Successes & Setbacks- The Pawning Planners “Team Up” To Achieve Goals…

With “twin friends” all over the world understanding our close relationship, there are a few of our social media connections who don’t understand why my family spends huge amounts of time together so today we will “dive into” a good explanation for ya all. 

When our mini me twins were born 12 years ago, we were focused entirely on them and even today my twin sister must ensure they are perfectly dressed with their hair fixed before she will ever attempt to get herself ready.  Maryssa and Makenna aka “The Little Pawners” joined my Texas Twins Events Team when they were 6 years old at my son’s wedding as flower girls and have worked with us for 6 years at events for “tips and flips.” 

   

Maryssa and Makenna remarkably mirror Cindy and I with personality and a 10lb weight difference we’ve struggled with our entire lives- when I was down 10lbs, Cindy was up and vice versa.  All twins are competitive in their own way and we are too.  From who can do the most reps at Planet Fitness to who can jump the highest on Cindy’s trampoline (The Little Pawners not us). 

 Maryssa and I both have fuller faces than Makenna and Cindy.   But Makenna and I are both somewhat OCD on striving for perfection at anything we do while Maryssa and Cindy are the fun loving and spirited “good time Charlie’s” of The Pawning Planners. 

When it comes to dieting- no one has any patience regarding seeing quick results like my sister!  In fact, if Cindy doesn’t lose weight, she begins to question whether all the effort is worth the results.

The truth is that losing weight isn’t quick, fast or easy at our age and working hard at the gym while dieting has often left us kicking the scale due to the slow progress of losing weight.  But, yesterday Cindy finally started to see some changes on the scale after weighing in which helped keep her on track.

Gagging on apple cider vinegar with honey and fresh squeezed lemon every morning has been hard on both of us- we hate it but we do it based on finally getting some results around here!

Morning rituals of days past often had us enjoying 2-4 cups of coffee with cream but we now limit ourselves to 1 and instead of filling up on coffee and skipping breakfast- force ourselves to choke down eggs, milk or cheese since we’ve never liked breakfast.  Revving your metabolism requires eating protein within two hours of waking per the “Diabetic Diet.”  We aren’t diabetic but we saw quick results two years ago by loosely following the guidelines of a book I found at Goodwill.  

Our problem was that after losing 20 lbs each in a month- we slacked off and not only gained the weight back but added a few extra pounds!

Devastated over our ups and downs- we decided to visit a gastric bypass surgeon last year who regretfully informed us that both of our BCBS Texas insurance policies had Ryder’s preventing anything remotely related to weight loss.  

With heavy hearts since all of our friends have lost tons of weight (without the dieting and excercise) we studied, we researched and we devised a plan that didn’t include diet pills, surgery, Jennie Craig, Nutrisystem or even Weight Watchers since we had no time for all of that with my schedule of Appraisal Appointments, client meetings, events, fundraisers and time in my workroom refurbishing trades taken in exchange for event services through The Pawning Planners.  You see, from sun up to sun down- these Texas Twins stay busy!  Working two hours a day in for Planet Fitness beat the heck out of measuring and weighing our food. 

When you hit fifty- losing weight is far harder than when you were twenty my friends!  

Since I regularly upload videos of our events, adding our video diary of this weight loss journey has given several of you a few laughs at Cindy’s theories of “not pushing herself” during the holiday season with pumpkin lattes lol-Wendy and Cindy Make Their First Visit To Our Chosen Gym Planet Fitness!

Skinny people   don’t 
grasp the difficulty that challenges overweight people to be skinny- my daughter in law is a good example.  She argues with my son (who loves a good meal) about his weight all the time.  With his schedule (working three jobs) a visit to the gym is out of the question since he has no time. 

Trying to convince a person who has never been overweight of the struggle involved is impossible!

When my niece Leigh Ann had Madyson last year- everyone showed up and suddenly my daughter in law wanted a baby.  Since my son will tell you they are waiting- after four years it’s actually him who is waiting because he realizes the expense that children bring and because he works three jobs to pay the bills. 

 Babies are not and never will be a novelty- ask my twin sister who has been raising her twin granddaughters for 12 years.  Twins run in our family and my son worries that he’s next up for a double birth and the expenses involved that double up everything a single child needs. 

 My twin sister will tell you that without financial help from my husband and I, raising the twins without child support from their deadbeat dad (32k behind and counting) the twins needs would have been nearly impossible for her and her husband to handle alone.  

There is a very good reason we are close and the reason is that we rely on each other all the time, we talk to each other numerous times a day and we see each other daily- we are almost always together although we live twenty miles away from each other. 

 Losing 40 lbs each over the next year will be a challenge but, merging Texas Twins Events & Texas Twins Treasures To Create The Pawning Planners wasn’t easy either. 

  

I made many sacrifices to address the needs of anyone regardless of their income and make it all work- did I meet roadblocks and bumps in the road?  You bet I’m not rich- my husband and I sold our dream home, our motorcycles, our trailers, our furniture, my jewelry, furs and designer clothes to fund my businesses and everything that I’ve achieved came from hard work & perseverance along with a dream to change the wedding and events industry one family at a time.

Six years later, it’s rare to find someone who hasn’t heard of Texas Twins Events or The Pawning Planners. 

  

My blogs contain creative content that no one could write about (except me) based on my adventures with my multigenerational family.  Rising to the top of search engines wasn’t easy- I spend 2-3 hours a day writing blogs about my life, my businesses and my journey.  Often my family members disagree with one another but much like my clients- we pull it together and focus on the task at hand and overlook who thinks they have a better idea of how to get things done.  Am I bossy?  Well, my family would answer yes but, I’m the task taker, the check writer, the creator and driving force that created a unique opportunity for not only my own family but the hundreds of families we’ve helped.  Someone has to be leading things around here and that someone is me so if clients or even my own family think I’m bossy- I earned the privledge of making the rules.

 Mostly hilarious and occasionally sad since we help anyone- our journey and the families we’ve helped inspire others to help a stranger because my Texas Twins Events/Pawning Planners team helped them.

Being the person you’ve never met isn’t easy but it can be done- I did it against all odds so I know it’s possible…

Wendy M Wortham