Book Review: What Happened to My Life?

If you’ve ever felt like your life has taken an unwanted detour, this is your book! 

What Happened to My Life?  Finding New Passion, Purpose, and Joy by Danna Demetre is an honest perspective about what to do when life doesn’t go according to plan.  Danna speaks from her own experience with eating disorders and broken relationships.  In Danna, you will find a wise friend who speaks with empathy and hope.  She will not leave you to wallow in your sorrows.  Through biblical truths, she will help pick you up and set you back on course to live a better life. 

Danna’s book begins with chapters about “What’s Wrong with Me Anyway?” and “Discovering a New Path to Contentment.”  That’s followed by a 40 day journey of daily readings to bolster your faith and renew your spirit. 

I had the honor of hearing Danna speak this morning at the Professional Women’s Fellowship in San Diego about her book.  What a message of hope to be content in all circumstances.  Through her talk – and in her book – Danna shows you how.  This book is a great gift for yourself or a friend who needs to be refreshed and pointed towards a new perspective on life. 

Thank you Revell for a copy of this wonderful book to share.  What Happened to My Life is available wherever fine books are sold.

My New Love: Scarves!

I’ve never been an accessory person.  (I don’t know how to use them).  But since my closet purge with image consultant Jill Swanson, I have discovered the magic of scarves!

Jill showed me how to tie them and what colors would go well with my face and wardrobe.  Since then I have hit a few Ross stores in search of scarves.  Here’s my latest find which will dress up this brown top quite nicely!  It was only $8.99 so it’s a great and inexpensive way to get a new look out of your closet.

Jill’s advice on choosing a scarf:  only buy one you absolutely love.  If you don’t love it, you won’t wear it.  I think I will wear this outfit to a ladies breakfast on Thursday!  That’s another test of a good purchase: do you wear it right away?

Copy Editing for My Book…Complete!

My book coming out with Harvest House Publishers in December, 31 Days to a Younger You:  No surgery.  No diets.  No kidding. has been edited!

To give you a little background…I submitted the manuscript for the book on October 1, just before Lucy was born – phew!  I birthed 2 babies in October.  The manuscript has been reviewed and accepted.  Now the copy editing is complete. 

Next phase, cover design and interior book design.  So exciting! 

The book is scheduled to release in December, so I will be blogging more about it soon.  All that to say, I will be blogging here at Losing Weight After Baby less.  That’s the bad news.  The good news is that you can follow me to my new blog for tips on looking and feeling great at any age. 

I will keep you posted friends!

Image Consultant Jill Swanson Tells Me What Not to Wear!

I’m still reeling (in a good way) from my closet consultation with the fabulous Jill Swanson.  Here are some of the tops that didn’t make the cut.  The purple short sleeve is a sweater and I never wear it.  When it’s warm, who wants to wear a cashmere sweater?  The black sweater in the middle is too big now.  The patterned shirt bunches up funny on my body although the pattern is very cute to me. 

Jill spent 2 hours in my closet.  She was a force of nature; first choosing all my shirts, sorting them in a keep pile and throwing the rest on the floor saying “Let this go.” About 40% of the shirts ended up on the cutting floor.

Her mantras to me:  “Buy outfits.  Go for complete looks.  Don’t just buy something on a clearance rack that you like.  Buy clothes that skim your figure.  Avoid clothes that are too boxy.”

I don’t know how to accessorize – I don’t think I’ve worn a belt in 10 years.  Here’s how I usually wear this outfit: 

Here’s how the look changed with just a belt:

I have long arms so she said that 3/4 sleeves are not that great.  Instead, I should pull the sleeves up a bit and then my arms will look more attractive:

Next she bought me a zebra top that I love and only $10.50! 

 

Again she used a belt to accentuate my waist which she says is a strength.  Jill says to find your strength (shoulders, waist, legs, hips, bust, smile, etc.) and find clothes that flatter that strength.

I’m excited about these new looks and will be trying them out soon!

Help Organize My Closet!

 

Do you do this?

You walk into a store and find a really cute top on clearance.  You take it home but can’t figure out what to wear it with.  It hangs in your closet for months.  Now it’s too late to bring it back (where is that receipt anyway?).

I’m really good at knowing what I think is cute, but really bad in putting complete stunning outfits together.  You know, the kind of looks when everything is working (top, accessories, jacket, pants, shoes, purse).  After all, my purse is my diaper bag and I am too frugal to buy a trendy purse until I’m out of the diaper bag phase. 

Well I have met a wonderful style consultant named Jill Swanson.  She is coming on Thursday for a closet consultation!  She will put together outfits, tell me what not to wear, pick out what needs to go to Good Will – I am excited!

I’ll let you know how it goes on Thursday along with the tips she gives me.

I can fit in most of the clothes in my closet but a few things are still too tight (ug!).  So I didn’t meet my goal of fitting into everything before Jill comes (my hubby made me a deal – fit in everything by the time the consultant is in town and you can meet with her).  Luckily, James is going to be gracious and I’m keeping the appointment. 

I’m still doing P90X and lovin that – a few more weeks and I should be into all my clothes!!!

My Kid’s Broken Leg

Well I haven’t blogged for awhile because it’s been a bit busy in our household!  My 5 year old son broke his leg on a bike!  He has been quite a trooper but of course there are days when he cries, “I wish I never broke my leg!  It’s so boring!”

Now we have two strollers when we go out – one for the baby and one for Ethan.  Five year olds using crutches move pretty slow so the stroller has come in handy. 

He has a transverse fracture on his leg and should have his cast on for 6 weeks.  He’s a 50+ lb weight, so I guess moving him around has been good for losing weight.  The good news is we went to Disneyland BEFORE he broke his leg, it’s warming up so he can wear shorts, and he’ll have the cast off before it gets really hot in the summer.  God is good. 

I gave Ethan this talk about how bad things can bring out the best or worst in people.  I told him it had brought out the best in him.  He nodded and said “thanks mom” in a very grown up way

P.S.  The cast is dinosaurs so that has been a life saver!

Hair Days!

Gotta love baby Lucy’s hair!!!

Got to My Goal Weight But…

I am happy, thankful, elated, relieved, pumped up to say:  I made it to my goal weight!!!  For the first time, the scale is saying that I’m back to my pre-pregnancy weight.  Phew – this is the payoff.  When you make sacrifices to eat better and exercise more, the scale will eventually move in your favor. 

So – it’s time to party…almost.

Unfortunately, I am at my goal weight, but I still have pants that are too snug in the waist to wear (who doesn’t?).  All my pants are the same size now, but as you know, some pants are cut smaller than others.  I have about 5 pairs that don’t quite fit right but I’m close.  So the fight’s not over.  Gotta keep working to get that belly flab off.

The strategy?

Insanity.  Have you ever seen a promo for the Insanity program of workouts?  Well, my husband and I are shifting from P90X for a little bit (we completed about 40 days of it) to go insane with Insanity.  It’s more of a cardio workout and it’s really hard.  Thankfully it’s shorter than P90X which offers some relief (45 minutes vs 1 hour of P90X). 

I hope to post soon that everything in my closet fits.  My husband is treating me to an appointment with a consultant to help me with my wardrobe/style etc.  If I don’t get into my skinny jeans by May 15th though, I have to cancel the appointment.  He knows he’s got me because I would be way too embarrassed to cancel.  Smart man.  I’m motivated!

Who Hid the Peanut Butter?

 

Some of my favorite foods are dark chocolate and peanut butter.  My husband hid the chocolate about 2 weeks ago which was a good move.  At least I still had my spoonfuls of peanut butter to keep me going.  But I admit I probably would be able to zip up my goal jeans if peanut butter didn’t exist. 

So when I went to reach for my beloved peanut butter in the pantry, guess what happened?  The nice full jar of peanut butter was gone, and this measly jar of “hardly anything left” peanut butter was in its place.  With this love note:  “Eat more vegies” (yes, I know it should say “veggies”).

The culprit was my husband of course!  I laughed so hard when I opened up that jar of peanut butter.  He got me!  I am looking forward to incorporating peanut butter back into my life after I can wear my skinny jeans!