Carry No Weight, Let the Weight Carry You

I've hesitated in writing this post for a while now. Actually, there are probably hundreds of posts I could have written about this topic over the last year, but I never did. I'm not sure why, but, I feel the need to rectify that now.

In the last year, well 11 months, 3 weeks and 4 days, I've lost 100 pounds. Well, actually 101 pounds. Last year, around this time, I got completely fed up with myself and I was tired of being fat. I had achieved the dubious goal of exceeding my previous heaviest weight of 235 and was tipping the scales at 238. I hated everything about the way I looked. So, I decided to do something about it.

Now, I've come to this decision before. Shortly after my 30th birthday, I set out to lose weigh and managed to jettison 50 pounds from my body before I broke my leg hiking and got derailed for a bit. When my injury healed, I never really got back into exercising and it didn't take long for old habits to take hold and the weight crept back on. Fast forward to shortly before my 36th birthday and I found myself right back where I started, in fact, worse than when I started. The hubby and I were looking to go back to Australia, and there was no way in hell I wanted to do that at my heaviest weight and have to look at those pictures for the rest of my life. I set out to lose weight and get myself healthy and try not to let my past failure deter me.

When I first started, 100 pounds wasn't even the goal. That much weight wasn't even on my radar. To me, it seemed impossible. But, with each pound gone, each time I got through a workout without passing out or dying, each time I refused to give into the temptation to jump up on my kitchen counter and eat a whole box of Samoas Girl Scout cookies, the impossible started to seem more and more possible.

Over this journey, I've done things I never thought I would. I completed a 90 workout program that kicked my ass every damn day. (Thank you, Zuzka Light!) I started learning to swim in January and am now considering doing a mile long open water swim for charity. I signed up to do the Dirty Girl Mud Run on June 22. Things I would have never considered doing even six months ago, let alone when I was dragging around 100 extra pounds.

The list of things I want to do has grown by leaps and bounds. (I'll get to that in a later post) Losing weight hasn't solved all my problems, but what it has done is opened up a world of possibilities of new things to do and accomplish. And, to me, that's the most important thing.

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The first picture on this post was taken in August of 2012 at my Fantasy Football draft. The other picture was taken last week. Nearly 90 pounds difference... same shirt. I need to do some shopping.
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So Dig Deep and Swing For the Fences

 

 

It's Man Candy Monday!!

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Raised on a Feeling Our Lives Will Have Meaning Eventually

 

It's impossible for me to fathom that May is half over. This year is moving along so fast, it's hard to find time to stop and look around at everything that's happened. I'm working on some more in depth posts, but they are on the back burner right now due to some deadlines I'm up against.

But, I did want to drop by and mention that my novella, Go Coastal made the Amber Allure Top 10 Bestseller list for the month of April. And, it was only out for three days of the month. Not to shabby. I posted the whole list below. And, if you haven't checked out the book yet, what are you waiting for? Click right here and get your copy.

 

AMBER ALLURE / April 2013

1. Threadbare Gypsy Souls - T. A. Chase (Gay / Werewolf)
2. Needing Seth - Shawn Lane (Gay / Contemporary)
3. Going Down - Cassandra Gold (Gay / Contemporary)
4. Three Little Words - Allison Cassatta (Gay / Contemporary)
5. Revving It Up - Sean Michael (Gay / Contemporary)
6. Aria Of The Eclipse - Vivien Dean (Gay / Futuristic)
7. The Beat - D. J. Manly (Gay / Contemporary)
8. Go Coastal - Heidi Champa (Gay / Contemporary) **THAT'S ME!!!**
9. Cherish - A. J. Llewellyn (Gay / Contemporary)
10. A Little Bit Of Country - Christiane France (Gay / Contemporary)

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You Went Back to What You Knew

 

It's Man Candy Monday!!!

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Every Little Thing You Said and Did was Right For Me

 

She's the one who taught me how to tie my shoes. She taught me how to drive, constantly pressing down on her invisible break pedal when I went too fast. In fact, she's the first one who let me drive at all, letting me pilot our family truck at my grandfather's house when I was probably 12 or 13. She made me homemade cakes on my birthday and was there when I got off the bus from my first day of school. She was the one who would rock me back to sleep when I had a bad dream and every time I hear the cadence of her walk across a floor, it takes me right back to when I was a kid and she'd trudge down the hall to yell at my sister and me for staying up late talking and giggling.

I love that she's gotten snarkier and funnier as the years have gone by. Every time I hear a piece of withering sarcasm come out of her mouth, it makes me smile. She's the best grandmother on the planet and my nieces and nephews adore her in a way that melts my heart every time I see them together.

I often joke with my friends that my mother is a saint (said the manner Vince Vaughn uses in Anchorman, when he says "Dorothy Mantooth is a saint!!) and it's not far from the truth.

This Mother's Day, I just wanted to take a moment to talk about the woman who's always been there for me and that I love so, so, so much.

Make sure you call/hug/kiss your mom's today.... for every little thing they do.
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I Think You Already Know, How Far I'd Go Not to Say

I am happy to be able to report that I have a story in the upcoming collection edited by the wonderful Alison Tyler called, "Shhh! Don't Tell Anyone... Erotic Fantasies about Sexy Occupations."

I'm incredibly stoked to be a part of such a great line-up and the table of contents is below. Check it out. Not exactly sure when the book will hit the shelves, both virtual and actual, but I'll keep you posted.


Introduction: The “Want” Ads

Construction Worker: Grimy by Sommer Marsden

Cowboy: Bonanzed by Kate Pearce

Professor: O for Effort by Delilah Night

Chauffeur: Driver’s Seat by Sophia Valenti

Meteorologist: Warm Front by Heidi Champa

Physician: Doctors Orders by Sasha White

Delivery Boy: Just A Little Tenderness by A.M. Hartnett

Pool Girl: California Dreamin’ by Andrea Dale

Book Binder: Rule of Thumb by Laila Blake

Baker: Kneading Lessons by Tilly Hunter

Personal Trainer: Work It Out by Elisa Sharone

Stage Manager:  SM Or How I Met My Girlfriend by Giselle Renarde

IT guy: Talk Nerdy to Me by Crystal Jordan

Porn Star: Current Photo, Please by Devin Phillips

Mechanic: Body Work by Cora Zane

Museum Curator: Under Her Auspices by Jeremy Edwards

Treat Vendor: Ice Cream Boy and Sprinkle Girl by Kathryn O'Halloran

Barber: Close Shave by Alison Tyler

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'Cause You Know When It's Good, There's Nothing Else Better

Cool thing of the day: My story, Kiss and Make Up, in the wonderful anthology, Best Erotic Romance 2013, edited by the fabulous Kristina Wright, was the "Sex Scene of the Day" on Bethenny.com, home of Bethenny Frankel. You can check out the post on her blog right here.

Great news in the afternoon...what could be better?
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