When I was in high school I was that girl walking down the hallway between classes with her nose deep in a book, still able to dodge people without looking up. Think Belle in the opening song of Beauty and the Beast (the Disney film).
Johnny often asks me why I like to read, what's the point, and I try to explain that by reading I can escape my boring life by becoming part of someone else's life for a day. It is also possible to learn quite a bit from reading, not to mention that it helps in terms of vocabulary, spelling, and grammar.
I admit to often rereading the same books over and over, and that I tend to buy a book and then not read it (though when I finally do read it realize that I loved it and remember why I bought it in the first place). It is my goal to someday have an entire room full of books, floor to ceiling.
Anyway, I've been bored of sitting in my apartment all the time so last night I took myself out to Half Price Books. Yes, I know this is a website owned by Ebay, but it is also a store. A compact store with both new and used books for significantly less money than if I bought a book at Barnes and Nobles or Borders.
When I buy books I never know what I'm looking for when I go. I never make lists. Wait, just kidding. I rarely make lists. Now that I live on my own and don't have all the books I'm used to having (like L.M. Montgomery's Anne books, or The Chronicles of Narnia, or all of Dad's books by Mark Twain) I do have it in mind to buy those up bit by bit till I own each series. However, most of the time I don't have anything in mind and instead just browse the aisles for interesting titles that have nothing to do with sex and whose labels aren't that hot pink associated with most modern female writer's books.
One of my favorite writers of all time is Elizabeth Peters, also known as Barbara Michaels, who wrote the Amelia Peabody series. I've been slowly collecting those books over the past three years and finally, yesterday, discovered what I believe is the very first Amelia Peabody book. This made me very excited, as I've wanted to see how she and Emerson met and married but could never find the books. *** if you've never read that series, I apologize. 'Twould take too long to explain, but I'll bet it's on wikipedia somewhere ***
But yesterday was a bad day in terms of how I felt about myself so I found myself wandering around, straying from the trusty fiction department toward sports and religion and such. As I walked I discovered an end cap covered in pilates, yoga and exercise kits that contained books, CDs, DVDs and probably those elastic workout bands. I already have videos for pilates and yoga and plain ole exercise so I ignored that end cap, but wondered about possibly getting a book of yoga or something so I wandered into the sports section (which included hunting.... Sorry, but I just don't really considering hunting a major sport...). Looking up I struck gold.
Almost all of my workout videos are by Denise Austin, who has a frustrating voice but workouts that work, and she wrote a book or two. I discovered one last night called Shrink Your Female Fat Zones.
It contains a 6-week plan for every female body type. As I sat down to start reading it before buying I discovered that her writing is lovely, as it explains everything in layman's terms without making you feel like a moron. Not only does she give you a workout regime, she also explains what each workout does, how walking benefits your body, gives step by step workouts that take no more than 20 minutes out of your day, shows morning, midday and evening stretches, and finally she gives shopping lists, meal plans for three different calorie intake amounts and also gives recipes for yummy things like homemade bean burritos and roasted chicken or couscous with lemon or thai chicken curry... The downside is those times when she lists beef or hamburgers, in which case I will substitute for homemade spicy black bean burgers or tofu or chicken (now that I live near a Trader Joes, my chicken will be organic to avoid those horrible hormones and chemicals they pump into animals nowadays).
This isn't a crash diet. It isn't even really a diet. She still leaves room for snacks, including things like Oreos, graham crackers, popcorn, ice cream, etc, teaches portion control and explains how some kinds of fat are good for you and necessary. It won't make you starve or fill up on nothing but meat. She says it's really a lifestyle, not a diet. This is the plan she personally uses for herself on a daily basis. And this book has sent me through the roof. By using this plan (obviously I won't follow her recipes and shopping list all the time, I'll add my own stuff in there as she explains how she figured the calories for each meal) I can enhance my energy and my nutrition and keep up my metabolism and figure for years and years to come. There are people who have been using this regime for decades and still look just as good now as they did at 20, some even better! So I'm really excited, this is seriously the best $9 I've ever spent.
I bought the book last night and have already read through almost the entire thing. I intend to start next week on Monday, so I have time to shop and prepare and figure out what time I will set aside for my workout each day. Unlike many other times when I tried to do this on my own, I'm determined to make this work. :) Plus it'll keep me from sitting on my butt all day long, and it targets specific areas I want to work on. Not to mention that I'm getting married in 197.5 days and intend to look good. Wish me luck!
1 comment:
That sounds like a great book! It sounds a lot like Weight Watchers actually. I like being able to "splurge" on foods I love and still eating healthy. Good luck with everything:) I'm trying to eat healthy too so we can all b in this together.
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