For those of you who were not able to see the show yesterday (or the 3 of you who actually were in the studio audience – and accordingly have made it onto my “I Will Rescue You From A Mexican Jail” list!), here is the link to our interview yesterday. PLEASE leave me a comment and let me know what you think!!!

Here is the information that interested ABC-TV and the tips that we sent to them – I hope that you enjoy these as well!

Tips To Use To Increase Your Wellbeing In A Down Economy That Don’t Cost You Money AND Help You Lose Weight:
A No-Nonsense Approach to Relationship and Health Issues

 Introduction: Work/life balance is more crucial now than ever, given how the unexpected changes on Wall Street have affected the small business on Main Street, and trickled down into our homes and in particular our bedrooms. Our mission is to help women see dramatic changes in their lives, including better health (weight loss), increased happiness (more vibrant sex life & increased energy and drive) and improved financial security (additional money flowing into their businesses, if they are entrepreneurs). Statistics show a direct correlation between the stresses of work and the detrimental effect it has on a couple’s relationship and intimacy level; we’re teaming up to provide a no-nonsense approach to solving America’s relationship and health issues. Sandy and Sheila have a seminar coming up and the VFTB audience can go to www.empower180.com to receive information. Registered VFTB viewers will receive a 2 for one bonus on Sandy and Sheila’s books at the seminar.

1)     Women and Men are Different! (Your Life Will Be Easier The Sooner You Embrace This). 

1. Talk Your Belly Off… Women need to talk, talk, talk to get their oxytocin up, which raises levels of serotonin and decreases levels of cortisol, which is the “belly fat storing” chemical. So, decrease your stress and improve your relationship by simply putting 6 grrlfriends on your speed dial. Talking has been medically proven to be chemically necessary to women.  It will decrease your stress, and increase your receptivity to your husband and availability to your kids.
2. …Just Not To Your Husband! Men need to have a short To Do list and a goal to achieve. Men have on average 3x the serotonin of women – so if you are trying to “get your serotonin up” by talking things out with your husband instead of a woman, (a) he is going to start falling asleep like you just fed him a bunch of turkey, and (b) you’re going to frustrate the heck out of him as he’s trying to figure out the 3 things you want him to “do” while you’re on number 99 and talking a mile a minute!
3. Breathe Your Way To Wellbeing. There is also a VERY quick breathing exercise that increases a stress-reducing chemical in your body (nitric oxide) – this is one of Dr Oz’s favorites in fact – it’s important to know this breathing exercise (in through the nose on a 6 count, hold, then out on a 6 count) and “how to breathe” (into the belly versus raising the shoulders).
4. Your Husband Will Love To Hear This: More Sex Is Good.  Though we try to avoid thinking about this, we are all mammals, and touching, sensuality, and sex increases things you want to increase (feelings of wellbeing, bone density) and decreases things we want to decrease (depression, blood pressure, etc.) (here is the link to this page in Fempowerment book. If this link does not work, go to Amazon.com, search on book “Fempowerment” then use “Look Inside” feature and search on “osteoporosis” – it will take you to the correct page in the book with the facts list and references.)

2)     Create An EnvironMENTALLY Friendly Zone In Your Physical Space. Organization is key to decreasing stress and having time and space for your relationships – so take the time to clean your physical space. We all have areas of our life that are cluttered. Just as we discuss how to remove your mental clutter (next 2 tips), you need to de-clutter your physical environment.  When you get organized and de-clutter, you feel lighter and rightly so…You have lost weight in your home! This will allow you to lighten your mind and become more creative with your thoughts – and more receptive to your mate.

 3)     End The Endless To Do List. Women are extremely talented at multi-tasking.  Yet, there are only 24-hours in each day.  So, the best phrase you can learn to adopt is…”Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.” Before you commit to the next task or project, pause and ask yourself if this is something that you can and want to do. If you instead go on a Guilt Trip, you will continue to find yourself on a never ending path of To-Dos. Another great tip is, instead of saying “Yes” – if “No” is too harsh –  get a concession. For example, “I can drop off the kids if you can pick them up tomorrow afternoon.” Exchanging will help you lead a more balanced – and happier – life. 

 4)     Dump your Head-Trash™ Sheila Stewart coined this phrase. It summarizes the little voices that pipe up in our heads at the most inopportune times.  These voices are the ones that sabotage you right when you are ready to step out and take a chance, or make a bold move.  These voices say things like, “Who do you think you are?  You’re too young.  You’re too old.  You don’t have enough money. Your friend failed, how can you succeed.”  And on, and on, and on.  We have over 30,000 negative thoughts every day.  This equates to 85% of our thoughts.  That means only 15% of our thoughts are positive.  The key is to dump the voices every day and reverse the statistic.  When the voices enter your mind, dump them out. 

 5)     Detox Your Relationships and Eliminate “Frenemies.”  Just as you detox your body to remove the excess and sludge that is causing fatigue and low energy, you must detox your relationships. Once we realize that our “Head Trash” often turns into gossip, fear, and stress in our lives, we can recognize and address the fact that our worst enemy is often “inside” of us – drawing toxic people to us. By doing a Frenemy (friends who are really enemies) Audit, we can create an environment that is filled with only clean and positive relationships. This includes friends, family, business colleagues – even clients!  When you evaluate each relationship, determine if it is helping you or hindering you.  If it is hindering you, time to detox! Wean off the toxic people slowly – but surely. The key is to become aware. We are becoming more aware of what we put in our bodies, yet we so often overlook what – and whom! – we surround our bodies with! Our challenge is to ramp it up in 2010 and create a healthy and wealthy mindset and lifestyle.

 6)     Become a Balancepreneur^TM.  There are five areas in any woman’s life, and Sheila coined this word to help women find their life balance. If she is “low” in one area, she can “borrow” from another area. For example, if she is low in money but high in her social relationships, she might find a way to turn a beloved recipe into an entrepreneurial venture! What does “balance” mean – to you?

I’m on Live today (or as Live as I can be, considering I couldn’t sleep last night for some reason!) on The View From The Bay!

If you are going to be in the audience – thanks in advance! If you can’t make it, here is the link to the live feed!

I’m on with another gal, and we only have 4 minutes. I hope that it goes well! Now to go shower, get my duds on (and makeup – huh what’s that?) then off and running!

Here’s our writeup and topic – our “Tips” will be posted on the View From The Bay website, and I will link them here later on today or tomorrow. They run to 3 pages – for a 4 minute interview! Oh dear!

Increase Your Wellbeing In A Down Economy with Tips  That Don’t Cost You Money AND Help You Lose Weight:
A No-Nonsense Approach to Relationship and Health Issues

Introduction: Work/life balance is more crucial now than ever, given how the unexpected changes on Wall Street have affected the small business on Main Street, and trickled down into our homes and in particular our bedrooms. Our mission is to help women see dramatic changes in their lives, including better health (weight loss), increased happiness (more vibrant sex life & increased energy and drive) and improved financial security (additional money flowing into their businesses, if they are entrepreneurs). Statistics show a direct correlation between the stresses of work and the detrimental effect it has on a couple’s relationship and intimacy level; we’re teaming up to provide a no-nonsense approach to solving America’s relationship and health issues. Sandy and Sheila have a seminar coming up and the VFTB audience can go to www.empower180.com to receive information. Registered VFTB viewers will receive a 2 for one bonus on Sandy and Sheila’s books at the seminar. 

Tips To Use To

Please take a look at the below – it’s an invitation from “The View From The Bay” for January 26th.

If you can, please come and support me!

FROM ABC-TV:

I would like to extend a special invitation to Sandra J. Shepard’s friends, family and colleagues to be in our studio audience the day that she will be appearing  on “The View From The Bay” – Tuesday 26^th, 2010.

Meet Spencer Christian and Janelle Wang and get a chance to see the behind the scenes of a live television broadcast. Tickets for the show must be reserved in advance. Audience doors open at 2:15pm with a cut-off time of 2:30pm, the show is live from 3-4pm.

To reserve your seats please call the ticket request line at (415)-954-7733 or visit www.viewfromthebay.com and click on “be in our audience” and fill out a ticket request form. Or click on the link below to go to our online ticket request form. Simply fill out your information and press submit.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/feature?section=view_from_the_bay&id=6337461

Please be sure to note under “comments” that you are requesting a specific date to support Sandy on her scheduled show.

Please pass this email on to any friends, family or colleagues who may be interested in being in our studio audience.

*Please note that all seats must be reserved in advance. Tickets that have been requested will be sent via an email confirmation with detailed instruction on where and when to arrive at the ABC studio. Also note that audience members come in a separate entrance and time than guests appearing on the show.

Rachel Wyatt
Audience Coordinator
Rachel.Wyatt@abc.com

The View from the Bay

HEY! Sheila Stewart and I were interviewed on the talk radio show Your Time With Kim on How the Economy Affects Your Sex Life. Sheila and I met a while back when we were each speaking at a gig, and then I interviewed Sheila a few podcasts back. We had so much fun, we put the show on the road!

(This is a little break back into my “real life” and away from the Trials and Tribulations of turning CouchPotatoWoman into IronWoman!)

 

 Sex and the Economy: Talk Radio Interview on "Your Time With Kim" Show: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

So. I’ve received the following link:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/32218342?gt1=43001/from/ET

about 50 times now. Yes, this is exactly what I said I was going to do after writing Fempowerment: A Guide To Unleashing Your Inner Bond Girl. In fact, if you look at their shirts, their “gal” looks suspiciously like mine.

Bitter, party of one….

I hate that I was not “event-planning-organized” enough to move forward on this. I’m also upset and maybe frightened that some one that I sent a treatment to (including a reality TV show guy) might just have plain ripped me off. I have heard from some of the vendors I visited in Las Vegas, and they tried to soothe me with the idea that what we were considering was “better” and that I have the soup to nuts book, etc. – but who’s on the Today Show?

I wish I had it in me to be an event planner. Seriously. I have that entire treatment for the reality show, and all of our hard work in Vegas with what “would happen” on this. These gals aren’t “really” shooting guns, doing hand-to-hand, etc. – like we were setting up. But no matter. They’re doing it.

I have to go crawl into bed now.

I’m so excited!  The episode that I did with Lisa Quinn is out on the new ABC-HD network, LIVE WELL. You can check it out here - pull up this link then click on the 4th “box” which is my episode (“Household Chores Made Easy”). My first nationwide TV event. Who-hoo!

I have such a blast when I do these episodes. Don’t you think Oprah and I would have fun? (BIG SMILE) OK I admit, I should have worn more makeup. I always forget the whole “TV makeup” thing. My bad!

Let me know what you think! Gosh we had fun. Thanks ABC! And if you don’t have my book – the first chapter is FULL of these sort of tips. If you look under the “link” on the ABC-HD LIVE WELL website, you can see a few more tips that there just wasn’t enough time to include (I’m cutting them in below, as well). And GEE, there are a dozen other chapters on living well, finding your passion, sexology, men, attitude, finances… (hey so OK, I love my book. M’wa M’wa let me kiss my own shoulders :-) )

++++++++++++++++++

Household Chores Made Easy

Save yourself time and money by de-cluttering and simplifying your life. Check out these easy household tips for you and your family.

Sandy’s Household tips:

1. Put a laundry marker in the kitchen and master bath to keep track of “aging” items. Use the laundry marker when you put cans, boxes, etc. away – mark on the top when it entered your “domain.” Do this as well for makeup and toiletries. After a certain amount of time – could be 3 months, 6 months& you want to cycle this stuff back out of your life. Keep what’s going into and onto your body fresh!

2. Tea/spices/flour/sugar. No more purchasing bulk! The essential oils (and the gluten in flour, etc.) just “gets old” and ultimately all you’re doing is adding “color” but really no flavor to your food. Ditch the spices/herbs/old tea, buy new, but buy small if you can when you need it. Store in the freezer – and date it.

3. “Sheet packet.” One of my best tips – take your sheets, fold them as usual and fold all the pillowcases that go in that “set” except one. Turn that inside out, “grab” the pack of sheets and pillowcases, and as you turn the pillowcase “right side in,” you will have the sheets and other pillowcases in it. Tuck the top down, and you have a “sheet packet” that you can store in your closet – everything together! As a corollary, if you have quilt or duvet covers, store them folded but INSIDE OUT – when you take them out to change the duvet, put your hands in the top and reach down for the bottom corners, grab the duvet by the corners, and as you shrug the duvet cover down off your arms and turn it “right side in,” the duvet will be inside – and centered, easy as pie.

4. Dry cleaning: Always get your clothes out of dry cleaning bags – OUTSIDE. There are chemicals there that you don’t want in your house. My dry cleaner actually uses green techniques – and takes the hangers and plastic bags back! Look for this. Similarly, to save YOU time (it’s always you, right?) when you do laundry or dry cleaning, everyone in the house should be “stain spotters.” Get your husband, kids, etc. in the mode of pre-treating any stains that they have on their laundry, zipping zippers, and putting them into the laundry bin. This will save you a LOT of time, and also save you clothes that you “miss” a spot on that then gets set in from the dryer. Also, get STAIN stickers from your dry cleaner, and as soon as a dry clean item comes off, if it has a spot, put the STAIN sticker right on it. That way, you don’t have to remember. Make sure that everyone in the house is “trained” to do this – this will save you SO much time!

5. Ugly towels. We all have ugly towels/linens/etc. but we’re not sure what to do with them. Call your local veterinarian – they are almost always desperate for these, for animals coming out of surgery. Live a little – have nice matching ones. And WHY do you have so many linens/towels anyway? More than 2 pair for each bed/bath is really a little silly.

6. Folding towels. Great trick and looks great in the closet: Fold towel in thirds (length-wise) so the “edges” are tucked in. Then fold it in half over your arm, and then in ½ again. When you put it on the towel rack, tuck the ends “down the back” – and then fold will be on the front, no edges. (Hard to explain in writing – though I mention this I think a bit better in the book)

7. Clean to music: I just interviewed Eve Abbott, of ABrainNewWayToWork.com, and she stated that cleaning (or doing anything) to music can “engage” your left and right brains, and makes it easier to get rid of stuff that you’re “emotionally tied to” but that doesn’t “sing for you” anymore or doesn’t have an immediate use.

8. Time block to do your spring cleaning. Don’t try to do it all at once, but also really say when you will do it – and do it.

9. Touch everything in your house (in every drawer) and be sure it has a use right now, or you LOVE it. If not, it’s dead energy – you’re just cleaning it, moving it, dusting it. Time to get it to its “next best use.”

10. Small ideas – put magazines in your boots to make them stand up and not crease. “Cut through” magazines when they come in the door – cut out the interesting articles, and get the rest of it somewhere else (dentist? Gym? Friend? Etc.) Don’t let them sit around gathering dust for months and months.

11. Consignment Day – a local school has “consignment day” – every kid gets to bring in stuff to sell, and they do it all day (keeping the $ that they got) – then anything “left over” goes to a charity that they have all learned about.

12. Soup in zip locks – if you make a lot of soup, pour it into a zip lock, and put it FLAT in your freezer. Then, once it’s solid, you can stack it up and it takes barely any space. We all should be storing water jugs, etc. in our fridges (a) b/c it gives us water in case of an earthquake and (b) because the more you have in your fridge, the less energy it uses (b/c the water jugs helps it be cold). Be sure when you clean out, go through all the stuff on your door of your fridge – condiments, etc.

13. Taking off your shoes when you come into the house. We make this a “ritual” (of taking off our “work armor” as it were) – but it also doesn’t track any nasty stuff that we might have walked through all day into the house.

I’m soooo excited!  Lisa Quinn (from View From The Bay – the show that’s on the hour before Oprah in these parts) has her own new show called HOME, and the producer called me to be on it! They called Friday, and (ahem) of course, no, I did not prepare this weekend. (We were having friends over for dinner which went GREAT – 5 courses without a hitch! – so that was in the forefront.) Anyway – so yeah fine what am I doing now? Telling YOU about it instead of getting ready (smile).

When I get home, I’m going to start recording a series for my Web Radio Show (not “podcast” – learned that at the seminars I recently went to) on Finances, and in particular a bit more about home-based businesses. I have friends who are losing jobs, I’m watching stores that have been around since I was a kid close, etc. Now’s the time to get the word out about some things that everyone can do for themselves and their families.

The TV show that we’re taping will be on the first chapter of my book (cleaning/clearing) – that’s always the start!

OH and by the way – didn’t gain an OUNCE on the cruise. How great is THAT! I’m down around 164 – still working my way down to my goal, which is another 20 lbs!

Okay, SO. About a year ago, I was fat (happy), and in need of a new driver’s license. Contrary to my own good advice in my book fEmpowerment, I basically went down to the DMV, and took the photo.

I’d put on the makeup, I’d done the hair, but….BAAAAD. So VERY VERY BAD. Lordie lordie.

Of course, it doesn’t help that my last Driver’s License photo (and my last passport photo, I might add) where fantastic. How that happened, I have no idea – we all know how bad “those photos are.” But there you go.

So I have a driver’s license photo that looks like I’m Frankenstein’s stepsister (I actually keep the old, expired one in the little driver’s license “window” because the new one is so frightening). I wasn’t gunna let that happen with the passport.

Why the passport right now? Well, we’re going on a phenomenal journey to Peru in June…so I thought I’d have plen-tee of time to lose the weight, etc., especially as I started losing at the end of last year. As I have posted before, weight-wise, I am 1/2 way there right now. HOWEVER, I recently won a trip for 2 to Cozumel, through SendOutCards. (Hey, it’s NICE to have a job that, if you do well, gives you things like camera, jewelry, trips…love it!) The “rule” for cruises to Mexico now is that your passport has to have 6 months “left on it” for you to go.

The problem? Mine expires in July! I thought I might want to get one for the June Peru trip - but not for Mexico in March! Yikes!

So again, I’m 1/2 way to my weight goal – but we all know that the face fat is one of the last “to go.” But I needed to get the passport goin’ ASAP.

THIS time, following my own advice from fEmpowerment [click here, then search for pages 84-86], I set the day aside. First, I went to the hair gal. She did me up. Then I went to my friend’s house who is a whizz at makeup. SHE did me up. Then I went to the passport photo place – which is also where my mailbox is – and since the gal there was not busy…I made her take TWENTY (digital) photos. Click-flash-look. Too serious. Click-flash-look. Hair too weird. Click-flash-look. Head too tilted. Click-flash-look. Too goofy. You get the…picture.

The gal was just laughing and shaking her head. But she was a good sport. Of course, I also handed her a $20 bill for the $12 passport photo charge and “waved” for her to “keep the change” – my guess is none of it will go in the till at all – but she was more than happy to keep snapping. We got it down to one, but I thought it was a little serious, and my head was kinda tilted (and I still felt my face looked fat), but she liked it well enough. I went to the post office to get the passport info in – and the passport folks had gone home early. I looked at the photo and went BACK – she was still there, shook her head when I walked in…and we took more (she didn’t even charge me). I finally wound up with one that I liked mo’bettah. So tomorrow I’m off to get it passport-i-fied.

The photo isn’t as great as the AWESOME one currently on my passport. Of course, I’m also at least a decade older, and “wiser” (or is that just “a decade more of life/work/stress under my belt”?) But heck, the photo is SO MUCH better than I think 90% of the passport photos I’ve ever seen – and LIGHT years better than my Franken-driver’s license.

Sure, I wish I could have taken it in a couple months like planned – so my face wouldn’t be “showing the heavy” quite so much. But it is FINE. And I did “what I said to do” in the book – I had set that passport photo as a goal and was working towards it - I just didn’t know that I would need to push the goal “forward” about 3 months!

I feel SO relieved though, because compared to the driver’s license, I’m a Hollywood starlet. Phew!

Last week, I had the honor of being interviewed by Dr. Claudia Six from “Six on Sex.”  (I’m still having trouble uploading photographs, but if you click on the link above, you will be able to see Dr. Six). Dr. Six and I both attended the same school for Sexology, it turns out, though she went on to get her doctorate; she has her Ph.D. in Clinical Sexology and is Board Certified by the American Board of Sexology.

Dr. Six has a great podcast, which is about Erotic Integrity. She interviews local personalities about what Erotic Integrity means to them, and how Erotic Integrity shows up in their work and in their lives. As stated by Dr. Six, “Erotic Integrity is about the humanity of sex, not the acrobatics. It’s about being true to one’s erotic self.”

I strongly recommend downloading and listening to her podcasts. Dr. Six is a fantastic person, and a wealth of information! Not only that, Sheila Kelley’s S Factor has offered anyone who listens to the podcast and mentions it to their local S Factor half off on an introductory S Factor session through 2008. I discussed how working out at S Factor really has helped me to release my “Erotic Creature,” and S Factor has generously offered the ability to any of Dr. Six and my listeners!

Here are a couple of other links that we discuss in the podcast:
Dr. Michael Roizen and Dr. Mehmet Oz’s website (put “sex” in the Search Box in the very top, blue bar to get some of the sex facts that we discuss in the podcast)

Sheri’s Ranch website link

Click below to listen to the interview:

 

 Interview on Six on Sex [27:51m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Yes, Yes, I know, I am the WORST blogger (I’m going to try to be good…) I am chatting with my new best friend Cathy Hazzlerigg and we were talking about using iGoogle and Google Word Alerts. In showing her how to use it, I put in “Sandy Shepard”…and guess what! Someone is talking about my book!  Wa-Hoo!!

More later. I have now sworn to be better at blogging :-)

I am just such a ham! View From The Bay, our local San Francisco Bay-area show that’s on the Hour before Oprah, came to my house during a Clothing Swap that I was doing, as outlined in Chapter One of my book.  (You have it, right? So you can just go check it out…right? (wink))

We had a BLAST, and all the clothing that wasn’t taken (which was thousands of dollars worth) went to a charity, Image for Success, that dresses women (and their families) with two weeks’ worth of business and personal clothing. Check it out! 

OK who do you know that would have a Google Alert for “Granny Panties”?  Um, that would be me…

And check out this faboo blog – no no, it’s not just faboo because they’re quoting my book (wink). It’s my new subscription in iGoogle!

- Solitaire

Yay! Our View From The Bay episode (and my book) were mentioned in Sheila Kelley’s global “S” newsletter, read by all the coolest grrls in the world.  If you haven’t seen it… hmmmm, whyzat? No, really…

OK just kiddin’ - here’s the link.

Besides, you just gotta LOVE the book that she’s covering… A Mind Of Its Own: A Cultural History of the Penis by David M. Friedman.

I was asked by KOMO Seattle, a TV program that is trying to decide whether to have me as a guest, to compile the “Top 10 Tips” for a fempowered lifestyle. What do you think?

The overall theme of my book and coaching practice = live your best, most passionate life. So these are the Top 10 Tips that came to me:

1. Clean House. Declutter your life of belongings, friends, commitments, and the like that do not feed your passion and fempower your Inner Bond Girl. (Empty your glass of beer to get champagne in there!)

2. Donate. Support fellow Bond Girls in your community by allowing the items you have freed from your life to reach their “next best use” with others. (Pour your beer into another grrl’s glass with water in it!)

3. Be Congruent. Coax Your Inner Bond Girl out by matching what you wear and the way you walk, talk, laugh and listen with who you are becoming.

4. Be Present in your Luscious Body, Now. Accept, love and nurture her as she is now, and explore her fempowered nature through sensual dancing, pole dancing, or the like.

5. Be Ready. Take advantage of every adventure and opportunity that comes your way, and structure your life to facilitate it. Learn to travel light and get out of Dodge in minutes.

6. Block out non-negotiable You Time. Give yourself a minimum of 10 minutes/day to dream and move that passion forward. Join a fempowerment group to move your life to the next level.

7. Be Adventurous. Do something you’re not good at, and stretch your horizons and your sense of humor.

8. Go Lean & Green. Fempowered women are not credit card-wielding, debt-accumulating consumers; they save and invest their $

9. Flex your Femininity. Be The Girl in your personal relationship, and take the lead in nurturing it – sex included

10. Be Self-Sufficient & Appreciative. All Bond Girls run their own businesses, live in the tropical paradises that Bond drops into as a government employee on an expense account, and take care of themselves BUT, they also know that men feel good taking care of them and are sensitive to it and appreciative. (Let him open the door, or the jar, when he offers.)

What would you add? Change? Let me know!

Today’s entry in San Francisco IdealBite goes like this:

Ever seen da Vinci’s “The Last Supper”?

The Bite

Then you know food can be art. And that’s what the founders of Slow Food International – a nonprofit devoted to bringing back whole foods that are cooked and savored slowly – are all about. If you’re into food prepared the old-fashioned way (and with sustainability in mind), add slow foods to your daily menu for a more vibrant…er, palate.

The Benefits

• Eating becomes art. Getting to know ingredients, producers, and the cultural history behind our foods makes for more soul-satisfying meals.
• An easel way to avoid empty calories. Many additives in processed and fast foods are chemicals that lack nutritional value and sometimes wreak havoc on your health.
• Painting a greener landscape. The slow food movement promotes biodiversity of crops, organic farming, and the preservation of family (not factory) farms.
• An energy-saving Renaissance. Example: The production of a 1-pound box of cereal requires almost seven times as many kilocalories of energy as it provides in nourishment.

OK, you know, it’s the last one that gets me. I keep harping on posts like The Story of Stuff (long, but worth watching), but those are the things that astonish me.

When I posted my comment today on IdealBite, I was reminded of my Podcast 8 about Life-Affirming Rituals, including Saying Grace (start at 25:00 for this portion). As you may remember from that one, a student of mine wound up losing weight, literally just through the act of thanking the “folks” that had gotten the food to her. She used to eat in the car, standing up, junk-food-on-the run. When I suggested she and her husband start saying Grace over everything they ate, they originally balked because they “don’t do that God thing.” I explained that wasn’t what this was about — this was Giving Thanks to the farmers, truckers, plants, animals, etc. that got that food TO them. The actual physical energetic “beingness” that went into what they were putting in their mouth.

Once she started doing that, first, she found it ‘disrespectful’ to eat standing up. And in the car. She and her husband felt weird saying grace over take-out boxes, so they put the food on plates. Which made them stay at the table longer, and the Grace started them talking about something besides Their Hard Days. Ultimately they started cooking.  And she started losing weight.

If you have my book, check out page 127 for a reminder about Mindfulness versus “Guilt-Ridden Scarfing” — and a discussion about “sensory awareness” when eating. It also talks about Living CAMP (check out the “eating a banana” link).  If you don’t have my book, it’s not pretty, but I have a PDF copy of the page for you here as I originally sent it in to my publisher: guilty-pleasures-sidebar-page-127

How’s about starting a quickie Thankfulness Practice, today?  You’re GOING TO EAT IT ANYWAY, my dear, so…why not?

This podcast has some tricks to help you save Energy which is really what Earth Day is all about. These include green tips for around the house that are easy to implement. The beginning of the podcast also introduces you to a real fishing family in Sonoma County that are being devastated by the impacts of our current global situation.

The video podcast that I refer to in this podcast is The Story Of Stuff by Annie Leonard. You can go back and find where I blogged about it a few weeks ago, or just click the link here. It’s a bit long, but it definitely explains the whole manufacturing process and Planned Obsolescence — I think this would be great to show kids.

If you have comments on this episode, call the Listener Comment Voicemail at +1 (206) 350-3537, e-mail doubleohsandy [at] yahoo [dot] com or leave a comment below.

Click the red button below to listen.

 

 Episode 9: Earth Day - It Can Be Easy, Bein' Green [1:02:10.625m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Oh my goodness. Yesterday was the best day. I was on View From The Bay—I tried to upload the link for their viewer here, but I can’t get it to take… so here is the link to the show. (I am still going to list it under “Podcasts” — and maybe my sainted James can figure out how to actually make it post here so you won’t have to “go get it.”)

Make sure to watch both halves of the interview. They gave me 4 minutes, and then decided to give us 4 more after the commercial! We were having so much fun. This is my parents’ house, and a friend had come over to watch it Live with my mom. She said my mom basically freaked out when suddenly we were down in her closet! She said that she “Hadn’t had time to clean it” (As if!)

When you follow the link, you can see lots of tips that I gave them that I could talk about. If you’ve read my book, you know there are about 50 pages of tips! They picked some of them for me to show on the air, and have others posted on their website.

If, after you read this, you could put a comment on their website, I would sure appreciate it! I’d love to get invited back!

This “Coffee Chat” podcast is with Eve Abbott of Organizer-Extraordinaire.com. She has graciously offered that if you visit her website and purchase her book, tell her that you found out about her here, and she will send you an autographed book and another free goodie! (NOTE: I don’t get any “kickbacks” from any of these interviews—these really are my experts, and I want to share them with you… no strings attached!)

I mentioned (in this Coffee Chat and I believe my Chat with Scott Smith) the book by Oprah’s Organizer, Peter Walsh. The actual title of that book is Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat? Like Eve, Peter Walsh states that clutter is basically symptomatic of an unresolved issue in your life. I saw him on a recent episode of the Oprah show, and his specific quote was that “eating more and buying more is an attempt to fill the need for something more. Until you get those underlying issues dealt with, all the rest is a waste of time.”

I hope you enjoy this podcast, and please let me know if there are other experts you might like to hear interviewed on our Coffee Chats.

And, yes… next podcast will be a “regular” one—I promise! I’ve been working on the V.I.P. Podcasts and having a great time with them… but Regular Podcast 9 is on its way soon.

If you have comments on this episode, call the Listener Comment Voicemail at +1 (206) 350-3537, e-mail doubleohsandy [at] yahoo [dot] com or leave a comment below.

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 Interview with Eve Abbott, Organizer Extraordinaire [34:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Today, I received a shout-out on the fantastic Dr. Laura Berman Better Sex Podcast. Yippee! This is an absolutely great podcast. I love the way that Marcus and Dr. Laura relate – they make me smile just to listen to them.

Best of all – I learn something new every time!

Thanks for the Shout-out, Marcus!

Hey grrrls!

Heidi Miller reviewed fEmpowerment on the tag-end of her latest podcast. I think if you click the link below, you will get it. (My tech dude AKA my husband is out valiantly trying to resurrect our chainsaw to take down some narsty poison oak/stumps/etc. in anticipation of making a new patio and path — so I best not bother him. I have gotten posting my own podcasts down, but I’m a little unclear on the concept re others’ podcasts.)

 SO, when you take a listen (at the very end), Heidi reviews the book.  She says that she believes fEmpowerment might make a lot of women angry, because I am advocating the “empowerment that can be found” in being in a “subordinate position.”

 I would be very curious to hear from those of you who have read the book if that is what you had as your take-away, as well.  Now, granted, Heidi said she was only 1/3 of the way through the book — but I thought that it was obvious that what the Bond Girl analogy, and fEmpowerment, is all about is being #1, the CEO, the Big Kahuna in whatever you’re passionate about, but also not to forget that there are other parts of your life where being supportive (not submissive) is not only empowering, but necessary.  And to “be all you can be” in that supportive role, too (e.g., the “Being #1 at being #2″ tagline).

As most of you know, the book was a product of dealing with friends, Romans and Countrymen (just kidding! — friends and clients) who were recently divorced, or were heads of companies or divisions, or the like, and either couldn’t get a date on Friday Nights or had lost the “spark” in their relationships, or who seemed to always be looking for an ROI (return on investment) in matters of the heart. The book details thoughts in this area, especially with respect to “turning it off” and “being the girl” in the guy-girl relationship. (Although we have at least one Amazon.com review where this has been effective, obviously, in a girl-girl relationship!)

Dr. Laura Berman in her show on NBC5.com has discussed this — as has Oprah now 2x in the past month or so, once with a Matchmaker who actually quite bluntly detailed what has “gone wrong” with women not wanting to “be women” today.  She also detailed that women seem to go from being “Girls” (at school) to being “Men” (duking it out to be ‘gender neutral’ in the workforce) and that they don’t have any faith in the power of Being A Woman.  Or being Supportive. Or just relaxing into it. Or going first, and treating their man like they need him. (Listen to my podcast interview with Scott Smith on this point!)

One of my favorite sidebars in the book actually has to do with Lance Armstrong and the idea of being a “domestique” (French for “maid”!) If you remember that part of the book, it discusses that when Lance was riding the Tour de France, he had a bunch of other fantastic riders who worked to be his “domestiques” — he was taking the lead, and they were doing what it took to get him over the line. However, a couple years ago, I saw Lance riding as a domestique, to another rider, when he came to ride here in San Francisco.  In that case, he was doing what it took — getting water bottles to the guy, etc. — to get him over the line.

Other readers constantly tell me the Bowling Story (“You like him? Then how about throwing a gutter ball, not trying to beat his pants off? Have some fun! Flirt!”) is their favorite. This story actually came from Sheila Kelley at S-Factor, but it’s one of my favorites, too.

To me, the “domestique” story is the perfect analogy for the Bond Girl. When she’s doing what “she does,” she’s #1, and Bond doesn’t question her — in fact, he relies on her to fly the plane, or defuse the bomb.  HOWEVER, when it’s her turn to “open the submarine door” after he’s gone out to fight the bad guys, she’s not arguing with him, saying “HEY, no WAY, I’m going to go fight the bad guys!  What, you think I’m going to be your doormat?? YOU open the door. And did you make the bed last night by the way???” — then they both drown.

 I’ll be very curious whether you, as a reader (or podcast listener) think that the idea of fEmpowerment would make “women angry who have worked hard to be the CEO.” (Which is what Heidi states.)  Think so?  Let me know, can’t wait to hear!

 

 Diary of a Shameless Self-Promoter, #99 [20:58m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download