I’m trying to eat healthy but not deprive myself of treats or small servings of dessert here and there.  Exercise has never been something I’m drawn to do, but I do enjoy walking.  (However, I’ve been so busy recently that I haven’t been walking three or four times a week like I was earlier in the spring.)  I don’t need to take a weight loss supplement since eating reasonably and walking seems to work for me.  But some people do need a little extra help.  They should always consult their doctor first before taking any supplement.

This is a fun birthday party to have at home.  These are pictures from our son’s birthday party several years ago.  My daughter and I had so much fun planning it.  The party can cost as little or as much as you want it to.  If you’re cutting costs, you can find party items at Dollar General and Walmart.  Here are some ideas:

• Make the birthday cake.  Decorate with blue frosting for the water and with light brown frosting  for the sand.  (Mix yellow, blue, and red food colorings a little at a time until you get the light brown color.)  Put little paper umbrellas like you get at a party store on the brown beach.  Also, look for little plastic trees in the cake decorating section of a craft store.  Make beach towels out of different colors of frosting.
• Serve fish crackers for a salty snack.
• Buy leis at either Walmart  where I saw some for 88c each or at Dollar Tree.  Buy one for each child.
• Play “Put the Coconut on the Coconut Tree” instead of “Pin the Tail on the Donkey.”  Make a large coconut tree out of construction paper to tape onto the door.  Make coconuts out of brown construction paper.  Blindfold child.  Spin them around two or three times.  Then let them try to tape the coconut onto the coconut tree.
• Play the Limbo Game.
  
• Cover small boxes with gold wrapping paper to make a treasure chest for each child.  Put party prizes in these.
  

When warmer weather gets here, people invariably start thinking about exercising more, taking weight loss pills, and losing those unwanted pounds gained during the holidays.  The older people get, though, the harder it is to lose those extra pounds.  Sometimes it’s a hormonal imbalance that causes weight gain.  I know that happened with me, but now that I’m taking natural, compounded progesterone by prescription, I don’t have the problem I used to with not being able to lose weight.  Check with a doctor before taking anything.