(Giveaway!) Exercise Self Control Over Food... Without A Straightjacket

Guest Post By Michael Alvear

So this next guest post contains a giveaway, yay! Although sorry, you cannot win a stylish straightjacket of your very own.

Instead, two random Cranky Commenters can win a free copy of Michael's Alvear's E-book: Eat It Later: Mastering Self Control & The Slimming Power Of Postponement.

To be honest, part of the reason I was intrigued my Michael's pitch to contribute was not just that he's got an ebook on a useful topic, but that he modestly didn't even mention that he was the co-host of HBO’s The Sex Inspectors, a late-night sex makeover series!

How cool is that? Cranky Fitness doesn't get out much anymore. The opportunity to be vicariously associated with reality television, sex, and staying up past 9pm was too hard to resist.

As it happens, some of his Michael's other titles are a bit risque, so be forewarned.  One of possible interest to readers might be one of Michael's own personal favorites: 

Not Tonight Dear, I Feel Fat: How To Stop Worrying About Your Body & Have Great Sex.

Anyway, giveaway winners will be picked in a week so please check back. --Crabby.

Most of us think of self control as exercising white-knuckled willpower against G-force desires that leave us physically exhausted and emotionally spent.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. You don’t have to suit up your armor and spend loads of energy to say no to foods that make you want to leave home, family and career just to smell the packaging. I’ve discovered a much easier, calm way to practice self-sovereignty, even in the face of an “Everything” bagel.

Fat and Fiction; Guests and Giveaways

Intro by Crabby McSlacker; Guest post by Mary W. Walters

So hi there, it's Crabby McSlacker, barging in with another extended guest post introduction. Sorry about that! But we've got a giveaway going this week, and a couple of other things I need to mention before we get to the good stuff: in this case, a real-life tale of inspiration, written by the author of a fictional work I think you will love.

Mary's newest novel, which we will be giving away to two lucky readers (details below) is called Rita Just Wants to Be Thin.  If you are not one of the readers who wins it, then I think you should buy it ASAP, because it looks to be fun and insightful and entertaining and well-written. Or heck, even if you're planning to win it, go ahead and buy another copy anyway and give it to a friend!

So, how come I'm all: the book "looks to be" awesome?'Rather than the less weasley, more definitive, the book "is" awesome?

It's because I am not allowing myself to read the novel any further than the Amazon preview pages will allow. Which is killing me, because it's off to a great start and I would really love to finish it.

But as many of you know, I am currently working on a novel myself, and as it happens, one of the two main characters is a woman trying to lose a great deal of weight.  Reading someone else's take on the same topic would mess with my head and thus my writing process for a number of reasons which are weird and hard to explain but nonetheless very real.

More on the giveaway below, but also, we have some other combo guest post/book giveaway posts coming up, so if you don't win this time, you'll get more chances!  Cranky Fitness likes to support spunky authors by giving them a forum here, and it's only a HUGE COINCIDENCE that every guest post I put up means one less post for me to write!

Two more totally unrelated things:

(1)  Can anyone in Europe tell me if there is now a warning on Cranky Fitness that the blogging platform uses cookies?  It would be awfully expensive for me to fly there and find out myself. Apparently if it doesn't say that I'm in big trouble and have to do something technical. Ick.

(2) Cranky Fitness is a big fan of Jennipher Walters excellent blog Fit Bottomed Girls, which is always sensible and informative without being dull or preachy. Well, it's had a dramatic mobile-friendly makeover so be sure to wander over there if you haven't recently! It also contains a mind-reading "Recommended for You" feature which for some reason thought I might need some tips on mindful eating and dealing with cravings. Um, who, me??  Sigh. How can they see through the computer like that?

OK, anyway, now on to the main attraction...

Becoming the Person I Want to Be

(Instead of the One I Was Afraid I Would Become)

by Mary W. Walters

By my late twenties, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life: I wanted to be a writer. Not only did I love to read and write, I also loved the whole idea of being a writer. I imagined myself in the future, living a writer’s life – long days of creating fiction interspersed with occasional public readings from my newest book to audiences who hung on my every word.

I knew it wouldn’t happen overnight, but no matter how long it took, I was determined that I would get there. I would become that woman.

Be Real Minimalist Shoes Giveaway! And Sort-Of Review

Are you curious about the whole minimalist running shoe notion, but reluctant to shell out the big bucks for a pair of Vibrams?

There's a new kid in town, coming in February.  "Be Real Shoes" are an intriguing Vibram alternative with some cool features, and you could win a pair for the price of a comment!

Sweet Giveaway and Review: Quest Bars and Peanut Butter Cups

Guess what I got in the mail to review and give away?

Well, I suppose with the title and picture and all, it's not a big surprise.

I got seduced with a pitch for Quest Cravings Peanut Butter Cups--a high protein, low sugar alternative to a regular Peanut Butter Cup.  And they sent me some Quest Protein bars to try as well.

Those who leave a comment will be eligible to win a big ol' box of their choice!

But first, what did I think of the Quest Bars and Quest Cravings Peanut Butter Cups?

Les Mills Body Combat Giveaway; Introducing the Fit It!

A couple of product announcements today, both of them rather cool.

So first we've got a reader giveaway of a 5 DVD martial-arts style workout video from the Les Mills folks called Les Mills COMBAT.

And next up, I thought I'd let you know about a brand new Pinterest style photo-sharing and pinning site aimed at the fitness community called The Fit It

These both look like promising ventures, so wanna find out a bit more and see how you might win the DVD set?  This time, Canadians are eligible too!

(And I swear more "real" posts that are not reviews or giveaways are on the way. I'll spare you the usual 10 paragraphs of apologies and rationalizations and philosophical thoughts about health blogging and commercialism).