What WILL your second half look like ?

I was moved when I saw this ad with Clint Eastwood during the Superbowl on Sunday.

If you missed it…here it is……

The ad has been making waves for its perceived political stance since it touts the auto-industry’s comeback, and therefore implies endorsement of President Obama’s auto-industry bailout.  No matter what your political views….I think the message was good, and was important.   It was a stark reminder of the fact that we are living in a different time now.  People are struggling, being downsized, scrapping for good, affordable healthcare, and worrying about their retirement, while at the same time worrying about their childrens’ educations.   Even through the reminder…It was a message of HOPE, and a message about growth, our future and the spirit of America. Just today I saw on the news that American Airlines (the nations 3rd largest airline) plans to eliminate about 13,000 jobs — 15 percent of its workforce, under bankruptcy protection.  This also means they are looking to cut pensions for retired workers.  Meaning….someone who has paid a percentage of his/her check…every month….for 20, 30, 40 years….towards pension and healthcare…will have paid that for nothing….POOF….gone in an instant.

How will we all respond ? Will we continue to go with the flow ? What are each of us doing to ensure our outcome is different?  IF this is half-time….

What WILL your second half look like ?

We all have choices….to vote, have our voices heard, join a gym, eat better, get more sleep, get up earlier, choose who we surround ourselves with, exercise, spend more time with family, and work smarter….not harder.  How will you make the necessary changes ? It’s just food for thought: What will your second half look like ??

To your second-half success !!

Robin SHarma shared an article today, about Mark Wahlberg….and I absolutely LOVED it !!!! One of the most powerful quotes from it reads….

We’re still in January. You have a fresh, stain-free year ahead of you. If you silence your Saboteur for a few seconds, the reality I need to share with you is that you can pretty much write a whole new script for a whole new way to work + live right now. Yes, you really are that powerful. The question isn’t “can you?”. Nope. The question is “will you?” (And if not this year – then which year?).

To read the entire article….go to…..The Mark Wahlberg Factor !

To your powerful-ness!!

From Kristin’s Raw…. a fun new twist on guacamole ! full of fiber, healthy fats, vitamin C, iron, and tons of antioxidants !  I’m going to try buying by the case like she recommends below !

Kiwi Black Bean Guacamole

Yield 1 serving

• 1/2 cup cooked black beans* (rinsed well, if from a can)
• 1 avocado, pitted, peeled and diced
• 1/2 cucumber, diced
• 2 kiwi fruits, peeled and diced
• 1 to 2 pinches of Himalayan crystal salt
• pinch black pepper

Toss (and slightly mash) the ingredients together and enjoy!

*I either make mine in a pressure cooker, or when I’m short on time, I open a can of Eden Organic Black Beans
. no salt added and the cans are BPA-free. I buy them by the case on Amazon because it’s much cheaper than buying them from Whole Foods.

I also like their chickpeas.

Of course, you can get a little fancier and add some diced shallot (or purple onion) and a little fresh basil for flair.

Leadership at it’s Best

To be a leader, you must have followers.

“He who thinks he leads,but has no followers,is only taking a walk.”~ I’m not sure who said that, but it’s certainly the truth. As we remember Martin Luther King, Jr. today…I encourage everyone to go back and listen to his original speech.

Although he passed away the year that I was born….I am aware of his amazing leadership, activism and influence on our country and current life.

May we all strive to live each day, with a portion of his visionary leadership and
deep commitment to our passions and “dreams”.

Truly… Leadership at it’s best!

NEW YEAR, NEW HABITS !!!
ok….so I know it’s January 10th ! However…I wanted to share a quick personal video to kick off this year’s posts!

alright….so you know one of my favorite authors is Robin Sharma, right?!  So here is the link I told you about.  It’s a link to
a 3 part video that my partner Nicole sent me today….(I just LOVED it !!) and  it’s ALL about instilling some new habits, especially as it relates to being more productive and getting up early! I’m so excited for a fresh start to this year…and I encourage you
to take some time to really think about  how you can be most productive and happy this year.
Enjoy !!!  http://www.robinsharma.com/how-to-get-up-early/

To your un-ending productivity in 2012 !!!!

Hey guys…check out my tip for today (regarding productivity)…it’s my favorite !!!

To your PRODUCTIVITY today !!

I was first introduced to Robin Sharma and his book, The Monk Who Sold his Ferrari, over 10 years ago, by my great friend and business partner Donna Stewart.  Since then…I have read his books and followed his teachings, and find him to be one of the most insightful, smart, disciplined leaders out there.  There is no doubt about it….we are living in turbulent times, and I wanted to share a video he made about “bullet- proofing” or “recession-proofing” our businesses.  It is so SMART and  I was taking notes like a crazy woman! Hope you enjoy as much as I did !!!

( by the way….there are 2 more parts after this, that you can watch on Robin Sharma’s site )

To your success!

I LOVE the LIVESTRONG blog, by Adam Bornstein, so this is one of MANY useful articles I will be sharing from him! Enjoy!

5 Surprising Health Myths!

by Adam Bornstein.

Consider the following the statements. Can you identify which ones are false and which are true?

There are so many health myths out there ! 

The latest research indicates a diet high in saturated fat causes cardiovascular disease.
Eating late at night makes you more likely to store fat.
Eating multiple meals (4-6) speeds your metabolism more than eating fewer meals (2-3).
Egg yolks are bad for your cholesterol.
A high-sodium diet is one of the biggest problems in the American diet.

Now some of the answers might seem pretty obvious. If that’s the case, I’m happy. I want people to be informed and knowledgeable about their health. But when I shared this quiz with a panel of hundreds of adults, on average, they responded correctly to only one question. (For the record, my wife scored better than the average, but she still got a couple questions wrong) So it might surprise you to know that the answer to each question is FALSE. You read that right. A quick overview would show you that:

1. A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition combined the results of 21 previous studies and found that a diet higher in saturated fat was not linked to a higher risk of heart disease or stroke. That’s not to say saturated fat can’t be dangerous, but it also goes to show that the overall sentiment of the last 30 years to limit red meat and dairy was both overblown and inaccurate. Studies aren’t everything. And one study in isolation isn’t necessarily reliable. But 21 studies is a pretty good analysis to assess the impact. And when you consider the numerous benefits of other research on people who follow high protein/fat diets, it becomes easier to rest assured that fat (and saturated fat, specifically) is not the enemy.

2. When you find a study that shows that late night eating—in a calorie controlled environment—makes you fat, please let me know. Here’s what you really need to know about your body: It does not work on a 24-hour cycle. If you eat 2,000 calories in the morning and eat the same 2,000 calories at night, your body will process it the same way. In fact, when Israeli researchers compared people who at their biggest meal at breakfast to those who at their biggest meal after 8 pm, they discovered that the late-night eaters lost more weight and more body fat. What’s more, a study conducted by the USDA found similar findings: That people who ate most of their calories after 7 pm had more muscle and less fat. That’s not to say that you have to eat late at night. It just proves that the timing of your meals isn’t as important as you might have thought.

3. The myth about multiple meals started in the early 90s.  That’s when everyone began to move away from three square meals a day, and begin grazing on smaller snacks and meals. In theory, the concept was great, except for the part where an entire nation has become fatter over the last 20 years.

When you eat, your body burns calories. This is known as the thermic effect of food (TEF). Every type of food (protein, carbs, fats) has a different TEF, with protein being the most “metabolic” food you can eat. However, the frequency of meals does NOT influence your metabolism, as shown in this study. Again, the point is NOT to say that eating 5 or 6 meals a day is bad. In fact, there’s nothing wrong with it, and it’s a strategy I used for more than 10 years. But, personal preference is different than scientific fact. The best diet is the one that fits into your schedule and helps you stay consistent, whether it’s 3 meals, 6 meals, or 250 mini-bites spread throughout the day. And the only “flaw” with the grazing method is that the size of our snacks have increased more than 200 calories during the last 30 years. So if that’s your preference, just make sure to watch your serving size.

4. I could go on about this for days, but let me reiterate for the 985th time: Eggs are not bad for you, and the yolk will not skyrocket your cholesterol. There’s so much research that disproves the theory, that I could fill this entire article with links. In fact, not only has research shown no link between egg yolks causing cholesterol or heart problems, but researchers in Thailand found that eggs actually improve your HDL (the good cholesterol).  When it comes to eggs, the only thing you really need to keep an eye on is the fat content and how it fits into your daily goals. (And yes, fat is fine. But too much of any nutrient is not good for you. So go egg crazy, but then cut back on the other sources of fat in your diet)

5. Did you know that sodium is an electrolyte? You know, the same good stuff that helps you hydrate when you’re sick or exhausted. We need salt in our diet to help maintain our natural blood pressure levels from dropping to low. Which is just another way of saying the war against salt has been overblown—and that’s probably an understatement. There’s a lot of salt in most people’s diet, but it’s not causing much damage. The only people who really need to worry about how much sodium they consume are those with very high blood pressure, and even then, you can still improve your health without a sodium adjustment. (eating more potassium can help counter the effect). The bottom line is simple: In people with healthy blood pressure—even those who eat much more salt then recommended—there’s not need to make a dramatic change. In fact, some research even indicates that cutting out all sodium can lead you susceptible to other help problems.

The point of the quiz wasn’t to make you feel uninformed. I was hoping for you to see that the need to stay updated on changes in the world of fitness and nutrition is essential to your own personal journey. I’ll be the first to admit that I couldn’t answer most of these correctly until I read more, spoke to the experts, and made sure that I had a better understanding of fitness and nutrition. Even then, I’m bound to make mistakes or misinterpret the facts. And when that happens, I’ll correct my errors and work harder to find the correct answers.

That’s the beauty of health: The landscape is ever-changing, and we’re always discovering new foods to eat, better ways to exercise, and more effective techniques to take care of our bodies. It’s why I’m signed up for a lifelong commitment to hunt, analyze, and share the tips you need to live the life you want.

Remember, your health is what you make. No amount of research could ever dictate all of the personal choices you make. And sometimes, research is just that: Information that occurs in a vacuum to help us question certain truths. But making informed decisions, and knowing why you take certain actions, is the foundation of any successful plan. So I encourage you to commit to your health in your own way. You don’t have to be an expert to live a better life. You just need to give your body the time and information it deserves.

To Your Health!

Five MUST-HAVE pantry foods

by Kim Lyons, former Biggest Loser Trainer !

(I am happy to say that I was already using 4 of the 5 items ! )

Have you ever looked in your cupboards and felt like there is nothing to eat? Those are the kinds of days you’ll be tempted to reach for a snack that is a clean diet destroyer. I’ve put together my top five favorite pantry staples that are great for fat loss and will still keep your taste buds happy. Plus, I’ll tell you what food we constantly ate while I was a trainer on The Biggest Loser. Let me know what your pantry staples are too!

An inspiring new blog post by Robin Sharma, ‘On Unrewarded Genius‘,  that I wanted to share….. ENJOY:)

Guts. Boldness. Bravery. Perseverance. Big, beautiful words. That any great person+leader+entrepreneur needs to tattoo onto their brain cells.

Success is much more about staying true to your vision in the face of challenges/obstructions than being gifted or expressing some kind of Genius.

I’d rather have average talent with a fierce heart that inspires me to be unstoppable versus being brilliant – but frightened to do anything with it.

Here’s a quote from Calvin Coolidge that makes my point 1000X better than I could. I hope it helps you Be Great:

“Press on. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; there is nothing more common in the world than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

Make Today Awesome!