Follow Up Post

follow up post

Follow Up Post

follow up postHi, generally I schedule my posts for Monday’s. However, this week I wanted to have a post with a follow up to a few of my ongoing goals. And in doing so, I will be able to provide a photography tip I discovered just this weekend and would love sharing with you! Let’s begin with the photography tip.

It was while working with the picture to the left. It could be the image at the top if you are reading this on your phone. It is my selfie taken in the grocery store! 🙂

portrait mode follow up postThe following screen shots were taken on my iPhone 14 ProMax. The Portrait Mode is available on the iPhone 11 and up. I am not sure about models before the 11. I recommend the Portrait Mode in your camera for selfies or when your subject is two to eight feet in front of you. The Portrait Mode is available in the built-in camera app. Once you have the camera open and the Portrait Mode selected, frame the subject to take the shot. When the camera screen displays Natural Light, you can then take the picture.

Notice the background on both pictures. In Portrait Mode, the background is blurred. Looks pretty nice doesn’t it! The Portrait Mode is one way to emphasize the subject. This is especially handy when your background is busy or unattractive. There is more to the photography tip I wanted to share.

Let’s say after you take the picture, you decide you do want to see more details of the background. You can change the background to see more detail. Yes, you heard me correctly. The background can be edited after the image was taken. Let me show you how.

Open the picture you want to see more details in the background. Click the Edit button.

edit portrait mode background

At the top center you will see the word Portrait that is highlighted yellow. Click it. When it is no longer highlighted, the background will not be blurred. Click the word Portrait again, and the background goes back to blurred. Pretty nifty!

portrait mode

Remember the rule of thirds as well. Both of these tips will make your images look better!

Ok, now for the follow up 🙂 This picture is the whole reason for the post today! I have now been an active Weight Watchers member for seven weeks. And yes, I am loosing weight, yippee! However no one seems to have noticed. I notice small changes like today getting in and out of my husband’s truck is easier. My rings seem to be spinning more on my fingers and it is hot outside!

After getting home from the grocery store, I was looking thru some of my past selfies. And lo and behold, I ran across a picture taken just this past May. It was the day I went to the KC Zoo with my daughter and her family. Visit the KC Zoo here!
weight loss

My very first week, I had signed up for Weight Watchers (WW) in the phone app. The service I selected was the online option. Any classes I wanted to take would require me to upgrade services. And eventually I did just that. The meetings have been very instrumental for me. After seeing the two pictures above side by side, I wonder how much weight I lost that very first week. I never weigh myself at home. My weight was only checked when I went to the doctor and now at my weekly WW meeting. In the post, Looking my Best tells the story of my WW discovery.

And with my WW journey I am successfully implementing #69 of my 101 in 1001 goals, avoid or eat less junk food. That’s a win, win for me!

Loosing weight is not easy. Never has been for me. However, the WW point system and the ability to scan bar codes while at the grocery store makes this process for me easy. I will continue with Weight Watchers and post my progress, good or not good here. I need accountability!

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
Gma’s photo

.

Fun Weekend with Grand-Girls!

fun weekend with the grand-girls

Fun Weekend with Grand-Girls!

Hi, what a fun weekend I experienced with my grand-girls. My daughter and son-in-law went out of town with friends for a float trip. Which translates to me getting to spend the entire weekend with the girls, YES!!

I took the day Friday away from my work to do my weekend errands in the morning so I could drive to Topeka and get the girls picked up from summer camp by 4pm. That evening we went back to their house to take care of the pups, get dinner ready and then movie time. Grandma let the girls stay up later than their bedtime. Saturday morning Kevin came out to sat with the girls while I went to my weekly Weight Watchers meeting. While I was away, Kevin took the girls to the Farmer’s Market. Upon my return the girls were excited to tell me, they got some honey sticks and already ate them. After Kevin left, we ate our lunch and decided to go to the Topeka Zoo.

fun weekend with grand-girls

After the zoo we stopped by the girls choice restaurant, McDonald’s. Brynlee likes the playground. We ate and then I watched the girls play for a bit. Then back to their house. Once back to the house we let the doggies out and fed them. By this time the weather had cooled down some. We went outside for some fun activities, hula hoop and jump rope. Here is a fun video of the girls trying to teach me how to hula hoop!


MacBook viewers: If the video does not appear, switch from Safari browser to Google.
The video will then appear.

The best part of the day for me was when the girls were getting ready for bed. Briella told me she had a fun day. This warmed my heart. My husband always asks me what memories did we make after I am with the grand girls. This is certainly a memory I will treasure.

Sunday was my last day to spend with the girls. The plan was to meet Shaune’s parents for them to take the girls to Branson. Our hand off was a success!

handoff successful

This weekend the grand girls and I completed two of my 101 in 1001. #13 Go to the Topeka Zoo and #89 Learn How to Hula Hoop. At least I tried! 🙂

WW Update:
Since Start Date; -8.8lbs 🙂

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
Gma’s photo

.

My Journey

My Journey

Hi, I am just beginning to comprehend my weight loss will be a journey, a long journey. I never really thought about Weight Watchers. As I mentioned in the previous post it was a friend who returned to the program and that is what prompted me to join. Saturday I went to my meeting. The meetings are for support. And I have come to understand I need this support.

The first person I met at my meetings is sitting behind me in the bottom right picture, Patty. She has lost 85 pounds since she began the program. That was a year ago. At these meetings I was advised that during my journey I will loose some weight and there will be times I will gain. This past Saturday was a week I gained 1.4lbs. My all time weight tally to date, -3lbs.

my journey

Knowing my personality, this will need to be kept real simple. Measuring out my foods is not simple. I have been giving this some thought. Rather lots of thoughts. Here are a few ways I found to help me with measuring.

measuring

The jars are 8oz. I will be using this jar for all drinks, water will be the exception. Simple to measure, if only 4oz I can eyeball that pretty close! The clear cups are 2oz. This will be for food items like salad dressings and cheese. I am sure I will be able to use with other foods as well. When I order my deli meat, once sliced I request the clerk to show me how many slices is 4oz.

I was discouraged to say the least with my gain. With the encouragements from fellow members, I will continue to track my food, stay within my points. My journey is a work in progress.

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
Gma’s photo

Looking My Best

Looking My Best

Hi, I took the plunge and joined Weight Watchers. For the past year I have tried cutting back on calories and walking. Not much success. A friend, Linda, returned to the program. She had fabulous results and then waivered from the program. It was during one of our virtual walks she had mentioned her return.

Saturday I went to my first meeting and signed up with Weight Watchers. With Linda doing the program and our virtual walking, I feel like I have the needed support and accountability to be successful. I do want to mention that I am not being compensated, endorsed for this post. I am merely explaining what I am trying to do to meet a few of my 101 in 1001 goals, #’s 66, 68 and 69.

weight watchers Counting calories wasn’t working. One day using the tracking method with weight watchers I discovered is more convenient. The Weight Watchers app is very user friendly. The foods I thought I was eating that were ‘good’ was not. For example, I would eat yogurt with granola for breakfast (and still be hungry) for a calorie count of 300. On a 2000 calorie diet this isn’t bad. But that’s 8 points with Weight Watchers. My daily point count is 29. Even with tracking calories, the point method brings more light on weight loss. Most of what I was eating were high points. As long as I can stick with my daily points, I should see 1-2 pounds loss each week.

One thing I will need to do more of, drink water. I do not like the taste of water. Kind of funny, does water have a taste? 🙂
I do have a plan to conquer my dislike of water taste.flavor water

After my first Weight Watcher’s meeting, I did my grocery shopping. Kevin went with me and he did not complain about the time it was taking me to scan each item I placed into the cart. And I did, scan each item. Quite a few items I used to get, I had to choose an alternative. I expressed my concerns about the water with Kevin. We went to the water isle and it was here that Kevin pointed out the flavors. Some of the guys Kevin works with uses flavors in their water. I thought I’d give it a try. Water is 0 points and the flavor is 0 too! I selected the berry flavor this time.

One of my main concerns is how my diet for Crohn’s will work within my 29 daily points. I remember telling my doctor I could not be diabetic. All I can eat is potatoes, pasta and meat! I’ll give an update on what I discover for meals that work for me.

I’m embarrassed with my current weight. So I will not share. But, what I will share is my weight progress with you here. Another accountability measure to help keep me on track.

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
Gma’s photo

Fun at the Kansas City Zoo

Kansas City zoo

Fun at the Kansas City Zoo.

Hi, I had a fun birthday weekend with my family at the Kansas City Zoo. Happy birthday to me!

#14 Go the the Kansas City Zoo
and #38 visit the grand girls once a month

fun at the Kansas City zoo
Click image to see the images taken at the KC Zoo!

The morning began with eating breakfast out. I ordered a two egg omelet with cheese, bacon, green onion and tomato. After breakfast my daughter and her family picked me up to go to the zoo. It was for sure a fun birthday. It did make me realize a few things.

Firstly, I want to do better of taking pictures through out my adventures. There were things the grand girls did that I never took a picture. For example when they slid down the slide instead of using the stairs. I never took images of our lunch, what we ordered and the menu to show the high cost of ordering on zoo grounds. The thought of bringing a picnic lunch didn’t even come to mind until I saw the prices. One bottle of water was $5.00. Ouch, a family of 4 would be 20 bucks.

Secondly, my weight. My age, working from home, not getting out among other things I have been telling myself when I look in the mirror. This adventure to the zoo made me realize how my weight is affecting me. And it is not good. From this day forward, I will take more responsibility to do something for myself to improve my health. I want to be like my Aunt Phyllis was. When she was 80 she could keep up with my dancing when I was 50. She looked amazing. That is how I want to be when I am 80.

favorit aunt Phyllis
My inspiration in aging, my Aunt Phyllis.

#52 Walk two miles 3x a week.
#53 Do nightly excersizes 3x a week. Opposite nights from above walking goal.

These two will be a work in progress. And to keep a journal of progress, I will include a selfie of me each post. And hopefully this will show the change/progress of my efforts.

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
Gma’s photo
.
.
Fun at the Kansas City Zoo

Chicago the Windy City

Chicago the Windy City.

Hi, I decided to take a trip on a whim! Wanted to eat the famous Chicago deep dish pizza.

Chicago the Windy City
Chicago’s deep dish pizza

Once upon a time I worked for our family business. I met Linda, a valued customer who would come into the store with her family. Over time I became friends with her. We since sold the store and we lost contact. One day I was in Walmart and she approached me. We exchanged phone numbers. I reached out to her and we began to make dates to meet for brunch to visit.

#95, Meet up with an old friend and catch up.

During one of our brunches I mentioned to her I would like to eat Chicago deep dish pizza and asked if she would be interested in going with me. Our adventure was going to happen.

Back in March we decided to go the first Tuesday in May. We spent one evening in the Windy City. When we went to check into the Congress Hotel, the desk clerk, Jasmine upgraded our room. She did a wonderful kindness for us. The view was absolutely beautiful, night lights and the sunrise were gorgeous.

chicago congress hotel
The Congress Hotel

We walked a lot, 23,298 steps Tuesday! Walked to Millennium Park, Navy Pier and took the bus back to the hotel. Next we went to Lou Malnatis for our pizza. Then off to Wallis Tower, formally known as Sears Tower. The tallest building in Chicago.

Wednesday we reserved our Wendella Lake & River Architecture Tour. We enjoyed this. After walking down the streets it was neat to see the buildings by boat. Here are just a few of the images taken. Too many to share all of them.

Chicago the windy city
Millenium Park, Navy Pier, Lake & River Architecture Tour
On the left side of the collage there is a picture that has a green circle on it. That was the floor our room was on.

train travel
#28 on 101 in 1001 list- Travel in a train
K9 dog statues
Click this image for more K9 statue information.

Once back home and reflecting on the trip, never did I notice trash or litter on the streets and in the alley ways. Even while looking thru all of the images I had taken, no evidence of trash/litter. Secondly, both of us returned safe and unharmed. Now keep in mind we stayed in the downtown area and was back in our hotel room by 10 pm. We had a good time!

Have you been to Chicago? What was your favorite experience while there?

I have already asked Linda if she would like to go again next year. Gotta have me that Chicago deep dish pizza again!

To see more images from this trip, click here!

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
Gma’s photo

x