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I'm not going to lie to you...I TOTALLY want to go to this! I believe it is the first one EVER and I think that I've had a pretty good experience thus far as an Indie Romance Writer and would love to go to a convention and meet other like-minded people and sort of brainstorm and network and see what I can do to get even further along.
Will there be a red carpet? Probably not. Which is too bad really because I happen to look fabulous on the red carpet. Don't believe me, check out my post from the Carolina Music Awards. I rocked it!
So anyway, other than being a smokin hot hottie on the red carpet...oh, wait, there won't be one. So why do I want to go to this thing again? That's right, because I'm a smokin hot Indie Romance Writer, that's why! It's a two-day convention, it's in Tennessee and to me, I would feel like I totally "arrived" if I could go and be a part of it. But what would be better than just going and being a convention guest.
Being nominated for an award.
Sigh.
THAT, my friends, is the dream. I am looking for nominations in the Best Indie Romance Novella category for "The Christmas Cottage". If you've read it, if you've seen it, if you're tired of hearing me talk about it, then PLEASE go to the 2013 Indie Romance Convention Choice Awards Nominations ballot and case your vote! You can click HERE and go directly to the link. You do NOT have to fill in all of the categories, just the one for me! LOL!
I'm gearing up. I started Weight Watchers today. I'm getting some professional author head-shots done on Sunday. I am totally in "If you dream it, you can do it" mode. Thank you, Walt Disney. Help me make 2013 the year that I achieve literary success beyond what we've done so far with this little holiday romance novella. It really has gone far beyond what I ever imagined it would do and I don't want to lose steam.
It's been pretty cool seeing so many reviews pop up that are from people that I have no association with. People are reading it and enjoying it and wanting to share that enjoyment with others. It makes me smile every time a new one pops up. People have gotten kinder and that has made it more enjoyable, too!
So in conclusion, go to Amazon and LIKE the book; then BUY the book and then go over to the Indie Romance Convention ballot and VOTE for the book. LIKE, BUY, VOTE. Three little steps and the pleasure of knowing that you helped someone achieve their dream.
Not a bad way to spend your day! THANK YOU!!
The quest for weight loss is still going on and I am still doing Weight Watchers although I feel that I have just begun "Phase 2". No, that's not an actual Weight Watchers term but for me it means getting my sorry butt back on track and stopping this piddly half a pound weight loss nonsense and getting serious about it again.
Sort of.
Anyway, I'm down 22 pounds and yes that is a good thing but really, it's averaged out to about a pound a week and that to me is not good. Now calm down health nuts who are thinking that this is the way that we are supposed to lose weight. I KNOW that, I just don't personally like it. I would be happy with a little more each week like a pound and a half to two pounds BUT in order for that to start happening I guess I would have to stop eating icing right out of the can and chasing it down with a Coke!
Having said all that, I ordered a new bathing suit and a pair of track pants from the Disney Store online last week and they came in the mail today. When I ordered, I was feeling optimistic - just a little - and ordered the bathing suit in the smaller size than the website recommended for my measurements and you know what? It looks AWESOME!!! AND...I have to send the track pants back because they are too darn big! Woo-Hoo-Again!!! Can I get a hallelujah??
It feels good to be shrinking...even slowly...
It's official...I have lost twenty pounds here on my Weight Watchers journey. As of this morning's meeting, I have lost 20.6 pounds. Not too shabby.
The thing is, I probably could have lost a lot more but this last month has been a slump for me. I just don't have the same enthusiasm that I had in the beginning. I would have loved to be 5 pounds further along but it's my own fault. Well, that and having what seems like a non-stop run of eating out/parties/whatnot that had me eating things that I should not.
So, with three weeks till graduation, I can only pray that I can drop those pesky five pounds and feel like I accomplished something that I wanted.
So I'm working at MOPS today and was flitting around here and there and I'm telling you, I got a lot of compliments! Seriously, I got compliments on my weight loss, my hair (which I just colored) and really, I was floating on a damn cloud and feeling all kinds of sassy!
Yes, it's shallow and all that because I was there working for the ministry and I was having a great time having people tell me how good I looked! It's not right, I tell you and yet...It just felt SO GOOD!!
What is wrong with me??? Oh, and here's something to think about, I have had several people tell me that my butt looks smaller and out of all of my body flaws, I never had an issue with my butt, but suddenly I do! I mean, how big was it before I started Weight Watchers??
So, I left there at noon, feeling really good about me and yet really bad about me at the same time. I loved the compliments and I'm glad that people are starting to notice the change in me and yet...petty and shallow.
Not a good combination...
Okay, so I am cranking along on Weight Watchers but I have to admit, I've been slacking in a lot of ways. I haven't been on the website to track my food in WEEKS. I felt like I was getting a bit obsessive and I wanted to try and learn how to eat properly WITHOUT a cheat sheet.
So as of yesterday, I am down 19 pounds. I'm pretty excited. I still have another 20 that I want to lose but I know I'm going in the right direction. The thing is, I don't seem to understand what is up with my body. ON the weeks that I exercise a lot and watch what I eat, I lose, but not big. Last week, it was a FOOD FEST around here (as I stated in an earlier post) and yet I still went on to lost 2 pounds. I mean, I ate BROWNIE BITES for breakfast! I am SO not a good spokesperson for Weight Watchers with that one. Not my proudest moment.
The quest continues. I have 5 weeks until the graduation. I have to buckle down and get serious so I can be fabulous and sassy on graduation day. But then, what angle should I take? Do I buckle down and start tracking and exercising like a maniac or do I keep on relaxing and see what happens? I just don't know!
I still want a brownie bite...
Okay, so you know how I just got back from a weekend retreat to the mountains? I was so NOT thinking Weight Watchers for the majority of the weekend. I drank soda, they were giving us chocolate every time we turned around...how could I resist?? Plus, I didn't work out at all - just the walk to and from the cabin to the main lodge. So I went to my Weight Watchers meeting on Monday morning and gained .8 pound. I mean, it's less than a pound, but still, a gain.
So Monday afternoon rolls around and I have 15 people over for our monthly Disney fanatic meeting (or Mouseclub) and I made all sorts of yummy stuff because my Disney girls are skinny! So there were chocolate chip cookies, brownie bites with Mickey shaped marshmallow designs, cheese, pepperoni and crackers...and grapes. I sampled EVERYTHING!!
THEN because THAT wasn't enough, Tuesday morning I was a little bit stressed and ate the last 4 brownie bites for breakfast. I felt like crap. I took Nick out for lunch and we went to Chili's. I had a BBQ pork sandwich with steamed veggies and only ate half of the bun. I thought that was good...then came home and ate 3 chocolate chip cookies!
I mean...WHAT IN THE WORLD????
I'm sitting here right now watching the Biggest Loser eating some dark chocolate. I may need to get my jaw wired shut. Soon.
It's official! I'm on the wall! My name, the date, it's all there.
I had my Weight Watchers meeting this morning. I actually played hooky last week because I was PMSing and had made some BAD eating decisions - meaning I ate my fabulous FRIED chicken parmesan with spaghetti and a big fat brownie for dessert one night and drank a gallon of full throttle Coke. Anyway, I went to my meeting this morning and lost THREE POUNDS and now have reached my 10% goal and got to sign my name on the big 10% Club board.
I have to admit, it's a small accomplishment, but I'm pretty proud of me.
Yeah!
So last week I'm in the supermarket and I'm getting ready to check out and I see a rag sheet that has this horrid picture of Lisa Marie Presley on the cover that says "Lisa Marie Weighs 165 Pounds!" - or something very similar to that. Now, this picture is grainy, blurry and she looks HUGE. Why does this bother me so much?
Because that's how much I weighed a few weeks ago and didn't think I looked THAT bad!!
Tonight I'm sitting here watching "Celebrity Fit Club" and some actress that used to be on Baywatch looks pretty chunky and hideous and she's like 40 pounds thinner than me!
So what is wrong with me and my sense of perception if I don't see myself as looking as bad as these people who the general population would agree looked bad? I am two pounds away from my 10% challenge at Weight Watchers. I'm pretty excited about it and can only hope that I hit that soon. I'll get to put my name on the big wall. Ooohhh....Aaahhh!
It may be a small goal, but it's my goal. My own warped, stupid and apparently delusional goal. I mean, like it's gonna make any difference. I'm as fat as a really fat Lisa Marie, and I must have really, really heavy bones because the Baywatch chick weighs like 130 pounds and I feel like our bodies look similar.
I may have to get my eyes checked again soon!
*Today's Examiner.com article is on how to get your FREE copy of the History Channel's "America - the Story of Us". You can click HERE to read it! Thanks!*
I had been feeling like I was in a cooking rut. I was bored with everything that I made and really, I found no joy in making dinners like I used to. Then I went on Weight Watchers and it got even more tiresome because no one wanted to eat "healthy" with me. I had complaints of things not being fried or not a thick enough sauce, blah, blah, blah.
So I was shopping a little over a week ago and picked up a Weight Watchers magazine that was all recipes - something like five ingredient/fifteen minute meals. To some this is not a big deal, but for me it is because I HATE following a recipe. They annoy me. I like to concoct and create. I'm very comfortable and at ease in my kitchen but like I said, lately, it was just a chore.
Some of the fun things I've found in this magazine are a recipe for a Greek-style pork tenderloin (Very yummy), a Southwestern Spinach Dip (Also yummy and satisfied my need for dip), a low-fat Caesar salad (very good) and Moroccan-style Salmon (not my favorite, but Frank & Michael loved it). Out of 191 recipes, I've gone through and checked off 120 of them that I would make. My goal is to try at least two new recipes a week.
Another fun meal I concocted the other night was a shrimp fajita portabello mushroom pizza. It was so easy and so filling and I will definitely be making it again. Here's the recipe (feel free to try this at home): 2 portabello mushroom caps (de-stemmed and scraped out), 4 oz. shrimp, 1/2 can of chopped tomatoes with green chiles, frozen sliced bell peppers with onions, low-fat shredded Mexican cheese (the 4 cheese blend), 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil and 1 tsp. of minced garlic.
Preheat oven to 400. When ready, place mushrooms on a greased cookie sheet and let cook for 7-10 minutes (or until slightly softened). Saute the garlic in the olive oil and then add the peppers and onions (I used about a cup of them). Cook for 3 minutes and then add the shrimp. Cook until shrimp is almost done then add the chopped tomatoes. Stir through to coat everything. Take mushrooms out of the oven and place your fajita mix in to each cap and then top with a little bit of the shredded cheese (or a lot, depending on how much you like). Bake for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and serve.
This was SO DANG GOOD! I was so full and so satisfied. I have some of the filling left over and so I ate it wrapped up in a whole wheat tortilla and that was nice, too.
Happy cooking, everyone!
Okay, I'm starting to feel sassy again! I went to my meeting yesterday and was down another 2.8 pounds for a total of 10.4!! I got my second "5 lb" sticker and reached my first 5% goal! I feel really silly now for wanting to throw in the towel.
I've been working out - no more 3 hour workouts, though. You guys were totally right, that was not a smart move. So I'm walking, I'm occasionally doing the Power 90...I'm not thrilled with any of them but they are working, so I can't complain. The fact is...exercise works. I was talking to a friend about this yesterday and we're both like "Okay, so we realize what works here, eat less and exercise and you can lose weight." So we get this, we know this and yet...I still need that woman behind the desk to judge me so that I feel motivated!! How sick is that??? Well for now I'll deal with it because it is working. I think if I tried to go out on my own right now I would just lie to myself and not be as diligent and then be disappointed when I got on the scale.
So the journey continues...
So last week I was ready to quit. I had had enough. I was constantly obsessing about every little thing that I ate. I felt horrible. My stomach hurt all the time...I mean, it just wasn't worth it to me.
I called about quitting but since I do their monthly pass and they had already done the charge for the month, I could not quit just yet. I mean I could, but I would still be paying. Monday morning I got up and went to the meeting. I figured, I'm paying, I might as well go.
FOUR AND A HALF POUNDS LOST!!!!
I almost did a happy dance right there on the scale, but there was a line, I felt a little weird, so I just did one in my head. I'm almost at eight pounds and I have to tell you, I don't see it. I mean, everything still fits the same. I wear the same outfit that I did for that very first weigh-in so that I'm consistent and it still fits the same! Well, the pants may be a little looser but not that much. When I lose two more pounds I will hit 5% of my goal and get a special star. Yeah!
So I'm gonna stick it out for a little bit longer. I am exercising. I didn't do it consistently last week and ended up doing a 3 hour workout in one day and believe me, my body complained BIG TIME. Note to self: spread out the workouts - you're not as young and bendy as you used to be!
I'm off to find the Advil now...
I am not a sports fan in any capacity and yet every year I get sucked in to the Super Bowl. Most of the time I have no idea who is playing, I know not one players name. But I do enjoy the snacks.
As a confirmed foodie, I LOVE going all out on Super Bowl Sunday. Well this year presented a bit of a challenge because of the whole Weight Watchers thing. I was a bit bummed because I would not be able to do my usual but let me tell you, as I sit here Sunday night being pleasantly full, that I rock.
I made homemade pizza for Frank and Michael but for myself I did Portobella Mushroom cap pizzas. I took three of those mushroom caps (they're quite large - like the size of an English muffin), de-stemmed them, filled them with a little bit of tomato sauce (a chunky kind), topped them with a low fat, three-cheese Italian shredded cheese and I had lightly sauteed some bell peppers with onion and garlic. I put them in the oven to melt the cheese and let me tell you... they were SCRUMPTIOUS!!! I mean, I will definitely make these again.
Then, because I have to have meat, I grilled up some extra lean burgers and served them on these new Arnold's Sandwich Thins in multigrain variety. Some pickles, some salt-free ketchup and I am FULL! I do not feel deprived at all. Oh, and for dessert I had my three squares of Dove Dark Chocolate with 71% Cacao. It was a good diet day for this foodie.
It can be done, I guess. Of course it would have helped even more if I had maybe exercised a bit instead of sitting in my jammies all the live-long day.
*Today's Examiner.com article is on an on-line Physics of the Olympics class. You can read about it HERE. Thanks!*
Okay, so I finished week two on Weight Watchers and had a wee-bit more success than the first week. Praise the Lord! I went out in the dangerous cold and ice to get to my weigh in and lost three pounds. Yes, three whole pounds. That is WAY better than that lousy half a pound the first week.
So what's changed? Well, I told you that I had been exercising and doing the Walk Away the Pounds thing. I do a three-mile, high intensity walk. I did it five days last week. And you know what's weird? I'm not as hungry. That first week I was ready to start eating the furniture and now, I have it way more under control.
My total weight watchers goal is to lose 40 pounds. And that will put me at the high end of my weight range for my height. I still don't see how that's possible but whatever. Nick is graduating in June - EARLY June - and so as of right now I have about 16 weeks to lose 20 pounds. I would love to lose more than that but I'm being realistic. After seeing how slow this weight is going to come off, I have to have a goal that is within my reach. I have to get up and speak in front of several hundred people and so with 20 pounds off my short, fat body ought to make me feel a little bit better.
Why can't fat be the new thin?
Today's Examiner.com article is on the 2010 National African American Read-In in Raleigh. You can read about it HERE. Thanks!*
Okay, so last night I went for my first weigh-in at Weight Watchers. One of the things that I usually love about starting a new diet - especially Weight Watchers - is that BIG number on the first week. I mean, you are changing the way you eat, making healthier choices, blah, blah, blah. So how did I do on the big first week?
A half a pound.
A half-a-freakin-stupid-pound.
Can I just tell you how much self control it took to not stomp out of the building as soon as I got off of the scale? I was PISSED. Royally. I did SO good this week. I logged everything that I ate, I even at fruit (which I despise!), I stayed in my point range and then, even after going out for dinner with the girls Friday night, I didn't even use up my EXTRA points that you are allotted! I gave up my coca-cola, I drank water like I had been wandering in the Sahara for a month! I bought baked chips. I skipped on the pizza. I weighed my damn food. And for what?
A half of a pound.
So now, as if that's not bad enough, I'll give you a little TMI - I can't even poo properly since going on this diet! I eat more veggies than a person should have to, I eat the fruit, I'm drinking the water, and yet I can't poo! What is up with that???
Pissed. Beyond pissed. So pissed that I want to hunt down every skinny person and slap them and force them to eat cake! Life is so not fair. At this rate I'll reach my goal weight when I'm 94.
