Hi Folks,
I just thought I'd explain why I started this blog. Many years ago I sent my folks a very special Christmas present and they NEVER stopped talking about it (you can too...it was very easy...see the very end of this blog to find out how...I don't want to bore those who don't want to know how).
As the Guilt Free Gourmet, I have helped many people lose weight by eating right. But when my sister got divorced, she started gaining weight, and it seemed there was nothing I could do to convince her to lose weight. And I tried everything, believe me. I gave her both of my cookbooks, but she absolutely hates to cook. I sent her easy exercises, prodded her with encouragement, offered her even more easy recipes. So, after many years of my failing to help her, and her telling me that 2009 was the year she was going to get serious about loosing weight, this year I gave her a very special gift. After she gave me a t-shirt with "Sisters: Emotional Tech Support" on the front, I sang this song to her on Christmas morning:
On the 12th Day of Christmas, your sister sends to you...
12 Drumstick dinings
11 Pastas Piping
10 Lasagna Layers
9 Moroccans Dancing
8 Bells a Stuffing
7 Hummus Dipping
6 Shrimp Creoleing
5 Ham Casseroles
4 Stroganoffs
3 Roast Hens
2 Christmas Birds
And Filet Mignon made just for you two.
I will supply you with 30 dinners for you & mom a month for 3 months. I will continue as long as you lose at least 1 lb a week and keep an email journal WITH me about eating, exercising, weight loss, etc. And you must learn how to make Liquadas (fruit milk shakes) for breakfast every morning... mom loooves milk shakes. That, Fat Free yogurt, fruit & oatmeal are THE healthiest things you can do for breakfast.
Well, we both cried, and when I went back home I started sending her coolers of frozen Guilt Free Gourmet Dinners. All she had to do was thaw and heat and so our journey began.
The first posts will be a combination of my emails & tips to date from Jan & Feb and then I will post to this blogg as our journey goes along. Maybe this will help others also, maybe others can help us. Either way it can be a win/win situation. I look forward to hearing from you all.
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The first Special Christmas Gift to my parents.
They live on the family farm, so I sent a HUGE box of gifts to my favorite neighbor with the following note:
Hi Nancy,
I am sending you 11 Christmas presents for my parents each labeled 1 thru 11. On Dec 14, could you please place the package marked #1 in their mailbox, on Dec 15, place the one marked #2 in their mailbox. Now by this time, or soon, they will start hiding in the woods to see who is leaving the packages, so you will have to be creative when placing the rest of the packages where they will find them, but so they don't find out it is you. Thanks a million.
Now the first pkg had a single present in it, with a note, "On the first day of Christmas, someone gives to you...a (whatever it was...I honestly don't remember)
Each following package contained 2 presents & a note, then 3, then 4 etc. I don't remember them all, but 5 was 5 glazed doughnuts, 8 was a set of 8 wine glasses and the 12th package I delivered to them myself and was a check for the $1200 I had borrowed from them and then sang them the "12 days" song.
Well folks, my parents called me, my sister and brother to ask each of us if we were doing it. My sister and brother didn't know about this so they didn't have a clue. I, of course had to lie (well it was for a good cause). Eventually, they called most of their friends and neighbors asking if they were doing it, which of course led to an explanation of "what" was being done.
Nancy had a blast figuring out new ways and places to put the packages, and those mom had called were now trying to find out the answers and even calling her to see what the 'gift' was that day and where it was placed. My parents live near a very small town and it was long enough ago that no one locked their car doors, so Nancy put 2 or 3 packages in their front seat.
More than 20 years later, my folks would talk about that Christmas that was sooooo much fun.
So, it takes a little bit of effort and the help of a very special neighbor, but I promise you it is well worth it. And that folks, is why I decided to give a different "special gift" to my sister.
