4 Hour Body: Skinny for NYC Check In

I'm in a holding pattern this week. No change. But I'm relieved because I expected the waist size to go up due to hormonal shifts. Yay! At least I'm holding steady. I wasn't able to work out as much as I would have liked either. I overused my shoulder during a Jillian Michaels Shred workout so I decided to give it a break for a week. I also had my teenager home more often than not due to her ear infection and her mono knocking her off her feet. Sure, she can fend for herself, but it's not fun being sick and alone. Despite all the interruptions, I did manage to walk twice and I went to Zumba class yesterday.

I called up a friend who is also following the 4 Hour Body plan with her hubby. She said she cheats a bit during the hormonal shifts, but I have held on and stayed true to the diet. Her hubby has lost 30 pounds since January. Mighty impressive numbers. My hubby has not lost more than 5 pounds, but his belly is shrinking so something is going right. Hopefully we'll see a continuing downward trend.

My friend and I talked about some of the challenges we faced on this diet. For one thing, there is NO fruit. I'm fine with the no fruit part except there are times when I just want a blueberry or a grape. And with summer here it's nice to have fresh fruit on a regular basis. However, I'm bound and determined to see it through till NYC. I'll let up on the diet a bit during that time -- and the first thing I'm adding back is fruit in small quantities.

The other challenge we face is more cooking. This isn't the kind of diet that allows you to call in for pizza after a long day of dealing with kids, schools, cleaning, working, writing, whatevers. Nope. And let me tell you, I've had days where I have wanted to throw in the towel. But I haven't yet. I try to get a lot of leftovers going so that I can serve them up in a pinch. To be honest, I usually make extra and stick it into the freezer, but ever since the tornadoes knocked out our power for 5 days I have been reluctant to store extra food.

Fridays. Fridays are tough. Why? Because we aren't officially on CHEAT DAY mode. We still have to follow the plan and it's like we're sick of being good and if we see one more bean we will choke. But the only way I know how to cope with Fridays is to make it a cute picnic day, a fancy meat day, or better yet, go out and let someone else cook it for you. So far we've only gone out on two Fridays. The restaurants just get too crowded here and it's not worth the wait. Somehow we muddle through the day and it works out.

We've gotten smarter about Cheat Day. I wanted to go for breakfast two weeks ago, but I think everyone in town and in the surrounding county had the same idea. We ended up having an early lunch where there was no wait. So now I bring in the cheat foods from the grocery story and make a big country breakfast. I also plan a good Cheat Day at home. This weekend it is Memorial Day so we're doing burgers, hot dogs, brats and all the trimmings. I'm talking potato salad, deviled eggs, Texas sheet cake, chips, dips, the works. I'm really looking forward to it.

But here's the funny part: we try to cheat but we cheat less and less because our bellies fill up too quickly. Our eyes are bigger than our stomachs. This is why Cheat Day works cause you think you're going to get crazy with eating, but your body simply won't let you.

Another thing I've incorporated is Lemon Juice. I do a shot of pure lemon juice in the morning to jump start my metabolism. It's tart. Not going to lie. It's kind of gross. But it does wake me up. I'm going to add more lemon into my day by squeezing half a lemon into my water two more times. I'll see if that makes a difference. Maybe adding the lemon juice to my diet is why I didn't gain around my middle this week--which is a total relief!

So my friend and I shared some ideas and recipe tricks. Things we're doing that make our diet more interesting and fun. She is a great cook and we used to cook together all the time when I lived in Virginia, so I'm glad we exchanged recipes and coping mechanisms.

As I've been writing this, I've realized that I'm cresting over the mid-part of my goal for the diet. I think this is where a lot of people give up. They start plateauing and give up. Not me. I refuse. I'm hunkering down and working even harder now because I can see the end. The new skinny me who will look fabulous in New York when she attends the RWA National Conference.

So how do you cope with the diet plateaus and letdowns? Do you give yourself permission to cheat? Do you hunker down and push through the plateau? Or do you quit?

Nurturing My Writing Voice

I am in the midst of my revision for book 3. I feel like I've been dealing with these people FOREVER. But with each new revision or change, I find I like the book more and more.

Part of this is the discovery of CRAFT and learning to polish my writing. Another part is taking the Book in a Week class which helped me rediscover HOW I DEVELOP my story. My unique way of getting into my characters' heads.  And the final part of this is through reading some amazing new books published by fellow writers I respect and admire. There, sometimes, the "rules" of CRAFT  and CONTEST are blurred because the STORY is the key. 

And I LOVE THESE BOOKS!! 

I only read other books at night, or when I am on vacation, right before beddie-bye. If I read them during the day, I will lose precious writing time. Right now I am on a mission! I must finish the next seven chapters (THE LAST SEVEN) in revision in 7 allotted writing days. Then I get to dive into my fourth novel and play around with those wonderful people (who are starting to get very impatient with my constant dabbling with book 3).

The flow of the words in the books I read has infiltrated my own writing; not as an exact duplication, but in the idea of how my characters think, act, talk to themselves, and face the world. In that world, overused words are, well, allowed, and echoes can occur, and "ly" words exist, and "was" isn't a demon word. 

Thus my inner critic is silenced to allow my people to become who they are: internally. 

Love that feeling.

And the writing is tighter. No doubt about it. The weaving in and out of elements is more precise. I like the new flow. Will it appeal to an editor or an agent? I don't know. But I do know it appeals to the deeper part in me who enjoys reading a well-crafted romance with a fabulous hero, though flawed, and an independent heroine who's itching for a bit of subduing. 

It's like first draft writing but it's a tighter blend of writing for self, writing for the reader or critique group, and writing for the editor who might one day request it and then accept it with the codicil: more revision required.

I'm determined to move forward with this book. I want to pitch it at the conference. I am ready to try to sell the work. If no one asks for it, well I'll try elsewhere via queries. Then I will lovingly set it aside and use what I've learned by writing it in all my future novels as well as in other revisions. 

This is why I love to write. It challenges me, it changes me, and it moves me beyond preset boundaries. 

And I've learned that is quite all right to be a "delusional masochist" while pursuing this grand obsession.