Welcome back to my little spot in the blogosphere you know as “Carol's Corner.” Well the weather was measurably cooler today, I don't think it hit 70°. Tonight we had a family dinner at Olive Garden with my daughter Jenn, her husband Will, my beautiful granddaughter Ariana, her friend Aubrey, my mom, our friend Elaine, and of course my husband. A great time was had by all, except of course we ate way too much. As soon as I got home I did 7 miles of workouts and when I get home from doing this I plan on doing 7 more. This next week I have to get totally serious and shed this extra weight. My picture was taken inside Olive Garden right before we left. Calling this,”Tropical Punch.” I love all the beautiful colors in this dress.

I went with the glass pearls for all my jewelry , except my rings. I thought that looked the best and I adore this watch.

 

This ring is one of my favorites that I had made by a jewelry artisan.

I went with two colors that were in my dress for my FitBit Combo. It was really cool that my manicure and pedicure totally coordinated with my ensemble.

 

 

Thought I'd share this picture of my daughter and granddaughter before I get to the business at hand.

Tonight I will be doing a feature story on Jo Ellen Jatczak, a new member in another group I'm in, “Steps For Success .” She doesn't have a lot of pictures but she told me to choose what I wanted from her Facebook page. Her before picture is a little bit blurry but you can see size wise the difference when you see the other pictures.

 

So let's hear her story and then I will post some other pictures.

Hi, my name is Jo Ellen Jatczak. I have struggled with my weight pretty much my whole life. That, coupled with being totally insecure, from kids making fun of me from 6th to 8th grade, messed me up for a long time. I think those kids were the original bullies. It stays with you your whole life. I didn't really have many friends after that, food became my friend. By the time I was in the 10th grade I was up to 200 pounds. I started working when I was 16, made some friends and started losing some weight. I got down to 150 pounds. I got into a horrible relationship that lasted 10 years. Feeling bad about myself and having no self respect, I had to cut him loose. A few years later I found a great guy and got married. After having a child, 5 years later, the weight started creeping back. Horrible, stressful, part time jobs, the weight kept coming. Then my dad passed away. By then I was 220 pounds. I started going through menopause, and couldn't deal with it anymore. I took it day by day, quit the part-time jobs, and started helping my mom 3 days a week. That was the turning point in my life. My blood pressure started coming down. I started exercising and gave up sweets.( Cookies and candy are my weaknesses.) I started moderate portion control on my meals, took my dog for several walks everyday, and little by little the weight came off. Slowly but surely, day by day; 45 pounds in three years. I couldn't be happier. If I can make small changes in my life, anyone can. Also, I quit smoking 2 packs a day 15 years ago.

Now for a few pictures I picked out from Jo Ellen's FaceBook page. Hope you liked what I picked out Jo Ellen.

Thank you Joe Ellen for sharing your story. I hope this will help someone else out there who might be going through the same struggles. We are all in this together. Anything we can do to help someone else navigate this journey is a blessing and a win win for everyone involved. If any of my readers know of someone who has a story that needs to be shared, please contact me. I am always looking for something that can help inspire and motivate others. To all of you out there, believe in yourself, even when the going gets tough. Quitting is not an option. Till next time, God Bless.