I had just finished prepping for my UStream show and gone out for my walk when I realized I NEEDED to come back here and write this up. If I didn’t I’d have said it all in my head and forgotten it by the time I came back.

I’m realizing too that I really need to empty my voice recorders and take one with me every time I go out so I don’t have to cut my walk short. I did get in over 3000 steps before coming home though.

O.k., to the topic at hand ~ being a “Use To” person.

I go to quite a few networking meetings and meet various people and when they see what I eat they’ll ask if I’m vegetarian. When I say “yes” they’ll often say “I USE TO be”.

When I meet people who ride motorcycles, now, I’m a “USE TO” person. Before a friend died in a auto/mc collision and another lost his leg (same crash), I rode. I have to catch myself to not say I “use to” ride so they ask me, why don’t you ride anymore as I don’t want to inject them with MY stuff about riding!

What I like to hear is “I USE TO smoke, drink, do drugs but I don’t anymore!”

Instead I hear “I USE TO do daily appreciations; walk every day; exercise; eat well, etc.” I also know I’m not going to ask them why they don’t any more. It’s not my biz. I don’t want to hear their dreary excuses for why they don’t.

This came up for me recently in an online conversation with a gent who told me his girlfriend “use to” be a vegetarian ~ before she met him. Enough said.

What brought this up for me is a couple of times over the past months I’ve caught myself saying “I USE TO be able to get up off the floor easily” and “before I got married I USE TO go walking daily”.

For me, when I say “I USE TO”, I want it to be consciously attained. By that I mean “I USE TO be a meat eater (well, it’s been 24 years now); I USE TO procrastinate on getting in my daily play; I USE TO be angry; I USE TO contemplate suicide (that’s over 15 years ago)…

See what I mean? Keep the good and USE TO the not-so good. Now, I want to say I CAN get up off the floor easily; I DO get up and move daily; I AM aware of what goes in my mouth and supports MY body.

Comments?

Injoy, Revvell

Bodacious Living

Quite often I find myself throwing away produce because I forget I have it. When I purchase it, I have every intention of making smoozies with it or juicing it or SOMEthing. By the time I get it home and put it away, I often forget my intention or something else takes my attention and I never get to it.

Also as many of us have partners who tend to eat less healthy than we do OR, just keep food in the house we tend to crave, here’s a quick suggestion to cover both scenarios ~

Take sticky notes and, on any food (package) or shelf of foods containing something you prefer NOT to eat, write something on it like ~ “Do You Really Want to Eat This? Options” (depending on what you have available):

Bananas
Apples
Grapes
Green salad w/
tomatoes
cukes
marinated veggies
carrots
beets (shredded)
Olives
Orange juice (maybe you’re really thirsty and not necessarily hungry)
Coconut water
Water with lemon juice
Water

You might also want to add on the note ~

“You’ve just eaten! Are you REALLY HUNGRY?

Also, remember my program “Fit or Fat?” Ask yourself before you reach for “comfort” food out of habits or cravings.

That may give you a chance to contemplate what it is that may be eating you which turns you towards stuffing yourself with food.

Please, comment here and let me know what’s working for you!

Injoy!

Revvell

Bodacious Living

When I first began learning EFT, I had a hard time with tapping on the negative part of the sentences. For so many years, I’ve been saying “Acknowledge but don’t focus” and here, we’re saying something negative and tapping on it?? To me, that was like tapping the negative INTO myself and I had SO much resistance.

What I have found since then though is that the reason we say the negative is to acknowledge and accept where we are. For instance, if someone says, “Even though I constantly self-sabotage…” that’s just saying what we’ve done previously… up to now… then we switch to “…. I choose to stay focused on the results and support myself completely”. That changes the energy via our words AND the tapping.

What we’re saying is I know what I need to work on; I acknowledge and accept I do this and, now, I’m changing it. Make sense?

It’s as though I’m in Connecticut and I want to go to Nevada. Well, if I don’t know, acknowledge and accept where I am, how can I get where I want to go? If I “wish” I were somewhere else, it’s not going to help. Saying I “wish” I were in California and I want to go to Nevada, then I’d be traveling east yet, I’m REALLY in Ct. and if I travel east, I’m I’ll end up in the ocean rather than Nevada, correct? So! First step ~ Acknowledge and accept where you are now to get you where you want to go.

I understand many have an issue with the word “accept”, as well. They think if they accept something, that means they don’t/wont change it. One definition of accept is “…to regard as true..”. So, all we’re doing is saying “this is true ~ now”. It doesn’t mean it will always be true. Some examples of this would be: “currently I am 100 pounds more than MY ideal weight…”; “currently, I have a tendency to sabotage my successes…”; “currently, I’m in a less than ideal relationship…”. That’s it! Currently! It doesn’t mean you can’t, wont or are unwilling to change. It’s just a place to start.

I’ve also found many have a problem tapping on the positive… “I totally and completely love and accept myself.” There’s a little voice inside that says… “.. no you don’t…” which is why so many of us self-sabotage and cannot be the weight we’d like to be, have the health we’d like to have or the other successes. We feel we don’t deserve.

One of the high points for one of my students was when she stopped reaching for the ice cream whenever she was stressed because she chose that ending (or something similar) whenever she tapped. She came to class and she was astounded at her success saying she’d NEVER felt love for herself until she tapped on that for a week.

What’s interesting too is how so many wont do the tapping. They’re resistant and will say things like “this is silly”; “this wont work, etc.” which is fine. EFT doesn’t need to be believed to “work” or make a difference. All I say is, do it and find out for yourself.

I even have a couple of students who call themselves “shower tappers”. They’ll do it in the shower yet feel silly doing it in front of anyone. Others tap anytime, anyplace, especially when they’re feeling unhealthy (for them) cravings coming up or anxiety coming up which leads to self-sabotage.

A quick definition of Emotional Freedom Technique or, EFT is a simple, direct approach to release and redirect blocked energy patterns in the body/mind. Some call it acupuncture without needles.

Founder Gary Craig explains it thusly: In essence, EFT is an emotional version of acupuncture wherein we stimulate certain meridian points by tapping on them with our fingertips. This addresses a new cause for emotional issues (unbalanced energy meridians). Properly done, this frequently reduces the therapeutic process from months or years down to hours or minutes. And, since emotional stress can contribute to pain, disease and physical ailments, we often find that EFT provides astonishing physical relief.

What’s great about it is, once you learn it, you can tap on anything to resolve numerous issues which is why on my “Tap Into Your Ideal Weight” page, I tell you you’ll be able to keep and use the tools I’ll be teaching during the live, interactive teleclass. EFT is only ONE of the tools I’ll be sharing.

For those who are interested in eliminating excess weight and the habits, cravings and emotional eating patterns that constantly sabotage diet and weight loss endeavors, my “Tap Into Your Ideal Weight” teleclass series begins Tuesday, Jan. 12, 5 p.m. Pacific; 8 p.m. Eastern. As I work individually with each person throughout the program, space is limited AND you’ll save $50 if you register before Jan. 1, 2010 (if seating lasts that long). Let this be the last year you put “go on a diet” as one of your new year’s resolutions!

Whew! This has been an amazing week or so. He came to me yesterday and asked what I was doing last evening. Well, I’ve got a teleclass, why? He said his throat was sore from breathing the smoke and would like to get out, get some fresh air, etc. Sure! We can do that. One great thing about doing teleclasses, they can be done ANYwhere!

So, we packed up necessities for the day and headed out. I had a meeting at 3 (by phone) and then the teleclass. Between the two, we were at the beach OR checking out the Trikke! My plan is to get the T12. Riding it is a challenge and FUN!!! Human Powered Vehicle. When you look at it you wonder ~ how does s/he make it go???

We first saw someone riding one on Sunday at the motel. It’s funny how that turned out because we’d gotten what we thought was a good deal at another motel and something told me to try the one across the street so, we did. It was only $6 less than the other yet, it was $6 less than the other and the rooms looked the same.

Well, there was a reason to stay there and that was to learn about the Trikke! Steve was riding it in the parking lot that afternoon and as we were going to the beach I asked him about it. He explained it then asked if I wanted to give it a shot. Oh yeah, sure!!! Well, I couldn’t get it to move for nuthin’! Not even downhill!

Himself got it moving a bit. I want one!!!

Steve told us about a dealer, so since we were headed in that direction, we went there yesterday. He is a better teacher. Within a few minutes he got me riding down the street; turning around (really badly) and riding back!!! I got to see ~ and ride ~ the various models so I could make a good decision. We had to leave because I had a business call yet, we’ll be back.

We stopped in at Pantera for the class and to have some eats. They make a decent salad.

The beach was BEAUTIFUL!!! I could really live there! This fire has been a pita yet, because we have the time and means to get away and because of places like Pantera with WiFi access, we can still take care of biz. We stayed until about 8 p.m. walking and exploring the area. Came home, much of the smoke dissipated but it’s back this morning!

My throat is hurting already. We just MAY have to head out again. I really could live at Redondo Beach. So many people are SO active there! Roller blading, surfing, body boarding, running up and down the stairs and ramps… so many fit people! I want to BE one of them!

Oh! Received a compliment from Steve mentioned above. Two, actually. He asked my age range and I told him I’m 60 and he said he’d have guessed 10-15 years younger (I’d not have guessed he was 50) and he also complimented us on getting on and trying the Trikke. He said many are fascinated but few will actually get on and give it a shot. Well, I live once and don’t want to pass up a minute!

As of this writing, it’s 5 hours before the Wed. morning edition of “Tap Into Your Ideal Weight“. If you’ve been struggling to stay on a food program, been on/off the diet roller coaster, etc., might want to look into it. Once we get started, the doors are closed!

bfn,

Revvell

T-12 Trikke

A unique and different un-cook book than any I’ve received so far. Why? It doesn’t just give you recipes, it shows via step-by-step pictures how to create each of 15 or so recipes. That’s all? 15 you say? well, for those of us knowledgeable about raw food prep, this may not be of use but for beginners, and there are a LOT of them, this is a truly useful addition to your library.

At the beginning of each recipe, it states equipment needed, then ingredients, then come a series of 4-color pictures with each series depicting a part of the process. For instance, in the Dressing ~ 2 pics for the lemon, cutting and juicing (yeah, yeah, I know. How hard can it be? Yet, I once had a 63 year old client/student who had never peeled a banana so, take nothing for granted ~ some people have hardly stepped foot into a kitchen before going raw). Then we have 3 pics for adding lemon juice, olive oil and agave to the blender; two more for chopping and adding ginger; 2 more for de-stemming the hot pepper and adding to blender, two more for adding herbs; 3 more for blending, pouring into the cup and what the final looks like. Whew! That is a LOT of pictures, a lot of work and well done!

You know what? I was introduced to raw 14 years ago and I’M going to use this book because I want to make the Mango Jam Pie, Chocolate Cake, Mousse Cake, Truffles and Scones!
Oh, hey! Cultured vegetables??? I’ve been wanting to do them for awhile.

There’s also a section on sprouting ~ with pictures; benefits of sprouts; benefits of flax; and more.

Since I pretty much have all of Victoria’s books, I most likely also have these recipes ~ somewhere ~ in a bookcase ~ on a shelf yet, right now, I have THIS book right here now, AND the step-by-step directions to making all the recipes.

Also, consider this. Know anyone you’d like to introduce to the benefits of raw but they think it’s too hard, going to take too much time? Well, this is a GREAT gift for them!

What’s really cool about this book? The price! Listed in the US as $18.95. As of this writing, you can get it here for:

Ever get to that point where the scale just WONT move??? How frustrating is that? For tappers, here ya go ~ “Even though I’m often frustrated when looking at the scale, I choose to remain focused on my outcome”.

Today, I got on the scale FULLY clothed and it was down to below where I was totally nekkid!!! YAHOOOOO!!

Really been getting some great awarenesses while out walking, in the shower.

Last night in class, one of the women said “It’s harder to lose weight when you get older”.

That’s what I’ve found. I’ve gained before yet, eliminated SO easily by just moving more which gave me the awareness that I want to eat better. Now, one thing I’ve found is that many people use the fact that they ARE moving (i.e. exercising) as an EXCUSE to eat/drink more.

When I use to go the a bodybuilding gym, one morning I heard a few of the members talking about going out drinking that night. I said, “wait! You come here, workout, then ruin all the benefits by going out drinking?” I was told that’s WHY they train ~ so they can drink and eat anything they want. Umm, o.k. Doesn’t work for me yet, not my body.

Now, the other women in the group told me that they were chubby as children so for them, it’s doubly hard yet, they’re eliminating as well as others in the group who’ve gotten heavy as they got older.

In my case, it was after getting married. (So, the thing here is don’t get married. *wink*)
No, really. What happened was, I wanted to snuggle in bed with him rather than get out and MOVE as I did before we got married; we went out and ate (and overate) a LOT AND, started businesses so, spent a LOT of time in front of the computer. At night, we tended to snuggle while watching videos OR, go out and eat more!

We got in the habit of eating, not for hunger, yet because we were together….

The reason I started doing the “Tap Into Your Ideal Weight” program is because I now KNOW how hard it is to eliminate weight; break the habits we’ve created to comfort or reward ourselves; acknowledge and eliminate the fears we have of who we’ll be when we eliminate the excess weight; feel confident in ourselves when we’re out socially so that we can enjoy interaction with others while maintaining a conscious food program without guilt, without frustration, without all the other emotions we’ve wrapped around food. Exciting, isn’t it???

Here’s one more thing ~ I know it seems a long time to wait ~ and many will not ever have to wait as long (actually, wait isn’t the correct word as I was not in a “holding pattern” waiting for this to happen) as I to find something you are TRULY passionate about yet, since I found and founded this program, I have to say, it’s something I am TRULY passionate about and SO excited! I live it! I think about it constantly. How can I improve it? How can I share it? Who can I share it with? How important is this to just one person’s health?

Enough for now ~

Revvell

Well, it’s been an interesting couple of days. Had a good day on Monday until I got home later in the day. I don’t know what was going on but I’ll attribute it to “emotional detox”. I was irritable, angry, short-tempered, impatient… all of that. I’d been out much of the afternoon; travel was GREAT! So, what the heck was going on? I messed up LTR totally ~ couldn’t focus, stay on track, etc. Yet, even with that, got a decent interview with author Susan Schenck. The best part for me was at the end. She wanted to talk about HER weight loss program and, being in the mental/emotional shape I was in and doing my own, I almost said no yet, consciousness prevailed and, I said yes.

So, her information, (again, keeping it short) is to eat 400 calories, 4 x’s a day equaling 1600 calories. Now, a part of those calories have to be in fat ~ olives, avos, coconut oil and, for her, fish oil. I’ve not done and don’t plan to do fish oil, BUT, Himself and I went shopping yesterday, picked up the avos, olives and, I already had coconut oil which I made into a fudge using Rawmazing’s recipe from her Strawberry Cream Pie recipe. The thought of eating coconut oil plain makes me shudder.

So, I began yesterday and surprisingly, last night, flat stomach. I thought it was a joke. Woke up this morning, got on the scale, 1# down. huh? Ummm, not possible.

So, here’s basically what I’m eating ~ 3 salads a day with a teaspoon of fudge in between and either olives or avos with the salad. I’m not following precisely because I’m not really good at counting calories, yet, even with that, I’m seeing/feeling a difference. Who’da thunk?

Yesterday, was in a total funk. Partly because of the evening before. I started with headache, sore throat, just funky! Spent the day relaxing, ate VERY well, then in the evening HAD to get out and get some air. Another plan for a short walk turned into over 5,000 steps.

THIS morning, woke up just before 5; huggled with Himself for a bit; got up, got dressed, got out about 5:10 a.m. Was feeling SO much different.. alive, lively, my usual feisty self.

While I was out I noticed there was a guy at one intersection just walking back and forth with his dogs. Had my pepper spray in my hand (always) and my knife in my pocket. As I neared him he asked if I was going to cross Braeburn. I said “I could (was planning to), why”? He said a bear was spotted over there. Well hell! I wanna see da bear!!! O.k., o.k., I didn’t go. Himself’s been concerned about me walking out there especially in the morning, because they’ve been spotted on more than one occasion. The guy told me he lived right there and he’d previously had a sugar tree and woke up one morning with a bear hanging around in it. Got in just under 8,000 steps just this morning!

So, we’re on week three of “Tap Into Your Ideal Weight“… I’ll update what’s going on with that tomorrow. I’m really excited that I can offer it as a teleclass; as well as Pasadena, Ca. local and live. How much things have changed due to the presence of the internet.

Elaina Love and Rawdog Rory will be coming up next on Rawkin Radio. As I said, Susan Shenck was on “Let’s Talk Raw” this past Monday and Bunny Berry of Raw Fu will be on on the 31st.

We’ll be gone to the cabin up in Big Bear Lake probably Sat. through Mon. to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary.

So, updates tomorrow on the women’s progress on “Tap Into Your Ideal Weight“.

BFN ~

Revvell

Awakened sore and tired this morning. Just did NOT feel to get out walking. Made all the excuses. Heard all the rationalizations ~ I can walk this evening when it cools down again, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, I can yet, if ANYthing else pops up to do, I’ll do THAT!

So! Got up, got on the ‘puter for the mundane daily stuff, got dressed got out and WALKED! Fit or Fat??? My choice! Put in over 7,000 steps so far! The tapping has certainly helped make it easier. It’s like, no matter what the monkey mind tells me, I seem to have NO choice. Gotta get out and get fit!

So, last night, worked out with Coach Tara again. She said she was tired which to me, seemed like a good thing. NOT! She may have been tired but we were the ones working out! At one point I was almost tossing my cookies… um, well, I hadn’t eaten any cookies…… but, whatever was in there.

In reality, if she held class 3 times a week, I’d be there. I love the group energy and even with as much groaning as I do, I always feel good after. Even being sore the next day, I know, all I’ve got to do is move and much of it will ease up AND, I’ll feel better the NEXT day which is usually the toughest. Tough as it is, it’s like playing with the other kids. It’s joy-filled!

Heading out to get oranges today. We get them direct from the grower. We’ll get about 4, 35# boxes for about $5 each. That lasts 3-4 weeks. Then stop off at the Armenian market and pick up some fruit for me and peanuts for the squirrels.

Beginning my promotion for “Tap Into Your Ideal Weight” now. Have some “early bird” sign-ups for the teleclasses already, yet, want to make sure everyone who wants to get in, gets in before the price goes up on Sunday.

The price has gone up for the Pasadena, Ca. local class, and it will go up on Sunday for the teleclasses. You really don’t want to miss this if you’ve been on the “lost it/found it” diet roller coaster. This is NOT specifically about raw food; it’s about staying on whatever food program you choose. It’s about being conscious within your food choices; finding out when, where and why you choose to eat ~ oftentimes emotional reasons including anger, resentment, rewards, deprivation, loneliness, etc. We often eat unconsciously and habitually. When we sit down to read or watch tv/dvd; we often eat just because it’s there!

I had a co-worker who went to a chamber of commerce expo with me and her eyes just lit up when she saw the restaurants were serving (what she called) FREE food!

We also eat and overeat because of social/family “obligations”….

If these are your issues, you, or people you know, might want to “Tap Into Your Ideal Weight“. Current classes are ending the end of this month; going to pick up immediately with the 2 online classes and the one local.

The price will go up next time I hold them. They’re worth waaaaay more than I’m charging yet, I want people I know or who know me to get in on the best prices.

Injoy,

Revvell