From Thanksgiving to Jan 2009 I lost 10lbs just from cutting out alot of the snacking I do in the middle of the night. In february however I lost nothing...until the beginning of this week. I've started planning my meals and working out. Thus far I've lost 2 lbs in 2 days. I'm kind of happy with this new turn and hope to accompish my goal of losing the extra weight by June.

It's hard. I work at home at my computer. So I sit. All day. And then want to snack at night.

The work out has made me feel much better during the day and with all the water I'm drinking my skin looks great! I have more energy now and am much more alert than i was before due to the "good" foods I've been eating. I allow myself one piece of bread a day. And at most two meats.

For snacks I have crackers with tomato sauce and a slice of hot jalepeno on top or a piece of fruit or a V-8 (I LOVE them!)

When I work out, I do just a mile. I'm just starting the work out and didn't want to push myself so that I was so sore I could move to do another workout the next day. I walk for half a mile and then run the rest. I have the treadmill where I can do the workout in my house. I also have a thing called the abtilt...which is the equivalent of the pit of despair from The Princess Bride and I feel like the six fingered dude is sitting there sucking my life away but I can tell the thing is really working. I've also been doing weights work for my arms. It only takes me about 30mins every morning. Eventually I'd like to work up to an hour but for now this is good for me.

People are surprised that I'm doing this. I'm a very confident person. Maybe even conceited...about my looks, my work, etc. And I don't think I look BAD...but I do think I need to start thinking about my health more. I just turned 35 and have heard that it gets harder and harder to lose weight as you get older and easier and easier to gain it. So I'm trying to jumpstart.

Right now I weigh 168lbs. I DID weight 180 lbs when I started. My goal is 145-150lbs. OR I don't mind the number being higher if I'm more toned. I'd like to wear a bathing suit this summer...a bikini. I've not worna bikini in 10 years! I'm keeping progress log on my website so that people can do this along with me if they like. It's odd having everything so public but I've not received any negative feedback about any of it.

I suppose, my grandfather being so ill, and my grandmother ill too due to the stress of his withering away has alot to do with my sudden need to get healthy. But that's what moves us through life right? Every experience has some kind of impact on us, affects us somehow. It's just up to us if we're going to let it be positive or negative. I'm trying to keep myself positive through this with my grandfather and trying not to let myself sink into depression.

-Sable

Update: My grandfather made it through the holidays...I'm very happy about this because if he'd passed it would have been too difficult for the family during holidays.

I'm turning over a new leaf. I'm tired of worrying about all of the negative corners in life and about all those people that mean to add to my stress with melodramatics and whining. LOL 2009 is a new year and I'm charging into it at full speed. I received my first query as a literary agent and my first email of agency questions from an author this week and it kind of opened my eyes. While there are some that will not support my dreams and ambitions, there are others who DO take me seriously and realize that the success I've built to this point is a reflection of that which I will gain in my new company.

And yes, this new leaf includes a weight loss plan. For years I've resisted the losing weight goal for a new years resolution but I've decided I'm not really happy with the number. I look great, don't get me wrong, but the number really bothers me. Soooooo, it's more of a Get In Shape resolution...no dieting. I love to cook and eat too much to tell a lie of changing the way I eat. I don't eat an excessive amount but I don't do enough physical movement to burn what I do take in off. I have a great metabolism but I work at a computer basically. Soooooo, I have a treadmill and a very dangerous piece of equipment that will help me work out my tummy. I figure a 30 min work out in the morning and a walk in the evening with the dogs should do the trick.

Another goal for 2009 is to organize my space. With all the drama and stress in the last couple of months, myhouse has become a MESS. I can't stand it anymore. After the Wim Conference in January at Cobblestone Press, I'm taking a week to completely re-organize my home. Then I think a bit of re-decorating is in order to create a feeling of sanctuary and peace.

As far as work goes....Sable Grey, LLC should be in full swing by February with the launching of my new onlinemagazine, SableGrey Magazine. The response from this new feature at my site has been reassuring and I'm really excited to see what is going to happen with the magazine.

I'm excited about 2009 and am ready to face whatever comes my way.

I was born Amy Jo in Mississippi back in 1974. I grew up poor and when you are poor what you grow up to become is pretty important. Having a creative occupation just doesn't seem real. But at age 30 I had my first sensual romance book published online. Since I've spread my wings and have had several books published online and in 2006, became a publisher along with my business partner, of electronic romance books under the pen name Sable Grey.

Finally...back in September, I made the plunge to start Sable Grey, LLC. For years I've wanted to become a literary agent and I felt I had more to give to the romance industry but old whispers kept me from doing so. With my publishing company, Cobbletone Press, starting it's thrid year and doing very well, I thought it was time to launch my Sable Grey, LLC project.

So here I am. Overworked. Underpaid. And doing what I love. Of course it's not all roses - there are thorns...lots of them. This year my stepdaughter and her three children moved in with my husband and me. It's put a huge strain on our marriage, especially since the soon to be (I hope) ex-inlaws are the in laws from hell and can't stop stirring up drama with lies and manipulations that have finally seeped over into our lives and not just in the step daughter's lives. The boundaries I've set because of the lies that include me, are only adding to strain in my home.

My grandfather is ill and I expect his passing soon. He is the first man of my life that was a constant and it's hard to see someone you once thought so large and strong that he could defy death sitting at it's door frail and weak. It breaks my heart. My mother, bless her heart, does EVERYTHING for my grandfather and grandmother (who is also having a bad time of it watching her husband pass and has fallen ill herself due to the depression she is suffering as a result) while none of the uncles pitch in to help at all.

Great time to start a new business right? LOL But the truth is, my successes are my happiness. With all the sorrow and madness, I feel I am able to still contribute to an industry I love and I do find REAL happiness in seeing my goals being met and in seeing my hard work pay off in a positive way.

Women like Oprah have often been an inspiration for me. Women succeeding and then using that success to do something great in the world. I aspire to do the same, no matter what hiccups or mountains of negativity life might throw at me.

So I decided to start this blog, here at the Oprah website because it seemed fitting that I journal my journey here where I find so much inspiration with hopes that my story will encourage others as well. It's the inside look behind the Sable Grey name, at a woman - me - who is determined to succeed no matter what.