Celebrating a birthday

Guess who's birthday is today May 19th? I told the girls to remember their grandmother Shirley. She was a good woman who is now on the other side of the vail enjoying the company of her husband George, mother Mimi, her father, Bill and her son Blake to name a few. There is always going to be a tender feeling for a woman I knew for so many years who also became my mother.

Today it's also Leigh Ann Bowman's birthday so we went out for lunch to celebrate along with Silvia, the other visiting teacher. We both go faithfully every month to visit her and today our visit was more like a celebration. Later in the evening we join her and her husband to eat at the Outback restaurant in Manila where the meat is pretty good.

Today in honor of Leigh Ann and Shirley I had my last big meal. I have to start a detox type of regiment tomorrow and continue with it for the next six weeks. For this big event I have come up with a few of the best advice I have received over the years about dieting.

Don’t take yourself so seriously. It's o.k. to make a few mistakes as long as we pick ourselves up! 

Don’t let your struggle become your identity, never take something personal from someone who doesn’t know you. As people say mean things to you because you are fat. 

Get your self- esteem through self -reliance. What I am doing with my life is more important than how I look. 

“Can’t never could because can beat ‘em to it! Remember that you can do it! 

This too shall pass. It will pass like a kidney stone but it will pass. It's a matter of time and effort!

Pick your battles. If you have to eat that cake so you don't offend someone, let it be!

Remember to smile. Even when there is not much improvement be happy for what you already have accomplished. 

Scratch where it itches. Don't try things that you know will not work. 

When in doubt, leave it out. Don't eat what  you might think will slow you down. 

You can’t control the bad stuff that happens to you but you can control how you respond to it. That is where the magic is. As much as I want to be thin, I still need to love myself however I am. 

What others think of me is none of my business. If people judge me only based on my weight is their problem. 

You can be the juiciest peach on the tree and some people like apples. Don't get offended if after losing all the weight and looking fabulous people will still judge  you. 

Never let the opportunity pass to tell someone you love them. And that starts with me. 

Honesty is the best policy. Don't cheat! 

Don’t ever let anyone treat you less than a daughter of God. No matter what happens in the next six weeks, God still loves me. 

Con amor, 

Vero