Cinch! by Cynthia Sass - A review and giveaway

I don't believe in "diets".
That's important, so I just wanted to throw that out there.
Also-giveaway!!
Read on......

It's that time again, time to make plans and resolutions.  First Monday of the new year!  Clean slate!
So.....how many of you have that number one resolution on your list?  That daunting, yet encouraging, ever popular "lose weight!"?
Or maybe yours is in the form of "get fit", or "wear skinny jeans again" or whatever variation suits your fancy.  Mine is a combination of all three.  Another one of mine is to get the house painted so it is no longer signed with Sharpie.  Everywhere.  but that's it's own post.

If you are there with me in wanting to drop a few pounds and clean up eating habits, I have something for you.
I was sent a copy of the new book Cinch!  to review, and I have to tell you, I am impressed!  Have you seen this book yet?  If you watch any of the morning shows or daily talk shows, you'll likely get a chance to hear about this one, and with good reason.

As most people, I am always intrigued by big promises.  Lose up to 8lbs in less than a week?  *snicker* Sure you will.  Statements like these conjure up images of the dreaded cabbage soup diet, or that lemonade/cayenne cleanse thing.  Ack!

Well, people, I just may be sold on this one.  And that says a lot, because you know how much I love food!  Like I said, I don't believe in "diets".  I believe that your daily diet is important, but "diets" are usually just a recipe for disaster.

Cynthia Sass, the author of Cinch! has laid out a fabulous plan in this book.  The best part is that it is not a diet.  That's right, no calorie counting!  No freakish restrictions!  And chocolate EVERY day.  Yes, you read that right-an entire chapter is devoted to your daily dose of chocolate.  An eating plan that promises results and includes chocolate every day.  Hello!
One of the other things that really appealed to me about this book is the author herself.  Over the past couple of years I have become acutely aware of how I eat.  Despite my sweet tooth and my stash, I really do try to eat well 99% of the time (which is why the stash is ok!).  Once I decided to jump in to the triathlon scene and really get into running, I realized I needed to make some changes and not only feed my body, but really fuel my body.  The fact that Cynthia is a nutritional expert for professional athletes signaled to me that this wouldn't be just another one of those fad diet books, but that this would be a well thought out plan that helps one reach optimum health, not just drop pounds in a way that won't be helpful-or healthful-in the long run.

Cinch!  details a plan that makes it simple and convenient to piece together healthy and enjoyable meals using a formula that will help you achieve greater overall health in addition to losing weight.  Not to mention she includes over 100 recipes, as well as lists of foods that fit each piece of the puzzle making it ridiculously simple to customize each of the suggested 4 daily meals to your own personal tastes.

So what about that "up to 8lbs in the first five days"?  It's bold, but it's there, and accompanied in the book by stories and before/after photos of those who have tried to this plan.  5 super foods for 5 days to get your body on track, for those interested in a jump start to the Cinch! plan.  You had better believe this one is being tried!  Starting today for five days, my husband, myself, and three friends will be putting this plan to the test.  Since I am breastfeeding Sam, I will be tweaking this 5 day Fast Forward plan just a tad (which I fully realized may tweak my results), but the others will be following it exactly.  Oooo....my own little experiment....bwahahaha!  I will have results on that for you next week when the giveaway winner is announced.  I really am excited to see how this works for everyone.

Another thing I loved about this book is that it hits things like cravings and emotional eating.  I definitely fall into the category of emotional eating, so I enjoyed the suggestions and thoughts on that subject.
The one thing that I didn't love, and struck me as odd, is that a maximum of 10c water per day during the 5 day Fast Forward is suggested.  I can only assume that it is because there are other beverages suggested as well during this plan (teas, flavored water or seltzer-both calorie free), but as one who is pretty much only a water drinker, a maximum doesn't strike me as great.  I normally drink more than 10c/day anyway, so I certainly wouldn't plan to cut back on my water intake.  The "whys" are addressed with every other component of this book, so I was surprised that there was no reason listed for a maximum amount of water intake.  Aside from that one thing though, two thumbs up!

Cynthia Sass takes her experience and expertise (and she really does have quite a resume!) and makes it simple for anyone wanting to clean up their eating-and their waistline.  I have actually read through this book 3 times already in the past week to make sure I am very familiar with the principles behind this plan, so that I can pass my book on to one of my friends.

And speaking of passing on, I enjoyed this book so much that I want to pass one on to one of you!
The deal with this review was that I was sent a copy of the book for myself.  With it being too good not to share, I went and bought another copy to giveaway.  You know I only give away things that I love, because I hope you'll love them too!

So now it's time people-kick that resolution in to high gear!

To enter to win one hardback copy of the recently released book Cinch!  by Cynthia Sass, leave a comment here on this post.

Additional entry for being a follower of this blog, and for sharing the news about this giveaway on FB, Twitter or on your own blog (with a link to this post).  That gives you a chance for 5 entries!  Please leave a *separate* comment for each entry.

Winner will be chosen using random.org and announced on January 11th, because I love that there are so many dates with ones this year.  1/11/11.  Love it!



*disclaimer*
I will be entered to win a $50 gift card for doing this review.  
I was sent a copy of this book to review as a member of the One2One network.  
That said, there is no bonus for giving it a good review-the opinions are completely my own.  And I really did like the book that much.  Giveaway copy was purchased by me because I liked it that much.  Really.  Also, I'd like to thank my husband for being a willing guinea pig.   He's packed on a few pounds in the past year and I am counting on this plan to get him back in gear.  He has been very gracious about putting himself completely in my hands to work some magic.  And he didn't get upset when I laughed at the fact that he put raspberries in his Scramble this morning.  And now you know two of the 5 day foods-eggs and raspberries.  The others are almonds, spinach and yogurt.  The recipes puts these together in great combinations that make being limited to 5 foods for 5 days a pleasant thing.  But no, you aren't supposed to put raspberries in the scrambled egg/spinach thing.......unless you like that I guess.  

Tag

Look at me playing along!  Go me!

Slower than cold tar on a January morning, but playing along none the less.
Thanks to Large Marge over at Taking It On, you get even more bloggy goodness from me today!
You lucky people you!

1- What are you most fond of accomplishing in 2010?
Truthfully?  Not having complete mental/emotional breakdown.  There were some pretty rough moments  in a few months of this year.  I was reading over my pregnancy journaling the other night and was reminded of the night about a week before Sam was born (when we didn't know how extensive his problems and care needs would be).  That whole day was just awful, the kids were disobedient, the house was an incredible mess...just about everything was going wrong.  And then I was trying to be all optimistic and put boy bedding on the crib when the crib broke.  That night I sobbed on my husband in a big way constantly repeating "I can't do this!  I can't do this!  8 kids, one who may need care 24hrs a day, you in school and working, what am I going to do?  How am I going to make it through a single day?  I can't do this!" It was not pretty.  He just held me and let me cry.  Poor guy.

On a happier note, I really am thrilled that I was able to run throughout most of my pregnancy and that even on the days I was sick (till 6 months), I was tired and I was awkwardly waddling along, I still sucked it up and got out there and tried.
Also that I started running again at 3wks post baby, and that I was able to eek out a half marathon this year, and before baby was 3 months old at that!  (paying for it now....but that's beside the point) 
 Oh,  and not my accomplishment, but I am super excited that my sweet husband figured out what he wants to be when he grows up and that he is in school working towards that.  1 more quarter till he's halfway done!  yay!  


2- What are your running goals for 2011?
Currently-to actually be able to run again.  for more than a mile and a half.
Sad.  (curse you knee!)
Already signed up for my first 2011 Tri, so I'm gunning to run that leg faster than I did last time I did this event, especially since my baby will be the same age as my last baby was last time I did this Tri.
Run 1000 miles.
Run my first marathon.
New PRs all the way around (5K, 10K and 1/2).
Anybody laughing at me yet?

3- What is your favorite race?
This year it was the Love Your Body 10K-running with a friend, beautiful course, perfect weather....the only thing that could have made it better is if I didn't have the stomach flu.
Overall probably the Provo Halloween Half Marathon.  Tons of fun, gorgeous course.  Couldn't make it work this year with as long as I would have been away from baby, but definitely looking forward to that one next year!

4- What is your favorite Holiday guilty pleasure?
Food.
Lots and lots of food.  Chased by more food and topped off with food.
Eating rules go out the window.  Does this surprise anyone?

5-What is your most embarrassing running moment?
I thought I was going to have a new one after that stomach flu 10K, but I seriously lucked out.
Really I've lucked out all around, nothing too bad has happened here.  I'm sure people who saw me were embarrassed for me during plenty of my pregnant runs this year-the early ones where I would gag and heave as I ran, or the later ones where I waddled as I ran.
I guess the only one that applies, and it was more funny than embarrassing, is when I was singing along to my music-quite loudly-thinking I was alone out on the trail in the middle of nowhere.  Turns out I wasn't alone.  The guy in the orange jacket got a serenade.  Hope he enjoyed it.

I'm tagging some local running peeps, MaryAnne, and Trish, and tagging Laurie too (I know you got tagged recently, but I think it was a different one...)  Any of you others that want to jump in and share, go for it!
You're it!

One more picture

Ok two.
Who could resist.

New pj's.
A new hat.
For me of course.  He really doesn't care what he's wearing, but dang it, I was not able to pass up that hat!

And look-there's a big fat smile that I haven't seen for days.
There goes my heart again.

Christmas

Christmas was fabulous this year.   For a million reasons.
The biggest one is pretty obvious....

And despite having had THE most horrible cold for the past week, he still managed to be congenial and return to his happy self for part of the day.  It was a treat to get a glimpse of his smiles again.

It's funny, by the time we get everything under the tree on Christmas Eve, I always feel a little overwhelmed.

It made me very glad that years ago we decided we weren't going to overdo it anymore.
By the time child #4 rolled around the amount of toys and children's items that were accumulating were completely overwhelming.  It was at that point when we heard about a family in my parent's neighborhood that for Christmas gifted "something you want, something you need, something to wear and something to read."  Brilliance!  We have based our Christmas gifts around that since then and it has been such a relief.  Less spending, less "stuff", everyone feels equal....it's fabulous.  They still get a 'Santa' gift and stockings and all that, but think about it-with as many kids as I have, even the scaled down version of Christmas adds up to a lot of things under that tree!  We also do a name drawing for a gift exchange with a sibling, and on top of that they have grandparents and aunts and uncles....yeah.  Still more than enough.
Actually this year was about as close to perfect as it could get.  Everyone felt spoiled, but nothing felt overdone.  It was great!

The stocking line up-since once they are filled they are too heavy to hang back up:

I have a lot of kids.
(still not sure how the cereal, 2 liter bottle thing got started, but they asked about it the whole week before Christmas, so apparently they like it.  Everyone *must* have their own hot cocoa, and yes, that is marshmallow cream as well.)

The kid line up:

I have a lot of kids.
Waiting for the music to start that signals the living room is no longer off limits and the real morning may begin.
(and yes, those stairs are still unfinished.  But hey, at least we've narrowed down the carpet we want.  Now we just finish saving for it.  Eventually.)

Dallin was sick

but was feeling a little better after finding his long-awaited pirate sword.

The younger boys finally got their bunk beds-and all the kids thought it was cool that they got to open such a giant gift.
Jacob felt the need to direct their unwrapping efforts-

Lincoln has practically lived in his fire suit, and for the past three days has walked around saying "I knew Santa would bring my fire suit, I just knew it!  I knew he would come!  Best Christmas ever!"

Makes me smile.

The big boys had a basketball themed year-each getting a new ball and tickets to a Jazz game.

The girls are growing up, I felt a little boring to be fulfilling their wishes of an ipod dock/stereo and a jewelry box with jewelry, but it made them happy.

And it was nice to be able to indulge in some little girl gifts as well-there is nothing like a new doll on Christmas morning.  (am I the only mom out there who LOVES the smell of a new doll?)

Even Sam got in on the action, which the kids loved.

The aftermath was a whole lot of happy kidlets.

All in all, a fabulous morning, a wonderful day.

Even if we are all a little bit crazy.

who has a lot of kids

Twas the Night Before Christmas.....

And at 11:23 they still aren't all in bed!  Ack!

The three oldest are hanging out, playing a game with Dad.

The Lego Hogwarts game is awesome by the way.

Hopefully you are tucked snugly in bed.
I am about to go get all the presents out and fill stockings and all that good stuff.
So for now I leave you with my rag-tag crazy herd, and the closest thing we get to a decent picture with a couple of sickies and a case of the Christmas crazies.  And a preteen who is in that "I'm too cool" stage apparently.

Love the Christmas jammies.
Can't wait to try and squeeze them all on to one couch next year!

I am so looking forward to the kids tomorrow morning, especially Charlotte, who was so excited we thought she might have an aneurism when she got to unwrap a deck of Uno cards today.  It was fabulous.
The baking is done, the wrapping is done, and now it's time for me to be done.
Good night all, and Merry Christmas!

Brothers

I was going through some pictures recently and found this one:

Taylor with Sam, back in October.

I love it.  I can't help but smile when I see it.
It reminded me of a similar picture....

Same big brother, different baby boy.

As I continued to look through pictures, I found others of my boys that I loved.

Ok, so it may not always be fun (as evidenced above), but the good times definitely outweigh the bad.

It is so fun to see the relationship between these boys!

I know they drive each other crazy, and sometimes they think they hate each other.

But brothers are a great thing.

I have two myself,  my younger brother AJ

and my older brother Christopher,

who we sometimes refer to by his Indian name, "experiments in facial hair".
Ha!
That picture was taken as he was getting up to sit on the saddle so we could sing Happy Birthday to him back in September.

What a good sport.

Despite the fact that we all live within an hour of each other, we don't see each other all that often.  When we do we have a great time.
On Thanksgiving my older brother laughed so hard I thought he was going to pass out.  Which of course made my sister and I laugh so hard I thought we were going to pass out.  I wish my younger brother would have been there.

It's nice how you appreciate some things a little more as you grow up.

Like brothers.