My Current Fitness State, Goals, Etc.

Because it's not /all/ about the writing. :o)

So, I'm working on getting healthy and fit, and I thought I'd share some of what I'm doing because I've found a few things that I think are great.

First of all, I was diagnosed with exercise-induced asthma years ago, ever since I had pneumonia in 10th grade. But I actually cured it by doing Body for Life a couple years ago. By doing the 20-minute interval program, and just pushing myself a little more each workout, I was able to get not only my heart and muscles, but even my lungs strong and healthy. After that, I started running 5K's. It took me a while to work up to actually being able to run 3 whole miles without risking passing out right on the road. But it's an awesome feeling!

I decided to branch out last year and started biking and swimming. I ran a little "wimp's triathlon" last March and that was really cool, but it merely whetted my appetite to run a /real/ tri. I was training toward that end when I biffed it big time on my bike up on the trail in May. I then proceeded not only to fall off my bike, but off the wagon as well. I gained back all the weight I had lost, and lost a lot of the muscle I had gained.

However, I'm back in the swing of training, and I've actually committed to running the Women of Steel Triathlon in May. I'm excited and nervous all at the same time.

I also joined in a community weightloss blog run by the fabulous Tristi Pinkston. That's been helping me get back on track when I go astray - having some accountability to people. I've also garnered a lot of advice and ideas from the other members of the blog. One of which is my "new big thing."

It's called the Leptin Diet. It really makes sense to me, and seems to have some good science behind it. There are basically 5 rules:

1. Don't eat after dinner.
2. Eat 3 meals a day allowing 5-6 hours between meals. No Snacking!
3. Reduce Carbohydrates. (But do not cut them out -you need a 50/50 ratio)
4. Don't eat huge meals.
5. Have a high protein breakfast.

Here's a slightly humorous and quite informative video that explains the diet pretty well:



So, that's it. Eat well and exercise. Groundbreaking, right? :o) I'll report back in at some point in the future with how things are going.

Fifteen

I don't know why, but lately, I just can't get this Taylor Swift song out of my head. I thought maybe if I wrote a blog post about it, it'd stop haunting me.

The thing is, I've never been in the "if only I could go back and do things different" crowd. I'm happy to be just exactly where I am and the thought of going back even one day, whether to do things differently or not, just seems like masochism. :-D

But when I was listening to this song the other day, I had a real pang of "if only I could go back and do things different." I had to quickly slap some sense back into myself, but it was just proof to me of how much this song has affected me. (or is it effected? Where's Annette Lyon when you need her???)

So I found the video on YouTube and cried through the whole thing because the video was even more powerful than the song alone. So I thought if I had to cry like a baby, the rest of you would have to, as well. :o)

I hope you enjoy / get something out of / appreciate the message of this song.

Demotivational Poster

All right, so this one came off of demotivational.com. The funny thing is, I actually do find it motivational! LOL! What does that say about my confidence level in regards to my writing? :o)

No Time to Say Hello, Goodbye

I just wanted to quickly write a little NaNo update for my devoted blog readers, who have all probably been dying to know how my novel is coming. Well, as you can see from the sidebar there, it's coming along quite nicely. I've written about 42,000 words so far this month, and I need to somehow tack on another 8,000 by Monday at midnight.

No sweat, right? :o)

The thing is, though, that I know I can do it. I don't just hope I can - I know I can. I might not be able to do the laundry and the dishes and cook a hot meal three times a day while doing it, but I can do it. And laundry and dishes and hot meals will always be there, waiting to be accomplished. They can wait another couple days while I finish my novel.

An Angel on Main Street

I had the opportunity to read Kathi Oram Peterson's newest book, An Angel on Main Street, this past week, and I have to say I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Here's the backliner from the book, because it explains what the book is about better than I could.

"Micah Connors promised his mother he would be good in their new town. But with Christmas only three days away, being escorted home by the sheriff does not bode well. Can the towering officer be trusted not to tell what happened? Perhaps the ramshackle stable that has appeared on Main Street will sidetrack him from spilling the day’s events — or maybe his interest in Micah’s widowed mother will do the trick. The last thing Dawn Connors needs is to hear her son is in trouble. She has enough to worry about with her husband gone and her daughter, Annie, ill. Even though Micah has told his sister the rustic structure in the middle of town is simply part of the town’s holiday decorations, Annie is sure that unseen angels are building the crude stable — which means baby Jesus is coming, and he can make her better. Terrified that his little sister might die, Micah vows to find the baby Jesus for Annie, even if it is only a plastic doll. But as Micah gets nearer to his goal he finds angels are closer than he ever would have believed."

The story was touching, especially since it was shown through the eyes of a character who doesn't believe in the magic of Christmas, but who comes to believe in miracles over the course of the story.

The story was never slow, yet there was enough description to make the town and the character really come to life. And although there are miraculous events that occur in this book, the real magic of the story lies in the love and help the people in the town give to each other. The Christmas spirit is all about the way we can serve as angels to our fellow men.

Without giving away the plot line, I'd like to say to those who may not believe in miracles to give this book a try anyway. After all, if we can suspend our disbelief long enough to enjoy It's a Wonderful Life and The Polar Express, we can enjoy the spirit An Angel on Main Street brings to our Christmas season as well.

I love to look for new Christmas stories every year to add to my library, and this is a book I'd recommend to those who are looking for a good one.

You Can't Tell I Have Writer's Block Today Can You?

I LOVE Inkygirl's comics. She's drawing a new comic for every day of NaNoWriMo - in addition to writing a novel of her own, of course.

Click here to see an archive of all the comics she's done so far.

Here's another one I love:





Now, stop reading my blog and get back to writing, guys! :-P

More NaNo Stuff

Contests and Offers and Widgets, oh my!

So, here are a few random things that may be of interest to those who might be doing - or even considering doing - NaNo. (sorry for anyone who visits my blog for any reason other than finding information about NaNoWriMo. ;o) It's just all I'm thinking about lately.)

There is an awesome special offer from a company called "CreateSpace" for everyone who wins NaNo and uploads more than 50K words by Nov 30. We'll all get a special, secret code to get a free proof copy of our book! You don't have to get it right away, either. You have time to clean it up over the course of a few months or something. And people who did it last year said shipping was free, too, even internationally.

Go to this website and click on CreateSpace for all the details.

There's also a contest for those who are writing YA novels. It's a competition for the best YA book pitch. The winners get their submissions read by editors at a bunch of awesome publishing houses, and a one-on-one pitch with a literary agent. You submit a title and 250-word beginning of the novel. You have to submit by Nov 30, so you'll have to think about getting this entry ready in the midst of the NaNo craziness.

Here's the web page that has all the info. on the contest.

And last of all, you can get a cool widget for the sidebar of your blog, or other webpages or whatever, that automatically updates your wordcount as soon as you update it on the NaNo site. You can see mine over on the right there, under the "War of the Words" heading. It says jennylou at the top, because that's my screen name on the NaNo site, for anyone who wants to add me as a buddy. :o)

Click here to see all the different widgets they have available and to get the code to embed them on your website. If you're logged into your NaNo account when you view this page, it'll show your personal info in the widget automatically. I thought that was pretty special. And where it says "Participant" - that changes to say "Winner" automatically when you hit 50K! How nifty is that?

So, now that I've thoroughly distracted you from your writing, I'll bid you all adieu. Have a great day and Happy NaNoing!