Today I am breathing a huge sigh of relief. A law went into effect at the beginning of this month that is actually going to do some good! I know, I know, impossible you say, but it is true, a law that we were in desperate need of, actually went through. On July 1^st it became mandatory that restaurants post the calorie content of their foods in an easily accessible manner for their customers. (You know instead of having to hold a gun to the person behind the counter in order for them to get you their nutritional information and then have them stand over you like you’re some kind of raving lunatic while you look at it.) Now the nutritional data is sitting right there on your table or in some instances inside the menu itself. Very easy to find and they haven’t figured out a way yet to make it so confusing that you can’t understand it, so for now, it’s quite eye opening.

Thank you God, I know you think I’m being facetious, but I’m not (just this one time) I really am truly thankful for this. I can already see the fat falling off of people. I seriously felt it was my responsibility to stand on the roof tops and scream, at you, trying to warn you how bad restaurants had become. I was panic stricken because I knew that there was no way to get it across to you because it was even hard for me to believe. The fact is that restaurant food has become so bad that it is becoming almost impossible to eat out and maintain a healthy weight.

I knew that just warning you about a couple items on a menu, like “sliders” or tuna melts or chili cheese fries, Caesar salads , just wasn’t getting it across to you because you still had a hundred other items on the menu that you could easily justify eating. Well now, you can’t! That little menu is sitting right there on your table haunting you! You have no excuse for not picking it up and informing yourself. You have no excuse for eating that Turkey Burger, you thought was safe, only to find out that its 1200 calories and has un-godly amounts of sodium. Ha ha, you’re cursed with the knowledge I have swimming in my head now and I love it!

Please take a moment now and picture me doing a happy dance, I’m holding the menu over my head, I throw it to the ground as if having just scored a touchdown and then I take my foot and stomp on it as if putting out a cigarette and then I kick it! Take that you bad, bad, CEO’s of chain restaurants, you only cared about one thing, money in your pocket.

This will hurt business, I guarantee it and you will see, that all of a sudden, these restaurants will come up with healthier alternatives. Why? Not because they care, about your health, but because their bottom line will finally start to feel a pinch.

Prior to this law there was no way for you to know how bad the food was. Now it’s there staring you right in the face, now you truly have no excuse. Inform yourself and realize that the food industry is not the only one that has left you this in the dark. We have to stop living un-consciously.

Right now the law only requires restaurants with at least 20 stores in California (chain restaurants) to provide nutritional brochures easily accessible to customers. Both sit down and drive thru restaurants must comply. A second phase, effective Jan 2011, will require restaurants to list calorie counts directly on the menus or menu boards. Yay!

Look, if you know me at all you know that I absolutely love to eat out, it’s fun, entertaining, there are no dishes to clean up when you’re done and I’m not a very good cook. I am the last person in the world that wants restaurants to shut down, that’s why I was so disheartened when I started seeing the fat content, sodium content and calories, shoot through the roof on even seemingly safe bets. I know that if they gave even the slightest attention to health they could clean up their acts by at least 50%. Sometimes it boggles my mind to even figure out what they’ve done, to an item, to make it so high in calories, but every choice chain/ franchise restaurant’s have made up to this point comes down to getting you back in their door and making the most off of you, that they can. So they feed you huge portions of low quality food, loaded with sodium, fat and sugar, because those are inexpensive things that you’re taste buds are addicted to.

Now I warn you, your gut reaction when you see the calorie content on these menus is going to be just to stay home. So mark my words you’re going to see all sorts of new “healthy” items appear on their menus. Watch out for the sodium in these “lower calorie” items There are 3 main things they work with fat, sugar and salt, when they take away one of these items you can almost guarantee that you will see the other items sky-rocket to make up for the missing flavor.

Before you give up on eating out altogether here are some simple tips and how to “fix” a lot of restaurant craziness.

#1 Become a “picky orderer”. Yes become that person that everybody rolls their eyes at, At least you’ll be skinny and healthy.

#2 Always, always, order your sandwich “Dry” this is even better then saying “no mayo” because so many items come with fancy spreads, that just add sodium, fat and sugar. In many instances, skipping the spread can take off anywhere between 60-100 calories.

#3 In fact anytime there is dressing involved in any way, order it on the side, even if you know you love it.

By ordering a Caesar salad w/ salmon and taking off the croutons, dressing and skipping the side of bread. You are still left with a good piece of fish, a large bed of lettuce and parmesan cheese, if you squeeze a little lemon on that you won’t even need the dressing and you went from a salad that started at 1010 calories, to a healthy 300 calories, That’s 700 calories because you made a conscious decision to take control back and didn’t just blindly eat what was handed to you. (This example comes from Red Robin . They have a great website because they allow you to play with your meal and take off even tiny things like croutons and after you customize your order the website shows you what effect that had on your meal, it’s a great way to see how little choices can make or break your diet.)

#4 Don’t be afraid to ask for kid’s portions, especially when it comes to dessert, When I do go to Cold Stone Creamery which is about once every two years, I always ask for a kids size.

#5 Pick one fat – In other words if you just can’t stand a dry turkey sandwich order it with avocado, or if you really feel like cheese that day, order it with cheese but skip the avocado, if you have one source of fat on it don’t double up. Or if you’re dying for mayo then skip both the cheese and the avocado, get it? The same goes for protein… Choose 1 protein, you don’t need the Italian grinder with salami and 3 other meats, pick one, load up on the pepperoncini and you won’t even know the difference.

#6 Learn these words and you will save yourself countless calories per year… No Bacon . They sneak it on everything and it is absolutely unnecessary. Skip it, your heart will thank you. I just say it all the time now, No Bacon, No bacon, no bacon, just anytime I order even it it’s a chocolate sundae, you never know they might be sneaking it in there.

#7 Do not drink those stupid fruity lemonade, Arnold palmer , syrup laden crap drinks! Just stop it!!!!!!

Learn these words, un-sweet ice tea please or water with lime.

#8 You know my policy on Juice places, if you are going into a juice bar, ask which drinks they have that offer whole fruit and get a small or a child’s size, if you must.

#9 Learn to leave at least half of your food behind. If you look at the calorie content of many of the items on the menu, if you just cut the staggering number in half say from 1200 down to 600 it’s still a salvageable day. Then Fill up on side salad.

#10 Start every dinner with a side salad (order it no cheese, no croutons, No BACON, and dressing on the side) It will help you fill up on fiber.

#11 When your meal does arrive eat a bit of protein first, from the plate, protein satiates you quicker than carbs.

#12 Have an apple 20 minutes before you head out to eat. Get in the habit of carrying apples in the car with you they’re a great way to add some fiber, which will start to fill you up, and the small amount of sugar will help stabilize your blood sugar levels so you don’t bite off the waitress’s head before your food arrives.

#13 Don’t drink alone- No I don’t mean as in by yourself (shoot then I’d never get to drink, Tony doesn’t drink) No I mean don’t drink on an empty stomach. You’ll end up drinking your dinner. Instead sip on a glass of wine until your salad arrives and make sure you don’t order another drink until dinner is sitting in front of you. Alcohol gives you the misconception that you’re no longer hungry and that you’d rather just have another drink because the sugar in the alcohol is so much easier for your body to digest, but it’s a bad, bad, choice as you find out the next day.

#14 Your mother taught you to share, so do it. If you must have dessert, share one, not two or four so everybody can taste everything, but one. Everyone take one or two bites and that’s it. After the first couple bites you’re really just consuming the food anyway and no longer experiencing the flavor at the same level.

#15 It sounds ridiculous but slow down and chew your food consciously. I once dated a guy that was a crab fishermen, yeah like the insane show that’s on TV. Anyway I have never seen a human being consume food faster than that guy, now he had an excuse, can you imagine how fast they have to consume calories on those boats? Slow down…….We’re all in such a rush, to get where? Fatter?

I just finished reading the book “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell. Wow, if you have not had a chance to read any of his writings, that would be a great thing to do for the New Year, read all three of his books, “Blink, “The Tipping Point” and now “Outliers”. He is amazing! Anyway, this book deals with success and how certain people attain it and others DON’T. Most importantly it points out the path that was laid out for people that have achieved mind-boggling success by the people that came before them and how your personal success or failure might not have as much to do with innate talent, as you might have thought.

At one point in the book he’s talking about the affect your ancestry may have had on you and as usual it got me thinking about diet and exercise. As much as we think we’re not like our parents and grandparents, some habits run so deeply, that they’re at a subconscious level, we’re not even aware that we’re doing it or that there is another option. When you go to cook chicken, your interpretation of chicken and mine could very easily be two entirely different things.

When I talk about eating or cooking chicken, 99% of the time I am referring to Chicken breast.  It doesn’t even cross my mind to eat or use another portion of the bird.  When I cook it I either boil a breast of chicken with nothing but water in the pan or I take boneless skinless, chicken breasts and stick them in the oven for an hour at 350 degrees, with some kind of non-fat dressing, like salsa or garlic and soy-sauce, or bbq sauce. That’s it, I rarely, rarely, rarely ever do anything else with chicken but when you cook chicken. That could be a whole other story. You could be using different cuts of meat besides breast (which have more fat). You could be leaving the skin on. Which is a huge diet “no-no”, you could be using oil to cook it in. Don’t lie. I know several of you do that. Even if you sneak it in “oh it’s just “E.V.O.O.” or it’s only a little Italian dressing. Hey, trust me, to your hips it all counts! If you’re happy with Rachel Ray’s body then you go ahead and use your “EVOO” all you want. If you think she’s a little chunky then, drop it! By the way I love her and think she’s very slim considering what she does for a living (just for the record).

My point is, that my interpretation of what it means to eat chicken and yours could sound like they come from different planets.  One is not right and the other wrong.  But one may get you the body of your dreams and the other may make a slim body an impossibility and that’s just one habit.  How many other habits do you have that have led you to the body you currently reside in?  Start looking at every aspect of your diet and if you need help having someone look at your habits from the outside.

So make sure you read that book and remember, if you’re looking for something to change in your life, including your figure, then you have to realize that your ways, your grandmothers ways, her grandmothers ways, probably aren’t going to get you the body of the “next top model” that you like. You’re probably going to have to change some habits that run so deep you don’t even think of them as something that can be changed. Like yes, it is possible to eat only breast meat and it is possible to give up beef and pork entirely or at least 80% of the time. Save it for cheat days, your body will thank you and so will your figure!

You mean like the time we melted an engine?

Tony and I have a saying, “See It as Perfect”, it’s not just a saying, it’s something we try and live by… as often as we can remember to. What it means is that when you want a particular outcome, simply, get a really clear image of the end result you’re after, hold it in your mind for a few seconds and then let it go. When we started the practice of doing this, it was shocking to both of us how little time you actually spend picturing things going the way you want them to and how much time you spend picturing things going wrong!

Keep in mind, your brain is wired to protect you against harm. So picturing the negative is something you are wired for, there is nothing wrong with that. It doesn’t make you a pessimist or a negative person, but what does make the difference, is the person that acknowledges the risk or negative to a situation and then just as quickly sees the good in it and the action they choose to take as a result of it. The difference between a positive or negative attitude isn’t that you have the bad thought; it’s how long you choose to dwell on it. Note I used the word “choose”, you choose your mental state, all day long, by what you choose to think about and the perspective you choose to hold and you make decisions and take action based on the perspective you hold.

You create your own reality because your reality is simply your perspective on the world around you.

Remember… You are always right , because your perspective is the only one you can hold. If you believe you are Fat, it doesn’t matter whether you weigh 100 or 400 pounds; your perspective is that you are Fat. If you cannot remain open minded to seeing yourself as skinny, then it’s impossible to ever be skinny, at least in your mind’s eye.

So how does seeing it perfect work? I’ll use exercise as an example, because that’s what I do best! When I participate in an important race, I take a moment to create an image of the end result. If you were training for a race here’s what I would encourage you to add to your training program: Picture yourself coming across the finish line and the emotion you would like to experience at that time. Get a good picture of yourself doing that, if you want family and friends, there, then picture them cheering for you. Now tie that picture to the emotion that you want to experience, in other words, If you would like to feel proud of yourself and full of energy and refreshed as you cross the finish line, picture that. What will you be saying to yourself as you cross? “I knew I could do it” or “that was easier then I expected”. Tie all that together in a quick little snap shot. And now you’ve done it, you’ve “pictured it perfect”. Now just relax and let it go. You no longer have to keep the picture running in your mind, you don’t have to add to it or think about it anymore. But what I do want you to do is notice how often your mind wanders and daydreams about things going wrong. When that happens, just release the thought and note to yourself that you have already “pictured it perfect” and there is no reason to worry, you’ve set your intention in motion, now it’s up to the universe to make it happen.

Now here’s the crazy part, there can be no strings attached. What you pictured, is the end result, how you get there is no longer in your hands. You have to let that part go. Let me tell you a story of how Tony and I melted an engine. We were flying from St. Maarten to LA with a change of plane in Fort Lauderdale and were scheduled to arrive home at 10:00pm. As usual we were re-routed due to bad weather and had to land in Fort Meyers, to refuel, which meant we were going to miss our connecting flight in Fort Lauderdale. We were so bummed, because we really wanted to get home. So we started “Seeing it as perfect”. We took a couple minutes to each visualize landing safely and happily in L.A. by midnight that night. And then we just let it go. No strings attached, I didn’t care how it happened, just end up in L.A. safe and happy, today. Really long story short we made it because the plane we were supposed to catch in Fort Lauderdale had something fly into one of the engines and melt, before it could take off. And while it posed no threat to anyone on board, the smell was so bad that they had to de-board all the passengers from the plane and clean it so that the stench could dissipate. While all this was going on Tony and I had no idea, we just kept going through security and customs as if we were still going to get on our plane, knowing full well, it should have already taken off. But guess what? When we finally ran up to the gate, they were just beginning to re-board the plane. WE made it. And we have done this kind of thing over and over again.

Is it because we’re special or magic? No I believe this is how it works, set your intention of what you truly want the end result to be and your brain and the powers that be will listen to your command and make it happen. Don’t believe me? That’s ok, that means you’re right, remember. But just go ahead and try it anyway.

This is different then visualization, which is also very important. Visualization is more detailed and thorough. Almost like an exercise for your brain. For instance when I competed in the Ironman, I spent many training days visualizing the entire day, step by step. How it would go, going through my transitions in my head, everything. Visualization is picturing yourself going through the motions so that when the time comes you can be on automatic pilot. And for what it’s worth my Ironman experience was nothing like I had visualized. But it did end perfectly, I crossed the finish line with the exact emotion I wanted, surrounded by my family, feeling proud and loved and actually much happier then I would have been if it had gone how I had visualized.

When you get good at “Seeing it perfect”, it’s so fun to watch how it will unfold. Because you just let go of the struggle and something else takes over to bring all the strings together to create your perfect ending, all you have to do is stay out of the way, with your negative thoughts.

This process is just about the end result. It’s quick. It takes only seconds and you can do it on absolutely anything, you just have to get clear, in your heart and mind, about what it is you actually want the end result to be. It’s extremely eye opening, to me, to see that sometimes, you tell yourself you want one thing but when you picture it, you realize you were enjoying the struggle of not having it.

So start picturing the outcome you want. And catch yourself as you throw road blocks into your own way.

We kept acting as if we were going to make our flight, even when the clock told us we were out of our minds. If we had stopped bothering to hurry through customs and security and not run to the gate, believing there was a chance, we would have missed the flight! Get it? It came down to our belief. Had we believed that we had missed the flight, we would have been right… But because we held onto our belief that it was possible. We made the flight. You create your reality that you experience!

The next book I’m on to is; “People are idiots and I can prove it” by Larry Winget. So far I like his other book; “Shut up, stop whining and get a life” much better (No I’m not kidding, those are really books) but I just started it, so I’ll give it a chance. So far it’s just a little too obvious. But I guess maybe that’s the sad part. It is really obvious. We are all idiots (that much I know) but the answer as to why, is the disconcerting part. We’re either lazy or ignorant. Or Worse yet, sometimes both, so lazy that we choose to remain ignorant. That’s the most troubling one. And the one I think most of us are guilty of.

So Mr. Winget is talking about diet and he says of course… “Want to lose weight? Exercise more, eat less” and of course he’s right. He goes onto say: “That’s not All it takes, but it is a good starting place”. So we all say “blah, blah, blah, heard it a million times”, yes but here’s the part I like. We know it, but we don’t do it. Now he’s onto something!

How to tell if you’re completely full of —-! If you find yourself saying things like ‘I’m starting my diet on Monday”, while sitting in front of a bowl of ice cream. Your actions dictate the facts. The fact is you are not going to eat any different on Monday then you are right now.

How to tell if you’re not full of —-! You sit down at lunch and while your friends all order double cheese fries with gravy on top, you order a salad and say “I’m starting a diet on Monday; I better start cleaning my act up now”. This is a person that is going to get results why, because their actions show that they have already started themselves in motion toward their goal. Remember an object in motion stays in motion. An object at rest stays at rest. This person has started themselves in motion towards their goal. They have a chance of continuing on that path, when Monday comes. On the other hand, in the other example; nothing magical happens on Monday’s the “goal fairy” doesn’t come out of the sky and give you self control. You have to force your object to get into motion and sometimes it takes a major kick in the —!

Another example of being full of —-! Saying “I’m going to train for and run a marathon”, while you sit on the couch watching TV (maybe even a marathon).

How to tell when you’re not full of —-! You decide to train for a marathon, so even though you don’t have any idea what you’re doing yet, you decide going for a jog would be a good place to start and whilst jogging you say to yourself “I’m going to train for and run a marathon”. Get where I’m going with this?

Most of us don’t have the luxury of claiming ignorance (Well we can claim it all we want but that doesn’t make it so). The fact is, no matter what your goal is or what you want different in your life, better finances, new job, to be skinnier, stronger, smarter. We have some idea of how to make that happen. We have the tools to make that change today and yet we don’t. The fact is you know what to do (or at least you know where to start) and you’re not doing it. That means your object will remain at rest, until something comes along and kicks you hard enough that you begin to move in a different direction.

So if you’re ever curious if you’re going to attain a goal, you have in mind. I have the perfect barometer for you. Look down and see what you’re doing at that moment. What steps have you taken that indicate that your object is now in motion…. Or are you full of —-?

Whose flying this thing anyway? As some of you know I’m studying to become a pilot and as with all new adventures learning is just so much fun! (Insert sarcastic tone) So my instructor pilot says to me on more than one occasion “You have to decide who is in control before you leave the ground, you or the Plane?” To my surprise planes are engineered to fly. Yes, that did come as a surprise to me, I never understood the concept of glide ratio until I started learning to fly and really never put much thought into the fact that the basic design of a plane will keep it in the air, it is engineered to fly. (Sorry Wright brothers I was asleep during that part of class) You can picture it this way, if the pilot were to get knocked unconscious or be getting a lap dance or something and suddenly forget to fly, then the plane would nose dive for a second and then correct itself just like a paper airplane and you’d have a few minutes to wake the pilot up or get the stripper off his lap before you really needed to start praying. The glide ratio from plane to plane varies but if all the pieces are still there you’ve got a couple minutes. So the next time you experience a lot of turbulence, remember that, it should make you feel a little better. They aren’t just rocks waiting to fall out of the sky. That being said, if I as the pilot am not paying attention it will start self correcting. If I bank the plane, into a turn, and the turn is too steep then it’s my job to “be the boss” and correct the plane by decreasing the bank angle. Nobody is going to come do it for me and if I don’t fix it soon enough it will become an out of control situation. You have to decide who is flying the plane or the plane will fly you and it’s not going to be pretty. It struck me that our lives are the same way.

How often are we going through life thinking that somebody else is in control? Acting as if, it’s not you? Going wherever the wind blows us. Obviously I must do this quite often if I have to be reminded of this while I’m flying than I’m sure I do this in every area of life. How often are you on auto pilot? You can feel the difference when you take back control over a situation and don’t “try” but “do”. When things feel out of control catch it early on and ask your self whose flying this thing anyway? The answer is you.

When tragedy strikes you’ll notice that it’s usually several bad choices that got you to that point, very rarely is it just one bad thing that hits you from out of nowhere it’s a culmination of bad decisions. You didn’t just get in a car accident “oh poor me, wrong place, wrong time”, you were headed somewhere you didn’t really want to be going, in a hurry, on the phone, and Whammo, you get involved in an accident. Were you really flying the plane? Were you one hundred percent present? If the answer is yes then think of the ramifications of that… you must have really gotten a lot out of that accident because you decided to be involved in it. That’s fantastic it must have given you the opportunity for a huge learning experience.

Looking back at the accidents I have been involved in I was not one hundred percent present, in fact I made several stupid decisions that compounded into one big one. I let things happen to me and didn’t take control of the situation.

You can try to make up for a mean thing you did, by smiling and trying to make nice or you can walk up to them point blank tell them that you were a jerk and apologize. Which scenario is a “try” and which one is a “did”? We’ve all heard the saying there’s no such word as try. You can feel how true that is catch yourself and feel the difference.

Take your health for example, illness does not pop out of nowhere like the boogie man and come get you, just like obesity and diabetes, it’s a series of decisions that slowly creep up on you. Until one day it affects you in such a way that you get shaken out of you unconscious style of living and realize you’ve become a prisoner to your own body. Nothing happened to you, you quit flying the plane. You let TV commercials and visual stimuli do the thinking for you. You allowed your subconscious to rule and make the decisions for you. Your subconscious has one job and that is keeping you alive. So it will always choose the easy way out, the path of least resistance or when it comes to food the easiest options fat and sugar.

At the beginning of the day take a moment to remember that you’re flying the plane. Take control and notice how often you’re “hoping” and “trying” for something as opposed to grabbing the controls and making it happen. When something feels out of control use your See it as Perfect techniques to command that the result be a certain way and then sit back and look at what you’ve accomplished. Take back control, it is rightly yours.

When things feel out of control realize that you are writing the script. If you don’t like the way the ending is looking re-write it!

When the See it as Perfect text comes in it’s there to remind you that you are the pilot and to take a moment to be one hundred percent present and write the story the way it will be, not the way you hope it will be!

Molli

Do you all remember the story of the Stone Cutter? As I remember it goes something like this; a stone cutter takes a huge bolder and hits it and hits it and hits it and from the outside it looks as if nothing is happening. But one day the bolder splits in half. As if that blow did it, but in fact every time the rock was hit small micro splits were happening at the core of the rock it just wasn’t visible on the outside for quite some time. So if the stone cutter didn’t know any better he would give up thinking his efforts were futile, when in fact it could have been one strike away from splitting in two.

That is a good analogy of how exercise affects the body. If you are consistent with your exercise program even though the results may seem painstakingly slow they are there. The results usually show themselves in big spurts. You will see nothing, nothing, nothing, and then a big crack shows itself. That’s why we do the timed run test at the beginning of camp and at the end of camp. You don’t really feel like that much has changed but shaving one to two minutes off of a timed run is a huge bolder to break.

So if you feel like you’re not getting anywhere here are some things you can do:

1. Test yourself in some way and write down that information. For instance check how many pushups you can do and write that down. Also describe the way you did them, what was your form like? Were they on your knees or toes, did your chest touch the ground or were you a foot away from the ground?

2. Time yourself doing a mile. Or time how long it takes you to go around your block. Pick a distance and run/walk it as fast as you can and then write that down. Also note how you felt; it was really hard, I felt like puking or my knees hurt or whatever you noticed.

3. Be honest with yourself have you been consistent with your workouts? We often have a warped sense of reality. If you’ve been telling yourself that you’ve been working out for a month and just aren’t seeing any results then realistically look at how many workouts you did over the course of that time. If you only averaged one workout a week that’s only four sessions of workouts, you cannot expect to have much change from four workouts (a little yes, a lot, no).

You will see a big improvement right at the beginning, the first time you do an exercise compared to the second time you do it will usually yield a huge difference. Part of this has to do with your perception of it just not being a surprise this time (like when a return trip from somewhere feels shorter than the way there). The other part is that your body is good at adapting; it actually did make huge leaps that quickly. After that initial burst though you may feel stagnate for up to several weeks, then you will have another big leap, just be patient they will come. Just as the stone cutter knows that the rock will ultimately split in half your milestones are coming.

That’s why we’re here, to push you. We’re here to remind you to be consistent with your running and your stretching and your pushups because we know how excited you’re going to be when that rock cracks and we want to hear about it when that happens!

Molli

Sometimes, in fact, quite often “See it as perfect” works so well that it’s kind of scary. Let me illustrate what I mean by giving you an example.

I grew up traveling quite a bit and often times we traveled around in motor homes and trailers. So I have an affinity for the open road and living in small spaces (some of you might refer to it as “trailer trash”. It’s ok, it’s probably true). Anyway, I recently was able to talk Tony into going on a See it as Perfect tour. I pictured us driving around in our big class A motor home, spending a week or two in each city, visiting metaphysical book stores and spreading the word about “See it as Perfect”. Sounds fun, huh!

Well we set to work and started using the 17 seconds procedure to create our motor home. Well we did some research and narrowed it down to very specific things we wanted on the motor home and we were able to create, not one but three (actually 4 if you count Tony’s sister offering hers, for free, for us to use but since it’s not the same model I’m not counting that one). So we had it narrowed down to a Rexhall. I won’t bore you with the details but it’s a used vehicle circa the 90’s so there aren’t that many out there in fact one salesman was disappointed in how “locked in” we were on the specific style we wanted that he actually did the math for us and pointed out that in all of North America there were probably about 10 vehicles that fit our description (and who knows if any of them were for sale).

Did that stop us? Come on now, look who you’re talking to. So we plugged along checking on ebay motors, going to RV shows, picking up all the local newspapers, searching for our baby.

Vehicle number one appeared at an RV Show in San Diego, Ca at Qualcomm stadium. Wait the story is about to get interesting. We had an appointment on a Friday to meet one of the salespeople we had been working with he wanted to show us a different model. And since we were following the “See it as Perfect” rules as closely as possible, the less strings you have attached the better. We had to keep ourselves as open as possible to all possibilities. So we were going to look at what our Sales man friend suggested. However on the way down we got a call from our good friends James and Brian who live in San Diego and they were asking us if we wanted to go to the very same RV show but on Saturday. Well as we like to spend time with our friends we decided sure! We’ll just look at this specific motor home today and on Saturday we’ll have fun browsing at things we wouldn’t have otherwise gone into.

Well the vehicle we saw Friday was nothing we were interested in but we browsed around and got out of there. Saturday we show up with our friends and low and behold in the dead center of the show, is our baby. The exact model we’ve been looking for 2001 Rexhall and guess what? It was no where to be seen the day before. If they had not called and invited us to go back, we would have missed it. That’s what we mean by a “pop-up” pay really close attention to things that seem to “pop-up” out of the blue. There is no such thing as “out of the blue” It’s you sending yourself a message so loudly that you trip over yourself receiving it.

Anyway we decided not to act on that one. What? Hmmmm…. Yes that’s right we decided we wanted to be more specific. Tony got pickier and decided that he wanted to be able to Lease it instead of having to fork out a bunch of cash and purchase it.

Vehicle number two- a few days later I got a call from a man that said I had left him a message in regards to purchasing his motor home and that they had been out of town and had just gotten back into town and would we still like to come see it. I apologized and explained that I didn’t remember what vehicle he specifically had because I had called on so many (which actually isn’t true, I really only remember calling on a couple and I definitely don’t remember calling on this one, but let’s just assume I did, otherwise it’s even scarier) So I asked him to tell me what kind it was so that I could re-familiarize myself with his situation. And guess which kind it was……The one….Our baby a Rexhall 2001 with the floor plan we wanted.

Vehicle number three- Here’s where it gets really freaky! I’m working on the computer and just as I’m finishing up I click on ebay, just to see what auctions have ended recently and It’s very hard to describe how little attention I was paying but it was almost as if “I checked out” and something else was guiding my actions. I glanced at the screen and at the top of the page there were about twelve small images and I clicked on one of them and up popped a Rexhall. I started reading the description and looking at the pictures and yes, it was the right one and as I’m browsing the description. Can you finish the story for me yet? Do you know what’s coming next? The owner was willing to lease it!

Needless to say I about jumped out of my skin and had to wait an excruciatingly long time to show it to Tony because he was busy. When he saw it, he couldn’t believe it either. We got in contact with the owner and it was true he was actually more interested in leasing it then in selling it and offered to stop the auction if we wanted it.

Aaaahhhh….but therein lies the question do you really want it or was it just fun creating it?

We’ll keep you posted on the “See it as Perfect” tour, when faced with the motor home being plopped into our laps we started second guessing ourselves and wondering if there wasn’t a more comfortable way to do the tour for ourselves and our rambunctious dogs. But we’ll keep you posted. The exciting part is that you can create anything!!! We see it over and over and over again.

Molli

If you have recently started a new diet or exercise program, what you will probably notice in the first couple weeks is that you are pretty uncomfortable both mentally and physically. Good!!! I’m glad, in fact the more uncomfortable you are, the better! Wow, am I a sick little puppy or what? No here’s the deal, Change makes people uncomfortable, You, Me, and Everyone I’ve ever met, gets uncomfortable to some degree, when it comes to changing their habit patterns.

Look at yourself in the mirror right now, Yes Now……… If you are completely satisfied with what you see and feel, Fantastic, don’t change a thing about your current lifestyle.

However if you see something that you would like different, then here’s the deal. You cannot keep doing what you are currently doing and expect to get a different result.

We’ve all heard the saying “the definition of insanity is”; continuing to do the same thing over and over again and expecting to get a different result.

Let that sink in for a second. If you keep eating the same things you always eat, keep drinking the same things you always drink, keep working out at the same level of intensity you always work out at, You will get exactly the same result you have always gotten. Look at yourself right now, Yes again……. You have created the body you currently have with the way you eat, the way you drink, and the amount you move. If you are happy with your body, keep doing what you’ve been doing. If you are not happy with the way you look and feel then BE PREPARED TO GET UNCOMFORTABLE because your current lifestyle is going to have to change.

Journaling is a way to expedite the change and ease the uncomfortable feeling. Here are some notes as to how to journal your food intake as well as your exercise program.

Food Journaling:

1. write down the time you ate (this is almost as important as what you ate) Eating every 3 hours will help keep your blood sugar levels stable, when your blood sugar levels are stable your body sends out a signal, in the form of hormones, that tells your body it is ok to release and burn fat.

2. What you ate (if you had a chicken sandwich, write down details like whether it was fried or grilled, mayo or not, etc.)

3. What you drank (how much water, alcohol, juice, soda, tea, coffee, etc.)

4. Keep your journal with you at all times and write it down as you eat it. Trying to remember what you ate at the end of the day is almost useless.

Journaling your exercise:

1. Very simple did you workout or not

2. What was your RPE (rate of perceived exertion) in other words how hard did you work out, 1 being you went for a stroll – 10 being you puked, you worked out so hard, Hint, Hint don’t do 1 or 10 very often 

3. Journal improvements (every day write down something you did well that day)

4. Write down specifics (for instance if you run 3 miles write down how long it took you each time you do it.)

Good luck!

Molli