A Time For Everything

Still struggling with the second to last weight loss hurdle--getting completely under the 130lb. mark and staying there. I'm still see-sawing back and forth, but mostly back. And, of course, the last hurdle is reducing the amount of flesh that jiggles.

I know there's some muscle underneath, because how couldn't there be? Fat does not transform into muscle. Muscles become stronger and get larger as they're used and worked. Fat gets used as energy if you balance what you eat and the number of calories you consume with how much energy you expend on any given day and eventually reduces in volume. Yes, this is a very basic description of the process, and everyone has different challenges that work against them, but this is my process, and my challenges, thankfully are few. They consist mostly of my willpower to resist refined carbs and to resist my warm bed on a cold morning.

So last week, I gave up refined carbs altogether. Any carbs I consume come in the other things I eat like vegetables and beans. There are a few carbs in salad dressing, unfortunately, but I'm not gonna sweat those. So no more tortillas and no more pretzels. Cereal and milk have been out of the house for several weeks although they call to me like a siren.

I also changed up my workout. Threw my body for a bit of a loop. It was getting complacent there too.

And the changes seem to be working. They're working so far at least. The weight is still see-sawing, but I'm staying under 130lbs. more often than I'm over it and the amount I go over is getting less and less.

Not sure about the jiggly bits just yet...but I'm watching and waiting. :)

Hope your week is going well.

This past Saturday was my writers group meeting and I always look forward to gathering with my chapter mates during the meeting and then with my critique group afterward. The meeting after the meeting. Technically we're not a critique group anymore since we no longer critique for each other. But we still meet and catch up and support each other and brainstorm and just hang out. We've decided we're now a sisterhood and a support group. And it's good to have that. I leave feeling buoyed up for the upcoming month.

But back to the inspiration...

Two weeks ago, I mentioned my return to writing and my intention to submit to an online e-publisher rather than self publish as I feel that the editing experience would be good for my writing. So I'd chosen a publisher to target despite reading several books whose editors either failed to do their job or weren't very good in the grammar and punctuation departments. Since I'm strong in those areas, I decided to move forward anyway.

Also for the last week or so, there's been discussion on our chapter forum regarding a certain path to publishing success, and a friend of mine gave up her day job within sixty to ninety days of publishing her first four books. Of course, it took her nine months of preparation to get to the point of publication.

It begs the question, can I do that too??

I can try and I have nothing to lose right?? Well, except the costs of editing and cover art...but I can use proofing money to pay for that.

Between the plan now being called Liliana Nirvana in some corners and some other info from one of my writing sisters, I have a good chance.

Since I have sooo many books this {} close to being finished, it's not necessarily going to take me nine months to dive into the self-publishing pool. My biggest problem seems to be knowing what I want on the covers. Ugh... I'll need help from one of my other publishing sisters who does all her own covers.

The original (Liliana path to success) plan is to publish four books all at once and then have one ready to go sixty days later and ostensibly sixty days after that and sixty days after that and so on.

I'm going to alter the plan slightly as I have a set of three inter-related books and then another set of two related books. Of the five books, four are part of that almost/pretty much finished stage, leaving only one book to be written, edited, and cover are created to get the ball rolling.

And after talking to another of my writing sisters, I'm considering submitting my novelette to her e-publisher. She has nothing but great things to say about her experience and her editors. And they also accept short works although their minimum work count is higher than the other e-publisher.

So lots of decisions to be made, like my target publishing date. Due dates for various books to be finished and edited. Cover art designs to be considered.

The most important decision is making the decision to take time to write. There are a lot of distractions at home, so I'm going to try writing in the library. My branch is open late two days a week, so after work Monday and Thursday, I'm grabbing my laptop, iPod, and headphones and heading to the library. I also have time to write on Tuesdays while Sonshine supposedly has PT for an hour or so. No point in driving home, so I take my laptop and work. I've actually done that the last couple of weeks...and it's been good.

So I have some work to do--reviewing each piece of work, finishing what needs to be finished, sending off to beta readers, contracting or creating cover art, and setting deadlines...

Any words of advice?