A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to perform at Velour Live Music Gallery in Provo, Utah. I loved it and had a blast! Here are a couple of videos my husband captured on our little point and click camera of the performance.

My cover of “Only Happy When it Rains” originally by Garbage. It will be featured on an upcoming EP release late spring/early summer.

Then “Inside” from my debut album, “Unseen”.

Thanks for listening and watching. I’ll be posting a new album review soon as well.

L:)

Are you confused yet?

My reason for writing all these health related posts on a music blog:

Besides having a passion for music, you probably know by now that I am very passionate about health. I have always felt pulled in two different directions, wanting to do both music and help people become healthy. Well my friends, my husband and I have come up with a solution that incorporates both: we are in the preliminary stages of launching a long term music health series. There will more about this later as the time comes closer for the release. As part of this series, I’m going back to school to become a certified Health Coach at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. It’s a year program, but I can start seeing clients at the end of June. I’m super excited but also nervous! I get to learn tons about health and wellness, but have to juggle even more on my plate. My hope is that I will still be able to keep the ball rolling with the music.

I will definitely keep you updated on how things are going and also more about the music health series as it progresses.

Love and good health!

L:)

Can I do a happy dance yet?

The official release date is January 21st, but you can pre-order your digital copy directly from our website, receiving it a full week before the release date on January 14th. As an additional thank you, you will receive the unreleased track “Warrior” right away.

You can order your copy for only $9.99 here -

• Serenthiam’s Website

You may listen to two different album previews below:

Ah, decorating. I love decorating for Christmas! But since we haven’t done it yet at our house and Christmas is a little over two weeks away, here is a picture of someone else’s home that is beyond beautifully decorated for Christmas. *sigh*

There really is a point to this post, promise!

Basically, what I’m saying here is that I’m just slightly busy. I will continue to do posts while I can, but if I slack just a tad, please be understanding. To all of you wonderful artists who are waiting for me to review your album, especially those who are asking about it, please be patient! I’m working on them. I want to give your work it’s proper justice and don’t want to slap together a review just to get it done.

Love to you all and Happy Holidays!

“Perfect Eating” to me is as follows: no refined sugar, no preservatives (or as close as I can get), no food dyes, and no wheat. Basically, as pure of a diet as I can get. I replaced those foods with more fresh fruits and vegetables.

Why 8 days? It was 9 days until Thanksgiving so it was my desire to go into this holiday season on a high, instead of already struggling. Thanksgiving I was going to consider that a “free” day and eat whatever the heck I wanted!

Here is a short diary of each day with thoughts and what I felt:

• Day 1 – Did really well. Excitement to start the process. No cravings.
• Day 2 – Still felt pretty good, started to crave sugar just a little bit, but it really wasn’t that bad. Lost 2 pounds from Day 1.
• Day 3 – Wall day. This is the day, every time I cut refined sugar out of my diet, that is the do or die day. Your body realizes that something is up and it hasn’t had its ‘fix’ for a few days. My cravings got worse as the day went on, but I did not cave.
• Day 4 – Cravings not as bad. Husband commented that I looked skinnier. Had a detox moment but felt much better after.
• Day 5 – Clothes are fitting better. Weight loss is 4 pounds. Feel lighter and bloating is gone. Wedding ring spins on my finger again because it’s too big.
• Day 6 – Was able to easily get out of bed early and exercise. Had a great workout. I think it was easier to do that because I have more energy and not sluggish. As the day went on, this day was the hardest so far with the cravings. It was a high stress day and my toddler hadn’t been sleeping well. I could tell I was craving sugar and wheat because of both emotional/stress reasons and actual physical withdrawals. It was a hard, hard thing to say no and not to cave in. This is when pure determination set in. It helped that I was so public with what I was doing and I didn’t want to post my failure. It also helped that I made the stipulation that if I cheated, I couldn’t have all the good stuff to eat at Thanksgiving.
• Day 7 – Cravings not as bad as Day 6. Still there though. Hardest time of the day not to cheat is after the kids get home from school and at night after they are in bed. I have never gone this long without any wheat and I can tell that’s what my body is having a withdrawal from. Starting to feel like there isn’t much around to eat. Still feeling very light and more toned.
• Day 8 – Woke up to probably the flattest stomach I’ve ever had. All day it was easy to say no to cheating. The night was the worst because I wasn’t able to make dinner so there wasn’t very much around the house. Hard to try to find something to eat quickly that didn’t have wheat in it.
• MADE IT! Thanksgiving here I come!

I took comparison pictures of the day before I started the 8 Perfect Eating Days and the day after I completed it.

Total weight loss: 4 pounds.

Going this long with a “perfect” diet was fine the first 5 days. After that it was a lot tougher. This is what I discovered: When I was losing all of my weight last year, I would go about 3-4 days of eating low calories for the day. Then I would be absolutely hungry the next day, so I would up how much I was eating. Almost all of the time I would still eat very healthy, just up my good fats and overall consumption. After that I was satisfied and would eat another few days of lower calories. I was listening to my body. It was telling me that it needed a shock to help increase its metabolism. This time I wasn’t listening like I used to. I really felt that I needed to have grains (not just wheat, though I did eat oatmeal), but I didn’t give. This is the lesson I learned – Always listen to your body!

Would I do this again? YES. Would I do it for as long? NO. At least the wheat part. I am not going to be eating as much wheat, but our bodies really do need grain. My mother-in-law has been going to classes that teach how to use different grains healthily, so I’m going to learn from her.

*Post Thanksgiving*

I didn’t hurt on Thanksgiving like I thought I would, but I was sick to my stomach by the evening. The next day I felt really bloated and it was hard to focus on anything. I hadn’t experienced the “afternoon slump” in well over a year, but I did that day! It was hard to get up and exercise in the morning. One day of not eating the way I should turned into two which turned into five. Granted it wasn’t as bad as the actual Thanksgiving day, but I have still cheating. I gained back all the weight I lost. Because I went through these 8 days, I’m already in the groove of eating better and want to feel that light and clean again. Now that our lives are back to the normal groove, it won’t be hard at all to start eating perfect again, and you better believe I’m going to!

Thanks for joining me for this adventure!

KDrew, born Kevin Drew, is a singer, songwriter, producer, and performer. Starting November 1st 2011, he is “releasing a series of seven consecutive EP’s entitled “Free” (Volumes 1-7) which showcase his musical style and range as a producer, songwriter and performer.” *taken from KDrew’s website HERE.*

An EP is short for Extended Play. It’s a set of musical recordings that is more than a single, but too short to be considered a full length album. They are gaining more popularity as artists can release music more frequently instead of waiting for enough material for a full length album.

KDrew’s “Free Volume 1″ is a 4 track EP that moves and shakes with high energy pop tunes. Perfect for those that like upbeat, pop driven music. You can’t sit still listening to this EP! And better yet, it’s FREE! Look for the information to grab your copy at the end of this post.

Since there are only 4 songs, I will take each song and review them individually.

Track 1 – Body and Soul

Things I liked about this track:

• Has good build and makes you want to get up and dance.
• Immediate catchy vocal line.
• His voice and style reminds me of Michael Jackson.
• Great use of EQ for effect.
• I like that the beats aren’t solid throughout; there are enough changes to keep the listener engaged and anticipating the next section.
• The instrumentation is very catchy and perfect for the dance pop style.
• Perfect use of delay and panning on the voice.

Things I didn’t like about this track:

• Uses the word that starts with a “P” and rhymes with “Hisses”. I don’t know why, but that word is highly offensive to me. Makes me cringe every time anyone says it.
• The bridge of the song doesn’t match the rest of the song, not even slightly. It feels like two songs.

Track 2 – That Girl

Things I liked about track #2:

• It keeps the high energy flowing from the first track.
• Uses the beats and instrumentation just as well as the first track.
• The bridge uses Dubstep, a form of electronic dance music that is reaching a high popularity right now. This is my absolute favorite part of the song!
• After the Dubstep section, everything quiets down, but the underlining high energy and beat is still there, driving it, making the listener anticipate the buildup. That is not easy to do!

Things I didn’t like about track #2:

• The verse melody is quite repetitive in the vocals and the chorus melody mostly stays on one note, so the vocal line gets tiresome to listen to after a few listens.

Track 3 – Can We Just Talk

Things I liked about track #3:

• A slower track to give the listeners a breather from the high energy of the first two tracks on the EP.
• Normally I don’t like more R&B sounding music, but this track has a nice line between R&B and Pop.
• Has nice build ups and breathers within the track itself.
• Nice piano line.
• Catchy melody line.
• The second pre-chorus. It’s a nice change.
• The lead in to the chorus

Things I didn’t like about this track:

• The intro. It was too R&B for me. It picks up better the second half of the first verse.
• Hard to listen to on repeat. There’s a lot repeated sections that tend to blend into each other.

Track 4 “I Want You Back”

Things I liked about track #4:

• An upbeat track, bringing the EP to an end.
• Again very catchy melodies and terrific harmonies.
• The arrangement of the song is terrific.

Things I didn’t like about track #4:

• The 2nd verse has an underlining Dubstep instrumentation. While KDrew is obviously very good at Dubstep, I felt that this application was a stretch and didn’t fit the song.

Overall, I was impressed with this EP.  The tracklisting is perfect with each song in the best placement. He is very good at writing catchy melodies and utilizes that. KDrew knows how to keep the listeners engaged with the use of drums, adding and subtracting instruments at different parts of the songs. I felt like I was having to nitpick to find things to critique. My main critique is that there is a bit too much repetition in the songs, especially in the vocal lines, making it a bit tiresome to listen to after a little while.

I can’t wait for the other six EP’s to be released! You can grab this EP for another three days on KDrew’s website HERE. And yes, it really is F-R-E-E! Totally worth it! Look for a new EP at the beginning of every month for the next six months!

The good kind of muffin top:

The bad kind of muffin top:

Let’s go over this again.

Good vs. bad:

Good.

Bad.

(Imagine a slide show. That’s the way it’s playing in my mind! Kind of like on the movie “The Emperor’s New Groove.”)

Got it? Good.

Who would have thought that even though someone (meaning me) is at the lowest weight and the best shape they have ever been in their adult life, they would still be dealing with the dreaded muffin top?

Here’s proof:

I know it could be a lot worse, but it’s something that I’m still self conscious of.

There are two reasons why I’m still sporting my own little muffin top.

The first one is frankly, I haven’t been the greatest with my eating. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still eating freaky healthy, but a few snuck pieces of Halloween Candy here and there, several handfuls of Goldfish crackers, way more tortillas than someone should eat in a day. Those add up! It got to where I was cheating every single day. My weight has gone up about 6 pounds from the summer. I felt weighed down and bloated. The three things that contribute to bloating more than any other foods (besides sodium, that’s just a given) are:

1. Refined Sugar
2. Rice
3. WHEAT

That’s right folks, wheat. We are intolerant of wheat because that’s the main grain we eat!

I have decided enough is enough of this muffin top and I’m doing something about it. I’m in the middle of 8 days of perfect eating leading up to Thanksgiving. That means eating absolutely no refined sugar and no wheat. I’ve never gone that long without wheat before. I’ll post a blog recounting every day with my successes, struggles, and findings.

The second reason why I have a muffin top is because I have what is called “Diastasis Recti“, making the mid section ‘hang over’ and appear bigger and wider. What the heck is Diastasis Recti? It is a separation between the left and right side of the rectus abdominis muscle, which covers the front surface of the belly area.

Anyone can have this condition; men, women, and children. The 3 main causes are:

• Improper abdominal exercises
• “Beer” belly, or excessive abdominal weight
• Pregnancy

I have it because of my pregnancies and then also I used to do a lot of Pilates, which only aggravated the condition. It causes a lot of back/hip pain because the abdominal muscles cannot support your core. Thanks to the research of a good friend, she helped discover a natural way to bring the rectus abdominals back together without surgery. It is THIS program called The Tuplar Technique. Last year I bought the splint and did 4 weeks of the 6 week program, bringing my separation down to half of where it was. From there, I became a slacker and only did the exercises and wore the splint every once in a while. The splint is ordered by size, so while I was losing weight, I would alter my split as it became too big, but after a while I couldn’t alter it anymore. It was just plain too big.

I decided enough was enough and decided to order a new splint and start the program over again. I have been doing it for 1 1/2 weeks now and have brought in my separation by another 1/2 finger width. It takes dedication though and living wearing this splint that is plain uncomfortable and painful at times. Here’s a picture of what it looks like after I take off the splint:

And that is why I have a muffin top and what I’m doing about it. What do you want to do about yours, haha!

What I found was appalling.

In the morning, the local 7-11 store was almost overflowing with people buying breakfast. Anything from breakfast sandwiches, donuts, coffee, cookies, soda pop, candy bars, to even potato chips. This was a huge eye opener for me because frankly, I rarely go out to eat and if I do, I NEVER “eat out” at a convenient store.

I stood in line one morning for about 10 minutes waiting to pay for our gas. There was a family of 4 in front of me; the mom saving their spot while the rest of the family ran around the store trying to decide what to get for breakfast. I stood and watched their choices being rung up, the total coming to roughly $20.

I found myself asking “Do people really and honestly eat like this? No wonder there are so many obese people. No wonder they’re all walking around in a haze. It’s from eating all this chemical, caffeine, and sugar filled junk! And holy cow! That costs A LOT to eat this way!”

Over the past year I have helped many people on the road to becoming more healthy. The main two objections I get about eating healthy is that 1) it’s too expensive and 2) it takes too much time. People, those are just excuses!

Enough is enough!

I’m here to tell you that this is not really the case. It’s called smart shopping; finding the deals and shopping the sales, and then having things prepared ahead of time. You can spend a lot more on that junk food because it doesn’t satisfy you, it’s addicting, and you are hungrier sooner. If you have everything all cut up and ready to assemble for a salad, that’s a quick meal waiting for you! It doesn’t take very long to cut a whole bunch of that stuff up.

To prove my point, I held a little experiment. One of my favorite breakfasts that I eat when I’m in a hurry is a bowl of Quaker Weight Control Oatmeal. I decided to time myself to see how long it would take me from start to finish to eat this bowl of oatmeal, including heating up the water and everything.

Guess how long it took?

3 minutes 20 seconds! Seriously people, only a little over 3 minutes! Who doesn’t have time for that?!? It takes you longer than that to just get in your car and drive to the convenient store, then add making your choices and paying for it.

Time for some math. At my local Walmart, a box of Quaker Weight Control oatmeal costs $2.50. There are 8 packets of oatmeal in a box. That equals about $.32 a packet. My entire breakfast cost less than $.50! A family of four could eat breakfast for less than $2!

Tell me, which was more expensive and took more time?

Something to think about, huh.

Ethereal vocalist  Amethyste is known for her soaring vocals and soothing music. Her fourth album, “Deliverance”, does not disappoint and stays true to her vision and sound as an artist. With 16 tracks, the entire album gives the feeling of floating on a bed of clouds through the ever shifting winds of time. With a nice blend of classical and contemporary sounds, this album will appeal to a wide audience.

Amethyste is a native French Canadian and therefore has the most beautiful accent as she sings. It adds to the ethereal vibe and otherworldly feel of her music. She pushed herself more with this release, still incorporating her floating vocals that are her signature sound, drifting in the background over a bed of beautiful instrumentation, but diving more into a few pop driving songs where she experimented with her voice. There are inspiring, uplifting tracks, like “Why We Are Here” and “Not Far”, that speaks of hanging on in times of hardship and gives us something to look forward to. While the entire album is spectacular, I feel that the second half of the album is stronger than the first half because of the variety it provides.

The production is spot on, as always. Very professional sounding and fills your ears with a treat from start to finish, with soaring soundscapes and powerful melodies. It sets the best background, never competing to Amethyste’s beautiful soprano voice. The backing tracks are perfectly balanced; full and in the front when the vocals are floating and ethereal, subtle and minimal when the vocals need to be upfront and the focal point.

Some unexpected surprises with this album:

• The superb piano work on track 4 “Innocence”.
• Introduction to a new instrument on Amethyste’s tracks, the Theremin on track 14, “Why We Are Here”.
• Track 15, “Pie Jesu”, originally written by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Amethyste’s pristine soprano voice is showcased splendidly on this gentle piece.

Stand out tracks -

• Where Are You Now?
• Tout Est Si Beau
• No Ordinary Morning
• Vault of the Heavens
• Pie Jesu
• Leaving in a Touch of Silence

Amethyste “Deliverance” is available on all major download stores like itunes and amazon.com. You can also purchase the physical CD HERE.

It’s happened again. I was sooo good the first few days after Halloween. I didn’t have a single piece of my boy’s candy because I knew if I did, I wouldn’t be able to stop.

*Here’s a picture of me, my husband, and our youngest son at our church’s Halloween party. Rob and I were dressed as our favorite candy – Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Reese’s Pieces.*

Well, the non-snitching didn’t last. Now I find myself going in their candy bags several times a day. UGH! It’s time to stop!

In my research of being healthy, I ran across something about Hypoglycemia, which is a low blood sugar issue that I deal with. Basically the pancreas produces too much insulin, especially after eating a high carbohydrate meal, causing the body to burn through the sugar too fast and then crashing. It is all regulated by the brain. As the brain is seeking glucose for the proper metabolism, it forces a signal to the pancreas to secrete more insulin, which in turn causes a “hypoglycemic state.” This state is the brain’s attempt to force you to eat carbs by causing you to experience incredibly strong sugar cravings. This is on top of the already highly addictive qualities refined carbohydrates possesses. That is why once I have sugar, I cannot stop, because my body is constantly in that “hypoglycemic state.” It’s much better for me to completely stay away from refined sugars and carbs then to just have a ‘little’.

We have discovered that it’s a high possibility that our oldest son has hypoglycemia as well.It’s making sense with his sweet tooth tendencies. Out of everyone in our family, he is the one who sneaks food the most. He will try everything to get that candy and eat it in secret. We have tried and tried to get him to stop, but somehow he always finds some – either at school, from friends, church, where ever. Our other boys like the sweets, but nothing like our oldest. Now doesn’t it make sense that if his body is in that “hypoglycemic state” why he is craving sugar all that time? Now that we know what is going on we can treat it with a proper diet.

Education is everything!