Interview with the writer Dana Sieben
Dana Sieben has been a regular contributor to
our weight loss
humor section of our site for quite some time. Dana is a
writer whose work is getting wider and wider attention. You
can keep up with her writing over at
www.southerngalgoesnorth.blogspot.com.
Dana, thank you for doing an interview for
our readers of www.weightloss-articles.com.
Dana - You are so welcome, Bill. Bless
your heart.
Bill – Can you tell us a little about what is going
on in your life and in your writing?
Dana - Well, to be honest...writing isn't easy. I
have struggled with depression for years and some days I
just can't write for the life of me. Then some days are
great and the words flow and stories take shape. I love to
write poetry and use those dark days to express myself.
I have had the good fortune to be noticed by a few people. I
was asked to be on WNIT, an Elkhart, Indiana PBS station,
for their show, Open Studio (http://www.wnit.org/openstudio/episodes800/828.html).
They were doing a piece on Pulaski County and ran across a blog I did about Winamac, which is in Pulaski. I was able to
read my poetry on air and get a little exposure.
And recently, I was approached about my diet humor short
story, Thigh Master, Move Over. Guideposts Books is
publishing a fitness humor book called Funnybone Fitness and
they were interested in using my story in it.
So, my first shots at fame were purely by chance and,
largely, thanks to the internet.
Bill – Dana, you obviously have a talent for writing
and a great sense of humor. How can our readers use humor to
help them through their weight loss struggles?
Dana - If you don't have humor about your body, you
won't make it. There are too many people obsessed with their
looks and their shape and get all bent out of shape about
it. I say, enjoy life, do your best and don't sweat the
small stuff. Enjoy the journey and laugh at yourself
sometimes. I think my shape is hilarious. I'm fluffy.
Bill – Many people these days keep private journals
and many more keep public blogs of their weight loss journey
– Do you think it is beneficial for anyone to write about
their struggles and joys along their weight loss journey?
Dana - Beneficial to most. Some people, like me, have
a problem with sticking with it. I tried a weight loss blog,
but grew more and more upset when I had no good weight loss
news to blog about. Some people, however, think of it as a
challenge and do better because of it. It all depends on the
person and what works best.
Bill – Do you have any favorite writers or books that
you return to when you are struggling with a diet?
Dana - Books are probably one of the biggest reasons
my behind has grown so large. I love to read, and will read
almost anything fiction...and want to spend all day doing
it. Oh, but you are speaking of weight loss books? I have
read the South Beach Diet and it does have some good ideas
on how to make your body healthier.
Bill – I am from the south also – and I was wondering
– Can you get biscuits and gravy and sweet tea in Chicago?
Dana - Ummm...no. I have found that Cracker Barrel
and Dave's BarBQue does sell some pretty good sweet tea
though. They are the only two restaurants that do however.
Thank goodness. I'd be even bigger if I still lived in the
south with all that yummy sausage gravy, buttermilk
biscuits, two-cups-of-sugar-in-the-sweet-tea, and corn
bread. Yummmm. I'm going to have to eat a salad tonight. I
think I gained five pounds just by writing about all this
food.
Bill – Do you miss southern foods?
Dana - Yes, absolutely. They are my comfort foods.
Nothing better than Nanny's butterbeans and cornbread I just
came back from Alabama and brought some grits and Red
Diamond tea bags with me. You can't get them here.
Bill – Thanks again Dana for entertaining our
readers. We
certainly hope to see more of your humor and writing on
weightloss-articles. Would you like to say anything else to
our readers?
Dana - Yes, first- thanks for interviewing me today
and second - I am not that sucessful with my dieting
personally, but I try. I like to make people laugh and, if
by making them laugh I can help them lose some weight
themselves, then I think that is awesome.
I wish for you the best
of health!
Bill
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