My wonderful SIL Jennifer Scott works the 10-3 show at 92.9 Star FM and last night we sat down to talk about how I got into writing and some other fun stuff. We had SO MUCH FUN. I wasn’t nervous at all – she made it so easy! It was just like chatting over my kitchen table. If you’d like to hear the interview, pop over to Jennifer’s page at 92.9. Hugs to Jennifer – I love you so much! Thanks for having me over!
Weight Watchers: 75 lbs gone
Okay, it was actually 77.8! Yes, I had a huge loss this week – almost 5 lbs. 1.4 of that was a gain from RT. The rest is probably from being sick since I got home. But I’ll take it!
I’ve only been able to exercise twice since I returned from Chicago. I did Power 90 sweat once, and I walked the dog just a little another day. My sinuses have just been too bad to do much at all. Even thinking hurts my skull, let alone trying to suck in enough wind to work out. Hopefully I can get back to it next week.
On a sad note, my favorite jeans (that I just bought at Christmas) are now so big I can slip them off my hips without unbuttoning or unzipping. I mean, oh, yay, more shopping!
Yours to Take Giveaway, Review
For a fun interview and a chance to win an early copy of Vicki’s Yours to Take, head over to Simply Ali’s blog.
Also the first review is up! Miranda at Joyfully Reviewed says,
I found Vicki’s journey in Yours to Take to be intense and compelling. She is really discovering a side of herself she didn’t think existed or wasn’t willing to recognize. There is something powerful about discovering yourself as a sexual being and finding what you need in bed makes the act more satisfying. … Yours to Take is a scintillating tale about pushing boundaries and finding love.
Weight Watchers: 5 Small Things You Can Do Now
It’s not official until tomorrow, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be earning a 75-lb star tomorrow! Woot!!
I admit that most of my weight loss attempts in the past resulted in failure. I’d come out of the gate a hardcore dieter determined to succeed, but then I’d have a birthday party or something went wrong with dinner and all my careful plans would go flying out the window.
It’s easy to have the mentality, “Oh, well, I messed up big time. Might as well enjoy myself for the rest of the day.” The problem with this thinking is that “day” turns into “week” and “month” all too easily. It’s hard to get back up on that wagon! In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve been run over by that wagon quite a few times.
I didn’t think small changes would actually work–surely they wouldn’t make enough of an impact on the scale. I was too impatient. I wanted to lose as much weight as I could, as fast as humanly possible. But that’s just not reasonable. Life happens. Kids get sick. Work blows up. Family members need help or, Lord forbid, pass away, leaving you to deal with grief and emotional loss. How do you get through all the things life throws at you and still find time to lose weight?
Make small changes that you can live with every single day. Here are five things I’m doing right now that help me stay on track. I might not always be 100% on plan, but these small deficits do add up on my calorie balance sheet over time!
1. No seconds. I eat exactly what I want, but I take as small a portion as possible that will still satisfy me and I do. not. go. back. No matter how good it is. Whether it’s cheesecake or Mom’s heavy mashed potatoes at Christmas. No seconds!
2. Measure out a serving. Measuring cups and a digital scale are my friends. If I sit down with an open bag of chips, they’re disappearing. I simply cannot keep my mind around how many I’ve eaten, and with the bag right there, it’s easier to keep reaching in “just one more time.”
If I’m going to indulge in a potential binge-inducing diet buster, I make myself measure out exactly one portion and I put the bag away in the pantry. The kids have learned that Mom is NOT happy if they get a snack after school and leave the open bag out on the counter. I can’t help but nibble… So the rule is measure, then put away. Out of sight, out of mind. Combined with the first step, this keeps me from eating the entire bag.
3. Use a smaller plate. I have a few smaller plates that I always pull out for lunch and often for dinner too. I can fill that plate up with a huge salad and feel like a king. It looks like a lot of food because it’s right up to the edges of the plate. It might be a mental game with myself, but it really does help me control portions.
4. FAT is not the devil. In fact, some healthy fats can help you absorb more nutrients! If you put a little real butter or olive oil on your vegetables, you will absorb more of the nutrients because many of them are fat soluable. Fat is important in your diet — it’s crucial for healthy hair and skin.
Even more, fat helps with satiety. Have you ever sat down to eat a healthy vegetarian meal and left the table feeling… unsatisfied? I can eat a mountain of veggies, beans, and brown rice, but not feel like I’m full. It’s because there wasn’t any fat in the food. A little rich butter, olive oil, or coconut oil does wonders for making your food taste and feel decadent. aka satisfying! Even Weight Watchers recommends 2-3 servings of healthy oil every single day.
PSA: Avoid margarine at all costs. Please. Man-made fats are HORRIBLE for your body. Even Smart Balance or any of those “healthy” or “light” butters are completely processed and loaded with chemicals and preservatives. It’s so much healthier to eat a tiny bit of REAL butter and enjoy the taste!
5. Indulge. Yes, I said it — do not cut out all your favorite foods. Because eventually, you’re going to succumb and feel horrible about slipping. Then that diet wagon might just conk you in the head and you’ll find yourself walking along down a dusty dirty road in a mile-deep rut.
It’s important to feel satisfied and happy while eating healthier. Find things that taste decadent and wonderful to you and ENJOY THEM at least once a week or so. My go-to favorite: Dove dark chocolate. I can nibble on one little square (1 pt) with a cup of coffee and feel like I’ve died and gone to heaven.
What little things have you tried in the past that helped you lose weight successfully?
Anything You Want to Know About Vicki?
I’ve got lots of blog spots lined up for next month (thank you so much Novel Sidekick!). It’s important to me that each post be as interesting and unique as possible, not just blah blah buy my book. I’ve already got a post about writing BDSM, Need You Now, and how important color is to the story.
What else would you like to know about Vicki? Any cool or unusual questions that might inspire me?
Thank you!
Back to the Grind
I returned to the Evil Day Job today and wasn’t as buried as I feared. I do have some testing feedbacks I need to resolve quickly, and a TON of “light” (said with a snort – the book is over 800 pages long) reading on the engrossing topic of Java, but not too bad after having over a week off.
I’m also getting back on the diet and exercise horse. I only gained 1.4 pounds last week at RT. Given my food choices, I don’t think I did too badly at all. I was supposed to get back to Power 90 today, but I had to use my lunch to mail my taxes. Ouch. So tomorrow’s the day, assuming I don’t have any meetings in the way of my normal lunch.
I’ve created ARCs of YOURS TO TAKE for any interested reviewers. Just drop me a note (joelysueburkhart AT gmail DOT com) with your desired eformat. May isn’t far away!
The Big RT Swag Giveaway
Open to anyone on the planet, as long as you’re patient with me until I get to the post office.
I have about 50 pounds of combined free books and swag from RT 2012. NO I’M NOT KIDDING (the picture is only one night’s haul). I have the FedEx bill to prove it, at least for the 25 pounds of books that cost a small fortune to ship home from the hotel. At the airport today, I had to strip another 25 pounds of stuff out of my monster suitcase to get under the 50-lb limit, and most of it was swag that I then had the pleasure of hauling through the airport myself.
I have ink pens. I have pins/buttons. I have BOOKS out the WAZOO. I have even more bookmarks, trading cards, and postcards. Some of it’s signed. Some of it has cool little gadets attached. Some of it is adult in nature (like the pecker tape. *snickers*).
I’m going to bag up all of these goodies and send them to those of you who’d like a taste of RT. Just drop me an email (joelysueburkhart AT gmail DOT com) and tell me what kind of swag you’d like along with your snail mail addy. (e.g. if you collect buttons, let me know. Or if you’d really like some sexy EC playing cards!)
Right now, I think I have enough to give everyone at least one book and some cool swag, unless a whole bunch of you email me. All I ask is you go out to Amazon, B&N, GoodReads, etc. and rate/review to spread some book love!
(Open until I run out of swag!)
RT2012: The E-Book Expo Exposed
While at the E-Book Expo yesterday, I got to meet several incredible people at RT and I was thrilled to answer a few questions about some things I’d like to see in epublishing’s future. Head on over to RT’s website read what kind of genre-buster I’d like to see …and what I’d call it! Along with a photo of me in my Samhain Stampede get up! Too bad you can’t see my sparkly belt buckle…
The Magic of RT
I hope you follow me on Twitter or Facebook – that’s where I’ve been posting the bulk of my pictures from RT12 (upper right hand sidebar if you need the links). But after tonight’s events, I had to open up the laptop for the first time so I could capture this moment.
At the Ebook Expo, I got to sit by Monica Burns and Sharon Buchbinder and we talked and talked for two hours. I got to meet my Samhain editor, Tera Kleinfelter, and Carina Press’s Executive Editor, Angela James (and my old Samhain editor) for the first time. At the Samhain Stampede, I met dozens of other Samhain authors that I’ve seen online on Twitter or on groups. It’s so funny to see these names over the years but have no real face or voice to match. Now I do!
But here’s where the REAL magic happened. Ann and I walked into the Scottish Fling dinner party and sat down at a table of strangers. This table must have had some kind of cosmic energy drawing us all to this table. I swear it was a weird convergence spot.
I sat by Kate Pearce, whom I’d heard at the “What’s Hot” erotica panel earlier in the afternoon. We started chatting and I learned she’s a new Carina author. We’re both going to the Award Ceremony tomorrow – which is when the private Carina author dinner is scheduled. I was worried about finding my way alone (it’s not at the hotel) after the ceremony, and so was she. We talked the entire evening about the business, our families, etc. and agreed to meet up tomorrow night after awards and walk together.
As the evening passed, I mentioned I was from MO. Cecily White came around shortly after and said where at in MO? Ironically, she’s from Springfield – only 8 miles away! She’s also involved with the Ozarks Romance Authors group, which I’ve thought about joining several times but just never did. Now that I’ve met her, I’m definitely joining and I plan to go to their conference in June.
Then she introduced me to the person with her and we both screamed (well, Noelle’s was a silent scream – she lost her voice) and hugged each other. I met Noelle Pierce through Romance Biggest Winner last year and we planned to meet up at RT but it just hadn’t happened yet. We’d been sitting together at that table all night and didn’t know it.
And earlier today, I finally met Larissa Ione in person – after “knowing” her online for years.
Maybe this sounds weird, but I think these connections I made tonight could be life changing – or at least career changing. I’ve certainly made so many wonderful connections here at RT, meeting dozens of readers and authors face-to-face that I never would have met otherwise. It’s been absolutely incredible.
There’s nothing better than walking around as a “nobody” and just having a wonderful time, when a fan walks up to you and says, “OH, I LOVE YOUR BOOKS!” *beams* It’s so cool!
RT has definitely hooked me and I’m already raving about how much I want to go next year in KC!
RT Count Down
I’m leaving for Chicago tomorrow! So today is crazy with errands and last-minute preparations. I dropped off the kids at school, made it to the bank, and paid the utilities. I also did a little shopping at our local western/farm store to get something for the Samhain Stampede, but I didn’t have any luck yet. Who knew it’d be so hard to find a plain black western shirt?!?
That Man’s taking me to our favorite Japanese place for lunch, and then I’ll hit Wal-Mart and take my PJs back. They just won’t work (and I don’t think Ann wants to see the scary ratty old T-shirt I usually sleep in) and I need to get travel cubes and a few other things. Then I’l hit the grocery store and stock the fridge for the family, which includes my “famous” spaghetti sauce for dinner tonight. That way Littlest will have plenty of her favorite food in the fridge in case she doesn’t like Dad’s cooking.
Then the fun part begins… trying to cram all this stuff into my itty bitty suitcase.
It’s going to be hard leaving the monsters tomorrow. Both the youngest ones cried last night and I’m not even leaving yet!