Tag / happy anniversary

by Lexine

Happy 4th Ketoversary!

Me in January 2022, as I was starting out on the keto train.
Me today, four years into going low-carb!

 

Has it been four years (and a month) since I started going low-carb?

Prior to that, I–who had been in double-digit size clothing since my teen years–had tried many things to get rid of the excess blubber. Skipping meals. Eating only vegetables for dinner. Lots of exercise. Slim Fast. “Weight loss teas.” Even Hydroxycut before it got pulled off the shelves. Nothing worked. And while I’ve heard of low-carb eating since the 2000s, I originally scoffed at the idea. I knew I was addicted to starches, but little did I know that “healthy” foods like potatoes, rice, and low-fat crackers were making me gain weight.

I originally tried keto out back in January 2022 to do what some others had vowed for their New Year’s resolution: to lose weight. To my surprise, cutting out refined carbs and sugar ended up working for me. By the end of 2022, I had worn a size two. A size two! I had not been in single-digit sizes in all of my adulthood. And I did all this without the assistance of drugs (Ozempic who?!) or surgery or even skipping meals. Sheeit, I was eating a lot more fat than usual, the only exercise I did (outside of my physical job) was walking and yoga, and the pounds kept coming off. 😭

I’ve since gained some weight, but I’m still maintaining and still in single-digit sizes (4-6 petite). I’m more low-carb than keto these days. Still, no cheat meals and I refuse to fall off the wagon. I can eat a bit of a baguette or regular chocolate, but just a bit. And the big (pardon the expression) reason why you’ll no longer see me devour Dunkin donuts or brown rice nowadays is simply because I don’t want to go back to what I was pre-low-carb. My eating habits were bad, I felt lousy, and, of course, I looked out-of-shape. My weight had been a long-time struggle of mine, and I occasionally cringe when I see throwback pics of me from, say, five, six years ago. It’s why I intend to stay the course and keep on celebrating these “keto-versaries” for as long as I can. 💪🏼

PS: YMMV with going low-carb. Refined carbs/sugars just happen to be my culprit, and I wish I knew this years ago.

by Lexine

Happy Birthday, Playgirl

My 1st eBook…in your two years of existence, you’ve gone through now four different covers, a slew of freebie giveaways just to get you out there, and I still await your first written review on that jungle site that I really shouldn’t be doing business with anymore. (Last time I checked, all my reviews on that site were all star ratings–no written review just yet.) I’m currently working on a baby sister for you *hint hint*, but I never forget my first-borns. Here’s to you on your special born day, Playgirl!  🥳🥂

And if you want to celebrate, go and give her a read today on any of these sites. She’s also on sale (till end of this month), exclusively at Smashwords! 

by Lexine

Happy Birthday, Playgirl

The three faces of my first book, changed in the span of a few months. 😆

I published my first-ever novel a year ago on this day, and it’s been an interesting first year for The Playgirl, to say the least! I went through three book cover images. I accidentally uploaded the wrong manuscript to the first cover. I marketed it under the wrong genre. I used a promo service that I thought was legit until I found out the hard way that any “promo service” from IG should NOT be trusted. (Those accounts that DM you on your IG bump your follower count and do some promo after you pay them, but they’re not and will never be BookBub or any of these legit promo companies. At least I got some nice bots following me.) And, outside of mentioning it here and there, I’ve gotten lazy in promoting my book at the moment, which can explain its current sale rankings on Amazon, I know. (In fairness, other things outside of my control are keeping me from promoting it some more *cough*💰*cough*)

I definitely learned some things in my first year of being a self-published novelist, and I do wish my book’s debut and rollout went more smoothly than how it did. (I also wish I had more money for a proper editor/proofreader (best I could get was ProWritingAid lol), and I would have that if I didn’t have a little minor thing called “bills” to pay.) I still have hopes for my book in the long run, but as long as I can get some readers to enjoy the story for what it stands for (women proud to be strong-minded and owning their sexuality and refusing to submit to the patriarchy), then I’ve done my job. 

Happy birthday to my “first-born”! 🥳🎉And give her a read on her special day!

by Lexine

Birthdays & Anniversaries

I realize this weekend marks a few notable anniversaries and birthdays. 

Firstly, happy 20th birthday/anniversary to WordPress! I’ve created my fair share of blogs through WordPress in my years of blogging (almost all of them now defunct/idle). Simply put, WP is just easy to use, which is why, despite the shine Substack gets these days, I stick with them for my long-form blogging needs. 

Second, Happy 1st Anniversary to my blog! I haven’t been active here as I’d like to be (thanks, Twitter and life), but I’ll always remember its born day a year ago. 

There’s one more birthday I want to celebrate, but she deserves her own entry! 

 

 

by Lexine

Quote Of The Moment (9.16.22)

“You know, I didn’t have a thing with butterflies when I was a kid,” she says during a phone interview. “I wasn’t one of those little girls who had a fascination with butterflies, even though I knew children who did. It is just something that happened. When I made that album, I was leaving a point in my life that was extremely stifling and I had to go through an actual metamorphosis to become a grown woman who was strong enough to get out of that situation. It was me breaking through, to become free enough to fly…”–legendary singer Mariah Carey, on the making of her Butterfly album (MSN.com via Variety)

And happy 25th anniversary to this forever amazing album today! It was on heavy rotation in my CD walkman back then, and teen me also wanted to have my hair colored that exact light golden brunette shade she was sporting during that era. A music and hair icon! I will always ❤ me some Mimi!