Camy Tang's Blog, page 161
January 14, 2011
Excerpt - The Sound of Sleigh Bells by Cindy Woodsmall
The Sound of Sleigh Bellsby
Cindy Woodsmall
Beth Hertzler works alongside her beloved Aunt Lizzy in their dry goods store, and serving as contact of sorts between Amish craftsmen and Englischers who want to sell the Plain people's wares. But remorse and loneliness still echo in her heart everyday as she still wears the dark garb, indicating mourning of her fiancé. When she discovers a large, intricately carved scene of Amish children playing in the snow, something deep inside Beth's soul responds and she wants to help the unknown artist find homes for his work–including Lizzy's dry goods store. But she doesn't know if her bishop will approve of the gorgeous carving or deem it idolatry.
Lizzy sees the changes in her niece when Beth shows her the woodworking, and after Lizzy hunts down Jonah, the artist, she is all the more determined that Beth meets this man with the hands that create healing art. But it's not that simple–will Lizzy's elaborate plan to reintroduce her niece to love work? Will Jonah be able to offer Beth the sleigh ride she's always dreamed of and a second chance at real love–or just more heartbreak?
Excerpt of chapter one:
Print book:
Barnes and Noble
Amazon
Christianbook.com
Buy from Books a Million
Ebook:
Nookbook
Kindle
January 13, 2011
Excerpt - A Prairie Christmas Collection by Tracie Peterson, Deborah Raney, Tracey Bateman and other favorite Christian authors
Camy here: Because I know you're not yet tired of Christmas stories, make sure you get this before it's no longer on the shelves!
A Prairie Christmas Collection
by Tracie Peterson, Deborah Raney, Tracey Bateman
and other favorite Christian authors
A Treasure of Historical Christmas Romances
Settling the vast open prairies, weathering the winter storms, and finding joy to celebrate during Christmas epitomizes the pioneer experience. In this unique collection of nine Christmas romances, readers will relive a prairie Christmas with all its challenges and delights as penned by multi-published authors, including Tracie Peterson and Deborah Raney.
Take me Home by Tracey Bateman
One Wintry Night by Pamela Griffin
Image of Love by JoAnne A. Grote
The Christmas Necklace by Maryn Langer
A Christmas Gift of Love by Darlene Mindrup
God Jul by Tracie Peterson
Circle of Blessings by Deborah Raney
Christmas Cake by Janet Spaeth
Colder Than Ice by Jill Stengl
The warmth of Christmas will radiate in new love from the high plains of Minnesota and Dakota Territory, across the rolling hills of Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois, and down into the flats of Kansas. Filled with inspiration and faith, each story will become a treasure to be enjoyed again next year.
Download a .pdf excerpt of chapter one here.
Print book:
Barnes and Noble
Amazon
Christianbook.com
Books a Million
A Prairie Christmas Collectionby Tracie Peterson, Deborah Raney, Tracey Bateman
and other favorite Christian authors
A Treasure of Historical Christmas Romances
Settling the vast open prairies, weathering the winter storms, and finding joy to celebrate during Christmas epitomizes the pioneer experience. In this unique collection of nine Christmas romances, readers will relive a prairie Christmas with all its challenges and delights as penned by multi-published authors, including Tracie Peterson and Deborah Raney.
Take me Home by Tracey Bateman
One Wintry Night by Pamela Griffin
Image of Love by JoAnne A. Grote
The Christmas Necklace by Maryn Langer
A Christmas Gift of Love by Darlene Mindrup
God Jul by Tracie Peterson
Circle of Blessings by Deborah Raney
Christmas Cake by Janet Spaeth
Colder Than Ice by Jill Stengl
The warmth of Christmas will radiate in new love from the high plains of Minnesota and Dakota Territory, across the rolling hills of Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois, and down into the flats of Kansas. Filled with inspiration and faith, each story will become a treasure to be enjoyed again next year.
Download a .pdf excerpt of chapter one here.
Print book:
Barnes and Noble
Amazon
Christianbook.com
Books a Million
Throwing food away
Captain's Log, Stardate 01.13.2011
One of my New Year's Resolutions is to stop feeling guilty about throwing food away if I don't like it.
I don't know if Mom told us to finish our plates, but I don't think she did. I think this is just part of my own neurotic psyche. I have always been someone who wants things complete. Completely empty, completely smooth, completely full, completely whatever.
(Yes, I'm weird.)
The point is that I would always clean my plate. Even if I was eating something that wasn't horrible, but wasn't great either.
Now that's a good thing if Mom was making me eat vegetables. But now that I'm older and eating vegetables voluntarily (and enjoying them, even), why this compulsion to finish whatever I have on my plate?
This is especially bad if I'm trying to eat smaller portions. I have a hard time taking less food, so if I can learn to stop eating and leave food on my plate, I think that'll help with my weight loss.
Also, if I don't particularly enjoy eating something, why bother finishing it? It's stupid. I don't know why I do it. So I'm going to stop. If I taste something and I don't like it, I'm going to THROW IT AWAY. And I refuse to feel guilty about wasting food.
Life is too short to waste it eating something I don't like. Why waste my calorie count on it, anyway? I'd rather eat something I enjoy. And hopefully this will teach me to savor my next choice of food a bit more, especially if I just threw away something I didn't like.
I feel like a rebel.
How about you? Any problems throwing food away?
One of my New Year's Resolutions is to stop feeling guilty about throwing food away if I don't like it.
I don't know if Mom told us to finish our plates, but I don't think she did. I think this is just part of my own neurotic psyche. I have always been someone who wants things complete. Completely empty, completely smooth, completely full, completely whatever.
(Yes, I'm weird.)
The point is that I would always clean my plate. Even if I was eating something that wasn't horrible, but wasn't great either.
Now that's a good thing if Mom was making me eat vegetables. But now that I'm older and eating vegetables voluntarily (and enjoying them, even), why this compulsion to finish whatever I have on my plate?
This is especially bad if I'm trying to eat smaller portions. I have a hard time taking less food, so if I can learn to stop eating and leave food on my plate, I think that'll help with my weight loss.
Also, if I don't particularly enjoy eating something, why bother finishing it? It's stupid. I don't know why I do it. So I'm going to stop. If I taste something and I don't like it, I'm going to THROW IT AWAY. And I refuse to feel guilty about wasting food.
Life is too short to waste it eating something I don't like. Why waste my calorie count on it, anyway? I'd rather eat something I enjoy. And hopefully this will teach me to savor my next choice of food a bit more, especially if I just threw away something I didn't like.
I feel like a rebel.
How about you? Any problems throwing food away?
Excerpt - A HOPEFUL HEART by Kim Vogel Sawyer
Camy here: Kim is one of the nicest, sweetest people I know, and while I haven't yet read this specific novel of hers, the others I've read are AWESOME! You won't regret picking this one up!
This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
A Hopeful Heart Bethany House (June 1, 2010)
byKim Vogel Sawyer
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kim Vogel Sawyer is the author of fifteen novels, including several CBA and ECPA bestsellers. Her books have won the ACFW Book of the Year Award, the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, and the Inspirational Readers Choice Award. Kim is active in her church, where she leads women's fellowship and participates in both voice and bell choirs. In her spare time, she enjoys drama, quilting, and calligraphy. Kim and her husband, Don, reside in central Kansas, and have three daughters and six grandchildren.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Dowryless and desperate, Tressa Neill applies to the inaugural class of Wyatt Herdsman School in Barnett, Kansas, in 1888. The school's one-of-a-kind program teaches young women from the East the skills needed to become a rancher--or the wife of one.
Shy and small for her twenty-two years, Tressa is convinced she'll never have what it takes to survive Hattie Wyatt's hands-on instruction in skills such as milking a cow, branding a calf, riding a horse, and cooking up a mess of grub for hungry ranch hands. But what other options does she have?
Abel Samms wants nothing to do with the group of potential brides his neighbor brought to town. He was smitten with an eastern girl once--and he got his heart broken. But there's something about quiet Tressa and her bumbling ways that makes him take notice.
When Tressa's life is endangered, will Abel risk his own life--and his heart--to help this eastern girl?
Excerpt of Chapter One:
A Hopeful Heart
This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
A Hopeful Heart Bethany House (June 1, 2010)
byKim Vogel Sawyer
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kim Vogel Sawyer is the author of fifteen novels, including several CBA and ECPA bestsellers. Her books have won the ACFW Book of the Year Award, the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, and the Inspirational Readers Choice Award. Kim is active in her church, where she leads women's fellowship and participates in both voice and bell choirs. In her spare time, she enjoys drama, quilting, and calligraphy. Kim and her husband, Don, reside in central Kansas, and have three daughters and six grandchildren.ABOUT THE BOOK
Dowryless and desperate, Tressa Neill applies to the inaugural class of Wyatt Herdsman School in Barnett, Kansas, in 1888. The school's one-of-a-kind program teaches young women from the East the skills needed to become a rancher--or the wife of one. Shy and small for her twenty-two years, Tressa is convinced she'll never have what it takes to survive Hattie Wyatt's hands-on instruction in skills such as milking a cow, branding a calf, riding a horse, and cooking up a mess of grub for hungry ranch hands. But what other options does she have?
Abel Samms wants nothing to do with the group of potential brides his neighbor brought to town. He was smitten with an eastern girl once--and he got his heart broken. But there's something about quiet Tressa and her bumbling ways that makes him take notice.
When Tressa's life is endangered, will Abel risk his own life--and his heart--to help this eastern girl?
Excerpt of Chapter One:
A Hopeful Heart
Street Team book list excerpt - SERENDIPITY by Cathy Marie Hake
This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Serendipity Bethany House (August 1, 2010) by Cathy Marie Hake
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Known for surfing across the kitchen on a dropped dill pickle slice, waterskiing on sea anemone spit, and using Right Guard® as hair spray; she considers herself living proof that God does, indeed, possess a healthy sense of humor.
Cathy loves classical music, romantic getaways with her husband, and Diet Pepsi Free®. "I need chocolate to survive, love my friends, and enjoy a deep personal relationship with the Lord. Although an extrovert, I'm very conservative on a personal level."
In her writing, Cathy attempts to capture a unique glimpse of life and how a man and woman can overcome obstacles when motivated by love. In her inspirational pieces she enjoys the freedom of showing how Christ can enrich a loving couple's relationship.
Cathy Marie Hake is a registered nurse who worked for many years in an oncology unit before shifting her focus to perinatal care. The author of over twenty novels, she lives with her husband and two children in Anaheim, California.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Todd Valmer should have known better. A farmer who's been through several disasters, he travels to Virginia to fetch his widowed mother to cook and help him around his Texas farm...or that was the plan until she keels over on the train and they get kicked off.
Maggie Rose barters for a living and also makes soaps, lotions, and perfumes with a special rose recipe passed down from mother to daughter for generations. She hasn't wanted to marry...until that handsome Texan shows up.
Her heart skips a beat, and when he proposes, a hasty marriage follows. What ensues, however, is a clash of culture and a battle of wills--and it's clear they both mistook instant attraction and infatuation for love. As their marriage loses its sparkle and fills with disillusionment, Todd and Maggie must determine what is worth fighting for. He dreams of a farm. Maggie wants to fulfill the family tradition with her rose perfumes.
Todd's mother, however, has entirely different plans for her son that do not include Maggie. In light of their hasty marriage and mistaken dreams, is there any hope of recapturing their love and building a future together?
Excerpt of chapter one:
Serendipity
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Known for surfing across the kitchen on a dropped dill pickle slice, waterskiing on sea anemone spit, and using Right Guard® as hair spray; she considers herself living proof that God does, indeed, possess a healthy sense of humor.
Cathy loves classical music, romantic getaways with her husband, and Diet Pepsi Free®. "I need chocolate to survive, love my friends, and enjoy a deep personal relationship with the Lord. Although an extrovert, I'm very conservative on a personal level."
In her writing, Cathy attempts to capture a unique glimpse of life and how a man and woman can overcome obstacles when motivated by love. In her inspirational pieces she enjoys the freedom of showing how Christ can enrich a loving couple's relationship.
Cathy Marie Hake is a registered nurse who worked for many years in an oncology unit before shifting her focus to perinatal care. The author of over twenty novels, she lives with her husband and two children in Anaheim, California.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Todd Valmer should have known better. A farmer who's been through several disasters, he travels to Virginia to fetch his widowed mother to cook and help him around his Texas farm...or that was the plan until she keels over on the train and they get kicked off. Maggie Rose barters for a living and also makes soaps, lotions, and perfumes with a special rose recipe passed down from mother to daughter for generations. She hasn't wanted to marry...until that handsome Texan shows up.
Her heart skips a beat, and when he proposes, a hasty marriage follows. What ensues, however, is a clash of culture and a battle of wills--and it's clear they both mistook instant attraction and infatuation for love. As their marriage loses its sparkle and fills with disillusionment, Todd and Maggie must determine what is worth fighting for. He dreams of a farm. Maggie wants to fulfill the family tradition with her rose perfumes.
Todd's mother, however, has entirely different plans for her son that do not include Maggie. In light of their hasty marriage and mistaken dreams, is there any hope of recapturing their love and building a future together?
Excerpt of chapter one:
Serendipity
January 10, 2011
Street Team book list excerpt - COURTING MISS AMSEL by Kim Vogel Sawyer
Camy here: Here's another book I added to my Street Team book giveaway list! You can win this book by joining my Street Team--Click here for more info!
This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Courting Miss Amsel Bethany House (January 1, 2011) by Kim Vogel Sawyer
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kim Vogel Sawyer is the author of fifteen novels, including several CBA and ECPA bestsellers. Her books have won the ACFW Book of the Year Award, the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, and the Inspirational Readers Choice Award. Kim is active in her church, where she leads women's fellowship and participates in both voice and bell choirs. In her spare time, she enjoys drama, quilting, and calligraphy. Kim and her husband, Don, reside in central Kansas, and have three daughters and six grandchildren.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Edythe Amsel is delighted with her first teaching assignment: a one-room schoolhouse in Walnut Hill, Nebraska. Independent, headstrong, and a strong believer in a well-rounded education, Edythe is ready to open the world to the students in this tiny community. But is Walnut Hill ready for her?
Joel Townsend is thrilled to learn the town council hired a female teacher to replace the ruthless man who terrorized his nephews for the past two years. Having raised the boys on his own since their parents' untimely deaths, Joel believes they will benefit from a woman's influence. But he sure didn't bargain on a woman like Miss Amsel.
Within the first week, she has the entire town up in arms over her outlandish teaching methods, which include collecting leaves, catching bugs, making snow angels, and stringing ropes in strange patterns all over the schoolyard. Joel can't help but notice that she's also mighty pretty with her rosy lips, fashionable clothes, and fancy way of speaking.
When Edythe decides to take her pupils to hear Miss Susan Anthony speak on the women's suffrage amendment, the town's outcry reaches new heights. Even Joel isn't sure he can support her newfangled ideas any longer. And if he can't trust her to know how to teach the boys, how can he trust her with his heart?
Excerpt of Chapter One:
Courting Miss Amsel
This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Courting Miss Amsel Bethany House (January 1, 2011) by Kim Vogel Sawyer
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kim Vogel Sawyer is the author of fifteen novels, including several CBA and ECPA bestsellers. Her books have won the ACFW Book of the Year Award, the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, and the Inspirational Readers Choice Award. Kim is active in her church, where she leads women's fellowship and participates in both voice and bell choirs. In her spare time, she enjoys drama, quilting, and calligraphy. Kim and her husband, Don, reside in central Kansas, and have three daughters and six grandchildren.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Edythe Amsel is delighted with her first teaching assignment: a one-room schoolhouse in Walnut Hill, Nebraska. Independent, headstrong, and a strong believer in a well-rounded education, Edythe is ready to open the world to the students in this tiny community. But is Walnut Hill ready for her? Joel Townsend is thrilled to learn the town council hired a female teacher to replace the ruthless man who terrorized his nephews for the past two years. Having raised the boys on his own since their parents' untimely deaths, Joel believes they will benefit from a woman's influence. But he sure didn't bargain on a woman like Miss Amsel.
Within the first week, she has the entire town up in arms over her outlandish teaching methods, which include collecting leaves, catching bugs, making snow angels, and stringing ropes in strange patterns all over the schoolyard. Joel can't help but notice that she's also mighty pretty with her rosy lips, fashionable clothes, and fancy way of speaking.
When Edythe decides to take her pupils to hear Miss Susan Anthony speak on the women's suffrage amendment, the town's outcry reaches new heights. Even Joel isn't sure he can support her newfangled ideas any longer. And if he can't trust her to know how to teach the boys, how can he trust her with his heart?
Excerpt of Chapter One:
Courting Miss Amsel
January 5, 2011
Street Team book list Excerpt - GIRL IN THE GATEHOUSE by Julie Klassen
Camy here: Here's another book I added to my Street Team book giveaway list! You can win this book by joining my Street Team--Click here for more info!
This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing The Girl in the Gatehouse Bethany House (January 1, 2011) by Julie Klassen
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Julie says: My background is in advertising and marketing, but I am blessed with a dream job—working as an editor of Christian fiction. I have been writing since childhood, but Lady of Milkweed Manor was my first novel. It was a finalist for a Christy Award and won second place in the Inspirational Reader's Choice Awards. My second novel, The Apothecary's Daughter, was a finalist in the ACFW Book of the Year awards. I am currently writing one novel a year.
I graduated from the University of Illinois and enjoy travel, research, BBC period dramas, long hikes, short naps, and coffee with friends.
My husband and I have two sons and live near St. Paul, Minnesota.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Miss Mariah Aubrey, banished after a scandal, hides herself away in a long-abandoned gatehouse on the far edge of a distant relative's estate. There, she supports herself and her loyal servant the only way she knows how--by writing novels in secret.
Captain Matthew Bryant, returning to England successful and wealthy after the Napoleonic wars, leases an impressive estate from a cash-poor nobleman, determined to show the society beauty who once rejected him what a colossal mistake she made.
When he discovers an old gatehouse on the property, he is immediately intrigued by its striking young inhabitant and sets out to uncover her identity, and her past. But the more he learns about her, the more he realizes he must distance himself. Falling in love with an outcast would ruin his well-laid plans. The old gatehouse holds secrets of its own. Can Mariah and Captain Bryant uncover them before the cunning heir to the estate buries them forever?
Excerpt of chapter one:
The Girl in The Gatehouse
This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing The Girl in the Gatehouse Bethany House (January 1, 2011) by Julie Klassen
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Julie says: My background is in advertising and marketing, but I am blessed with a dream job—working as an editor of Christian fiction. I have been writing since childhood, but Lady of Milkweed Manor was my first novel. It was a finalist for a Christy Award and won second place in the Inspirational Reader's Choice Awards. My second novel, The Apothecary's Daughter, was a finalist in the ACFW Book of the Year awards. I am currently writing one novel a year.
I graduated from the University of Illinois and enjoy travel, research, BBC period dramas, long hikes, short naps, and coffee with friends.
My husband and I have two sons and live near St. Paul, Minnesota.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Miss Mariah Aubrey, banished after a scandal, hides herself away in a long-abandoned gatehouse on the far edge of a distant relative's estate. There, she supports herself and her loyal servant the only way she knows how--by writing novels in secret.
Captain Matthew Bryant, returning to England successful and wealthy after the Napoleonic wars, leases an impressive estate from a cash-poor nobleman, determined to show the society beauty who once rejected him what a colossal mistake she made.
When he discovers an old gatehouse on the property, he is immediately intrigued by its striking young inhabitant and sets out to uncover her identity, and her past. But the more he learns about her, the more he realizes he must distance himself. Falling in love with an outcast would ruin his well-laid plans. The old gatehouse holds secrets of its own. Can Mariah and Captain Bryant uncover them before the cunning heir to the estate buries them forever?
Excerpt of chapter one:
The Girl in The Gatehouse
January 3, 2011
Excerpt - LOVE FOOD AND LIVE WELL by Chantel Hobbs
Camy here: I just started reading this book, and I like it already. Chantel's other books were good, too--inspiring and uplifting--but this one really speaks to me because it talks about our relationship with food. I LOVE food and yet I know I let it control me, or I try to control it, or whatever's going on. I'm looking forward to reading more about how to be able to rely on God to help me with my eating habits.
Today's Wild Card author is:
Chantel Hobbs
and the book:
Love Food & Live Well
WaterBrook Press; 1 edition (December 14, 2010)
***Special thanks to Audra Jennings, Senior Media Specialist, The B&B Media Group for sending me a review copy.***
You don't have to hide it. You can love food right out in the open—and lose weight at the same time. With the latest release from Chantel Hobbs, Love Food and Live Well, you'll know when to have carrot cake and when it's time to just have a carrot.
Let life coach and fitness expert Chantel Hobbs show you how to lose pounds to reach the weight that is right for you and then maintain it while enjoying healthy, delicious food. Built into this amazing plan is knowing that you can count on the occasional splurge with absolutely no guilt.
Using personal inventories, original recipes, and simple eating plans, plus new exercises for strength training and aerobic fitness, Hobbs will inspire you to live well in every area of life. Her positive and highly motivating approach is changing the way dieters look at food and will inspire you to pursue a life of lasting health in body, mind, and spirit.
Hobbs isn't like other fitness and nutritional experts. She doesn't just have the knowledge of what to eat. She's experienced the heartache of feeling unworthy. In her book she says, "We'll look at the deal the world has been selling us all of our lives—the message that we're not good enough, not pretty enough, not thin enough, and just basically that we're not enough." Hobbs doesn't just offer expert advice. She offers hope.
She exposes the lies that trap dieters in self-defeating habits and shows them how to break free from destructive attitudes toward food. You will no longer need to hate food or be limited to eating boring, bland, unsatisfying meals. You can learn to live with freedom.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Chantel Hobbs is a life coach, marathon runner, personal trainer, wife, and mother of four. Her amazing story of losing two hundred pounds and keeping the weight off has been featured on Oprah, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Fox & Friends, Life Today with James Robison, The 700 Club, and Focus on the Family Radio—and in People and First magazines. Hobbs hosts a weekly radio show and is the on-air fitness expert on the WAY-FM radio network. She is also a regular guest on the KLOVE radio network. Hobbs is a frequent speaker to women's groups and makes personal appearances at fitness conventions. The developer of The One-Day Way Learning System and the author of four books, including Never Say Diet and The One-Day Way, Chantel lives with her family in south Florida.
Visit the author's website.
Product Details:
List Price: $19.99
Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: WaterBrook Press; 1 edition (December 14, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0307457842
ISBN-13: 978-0307457844
AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:
The Battle over Blue Jeans
People, Here Is My Deal!
For as long as I can remember, I have loved clothes and makeup. Even when I weighed close to 350 pounds, I experimented with trendy hairstyles while checking out the latest plus-size fashion catalogs.
When I was in elementary school, I would spend afternoons with my sister Christy, sitting on the floor of the closet in the decked-out pink bedroom we shared. This was a supersized closet where we would set up our Barbie dolls for fashion shows. Because I had blond hair and Christy was a brunette, it was only natural for me to pretend to be Barbie and her to be Skipper, Barbie's little sister. At least that's how I sold the idea to Christy. As we grew up and began to put our dolls away, I still enjoyed being prissy, often spending way too much time in front of a mirror.
Even as a young mother, I was a fashionista. I'll never forget entering the hospital to have a scheduled cesarean to deliver my son Jake. I had spent the day before the delivery getting a pedicure and manicure and shopping for a matching nightgown set. Really, I did this! As I lay on the table in the operating room, the doctor arrived and started to chuckle. "Well, Chantel, I can see nothing about this is going to be a natural delivery." All I could say was, "At least I left the false eyelashes at home." I was only half kidding.
One reason I went overboard with my appearance was because I loved hearing friends and family comment on how together I looked. Even while having a baby, I wanted to look great. But today, in hindsight, I feel seriously sorry for the woman I used to be. She was always exhausted from trying to maintain her unreal image. Plus, I knew deep down that I wasn't fooling anyone but myself. My weight problem wasn't going to vanish underneath fancy clothing and attempts to camouflage my problem areas. I really did know that owning an all-black wardrobe wouldn't keep my body issues a secret.
But back then I had convinced myself I needed to make a serious effort to look pretty from the neck up because I was too overweight for the rest of me to look decent. I rationalized that if I could highlight my best features, people would see my positive attributes and look past my greatest flaw: my obese body. At this point my life was one big head game.
I'll never forget the weekend I went on a business trip with my husband, Keith, to Bermuda. This was a dream coming true for someone who spent most days watching Barney and folding laundry. But when we started to pack, panic set in. Bermuda is one huge beach, and I knew I'd embarrass my husband if I wore a swimsuit in front of his bosses and work friends. On the other hand, this was Bermuda! It was a free trip and a chance to escape the zoo I called home!
After we boarded the plane, I found my seat and immediately put a jacket over my waist. This was a trick I had learned from previous travel experiences, and it almost always worked. If I could hide where the seat belt was supposed to be, the flight attendant wouldn't notice that mine was unbuckled. The truth is, I did this because I couldn't connect the seat belt. I was too big around. This time, however, my system failed. As the attendant stopped by our row, she asked me to buckle my seat belt. As I struggled to latch it, she stood impatiently with one hand on her hip. I whispered that I was having trouble making it fit.
So being the sensitive, tall, and freakishly thin woman she was, she shouted to her co-worker, "Could you look in one of the overhead compartments for a seat-belt extension?"
I was mortified. I closed my eyes and tried to pretend the attendant was talking about someone else. A few moments later she handed me the hated seat-belt extension, and I fastened the thing as quickly as I could. I promise you, I could feel the pity of strangers as they witnessed my hame. But instead of shedding tears, I did what I had rehearsed in previous situations. I took a deep breath and grabbed Keith's hand, squeezing it for dear life as the aircraft took off. My vacation is off to a great start, I told myself. I can't wait to see what other embarrassing moments lie ahead.
Surprisingly, our Bermuda trip ended up being the trip of a lifetime. The island was beautiful, the water was the clearest blue I had ever seen, and I felt beautiful for the entire week. Strangely, it was another young mother, the wife of one of Keith's co-workers, who was mostly responsible.
Each day I would get dolled up and make my entrance into the meeting room for the company's group breakfast. This girl went out of her way to say something sincere and extraordinary about the way I looked, morning after morning. She would also ask me for fashion advice. By her looks, she didn't need any, certainly none from me. Yet she still inquired and never in a condescending way.
Best of all, she never breathed the dreaded words "You have such a pretty face." The trip to Bermuda taught me the intense power we all have when we speak to someone, especially to a person who is feeling weak and vulnerable. Just by saying something simple and positive, we can brighten someone's outlook, even if it's only for a few seconds.
For most of my life I had become accustomed to backhanded compliments. When it came to my weight and all my failed attempts to lose it, I had heard everything. I'd try yet another diet, and two weeks into it over and over I would hear from those around me, "Now keep up the good work." And I would always think, Are you kidding? I'm trying here. Just tell me "good job,"
and don't worry about whether I lose another dad-gum pound. I get that you are letting me know I have a long way to go!
Yet Another New Start
Coming home from Bermuda, where I felt sincere acceptance, I had real hope. I felt different. I was relaxed, revived, and encouraged. I decided that I was ready to give weight loss another shot. As I set out to lose weight for the eighty-sixth time in my life, I felt prepared. I bought the latest diet book from Sam's Club and a twelve-pack of muffins. I rationalized the muffin purchase by telling myself I needed to have one last hurrah.
On Monday my plan was to go for it. I would try with everything in me not to let anything stand in my way. Of course, I didn't see any need to crack open the new book I'd bought until the weekend was over! What would a few more days of indulgence hurt?
Then Monday arrived, and I made my grand entrance at the gym. I even went back three days in a row. The only problem was that by the end of the week I was hanging out more than working out. I'd been trying to get David, the juice bar owner, to tell me his recipe for the yummy chocolate–peanut butter protein shake I was ordering every day. The first clue it wasn't all that
healthy should have been the chocolate syrup he poured in. But I told myself, if it's made on gym property, how bad could it be?
By the time the week ended, I had followed the plan in my recently purchased book and had my cheat day. Not surprisingly, I quickly indulged in an entire cheat weekend. However, I managed to get back to the gym the following Monday. The plan I was on was doable, and even with halfhearted efforts, I was slowly losing weight.
After shedding about twenty pounds, I decided I needed some new clothes. This was kind of funny, especially since not one person had noticed that I had lost an ounce. As I said earlier, I've always loved fashion. But at this point, with my weight so high, I was stuck wearing mostly dresses and skirts. I just couldn't face the prospect of trying to fit my behind into a pair of pants
at Lane Bryant. But now, since I was feeling pretty good about myself and getting results, I headed over to the Coral Square Mall. I was there to hunt down a pair of blue jeans. Even if I had to lie down to zip them and not breathe while I wore them, I was determined to come home with new jeans.
I picked up three pairs with plenty of stretch to take into the dressing room. Once the door was closed, though, no amount of sucking it in, squeezing hard, or holding my breath got the jeans up to my waist. I couldn't make any of them fit. As I held the jeans up and looked in the mirror, I wondered how anyone could stand to look at me. I was a disgusting blob of pain and misery.
I had left home that day feeling good about my progress. I was finally losing some weight. But after a few minutes in a dressing room, I wanted to die. How had I let myself become this pathetic mess of a woman?
A few Cinnabons later I went home. Two weeks after my blue jean horror show, I found out I was expecting. A month into the pregnancy I miscarried due to a badly infected gallbladder, and I ended up having emergency surgery. I wondered if I would ever change my life or if I would die first. Death seemed like perhaps the only escape out of this prison.
About six months later I had an unforgettable encounter with God. I was alone in my car, driving home from a meeting. I had reached my lowest point ever, and I let God in. I had known Him for years, ever since I had been saved from an eternity separated from Him. As a little girl in Sunday school, I had asked Jesus into my heart to save me from my sins. What I needed now, as a desperate, hurting, damaged woman, was to be saved from myself. I was still trying to run my own life.
God had whispered my name through many embarrassing moments and hurtful situations; I just never answered. But that night, alone in my car, He finally got through to me. I experienced a supernatural intervention. And it compels me now to tell my friends, my clients, and my readers my Lazarus story.
An Incredible Second Chance
Remember the story of Lazarus in the Bible? When Jesus brought him back from the dead, and we're talking dead as a doornail (he was four-days dead), I imagine all he wanted was to blow a trumpet and tell the world about his miracle. Today I feel a similar kind of zeal resulting from my own miracle. As I surrendered all the pain of my lifelong weight problem to God, my heart
began a major shift. God gave me a deep desire to go to work. For the first time, I took on the task of losing the weight with Him in charge. I was no longer alone as I had been in the past. By allowing God, who never breaks a promise, to give me the strength, self-control, and focus I needed, how could I fail?
Ten years later I am on the same course He set for my life that night. My life is still filled with unexpected moments, both tragedies and celebrations. But I have never looked back.
After going on to lose two hundred pounds, I designed my own fitness and weight-loss program and became a certified Spinning teacher, personal trainer, and marathon runner. I love feeling strong, being healthy, and knowing I'm not a slave to my former appetites. Often I run into people I haven't seen in many years. They may have known me as the overweight girl with a
pretty face. And if I dare to attempt a reacquaintance, I am usually in for a good laugh.
I'll never forget one woman from a church I attended years earlier. I ran into her at the grocery store and tried to convince her who I was. "You aren't really Chantel from West Lauderdale Baptist," she insisted. I tried to get her to believe it was me, just an improved version. I think she finally accepted the truth, but it took awhile.
I am proud of the woman I have worked to become. However, I am most thankful that God rescued me from a place where I had lost all hope. God's care for me and His work in my life give me the strength to stay on course. Now, after writing four books and producing a learning system for weight loss and fitness, I can see that God continues to use me as a voice of real-life
experience. A big part of my message is this: let me help you stop sabotaging yourself and your life. I know, from hard experience, how to overcome self-defeat. Every day I get to hear the stories of people who were losing hope, as I was, and now are finding the life they had dreamed of. I receive e-mails from women who have heard me speak, read one of my books, or heard me on the radio and now are surrendering their failed attempts to God. They are learning the truth and power of surrender and then doing the hard work of changing their lives.
In my work of helping people reclaim their health, I never know what is coming next. Recently I got a call from my publicist. She was so excited she could hardly tell me the news. "While you are in New York later this week to do The Today Show and Fox and Friends, a major women's magazine wants to set up a photo shoot."
I screamed. I couldn't help it. Not only would the exposure help sell my book, but doing a photo shoot in New York, as the author of fitness books, was an experience I never dreamed I'd have. When I weighed nearly 350 pounds, an opportunity like this never entered my mind.
I couldn't wait, but I had to. It was still a few weeks away. As New Year's came and went, I was more careful than ever about fitting in all my workouts and eating clean. (Clean eating is the best way for me to think about food that delivers maximum energy with a reasonable calorie content.) When the day arrived, a driver came to our New York hotel to take Keith and me to the shoot. In the previous week, I had given my measurements to a stylist. She informed me she would be shopping for the clothes I would wear for the photo shoot. To use a term from my Southern-rooted parents, I was in hog heaven! I used to be the woman who was embarrassed to tell anyone her sizes, and now I had someone else buying me clothes based on them! The great part was the freedom in sharing what size I was. For the first time, I felt no shame.
When we arrived at the studio, I noticed that the loft where the photographer had scheduled the shoot was trendy and chic. It had sky-high ceilings complete with lots of lights and screened umbrellas to ensure perfect lighting. Taking up an entire wall was a buffet of food the magazine had catered for the event, my event! All of it was healthy fare with me in mind.
As I entered a dressing room, fun music filled the air. A makeup artist and hairstylist began their magic. I listened while they talked about their past work. One had done Heidi Klum's makeup not long before, and the other spoke of doing the makeup for big names on a major movie set. I was a little overwhelmed with the emotion of the moment. I felt like I was back to playing Barbie dolls with my sister.
After hair and makeup were underway, the stylist had me try on all the clothes she had bought. We settled on a great pair of designer jeans with a sleek white sweater and a trendy hot pink top. I put on the heels she had purchased—a perfect fit—and some fabulous jewelry. Then I was whisked away to the main part of the studio. In that moment I felt like a million bucks.
It was then the stylist asked me what I believed to be an insane question: "Where are your old blue jeans?" At first I couldn't believe I had heard her right, but I knew what she was getting at. She said the creative director wanted me to hold up a supersized pair of pants in the photo to show the dramatic contrast represented by clothes I had worn in my previous life.
I understood the point of playing up the shock value. Shoppers standing in line at the supermarket checkout would be amazed by the pants I had once filled out. But the idea that I would have to display a symbol of the old life I had left behind made me feel sick, like I had never lost a pound. How could I hold up a pair of jeans that represented my old humiliation?
I explained to the stylist that not only had I not brought a pair of jeans but I didn't feel comfortable doing this. As I held my breath, a few phone calls were made, and the shoot continued without the troubling reminder of my past. It turned out to be a great experience, and I was pleased with the photographs. However, I felt a little angry and upset with myself. Hadn't I moved on past my old image? I could now fit two of me inside my old jeans, so why was this such a big deal? I also wondered if readers might have been helped by seeing me holding up the pants I used to wear. Why couldn't I just smile into the camera with confidence even if I was standing behind a pair of my old jeans?
I Will Never Return
Back in my hotel room, I awoke in the middle of the night still thinking about the photo shoot. Finally I could see clearly what had offended me. Supersized blue jeans were a symbol of major pain in my life. Holding them up in front of me would not feel as if I was showcasing success. I was now on an exciting journey to share my life and my program to help other people. I had ditched the old jeans, just as I had ditched diets—and both of them for good! Sure, I will always be able to relate to the woman who desperately tries to zip up a pair of pants in a store's dressing room. But I didn't want to spend another special moment of my life sharing the spotlight with my former self. I had crossed the point of no return. I now knew without question that I would never go back.
I have a completely new deal, one that focuses on living my new life, the life that God led me to when I fell into my darkest moment. The old me had long wanted to leave behind the constant torment of being overweight and undisciplined. That life is now over. My new deal is much sweeter than I dreamed was possible.
You can have the same deal! You can start living a life of security and freedom. You can be released from the prison of defeat, failure, and negative self-image. And best of all, the new deal we're going to explore is guaranteed to last.
I won't ever return to being the person I started out as. There is no going back. And I'll show you how to take full advantage of the same deal!
It is time for a
FIRST Wild Card Tour
book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!
You never know when I might play a wild card on you!
Today's Wild Card author is:
Chantel Hobbs
and the book:
Love Food & Live Well
WaterBrook Press; 1 edition (December 14, 2010)
***Special thanks to Audra Jennings, Senior Media Specialist, The B&B Media Group for sending me a review copy.***
You don't have to hide it. You can love food right out in the open—and lose weight at the same time. With the latest release from Chantel Hobbs, Love Food and Live Well, you'll know when to have carrot cake and when it's time to just have a carrot.Let life coach and fitness expert Chantel Hobbs show you how to lose pounds to reach the weight that is right for you and then maintain it while enjoying healthy, delicious food. Built into this amazing plan is knowing that you can count on the occasional splurge with absolutely no guilt.
Using personal inventories, original recipes, and simple eating plans, plus new exercises for strength training and aerobic fitness, Hobbs will inspire you to live well in every area of life. Her positive and highly motivating approach is changing the way dieters look at food and will inspire you to pursue a life of lasting health in body, mind, and spirit.
Hobbs isn't like other fitness and nutritional experts. She doesn't just have the knowledge of what to eat. She's experienced the heartache of feeling unworthy. In her book she says, "We'll look at the deal the world has been selling us all of our lives—the message that we're not good enough, not pretty enough, not thin enough, and just basically that we're not enough." Hobbs doesn't just offer expert advice. She offers hope.
She exposes the lies that trap dieters in self-defeating habits and shows them how to break free from destructive attitudes toward food. You will no longer need to hate food or be limited to eating boring, bland, unsatisfying meals. You can learn to live with freedom.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Chantel Hobbs is a life coach, marathon runner, personal trainer, wife, and mother of four. Her amazing story of losing two hundred pounds and keeping the weight off has been featured on Oprah, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Fox & Friends, Life Today with James Robison, The 700 Club, and Focus on the Family Radio—and in People and First magazines. Hobbs hosts a weekly radio show and is the on-air fitness expert on the WAY-FM radio network. She is also a regular guest on the KLOVE radio network. Hobbs is a frequent speaker to women's groups and makes personal appearances at fitness conventions. The developer of The One-Day Way Learning System and the author of four books, including Never Say Diet and The One-Day Way, Chantel lives with her family in south Florida. Visit the author's website.
Product Details:
List Price: $19.99
Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: WaterBrook Press; 1 edition (December 14, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0307457842
ISBN-13: 978-0307457844
AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:
The Battle over Blue Jeans
People, Here Is My Deal!
For as long as I can remember, I have loved clothes and makeup. Even when I weighed close to 350 pounds, I experimented with trendy hairstyles while checking out the latest plus-size fashion catalogs.
When I was in elementary school, I would spend afternoons with my sister Christy, sitting on the floor of the closet in the decked-out pink bedroom we shared. This was a supersized closet where we would set up our Barbie dolls for fashion shows. Because I had blond hair and Christy was a brunette, it was only natural for me to pretend to be Barbie and her to be Skipper, Barbie's little sister. At least that's how I sold the idea to Christy. As we grew up and began to put our dolls away, I still enjoyed being prissy, often spending way too much time in front of a mirror.
Even as a young mother, I was a fashionista. I'll never forget entering the hospital to have a scheduled cesarean to deliver my son Jake. I had spent the day before the delivery getting a pedicure and manicure and shopping for a matching nightgown set. Really, I did this! As I lay on the table in the operating room, the doctor arrived and started to chuckle. "Well, Chantel, I can see nothing about this is going to be a natural delivery." All I could say was, "At least I left the false eyelashes at home." I was only half kidding.
One reason I went overboard with my appearance was because I loved hearing friends and family comment on how together I looked. Even while having a baby, I wanted to look great. But today, in hindsight, I feel seriously sorry for the woman I used to be. She was always exhausted from trying to maintain her unreal image. Plus, I knew deep down that I wasn't fooling anyone but myself. My weight problem wasn't going to vanish underneath fancy clothing and attempts to camouflage my problem areas. I really did know that owning an all-black wardrobe wouldn't keep my body issues a secret.
But back then I had convinced myself I needed to make a serious effort to look pretty from the neck up because I was too overweight for the rest of me to look decent. I rationalized that if I could highlight my best features, people would see my positive attributes and look past my greatest flaw: my obese body. At this point my life was one big head game.
I'll never forget the weekend I went on a business trip with my husband, Keith, to Bermuda. This was a dream coming true for someone who spent most days watching Barney and folding laundry. But when we started to pack, panic set in. Bermuda is one huge beach, and I knew I'd embarrass my husband if I wore a swimsuit in front of his bosses and work friends. On the other hand, this was Bermuda! It was a free trip and a chance to escape the zoo I called home!
After we boarded the plane, I found my seat and immediately put a jacket over my waist. This was a trick I had learned from previous travel experiences, and it almost always worked. If I could hide where the seat belt was supposed to be, the flight attendant wouldn't notice that mine was unbuckled. The truth is, I did this because I couldn't connect the seat belt. I was too big around. This time, however, my system failed. As the attendant stopped by our row, she asked me to buckle my seat belt. As I struggled to latch it, she stood impatiently with one hand on her hip. I whispered that I was having trouble making it fit.
So being the sensitive, tall, and freakishly thin woman she was, she shouted to her co-worker, "Could you look in one of the overhead compartments for a seat-belt extension?"
I was mortified. I closed my eyes and tried to pretend the attendant was talking about someone else. A few moments later she handed me the hated seat-belt extension, and I fastened the thing as quickly as I could. I promise you, I could feel the pity of strangers as they witnessed my hame. But instead of shedding tears, I did what I had rehearsed in previous situations. I took a deep breath and grabbed Keith's hand, squeezing it for dear life as the aircraft took off. My vacation is off to a great start, I told myself. I can't wait to see what other embarrassing moments lie ahead.
Surprisingly, our Bermuda trip ended up being the trip of a lifetime. The island was beautiful, the water was the clearest blue I had ever seen, and I felt beautiful for the entire week. Strangely, it was another young mother, the wife of one of Keith's co-workers, who was mostly responsible.
Each day I would get dolled up and make my entrance into the meeting room for the company's group breakfast. This girl went out of her way to say something sincere and extraordinary about the way I looked, morning after morning. She would also ask me for fashion advice. By her looks, she didn't need any, certainly none from me. Yet she still inquired and never in a condescending way.
Best of all, she never breathed the dreaded words "You have such a pretty face." The trip to Bermuda taught me the intense power we all have when we speak to someone, especially to a person who is feeling weak and vulnerable. Just by saying something simple and positive, we can brighten someone's outlook, even if it's only for a few seconds.
For most of my life I had become accustomed to backhanded compliments. When it came to my weight and all my failed attempts to lose it, I had heard everything. I'd try yet another diet, and two weeks into it over and over I would hear from those around me, "Now keep up the good work." And I would always think, Are you kidding? I'm trying here. Just tell me "good job,"
and don't worry about whether I lose another dad-gum pound. I get that you are letting me know I have a long way to go!
Yet Another New Start
Coming home from Bermuda, where I felt sincere acceptance, I had real hope. I felt different. I was relaxed, revived, and encouraged. I decided that I was ready to give weight loss another shot. As I set out to lose weight for the eighty-sixth time in my life, I felt prepared. I bought the latest diet book from Sam's Club and a twelve-pack of muffins. I rationalized the muffin purchase by telling myself I needed to have one last hurrah.
On Monday my plan was to go for it. I would try with everything in me not to let anything stand in my way. Of course, I didn't see any need to crack open the new book I'd bought until the weekend was over! What would a few more days of indulgence hurt?
Then Monday arrived, and I made my grand entrance at the gym. I even went back three days in a row. The only problem was that by the end of the week I was hanging out more than working out. I'd been trying to get David, the juice bar owner, to tell me his recipe for the yummy chocolate–peanut butter protein shake I was ordering every day. The first clue it wasn't all that
healthy should have been the chocolate syrup he poured in. But I told myself, if it's made on gym property, how bad could it be?
By the time the week ended, I had followed the plan in my recently purchased book and had my cheat day. Not surprisingly, I quickly indulged in an entire cheat weekend. However, I managed to get back to the gym the following Monday. The plan I was on was doable, and even with halfhearted efforts, I was slowly losing weight.
After shedding about twenty pounds, I decided I needed some new clothes. This was kind of funny, especially since not one person had noticed that I had lost an ounce. As I said earlier, I've always loved fashion. But at this point, with my weight so high, I was stuck wearing mostly dresses and skirts. I just couldn't face the prospect of trying to fit my behind into a pair of pants
at Lane Bryant. But now, since I was feeling pretty good about myself and getting results, I headed over to the Coral Square Mall. I was there to hunt down a pair of blue jeans. Even if I had to lie down to zip them and not breathe while I wore them, I was determined to come home with new jeans.
I picked up three pairs with plenty of stretch to take into the dressing room. Once the door was closed, though, no amount of sucking it in, squeezing hard, or holding my breath got the jeans up to my waist. I couldn't make any of them fit. As I held the jeans up and looked in the mirror, I wondered how anyone could stand to look at me. I was a disgusting blob of pain and misery.
I had left home that day feeling good about my progress. I was finally losing some weight. But after a few minutes in a dressing room, I wanted to die. How had I let myself become this pathetic mess of a woman?
A few Cinnabons later I went home. Two weeks after my blue jean horror show, I found out I was expecting. A month into the pregnancy I miscarried due to a badly infected gallbladder, and I ended up having emergency surgery. I wondered if I would ever change my life or if I would die first. Death seemed like perhaps the only escape out of this prison.
About six months later I had an unforgettable encounter with God. I was alone in my car, driving home from a meeting. I had reached my lowest point ever, and I let God in. I had known Him for years, ever since I had been saved from an eternity separated from Him. As a little girl in Sunday school, I had asked Jesus into my heart to save me from my sins. What I needed now, as a desperate, hurting, damaged woman, was to be saved from myself. I was still trying to run my own life.
God had whispered my name through many embarrassing moments and hurtful situations; I just never answered. But that night, alone in my car, He finally got through to me. I experienced a supernatural intervention. And it compels me now to tell my friends, my clients, and my readers my Lazarus story.
An Incredible Second Chance
Remember the story of Lazarus in the Bible? When Jesus brought him back from the dead, and we're talking dead as a doornail (he was four-days dead), I imagine all he wanted was to blow a trumpet and tell the world about his miracle. Today I feel a similar kind of zeal resulting from my own miracle. As I surrendered all the pain of my lifelong weight problem to God, my heart
began a major shift. God gave me a deep desire to go to work. For the first time, I took on the task of losing the weight with Him in charge. I was no longer alone as I had been in the past. By allowing God, who never breaks a promise, to give me the strength, self-control, and focus I needed, how could I fail?
Ten years later I am on the same course He set for my life that night. My life is still filled with unexpected moments, both tragedies and celebrations. But I have never looked back.
After going on to lose two hundred pounds, I designed my own fitness and weight-loss program and became a certified Spinning teacher, personal trainer, and marathon runner. I love feeling strong, being healthy, and knowing I'm not a slave to my former appetites. Often I run into people I haven't seen in many years. They may have known me as the overweight girl with a
pretty face. And if I dare to attempt a reacquaintance, I am usually in for a good laugh.
I'll never forget one woman from a church I attended years earlier. I ran into her at the grocery store and tried to convince her who I was. "You aren't really Chantel from West Lauderdale Baptist," she insisted. I tried to get her to believe it was me, just an improved version. I think she finally accepted the truth, but it took awhile.
I am proud of the woman I have worked to become. However, I am most thankful that God rescued me from a place where I had lost all hope. God's care for me and His work in my life give me the strength to stay on course. Now, after writing four books and producing a learning system for weight loss and fitness, I can see that God continues to use me as a voice of real-life
experience. A big part of my message is this: let me help you stop sabotaging yourself and your life. I know, from hard experience, how to overcome self-defeat. Every day I get to hear the stories of people who were losing hope, as I was, and now are finding the life they had dreamed of. I receive e-mails from women who have heard me speak, read one of my books, or heard me on the radio and now are surrendering their failed attempts to God. They are learning the truth and power of surrender and then doing the hard work of changing their lives.
In my work of helping people reclaim their health, I never know what is coming next. Recently I got a call from my publicist. She was so excited she could hardly tell me the news. "While you are in New York later this week to do The Today Show and Fox and Friends, a major women's magazine wants to set up a photo shoot."
I screamed. I couldn't help it. Not only would the exposure help sell my book, but doing a photo shoot in New York, as the author of fitness books, was an experience I never dreamed I'd have. When I weighed nearly 350 pounds, an opportunity like this never entered my mind.
I couldn't wait, but I had to. It was still a few weeks away. As New Year's came and went, I was more careful than ever about fitting in all my workouts and eating clean. (Clean eating is the best way for me to think about food that delivers maximum energy with a reasonable calorie content.) When the day arrived, a driver came to our New York hotel to take Keith and me to the shoot. In the previous week, I had given my measurements to a stylist. She informed me she would be shopping for the clothes I would wear for the photo shoot. To use a term from my Southern-rooted parents, I was in hog heaven! I used to be the woman who was embarrassed to tell anyone her sizes, and now I had someone else buying me clothes based on them! The great part was the freedom in sharing what size I was. For the first time, I felt no shame.
When we arrived at the studio, I noticed that the loft where the photographer had scheduled the shoot was trendy and chic. It had sky-high ceilings complete with lots of lights and screened umbrellas to ensure perfect lighting. Taking up an entire wall was a buffet of food the magazine had catered for the event, my event! All of it was healthy fare with me in mind.
As I entered a dressing room, fun music filled the air. A makeup artist and hairstylist began their magic. I listened while they talked about their past work. One had done Heidi Klum's makeup not long before, and the other spoke of doing the makeup for big names on a major movie set. I was a little overwhelmed with the emotion of the moment. I felt like I was back to playing Barbie dolls with my sister.
After hair and makeup were underway, the stylist had me try on all the clothes she had bought. We settled on a great pair of designer jeans with a sleek white sweater and a trendy hot pink top. I put on the heels she had purchased—a perfect fit—and some fabulous jewelry. Then I was whisked away to the main part of the studio. In that moment I felt like a million bucks.
It was then the stylist asked me what I believed to be an insane question: "Where are your old blue jeans?" At first I couldn't believe I had heard her right, but I knew what she was getting at. She said the creative director wanted me to hold up a supersized pair of pants in the photo to show the dramatic contrast represented by clothes I had worn in my previous life.
I understood the point of playing up the shock value. Shoppers standing in line at the supermarket checkout would be amazed by the pants I had once filled out. But the idea that I would have to display a symbol of the old life I had left behind made me feel sick, like I had never lost a pound. How could I hold up a pair of jeans that represented my old humiliation?
I explained to the stylist that not only had I not brought a pair of jeans but I didn't feel comfortable doing this. As I held my breath, a few phone calls were made, and the shoot continued without the troubling reminder of my past. It turned out to be a great experience, and I was pleased with the photographs. However, I felt a little angry and upset with myself. Hadn't I moved on past my old image? I could now fit two of me inside my old jeans, so why was this such a big deal? I also wondered if readers might have been helped by seeing me holding up the pants I used to wear. Why couldn't I just smile into the camera with confidence even if I was standing behind a pair of my old jeans?
I Will Never Return
Back in my hotel room, I awoke in the middle of the night still thinking about the photo shoot. Finally I could see clearly what had offended me. Supersized blue jeans were a symbol of major pain in my life. Holding them up in front of me would not feel as if I was showcasing success. I was now on an exciting journey to share my life and my program to help other people. I had ditched the old jeans, just as I had ditched diets—and both of them for good! Sure, I will always be able to relate to the woman who desperately tries to zip up a pair of pants in a store's dressing room. But I didn't want to spend another special moment of my life sharing the spotlight with my former self. I had crossed the point of no return. I now knew without question that I would never go back.
I have a completely new deal, one that focuses on living my new life, the life that God led me to when I fell into my darkest moment. The old me had long wanted to leave behind the constant torment of being overweight and undisciplined. That life is now over. My new deal is much sweeter than I dreamed was possible.
You can have the same deal! You can start living a life of security and freedom. You can be released from the prison of defeat, failure, and negative self-image. And best of all, the new deal we're going to explore is guaranteed to last.
I won't ever return to being the person I started out as. There is no going back. And I'll show you how to take full advantage of the same deal!
It is time for a
FIRST Wild Card Tour
book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book! You never know when I might play a wild card on you!
December 21, 2010
More Like Falling in Love
Captain's Log, Stardate 12.21.2010
I've "fallen in love" with this song! I love the lyrics of the chorus, it totally describes what was like to fall in love with Jesus and give my heart to him.
"More Like Falling in Love"
By: Jason Gray and Jason Ingram
From the album, Everything Sad is Coming Untrue
Give me rules
I will break them
Give me lines
I will cross them
I need more than a truth to believe
I need a truth that lives, moves, and breathes
To sweep me off my feet
It ought to be
More like falling in love
Than something to believe in
More like losing my heart
Than giving my allegiance
Caught up, called out
Come take a look at me now
It's like I'm falling, oh
It's like I'm falling in love
Give me words
I'll misuse them
Obligations
I'll misplace them
'Cause all religion ever made of me
Was just a sinner with a stone tied to my feet
It never set me free
It's gotta be
More like falling in love
Than something to believe in
More like losing my heart
Than giving my allegiance
Caught up, called out
Come take a look at me now
It's like I'm falling, oh
It's like I'm falling in love
...It's like I'm falling in love, love, love
Deeper and deeper
It was love that made
Me a believer
In more than a name, a faith, a creed
Falling in love with Jesus brought the change in me
More like falling in love
Than something to believe in
More like losing my heart
Than giving my allegiance
Caught up, called out
Come take a look at me now
It's like I'm falling, oh
It's like I'm falling in love
I've "fallen in love" with this song! I love the lyrics of the chorus, it totally describes what was like to fall in love with Jesus and give my heart to him."More Like Falling in Love"
By: Jason Gray and Jason Ingram
From the album, Everything Sad is Coming Untrue
Give me rules
I will break them
Give me lines
I will cross them
I need more than a truth to believe
I need a truth that lives, moves, and breathes
To sweep me off my feet
It ought to be
More like falling in love
Than something to believe in
More like losing my heart
Than giving my allegiance
Caught up, called out
Come take a look at me now
It's like I'm falling, oh
It's like I'm falling in love
Give me words
I'll misuse them
Obligations
I'll misplace them
'Cause all religion ever made of me
Was just a sinner with a stone tied to my feet
It never set me free
It's gotta be
More like falling in love
Than something to believe in
More like losing my heart
Than giving my allegiance
Caught up, called out
Come take a look at me now
It's like I'm falling, oh
It's like I'm falling in love
...It's like I'm falling in love, love, love
Deeper and deeper
It was love that made
Me a believer
In more than a name, a faith, a creed
Falling in love with Jesus brought the change in me
More like falling in love
Than something to believe in
More like losing my heart
Than giving my allegiance
Caught up, called out
Come take a look at me now
It's like I'm falling, oh
It's like I'm falling in love
December 14, 2010
Honolulu Marathon!
Captain's Log, Stardate 12.13.2010
I finished my very first marathon! And a huge thank you to everyone who prayed for me! I really felt those prayers! (See below.) My chip time was 7 hours, 13 minutes.
(Chip time is the electronically tracked time using a chip I got that attached to my shoe. Every time I passed a special strip on the road, the sensor picked up my chip, which was registered to my race number and identification, and that's how my time was posted on my Facebook wall—the company who does the whole chip thing has a program that posted my time on my Facebook whenever I passed a chip sensor strip. For some reason, when I passed the 10K mark, it didn't post on my wall, but it posted at 13.1 miles and on.)
We got to the starting line at 4:30 a.m. and the gun went off at 5 a.m., but I was so far in back that it took me about 10 minutes just to cross the start line. When I crossed the start line, my timing chip on my shoe recorded my start time, so my actual race time wasn't affected by the fact I started so far back. There were 22,000 people so there were a LOT of people lined up for the race.
The weather was hot and rather humid but I'd much rather run in hot weather than cold weather because in cold weather, my hands get numb (even though my torso will be covered in sweat. Go figure).
I have been training using the Jeff Galloway Run-Walk-Run method, and I also paid for 6 months of e-coaching with Jeff, and he suggested that for my first marathon, I should start at a :10 seconds run/ :50 seconds walk ratio for the first 5 miles, then up it to :15/:45 until mile 20, and then I can do whatever. So I did that.
The :10/:50 ratio kept me from starting off too fast, which is the biggest problem of most people who run marathons (from what I've read). You start off too fast, and then you completely poop out around mile 20. So I was really glad I made myself keep to that ratio.
I ran/walked steadily, although when I walk, I tend to walk very slowly. I've actually tried walking faster, and I always end up hyperextending my knee and being out of commission for a few days, so I stopped trying and just walk with a gentle stride. (I'm going to do a few exercises to strengthen my knee to see if that will help with the hyperextension.)
Anyway, when I walked in the marathon, everyone passed me. And I mean everyone. 90-year-old grandmas walk faster than I do when I walk.
But I kept running/walking, and the walking segments kept my legs fresh. I stopped to walk at each water station (there were 16 along the course) and drink water, take gummi bears (to keep my blood sugar up) and also take electrolyte caps to replenish my electrolyte and salt since I was sweating so much.
However, around mile 8 or 10, I suddenly had a dull ache at the top of my right thigh, near where the tendon attaches to my hip. It made running painful and I started worrying I wouldn't be able to finish the race. I started praying like you wouldn't believe, and I knew a lot of people were praying for me, too, and I asked God to please take away the pain and help me to finish the marathon.
Then around mile 10, my left foot stepped on a rock. I didn't sprain my ankle, but I definitely strained it a little. And I started worrying and praying again.
And do you know what??? By mile 13, the pain in both my hip and my ankle had died to only a twinge, and my hip pain (the worst of the two) stayed that way for the rest of the marathon. The pain in my hip came back a few hours afterward, but by that time, I was so achy all over my body it was just one of a million other aches and pains.
By mile 18, I started passing a lot of people who were getting too tired/sore to keep walking or running. Thank you, Jeff Galloway!
At mile 20, I switched to a :30/:30 ratio and I really started passing people. I was running slower than I had in the beginning, but my legs felt pretty good (and my hip pain was still only a twinge).
However, and I don't know why, but my right ankle started to hurt just like my left one, but I don't remember twisting it in any way. It was really painful especially when I started running from a walk, so the longer run segments actually helped. I did a 1 minute/1 minute ratio for a while, but then I switched back to :30/:30 because we started going uphill around mile 23.
I was really starting to pass people by then, because everyone was walking up the hill. My ankles hurt but my legs and lungs and heart still felt very fresh, and so the running was painful, but not tiring. Did I mention Jeff Galloway rocks???
Did I ever want to quit? NO. I was going to finish this marathon, darn it, and the only way I wouldn't finish would be if I passed out on the course.
Was I in a lot of pain? Oh, heck yes. But I remembered a sign from one of the people cheering us on along the course: If it was easy, everyone would do it.
It was also hotter than the seventh level of hell, but since I'd done a lot of running at midday in California, the heat didn't really bother me too much. I'm really glad I did that "hot running" training during the summer and early autumn.
I crossed the finish line and was so tired, I didn't even feel any sort of elation. But when I saw Captain Caffeine just outside the fenced-off area for the finishers, I admit I started tearing up, because I was so hormonal and emotional from all that running.
The only thing I didn't like was that they made the finishers walk ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE PARK CLEAR TO THE OTHER SIDE to pick up our finisher's T-shirt and medal. I mean, seriously. I've just run 26 miles. That extra 0.25 mile was torture.
I am definitely going to run another marathon! I hope I can run faster if I keep training. I think I'd like to one day run a marathon in 5 hours.
My race number/bib
Captain Caffeine took a picture of the clock to prove/complain we had to get up at the butt-crack of dawn to get to the race on time.
Don't I look amazingly chipper for 4:30 a.m.?
Some random shots of the other people at the race.
This is a shot of the finish line behind it, when finishers were heading to get their medals.
This is me, exhausted, before I heard Captain Caffeine call to me from behind the fence of the finisher's section.
I think I look pretty good considering my feet were screaming bloody murder.
This is Kapiolani park, where the finish line was.
Here are shots Captain Caffeine took of the volunteers at the race in their orange T-shirts.
This is a Banyan tree (I think).
I was being facetious and pretending to be a Japanese tourist.
My ankles were so painful, I sat on the curb and waited for my parents to drive around with the car to pick me up.
My post-race pig-out was at Kua'Aina hamburgers, which have the BEST FRENCH FRIES IN THE ENTIRE WORLD!!!
I had a burger with provolone cheese and avocado, and THE BEST FRENCH FRIES IN THE ENTIRE WORLD!!!!
Did I mention THE BEST FRENCH FRIES IN THE ENTIRE WORLD???
My finisher's medal!
The backside
I finished my very first marathon! And a huge thank you to everyone who prayed for me! I really felt those prayers! (See below.) My chip time was 7 hours, 13 minutes.(Chip time is the electronically tracked time using a chip I got that attached to my shoe. Every time I passed a special strip on the road, the sensor picked up my chip, which was registered to my race number and identification, and that's how my time was posted on my Facebook wall—the company who does the whole chip thing has a program that posted my time on my Facebook whenever I passed a chip sensor strip. For some reason, when I passed the 10K mark, it didn't post on my wall, but it posted at 13.1 miles and on.)
We got to the starting line at 4:30 a.m. and the gun went off at 5 a.m., but I was so far in back that it took me about 10 minutes just to cross the start line. When I crossed the start line, my timing chip on my shoe recorded my start time, so my actual race time wasn't affected by the fact I started so far back. There were 22,000 people so there were a LOT of people lined up for the race.
The weather was hot and rather humid but I'd much rather run in hot weather than cold weather because in cold weather, my hands get numb (even though my torso will be covered in sweat. Go figure).
I have been training using the Jeff Galloway Run-Walk-Run method, and I also paid for 6 months of e-coaching with Jeff, and he suggested that for my first marathon, I should start at a :10 seconds run/ :50 seconds walk ratio for the first 5 miles, then up it to :15/:45 until mile 20, and then I can do whatever. So I did that.
The :10/:50 ratio kept me from starting off too fast, which is the biggest problem of most people who run marathons (from what I've read). You start off too fast, and then you completely poop out around mile 20. So I was really glad I made myself keep to that ratio.
I ran/walked steadily, although when I walk, I tend to walk very slowly. I've actually tried walking faster, and I always end up hyperextending my knee and being out of commission for a few days, so I stopped trying and just walk with a gentle stride. (I'm going to do a few exercises to strengthen my knee to see if that will help with the hyperextension.)
Anyway, when I walked in the marathon, everyone passed me. And I mean everyone. 90-year-old grandmas walk faster than I do when I walk.
But I kept running/walking, and the walking segments kept my legs fresh. I stopped to walk at each water station (there were 16 along the course) and drink water, take gummi bears (to keep my blood sugar up) and also take electrolyte caps to replenish my electrolyte and salt since I was sweating so much.
However, around mile 8 or 10, I suddenly had a dull ache at the top of my right thigh, near where the tendon attaches to my hip. It made running painful and I started worrying I wouldn't be able to finish the race. I started praying like you wouldn't believe, and I knew a lot of people were praying for me, too, and I asked God to please take away the pain and help me to finish the marathon.
Then around mile 10, my left foot stepped on a rock. I didn't sprain my ankle, but I definitely strained it a little. And I started worrying and praying again.
And do you know what??? By mile 13, the pain in both my hip and my ankle had died to only a twinge, and my hip pain (the worst of the two) stayed that way for the rest of the marathon. The pain in my hip came back a few hours afterward, but by that time, I was so achy all over my body it was just one of a million other aches and pains.
By mile 18, I started passing a lot of people who were getting too tired/sore to keep walking or running. Thank you, Jeff Galloway!
At mile 20, I switched to a :30/:30 ratio and I really started passing people. I was running slower than I had in the beginning, but my legs felt pretty good (and my hip pain was still only a twinge).
However, and I don't know why, but my right ankle started to hurt just like my left one, but I don't remember twisting it in any way. It was really painful especially when I started running from a walk, so the longer run segments actually helped. I did a 1 minute/1 minute ratio for a while, but then I switched back to :30/:30 because we started going uphill around mile 23.
I was really starting to pass people by then, because everyone was walking up the hill. My ankles hurt but my legs and lungs and heart still felt very fresh, and so the running was painful, but not tiring. Did I mention Jeff Galloway rocks???
Did I ever want to quit? NO. I was going to finish this marathon, darn it, and the only way I wouldn't finish would be if I passed out on the course.
Was I in a lot of pain? Oh, heck yes. But I remembered a sign from one of the people cheering us on along the course: If it was easy, everyone would do it.
It was also hotter than the seventh level of hell, but since I'd done a lot of running at midday in California, the heat didn't really bother me too much. I'm really glad I did that "hot running" training during the summer and early autumn.
I crossed the finish line and was so tired, I didn't even feel any sort of elation. But when I saw Captain Caffeine just outside the fenced-off area for the finishers, I admit I started tearing up, because I was so hormonal and emotional from all that running.
The only thing I didn't like was that they made the finishers walk ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE PARK CLEAR TO THE OTHER SIDE to pick up our finisher's T-shirt and medal. I mean, seriously. I've just run 26 miles. That extra 0.25 mile was torture.
I am definitely going to run another marathon! I hope I can run faster if I keep training. I think I'd like to one day run a marathon in 5 hours.
My race number/bib
Captain Caffeine took a picture of the clock to prove/complain we had to get up at the butt-crack of dawn to get to the race on time.
Don't I look amazingly chipper for 4:30 a.m.?
Some random shots of the other people at the race.
This is a shot of the finish line behind it, when finishers were heading to get their medals.
This is me, exhausted, before I heard Captain Caffeine call to me from behind the fence of the finisher's section.
I think I look pretty good considering my feet were screaming bloody murder.
This is Kapiolani park, where the finish line was.
Here are shots Captain Caffeine took of the volunteers at the race in their orange T-shirts.
This is a Banyan tree (I think).
I was being facetious and pretending to be a Japanese tourist.
My ankles were so painful, I sat on the curb and waited for my parents to drive around with the car to pick me up.
My post-race pig-out was at Kua'Aina hamburgers, which have the BEST FRENCH FRIES IN THE ENTIRE WORLD!!!
I had a burger with provolone cheese and avocado, and THE BEST FRENCH FRIES IN THE ENTIRE WORLD!!!!
Did I mention THE BEST FRENCH FRIES IN THE ENTIRE WORLD???
My finisher's medal!
The backside
