drink more water.

I'm so excited about everyone who is on board for this month's contest! Yay for all of you. It's not to late to jump in and share your hints and tips for losing weight, sticking with it, little ways to stay motivated, etc. and get in on the contest. (Read more about the contest here.)

Water is an important part of keeping your body healthy. Make sure you are drinking enough of it. Eight 8-ounce glasses are recommended for keeping your body hydrated through out the day.

Here are a couple of tidbits about water and your body:

*Drink more when you exercise. "If you exercise or engage in any activity that makes you sweat, you need to drink extra water to compensate for the fluid loss. An extra 400 to 600 milliliters (about 1.5 to 2.5 cups) of water should suffice for short bouts of exercise, but intense exercise lasting more than an hour (for example, running a marathon) requires more fluid intake. How much additional fluid you need depends on how much you sweat during exercise, the duration of your exercise and the type of activity you're engaged in.

During long bouts of intense exercise, it's best to use a sports drink that contains sodium, as this will help replace sodium lost in sweat and reduce the chances of developing hyponatremia, which can be life-threatening. Also, continue to replace fluids after you're finished exercising." Mayo Clinic. Read more here.

*"the liver's duties is to pick up the slack for the kidneys, which need plenty of water to work properly. If the kidneys are water-deprived, the liver has to do their work along with its own, lowering its total productivity. It then can't metabolize fat as quickly or efficiently as it could when the kidneys were pulling their own weight. If you allow this to happen, not only are you being unfair to your liver, but you're also setting yourself up to store fat.* Maia Appleby at inch-aweigh.com Read more here.

*If you think that drinking that much water sends you running to the toliet all day long don't give up. Maia says, "What is really happening is that your body is flushing itself of the water it has been storing throughout all those years of "survival mode". It takes a while, but this is a beautiful thing happening to you. As you continue to give your body all the water it could ask for, it gets rid of what it doesn't need. It gets rid of the water it was holding onto in your ankles and your hips and thighs, maybe even around your belly. You are excreting much more than you realize. Your body figures it doesn't need to save these stores anymore; it's trusting that the water will keep coming, and if it does, eventually, the flushing (of both the body and the potty) will cease, allowing the human to return to a normal life. It's true. This is called the "breakthrough point."

*Do it for your skin. "You've heard this since high school, and it's true. Water will do wonders for your looks! It flushes out impurities in your skin, leaving you with a clear, glowing complexion. It also makes your skin look younger. Skin that is becoming saggy, either due to aging or weight loss, plumps up very nicely when the skin cells are hydrated.

In addition, it improves muscle tone. You can lift weights until you're blue in the face, but if your muscles are suffering from a drought, you won't notice a pleasant difference in your appearance. Muscles that have all the water they need contract more easily, making your workout more effective, and you'll look much nicer than if you had flabby muscles under sagging skin." Maia Appleby. Read more here.

Water and Weight loss myth:

*"Drinking water in and of itself will not lead to weight loss. Of course, water is key to a healthy lifestyle and drinking enough has many benefits, but when people lose weight due to drinking water, it's most likely because they're substituting it for high-calorie juices and sodas."  about.com Read more here.

Whether it's possible to lose weight drinking water or not it, the overall health benefits are huge.  I think it's definitely true that water can help you avoid things that make you GAIN weight.  If you are replacing soda or other drinks with water than, to me, water is helping you lose weight.  If you are drinking water instead of putting food in your mouth, then water is helping your to lose weight.  If you are drinking water before, after, and during your daily exercise and helping your body to run more efficiently, then your body may be losing weight. 

I know that, for me, when I drink water before dinner my stomach gets the message sooner that I'm full.  I also know that when I drink water instead of having that high fat snack I'm much less likely to eat the high fat snack and reach for something more healthy.  If nothing else, it buys you some time to rethink what you you are eating instead of mindlessly shoving whatever is in front of you in your mouth.

Here's another take on hydration.

No matter the reason for drinking water you can't go wrong with making eight 8-ounce glassesof water sprinkled through out your day part of your daily routine.  Your muscles and skin will definitely thank you.

So here's to water and better health.

healthy. LIFE.

NOTE:  Nominations are now CLOSED.  Click here to VOTE.  VOTING is open until Sunday, February 1st.  GO VOTE!!

tell us.

With a new President coming up this week I thought it would be fun to vote for favorite images of 2008.

You can pick a favorite picture from the slideshow above (there is a gallery icon so you can look through them slowly) or from here on the blog.

Just put your nomination in the comments or send us your nomination at info@davinafear.com Soooo.... if you want your picture to win then you need to make sure your friends and family nominate your faves! We'll take nominations until Friday.  The voting will start January 27th.

What will you win??

The couple or family with the winning image will get a $100 gift certificate to their favorite store (for me that would be Anthropologie) and a beautiful 7x7 album of favorite images from their shoot!

fun. LIFE.

too much time here.

Over the last week Grace and I have been together a lot.  And not always under the best of circumstances.  I think that she may be feeling better and I'm so glad about that.  Of course, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed hoping that it's really true.

All of you have been so wonderful and I've gotten some really sweet and thoughtful emails filled with concern and help and I can't even say how grateful I am to each of you.  I'm blessed.

Here's to all of the moms out there who have:

*stayed up at night with a sick child

*cleaned up puke off the wall...and the toliet...and the pjs...and the bed...and yourself

*washed a toliet so that the person that is putting their face it won't get even more sick because you haven't cleaned it in way too long

*wiped snot from a child's face and then wiped it on your own clothes or the grass while you were at the park without a tissue

*sat on the floor of a nasty bathroom to change a diaper or feed a baby

*bribed your child with ice cream to get them to do what you wanted them to

*said "because I'm the mom, that's why"

*gone to check on your child in the middle of the night just to make sure they are still breathing

*read Clifford the Big Red Dog at least 139 times

*walked in a room to see your child naked except for a diaper and painted like a lion...and the walls full of a little 2 year old's art

*looked out the front window to see your child in the street and had a panic attack

*been woken up by a child at 3am with a fever and stayed up at least 1/2 the night trying to bring it down

*heard your children giggling wildly in the next room and peeked around the corner to see what was going on

*made dinner with a child attached to your leg

*walked into a room and asked, "who made this mess?"  and had all of your kids say, "Not me!" and you know it wasn't YOU

*opened the fridge to eat that delicious piece of dessert you were planning to eat and found that someone else beat you to it

*cuddled next to a sweet little missie and had her say to you, "you're the best mom in the whole wide world.  I love you soooooooooooo much!"

*had little arms wrapped around your neck that wouldn't let go

*and had slobbery kisses from gooey mouths.

Here's to all of you...and here's to knowing that there's not a moment in the bunch that we want to trade.

good. LIFE.

Rumor has it that the Love Affair Ladies are drawing up another plan to host a Love Affair workshop in 2009 from July 28-30th! Where? Well we can't give all of the details just yet but we can tell you it will be the ONLY 2009 Love Affair Workshop and it's going to be a blast! In February we'll take to the road to explore the next location and release the details to you shortly after so stay tuned to the blog or email info@loveaffairworkshop.com to join our "first to know list".

NOTE:  This new series, Women and Business, will be ongoing.  Every Thursday you can expect to meet a new woman who is managing more than just a successful business and doing it well.  Make sure you come back every Thursday (or more often if you'd like) to be inspired, motivated, get ideas, and so much more.  Thanks for stopping by.  Together we can make this a wonderful series! Who doesn't love comments? So make sure to let these women know what you think, if you  have a question, say thanks, or just to say you think they are fabulous in the comments...

Next Week:  Sheye Rosemeyer  

Coming soon:  Sarah Q, Kelly Moore, Carey@Barefoot Memories, Lisa Maksoudian, Stephanie Roberts, and more talented women!

Hello Amber, Thanks so much for being a guest today...our first guest... for the new Women and Business series!

You’ve traveled quite a bit in the past year or so. What tips do you have for moms when they need to travel and have to be away from their family?

Use technology to your advantage as often as possible.

My wonderful husband takes LOADS of pictures of my children on his iPhone, and emails them to me throughout the day. This really helps me feel like I'm not even gone.

You can (and should) also use the video chat functionality on your macbook pro (because I KNOW that's what you're using :) ) to help your kids have the opportunity to see your face as often as possible.

I also prep the kids way in advance, and tell them what I'll be doing on this particular trip. If I will be seeing or spending time with people they know and love, I make sure they know that.

When I return, I share pictures and stories with them, so they have the opportunity to hear what kinds of things I was up to while I was away. All of this seems to make things much easier. My kids have been wonderfully lenient on me as I've traveled this past year.

I'm blessed to have the most supportive husband and children one could ever imagine

What 5 things have helped you the most to manage being a mom, photographer, business woman, and writer?

1. The most supportive husband in the world....and the most well-behaved children inexistence.

2. The ability to seriously multitask. (This is either a blessing or a curse. I'm uncertain as to which.)

3. Photographer's Edit... www.photographersedit.com That sounds like a shameless plug, and maybe it is, to some degree, but honestly, at the end of this past year, I looked back, and I thought to myself... if I had to edit my own weddings last year, I would've never slept for even a second. I hope other people see the value in saving themselves a load of time.

4. iChat. Allows me to be in close connection with my husband and kids when I'm gone, allows me to have friends entertain me when I'm tired of working but need to keep going, allows me to haveimmediateaccess to many important people in my life merely by a click and a bit of typing, ultimately saving me insane amounts of time.

5. A nightly hot bath. 15 minutes of quiet restores me to some semblance of sanity.

Oh, I need a number 6, sorry.
6. Cleaning lady. Second best investment of 2008 (second only to Photographer's Edit). It's outsourcing at it's most basic.

You have 2 kids, what does a typical day look like for you?

Is there a such thing as typical?

As I've said already, I have an amazing husband. Very often, (and by that, I mean almost always) he takes morning duty, so I can get an extra hour or two of sleep.

Austen goes to school 5 days a week from 8-3 and Addison is in "school" Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-2. I have sessions scheduled a random times throughout the week, usually an average of three times a week.

Lately, I also have at least one mentoring session or baby TAG-A-LONG scheduled during that time.

It seems that there's at least one night a week (often more like FOUR nights a week) that we have evening meetings.

We have date night every Monday and family day every Sunday. We try desperately to go to the gym 5 times a week as well.

All of those things make a specific schedule almost impossible. I'm not going to lie, we eat a decent amount of restaurant food and takeout... (and Tuna Helper ;) I am hoping to change that ASAP.

I just tried to write out a schedule for you all, but I couldn't even do it, there are too many variables!

My recommendation is just be as flexible as you can. I try to stop, even if I'm working, and help my children when they need attention. This isn't always easy, but if you're working from home a lot, it's very necessary.

You are among some very well known photographers. What is the best advice you’ve been given?

I'm gonna list a few different thoughts I've learned from various different people....

My amazing husband regularly tells me to stop working and go to bed. I think "Go to bed" is probably the best advice I've ever been given :) www.photographersedit.net

 

David Jay instilled into Nathan and I the power of the web and viral marketing.www.opensourcephoto.com

I've had the opportunity to listen in on my dear friend Corey McNabb's sales meetings/bridal consultations several different times. The knowledge gained from listening to such a successful sales person as he creates a rapport with his client is priceless. I'm not entirely certain how to encapsulate his techniques in a short paragraph, but he does have a platform class at WPPI addressing just this topic. www.mcworkshops.com

Kevin Swan continually reminds me of the importance of finding "which hill you stand on". KISS wedding books stands on the "hill of simplicity", and because of that, they're succeeding brilliantly. We need to figure out where we can stand that is different from everyone else, and that's what we need to focus on. www.kissweddingbooks.com

Robert Evans reminds me to laugh at myself more. He has so much to offer on an educational level, but what I learn from him the most is that I take myself much too seriously. Life is too short for that. www.photographymentor.com

I could go on and on, we have been blessed by so many industry leaders, but I think I'm going to get the "Go to bed" advice here, any second. Those summarized statements above barely scrape the surface of what we have been able to learn from our peers and friends.

You have had several articles in Rangefinder and you’re currently working on some others. What are your tips for getting published in Rangefinder?

For me, my first article in Rangefinder was just a leap of faith. I wrote an article about something I believed very strongly in, and I sent a direct query to the editor. I don't think this would always work, but it worked that time! If you don't feel confident enough to do that, try to make a connection with one of the writers or editors, and see if they'd be willing to query an article for you!

What do you think are the most important things you do as a mom and wife every day?

Invest time. Even just moments. I don't do it enough.

And photograph my family. I don't want to look back in 20 years and wish that I had done for my family what I do for so many others.

This includes scheduling official photo sessions by SOMEONE ELSE! I didn't do this until Addison was 2 years old, and I hated myself for it.

Is there anything you wish you would have done differently over the years as a mom/business woman? If so, what? and how would you do it if you had another chance at it?

I don't like looking backward... I want to focus forward. I don't think I would change anything, because then it would be possible that I would be somewhere else right now, and I'm quite happy with where I am. I can't wait to see what the next year, and the next year, and the next year holds for us.

To read more about Amber and see her work check out the following:

www.photographersedit.com

www.holritzphotography.com

www.mcworkshops.com- for the only full workshops I am involved with

http://www.rangefindermag.com/repository/rf/articles/pdf/Nov07_64.pdf - my first Rangefinder article

The image at the top is by Rich Smith.  Used by permission of Rich Smith.  See more of his images at  www.richsmithphotography.com

All of the below images are by Amber Holritz.  Copyright 2008.  Used by permission of Amber Holritz.  See more of her images at www.holritzphotography.com