Books For Treats

I'd like to direct your attention to my latest article. This one talks about a cool and healthy idea for those little trick-or-treaters that visit you each year.

Books For Treats: give brain candy this year

Hope you enjoy!

Spaghetti Squash

Hey everyone! I'm trying to get things organized for the new school year about to start. I'm cleaning, purging old books, etc. It's taking some work to get it all done, but I'm confident I will start this year of homeschooling better organized than last year. I can't say it will stay that way, but at least I'm on the right foot to begin with.

Just posting a link today since I'm still working all this stuff out. I put up an article on Examiner yesterday about that awesome lc food the spaghetti squash. Go have a looksie and tell me what you you think!

Low-carb foods 101: spaghetti squash

New Carb Tracker for iPod and iPhone

Now I need to get one of these:

Cool photo by nickwinch


So I can get one of these:




It's totally cool and will work on the iPhone or iPod. Hubby has the iPhone and the above shot came from a screen shot of his phone. He's loving this application! The rest of the screen shots we took are in the slide show of my latest article on Examiner. Please visit me there to see the rest and get all the fun details!

Scarlett Johansson uses low-carb

Found an interesting tidbit about Scarlett Johansson's diet strategy while preparing for her role as Black Widow in the upcoming Iron Man 2 movie. You can read more about it here.

Too bad low-carb can't fix ugly. If so I'd be gorgeous by now! ;)

The zoo can be great for exercise

Hey gang! Here is the latest from my Examiner column. This particular article talks about our closest zoo, but I'd wager the same information applies to most zoos around the nation, sans prices or specific attractions.

Please stop by my column and say hello!

St. Louis Zoo: exercise, fun and low-carb food

Low-carb bake mix, chocolate almonds and sugar habits

Hello all you wonderful people out there in internet land! Isn't it just a peachy day!?!

*This is me trying to be chirpy and happy. I think it comes across as more annoying than anything though, so I'll stop.*

Honestly, yesterday was a rough one. I'll spare you the details. Let's just say I burned myself 3 times by the end of the day and it was no surprise ending. :{

Today is a new day, so I'm working on a better outlook. And if you have some good mojo, please send it my way just in case.

Weight-loss has been slow, but steady. Can't ask for more than that really.

I've recently put up 3 new articles on Examiner. Please come visit me at these links so I can buy my kids some shoes.

Atkins announces new Atkins Cuisine pasta and bake mix

Kick the sugar habit with 12 week teleclass

Cocoa Roast Almonds make mouths happy

My review of EA Sports Active for the Wii

Hey gang! I'm short on time but wanted to share my latest article on Examiner. (Don't have time to post it all here.)

Today I reviewed the EA Sports Active for the Wii. I've included links and a slideshow, so please go check it out!

Trying something different.

Hey peeps!

I'm going to try something different and we'll see how it goes. I'm going to post the same articles here and on Examiner.com. You won't have to visit my Examiner column to read my articles, but I would REALLY appreciate you stopping by for each article and giving me the page view so I still get paid. :)

Ok, be looking for my first article very soon!

Latest from Examiner.com

Well, my little notifier feed thingy-ma-bob over on the right isn't quite working like I'd expected, so I'm going to give a quick update on my latest offerings at Examiner. Here's what I've been talking about lately:

PureVia enters the sweetener race

Authors of Protein Power giving away free books

FDA warns tainted weight-loss products pose great risk to health

Eat Smart Nutrition Scale - smartest scale on the block

Study says sugar as addictive as drugs

Oprah is still battling the bulge

And a four part series on the basics of Atkins:

Atkins basics 101 - induction

Atkins basics 101 - ongoing weight-loss

Atkins basics 101 - pre-maintenance

Atkins basics 101 - lifetime mantainence

Hope you enjoy!

Just some updates

Hey everyone. Thought I'd play catch-up here a moment.

Weight-loss: I'm holding steady. I'm really looking forward to January when I'll start my "sweet free" challenge. I think it will help me tremendously. If any of you would like to join I'd be glad to have the company. This isn't about giving up sugar, since I've already done that, it's about giving up the taste of sweet as a whole. No artificial or natural sweet stuff. I think my biggest battle will be giving up my Diet Rite. I will admit I'm totally addicted.

Giveaway coming soon! The 2nd annual Great Start Giveaway is being planned. Don't miss this giveaway where we'll have some awesome prizes just for you! Keep watching the blog for more details soon.

I'm sad. We received the news last night that my grandfather passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer. It hurts. A lot. But he's no longer suffering as he was, and that's something to be thankful for. Keep us in your prayers please. This weekend will be a hard one as we say our goodbyes, and there will be lots of traveling involved for my whole family.

Photography: If you are a fan of photography, you'll love flickr. I have an account there myself where I share a lot of my work. To keep my creativity flowing I've joined a group called Project 365. In this group we post one photo a day for a year. It can be any photo of anything, but it has to be taken on that day. Today is day 6 for me and I'm already seeing possibilities and potential shots I'd missed before. It's fun! Feel free to check out my photostream sometime.

Examiner: I'm going to try to get another article or two up today, but I can't promise anything. I have a lot to do to get ready for the funeral, so my day will mostly be filled with that.

Have a great weekend everyone!

The holidays are killing me..

I'm so busy I don't have time to think straight, let alone eat right. Why do I love this time of year again???? ;)

I'm struggling a bit, but nothing new there. Life gets crazy and then I do, again nothing new. I'm working frantically to improve my photography skills. I really want to be ready for business within the next 6 months, so I gotta get on the ball. I'm doing little stuff here an there, but I want to be ready for the big time, ya know?

I'm also writing as much as I can for Examiner to help with those bills that refuse to go away. These will eventually stop right? Someone tell me they will stop. At least some of them??? Pretty please.

Homeschooling has been a chore this year. Why does it seem great some days and so hard on others? We are trying to get enough done that we can take a decent Christmas break, but don't know if that will happen.

My food planning has been less the great lately, so that really messes me up. I end up grabbing whatever. Have you ever tasted whatever? It's great, but has a buttload of carbs. Not what I need. So my weight is just steady. No real gains to speak of.

DH bought me a Wii fit. It's great exercise! I used to call it a WHEEEEEEE! Now it's just the wii. Why? Because I'm tired of that little game console weighing me, measuring my BMI and saying in it's cute little voice "That's obese!!" Naw, really? I could do without that part. I'm painfully aware I'm considered obese. I don't need a little white box rubbing it in my face. I catch myself yelling back "Oh yeah! Well you're square! And you are helpless without me!" Um, yeah. It's pathetic, but it makes me feel better. :)

I'm thinking of doing the photo food diary after the holidays. I know, I know, everyone is doing it. But since I love my camera more than life itself, this might be a good way for me to keep track and practice my photography skills.

Ok, off to teach my kids more stuff they think they already know.

Just a word of caution..

For those who read my examiner column, today's column is a bit unusual for me. I was asked to review a fictional novel about weight-loss. It was a great story line, but not my usual kind of thing. Lots of f-bombs and sexual references. So while I gave it a truthful review on Examiner, I chose to leave my personal feelings out it. I personally don't care for books with those elements. So be forewarned, if you want to check the book out. It's not the kind of thing you'd find on the shelf at your local Christian book store. ;0)

Sugarettes - sugar plays the unassuming villian

I recently read an outstanding book by Dr. Scott Olson ND called Sugarettes, Sugar Addiction and Your Health. It's one of the best books for "laymen" I've read in a long time and I highly recommend it. You can check out my examiner column if you want more information.

He's also sponsoring a 30 day sugar-free challenge which will start in January. While I'm already sugar-free, I'm thinking of joining and trying a sweet-free challenge for myself. Can I do it? I have no idea. The taste of sweet seems to have a pretty good hold on me. I'll give it a good shot though. Anyone care to join us?

I suggest a compromise

And no, I'm not going low-fat. That's blasphemy! ;)

Anyhow, I've been watching the poll and it seems most of my readers are ok with visiting my column at Examiner.com and reading here. But there are a few of you who seem to hate reading at both places. SOOOOOOO....

To find some middle ground, I have posted the RSS feeds to my examiner column in the right sidebar of this blog. Now, if you want to see what's happening at my column, you can glance at the links to the right, which will be updated often (unless I'm experiencing writer's block, in which then you will hear the crickets echoing in my head).

I'll try to post relevant and interesting content here as well, so those who don't care for the examiner stuff will still have something useful to read. :0)

I think this will work for everyone that way. Sound fair?

Ads make our kids fat

I found a rather interesting research article today and decided to give my take on it. You can check it out below if you like:

Does advertising really make our children obese?

Procrastinating with your diet plan

This article may be familiar to some of you. It's basically a reprint of one I did in 2004, but I felt it was still an important message 4 years later. To read it, just click on the link below...

Should you start your diet after the holidays are over?

Take my blog poll... Please.

*ba dum dum*

Ok, I wanted to point out that I have a poll going on the right over there. ---->
I'd love everyone's input on this. I'm trying to decide how to balance my examiner articles and my blog. So far, the majority doesn't like it when I write for examiner and then link to it here, instead of just posting it here too. Here's the problem though. I can't keep my job at examiner if you read it here and not on examiner. So I'm trying to find a way to keep the posts here and examiner interesting enough you'll want to read both. If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them!

NUVA wants your opinon!

I know it's a shocker to hear that a company actually cares what you think, but I'm finding that the makers of NUVA are cut from a different cloth than other companies. I've been dealing with them on a personal level and I'm very impressed.

You'll see what I mean in today's examiner article where I give you a link to a survey they are doing. And before you think "Ugh. Not a survey!" Let me tell you that it only takes about 5 minutes and everyone that fills it out will get a thank you gift. And I'll appreciate it a whole bunch too! :0)

Please visit my column for details. THANK YOU!

NUVA - My Favorite New Sweetener (Win some!)

Hey everyone. I'm excited today to finally be able to share with you the newest sweetener on the market called NUVA. I wrote a review of it, so be sure to check it out on my Examiner column. Then come back here, because I'm giving two lucky readers a chance to try it for free. That's right... free!

All you have to do is leave a comment under this post. On Monday November 10th I'll randomly pick two names (I promise my hands will be clean!)by numbering the comments and pulling out two numbers. Those two names will be sent a sample of this great new sweetener all for their very own. For real and for true! :)

So check out my examiner column to get the skinny on my new favorite sweetener, then come back here and leave a comment. Good Luck!

Added: I forgot to mention you'll need to check back on this blog on Monday Nov. 10th to see if your name was drawn and I'll tell you how contact me with your shipping info. :)

My hiking adventure

Want to read about my weekend adventure in the woods? You'll either laugh at me (go ahead, I don't mind a bit) or feel sorry for me because you've done this before. Either way I'm good. :)

Here ya go:

Do you have an inner athlete?