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Fitness Tip: Take the long way home

So you already know it’s going to be a busy Monday huh? No time for the gym? Well instead of feeling guilty, bring the workout to you. Do things throughout your day the hard way. Here’s a few suggestions:

-Don’t take the elevator, take the stairs
-Park your car in the farthest spot so you have to walk farther
-Do a few squats while you are doing dishes
-While doing housework, put on your jams and boogie
-Don’t leave your shopping cart in front of your car. Return it all the way back inside the store to walk the most

Move Move Move. If you are busy anyway, making sure you keep moving all day (hey that rhymes!)

The Long Run: Compare and Contrast

It’s that time again. the long run. Today is even a little longer, at least in the blog sense. I have already blogged about this topic today on a blog which I am a weekly contributor to. That post is about playing the Compare Contrast game against other people. You can check it out here if you’d like. Saturday So What: Compare and Contrast

For this post I want to shift the focus on playing the Compare Contrast game with yourself. This topic came up while I was visiting my sister this week. We were talking about my weight loss success and her lack thereof. A little background might be required. Growing up, I was always the fat one of the sisters. The oldest was a skinny twig, the 2nd one was a petite little elf, the 3rd child (the one I was visiting) was my closest in age and appearance. Only 6 sizes smaller.

She’d always been smaller than me and while I was eating carrot sticks, she was shoving down Oreos with nary a stray pound to show for it. Until one day she had some health difficulties and all that bad diet karma smacked her upside the head. Or more accurately, the waistline. Since I had always been fat, I would compare myself to everyone else in the room. My sister, being newly unskinny, chose a much more dangerous foe to compare with…herself.

While I was visiting she confided that it was very difficult for her to see me wearing some of her favorite “skinny” clothes. It reminded her of a time not too long ago when she could wear them. Now she was endlessly frustrated that she was not the same person or size she used to be.

I told her the following and I gonna tell you too. “You can never again be who you were.” For good or bad, we are all constantly changing. My yoga teacher says Life is like a river, you never step in the same water twice.It’s true. It’s pointless to compare yourself to your high school days, For one, you were a lot younger and gravity hadn’t had time to work its nasty magic. For another, you might have gone through ginormous changes, like children. Those little things move in for 9 months and totally redecorate the front and rear end of the property.

I like to say that you can’t compare yourself to another person because they aren’t living your life. That’s why comparing yourself to your past is so dangerous. You fall into the trap of thinking that it’s okay to compare since you are living your own life. Ehhh wrong. You are not living the life you used to. You can’t be. There are new challenges and changes that were not a part of the history you might be romanticizing. I believe sometimes you have to literally view who you were in the past as a different person entirely. That person doesn’t have your current stresses, or health problems.

The only thing we can do is the best with what we have in front of us. Right now, for my sister, it’s trying to be healthy, fit, and following a dietary budget. There are a few funky aspects to her health that seem to be preventing any weight loss, but in the meantime she is doing what she can. That’s all we can ever do. It is not failure to grow and change from what we once were. We can’t slow down the wheels of time. Your 40 year old self will not look like your 18 year old self -ever. Even if you’re Heidi Klum. With any luck we get a bit wiser as time marches on too. And have better hair.

En-Title-ment Issues

Here’s a word of advice for you aspiring authors. Do not get attached to your title. Because there is a decent chance you won’t get to keep it. What I mean is, you are working hard on your manuscript and it grows on you. Either like a fungus or a baby. Depends on how well its going at the time. So you give it a name or a title in your head and you fall in love. Then you submit it to agents or publishers and someone picks it up. Then their marketing team gets a hold of it. That’s when you and your beloved title might break up.

It is the marketing team’s job to make your book the most attractive package it can. That means a stellar title and cover. But hey, I thought my title was pretty catchy. Maybe to me it was, but the team seemed to differ. Right here is where you can be in trouble. If you are very attached to your newborn book, it can be hard to accept any other name than the one you’ve blessed it with.

This is my current dilemna. I had named my manuscript the Philosophy of Finishing. Cedar Fort said, “Ehh” to that name. They batted around a few options for the next two weeks, but nothing else sounded good to me. Then they picked a title and subtitle that I was not fond of. I was wondering “Oh no, did my book die? Will anyone want to pick it up.” I argued back and they put it to a vote on FaceBook. We have yet to see the results.

At this point I think I need to trust in the experts. Its true that no one will love and know your book like you do. But your marketing team should hopeful have years of experience knowing exactly how to reach your audience and bookstore buyers. I’m hoping mine does at least. So at this point I’m going to let go and let the experts. I will post soon with the results of the survey. Cross your fingers that it’s something good.

But in the meantime, for your work in progress, realize that it’s the publisher that sets the title not you. And it’s in their best interest to makeup a good one. After all they are investing in you and your book. They need it to sell too. 🙂

Exercise for the Soul: Finishing Friday

Ok so it’s the end of the week. You’re tired. The weekend is almost upon you. Do you feel like maybe this week hasn’t gone as planned?

Well every Friday I am going to suggest an exercise for your mind and spirit.

Today I want you to think up on thing you need to do today. It can be something on your to do list or a goal you want to meet.
Here’s some suggestions from my previous Fridays:
Track down funky smell from kitchen
Wash all ten baskets of laundry
Get through entire day without sugar
Get through entire day without yelling at kids

Be serious or have fun with it. The important thing is to make sure it gets done. Move heaven and earth if you have to. Just get er done.

The goal of this exercise is to prove to yourself that you can achieve your goals with a little will umph and intent. I promise that after you finish it you will feel a rush of satisfaction of actually doing what you said you’d do.

I personally do this everyday. I find it makes me feel more accomplished and helps build my self esteem because I feel like I made a difference and have control in my life

Like the little kid off the cereal commercial says “Try it, you’ll like it”

Food for Thought:Costco Pizza

Thursdays are going to be my random thought, fact or observation.

Here’s a little FYI The by-the-slice Food court Cheese Pizza at Costco is 700 calories. That’s for one slice people. I used to estimate it at 350 tops. ehhh wrong. The next time I’m in costco looking at that pizza, I’m gonna decide if that cheesy goodness is worth 700 calories of my daily budget. Some days yes, some days no. But at least I won’t underestimate it again

Dress for Success: Lose the Muffin Top

This ones a little close to home today.
When buying clothes, go for fit rather than size.

I worked hard to go from 2X to a small pant size/ medium top. So when I went shopping for an outfit at a new store, Lucy, I was ticked when the medium active tank with built in sports bra fit more like a sausage casing than a supportive and lightly compressive yoga top. I did not NOT want to admit defeat and buy the much more flattering large. It took a few minutes to realize that, no, I had not changed shape since the last time. This was a new brand with a different size chart

But oh, my pride did not want to listen. I wanted to go find a store where the mediums fit. Even though this “large” top was probably the most comfortable well made and flattering item I had tried on.

In the end I did what I am advising you to do…ignore the size. In some brands you will be a M in others a L or XL. But guess what? The only person that ever sees that little tag is you. What everyone else sees is how it fits. So would you rather squeeze into the size 8 jeans that give you a horrible muffin top, just so you know you are wearing an 8. Or would you rather find a pair of jeans that make your butt look fabulous, even though it might be a size or two bigger in that brand.

Unless you leave the sales tag on, the general public will never know your size. And if you want, you can cut out the tag so you don’t have to either. A proper fitted garment will make you look slimmer than an ill fitting smaller size or much too big size that swamps you.

Snack Smart: Starbursts

Mindless snacking can be a killer You eat five Starbursts thinking “Eh, I don’t need to worry about it. It’s only 5”.

Well did you know those 5 starburst equals 100 calories. You would need to run a mile just balance your budget.

If you are hungry, candy is not the way to go. Empty calories and you’ll only crave more. Try fruit or a light yogurts. Still sweet but fills your tummy a bit more

Fitness tip: A mile is a mile is a mile

Here’s a quick fitness tip. A mile is a mile no matter how fast you go. Walking you’ll burn roughly 100 calories. Jogging at 10 min pace, roughly 110 calories. Killing yourself at 7 min pace 125 calories

So don’t go faster and push yourself more than you are able for calories sake. You will burn far less calories running full speed for 2 mins and keeling over than if you walk until you are tired

S.O.S Stuck Ostrich Syndome

I’m trying something new. I want to mirror my blog a little like my marathon training; one long run a week, and several short ones. So from hence forth, Monday-Friday will be filled with short blurbs with fitness tips and food for thought Saturdays are reserved for the long posts – the long run. And just like my running, on Sunday I will rest.

Today’s long run is about weight loss S.O.S – Stuck Ostrich Syndrome

Now I am not ragging on ostriches. They’re pretty cool birds. They can run up to speeds of 40 MPH, their meat is super lean, and the males egg sit at night so the females can have girls night out. But I think almost everyone had heard some version of a proverb about the ostrich with it’s head stuck in the sand. The idea is that the ostrich, afraid of something, buries its head in the sand so it doesn’t have to see the big scary monster. Interestingly, this is a myth. The ostrich only looks like its head is buried in the sand because of its light color. Because it does lay down its head to hide, it can still see what’s going on.

Now you’re are probably saying, Wow that’s fascinating. Thanks for the National Geographic update Betsy/ But what’s this have to do with weight loss?

Well I’ll tell you. In past incarnations of my attempts to lose weight, I would tell myself and anyone who would listen, that I had no idea why I wasn’t dropping the pounds. I was doing all the right things: exercising, counting calories. I figured my body had some defect that demanded I be fat. My size was not in my control and I put blinders on to the prospect that I could be responsible.

But you probably guessed, I had my head buried in the sand. I didn’t want to examine some of the behaviors that were keeping me fat. Sure I was exercising, but was I really putting in a full effort, or just kinda jogging in place? And when I was counting calories, did I actually measure a serving size, or did I eyeball it and estimate? If it was a homemade meal I’m sure I drastically under estimated the calories while way overestimating what my portion size should be. Not to mention I never counted the handfuls of marshmellow cereal I would grab on the way past the pantry. There weren’t enough calories in a single handful to make it worth my time to add right? Or if I finished of the kids plate? Midnight snacking? The list goes on.

Then there’s the excuses as to why I’m fat. Because my parents are fat. Because its all muscle (muscle can be really jiggly right?). Because I’m getting older and my metabolism is slowing.

It was easier not to know what exactly I was putting into my body. If I knew that each slice of banana nut bread was 200 calories, then I wouldn’t be able to eat it. Easier to assume the Cafe rio salad was healthy since it was salad than to find out it was a whopping 1000 calories.

But like the ostrich (see told you I’d get back there) my head was not really buried in the sand. I may have been hiding, but I think I knew what was going on. I may have been covering my eyes, but I was peeking. Even in my own self denial I saw the truth and that’s one of the reasons I hated myself so much for it. The problem wasn’t that I was fat, the problem was that I was lying to myself. And just like when you lie to someone else you feel horribly guilty (hopefully), your insides will twist up when you lie to yourself too.

So don’t be an ostrich with its head stuck in the sand, or lying on top of it. Hold your head high and stay informed. If you want to lose weight, the only way you are going to do it is by knowing what your eating and how many calories your body is actually burning a day. Be specific, be informed. Take control. See if that cinnamon roll tastes as good now that you know its 800 calories. If it does, rock on. At least you are consciously making that choice instead of deceiving yourself.

Information is power. Get some. Like GI Joe used to say, “and knowing is half the battle”

The Value of Critique Groups

Today I want to talk about the best two parts of my weekend– the PEG Live Critique Workshop and The Lorax. Specifically that everyone needs to see that movie, and all writers should participate in some kind of critique group.

So this Saturday I went to a Critique Workshop. It was in the American Fork Library, hosted by Precision Editing Group. Otherwise known as the awesome supergroup of the following ladies: (left to right) Luann Staheli, Heather Moore, Julie Wright, Annette Lyon, Josi Kilpack
http://www.precisioneditinggroup.com/

I’m not gonna lie. I had a little bit of a fan geek moment when put in the same room as the superauthors. They are all beautiful talented amazing women and award winning authors. Basically they’re what I want to be when I grow up. (although I’m pretty sure a few of them are younger than me)

There were about 20 or so of us students. I had no idea what to expect. I had brought the first two chapters of my fiction work in progress. (more details to come) I wasn’t sure what other kinds of writers would be there. Imagine my surprise to come across M.L. Forman. He’s the author of one of my fave new series Adventurers Wanted. I geeked out again. My brain and tongue froze and I’m sure I said something really stupid. He was there as a student. Not an instructor. He sells like a gagillion books and he needs help too?
Talk about humbling.

And then the red pen comes out. Having been a musician first, I have had my fair share of constructive criticism. I’ll give you a hint, the more you get … doesn’t get easier. It’s still heart palpitating nerves and chattering teeth for me. Getting peer reviews and feedback can be scary. You’re vulnerable. Here you are, handing over some precious piece of your soul over to someone else to literally rip apart. What if they think I suck? What if they don’t like me? What if they take one look at what I’ve written and secretly scoff and wonder how on earth I managed to get published?

This is where the other part of the weekend comes it: The Lorax. Great movie. It loved it. I love one line in particular and want to share it because it applies perfectly.

“It’s not about what it is, it’s about what it can become.”

If we never allow our manuscripts to be deconstructed a bit, they will remain as seeds — never growing to their full potential. I can take each slash of red pen, bleeding on my white paper, as an injury or mark against my abilities as a writer. Or I can see each stroke as proof that my book can become even stronger and better than I ever thought it could be.

Yes, it can be scary. It might sound better to tuck your life’s work in a drawer so it will never have to face the harsh light of day. Heck I feel that way about my kids sometimes. But in both cases, without the light, there is no opportunity for growth.

So find a lorax, or a group you can share with. Form a critique group or see if you can join one already in progress. Talk to your writer buds on Facebook. Do it by email if no one lives close to you. But don’t keep your writing to yourself because of fear that it’s not perfect as it is. Grab insight from others so you can catch a glimpse of what it can become.