Book Review: All Diets Work

I know a post on Worldcon is due and I promise one will be coming with pictures very soon. I'm still trying to come down from the awesomeness that was Renovation 2011! So, until that happenshere is a book review for you!

As you may know back in February as the scale came close to a dreaded number I never wanted to see I decided to change my lifestyle and dove full force into being primal. Today 38 pounds lighter, 100% healthier, and filled with more energy than I've had since before the kids came along, I am doing great. I still have those last stubborn 12 pounds to go, but am confident that I will be leaving them behind in 2011! In light of my new found health, when I was approached by a friend to do a blog tour for a new diet book I was more than happy to read through it and see what else was out there. Just so you know, I don't know the author, but I did get a free book as part of this review. And now for the good stuff!

The Book is called All Diets Work that's the problem by Jen Brewer. The subtext says: 25 tools to help you stop dieting and start losing weight for good.

To be honest there wasn't really anything new in this book to me. But then again, I've read a lot of diet books over the years. So here is what I thought of the advice given. Or According to Sabine.

The thing I liked about this book is that it was quick and easy to read. At only 132 pages there are no long winded diet plans or complicated workout routines to follow.The information given for the most part was good. I do beleive that lifestyle change, not diet is the only way to lose weight and keep it off in the long run. There were several ideas that were fun to read and I could see them being very helful to people. Did I agree with everything said? No, but bear in mind the more I read about grains and sugar, the more I want to steer clear of them at all costs. That is not an easy thing to do. Many people look at me and say: Pasta? I could never give up pasta. For those people, this book may be just what they need.

There are 25 tools given to help you in your goal to weight loss. The success stories in the book are fun as each one tells you which of the 25 tools they combined to make their successful weight loss plan. At the end of the book there are food diary examples and plenty of useful charts that may make the purchase worth it just for that.

So my recommendation would have to be: Go Primal, its easy, it works, and you will feel like a million dollars! If you really don't think you can give up grains (trust me, you can live without them) then buy this book, it is a great way to get started on a plan that will change your life.

Around the Corner

There are so many things coming around the next corner that I am not prepared for. I leave for Worldcon in two days. My bags are not packed, the house is not clean, my final critique is not written nicely (at least I've read the story and done the critique itself). School starts for the kiddos about 8-10 hours after I will be getting home. I need to have them all ready before I go so the first day of school won't be a train wreck. I start school a week later, I am still trying to get into one class that I MUST take or my schooling will be prolonged by another semester. I want to have more, much more, of my rough draft for ROOM finished before school starts. Taking 15 credits will not help me in the field of writing unless I have a strong start before then. So much to do and yet yesterday I spent my morning reading with Bear, watching Minchkin in her soccer tournament, and celebrating my twelfth anniversary to my wonderful husband. It was a wonderful, relaxing day. I wish I could say the same for the next two days, but I have a feeling life is going to be turned upside down. If it were just me, I could handle it, but I have to tread carefully since the kids, especially Squishie don't handle things well when mom gets into turbo mode. I guess that means no writing for the next few days. I will have a whole week of kid free mornings to work on it when I get back. For now I will sign off as Sabine Writer, and turning into my secret identity of Superwoman (if I can find her!)

Count Down to Worldcon

I can't beleive that I am 8 days away from Worldcon, my first out of state major writing convention. Last night I went "shopping" in my young and stylish mother-in-laws closet and came home with outfits for all five days, plus a dress for the Hugo awards. She also allowed me use of her extensive accessories, so I will have matching earings, necklaces, rings, and bracletts to go with all my finery. It is a relief to have that checked off my list. There is still so much to do. I have to get my business cards printed, read through the schedule and make an outline of where I want to be and when. I only have two things that are preplaned, my writers workshop and breakfast with my fabulous online writing community. It will be so fun to finally meet people who I have only known online for several years. I still have to do one more full critique for my writing workshop. I sent the first 2 and half chapters of SKY for my piece and am excited to see what complete strangers say about my story. Hopefully I will still be excited after I hear what they have to say!!
I also have to have everything ready for the kids to start school the morning after I get home. So that doesn't leave much time for writing. In fact, I've been pretty bad all week what with the cousins from Germany here (and since their plane was delayed we get them for two more days:))and M's soccer tournament (they one the first 3 games she played in, but she didn't play in semi finals due to family activities and they lost :(), and back to school shopping (done for all the kids thanks to the great sales at Park City Outlets), and the Real game (great date night especially since they won!!!!) and getting sucked into the book Shades of Milk and Honey which so far I totally recommend if you are a fane of Jane Austen fan. But the house is clean, the kids have their cousins and maybe this week another chapter will surface before I fall into complete Worldcon mode.

Writing on

On Friday, after having figured out the bathroom issues well enough for the time being, I came to another drastic halt. I had no way of knowing if she tells her family about the situation or not. Ease dictates that no one knows but her, but logic says Why on Earth would she not tell her family? I was at that lovely little intersection known as Writer's Block. I tried to write on, to not let this one thing stop me, but lets face it, if the family knows I have a whole different story than if they don't know. So I lived life this weekend instead.
On Saturday I spent the morning with Minchkin at a Shaved Ice fundraiser for her team. The results were pretty good. We now have enough to pay for five of the seven tournaments our team has planned for the year. Oh we still have to pay for gas and hotels to get to said tournaments, but the actual tournament fees are taken care of. That night D took bear to the Real Salt Lake Game and Squishy, Minchkin and I had girls night out which included Jason's Deli (thanks to free kids meal coupons from school), The Chocolate (for the girls) and Barnes and Noble of course for Italian Cream Sodas. Then it was home to watch a beloved Disney classic Summer Magic. Old Haily Mills movies are the best! So basically my mind was anywhere but on the next writing stall.
Then Sunday came.
You would think that I worried all day about this problem, but I didn't instead another rejection, and a search for agents to send Sky out to made me step back and take a big look at my first chapter of Sky. Not even just the first chapter, which is pretty good if I do say so, but the first five pages, the ones that really count, the ones that I realized I had a lot of great lines, but it was all back story. A writing no no. So I began to dissect, which I should not be wasting my time on, since it is the first 3 chapters of Sky that I will be workshopping at Worldcon in two weeks. SO now even though I came up with a good idea how to get my information across without back story so much, I am still trying to focus simply on Room and trying to wait for actual author feedback at the Worldcon Workshop. So despite all my efforts to procrastinate on Room, the point is, this week I will be Writing on. (and thanks to a writing group dead line today will be spent submerged in the Room!