TheFATladyBlog

The FAT Lady Hears the Magic Click

There is a part of me that has been waiting for a magic "click" that would make weight loss an easy thing to accomplish, make me immune to temptation, and make exercise a natural part of the day. I lost 65 pounds a couple of years ago and managed to maintain my present weight, but I'm still a long way from my ideal weight.

The magic click is possible ... I heard it 10 years ago when I was smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. On June 1, 1998 my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. I heard the click that day and ceased that awful habit forever.

I heard the click again this week and I am fully confident that I will reach my ideal weight in 2008 and maintain that weight forevermore. I am very excited! Here's the story:

Monday: I attended Joeann Fossland's Relax and Attract teleseminar based on the Law of Attraction. We are working with a 30-Days-to-Turn-Your-Life-Around workbook. Joeann is offering a free download of the book at the registration page ... it's worth a click! I worked with this book a bit following a business planning retreat in Hawaii, but did not finish the work and I did not focus on weight previously.

Tuesday: I commenced Day One of the program. There is a "Placemat Exercise" that asks, "What I intend to do" and "For the Universe to handle."  This exercise gave me some trouble the last time I worked with this program. The following is a copy of an e-mail exhchange that followed the first class:

Fran: "This was a very good call … quite interesting…  still don’t quite get that give-it-to-the-Universe thing. Stumps me every time."

Joeann: "Are there any parts of your life you'd envision differently ( perhaps weight, the web tech situation..those kinds of things)?  Intentionally asking the universe to handle it can get it handled without you needing to pay attention.

Fran: LOL …I am happy to let the Universe handle the sucky tech issues. Good idea!!! Weight is definitely in MY column.

Joeann:  Hmmm...what if it wasn't?

Fran: That would be called “denial.”

Joeann:  OK, that is one possible way of looking at it, but is it working? It feels sorta upstream. What if letting go that it is your job and giving the universe the instruction of how you envision it in a perfect world. I love today's quote...

Fran:  "Where is that quote? I’ll bookmark the web site. I’ll take your advice and turn the weight thing over to the Universe … The Universe can’t screw it up any more than I have. call it a leap of faith …"

Joeann: "The quote I was referring to was the Day 1 quote from Abraham.  'The Universe can’t screw it up any more than I have.' (This sounds a little upstream!!!!)"

Following this e-mail exchange I put the word "weight" on the line marked "For the Universe to handle." What happened after that stunned me. I heard the click! I have a new consciousness about every morsel of food that I place in my mouth! I have renewed energy! I am walking more, and I am FEELING thinner.  I puzzled about these things last night and here is my conclusion:

The Universe is perfect. We let perfection rule that part of the day that we subordinate to the care of the Universe. We become partners with Perfection!

I think that I am going to start turning more things over to the Universe!

How Does Your Phallic Garden Grow?

There are some wonderful benefits attached to virtual self-employment, especially if your home office has a desk with a window that has a view of a garden and the Tucson foothills. My own garden is evolving in interesting fashion. The photo above shows a lush garden half and a birdbath.

The other half of the garden was rather barren. A recent guest (unnamed Tucson-based coachy REALTOR-type person who blogs and Twitters) recently delivered a bucket of cactus cuttings for us to plant. The night-blooming serius blooms ONCE a year ... late in the evening, and shares a wonderful, short-lived perfume.

I can hardly wait! In the meantime, I have the most phallic looking garden in the neighborhood! (See below.)

Power

I use words to issue love and gratitude and share ideas and knowledge.

30-Day Business Plan Using Law of Attraction

On a recent trip to a business planning retreat in Hawaii I received  a bunch of worksheets and workbooks to compile numbers and gather thoughts about my vision for the coming year and for the rest of my life. I crunched numbers, wrote a poem and relaxed.

One of the resources, How to Change Your Life Around in 30 Days Implementing Law of Attraction to Deliberately Create Health, Wealth and Love is showing some remarkable results each day and I approach mid-afternoon of Day Six. Today's theme in my [personal plan is LOVE ... I find that is a magic ingredient in the latest batch of bread that is rising on the patio ... what a nice day when every little chore and task is an act of love.

Relevant Link:

A Reinvention Chorale (Poem PDF)
Business Planning Runs Deeper than Numbers Alone

Happy V-Day!This Is A Menopausal Rant

For the life of me, I am NEVER going to understand all of the hullabaloo surrounding the V-Word and assorted synonyms. Today is the 10th Anniversary of  the "Vagina Monologues." Jane Fonda is in hot water over a slip of the tongue on the Today Show. It is utterly amazing to me that the airwaves are full of ED ads and nobody even BLINKS an eye. There are no "acceptable" synonyms online for the word VAGINA!

Relevant Link:

Even The Wall Street Journal Cares About Vaginas

A Friend Brings Me Closer to A Be/Do/Have Wish

Thanks, Hanan Levin, for sharing this gem! It brings me one step closer to one of the things on life's great big "To Do" list.

Be/Do/Have List for My LifetimeBusiness Planning Retreat Exercise

I've spent some serious hours working out goals, analyzing my personal values, and aligning those goals and values. I'm in Kona, Hawaii, to attend a Reinvention Business Planning Retreat with Master Certified Coach Joeann Fossland. I know in my heart of hearts my life will not be the same when I leave this island. My life changed dramatically after attending Joeann's retreat in Tucson in 2005.

One of the pre-retreat exercises involves making a Be/Do/Have List for My Lifetime.

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition." - Steve Jobs.

Here are Joeann's instructions: Let go and be creative! Use all the paper you need and dream big! What have you given up on being able to have? Or what did you used to love doing that you haven't done lately? Include all areas of your life. Family, spiritual, financial, career, business, social, physical, learning, personal development, environments, pleasures, recreation, adventure ... everything that is most important to you.

1. Be at my ideal weight (have a way to go with this one ... about 65 pounds).
2. Finish the Irish novel that resides on brown-edge yellow typing paper in my closet.
3. Get a super duper telephone lens for my Nikon D70.
4. Spend a month in Lima and interview the Maryknoll Sisters and the Sisters of Notre Dame who have been working in the barrio for more than 30 years, and profile an in-depth profile about the lives of these Sisters.
5. Travel to Poland and meet some distant relatives.
6. Spend another Christmas in Ireland.
7. Spend another Christmas in Denmark.
8. Have a reunion in Italy with my friend Giulia Morandi whom I have not seen since 1974.
9. Take a family vacation in Hawaii with Jens and Andreas, my little guys.
10. Find myself permanently grounded at Zero.
11. Enjoy a BIG family reunion with the Flynn family.
12. Enjoy a BIG family reunion with the Maliszewskis.
13. Enjoy a BIG family reunion in Denmark with the Thorsens.
14. Devote 20% of my time to social advocacy.
15. Become a Certified Hospital Clown.
16. Take tennis lessons.
17. Swim competitively.
18. Buy a home in Tucson.
19. Buy a second home in Hawaii.
20. Visit Mexico.
21. Make an educated video camera purchase.
22. Publish a book of original poems and photographs.
23. Visit Greenland for a month.
24. Visit the Faeroe Islands.
25. Take Lily to Tivoli Gardens.
26. Take a spa vacation with my sisters.
27. Write a screenplay.
28. Learn to polka.
29. Return to the Andes.
30. Read a book a week.
31. Take two REAL vacations a year, starting this year.
32. Attend the 2nd Ho'oponopono training weekend with Dr. Len.
33. Learn to play some serious contract bridge.
34. Play Scrabble with my nephews and niece.
35. Put up a whole year supply of prickly pear cactus juice and jelly.
36. Have a kick-ass sourdough starter that is so alive I have to keep it under tight security.
37. Write a love song.
38. Visit the death camps.
39. Visit my high school friend Jeannie Wohlers Jeffs in St. Augustine and see her bridal shop.
40. Visit my Aunt Jeannie in Orlando.
41. Bring my oldest friend Ellen Gustafson to Tucson for a visit.
42. Visit Cuba.
43. Buy a new pair of red cowboy boots.
44. Set up a desktop computer with three monitors.
45. Say another rosary with my Dad.
46. Raise the balance of $100,000 for CARE.
47. Sleep in a tipi for a weekend.
48. Attend a Nana Mouskouri concert with Birte Jensen.
49. Spend a whole weekend with Uncle John poring over family history and photos.
50. Spend a weekend with my Flynn aunts.
51. Design an impactive foreclosure initiative.
52. The end of this lifetime adventure will be marked with a pre-planned Polka  Funeral Mass. I'll be be there to enjoy the festivities, just see!

What I've Done ... How About You?

I stole this from my friend over at Muthahood. I bolded and the ones I have done. Let me know if you decide to do it, I would love to see what you all have done too!!!

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and didn’t care who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Gotten flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children (in the process)
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Passed out cold
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Para-sailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

100 Gifts of Presence

In the past couple of weeks I answered two challenges at another blog: I compiled 100 Reasons for Gratitude and 100 Things That Make Me Smile. Both of those challenges were posted by Coach Joeann Fossland ... and I am reading a similar challenge in the subtext of a blog post she published today. I thought that this would be a good venue for another organic blog post challenge that has the flavor of the holiday. Presence vs. Presents. Hmmmmm.....

1. Volunteering in a Soup Kitchen on Christmas. This is something I have always wanted to do ... I will be in Tucson this holiday and my family is back east and in Texas, so I think that I will volunteer in a local soup kitchen for Christmas. I just did a Google Search and found one! Casa Maria! I will call them later.
2. Bread for the Holidays. I LOVE to bake bread ... I often make up to 10 loaves at a time. I will set a goal to make 50 loaves of bread each week and bring them to the soup kitchen. I will start today with a dark pumpernickel.
3. Soup. I LOVE to make soup. I will find out where some of the local homeless are camping out later this week and bring some soup ... back in Bethlehem there was a local homeless campout hidden away under a bridge near Burnside Plantation. If anyone can steer me in the direction of a homeless camp here in Tucson, I would appreciate the information.
4. Photo Albums.  I have tens of thousands of photos that I have taken over the last few years. I will assemble some special albums online for friends and family.
5. Calendars.  I got this idea from Joeann. She makes calendars for her family using digital photos ... I will do that this year after I find a program that lets me do that.
6. Laughter. There have been times of special challenge, friends and family with health crises, when laughter was prescribed and premeditated. Why not instigate some laughter in times of joy as well! Breaking the laugh meter on a regular basis is a VERY good thing! Take a serious moment and discussion and make someone laugh.
7. Discard Negative Words and Thoughts.  I found myself deleting whole lines in e-mails today ... a wrenched back brought me to a cranky place ... I even deleted whole e-mails because the tone was less than lovely ... some of them slipped through ... I will do better tomorrow and in the days ahead. I prefer that people receive communication from me as a warm embrace.
8. Sharing Inspiration. Paul Chaney is a friend in the Blogosphere who shared this gem on Twitter this morning ... talk about a nice way to start the day!!!
9. Photos of Houses Dressed for the Holidays. I did this in Bethlehem, PA. I took some nice shots of homes, posted them on a blog, and then made 5x7 prints that I sent to the homeowners with a handwritten note. I also attached an envelope with an invitation to the homeowner to send a gift to a local homeless shelter in the spirit of holiday giving. It was part of a "Pay It Forward" challenge that Joeann Fossland issued at a Business Planning Retreat (this lady conjures up some remarkable energy 8-).
10. Start and Manage a Philanthropic Blog. We started several blogs in 2006 ... will get back to work with them this month! (Here is info about the Inspiring Woman Blog.)
11. Launch a Blog Tour.  Earn money for your favorite charity.  Last year Real Estate Coach and Blogger Joeann Fossland went on a coast-to-coast Blog Tour for CARE and she ended up in the Andes! (I was with her for both trips.)
12. Start a Blog. If you do not have a blog yet, get a FREE blog at the best place in the Blogosphere at RealTown Blogs.
13. Connect With Family ONLINE! I have nine nephews and a niece. Most of them are online at Facebook or MySpace. I am not on MySpace, but I have connected with several nephews, their wives, and girlfrieds on Facebook. I even met my son's girlfriend on Facebook before we met in Columbus, OH, a couple of months ago. These kids and young adults are scattered from New Jersey to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, California, and Japan. My in-laws are in Denmark and they are on Facebook, also! It is wonderful to share photos, snippets of thought, and good cheer via the computer! If you decide to take the plunge at Facebook, look me up and make me your friend! (And join our RealTown group!)
14. A New Suit of Clothes for Your Inner Child.  A pat on the head, a hug, a new indigo bag. When was the last time you had a chat with her? When was the last time you reassured your inner child that your intentions are loving? Be kind to the little one. Work to erase confusion. Eliminate doubt about your intentions. Be deliberately kind. Forgive yourself. Embrace her.
15. Take Your Temperature.  Are you feeling wonderful from the inside out these days? Does it make your family and friends happy to see you feeling terrific? The best way to get to terrific is self care. I feel pretty terrific but I really have to work on the weight issue -- my husband and I decided to share a membership in the Tucson Tennis & Racquetball Club as an early Christmas present. They have early morning water aerobics and cardio tennis .. just what I need!
16. Elicit a Smile. There are lots of ways to make someone smile. I was just looking at my blog statistics and discovered that someone found one of my other blogs with the following search: "things that make us smile a-z." A blog post I wrote last week ranked #6 on Google, drawn from 1,410,000 search results. How neat is that? That is a gift of presence for someone I have never even met! The same blog post ranked #4 for another search for "things that make people blush." (Blushing is good for circulation in your cheeks!)
17. Light Up Your Neighborhood for the Holidays. Some years ago I took several hundred Luminaria candles. I made small packages -- each with one candle, one white sandwich bag, two cups of sand -- and I distributed a package to each house in the neighborhood with instructions to place the sand in the bag, place in the front yard, and insert a lighted candle at 8 pm on Christmas Eve. I worked with other real estate agents ... we had another 10,000 candles in my garage ... several TONS of sand in my driveway that we scooped into plastic bags and stored in my house (my rugs were like the sands of Waikiki for months!), and we sold the candles in bags of 10 to raise money for United Cerebral Palsy during the holidays. We raised $10,000 and lit up neighborhoods all over town. It was a magical Christmas.
18. Acknowledge Someone Unexpectedly Online -- Send love from your blog to loved ones and associates. This thought was inspired this morning by my good friends Joe and Rudy at Sellsius. God, do I love the energy in the real estate blogosphere!!!

....this is an organic post ... I will add as thoughts occur to me.

Blog My Key to Weight Loss?

I need a new photo ... with all the blogs and social networking I am doing I need a good photo ... more than that I need a photo with a thinner face ... elongating a photo is one option, but weight loss is probably the best idea ... I have a feeling that attaching a diet regimen to a daily blogging regiment may be the ticket here! This is a new Day One!