Book Giveaways - Fitness Contest

If you are still trying to decide whether to enter October's fitness contest, you really should. I've got so many fun prizes. I'm going to be extremely motivated to walk right past the Dreyer's display. If I walk really fast I can't smell the ice cream!

Here's the list of the prizes I've accumulated so far:

Am I Not a Man? The Dred Scott Story by Mark L. Shurtleff donated by Candace Salima - http://valorpublishinggroup.com/books/1shurtleff.htm

Loyalty's Web by Joyce DiPastena - http://jdp-news.blogspot.com/ - http://www.joyce-dipastena.com

Famous Family Nights by Anne Bradshaw - http://www.annebradshaw.com -http://annebradshaw.blogspot.com

A Modest Proposal by Michele Bell - http://michelleabel.blogspot.com - www.micheleashmanbell.com

Don't You Marry the Mormon Boys by Janet Kay Jensen - http://janetkayjensen.blogspot.com - www.janetjensen.com

Finding Faith by Terri Ferran - www.terriferran.com

Against the Giant by Christy Hardman - www.christyhardman.com

By Love or By Sea by Rachel Rager - http://www.rachelrager.com/ - http://rachelrager.blogspot.com/

Women of Virtue by Jodi Robinson - www.jodimarierobinson.blogspot.com

Dawn's Early Light by Laurie L.C. Lewis - www.laurielclewis.com - www.laurielclewis.blogspot.com

An Angel on Main Street by Kathi Oram Peterson - www.kathiorampeterson.com - www.kathiswritingnook.com

The Journey donated by Jewel Adams - http://www.jadamsnovels.com - http://www.jewelsbestgems.blogspot.com

The Ball's in Her Court by Heather Justesen - www.HeatherJustesen.com - www.heatherJustesen.blogspot. com

The Sister Pact by Cami Checketts - www.camichecketts.com

Foot Zoning donated by Stephanie Austin

Free Nutrition Consult donated by Christa Kramer (Roxy)

$10 Borders gift certificate donated by Cami Checketts

$10 Ross gift certificate donated by Cami Checketts

$10 Hobby Lobby gift certificate donated by Liz Cellan

Hair products donated by Lynette Jensen

Gift certificates to Cache Valley Fun Park - soft play, lazer tag, bowling, skating

Can you believe all those fun prizes? If you haven't heard of a book on this list, you should go check out the author's website. These are amazing writers and I am so grateful they would donate to the contest.

If you're interested, you can review the rules here and leave a comment to be entered into the contest - http://fitnessformom.blogspot.com/2009/09/fitness-contest_25.html

Hope you all have a marvelous day,

Cami

Prizes for our Fitness Contest

I asked one of my author loops to donate books to our little fitness contest. You will not believe the response I got! Oh, this contest is going to be fun. Just two more days until go time. Here's the list of all the prizes.

Am I Not a Man? The Dred Scott Story by Mark L. Shurtleff donated by Candace Salima - http://valorpublishinggroup.com/books/1shurtleff.htm

Illuminations of the Heart by Joyce DiPastena - http://jdp-news.blogspot.com/

Famous Family Nights by Anne Bradshaw - http://www.annebradshaw.com -http://annebradshaw.blogspot.com

A Modest Proposal by Michele Bell - http://michelleabel.blogspot.com - www.micheleashmanbell.com

Don't You Marry the Mormon Boys by Janet Kay Jensen - http://janetkayjensen.blogspot.com - www.janetjensen.com

Finding Faith by Terri Ferran - www.terriferran.com

Against the Giant by Christy Hardman - www.christyhardman.com

By Love or By Sea by Rachel Rager - http://www.rachelrager.com/ - http://rachelrager.blogspot.com/

Women of Virtue by Jodi Robinson - www.jodimarierobinson.blogspot.com

Dawn's Early Light by Laurie L.C. Lewis - www.laurielclewis.com - www.laurielclewis.blogspot.com

An Angel on Main Street by Kathi Oram Peterson - www.kathiorampeterson.com - www.kathiswritingnook.com

The Journey donated by Jewel Adams - http://www.jadamsnovels.com - http://www.jewelsbestgems.blogspot.com

The Ball's in Her Court by Heather Justesen - www.HeatherJustesen.com - www.heatherJustesen.blogspot. com

The Sister Pact by Cami Checketts - www.camichecketts.com

Free Nutrition Consult donated by Christa Kramer (Roxy)

$10 Borders gift certificate donated by Cami Checketts

$10 Ross gift certificate donated by Cami Checketts

$10 Hobby Lobby gift certificate donated by Liz Cellan

Hair products donated by Lynette Jensen

Can you believe all those fun prizes? If you haven't heard of a book on this list, you should go check out the author's website. These are amazing writers and I am so grateful they would donate to our contest.

If you haven't decided to enter the contest, you really should. It's going to be so much fun and with this many prizes, we are going to have a lot of winners. Just leave a comment if you want me to include your name on my list. Here's the rules in case you haven't seen them yet - http://fitnessformom.blogspot.com/2009/09/fitness-contest_25.html

Hope you all have a marvelous day,

Cami

Fitness Contest

The October fitness contest is coming soon. I'm so excited. I've been doing well without my ice cream and have even lost a couple of pounds, but this contest is going to help me be even more healthy.

Here are the rules:

Contest runs October 1st through October 31st. (I know it's cruel to include Halloween, but if I don't I'll be snitching baby Snickers from my boys Trick or Treat bags and that's just rotten of me.)

You can receive points Monday through Saturday. Sunday is a "free day," but I'd caution you to be careful. I still limit myself to one treat on my free day so I don't undo my healthy week.

Points available each day: 5

1 point for drinking at least 8 - 8 ounce glasses of water

1 point for eating at least 5 fruits and veggies

1 point for a fabulous exercise session (I'll leave it up to you to determine what's fabulous and if you've pushed yourself hard enough to receive a point)

1 point for no treats - This basically includes real treats - ice cream, cookies, donuts, candy, cake, etc. We aren't cutting out jam on our toast or a bit of sugar on our Total (I can't down the stuff without a shake of sugar). Again, this is up to your discretion. I'm trusting you to make yourselves as miserable as I'll be without chocolate.

1 point for no junk food - chips, fries, hamburgers, pizza, etc. This is true junk food, greasy, deep-fat fried. If you make a healthy pizza with whole wheat crust and a bunch of veggies or a tofu hamburger or some other such craziness, that isn't considered junk food.

So 5 points possible each day (Monday - Saturday). You keep track of your own points, but I'd love an update on how it's going.

Prizes:

The Sister Pact by Cami Checketts (I know you're all dying to win a copy of this one)

Weight-lifting gloves

$10 Borders gift certificate

$10 Ross gift certificate

This is all I can afford this month. Christmas is coming, you know. If any of you are willing to donate prizes that would help immensely. Also, if we get enough entries I might be able to get some prizes donated by Icon Health & Fitness. So tell your friends. We're going to have so much fun!

A good friend of mine has lost sixty pounds recently by following the blog, eating right, and exercising. She said to me the other day, "I'm having so much fun with it." I kind of thought she was nuts, but since I've been eating better and feeling great I realize that she's right. It really is fun to feel good and to be able to button your jeans!

Please let me know if you're joining us for the contest by posting a comment below or e-mailing me - camichecketts(at)yahoo(dot)com. My other blog - http://fitmommas.blogster.com is also joining us for this contest. Maybe we could compete with those followers to see who gets the most total points? Hmmm. I'll think on something to increase our competitive spirits.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Cami

Quote and Book Giveaway

"Nothing tastes as good as mean and lean feels." Michael Colgan

I've always loved this quote and tried to use it to motivate me to eat better, but recently I've begun to notice how truly crappy I feel when I eat ice cream and chocolate. Don't get alarmed. I'm not turning my back on my favorite foods! It's just been amazing to me how much better I feel when I eat healthy and how sick I get when I don't. It's like my poor body is saying, "We've consumed chocolate for the past 35 years and we need you to back off now chickie."

Have any of you noticed that difference when you eat healthy? Is it worth it for you to give up some comfort foods and realize that the taste is only temporary but your health and fitness level are permanent? It's taken me years to come to this realization and I'm praying I won't forget it next week!

Wanted to share another giveaway and review of The Sister Pact - http://justanothernewblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/giveaway-and-review-sister-pact-105.html.

If you already have your copy you could start stocking up for Christmas presents (hey, an author can hope).

Have a lovely day,

Cami

Delaying Gratification

“The chief cause of failure and unhappiness is trading what you want most for what you want now.” Zig Ziglar

How many times have I been miserable because of this very concept? I must savor that bowl of ice cream this minute, but tomorrow I’ll be sorry because I’m nauseated while I work out. I must swipe my debit card for that pair of jeans, but next week I’m upset because my checking account is nearing zero. I must snooze late because the boys woke me up multiple times, but during the day I’m miserable because I didn’t get my workout in.

We live in a society of instant gratification. Need a question answered? Minutes on the Internet and you’ll have more information than you could possibly use. Hungry? Jimmy John’s will have your sandwich ready before you’ve finished ordering. Tired? Drink a Red Bull and you’ll feel pep immediately.

The age of ease could be a good thing for our society, if we took the extra time given us by modern technology and used it for good – spending more quality time with family and friends, giving more of ourselves to serve others, exercising and enjoying nature, finding ways to better ourselves and our world.

The problem I see with our society is we squander that extra time with television viewing, Internet surfing, or the mastering of video games. I’m not going to get started on my anti-media kick because none of you need the opinions of a zealot. But I am going to say if we don’t train ourselves and our children to delay gratification we are going to have a very unhappy life.

Why is it important to learn to wait, to work hard for a goal, to understand that we can’t have everything we want?

First of all, patience is a virtue for many reasons. Not everything in life is going to come at the snap of our fingers. We’re going to face trials and hard times, if we haven’t learned to be patient in afflictions, our suffering will be quadruple what it should be.

Second, I think of wise Mama Bear from The Bernstein Bears, “Greedy cubs just want more and more.” Buying and consuming is fun sometimes, but too much and all you want is more and more. The trick is to be satisfied with the good things we have while still working hard and being productive.

Third, the Lord wants us to learn to labor and feel good about what we produce. There is much satisfaction in a job well done. Success that comes quickly usually leaves just as quickly.

How does this translate into health and fitness?

It’s possible to lose weight quickly with crash diets, but 99 times out of 100 that weight will come back just as quickly (usually with some extra pounds to boot). It’s possible to take some crazy drug or shot to lose weight, but are you willing to risk the side effects that could stick with you for life?

“Trading what you want most for what you want now?”

What most of us want is to be healthy and fit for life: To be able to play with our children or grandchildren without aches and pains. To feel good each morning as we roll out of bed. To look halfway decent in those jeans that cost way too much money.

To achieve these goals we’ll need patience, hard work, and a little bit of know-how. We’ll need to realize that though we might want to push the snooze button for the third time, we need to get out of bed and get our workout in. Instead of reaching for that second brownie (I know it looks like heaven) we’ll have to say "no" to ourselves and think about our long-term goals instead of letting our taste buds rule the house. When we’re exercising and want to quit, maybe we need to push ourselves even harder (within reason, of course) and someday soon we’ll realize that the extra sprint on the treadmill or the extra set of triceps dips is really paying off.

I hope each one of us can try a little harder, once in a while deny ourselves some luxuries and treats, and realize how wonderful it feels to put mind over body and conquer the natural man.

Cami Checketts is a wife, mother, writer, pro-bono fitness trainer, and wanna-be supporter of Cold Stone Creameries (she had to give up ice cream to fit in those jeans that zeroed out her checking account). Her latest novel, The Sister Pact, is in stores now. For more information, please refer to her website – www.camichecketts.com.

Exercise - Your Happy Pill

"A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world."

~ Paul Dudley White

I love this quote. Quite often when I'm getting ornery and feeling sorry for myself I turn to chocolate, but I've been on a five-day hiatus from my happy food and I've had to get creative. When I force myself to move (especially when I want to lay on the couch and moan) I feel so much better physically and mentally.

Next time you're tired, grumpy, irritable, or just plain fed up with the world - go on a walk or bike ride, turn on some music and dance, do some yoga, or get on the floor and wrestle with your children. Let me know if it works for you as well as it has for me. If it doesn't - grab some chocolate.

Have a happy weekend,

Cami

Fitness Contest?

Through my other fitness blog - http://fitmommas.blogster.com - I often host fitness contests. We get points for healthy eating, exercise, water intake, etc. Then I provide prizes for the winners. Would any of you be interested in doing something like that? I'm thinking of doing it for the month of October. Any input would be wonderful.

My friend Leslie Pocock and I are embarking on a fitness and healthy eating contest that begins today. Here's our plan. If either of us eat a treat or unhealthy food or if we don't exercise we have to put a dollar in a jar. At the end of the contest we have to give the other person our jar full of money, unless we reach our weight loss goal. If we reach our goal we keep our money and our husbands said they would match the money for shopping.

I really need a kick in the pants right now (I can't fit into some of my pants!).

What helps you to get motivated? Contests, money, fitting into your clothes, feeling good? Are fitness contests effective for you or do you just go back to old habits as soon as you finish?

Inspirational Quote

"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."
Franklin D. Roosevelt

My sons learned this quote at karate class. When I asked them to explain it they said, "If you get mad you have to tie yourself up and not get mad." Cute.

I'm going to give you a different interpretation. As a lot of us are strength training to lose or maintain weight, it sometimes becomes frustrating because as you know muscle weighs more than fat and until your metabolism kicks in high gear and you start burning more fat you will probably not lose weight and may even gain.

So, when you get to the end of your rope (you feel like quitting because you're short on time, it's just too hard, or you're just plain sick of working so hard and not getting the results you want) tie a knot and hang on. I promise the results of being active and healthy will be worth it. This isn't a temporary fix. This is a lifestyle. If you keep working hard it will be a lifestyle that will benefit you physically, mentally, and emotionally.

I'm so proud of all of you. Keep up the good work,

Cami