See you in mid June

Hi, all!

I can hardly believe I haven't blogged since Valentine's Day, but I have a good excuse. I've been working extremely hard on my novel, "Lost Mountain," and finally feel ready to market it in earnest. It sure has been a lot of work, but a labor of love.

Although it's been tempting to be sedentary and just write, write, write, in front of that laptop all day, I've been careful to keep my appointments with my personal trainer, working out with him, and walking and biking for cardio-vascular exercise. Interestingly, my weight has remained stable (I've been dieting, but not extremely strictly.) Even though my scale shows no weight loss (no gain, either), lateley, people always seem to be telling me that I look slimmer.

I mentioned this to my personal trainer and he reminded me that five pounds of fat is twice the size of five pounds of muscle. He even showed me a model of both. That visual was so compelling to me that I'll never forget it. His take is that I'm probably losing some fat due to my gentle dieting, but also I'm probably gaining muscle mass. So, if I lose three pounds and gain a pound and a half of muscle mass, it looks like I've only lost 1 1/2 pounds, but I've actually achieved a double success! And it might actually look like I've lost three pounds instead of the 1 1/2 on the scale. (At least, that's my way of thinking--this isn't scientific at all, since I'm no expert, just an enthusiast.)

I'm wondering if any of you also have experience with this phenomenon? Looking slimmer, but not losing weight while you diet and work out. If so, let us hear your comments. Post away!

Before I start abovementioned marketing blitz for my novel, I'm taking a vacation with my family. We'll be in Japan for the next month. There, I'm sure I'll find fertile material for all kinds of stories.

I do plan to keep up my exercise program as much as I can while I'm away. I'll check back in when I get back to let you know how it went.

In the meantime, I wish everyone a safe, blessed, and fulfilling month. May you make continued progress on your goals, and may all your dreams come true.

And here's to vibrant health through nutrition and exercise, wherever we may be over this wonderful, wide world.

Talk to you soon,

xo, ciao,

Rita