A little less than two weeks ago, Pastor Joey Bonifacio lent me a book by Bill Phillips titled Body For Life. Body For Life is a program that he himself used a few years back to get himself into better shape, and it apparently has worked very well for him.

After having gone through the book once, these were my observations:

• I think Body For Life has the potential to create healthy habits in individuals, increasing the chances of a person losing weight and keeping it off more permanently than other fitness programs.
• It is going to take a great deal of discipline to pull off Body For Life, but the rewards seem significant. The hundreds of testimonials in the book and available online are extremely persuasive.
• The diet aspect of Body For Life isn’t as restrictive as other diets, and it certainly isn’t quack nutrition (well, save perhaps for the recommended - but not required - dietary supplements that come from a company with which the author had connections).

The downside is that it will require a lot of discipline, self-control, and exercise. At the end of the day, that is to be expected, though. 70 lbs. of overweight don’t add themselves to one’s frame overnight. Anyone on this program is going to need a different kind of motivation.

After much thought, five days ago, I decided to go for it! I’ll be keeping a private journal for this, but I’ll be posting a weekly video blog so I can keep an image record of my progress. Please keep me in prayer; I believe, though, this is it. I am so determined to make this work!

Jennifer Hudson’s Spotlight is HOT. It’s earned even more Top 10 ink, as it is now at #8 on the Billboard Hot R&B/HipHop Songs chart, #3 on the Billboard Adult R&B Airplay chart, and #9 on the Billboard Dance Club Play chart. It’s #60 on the Hot 100.

I am loving this mix! Jennifer Hudson is HOT! Spotlight is HOT!

Hundreds of bloggers using WordPress as their blogging software are now converging at the DLS-College of Saint Benilde’s Augusto-Rosario Gonzalez (with a Z, not S, you Benildeans!) for WordCamp Philippines. Click here for my live blog feed!

On September 12, Friday, I will be a guest on The Edge Radio at 6:00PM. I’ll be talking primarily about what it’s like being a Filipino-Christian blogger, but you can also expect a lot of great information on how to set up your own blog, how to establish and build relationships with other Christian bloggers, and how to ensure that people can find their way to your blog. (Yep, I’m gonna give some insight into search engine optimization for free. Cheers to y’all.)

Of course, since it is me, you can expect a lot of joking around. You can listen online on their website, or swing by the station para interactive!

This week on Ganns’ Giveaways, I’m giving away to one winning blogger a 120mL bottle of fragrance from Zen Zest’s new Sparkling Sugar collection. The collection has four fragrances: Cherry Cheesecake, Key Lime Pie, Watermelon Sorbet, and Vanilla Ice Cream; the winner can have her/his choice of fragrance. (Only one fragrance, please.) As you join, it will enable me to get to know you better and cover you in prayer. How simple is that?

To qualify for Ganns’ Giveaways, just make a blog entry in your own blog about something you’re believing God will give you before the end of 2008. After you’ve placed your blog post online, add a comment to this post leading me to your blog entry. While I will select a winning entry to win the fragrances, I will include each of your prayer requests - assuming I agree with it, of course, I won’t pray for stuff that isn’t Biblical, d-uh - in my own prayer time, so there will be at least two people praying for your prayer request: you and me!

To select the winner, I’ll enter all entrants’ names into Random.org, and the #1 name on top wins the fragrance. Please don’t forget to leave a valid email address so I’ll know how to contact you if you win.

Deadline for blog posts is Monday, September 10, 08, 11:59PM (Philippine time). Sali na!

The prize goes to Juligel. Congrats!

Have you been to a Zen Zest kiosk lately? They’ve launched a new line of fragrances, body butters, and body polishes based on sugary goodies, and my mouth is literally watering with the recollection of the four variants, collectively known as the Zen Zest Sparkling Sugar collection.

My favorite of the lot is the Vanilla Ice Cream variant. Cathy spritzed herself with some of that and I just wanted to eat her up. There’s something in vanilla that’s just inviting. According to the bottle, there’s vanilla bean and milk in there, and it just drove me nuts. I wanted to eat her up!

The other three Zen Zest Sparkling Sugar variants are (in order of my preference) Key Lime Pie, Watermelon Sorbet, and Cherry Cheesecake. All four smell delicious, and aren’t so badly priced, so I don’t have to take out a few payday loans to afford the whole collection.

Yesterday afternoon, Cathy and I decided to go for a date at SM Megamall without the children. True to form, we ended up shopping for the kids anyway!

I passed by the House of Praise kiosk at the basement level of the mall and riffled through the CDs in the PHP75 discount bin when I spotted… THIS!

A VeggieTales Greatest Hits collection for PHP75?!

That’s ridiculous!

Almost all audio CDs from VeggieTales were flushed out of distribution when Big Idea signed distribution rights over to Viva a few years back. Since then, Viva has brought it a bunch of VeggieTales DVDs (thank you, Viva!) but all audio production has stopped.

This was a gem of a discovery, and it was all I could do not to jump around.

Two CDs behind the VeggieTales Have We Got a Show For You CD was… THIS!

Another VeggieTales gem!

The VeggieTales Sing-Along CDs were in rare supply, and this particular one, the Pirates Boat Load of Fun, contained a whole bunch of traditional and original tracks from Larry the Cucumber, Mr. Lunt, and Pa Grape, who together, make up the infamous bunch of scallywags, the Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything!

15 tracks, plus minus-one tracks, total 30 songs.

At PHP75.00 each.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why it’s awesome having a God who likes to bless His kids so His kids can bless their kids. VeggieTales rock! When best friend Raft3r gets back here, he’ll be bringing in two more CDs for Nathan & Nicki: Bob & Larry’s Sunday Morning Songs and Veggie Tales: On the Road With Bob & Larry. My house is a garden of VeggieTales.

Oh, by the way, Cathy picked up a few clothes for Nicki. Clothes for girls, how exciting. *roll eyes* Hahaha, kiddin’.

I recently got hold of a twin pack of Spa Essentials Energy aromatherapy scents from Watson’s. The Spa Essentials Philippines pack contains a 10mL bottle of Energy Pure Essential Oil Blend (Aromatherapy Grade) with oil burner, which could be great for turning up the mood of our bedroom, and a 100mL bottle of Spa Essentials Philippines Energy Linen Spray, which we can use for our bedsheets and the insides of our closets.

This morning, we tried the Energy oil blend in our bedroom. I think Energy contains essential lemon oils. I think I smell a minty touch, which could still be a lemon, or perhaps a tinge of either mint or eucalyptus, but that may just be me. Anyway, it smelled awesome, and really perked up our bedroom.

The best part? It’s economical! No need to take out a cash advance to purchase one of these aromatherapy packs.

(Listen to Britney by Bebo Norman off his new album Bebo Norman and read Bebo Norman Britney lyrics on this post. GannsDeen.com does not offer Britney mp3’s or Bebo Norman mp3s for free download or paid downloads. If you like what you hear, please leave a comment in the Comments box. Come back to GannsDeen.com for the latest and best in Christian, country, and pop music.)

Bebo Norman never ceases to amaze me. Best-known for his gut-wrenching ballad Nothing Without You, Norman has made a career out of songs with the most introspective lyrics matched with the simplest melodies. With Britney, Bebo Norman may have outdone himself.

A ballad to a certain popular celebrity, Britney is an open letter of apology and hope. The brilliance of this song comes with each heartfelt verse, as each apology unfolds, one cannot help but listen to what Norman has to say next. And precisely because it’s Britney, one wants to hear the extent of the apology, and it all comes to a climax that is both befitting of the simplicity of the ballad and the sincerity with which it is sung.

Brilliant, Bebo, absolutely brilliant.

Listen to Bebo Norman Britney mp3
Lyrics to Britney by Bebo Norman after the jump. Read more

Jennifer Hudson’s ‘Spotlight’ is now Top 10 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hiphop Songs! That’s a very very good sign for Spotlight, as it moves up 12-10! Yesz!

Here’s the Jennifer Hudson ‘Spotlight’ Afroganic Remix, an official remix from Arista. Not so hot.

Other Jennifer Hudson ‘Spotlight’ Billboard chart positions:

Billboard Hot Adult R&B Airplay: #5 (up a notch!)
Billboard Hot Dance Club Play: #12 (up a notch; my heart’s sinking for the chances of ‘Spotlight’ on the dance charts. The official remixes are crap.)