Help Haiti Live is tonight!

 

For more information, visit HelpHaitiLive.com. 

 
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“She’ll lose her baby fat when she starts walking.”

Welcome to the first official week of Losing It: Not Just Our Sanity. Each week for the next 10 weeks, Jessie from Vanderbilt Wife, Ashleigh from Heart & Home and I will be sharing a peek (or in the case of this wordy ramble, an oversized bay window) into our weight loss journeys.

If you’d like to take the challenge to Lose It (#LosingIt10 on Twitter, by the way), write about your own journey, link to this site in your post, and share a link to your blog post in our weekly carnival. The bloggers who link up at least six out of the 10 weeks will be eligible for our prize package of a six-month subscription to The Six O'Clock Scramble (a meal planning service), a Weight Watchers pedometer and a gift card to Dick's Sporting Goods.

The winner will be the person who loses the largest percentage of his or her body weight during the 10 weeks.

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Apparently I was a chubby child. I say “apparently,” because for my entire life my family has teased me, from reminders of my grandma’s promise (see above title) to my parents thinking the trash bag commercial slogan was a perfect fit for my brother and me.

I’m talking about “Hefty, Hefty, Hefty! Wimpy, Wimpy, Wimpy!” I’ll let you guess which one was me, and no, they did not mean that I was strong.

And then there’s the Sears girls size: husky. Husky? Are you kidding me? Was there not a single compassionate woman on that panel?

Oh, my. The memories, they are so warm and fuzzy. Kind of like my gigantic, stretched out and faded yoga pants.

Honestly, my family isn’t nearly as mean as those overly sensitive adolescent stories may indicate. But still, I don’t remember ever not thinking I was fat.

I remember my mom telling me I had nice legs and thinking she was crazy.I remember towering over my tiny friend, Nichole, in a three-legged race and wondering if I’d crush her if we fell.I remember doing hundreds of crunches and lunges in my bedroom after I was supposed to go to bed.And I remember not being able to shop the popular mall store, 5-7-9, because I did not, in fact, wear a size 5, 7 or 9.

I remember being fat.

The funny thing is – and I suspect I’m not alone in this – that when I look back at pictures of myself, all I can do is cringe. Because really? That was “fat”?

Oh, to be “fat” again.

It appears that at some point, I actually did lose my baby fat. Unfortunately, even without the chubbiness of my early years, the curves were still there. Meanwhile, my friends – and, of course, the popular girls I so envied – were stick thin.

I was curvy before curvy was cool.

And so the self-image issues continued. Not that things like basketball uniforms helped. (Please, God, don’t ever make me put on a pair of those ridiculously tight shorts again.) But I wish I could have seen myself for what I really was. And I wish I would have learned then how to care for this body, curves and all.

But I didn’t.

So when I started dating Mark and eating out at restaurants, things like “portion control” and “salads with the dressing on the side” didn’t even cross my mind. And when I went to college and experienced the all-you-can-eat buffet? It didn’t occur to me not to eat scrambled eggs and hashbrowns every morning for breakfast.

Even when my clothes stopped fitting and I gained the Freshman 15 30, I didn’t change my eating habits. After all, who can resist sharing a bag of tortilla chips and jar of Tostitos cheese dip with her roommate? In one sitting? At midnight?

I did lose a bit of weight before my wedding, but it didn’t last. That weight returned so fast that I still have lingerie in my closet with the tags on it. Because it didn’t fit. And yes, I realize it’s silly to keep it in my closet for 10 years. Don’t start with me.

In the decade since I got married, I have gained 80 pounds. And just so you know, saying that out loud makes me want to climb in bed, hide under the covers and never come out again.

Except to eat. Because that always makes me feel better. [Insert sarcastic font here.]

In 2002 – yes, eight years ago – I joined Weight Watchers. I have been a member six times since then.

Thanks to Weight Watchers and countless magazine articles and infomercials, I’m not nearly as ignorant naïve as I was in high school and college. I KNOW how to make good food choices. I KNOW I need to exercise regularly. I KNOW what’s healthy and what’s not. I KNOW.

It’s just a matter of DOING IT. And that is something I have failed at, big time, every time.

Not this time, though. As we kick off Losing It, I’m saying, “Yes, Grandma, I will lose my baby fat!” I will lose it when I start walking. And kickboxing. And dancing. And eating vegetables. And measuring portions. And counting points.

I will lose it.

How are you going to lose it?

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I’ll edit this later today with my percentage weight loss. I weigh in at my weekly Weight Watchers meeting over lunch, and I’m going by their scale. (Because you cannot tell me my doctor’s scale was right on Wednesday. I refuse to believe it.)

UPDATE: I did not lose. And no, I don't want to talk about it. But next week WILL be better!

How did you do? Link up below – and remember, use the permalink to your post, not the link to your blog.



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Things I Love: Gummy Vitamins

"Read your Bible and take your vitamins."

That's how my mom would end every note, every e-mail she sent when I was in college. I can't say I followed her directions every day. But the reminders didn't hurt.

And honestly, they're reminders I give myself today, when I still struggle to get up early enough to read my Bible and huge horse-pill vitamins still make me gag.

But wait! That's where that pretty picture up above comes in.

I was discussing my aversion to vitamins with my co-workers one day, explaining how I can only stand them when I take them with juice but I don't drink juice so I'm left to choke them down with water and that just doesn't work. (I know. Okay? I know.) I said, "Too bad they don't make gummy vitamins for grown-ups."

You know what I found out? They do! So I bought a bottle of gummy vitamins for this grown-up. And I haven't missed a day of vitamin-taking since.

Sadly, it's more than I can say for my Bible-reading. (Don't worry, Mom, I'm working on it. That's why I bought my One Year Bible!)

Do you take a multi-vitamin? Or drink juice in the morning?

This post will be linked to Things I Love Thursday.

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Losing my touch

I thought today would be a good time to talk celebrity lookalikes. So I consulted my handy list and started Googling.

But you know I found? The actors I thought looked so much alike? Um, didn't. Yeah. Not so much. A few examples for you:

 Tiffany Hines (Bones) and Tessa Thompson (Veronica Mars)

 

  

Ellen Pompeo (Grey's Anatomy) and Jordan Ladd (some Hallmark or Lifetime movie)

  

Bryan Greenberg (October Road) and Jon Foster (Accidentally on Purpose)
Okay - you see it in these guys, right? They look a lot alike!

  

Kara Dioguardi (American Idol) and Demi Lovato (Disney shows)
Smitty gave me this one. And she's right. But I had a hard time finding good photos to prove it.

  

Kristoffer Polaha (Life Unexpected - which I'm really enjoying, by the way) and Scott Foley (Felicity)
I know. They look nothing alike. But I swear, in my head, they're the same guy.

  

David Boreanaz (Bones) and Eddie McClintock (I have no idea. Guest star in lots of shows?)

So, there you have it. I am no longer queen of the celebrity lookalikes. Not that you ever called me the queen of celebrity lookalikes. I might have called myself that. But you didn't. I know that. 

Can you help me out? Have you spotted any good lookalikes lately? (Other than Lea Michele and Idina Menzel, because that is WAY too easy.)

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(in)courage: Can Your Shampoo Do This?

When I was 15, life was tough. The boy I liked didn’t like me. And the boy who liked me wouldn’t leave me alone. My basketball coach didn’t care if I had asthma (or short, chubby legs). My friends and I were accused of being a clique. And my mom was always on my case for something.

Life was tough, I’m telling you.

Looking back, of course, I can’t quite summon the angst and anxiety of that freshman girl. It’s not that what I worried about wasn’t important; it was. But those things carry a different importance this far down the road. For example, it’s hard to remember just how desperate young, unrequited love can feel after being married for 10 years.

What I can recall, however, is the rock bottom feeling of being completely overwhelmed with life. Partly because the feeling was so strong then that even 16 years isn’t enough time to completely dull its pain.

Partly because in the deepest, most insecure part of my heart, I’m still 15.

To read the rest of my article, please visit (in)courage.

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Whiplash

Friday will be Annalyn's last day with her babysitter, and on Monday, she'll start full-time daycare.I'm really excited for her. And sad. And nervous. And feeling a little bit like I've got whiplash.

Emotional whiplash.

Every time I think about it, I feel differently. I know we've made the right choice and that this is best for Annalyn and for our family.

But she's been going to this babysitter for two years. Two years! For two years, it's been her second home. Her second family.

And even though she's going to learn so much and make new friends and get consistent physical therapy at her new daycare, I know she'll miss her friends. We both will.

I feel this back and forth about almost every decision I make regarding Annalyn. Should we potty train now or later? Use Pull-Ups or only big-girl panties? Call the doctor about her runny nose or wait it out? Move her to a twin bed or keep her in her crib as long as possible?

Even when I know (KNOW!) the right answer, my heart still wavers. And it's been like this from the beginning. You know what I'm talking about, right? Bottle or breastfeed? Disposable or cloth diapers? Stay at home or work?

Sometimes - like, for me, the working question - we don't really have an option. But when we do? Ugh. Being a mom, being the grown up - it's hard!

Have you struggled with any big decisions lately (parenting-related or not)?

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Help Haiti LIVE

Edited to add: The LA show has been cancelled, per Shaun Groves. And the Nashville show is almost sold out. So get your tickets now - or plan on logging on from home! (Thanks for the update, Jessie!)

A few weeks may have passed, but Compassion International hasn’t forgotten about Haiti. Not even close.

One month following the 7.1 earthquake that struck Haiti, an all-star cast of musicians is gathering for “Help Haiti Live,” a two-city ticketed concert event taking place on February 27 to benefit Compassion’s Haiti disaster relief fund. The concerts will be ticketed and also streamed live at HelpHaitiLive.com.

Check out this list of performers:

• Alison Krauss & Union Station (featuring Jerry Douglas)
• Amy Grant
• Big Kenny
• Mat Kearney
• Jars of Clay
• Rebecca St. James
• NEEDTOBREATHE
• Brandon Heath

Cool, right? These musicians and a to-be-announced special headliner will participate in two concert events, live from Los Angeles at the historic Wiltern Theater and at Nashville’s famed Ryman Auditorium. All talent and production fees have been donated, along with streaming services (Livestream.com), allowing proceeds to go toward Compassion’s disaster relief fund.

Tickets for each event will range in price from $25-75 and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com and all Ticketmaster locations. And if you don't happen to be in LA or Nashville this weekend, you can watch the whole thing online for free. (Or for a donation. Your choice.)

All net proceeds from Help Haiti Live will go to Compassion International’s Haiti disaster relief fund. All money raised in response to the Haiti earthquake will be used immediately to re-equip Compassion’s local support structure and to provide for the immediate needs of Compassion-assisted children and families.

Compassion has been meeting the physical and spiritual needs of Haitians for more than forty years and will continue to serve them in this time of extreme need. Already Compassion International has supplied more than 15,000 families with clean water, food, blankets, temporary shelter, medical supplies and counseling. Donations will lay bricks, feed, educate, clothe, heal and rebuild Haiti for many months to come in Jesus’ name.

So, what are YOU doing this Saturday night?

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Hear No Evil - winner!

Random.org picked #31 - Jenn Calling Home - to win a copy of Matthew Paul Turner's Hear No Evil.

Congratulations, Jenn! E-mail me your address, and I'll ship it to you.

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Losing It

On Monday, I said this on Twitter: “My mom said my brother's lost a bunch of weight. So I'm back on the healthy wagon today. Is that bad?”

According to my friends on Twitter, that is not bad motivation at all. As a matter of fact, two of my friends suggested we put our bloggy powers to work and start a weight loss competition.

I’m kidding. We don’t have special bloggy powers.

We are, however, holding a weight loss competition.

For the next 10 weeks, Jessie from Vanderbilt Wife, Ashleigh from Heart & Home and I are going to be making healthy choices and talking about it. And then we’re going to tell you if we’ve lost weight and how much. Kind of.

I can’t be more specific than that, because we’re each going about weight loss differently. For example, Ashleigh and Jessie are big believers in whole foods. On the other hand, I’m a fan of food that comes from a can or my freezer and gets cooked in the microwave.

But no matter how we differ in food choices, exercise plans or calorie/point/carb counts, we’re all aiming for the same thing: healthy, lasting weight loss.

And we’d like you to join us. Every Friday for the next 10 weeks, we're going to host a carnival called Losing It (and Not Just Our Sanity). I’ll tell you if I met my goals for the week and what percentage of my body weight I lost.

(Sorry, friends. I only share my actual weight with my Weight Watchers leader. And . . . strangely enough, I pay for that privilege . . .)

If you join us, you could not only lose weight, but you could GAIN a prize! Anyone who links up at least six of the ten weeks will be eligible to win a six-month subscription to The Six O'Clock Scramble (a meal planning service), a Weight Watchers pedometer, and a gift card to Dick's Sporting Goods.

The winner? The person who loses the biggest percentage of body weight!

What do you say? Are you ready to make some healthier choices over the next 10 weeks? I know I am! Here are my goals:

• Drink 10-12 cups of water a day.
• Stick to my weekly allowance of points (Weight Watchers).
• Exercise three times a week.
• Lose 20 pounds during our competition.

Who’s in?



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Book Review & Giveaway: Hear No Evil

A couple weeks ago, I flew to Nashville. (I may have mentioned it a time or 12 . . . you know . . . for that conference? Yeah.)

While I love traveling and was excited to go to Blissdom, I was not excited to get on a plane. I just don’t enjoy flying. (And that was before the whole Southwest/fat people/PR disaster thing that has me completely paranoid about my next flight.)

However, this time was different. I arrived at the airport with more than enough time to spare (I was not about to relive my missed flight from August!), and settled into my seat at the gate. From there I moved into my very own row on the plane, and after collecting my two bags, I parked it near a window for about an hour.

And the whole time, I was reading. And possibly looking a little weird, because more than once, I found myself laughing out loud.

It’s not unusual for me to lose myself and all track of time in a good book. But it is unusual for me to be so caught up that FLYING doesn’t even phase me.

The book? Hear No Evil by Matthew Paul Turner.

A month or so ago, I read his memoir about growing up in a fundamental Christian home, Churched. It was good, but not quite as funny as I’d expected. (It was more eye-opening than anything, because honestly, I had no idea churches like the one he described still exist outside of movies and TV shows poking fun at Christians.)

Hear No Evil, on the other hand, did not disappoint in the humor department. If you’ve read Matthew Paul Turner’s blog (Side note: Can I call him Matt? Does he really go by the full name? What if I shorten it to MPT? I just don’t know…), you know he leans toward the sarcastic side of funny.

And if you read this blog, you know that’s my kind of funny.

Hear No Evil tells the story of MPT’s journey in the world of Christian music. From a teenager whose mom forbids him to buy an Amy Grant tape to a journalist interviewing Amy Grant herself, this story is funny yet touching, relatable yet surprising, an easy read yet somewhat thought-provoking.

Here’s the summary, but keep reading for the giveaway part:

A collection of wise, compelling, and often uproariously funny essays built around the experience of music as a transformational element in a moment of truth, Hear No Evil mines Matthew Paul Turner’s humorous memories of his evangelical youth and invites readers to groove along on his journey.

From attending forbidden contemporary Christian concerts to moving to “Music City” Nashville, Hear No Evil chronicles Turner’s “life soundtrack” which morphs seamlessly into the stories of people, places, and experiences that have taught the music-editor-turned-author some new things about God, forced him out of his comfort zone, and introduced him to a fresh view of grace along the way.

If you’ve ever had the opening bars of a song transport you back in time or remind you of a pivotal spiritual moment, Matthew Paul Turner’s honest—and frequently hilarious—musings will strike a chord. Straightforward and amusing, Hear No Evil is an exploration of a life of faith lived to a personal soundtrack.

I’M GIVING AWAY ONE COPY OF THIS BOOK. Leave a comment for a chance to win. Leave a separate comment if you subscribe to this blog for a second chance to win. And leave a separate comment if you follow me on Twitter for a third chance to win. And leave yet another separate comment if you’ve joined my Facebook page for a fourth chance to win. I'll draw a name (a.k.a. use Random.org) on Sunday.

That’s a lot of chances. I’m just sayin’.

Does your life have a soundtrack? Tell us in the comments (all the many, many comments) what song – or songs! – would be on your soundtrack o’life.

Disclosure: This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

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