Let the Editing Begin

Yesterday, I started the editing process.  It is a HUGE step in the right direction.  It's also a HUGE job, and I felt slightly overwhelmed reading through my work and wondering who the heck wrote it.  That's the way I'm supposed to feel so I can make the necessary changes, right?

After this, I need to work on a query letter and let about 400 people read it so I can make sure it looks its best.  Send to agents who are soliciting new authors. Then just wait for the rejection letters to roll in...and if I'm lucky, an acceptance. 

I did a little bit of reading about query letters yesterday and about rejection slips.  I also perused some contests coming up, and I'm debating writing a short story for one or two of them.  Short stories aren't my thing: novels are, but I think short stories are a good way to get recognized and maybe if I submit enough of them I could win a contest or two to add some experience to my query letter.

Speaking of experience: I have none.  I wasn't on the newspaper in high school, not an English major, never really wrote for anyone but myself until this year.  This is all new to me, and it is still slightly overwhelming.  I'm proud of my work though, and I DO want other people to read what I wrote. 

I started the short story yesterday, about a little girl coping with Alopecia Areata for the first time.  This sounds familiar, right?  Writing about this is somewhat cathartic for me, and even though the little girl in the story is not me, I had some of the same fears and thoughts that she did when I first started losing my hair.  I struggled with accepting myself, and honestly some days I still do.  But I think the story will be good because it comes from my heart.  I have the general idea in my head and now it's just a question of how to par it down to 6,000 words.  Six thousand words is awfully small, especially when you're used to writing novels and not short stories. 

Weight Loss Tips 11: What to Eat and How to Keep Going

I'm exhausted this morning.  Darling Daughter crawled into bed with us some time in the middle of the night, and she thinks that her little 2 year old body should own the whole bed!  She sleeps on my head, on my pillow, on my stomach.  So much for her staying in her bed.  I really need to work on that after my upcoming road trips, because I'm pretty much out of town every weekend for the foreseeable future, and Darling Daughter will be Hubby's child.  Hopefully without me here, he can whip her into shape (not literally, because we rarely spank!). 

So this mornind I was laying in bed wondering what I was going to blog about.  I don't really have many more weight loss tips up my sleeves.  Yesterday, I randomly took photos of my breakfast and snacks to show you what healthy, clean eating looks like, so here they are:

 

For breakfast, I had a bowl of Oats with fresh cut up strawberries.  I buy the regular Old Fashioned Oats, and for sweetness I add honey.  Honey is a natural sugar, so your body processes it better than pure white sugar.  I cook my oatmeal with 2% milk for the calcium.  This is so tasty.  Then, I added a boiled egg for some protein to tide me over.  I was seriously stuffed after I ate this.  Oatmeal expands in your stomach, and it keeps you full for a longer time in the morning and less likely to snack. 

 

 

 

Snacking is not bad though if you're aware of what you're putting in your mouth.  Here are the snacks I brought to work yesterday.  If I have these, then I'm way less likely to go to that EVIL vending junk machine that is in our hallway!  My snacks consists of a bag of pistachios, an orange, a banana, and a homemade trail mix.  The trail mix will last me a few days, as that portion size is way too big to eat in one day.  It consists of mixed nuts, raisins, Chex mix, and a few chocolate and peanut butter chips.  The homemade trail mix is really my favorite snack.  I bring it to work almost every day. Nuts provide you protein and energy throughout the day, and they also make you less hungry. 

 

Now that you have some visual aids, here are a few tips for this week:

• Stay Consistent: If you've already committed to exercising and reducing your food intake, stay consistent.  This doesn't mean you can't splurge, but make the conscious decision to live your life in a healthy way every day. 
 
• Prepare, Prepare, Prepare: Planning out your meals and your snacks helps you avoid eating catastrophes.  Having pre-packaged snacks at work might help you avoid eating something that you shouldn't.  Having a plan is always a good thing!
 
• Incorporate Exercise in Your Life: Exercise can be so fun!  That's why I go to Taekwondo, because I enjoy doing it so much, and I also get the added benefit that it's good for me.  I went to a Latin Craze class earlier this week, which I loved but alas I have no more time or money in my life to join yet another exercise group!  You'll find once you incorporate exercise in your life, you'll miss it when you don't do it.  Exercise is great for your mental health too.
 
• Never Give Up: If you give up, you'll never know what you're capable of achieving! I've achieved so many things this year I never thought I could do, because I never gave up.  I can ran 3 miles now, where six months ago I couldn't even run 1!  I can do it, because I stuck to it. I trusted myself, I egged myself on, and I stopped the negative feed in my head, tuning only in to the positive. You can do it too!

 



Never EVER Give Up

My mantra this year is to never give up.  If you don't give up you can achieve your goals, one step at a time. 

This morning, since I woke up at 4:24 AM hacking up a lung, I decided to do a little mindless internet surfing.  I started out with good intentions, working a little bit on my novel, but I was sidetracked by too many thoughts swirling around in my brain.  Maybe I do have ADHD. 

A few fews back, one of my TKD instructors posted this video on one of my friend's pages:



I had not taken the time to watch it, but Friday night Miranda Grace told me I really NEEDED to watch this video.  It's amazing, she said.  She's right.  THIS IS AMAZING!

Here is a man, all odds against him, and he transformed his life!  How?  He had one person (ONE PERSON!) who believed in him, and he believed in himself.  He knew he had the power within himself to lose weight, become happy, walk again and even RUN again! 

People, that's all it takes, the power within yourself to transform your life.  Every single one of us has it.  It's just baby steps. 

This year I realized that, and I accomplished so many things that I thought I could never do.  I lost 55 pounds, I've written half a novel, I started running, I made my home a healthier and happier place.

NEVER GIVE UP!  If the man in that video can fight against all odds, then a normal person like me and you who wants to achieve something surely can too.  The power is within you.