April 2012 – Page 5 – Betsy Schow

Exercise for the Soul: Make the impossible possible

A year ago, the idea of me completing a marathon was laughable. It was an impossible goal. Through lots of little successes, training hard, and learning to finish, I made it through 26.2 grueling miles. Now I am training to do it again.

Find something in your life that you think you could never ever do. Something really hard. Don’t pick something that requires alot of luck or connections, like becoming a pop star. Pick something that is tough to achieve because it takes hard work. Speaking in front of a crowd of 200. Running 5 miles. Losing 25 pounds. Finishing school. Find something, then knuckle down and do it.

Funny thing about doing the impossible, it makes everything possible.

F is for Fractured Fairy Tale

This is one of my new favorite sub genres of fiction, the fractured fairy tale. So much so, that an idea high-jacked my Work in Progress and demanded I take notice. So I put down my adult fiction piece and started writing a fractured fairy tale.

A Fractured Fairy tale takes a well known story and turns it on it head. Changing characters, setting plots, whatever. But keeping it recognizable in some form. The one I am working on? It’s a twist on the Classic Baum Oz stories. Started as a Middle grade, but has definitely taken a YA turn. A little darker than than standard copyrighted ruby slippers.

But it’s something I am passionate about. The original work was so brilliant, that it lends itself to lots of fun to twist. I’m writing like the wind and having a blast. The little girl inside of me loves being in her own fairy tale, even if it has a lady that can take off her head.

So what’s your favorite fairy tale? Fractured or otherwise.

Potpourri: Caffeine

Random fact I came across: Caffeine speeds up the metabolism but slows down the fat burning process.

I will definitely think twice about my 4th can of Diet Coke.

E is for Exercise

Ok, so exercise is not one of my favorite things per se. But I sure love the benefits. Exercise has not only whittled away 75 pounds of chunk, but it’s helped balance my brain chemistry making the antidepressants I’ve been on for the last 15 years unnecessary. My other blog, Finished Being Fat, is devoted to tips and tricks I’ve learned and am still learning.

Exercise is also necessary for a writer’s soul too. I know I break out in a sweat doing all these blog posts. Or plotting my main character’s trials and tensions. Exercise in any form helps us to grow. To reach beyond our current capabilities.

Here’s one of my favorite writing exercises. Pick 10 people and write one sentence describing what makes them odd, unique, or interesting. After your done, you should have a sentence that would make someone want to know more about that person.

Example: My friend Amy developed a fear of water after falling in the toilet at age 5.

What’s your example?

Dress for Success: Fitted Blazers

Here’s a tip for the ladies: a nice fitted blazer can class up a casual outfit as well as emphasis the smallest part of your waist.

This is on my mind because I just bought one for my speaking engagements I have coming up. In trying on a few I came across things to look for and things to avoid.

Avoid Boxy shapes. It’s tempting to try and hide, but if it looks like a box on the hanger, it will look like a box on you.

Look for darting and tailoring panels along the front and back. They look like little curves and emphasize your curves.

Avoid overly tight bodices. If your girls look like they are going to bust out of the top, you either need a different cut or a larger size and have the waistline tailored in.

Look for a flattering neckline for your shape. Try on a few styles and see how they fit you. Make sure the button lines up correctly without pulling or puckering.

Watch the ties. A well placed one can make your waist look tiny, a bulky one only adds unnecessary girth to you. When in doubt, TRY IT ON!!

D is for the Doctor

Today’s favorite alphabet letter is about me and the Doctor. Doctor who you might ask. Exactly. Doctor Who. I absolutely love Doctor Who. And David Tenant is hands down my favorite Doctor of all time. I’m not ashamed to say I wept for days after he regenerated. So what exactly does this have to do with me? Well I’ll tell you.

Recently I was editing for a pal of mine. I don’t do any line edits, since as you can see from my posts, my grammar and comma use is atrocious. The one thing I have a knack for is content editing. Specifically, helping with a narrative voice. After giving my friend all the feedback I could, she gave me the coolest nickname ever– the Voice Doctor. My brain made the clear and obvious jump to imagining me alongside the Doctor. Him, fixing the world with his sonic screwdriver. Me, fixing manuscripts with my red sharpie. Yep, I should totally be the next Companion.

What’s your favorite D scifi word?

Snack Smart: My calorie budget

Several people have emailed me about my calorie budget, so here you go. Keep in mind, I am in a maintenance phase. I am not trying to lose any more weight, just stay balanced.

On a rest day where I have no exercise, I aim for 1750 calories. This is what I have found works the best for my body. You might need more, or less. Once you get to a healthy weight, you can tweak it and see. Here’s my usual breakdown.

Breakfast- 250 calories
Morning Snack- 200 calories
Lunch – 550 calories
Afternoon Snack- 100 calories
Dinner – 650 calories

If you guys are interested, I can post a few sample meals and snacks. On days where I run high miles I obviously need to eat a an extra 500 -700 calories depending on the exercise. But this is my typical day if I am just doing light cleaning at home and do nothing else physically.

Fitness Tip: Quality not Quantity

Have you ever seen those people that do like 200 stomach crunches a day? But their crunches are super fast and only come up part way.

Well guess what. If you did one songs worth of ab exercises, at rhythmic pace, you’d get a much better workout. First off, when you take your time, you create resistance and use strength of muscle as opposed to momentum. Secondly, if you use about 3 different ab exercises in one song, you can exercise upper, lower, and side abs.

Next week, I will post my favorite ab workout that’s helped me have a really strong core. For now just remember that it doesn’t matter how many repetitions you do, if your form is off. You won’t be working the right muscles or getting the most out of your time and sweat.

B is for Birthday

B is my all time favorite letter of the alphabet. Here are a few of my favorite B things.

Obviously, B is for Betsy. But it’s also for bear, baby, baboon bums, biscuits, and best of all…. birthdays.

My Birthday is in 2 days, I will be 30…again. My favorite birthday tradition is the Happy Birthday video texts. Each of my sister’s families and my in-laws SMS me a text video of them singing Happy Birthday as a family. The kidlet ones are cute and have the little extras like “Ohh lala” and “Cha cha cha”. The in-laws video is extremely off key and it’s become a matter of pride to see who’s video is the most ear shattering.

Then there’s the Birthday dinner. The one night a year where I take off all my food restrictions ad my hubby prepares all my favorites. This year it’s Sweet corn spoon bread, sweet potato, caramel mash, and Lion House Rolls. Life doesn’t get any better– until the weigh in the next day 😉

B is also for book. As in I have a deadline to meet and a book to finish writing.

What’s your favorite B word?