Supernatural Botanicals

   Have you seen Amazon’s Kindle?  It’s so amazing.  I’m dying for one!   This amazing device lets you download entire books, newspapers, etc., onto this hand held device.   Imagine how great it would be to take on vacation, eliminating the need to carry 15 books with you.   Here’s Amazon’s product overview:

Product Overview

• Revolutionary electronic-paper display provides a sharp, high-resolution screen that looks and reads like real paper.
• Simple to use: no computer, no cables, no syncing.
• Wireless connectivity enables you to shop the Kindle Store directly from your Kindle—whether you’re in the back of a taxi, at the airport, or in bed.
• Buy a book and it is auto-delivered wirelessly in less than one minute.
• More than 190,000 books available, including more than 109 of 112 current New York Times® Best Sellers.
• New York Times® Best Sellers and New Releases $9.99, unless marked otherwise.
• Free book samples. Download and read first chapters for free before you decide to buy.
• Top U.S. newspapers including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post; top magazines including TIME, Atlantic Monthly, and Forbes—all auto-delivered wirelessly.
• Top international newspapers from France, Germany, and Ireland; Le Monde, Frankfurter Allgemeine, and The Irish Times—all auto-delivered wirelessly.
• More than 900 top blogs from the worlds of business, technology, sports, entertainment, and politics, including BoingBoing, Slashdot, TechCrunch, ESPN’s Bill Simmons, The Onion, Michelle Malkin, and The Huffington Post—all updated wirelessly throughout the day.
• Lighter and thinner than a typical paperback; weighs only 10.3 ounces.
• Holds over 200 titles.
• Long battery life. Leave wireless on and recharge approximately every other day. Turn wireless off and read for a week or more before recharging. Fully recharges in 2 hours.
• Unlike WiFi, Kindle utilizes the same high-speed data network (EVDO) as advanced cell phones—so you never have to locate a hotspot.
• No monthly wireless bills, service plans, or commitments—we take care of the wireless delivery so you can simply click, buy, and read.
• Includes free wireless access to the planet’s most exhaustive and up-to-date encyclopedia—Wikipedia.org.
• Email your Word documents and pictures (.JPG, .GIF, .BMP, .PNG) to Kindle for easy on-the-go viewing.
• Included in the box: Kindle wireless reader, Book cover, Power adapter, USB 2.0 cable

How fabulous is that?  If you just consume books, like I do, you’ll love this device.  Now through November 1, 2008, you can receive $50.00 off the price of a Kindle by using Oprah’s code, OPRAHWINFREY when you check out at www.Amazon.com .  How smart is that Jeff Bezos?

I want to tell you about one of the most amazing people I’ve ever encountered!   Her name is Michelle Berger, aka Buff Mother.  Michelle has revolutionized female fitness.  Her program is very unique, in fact, I’ve never seen anything like it. 

It’s called Hormonal Timing Training.  Here’s how it works:

Hormonal Timing will harness the power of your natural hormones to create dramatic changes in your body and mind.

Hormonal Timing Diet will show you what to eat and when to eat it.  Success revolves around your monthly cycle.  Timing is critical!

The Hormonal Timing Exercise philosophy will teach you when, how, and why to exercise according to your cycle.  Believe it or not, there are cretain times during your cycle when the most effective thing to do is rest.  This results in massive momentum which is the key to experiencing radical physical changes.

It’s time to raise your expectations of what you think is possible.  The past doesn’t matter.  Hormonal Timing will give you the power to create your best body ever, but it’s up to you to make it happen.   

That’s the nutshell of Buff Mother’s program.  Michelle is a mother of four, including a set of twins, yet she has one of the most amazing bodies you have ever seen.  At www.BuffMother.com, there is a community of women from all different parts of the county.  We gather in a place on the site called the Rally Room.  This, by far, is the most amazing group of women you have ever met. 

Michelle encourages us to encourage each other.  It’s a place where negativity is not allowed.  It’s for women only.  It’s a place where we can feel okay about opening up about body image, goals, fears, etc.  Never have I met a group so supportive as my friends on Buff Mother, my Buff Sisters, as I like to call them. 

And this isn’t the same thing you’ve seen over and over.  Michelle is educated and she takes fitness very seriously.  Can you imagine, a workout routine that revolves around your monthly cycle?  A breakdown of each individual day in the month, telling you when to rest, when to work hard, what’s happening inside of your body on that day, and even the days that your libido is in full-on mode!  

After reading her book, I was simply amazed.  After all, I’ve been working out for years.  There’s nothing I haven’t heard.  I’ve heard it all…or so I thought.  Honest to goodness, with each page I would read, I would say, yes!  exactly!  epiphany!   It makes so much sense.  And I’d rather workout smart than hard.  There are times  your body shouldn’t be pushing itself.  There are times when you should push.  Michelle will help you figure those times out.  It’s really simply an amazing fitness plan based on a woman’s body.  It’s absolute genius.  I think you’ll agree. 

Recently, a group of local friends started a club called Cincinnati Losers, Losing Weight in Cincinnati.  http://cincinnatilosers.blogspot.com/   These women, far from losers, are intelligent, vibrant women, all with one goal….to become lean, strong, and healthy.  They are so courageous and determined, that they started a blog to hold themselves accountable to their health.  I want to help them through their struggle as much as possible, and I’m happy to share with them the golden ticket…. www.BuffMother.com. 

It’s a revolutionary way to not only get fit and look gorgeous, but also a way to be accountable for your life and create a legacy for yourself.  Check out my Buff Sister’s site, at www.BuffMother.com.  You’ll be absolutely amazed.  You truly have never seen anything like this before. 

   Michelle Berger, Buff Mother!

     I’ve had an ongoing love affair with the library ever since I can remember.  I love everything about the library.  I love what the library represents…..intelligence, sanctuary, free resources of audio/video to the masses.  I’ve spent countless hours of my time at my library and have never once regretted it.  It’s an indulgence that I can’t get enough of, and I have loads of random facts in my head to prove it. 

I love the New Release shelf.  It sits right at the entrance of the library and after I hear the librarian say hello to me (by name, of course), I transfix my eyes upon the beautiful books.  I love the smell of a new book.  I adore having access to every new book written.  I’m a non-fiction girl personally, but occasionally, I’ll venture to the other side. 

Being a library “regular”, like I am, makes you feel that you are in the loop.  You’ll always have fascinating topics to draw from your memory bank of recently read books.  You’ll be current on your current events.  You’ll be more informed on happenings in your community.  The library provides a wealth of networking opportunities.  And you’ll have unlimited access to every book on any subject your heart desires. 

My fascination started innocently enough as a young girl, reading titles from Judy Blume and Laura Ingalls Wilder, and my innocent curiosity built over the years, making me the strung-out-on-non-fiction-and-self-help-books adult that I am today.    I’m okay with that though…it could be worse, right? 

Here are some hot new releases:

   Rescue Your Nails By Ji Baek.   This is a how-to for great fingernails and toe nails. 

     The Little Green Book Of Beauty by Sarah Callard:  250 Tips for an Eco Lifestyle.

     Practically Posh, the smart girl’s guide to a glam life by Robyn Moreno

      The 5 Minute Face, the quick and easy makeup guide for every woman by Carmindy (the Kim Cattrall look-alike from the show What Not To Wear.) 

    Passport To Beauty, secrets and tips from around the world for becoming a global goddess, by Shalini Vadhera

    One of my favorite authors, Stephanie Klein, has written a hysterical, yet touching, book called Moose, a memoir of fat camp.  It chronicles her horrific experience dealing with being the “fat kid.”  But the book is mainly about rejection.  Whether or not you can relate to the fat part is one thing, but everyone has dealt with rejection.  In actuality, I’ve never wore larger than a size 7 in my whole life….and that was on the way home from the hospital after delivering an 8.5 pound perfect baby boy.   I wore a size 5 most of my life until the last five years.  I now wear a size 2, and while I’m very proud of that fact, it doesn’t come for free.  I’m not as proud of the actual number, size 2, as I am about the dedication it takes to achieve it.  I have to work my tail off to maintain that.  I’ve found, there are no free rides in life.  But I’ve also found, as I mature, that it’s not all about the number, it’s more about maintaining health and feeling good every day.  For me, this realization didn’t manifest it’s way into my psyche until the age of 34….when I woke up in the morning and my bones were hurting from inactivity.  I grew to love all the collateral benefits of working out shortly thereafter……losing weight, gaining muscle, wearing a smaller size, looking sexier, constant compliments, and skyrocketed libido (yay), etc. 

 I first learned about Stephanie with her first book, Straight Up And Dirty.  This chronicles her young adult life while living in New York.   It has a Sex and the City-vibe to it.  It was a great read.  After reading that book (twice!), I found her wildly popular blog, Greek Tragedy.   The Greek Tragedy comes from yet another rejection….not being picked to be in a sorority. 

 You look at Stephanie now and just can’t imagine she was ever the fat kid or the unpopular kid.  She has scads of appeal, tons of crazy stories and experiences, and is a super talent with both writing and photography.  She’s so fun!  And for the record, she’s a skinny, popular girl now.  She’s more of a Greek Success than a Greek Tragedy! 

You can visit Steph’s blog, as I do weekly, at http://www.stephanieklein.com/ 

You either love it or hate it. It’s one of those type of things. It takes a long time to learn to love working out. It takes a while to see the results…and we are an instant gratification society, so we have little patience. But those who continue the challenge after hitting the proverbial “wall” start to find different reasons for working out. Maybe it’s the continual compliments you get from your friends and family? Maybe it’s your new found energy? Maybe it’s your amped up libido? Maybe it’s fitting into your skinny jeans? Maybe it’s looking at yourself in the mirror and liking what you see?

Or perhaps it’s all of those reasons. Whatever your reason, it’s inevitable. You have to, sooner or later, get healthy. If not for a longer life, then to make the years you do have less painful. Either that, or because you are determined to wear a bikini next summer.

If you haven’t exercised since 3rd grade gym class, I highly recommend Jorge Cruise’s book, 8 Minutes In The Morning. http://JorgeCruise.com       

For some of his (topless…..just sayin’) podcasts, click here. http://blog.jorgecruise.com/search/label/Video%20Podcasts Even the most reluctant can agree to 8 measly minutes. It’s two basic exercises, such as biceps and shoulders, with hand weights. Something really magical happens around week 4. You actually start to crave more exercise. But if you’re a rookie, don’t look too far down the road. Just try to get that 8 minutes in each day right when you wake up. Shoot for two days in a row. Then three, then four. Sounds cliche, but the body will crave more than 8 minutes once it gets going.

A great source for video reviews by consumers is the website Video Fitness http://www.videofitness.com/

You can get descriptions and ratings from real consumers before purchasing workout DVDs. With a huge assortments of instructors, from cardio-queens to boot camp drill instructors, you’ll find a great instructor whom you’ll respond to best. A few personal favorites….Kathy Smith, Billy Blanks, and The Firm instructors. Trust! They’ll whip you into shape faster than you can say chocolate ice cream.