Papa’s World – “WE HAVE FRIENDS IN ALL PLACES”

Sherry Elaine Steve Papa

We watched their children grow up – we played league volleyball with them – we golfed with them –

we vacationed with them and they have visited us in our new home.

We have stayed in touch – we play cards and games –

WERE BESTIES!

Western New York –

Portville N.Y.

Steve and Elaine Starks – for the past 35 plus years.

Fred and Lynda

Before Sherry and I were married – Lynda and Fred were my friends – Fred and I graduated together –

our friendship started in Jr. High School all those years ago.

Today – it has been some 54 years and Lynda some 48 t0 50 years.

They now live in Melbourne Florida on the Indian River.

We met up the last time just before the Pandemic.

Little Palm Bay – Florida.

John and Nancy

We first met them at Community Lutheran Church in Sterling Va.

Sherry and Nancy were part of a group of ladies who called themselves THE HENS!

They would meet once a week for lunch and a movie.

John is an opera singer and leader in whatever church over the years they have attended.

They moved to Charleston S.C before we moved and we have stopped and spent time with them.

They have visited us when we were in the condo and we have gotten together a couple times

halfway between Charleston and Ocean Isle Beach. John and Nancy Standbridge White.

Point Pleasant, S.C.

Sherry Papa Cindy Buck

We were neighbors back in Pleasant Acres Drive in Portville N.Y.

We moved in next door to them in 1987.

We had known them before that.

We saw their family grow up as they also watched ours.

We would visit them in their home in Magnolia Greens – Leland – Wilmington N.C.

We always dreamed of moving South and they are one of the main reasons we did.

We play golf weekly or try to.

They would visit us in NVA – Karaoke – golf – a few drinks and tours of DC.

Now – almost 40 years and still great friends!

Wilmington N.C.

Jim and Claudia Martin

Claudia was part of the HENS lady group with Sherry – and we got to know Jim – who has developed Data centers ( the first) in Ireland.

Claudia is a beautiful singer and her and her sons would sing in the Irish pubs and inns.

Jim has been a top executive in many known companies and today is nearing retirement.

We plan on them to visit us in the future and look forward to it.

They have lost over 150 combined lbs. following Sherry’s shreds of sugar and eating healthy.

We had dinner with them over the Christmas Holiday.

Claudia and Jim Martin

From Reston Va.

Jason and Ginger

Ginger is another member of the Hens lady group and her hubby works from home.

We golfed together in NVA and visited each other – took excursions – and after we moved –

They sold their home in Reston Town center, Va.

They purchased a cottage in the far North of Maine –

and Ginger inherited a condo in Sarasota Florida.

Today they spend Summers in Maine and Winters in Sarasota.

We will go to Florida in February to spend a few days

They are in negotiations to build a home outside of Leland N.C. a short distance from Buck and Cindy.

We have already introduced them to each other and plan on future golf outings!

Jason and Ginger Priti Childs from Maine and Florida.

Mike and Carol

We moved in right beside them in 1988.

Pleasant acres drive in Portville N.Y.

Twelve and one-half years we were neighbors!

Many fun times – playing pranks on each other – parties – talking across the fence – they also were close friends to Buck and Cindy.

Racing power ride mowers up and down the street.

Today they are owners of a National Painting Company –

Called Mike John Painting.

We still get together – seeing them in the old neighborhood or visiting them at their second home on Lake Chautauqua in WNY.

We still laugh at all the old times – and are trying to get them to visit us here.

Maybe after all the Pandemic – time will tell.

Mike and Carol John – Portville N.Y.

Sherry Jo and Paul

Sherry and Paul graduated together from Smethport, Pa. H.S.

While Jo was a year behind me at Otto-Eldred H.S.

We did not know the connection until about ten years ago – we attended Sherry’s H.S. reunion

and she introduce me to Paul who in turn introduced Jo to us.

Since that time we have met up in Tucson Az. where they live and also they came for a week to our home in NVA and we toured the DC area!

They took us all over Tucson – Sedona – and Az. in a three-day trip ending up at their home in Tucson.

We get together at their reunion in Smethport Pa.

Paul and Jo Peterson – Tucson Az.

Cindy Sherry Dottie

Dottie I knew first some 45 years ago – she and Jim are some of our oldest friends

These three together – many – many good times –

We watched their kids grow up – we vacationed together and Dottie is from Eldred where I grew up.

All the good times we have had together – singing – WINE – the three of them!

Sherry and Jimmy

I have known Jimmy before Sherry and I was married – some 45 years ago.

Jim and I played softball together in the mid to late ’70s.

He also grew up in Eldred Pa.

We worked together at the American Olean Tile Company and I attended their wedding.

Today – we all are best friends with Buck and Cindy – they knew them from before we knew them.

When we get together it is Karaoke – games – fun and laughter and Golfing – beaching!

Much as you see in this picture on Sunset Beach.

Dottie and Jim Brown – Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Steve and Diane

Our newest friends – our neighbors in Cameron Woods Community – Ocean Isle Beach – N.C.

Although we have been friends for the least amount of time – we have already introduced them

to Buck and Cindy and Dottie and Jim.

We walk together in the mornings – watch sports at Chubby Budda –

Have dinner out and have taken them to Fat Harolds in NMB.

Spent time at the beach and at each other’s homes as they are here part-time in the winter.

We also have one thing in common – they are from WNY and have a cottage on Rushford Lake.

They know Olean and Portville and the golf courses back there.

Many of the places to eat and are BILLS fans and BONAS fans.

So we have a lot in common!

Daine and Steve Zimmerman – from Rushford Lake – WNY and Cameron Woods – OIB, N.C.

Sherry Papa Pam ( PJ) Bobby

My oldest true friend – going back to the first grade – 66 years ago!

We played sports – sleepouts – running the streets after curfew –

drinking buddies ( some legal – most not)

Gone through marriages – divorces and new marriages.

Vacationed together – he is the godfather to my first son.

Today – Pam and Bob – we have reconnected through our class reunion some 15 years ago.

We have met up at different locations – they stayed with us in NVA.

They have stayed with us in OIB and Cameron Woods – Pam has gone with Sherry –

for a girl’s retreat in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

We now are golfing together as they have taken it up.

They now are RVING it during the Winter months.

Bob and Pam(PJ) Goodman – from Exter N.H.

PAPA’S WORLD – livinglifedoingitmyway.blog

Thanks for reading – MY BLOG: “WE HAVE FRIENDS IN ALL PLACES ”

All the friends we have together – we are truly BLESSED!!!

Papa’s World – In his own words – Jim Martin – how I lost almost 100 lbs.

Jim Martin at 350 lbs.

I first met Jim some years back – his wife Claudia is a close friend of my wife Sherry!

Jim is a very large man – standing 6’5 ” of taller!

He loves to cook and always was making BBQ for his employees!

Claudia was interested in what Sherry was doing for her health.

Then – Jim became interested.

He sent me this email – I had no idea he was writing it.

It is such a story of health and a journey for a individual

who one day said enough is enough!

IN HIS OWN WORDS – JIM MARTIN!

 My name is Jim Martin, and I am 65 years old. I live in Reston, Virginia, I still maintain a full-time job.

Heaviest Weight: 350 pounds

Current Weight: 260 pounds

 I struggled with my weight my entire adult life. It led to binge eating and weight gain. Before trying Juice Plus, I had done yo-yo diets my whole life. My weight has gone up and down 50 to 80 pounds over the years, but nothing ever stuck. 

Before Juice Plus, a typical day consisted of a lack of sleeping of no more that 4 to 5 hours a night and grabbing either a breakfast burrito with an apple juice or a chicken biscuit from a drive thru. I would go to work at my incredibly stressful sales job from 7:30-4:30 and get little to no movement at work. I would always eat out for lunch and pick very unhealthy options—sometimes I would even get dessert (cookies) with lunch!  After work I would come home and eat dinner around 6:30 pm and sit on the couch until it was time for bed. Before bed, I would usually have ice cream or another dessert. Sometimes I would wake up and get a “midnight snack.” I was literally eating around the clock.   

The first time I heard about Juice Plus was almost a year ago. I was not into fitness at the time, but back then I thought Juice Plus would help me lose weight and promote a good immune system. However, after years of putting on weight, I started learning more about it and decided I wanted to give it a try and joined the “Shred Your Way” Facebook group.

My turning point came on January 6, 2020 with the “Shred Your Way” Sugar Shred Challenge, No sugar for 10 days.  As a result of completing this challenge, I have completely removed sugar from my diet for the past 11 months. I have no sugar cravings or desire to eat sweets as I did in the past. This all happened two months prior to the COVID lockdown and I was stress eating like crazy. It was a Monday morning and I stepped on the scale that I had been avoiding for months. After I read it, I just said, “That’s enough.” Something had to change.

My goal when I started this journey was to be in better shape than I was when I was 45. Back then, I was 260 pounds and less than 20% bodyfat. From the start of this journey to get healthy, I told myself that I wanted to be in better shape in the next year than I was in the last. 

I found that adding Fasting, Healthy eating and Walking to my journey

I loved it so much, I added the Fasting (Zero Fast), Food Monitoring (MyFitnessPal) and Walking (Fitbit) apps to help me stay on track. It has been a huge help in my journey. Tracking the fast, steps, and foods It helps me to see trends, and with that I can make adjustments.  I love being able to look back and see how I have done. The Shred Your Way Facebook group has also been a great source of motivation.

I currently follow a 16:8 fasting schedule, walking 8 to 10 miles a day, and eating about 1500 to 1800 calories a day, while trying to keep it flexible. Most days I end up following 17:7 Fasting, 25,000 steps and 1600 calories. I change my fasting times to suit my lifestyle. If I want to go out and have a big dinner with my wife, I will just do a longer fast leading up to it, so I stay in a deficit. And some days when I am hungry, I will break my fast at 13-14 hours (minimum of 13 hours to be considered fasting). I listen to my body and hunger signals. That is what I love about intermittent fasting—it is all about flexibility. 

The first few mornings I started fasting I was so hungry, but honestly by the second week my body had adapted well. That is part of the reason I have been able to do this so long (coming up on 7 months). It is not a struggle for me to follow the plan.

Aside from the weight loss, fasting gives me freedom from food, walking gives me the movement I need and Juice Plus give me a healthy immune system. I no longer feel like food is my source of comfort. I can focus my thoughts and feelings more. I also did change my overall diet. I discovered tons of extremely healthy choices. However, that is another writing exercise.

Here is what I typically eat in a day:

Breakfast: Black coffee, breakfast cereal (Ezekiel or Sola brands, no/exceptionally low sugar) blueberries, raspberries, almond milk, and chia seeds.

Lunch: Arnold whole wheat bread or a Mission brand low carb whole wheat wrap, turkey or ham, mustard, lettuce., tomato and Kettle Brand avocado and Himalaya salt potato chips.

Dinner: Taco Bowl (steak, brown rice, pinto beans, salsa, cheese,) Kevin Brand Chicken entrees with steam veggies.

Snacks: Mixed nuts or, protein shake (1G or less sugar) or apple or protein bar (2G or less sugar)

Dessert: 1oz70% Dark Chocolate

I feel completely different now that I added fasting and walking to my Juice Plus daily routine.  I no longer have a need to eat wasteful and harmful foods like sugar. Before, I would always eat a huge lunch and then be worthless for hours afterwards. Now, I experience the mental clarity that comes from eating the right foods, fasting, and walking. I am tracking all my calories in MyFitnessPal because I wanted to stay in a deficit, which was key for weight loss. I aim to eat 1,800 calories each day. I walk 7 days a week. It has been great.

These three changes contributed the most to my weight loss success.

Change 1: I gave myself more than a year to reach my goal.

By taking a longer-view approach, I do not get discouraged by little missteps. I still have plenty of time to reach my goal. When you set a short timeframe to reach your goal, you can get discouraged if it does not happen “fast” enough.

Change 2: I focused on healthy eating at first.
I’ve done diets before, and when you change everything in the first week, you drain yourself of willpower and end up falling off the wagon.  I just focused on finding healthy food choices that minimize or eliminate SUGAR. SUGAR is the killer of any plan that includes weight loss or a good immune system.

Change 3: I do not get discourage… focus on the big picture

Life happens, and if I get down on myself for being human, that is not going to help me in the future. So instead, I give myself grace and understand this will happen. I acknowledge it and move on instead of making myself feel like a failure.   I could barely walk a mile without resting, now I can complete a 10K in less that two hours. It takes one step at a time.

I hope my successful journey can help other archive the life changing experience this has been for me.   I think the most rewarding part about making this change has been the mental clarity and focus that comes in the last few hours before breaking a fast. I do not feel mentally drained. But the weight loss has made the biggest difference. It is going to allow me to live an active life well into old age. If I had continued putting on weight, I would have been in extremely poor health within the next five years. But now I feel strong, and I do not feel deprived.

The new Jim Martin – at 260 lbs.

As a side note – Claudia Martin has literally folllowed in Jim’s footsteps.

She now walks with him and has lost 55 lbs. !

Thank you for reading Papa’s World

WHERE FRIENDS MEET THE FAMILY

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