Thursday, April 30, 2009

E-x-e-r-c-i-s-e...yikes!!!

So, I have a new personal trainer. His name is Jesse Janzen; he is 26 years old and in great shape, and as it turns out, a physical fitness guru. We started out yesterday with 13 minutes straight of solid jumping on the trampoline. I don’t know if you have ever done that before, but it is HARD!!! I felt like a biggest loser contestant pleading for mercy and crying that I wasn’t going to be able to make it. I did make it though. And today, again 13 minutes of straight jumping, but this time in 78 degree temp and with a long sleeve hooded sweatshirt! I somehow managed to get through it again. Today also included a series of crunches and a few minutes of planking. Tomorrow we will begin push-ups and stability ball exercises, and of course, what is now becoming the dreaded trampoline. I thought trampolining was supposed to be fun!!

Maintaining the Vision

I am going to be sharing with you all my progress on a new exercise program I started yesterday. I have a new "live in" personal trainer (my son Jesse), who has joyfully accepted the job of helping me with my continued efforts to be healthy and in good physical shape. 
Yesterday we started out the day with a blended salad made with: broccoli, celery, romaine, carrots, apple and strawberries. We added a tsp of cocoa powder and a little stevia. Also a small amount of flaxseed oil.
Lunch was homemade humus: 1 can white kidney beans, 1 clove garlic, juice from 1 lime, 1 large T. of tahini, all blended together until smooth. This was used for dipping veggies...carrots, celery and red peppers. So yummy!
Dinner was brown rice and barley mixed with gr. turkey and spices with broccoli and celery. 
Interspersed though out the day with healthy chocolate (3 pieces) and lots of water. It was a good beginning. I have another blog to tell you about the exercising :)

Saturday, April 25, 2009

On your mark, get set...Go!!

 My daughter Kate is so busy…as usual. Today she wanted to go for a bike ride on her new and improved bicycle, in her new and improved biking clothes/gear. Her shorts have a special “pad” in them so you can accommodate the tiniest seat ever made to sit on while peddling 100 mph! She had a great ride and she looked darling in her “biking costume”….tee, shorts, cleated shoes, and helmet! I wish I had taken her picture to post here!

Here comes the bride.....


I took this past week off to be with my dear friend/sister/daughter J She is getting married, so we went shopping for her wedding dress. How amazing that on our first day out, the first shop we went to, the first dress she saw, fit her perfectly, was exactly what she had in mind from the beginning, and looked so beautiful on her. Anddddd…it was marked down: 75% off. We left the shop so happy and thankful. Then we went to a shoe store, and again found the perfect shoes to go with the dress! It was such a profitable day to accomplish the biggest tasks, and it all went so smoothly. 

New Face Book Page

Today I added a page to my facebook account. It’s an experiment to expand my business efforts. I posted all kinds of links about chocolate and networking….two things which I am studying right now. I enjoy both. 

Monday, April 13, 2009

What is quality of life?

Our society has developed the mindset of “Eat, drink and be merry….for tomorrow we die”. Actually we don’t emphasize or really even consider the “for tomorrow we die” part.  And of course that’s because none of us wants to die. We all want to live. And while we are living, we want to have a good quality of life. And good quality of life means: BEING HEALTHY!!

 

What is your realization of a good quality of life? Living in a beautiful home, driving comfortable cars, and passing through Star Bucks on your way to work?  Then half a day at the office and out to the golf course for 9 holes with your buddies. Then dinner with your spouse at the restaurant of choice. Well, maybe….it sounds good. But, but, but…..

 

But, if you don’t have good health, life begins to fade. Without your good health, your quality of life deteriorates quickly. This is the bottom line.  I am sure I don’t need to convince you. But we still lack vision. 

Thursday, April 9, 2009

The Heart Attack Grill

 I listened to a news clip yesterday about a restaurant that advertises that after you eat there, you become a heart attack waiting to happen. The servers are all females dressed in provocative nurse looking uniforms and wearing a stethoscope around their necks. The menu gives you the choice of 4 different "bi-pass burgers", and the fries, cooked in 100% lard are in a self serve all-you-can-eat tray, available with cheese sauce on the side. All the drinks are full sugared...no diet drinks on the premises. 

The quadruple bi-pass burger is so big that you have to eat it in sections....not cut into 4 quarter sections, but rather layer by layer, because it's about 6 inches high, with 4, one half pound burgers, divided by 8 slices of cheese. One whole tomato and a half an onion are sliced and sandwiched in between the burgers. Total calories: 8000. They listen to your heart rate before leaving and roll you out in a wheel chair.

I was amused by the flat out truth of promising people that the food would put them in the  ground much sooner than later. I was also amazed that people don’t seem to care. If it tastes good and fills you up...actually stuffs you to the brim and then some...well, who cares about the heart attack waiting to happen? Who cares if you get heartburn and indigestion that won’t quit? Who cares if you gain 2 + lbs while sitting there eating 8000 calories? 

Well, I guess if the truth be known, I myself would have gone into that restaurant  a year ago and have thought…mmmm…interesting, lets try it. However, not so today. Being an RN who has worked in the ER and ICU and has seen many a heart attack victim, would not have prevented me from entering an eat-at-your-own-risk establishment. I had the knowledge of the "how bad it is for you and will eventually kill you" cuisine, but in the end, knowledge doesn’t govern us. We need something more subjective than just knowledge, than just mere information. 

We need a vision. Vision changes us. Vision governs us. Vision propells us to the desired goal.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Learning How to Copywrite

 
Definition of copywriting: learning and developing writing skills to get a message out; to communicate, to be empowered and to empower others, to establish and build mutually beneficial relationships with people based on solving problems and providing solutions.

There is a lot involved in being a good writer, but it doesnt necessarily have to be innate. If it does come naturally, then that is a great gift...that could be developed into a very serious income. I read that people who are copy writers for campaign ads can make bou-kou money for only a few words.  
Something I read this morning might provide an example: 

"From cocoa beans to chocolate dreams"

I like it. I wonder how much the person who wrote that made on those few, but appealing and rhyming words? What is the message you get from those few words? You could be thinking: New chocolate receipes, or maybe new methods for using chocolate, or even the discription of a new book about Mr. Hershey.
But for me, it means re-educating everyone on the outstanding benefits of raw and unprocessed chocolate. 

Stay tuned. I am on a mission. Of course all idealists are usually on some kind of mission. But in truth, if you want to really help others, you have to be passionate and true to a vision. Nothing is over-night, but learning how and being willing to stay the course is absolutely necessary.