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  • Misty Shaffer has struggled with weight all her life. When her husband was deployed to Afghanistan for a year, the Leland, N.C., woman decided to use his absence to re-commit herself to losing weight so she could surprise him when he came home.

    In the year that Army Spc. Larry Shaffer was gone on his second deployment abroad, his wife changed the way she ate. She switched to whole grains, ate mainly fruits, vegetables and lean meats, drank lots of water and controlled her portion sizes.

    She also limited her food intake, going from eating about 2,000 calories a day to now eating about 1,200 calories.

    (Courtesy: Misty Shaffer) Shaffer, who wore a size 20 then, watched the pounds melt away. At her heaviest she weighed 315 pounds, but she tipped the scales at 250 pounds when she started counting her calories in June. When her husband came home on Wednesday, she weighed 154 pounds.

    She now wears sizes 7 through 9, she said.

    "In the beginning, the first couple of months (were)

    Read More »from Army Wife Surprises Husband With 96-Pound Weight Loss on His Return From Afghanistan
  • Beyonce is busy.

    The pop superstar is on a world tour, getting ready for the premiere of a new movie, and media reports claim she’s pregnant with her second child.

    She’s keeping mum on the pregnancy report, but while she’s on her Mrs. Carter Show World Tour, Beyonce and her mother, Tina Knowles, have launched a special auction that will allow the lucky bidder and a guest to spend a day backstage with the star on her tour.

    ClickHERE to learn more about the Backstage With Beyonce Auction

    The backstage auction, presented in partnership with the global charity auction site Charitybuzz, will allow bidders to vie for backstage experiences in either Los Angeles, New York or third city that will be named later. Successful bidders get the opportunity to be part of the styling team for the world tour and will have the chance to meet Beyonce and pose for photos backstage.

    The auction packages also include lunch with Tina Knowles and a personal tour of the wardrobe rooms that house Beyonce’s costumes.

    Read More »from Auction Lets You Win a Backstage Experience at Beyonce's World Tour
  • By Andrew Lampard

    When Zachary Quinto, who plays Spock in "Star Trek Into Darkness," came out publicly that he is gay, he gave no warning to his friends, family or publicists.

    "I didn't tell anyone I was going to do it so no one had a chance to [give me advice]," said Quinto in an interview with movie critic Peter Travers on ABC's 'Popcorn.' "I just did it. No one in my life knew."

    The star's high-profile 'coming out' two years ago, which preceded others like NBA player Jason Collins, seems to have help undermine the prejudice that publicly gay actors won't be accepted by audiences in straight film roles.

    Quinto said he has experienced no adverse effects in his career in the aftermath of his announcement, and thinks people are more accepting of homosexuals and marriage equality than they were a few years ago.

    "I felt supported at the time in a really profound way, by fans and people that just know me by my work," he said. "I think I'm in a really good place."

    Quinto's full interview

    Read More »from Zachary Quinto On Coming Out: I Just Did It-No One Knew
  • App of the Week: Buycott

    App Name: Buycott

    Price: Free

    Available Platforms: iOS

    What does this app do? Chances are you like to know what's in the food you eat and where the money you pay to buy that food goes. For instance, those tomatoes from the grocery store may come from a manufacturer that supports genetically modified foods, and you may not want any part of that.

    Ivan Pardo, a 26-year-old Los Angeles-based developer, created Buycott, an app that helps consumers manage where their money goes by allowing them to scan products, learn about what brands and companies own those products, and determine if those companies align with the causes a user wishes to support or boycott.

    When it comes to using the app, think of it as a two-part process. Once you download it, you can search for and join available campaigns - "Boycott companies that sell FUR" or "Support Veterans," for example - or create your own. From there, the app can analyze the UPC barcode and discern the

    Read More »from App of the Week: Buycott
  • Summer Travel Discounts for Teachers at B&Bs

    No more students, no more books . . . just lots of discounts for teachers at bed and breakfasts across the country this summer, thanks to a new program from BedandBreakfast.com.

    Often overworked and most definitely underpaid, many teachers are lucky enough to have the summer months off, but the summer is the most expensive time of year to take a vacation. Participating bed and breakfasts in the Travel for Teachers program are offering a range of getaway specials starting at 25 percent off. Some B&Bs offer free nights while others offer teacher appreciation packages that include free massages, wine and other amenities.

    More than 100 B&Bs are participating. Click here for all offers.

    "We are honored to organize and offer this special promotion for teachers who give so much commitment and hard-earned time to our nation's youth," says Gregory Sion, general manager of BedandBreakfast.com. "We can't think of anyone better who deserves a

    Read More »from Summer Travel Discounts for Teachers at B&Bs
  • 77-Year-Old Shoots Hole-in-One Three Times in a Month

    Bob Robertson is 77 and a faithful golfer in more ways than one.

    The Tennessean plays golf four days a week and says he asked God to let him score a hole-in-one for a good cause. Robertson not only got a hole-in-one last month, he shot a hole-in-one three times in 29 days on the same hole.

    He's an Air Force veteran who had a stroke six years ago, which left him blind in one eye.

    Robertson says the improbable golf shot wasn't by chance. He planned it.

    "I told God if he let me that win that money, that I'd donate that money to mission work and he let me win it," Robertson said. "I know it might be hard to believe, but it's true."

    Robertson's granddaughter is studying to be a missionary and is leaving Saturday for a mission trip to Indonesia.

    Robertson plays in a senior golf league at the Smyrna Golf Course every Tuesday. Two of his hole-in-one shots were during league play, making him the winner of a $500 pot to which 75 seniors contributed.

    "After I got the hole in

    Read More »from 77-Year-Old Shoots Hole-in-One Three Times in a Month
  • It sounds like the plot of a Hollywood thriller: while a fancy jewelry company is hosting a ball at the Cannes Festival, thieves break into a company employees' hotel room and steal $1 million worth of jewelry.

    But this story is real. It happened in Cannes overnight.

    A representative of Chopard, the Swiss-based watch and jewellery company, left the stash in the safe in his room at the Novotel Hotel in Cannes while he attended a late-night gala at a much fancier hotel across town. When he returned, thieves had ripped a safe from the wall of his room.

    Police are still trying to determine exactly what was inside, but they say the contents were likely Chopard jewels to be loaned to A-list celebrities as they walked the festival's red carpet surrounded by a phalanx of eager photographers. Actress Julianne Moore has already been seen on the Cannes red carpet sporting gems from Chopard.

    French police say the Chopard gala ran till 5 a.m. They believe the burglary happened around 2.30 a.m. The

    Read More »from Jewelry Heist at Cannes Straight From Hollywood
  • Aimee Copeland, the 25-year-old who lost her hands, both feet and her entire right leg to flesh-eating bacteria a year ago, has received two new bionic hands.

    Copeland spent the week in Ohio at Touch Bionics, where she received two bionic hands free of charge. The hands cost $100,000 a piece, on average, a company spokesperson told ABCNews.com.

    In a 30-second video Copeland sent to WSBTV, the ABC News affiliate in Atlanta, she uses one of the new hands to pick up a potato chip and put it in her mouth.

    "That was great. How is it? Satisfying?" the man behind the camera asks. Copeland nods enthusiastically as she chews. Then, she laughs.

    Copeland spent the week getting fitted for the limbs and learning how to use them. The prosthetics respond to muscle signals in Copeland's residual limbs and are capable of 24 different kinds of movements.

    She will leave Touch Bionics to return to her Snellville, Ga., home today. Touch Bionics offered to donate the prosthetic hands

    Read More »from Aimee Copeland Gets Bionic Hands
  • Toddler Reviews Google Glass: Almost as Good as Apple Juice

    We've seen Michele Bachmann and a half-naked blogger wear Google Glass over the last couple of weeks.

    But those images don't exactly warm your heart. But a two-year-old with the connected glasses on? That might be one of the cutest things you see on the Internet this week.

    Chris Angelini, a writer and editor at tech site Tom's Hardware, decided to put the glasses on his two-year-old son, Lucas. The result is an adorable video of Lucas telling people to "Look at my cool glasses!" Lucas only wears the glasses for 2 minutes and 42 seconds in the video, but that's long enough for him to document the experience of getting some watered-down apple juice, show off his Lego collection and play catch with his dad.

    It's long enough for him to point out some of the bad things about Glass too. The video, shot in a low-light room, is hard to see at times, and at the end he screams, "They're hot!" It's true, the glasses do get fairly

    Read More »from Toddler Reviews Google Glass: Almost as Good as Apple Juice
  • Rumor: Beyonce Pregnant?

    Looks like Blue Ivy Carter could be a big sister soon! Days after the New York Post reported that Beyoncé and Jay-Z are expecting their second child, E! News followed suit, citing several sources.

    Pregnancy rumors reached an all-time high on Tuesday when the "Love On Top" singer, 31, canceled a concert in Belgium because of dehydration and exhaustion. The next day, she posted a handwritten apology on Facebook and added, "I'm feeling much better now and I'm ready to give you a great show." (The singer is currently in the middle of her Mrs. Carter world tour.)

    Despite her busy schedule, having more children has always been important to Beyoncé, who told ABC News earlier this month, "I think my daughter needs some company. I definitely love being a big sister."

    The singer and her rapper husband, 43, welcomed Blue Ivy in January, 2012.

    "And I am very protective. I just want to make sure that she can have a healthy, safe, normal life," she continued. "In the back of my mind, she's

    Read More »from Rumor: Beyonce Pregnant?

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