Great Bend Tribune Managing Editor Dale Hogg and his wife, Volunteers in Action Volunteer Coordinator Linn Hogg, have embarked on this two-month lifestyle change experiment as a couple.

Linn
My husband reminded me that I needed to write this today. However, I am busy trying to figure out how to make Thanksgiving healthy yet taste good.
So here is my plan. FRESH! I am going to get away from the casserole type dishes, the pre-processed food and the frozen food. I will use fresh greens, vegetables, fruits and sweet potatoes for the side dishes.
I will have to make mashed potatoes and stuffing or there will be a complete mutiny at the house. However, I am going to try to put the vegetables, fruit and protein on my plate first and then fill in with some potatoes and stuffing. I am not a big candy eater, but I do like pumpkin pie. So I plan on taking a little sliver of a piece and a small dollop of whip cream, fat free.
Maybe I can talk the young adults into washing up after dinner while Dale and I go for a walk. I think that sounds reasonable; anything to get out of dishes. This may be the one way to rationalize the reason why I can’t clean up.
I did step on a scale and noticed I was down six pounds since I started. I think I froze a lot of that off at the game in Manhattan last Saturday. All joking aside, I have had a lot of events that involved distance walking. Plus, I have been really downing the water. Now if I can just figure out how not to be tempted by the scones my son saves for me.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and just remember to add in more of the good stuff so you eat less of the bad.

Dale
There’s nothing like a visit to the doctor to burst one’s bubble.
Let me back up a bit first. Last week, things seemed to be going well for this lifestyle change journey.
I had my body fat tested and it came in well below the national average. They guy working with me was shocked that was 49 years old (he thought I was 40) and that I appeared fit for weighing what I weigh.
Cool.
Granted, the whole food diary experiment hasn’t gone as planned. But despite the recent blank pages, the exercise has heightened my awareness of what I eat and I guess that was the whole purpose of it.
I had my annual physical last Thursday. I weighed in and was lighter by a few pounds than when I weighed in last year.
Yes!
Then I saw the doc. He calculated my body-mass index, turned to me and said I needed to lose a few pounds.
Deflating.
Perhaps, this was a good thing. Knowing the numbers helps and gives me a concrete baseline to start with. I now know, quantitatively, what I need to accomplish.
We again spent the weekend in Manhattan. It was so cold at the K-State-OU game that between the shivering, the walking to and from the parking lot and doing the Wabash Cannonball, I burned off enough calories to justify the Kite’s cheeseburger and 8-Bit Pale Ale I consumed afterwards.
Well, maybe not.
Anyway, I found myself behaving for the most part. I wasn’t a dieting saint, but I found it easier to pick a more healthful food option most of the time and stayed away from over indulging.
OK, not totally, but this is not all my fault. Guys, you may be able to relate to this.
My wife and I are on this journey together. So, we both order our smaller portions, but her idea of a smaller portion also includes sliding what she can’t eat onto my plate.
I feel obligated to polish it off for her. That’s cheating.
We are again burning up I-70 this weekend, headed to Manhattan and Lawrence for the Sunflower Showdown (KSU vs. KU). I will strive to take more baby steps on this path to my new lifestyle.
Go Cats.