Earlier this month I was visiting my out-of-town family.  My sister begged asked to guest post on my blog.  After much suspense may I introduce my oldest sister Cathy - she loves wine, is the best voice teacher in Kalispell, MT, and makes a kick-ass pasta dish!  So without further ado... Losing Sarah - a guest post:

Fat little legs came to visit . . . 

Don’tcha just love the “hot stuff” printed on the t-shirt!

though I discovered I couldn’t call her that anymore. Let me introduce myself—My name is Cathy and I am Sarah’s “much older” sister—by sixteen years to be exact.


I think it would be fair to say that all of us in this family struggle with weight. I, too, am a member of Weight Watchers, losing 25+ pounds while I was in college. So, the journey has not been as intense for me as for Sarah. I also came down with an auto-immune disease related to my gastrointestinal system about 12 years ago. It’s not the best way to keep my weight in check—although I’ve learned to live with it.


But back to Sarah’s visit—Sarah loves to shop.

Sadly this was one of my suits—I can’t believe I wore this!

Maybe you haven’t figured that out yet, but she does. I also love to shop so we headed out on Saturday to the local farmer’s market and then off to a home decor store. The darnedest thing kept happening. I could not find Sarah anywhere. I would scour the aisles of the farmer’s market and then turn around and find she was right next to me all along! Sarah is a mere ghost of her former self—and I, her own sister, could not recognize her!!

So, losing Sarah . . . her weight, her baggage, her bad habits, losing her while shopping but finding she is walking right next to me, . . . I/we are so proud of her and she has truly changed into the “found” Sarah. I wish I could/would measure out my food, run miles every day, make healthy choices. She is an inspiration to us all. So, Sarah, here’s to you!!



O.K. I only drank a little while I wrote this

 And as a little extra bonus I am posting the recipe for the dessert I am making for our family dinner tonight. It will consume lots of “points” and probably kill off my diabetic brother-in-law.

Dump Cake

Preheat oven to 350. In a 9x13 pan layer a 21-oz can of cherry pie filling and a small, drained can of crushed pineapple. Sprinkle an 18.5 oz package of yellow cake mix over that. Pour 1 to 2 sticks of melted butter over that. Sprinkle the top with 1 cup of flaked coconut and ½ cup chopped walnuts. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until browned and bubbly. Serve warm or cold with whipped cream, ice cream, or if you are counting those points some non-dairy whipped topping.

This is why I am the “evil” sister. BAHHHHHAAAHAAAA!!

It was rewarding to be able to be out there yesterday - to be showing my support for men that have died of this disease, and men that are surviving in spite of it.  The number of people that I've heard of recently that have been touched by prostate cancer alarm me.  It was rewarding to see people banding together to support and remember loved ones.  I was able to share my dad's story with one of the videographers there.  I hope it can inspire someone else.  I was glad to share the day with my brother, husband, and son.  Daddy... I know you couldn't be there in person, but I was glad to share the day with you too!  I hope it made you proud.

Tomorrow I am running in the Great Prostate Cancer Challenge.  Its my second ever race - a 5k.  Its tomorrow morning at 9 am Central Time.  I am nervous and excited.  I am also happy that I've managed to raise $360 towards this cause.  Remember my dad died from it.  I know he will be there in spirit to cheer me on.  I am so honored to do this in memory of him.  If you still want to sponsor me there is still time:  http://www.active.com/donate/gpcctwincities10/fatlittlelegs

I am nervous... because my last 5k I had tons of people there supporting me... running with me.  Tomorrow... it's just me.  Just me... and my darling husband cheering me on of course! 

Daddy... this is for you.  I bet never in your wildest dreams would you envision me... your youngest... running a race.  Crazy, isn't it?  I'll be wearing the blue shirt.  Keep your eye out for me.  I know I don't look much like I did when I last saw you, but being your daughter I'm sure you'll still recognize me.  I've lost a little bit of weight.  I know I'll be looking for you, and something tells me you'll have the best seat in the house!

Due to me being exhausted this week and the 2 glasses of wine I drank last evening I was in bed early last night and didn't post my Thursday weigh in.  I am happy to report I am now 1 pound under my goal weight, with a loss of 2.2 pounds this week!  I am actually pretty much back to where I was before my vacation.  That makes me very happy.  I have 3 more weigh ins now until I am officially a Weight Watchers Lifetime member.

Our meeting this week was about asking for help.  This is one area that I am good at.  I do ask for help on this journey, but it didn't start out that way.  I realized yesterday at my meeting that a big reason I didn't ask for help in the beginning was because I was scared to fail - scared to have people see me fail.  Its probably why I didn't start this blog earlier too.  Now that I know I haven't failed, it is much easier.  So I will say this, don't be scared to ask for help, who cares if you fail?  What matters right now is that you are trying, and no one is going to fault you for trying.  The pressure we put on ourselves, is from ourselves, not from others.  We judge ourselves much more harshly than anyone else would... so ask for help when you need it.

I am so incredibly blessed to have the help I need to be successful in this journey.  A HUGE shout out to my husband for everything that he has done to help me reach my goals:

• Kept certain foods out of the house... especially cookies and chips.
• Endured 2 years of me rarely baking anything - I am a sucker for cakes, pies, desserts, whatever!
• Yelled at me when I am in the honey roasted peanut jar... again.
• Brought me fresh produce... and flowers, from the farmer's market.
• Supported me as I worked to fit exercise into our busy lives.
• Played with our son, bathed our son, got our son out of bed and dressed and fed and off to daycare countless times to allow me to exercise instead.
• Pretty much gave up eating out accept for rare occasions.
• Stood in the chilly gray day on my first 5k and cheered me on.  Will stand tomorrow on another chilly gray day and cheer me on my second.
• Continued to love me despite my changing inside and outside.
• Always asks about my weigh in every Thursday.
• Reminds me that I shouldn't weigh myself so much, because the scale is often evil.
• Laughs nervously as I commit to donating 107.5 pounds of food.

Thank you, thank you thank you.  I'm sure it has not been easy to sit by and watch your wife morph into a totally different person over the last 2 years, but I cannot even begin to express my appreciation to having you be the person by my side as it has happened.  I am forever thankful for you help!

For the third year Weight Watchers is running a campaign to help fight world hunger.  They are calling it Lose For Good.  For every pound Weight Watchers members lose, they are donating money to Share our Strength and Action Against Hunger. 

Well... I've also decided to get involved personally as well.  I have been so incredibly blessed to always be fed well; to have a healthy meal several times a day.  I was inspired by another incredible Weight Watcher:  Tory.  She took a picture of herself with food equal to the amount of weight she's lost, and donated it - all 108 pounds of it!  I thought this is awesome!!!  So I decided on Saturday that I was going to donate 107 pounds of food.  107 pounds to represent the weight that I have lost to date.

I first went through our cupboards, because we always have LOTS of extra pasta, rice, cereal, soups, etc.  I filled a whole grocery bag nearly to the top and weighed it... 16.5 pounds!  WOW!!!  It felt heavy.  It was hard to lug around.  I cannot believe I had been previously hauling around over 6 bags like that on myself every single day.  No wonder I felt so horrible, so tired, and so worn out!  I also realized after weighing one large bag of food that this might be a bit to take on, on my own, so I sent out a plea - telling people of my idea - and asking them to donate food to represent my weight loss.  The response has been amazing.  So many people have volunteered to bring food for me to donate.  I am amazed and honored at the response.  Thanks!  I can't wait to collect all 107 pounds of food and take a picture of myself with it.  Then its going straight to my Weight Watchers meeting to be donated.

So... I challenge you - If you are blessed to have healthy food for yourself each day please consider making a donation to your local food pantry this month.