Thursday, February 25, 2016

Feb Drawing Winners!

A glorious good morning to you, BBFFs!

Actually, it's 5 a.m. as I'm writing this, so it's hard to tell how glorious it is in the pitch dark, but, hey, I have faith.

I was too excited to sleep with the 3 new winners of the Too Blessed to be Stressed Cookbook drawing dancing in my head, so without further ado, here they are:

Mary Altman
Faith McDonald
Dotty Rondelli

Congrats girls! Just message me your mailing addresses ASAP and your prize will soon be winging its way to you!

Many, many thanks to all who entered ... stay tuned for another contest right around the bend. The Too Blessed to be Stressed Cookbook will be a terrific Mothers Day gift for the stressed ladies in your life, so if you buy one, you can win another for FREE!

A special shout out to the men who entered the drawing - you go, fellas! I'm hoping to see a few Toms, Dicks, or Harrys on the next winners list.

Cookies & Cream Heaven
So with the Wt. Loss Challenge over (but not for me - I'm determined to shed another 6 lbs if it kills me!), I can get back to posting the decadent dishes from the Too Blessed to be Stressed Cookbook on Pinterest (be sure to follow my Cookbook page!).

I was trying not to sabotage anyone's diets so I've been posting only recipes from the healthy section.

But now ... hehehe [wicked chuckle] I'm going to do my durndest to make you drool all over your keyboard.

Listen BBFFs, I LOVE seeing your fave recipes from the TBTBS Cookbook on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, so please keep posting those notes and photos and don't forget to tag me. Hearing from you sure makes my day!

Together, let's Eat Stress-Free in 2016!

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Pooh on PAH

"Am I beautiful, even though I am the only person looking at me?"

I saw this question on the blog of a lovely young writer named Barb Abel, a single mom of two who wrestles with self-esteem.

I think it sums up the space many of us occupy: Do we respect ourselves enough to consider ourselves beautiful?

And with the start of a new year, most of us are taking a critical gander at our abundant midsections and don't like what we see.

So with my February Weight Loss Challenge (3 lbs in 3 weeks) underway (scroll back to previous posts if you're clueless), I thought I'd share a few of the facts I dug up while doing research for my book, More Beauty, Less Beast. These are from the "Flab is Drab" chapter on outer beauty (although most of the book focuses on inner beauty).

1. It costs big bucks to pack extra pounds. Researchers found that with all things considered (clothes, sick days, food costs, etc), the annual cost of being overweight for women is $524 and a whopping $4,879 if you're obese (40% or more over your ideal body weight based on height, gender, and age).

2. For every 2.2 pounds gained after age eighteen, women's odds of surviving past seventy drop 5%. Prevalent diseases are cancer, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.  

3.Abdominal fat is scary. If your waist circumference is larger than 35 inches, regardless of your health or weight, you have twice the risk of dying prematurely.

4. Like me, many women add 2-3 pounds per year as they age. I call this "Boo Baggage." It sneaks up on you little by little over a decade or two, until one day, thirty rotten, stinking pounds jump out from behind you (or maybe even from your behind) and yell Boo!

5. If you spend eight or more hours per day sitting in front of a computer (or TV), the fat-burning chemicals in your body are diminished by 50%.

Now to be perfectly honest, dear BBFF (Best Blog Friend Forever), I'm hungry as I write this. And despite all these hard cold facts I've just written that should convince anyone to shed those extra pounds, I've got a jar of nuts on my desk that's missing a handful. I was about to say I don't know where they could be - I really don't remember eating a single one - but I just realized I have an odd salty taste in my mouth and a tiny piece of something decidedly nut-like between my front teeth.

Sigh.

Such is the conundrum. The spirit's willing but the flesh is weak. And the Godiva is far too handy.

For those of you who joined me in the January Wt Loss Challenge first leg of my Eating Stress-Free and Healthy in 2016 Contest, and reached the goal of losing 3 or more pounds, I applaud wholeheartedly.

Listen, I reached the goal after the deadline but IT STILL COUNTS. (Hey, it's my contest and I'm makin' up the rules!)

Still, I'm trying again in Feb. The can of nuts has hereby been banished from the house.
I hope you'll give it another go too (except the stinker who wrote that she's ten pounds UNDERweight and her doctor would shoot her if she lost any more), regardless of your results so far.

Sister, let's fight together against the ravages of PAH: Physiological Aging Hypothesis. That's my Coty Near-Fact of Science that states as a woman's age creeps northward, her body parts travel south, and hips expand to incredible new horizons east to west.  

Pooh on PAH. I'm tired of being all over the map; how about you?






Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Eating Stress-Free & Healthy Winners

Congrats to these Too Blessed to be Stressed winners in the first leg of my Weight Loss Challenge! (And YES, even if you missed out the first time, you'll have a second chance to join the challenge ... read on!)

Of all the brave souls accepting the challenge to lose 3 pounds in 3 weeks during January, these five were drawn to win autographed copies of my new Too Blessed to be Stressed Cookbook. 

And the winners are:

Bonnie Ewing
Michele Doyle
Joy Herlocker
Susan Scott
Barbara Lamb

Now, girlfriends, you'll be able to keep eating stress-free and healthy while enjoying the delicious low-fat, fiber-rich, and low-cal recipes from my Too Blessed to be Stressed Cookbook. So you just might just be up for ANOTHER challenge, right?


Yep, we're doing a second challenge in Feb, BBFF's! Same rules apply as the first challenge, but it will run from Feb 3-Feb 24. (See details on the Eating Stress-Free & Healthy in 2016 Contest page on my website www.DeboraCoty.com,)

Whether you've already taken a first step toward a healthier you, or you're just gathering steam to begin, the Weight Loss Challenge is your opportunity to join hands with me and do it together.

Oh, mustn't forget to give well deserved applause to the challengers who met their goal of losing 3 or more pounds in January:
Joy (lost 4 lbs and 8 inches), Bethany (lost 5 lbs), and Susan (lost 4.6 lbs).

As for me? Can you hear the weeping and gnashing of teeth issuing from your screen? It's me. Sigh. I'm sad to say I fell just short of my goal ...  I shed 2.7 lbs. But I fully intend to hang in there for the next challenge and trim off 6 total lbs by Feb 24.

How about you? Are you with me?

I need to hear from you by FB or e-mail (you can reach me through my website contact page) that you're all in to take the Feb 3 lbs in 3 weeks challenge. WE CAN DO IT!