So the Christmas holiday period of over-indulgence has long come to an end and most of us are looking at the results on our waistlines…
One girlfriend, Julie, decided to take drastic action and has come up with a brilliant idea that involves getting a group of friends together to stage our own ‘BIGGEST LOSER’ competition.
Here’s how it works:
1. It costs $200 to enter the competition
2. Weekly weigh-in is every week at 10am Sunday – 2nd weigh-in was today
3. The challenge goes for 8 weeks and the winner is the one who loses the most percentage weight i.e. if you weigh in at 100 kilos and you end up 90 kilos then you have lost 10% body weight.
4. We will have a 6-week makeover day where we pamper ourselves using the money from saving on food and alcohol.
5. With 8 entrants, we have $1600 in the kitty and the winnings will go as follows:
Winner – $1000
Runner up- $300
The last $300 will go towards French champagne and an end of competition break-up party.
After weigh-in today, I’ve lost a kilo in the last week but am coming in at third last on the bottom of a list of eight. Wanting some extra help, I’ve turned to my wonderful personal trainer, Alinta Willet, for some more tips – especially about what to EAT.
Alinta says it’s always best to start he day with a glass of half a squeezed lemon in hot water to:
Kick-start the metabolism
Help flush out toxins
Help curb the appetite
About half an hour later, Alinta advises sticking to a protein-based breakfast and staying away from any carbs till late afternoon after a work-out, but she DOES allow some carbs for dinner. This is a bit of a reverse-theory from what I’ve usually worked with but after trying this for some time last year, it did seem to work and now I just have to get back on the program.
Here’s a small section from my chat with Alinta:
JEN: So why it is important to eat a high protein breakfast?
ALINTA: Starting your day with a protein rich breakfast will keep you fuller for longer. It will elevate the neurotransmitters – dopamine and acetylcholine – which will increase brain function throughout the day and motivate you to train. High GI carb breakfasts produce an initial spike in blood sugar levels followed by a rapid decline, leading to hunger and carb cravings.
JEN: Is that good for everyone?
ALINTA: It depends on the individual and what you’re hoping to achieve. But if you’re wanting to lose weight, then this will be more effective.
JEN: I love this lemon-water idea you put me on to. Tell me more about that.
ALINTA: Yes, it’s great. You start the day with half a lemon in warm water, which helps you rehydrate after being asleep for so long which helps with the cells in your body and for brain function. It also helps with metabolism and alkalises your body to help clear out the toxins.
ALINTA: Ideally four to five sessions a week is good.
JEN: Long workouts or are short hard and fast ones better?
ALINTA: I think for women keeping the workouts under 45 minutes is good because after that amount of time, your cortosol elves start to rise and your testosterone drops which puts you under more stress. More cortisol in your system helps the body to store fat, which isn’t good. Stress is one of the reasons why we can end up storing fat around the stomach.
Now that’s good news! Too much time in the gym can actually be counter-productive? Excellent!
(P.S. Coming up in one of the next blogs, I’ll share Alinta’s famous Lamb Frittata recipe that I now cook for breakfast – it’s delicious.)
Often you think about it for quite a while before you get on with it.
Then there’s the long gestation period, the hard work you put in trying to make it the best it can be, and finally, the long-awaited arrival of your carefully nurtured baby.
With the actual birth, there can be debate about the best way for this to happen. A c-section or a natural birth? An epidural or go natural?
Likewise with publishing, there are also plenty of options. However, it’s becoming more difficult to have a book produced in hard copy – REAL PAPER – with publishers unwilling to take risks on untested authors.
\With the eBook business booming, it would seem more and more established publishing houses are moving with the times and looking to the internet for success. Whether you like the book or not, E.L. James Fifty Shades of Grey made it’s incredible leap to the top of global best-seller lists – selling more than 125 million copies worldwide – starting off life as an eBook.
Of course authors have choices. If you can’t find a publisher, you can always opt to self-publish – whether it be hard-copy or online.
For myself, while I’d love a hard-copy version of my own book MAKING HEADLINES – to have and to hold – it seems for the moment, I’m going to be marching forth into the world as a new author – waving the PLATFORM PILGRIM flag.
(Thanks to my ever-encouraging writer friend Lisa Bigelow for coming up with that innovative tagline!)
Yes, thanks to Harper Collins Publishing, I am about to become a Platform Pilgrim. My eBook will be launched on Thursday, February 4. And that’s because I would much prefer my book be given the tick of approval from a recognised publisher that has a wonderful heritage as Australia’s oldest and one of the most respected companies in the business, than do this on my own.
Sure, in the long run I’d love nothing more than to have a REAL book in my hands – but for the moment, I still consider my eBook to be an achievement of which to be proud.
And LOOK, it’s already listed on the Harper Collins website and you can pre-order!!!
Yep, and it even costs less than a cup of coffee!!
My biggest dilemma with becoming a Platform Pilgrim was deciding whether to host a book launch or not. Would people think it was over-the-top and silly – given they couldn’t leave with a signed copy of the tome itself?
In the end, after much debate with Fletch and friends, I have decided to go ahead and have a party. After all, it’s the end of a VERY long and arduous road and I think I deserve to celebrate my baby’s birth.
Harper Collins have also kindly agreed to provide ‘Book Samplers’ on the night of the launch, so guests WILL leave with a couple of chapters in a small printed mini-book, as a taste of what’s to come in the novel. So yes, there will be REAL PAPER given out on the night.
It’s taken many years AND tears to finish MAKING HEADLINES and I am so delighted and relieved that it is finally making its way into the world. All up, it’s more than eight years since I started thinking about this project. Now that’s one helluva long pregnancy.
