My Pastor friend supports his family with online business- here's how

Friends of mine, Steve and Kerry Beck, support their whole family 100% with online businesses. I have watched them go from being un-employed, when he was in seminary to making 6 figures a year doing easy informational e-books (Kerry is a homeschooling mom who speaks at conferences and shares her info with e-books, and now even their kids write their own e-books and sell them online.) Kerry is the one who got the family started by writing a homeschool info e-book that sold for $11 and made over $10,000 in one week!
Well, they have been doing it long enough and have become so successful, even I can admit they know what they are doing, and have the integrity while doing it that I trust them and will follow their example. I feel very comfortable at this point in passing along their site if you would like more info.  Click here to go Steve and Kerry's page. They give out TONS of FREE, yes FREE content that is extrememly useful on it's own so sign up for their FREE newsletter if you do nothing else. I do know these people personally, Steve gave me the tip to use Kunaki.com to make my audio cd's of my book and it saved me hundreds of dollars. He didn't get any kickback at all for doing this. I like to work with people of integrity. Steve and Kerry Beck's FamilyEBiz

Where I learned to quickly write a book and gets started speaking

I get asked this almost every day, I am not kidding.
I came across a site that ended up changing my life. Even if I never do another thing with writing or speaking, getting the motivation to actually take action to write a book and be able to share my message of how to overcome the depression, anxiety and apathy that had led to my being overweight, and then losing 40 lbs - is worth it! If you have a message to share, or always wanted to write a book but thought it was too difficult or time consuming, this is a very easy way to learn the steps needed to take action and just get it done already. I still keep in touch with my mentor, and as soon as my little ones get a year or two older and can be without mom, I am going to one of his workshops. But, in meantime, I learned everything I have used so far just by being a member of his site. I guarantee my books have sold because of his advice! Check it out here.

Now you are going to go to the site and say, "What if I don't want to be a speaker?" That's ok, I started out wanting to be a speaker, and discovered the path to being a speaker is being an author! So, I took the advice and used it to fulfill my life-long dream to be an author. It was very easy and if I can do it with my busy life-style, so can you.

If you DO want to be a speaker, like to colleges (the economy does NOT affect the budget schools have to pay speakers to come - and if I hadn't realized it is not the feasible for me to go out and speak long distance right now with my kids' needs, this is probably the niche I would get into), then you can also go to this site.

I like this mentor because he actaully tells you what to do - it is not vague advice. And I am proof it is do-able!
Resources: Big Money Speaker
                 Big Money College Speaking Success

The cure for lactose intolerance

I've found the cure for lactose intolerance! Well, for me at least. After doing my fast a few weeks ago, I became lactose intolerant. Meaning, every time I had a bit of cow dairy product  I would immediately swell up with gas (painfully so) and then spend the next 12 hours killing everyone around me with, you know, a non-pleasant odor. (Goat products were no problem so I could still get my cheese fix.)

I mentioned it to my chiropractor during a visit, and she determined my immune system was stressed, as were my ovaries (well, hey, I am  turning 45) and recommended some resources for progesterone cream to help my hormones out a few days.

I ended up buying some Jason's Natural Cosmetics wild yam cream, a natural (and non-cancer-causing) form of progesterone to rub on  three times a day for a week, and a bottle of NOW liquid echinacea to boost my immune system for about a week.

After a few days I tested it out by eating some cow's milk cheese. I experienced a very mild reaction. By the end of the week, I ate a few slices of Parmesan and had a healthy helping of milk in my coffee and guess what?! NO reaction at all. I am cured. Who'da thunk?

Women, Food and God - a book by Geneen Roth

Don't read it to find some new insights into your relationship with God. Believe me, it ain't there. Do read it to gain new insights to your relationship with food. I read it in two days. It's an easy flow and only about 200 pages. Easy on the eyes.

I like the way she enables one to see that most of what we think about ourselves, how we define ourselves, has to with the small, painful moments of our lives when someone said something (probably flippant) that became apart of our values, or our ideals, or our life script. Read it to get what the means in a more easily understood way. I know what I am saying, but you may not.

The biggest challenge I realize I am having is to allow my kids to grow up to be who they are, not who I want to shape them to be based on my own issues. Think about it. Check out the book here.

New ways to "plank"

What's a plank? Other than wood, of course. It's a Pilates move (that's how I learned it at least) that tones your abs without the boring sit-ups (works better and faster, too.) The standard plank is to lean on your elbows and stretch your legs out so you are balanced on your forearms and toes. You are, in effect, a plank. Hold for 30 seconds keeping your abs taut.

Variations:
Do a "boy-style" push up and when your arms are extended, lift one leg straight up a few inches, clinching your butt-muscles as well as your abs. Lower and repeat with other leg. Tones it ALL. (source: Health Mag, Oct. 2009, p. 20)

Do a standard plank, then twist your hips (just hips) to the left as you exhale, then back to center with inhale, then to the left with exhale. Repeat series as many times as you want. (Source: Health Magazine, March, 2010)  - I read that one in the Pierz library today so I had to recall the date by memory.) 

I'll be trying these out this week, how about you? :)

Read this: Grayson, by Lynne Cox

OK, so losing 5 lbs on the way to vacation totally makes it ok to gain 5 on the way back, right?! That's what I say, it all comes out in the wash. Anyway, I picked up some free books at a church garage sale a few weeks ago and got around to reading one today, Grayson, by Lynne Cox. Borrow it from me, or the library, or get it here for about five bucks, but read it. Lynne swam the English Channel at 15 and as part of her continued training as a swimmer, she regularly swam off the coast of California. The book is about her 3 and a half hour ordeal, of sorts, swimming with a baby gray whale that was separated from his mother, and found Lynne in the meantime. I could not put it down.

The vacation diet

What do vacation and diet have to do with one another? Isn't that an oxymoron? I used to think so, but now, not so much. We are in the midst of a family vacation as I write this, and since leaving Minnesota on Friday, June 4, I estimate I have lost five lbs. The reason I say this is the shorts and tops I bought (on sale) for this trip are now on the too-big side. How did this miracle occur, you ask?

Before leaving we discussed ways to save money on the road. We were already planning on staying at a friend's home near Yellowstone which takes a good week off of our motel expenses, and we got the van serviced (amazing how your fuel economy increases once you get the mouse nest out of the air filter.) The biggest boon to our budget was grocery shopping before we left.

I filled a cooler and a plastic bin with healthy, low- or good-fat items that we would all eat on the road. I used the top of the ice chest like a counter to prepare sandwiches and to open cans, and we honestly have not visited one restaurant yet! This is the following Thursday as I write this. By the way, no one is suffering, crying or complaining about the menu. We all eat as we desire, which I suspect is a lot less than we do at home. At various sites we are getting out and walking to see the attractions, but not getting any other planned exercise.

Below is a list of what we packed:

Plastic bowls, plates, silverware and cups (clean silverware as you go to conserve)
can opener
Canned tuna in water (a great low-fat protein)
Canned beans like black beans, pinto, beans in chili sauce, and northern beans (low-fat protein, high in fiber)
Canned pineapple (chock-full of digestive enzymes)
Canned corn (low-fat fiber)
Fresh apples, oranges and bananas (vitamins, fiber, sweet)
Individual containers of organic applesauce, two flavors
Fresh lettuce (fresh crunch to sandwiches and salads, fiber)
Fresh sliced onions, carrots and celery (fiber, crunch and fresh flavor to sandwiches)
Bottle of ranch salad dressing (dip for cut veggies)
Whole grain bagels and mini-bagels (for smaller tummies)
Neufatchel cheese (like cream cheese but 1/3 the fat)
Natural peanut butter (protein satisfies)
Raw honey
Whole grain bread
Whole grain tortillas
Granola bars
String cheese (low-fat favorite for kids)
Sliced provolone and reduced-fat cheddar cheese
No preservative, natural sliced turkey (healthy, lean protein)
Olive oil mayonnaise (half the fat of mayo, heart-healthy fat)
Mustard (fat-free flavor)
Relish (fat-free flavor, but does have sugar)
Organic wheat crackers in plain and tomato-basil
Pitted prunes (the kids love them)
Britta water filter 18 cup size (fill up and use along the way) - no yucky city water!
Organic apple juice and black cherry juice (helps with constipation, too)
Avocados
Toilet paper (for our final destination)
Total cost: $145 to feed a family of 6 for at least one week on the road, with tons of leftover food to eat while at our destination.

If we went to a restaurant 3 times a day, we would have spent at least $180 a DAY, in comparison. I like it!

For more weightloss tips, see my book