Fat Free For Life: 13 Principles for Guaranteed Weight Loss and Ultimate Health by Braxton Cosby DPT

Genre:  Nonfiction, Self-help
Source: I purchased a copy

If you are looking for a book that will help you set and keep your weight loss goals, then look no further. This book focuses on the whole you. In his book Braxton starts off talking about a time he had to face a persistent painn. It hampered his ability to do things. He finally realized he was dealing with fear. The fear of the pain was so real in his mind that it prevented him from moving forward.. He learned to move past the fear and the pain.  When I read that I really needed to hear it. I had stopped working out. I am facing double knee surgery  in about three months.  The procedures they had tried on my knees had stopped working. A few hours on my feet meant almost unbearable pain, so the idea of working out, doing my therapy, using my recumbent bike was out the window. When I realized that it was the fear of the pain that was keeping me from doing what I knew I needed to do, I took action.  After working out on my bike I realized that the knees actually felt better.

Through this book the idea that I had to have a solid plan and  be willing to execute that plan ws reinforced. I loved that Braxton reinforced my Christian beliefs that I must get my strength from god because this is definitely the hardest battle I've had to face. One of my favorite parts of this book is the "Cosby Corner" found throughout. He had one named "Why You Shouldn't Trust Yourself". He made a point that saying "I'll have just one" wo't work. I laughed because I knew how true this was. When i decided to make changes in the way I ate, I made a conscious decision to never eat another cream horn. This was before I decided to throw out ALL sugar.  I told my husband of my decision and he said he would help me by justing letting me have one. I reminded hi the last tie he said and did that I ate all six of them in one hour. There are some foods that I had to make totally off limits because I can't trust myself to eat just one.

Another important chapter to me ws Chatper 9 "Buddy Up"
this chapter encourages you to find an accountability partner. this is so important. When I began my journey into eating a Paleo Diet my husband not only supported me but joined me. He decided we would all eat this way. My83 year-old  mother lives with us and has lost 17 pounds just by eating what we eat.  After I finished my 30 day challenge with Braxton Cosby, I joined a challenge at school with some of my fellow teachers.  The motivation and lessons I learned from this book is what I will pass on to my friends and colleagues when I recommend this book to them.

So I have to ask you. Are you ready to set and keep your weight loss goals? Then purchase this book and get started.

The Key to Tartarus by Nancy Richardson Fischer

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Source:  I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

From Goodreads:

When Evangeline's best friend and "almost" boyfriend Raphe is kidnapped by a sinister, supernatural being, she must use her magical powers and wits to try to save him. Her journey takes her into a mythical underworld where she battles furious spirits, her own self-doubts, and ancient, cruel Gods, as she struggles to find Raphe. In the end she will be forced to make an unbearable choice. Either save Raphe, or condemn him, and others she cares about, to be tortured for eternity...

My Review:

How far would you be willing to go to save a friend. Would you go to Tartarus, the pit below hell? Evangeline, the latest descendant from Pandora does just that.  She has already lost so much. She lost her best friend who belonged to a secret sect that exists to protect her and all descendant of Pandora.  When people stopped believing in the Gods they began to wither away. Zeus has never forgiven Pandora for trapping annihilation in the box. He will do anything to make that happen. If he can just kill the one who holds Pandora’s key, then someone else will be able to take the key and open the box.

Zeus earns Evangeline’s trust. As an old man receiving chemo, he has convinced her to read to him. She is a volunteer at the hospital where her current guardian, a doctor works. This is the same doctor who is helping to keep her mother alive as Evangeline tries to find a way to break  the curse Zeus placed on her and her ancestors.  When he convinces Evangeline to bring her best friend Raphe to the hospital things are set in motion. A gate to the underworld appears in his room. He grabs Raphe and goes through the gate.  Even though it may cost her the life everyone is trying to save, she goes anyway.  The only other way to enter the underworld is to die. Many will be willing to sacrifice their lives so that she can live. Zeus is sure to change the rules if Evangeline is to survive.

This is the second book in the trilogy. The third book “Fate’s Key” will be out this spring. This series is a definite must read.  The first book sucks you in, the second book thrusts you forward into her life and adventures, making you want her to succeed for all of mankind.  What will the third book hold? I guess that in some ways we are all like Pandora, curious.  It is this curiosity that will drive you to read this series.

The Seascape Trilogy by Vicki Hinze

Genre: Adult, Paranormal, Romance
Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my ow.

Beyond the Misty Shore
Welcome to Seascape Inn. Here you will meet the inn keeper Hattie, T.J. MacGregor and Maggie Wright. I would say these three are thrown together, but that wouldn't be true. T.J. MacGregor is a recognized artist. Seascape is very familiar to him. He finds himself drawn back there after his the death of his fiancee, Carolyn. He needs the time and this place to heal. There is a problem though, every time he tries to leave he can't. He struggles against something until he passes out. He has been stuck there for nine months.

Maggie has been looking for T.J. for quite some time. She blames him for the death of her cousin Carolyn. When she sees a painting T.J. did, that was supposedly in the car with Carolyn when she died, Maggie is sure he is guilty. After all that could be the only reason the painting is there. Since she can't find him, and the painting seems to  be calling her she drives to Seascape Inn.  There she finds T.J. She has witnessed first hand T.J.'s inability to leave. She knows how uncomfortable her being there makes him and she does everything possible to make him more miserable. That is until she finds that she is not only becoming friends with him, but developing true feelings for him.

The inn itself is one of the characters. Hattie seems to know what is going on but chooses to let things unfold they way they need to for the good of all. Vicki has done a wonderful job of connection all things in a manner that leaves you wanting to read the rest in this series. I love the way the book is written, If you've read any of my other posts you know I am a fan of romance only if there is mystery or something else tied to it. I've never gone in for the mushy romance stories. Maybe that is why I find Vicki's books so intriguing. There is something here for everyone, so come and join us at Seascape Inn.

Upon a Mystic Tide
This is the second book in the trilogy. In this book we meet psychologist Bess and her investigator husband John. The biggest problem here is one that is so ironic. Bess and John are in the process of a divorce. You would think that Bess, as an on air radio psychologist, who gives out advice daily, wold be able to find a way to straighten out her own marriage. You would think that John who has been over zealous in trying to solve a case would have gotten the clues that his marriage was in trouble. But, neither of them did this. For many this may be a sticking point. For me I see it as a way of setting this wonderful story up. I chalk it up to the fact that they were working so hard to keep other people from knowing the truth about them that they were blinded to solutions. John still loves Bess and both of them end up at Seascape Inn. Bess end up there after seeing the painting in a gallery and John follows her to square some things away. Hattie and the townspeople we met in the very first book are there to add the local color and flavor to the book. Of course a lot of this would not have happened if it hadn't been for John, the resident ghost helping things along. After all he is the one who made things known on air during one of Bess's shows about her divorce, something she'd kept secret not only from her listeners but also from her boss.

Like the first book, it is packed with emotions and the hope that things will work out for our two main characters. But, as you read you see Bess kicking the whole journey. Will their relationship be healed? This is a book you must read to find the answer to the question, because I won't give it away.

Beside a Dreamswept Sea
This book is so different from the first two, even though it maintains several similarities. In this story we find Bryce, a widower visiting the inn with his three children. Bryce is emotionally broken. You know how much he loves his children because he sleeps in the hallway just in case his daughter has a nightmare, he can be there for her. There is almost a bitterness left from his relationship to his deceased wife. The second character is Callie, a recently divorced woman who fought hard to get her ex-husband to pay her alimony. She ends up at the inn determined to never marry again. After all, who would put themselves through that kind of anguish again?

This book is the one I related to the most. My husband and I both went through divorces vowing to never marry again. We had both been raked over the coals with our first marriages. The funny thing is we knew each other while we were married to our former spouses. When my husband moved back to town and went to work for my father we just kind of clicked. For me this was terrifying. There was no way I was ever going to marry again, yet I did.  I know that is how both of these characters felt.

All of the charm from the first two books is found in this one. For me with my personal experiences it resonated with me. However, I have absolutely no problem recommending all three books in this trilogy to readers. It is a series you will want to read over and over again.