Shawna Losing For Life

12/26/2025

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The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
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I’ve been waiting ALL year for a book that gave me ALL the feels! This was it! I loved everything about this book. But especially how uniquely it was written ~ in the form of yes, correspondence. That is, letters and emails to strangers, family, neighbors and friends over the years. This is obviously a character driven book, but we always understood what the underlying story was.

I am drawn to the quirky older characters (A Man called Ove or Veronica and the Penguins - iykyk!) Sybil is quirky and likable.

Honestly, unless I read another 5⭐️ book by the end of the year, I’m pretty sure this is my pick for my best fiction read of 2025.

Book 51 of 2025
Read December 10-13

05/13/2025

01/21/2025

*long post alert•

When Megan called me in June and said “Want to go see Brandi Carlile in Mexico in January? Without hesitation I said YES! And then we figured out how to make it happen! Fast forward 6+ months, we attended an incredible 4 day festival of female musicians including Shania Twain, Brandy Clark, Maren Morris, Sistastrings and new to me performers like Brittney Spencer, Muno, Lucius and Jensen McRae. Megan and I felt completely comfortable in the audience of 5000 mostly women, majority LBGQT people. I’ve always had many friends in the gay community ~ it felt like home! And truly a beautiful community of people who were in a safe place to be and express themselves in a family friendly environment comfortably. We met incredible people, making friends by sharing stories and bracelets with those whose stories touched us! Megan brought many she made in CA, then she and I made more in our room. I would recommend the to any music lover and ally! knows how to throw an amazing party! And the Riviera Maya beach was beautiful, the 80° and sunny days fabulous!

09/23/2024

5 days in a row of tracking :) That feels good!

Today’s eats:
Yogurt bowl
Elote grilled chili lime chicken salad
Mini pb bar
Salmon, roasted potatoes and zucchini
TJs brownie coffee crunch ice cream sandwich
Wine (pretrack)

The best part of today was assembling the new bakers rack in my kitchen filled with my cookbooks!

1552 calories ✅ 95g protein ✅

On the road tomorrow ~ a quick trip back to Illinois to see Mom & sisters 💗.

Want any details about the above? Let me know!!

09/22/2024

Sunday Eats:

Yogurt bowl
BLT on sourdough with tzatziki
Mini pb bar
Greek chicken orzo bowl/salad
Ice cream sandwich & cookie
Wine

1765 calories ✅ 75g protein

My activity today was cleaning and organizing my garage & shed. And helping Colleen & Jordan organize their basement in preparation for big waterproofing project!

Want any details about the above? Let me know!!

09/21/2024

Day 3 of another full day of tracking! A fun productive day! Started the day with a trip to the , kitty sitting, lunch with goodies from the market, and afternoon reading on this beautiful last day of summer! Then we organized the garage a bit, I started a loaf of sourdough, we did some more kitty sitting then dinner out!

Today’s Eats:
Yogurt bowl
Sourdough tomato sandwich
chia bar
Turkey Pepperoni
honcho lager
Cheeseburger


Indulged AND hit my goals!
1784 calories ✅ 96g protein ✅

Want any details about the above? Let me know!!

09/20/2024

Day 2 of tracking is in the books. It’s amazing to me, the SIMPLE act of tracking alone makes a huge difference in the choices I make! Less mindless picking, more planning. I’m sure I’m taking in fewer calories than when I’m not tracking.

Here’s what I had today:
Yogurt bowl
Greek chicken and orzo bowl with extra veggies
Mini bar
Cinnamon cashews
Bbq turkey meatloaf and sweet potato
Pumpkin Jojos
Wine (pre tracked for later)

1654 calories ✅ 84g protein ✅

Also got in a lovely walk with new friends from the local newcomers club at a nearby nature center.

Want any details about the above? Let me know!!

09/19/2024

Hey!! Long time no posts!! But I’ve been in my stories every day! So check out my moving, Chicago and book highlights to get caught up!

I have been doing all the things this summer! Activity, eating well, but not tracking. Or stepping on the scale :) So today I decided to start tracking again. And posting “What I Eat in a Day” for accountability!

As always, feel free to ask for any specifics about anything I share. I’ll always tag the recipe creator and exact recipe name, so you can google for the recipe! If I create a recipe (rarely), I’ll share it :)

Yogurt bowl
Snacky plate
Mini bar
Greek Chicken Orzo Bakes By
ice cream bar
wine

1382 calories ✅ 68g protein

Will try to improve my protein intake tomorrow, but overall feel good today!

05/01/2024

it’s been a long time!! But after 12 days of vacation, followed by 6 days of a nasty cold, the scale is up and I’m consciously tracking again. Listen, you do you. Do what works for you. I’m not hear to to tell you what to do…just honestly sharing what I’m doing. For about 3 months I’ve been very happy to not be tracking. But it’s just time to be more aware. Will it be every day? 🤷🏼‍♀️ idk. But today, and yesterday I tracked. And when I do, the scale responds usually. I’ll keep you posted!

Cereal
Tuna salad
Dive bar
Spinach tortellini soup
1/2 square dark chocolate
5 oz wine

1324 calories ✅. (but I only ate when I was hungry. My appetite is weird with this cold!)

Today I am packing, purging and organizing. I’m giving away my nearly 30 year old set of encyclopedias. Old school! But they are beautiful. Downsizing and moving is not for the weak!!

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04/27/2024

12 days I could do over and over again with my girls!

04/27/2024

Memphis-Jonesboro-Nashville-Atlanta my top 10 meals!

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3. Colleen’s homemade Asian beef & noodles
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03/12/2024

Two weeks ago today Dennis had his 2nd knee replacement. He got an A+ at his surgeon follow-up appointment yesterday! He is walking so well ~ sometimes without a cane! Life is getting back to normal ~ and he should even be driving himself soon.

I’ve been focusing on his recovery, but trying to also prioritize my own physical and mental health. I’ve been consistent on walking and yoga this last week. While meals have been simple, we’re still trying to keep them healthy. I haven’t been tracking, but feel good about my choices. If I maintain during this period of time, I’ll feel great. If I gain a little, I’ll be ok.

I haven’t felt like doing Reflections the last two weeks ~ just trying to keep myself afloat! Maybe this week…maybe not 😜. But I’ll be back. In the meantime, here’s some of our favorite meals this week and a picture of the patient doing his home PT! (Steps)

Want any details about the above? Let me know!!