benefiber "on the go" packet for fiber - no taste & dissolves instantly.    I try to eat a little something every 2 hrs or so during the day from what I bring.

 

After work I go downstairs to our fitness facility.  I started just by walking on the treadmill for about 20 minutes at about 3 mph but built it up to an hour a day by adding about 1 minute per day to the time.  Then I started increasing the speed a little at a time until I got up to 4 mph.  My goal was to burn at least 600 calories in the walk.  As my weight came down, I had to also start increasing the slope to get the 600 calories burned.  So finally it got to be so much fun that I found myself doing the whole hour at a 7.5 % grade.  I was dropping weight but having plateaus which was frustrating.so my doctor told me to try varying the walking speed and slope and that worked.  I changed to walking 1 min at 3.5 mph & the next 4 minutes at 4.0 mph, all at the 7.5% grade and continuing that pattern for the whole hour.  That was burning over 800 calories.  When I started plateauing again, my doc said to reduce my time to not more than 45 minutes and try to do at least 30 minutes on a circuit of the other weight machines and weights. Not a lot of weight but more for toning.  He said the key is to keep the muscles confused as to what's coming next and to work different ones in the upper & lower body. So that's what I'm doing now, each day in the exercise facility at work (Tues -Fri).  On days off I just walk for an hour or ski, golf, mow the lawn, etc.  Some kind of exercise but not what you would call a workout.  Also at work I do simple things like always take the stairs instead of the elevator, don't buy anything from the vending machines, avoid the lunchroom when someone has put out goodies, you know, use common sense.  Dinners are pretty normal but I have learned to eat smaller portions, not have seconds, and put my fork down between bites.  And drink lots of water.  The other dietary thing I've done is to add fiber to my diet.  Besides the better food choices, I take a fiber supplement (Benefiber or Fiber Choice tablets) 3 times a day to get 9-10 extra grams per day for a minimum of 30 grams per day.  I still eat pizza, burgers, fries, chips, beer, scotch, etc. but in moderation and much more infrequently.  A lot more chicken & turkey meals but also in smaller portions.  More fruits & veggies.  Bottom line is that I haven't given up anything that I'm not willing to give up for the rest of my life and I'm not eating anything that I'm not willing to eat for the rest of my life.  So, basically, all I can think that I've given up is sugared soda pop - still drink diet soda pop.  Coke zero I find tastes a lot like real coke.  Still don't eat fish, except on rare occasions, but do take 4 fish oil capsules a day.  And I don't use hydroxy-cut  or any other of the diet junk you see advertised.