More celebrations!

 Dear Blogger friends. Thank you for the birthday wishes. I really appreciated them all! 

No sooner was that over and I started to prepare an event in Winterton for Weigh-Less' 50th birthday! 

Weigh-Less is the weight loss company (the BEST weight loss company) that I have worked for over the past seven years. With Lockdown, April 2021, when Weigh-Less went Virtual, I was the first Group Leader to put my hand up to do Virtual Groups. The best decision I ever made! I have 180 members worldwide. This keeps me on my toes, especially from Tuesday night when members from the US, New Zealand, Australia and Japan weigh in with me.  I weigh the rest of the world (including South Africa and neighboring states) from 3am through to midday on Wednesday. Then I deliver my motivational talk via voicenote.  

In addition, I also have three Venue Groups on two different days in two different locations. Weigh-Less has always been a Venue orientated business and is preferred by those members who have a Group and Group Leader in their town. Our Winterton and Valley members have this privilege! 

Weigh-Less was founded by Mary Holroyd a transplanted young Irishwoman who arrived in South Africa in 1974. She had lost a great amount of weight using her own weight loss program. In South Africa she soon realized many women and men needed to lose weight the healthy way and Weigh-Less was born.  

Sadly, Mary passed away suddenly in October 2023.

But... 

So great was the legacy (in South Africa, Weigh-Less is up there with the supermarket giants and retail businesses) which she had created, that her daughter, also part of Weigh-Less since she was a four-year-old at the Weigh-Less inception, immediately took up the reigns. Weigh-Less has continued to grow from strength to strength. 

I have been involved with Weigh-Less for 39 years when I lost 32kg/70lb in nine months and kept it off all these years. 

Jacqui, our 62-year-old gorgeous granny of two, kept the audience enthralled with her upbeat explanation of the eating plan; how to prepare and store your meals and snacks as well as  relating  her own successful  journey with Weigh-Less

Jill Atkinson was my Group Assistant in Winterton from 2019 until she asked to step down in 2022. Her twin (in the city) was dying with pancreas cancer and 

she wanted to spend as much time with her. A year later a malignant lump was discovered in Jill's left breast. She had a lumpectomy and subsequent chemotherapy. In January this year she got a clean bill of health. All throughout this traumatic time, Jill said the fact that she had lost 10kg/22lbs with Weigh-Less under my guidance in 2021, and is enjoying optimal health, she sailed through the treatment. (Jill will be 80 this year) 

A wonderful testimony! 

Esme, my current Group Assistant these past three years, spoke about the fact that she lost 10kg/22lbs with Weigh-Less in my group. She told us about having a knee replacement in 2022. She had hardly had time for the knee to heal, when she needed emergency back surgery. Although she suffered incredible pain and discomfort, the doctor commended her on being on her healthy goal weight. Today her back and knee is completely healed. She attends "boot camp" twice a week with much younger folk, walks 8km daily with a friend and fellow Weigh-Less goal weight member, Susan, and does Parkrun every Saturday. Esme turned 75 the day after our Weigh-Less event! 

A skinny child, a slender teen and a slim young woman, even after childbirth. However,  I gained weight in my 30s after major surgery which caused me to lead a sedentary life for several months. Inadvertently Grant was instrumental in getting me to join Weigh-Less after he had seen a friend of mine who had lost weight on this program. I am eternally grateful to Weigh-Less, not only for keeping me healthy and on my goal weight but for the opportunity to help others to experience the same! 

When I greeted the guests, I asked them to guess which birthday we were celebrating . It caused great hilarity! 

With my trusted loyal soldiers!

The next day, Sunday, I travelled back into town; I collected Susan and together we entered the Dutch Reformed Church. We could see Esme sitting in a pew towards the back and quietly slid in beside her. She was so surprised and touched that we had come to celebrate her 75th birthday by attending a church service with her!

The moral of the story? If you would like to lose weight the healthy Weigh-Less way and maintain your healthy goal weight for life while ageing gracefully, contact me online for more information! 

HAVE A GREAT MONDAY! 

Great weekend event

Good morning Blogger friends. This weekend an international polo event took place on the outskirts of our town. It was organized by the head of a family of longstanding in our church parish. Outhouses and stables were built, offices constructed, fields cleared, and paddocks and grounds prepared for all equestrians to enjoy. During the week, he also runs his construction business from this site. 

Our church has a fundraising committee and the innovative ladies in charge, tendered and got the job of catering for the weekend. 

Congregants cheerfully and generously donated cash; hot rolls, hamburger buns; ingredients such as the national sausage, boerewors, ground beef, salad ingredients and cheese. A local lodge brought their pizza oven with staff to run it. 

What an asset this team was to our endeavors and absolutely instrumental to the overall success of the weekend.

Here our parish priest is being taught how to roll out a thin pizza base!

Our two holy men and church organist demonstrate the serving of tea!

Our church parish boasts several talented ladies who always see to the floral arrangements for the Sunday service. Here, their talents abounded creating beautiful seating area for the spectators to enjoy refreshments while watching the polo game

We, the ladies of the congregation had a tea, coffee, cake and sandwiches table. A roster was drawn up for teams of three ladies; one to sell tickets and the other two to serve the beverages. My turn with two friends, was on Sunday from 11am. 

Friday at midday, I stopped off at the event to drop my hot dog rolls. The portable credit card had just been brought to the table and as the only techno savvy septuagenarian, I offered to man (woman!) the sales. I ended up staying until 4pm!

Here I am with friends, Bets (center) and Meri, wearing a cutesy hat (whom I refer to as my Dr Platzhund *)

On Sunday after church, we three ladies arrived at the tent at 10.45 for 11am. I immediately sat down in front of the cash box and card machine. There was already a veritable queue of spectators wanting to buy tickets for tea and cake! 

In between rushes of thirsty people, Meri, whose SIL played polo every weekend in a neighboring province, explained the machinations of the game. She said that polo was known as the second most dangerous sport (motor racing being the most dangerous). I love listening to her and Bets who intersperses Meri's statements with "really?".  Meri was explaining that if a horse sustained a serious injury, it normally had to be shot. Bets, by now, openmouthed, gushed "really, is the rider shot?" To which an exasperated Meri replied: "NOOOO, Bets, the horse is!"

I really had a great weekend and especially enjoyed meeting the horsey fraternity of our community. 

Blogger's note: * I refer to Meri as my Dr Platzhund because she is my go-to person regarding anything to do with my pets. She belongs to the Animal Anti-cruelty league in South Africa and apart from knowing all the rules and regulations, she is so knowledgeable about the psychology of animals. She was instrumental in me getting  Skabby on a strict regime to lose weight and improve his health. One of the biggest compliments I have ever had was recently, when Meri saw a photo of Skabby,  ( as posted in yesterday's blog) she said that I had probably added at least two quality years onto my dog's life. 

HAVE A GREAT WEDNESDAY!