I just returned from attending EXPO East, a giant natural products convention in Baltimore. The first item I tasted was pureed baby food made from boiled, strained vegetables and fruits (but not mixed together) created by a mom (naturally). It was pretty good! I walked the aisles tasting gut- blasting tonics, fermented juices, root based beverages, mushroom teas and numerous probiotic foods that promised to help clean out my stomach and intestines. I sipped paleo coffee mixed with butter to add “necessary fat” and sampled plenty of reduced fat foods. I nibbled on fiber rich bars and smoothies offering to “help me go.” I tasted foods promising to help boost
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While many stress the importance of first impressions, I’m a believer in taking a second look. They say you can’t judge a book by its cover, but often an individual needs a deeper read when it comes to her personality. Someone you may consider withdrawn or dull may simply be shy and needs time to warm up to people. Her personality will be slowly coaxed out if you give her a chance. The same goes for life as we know it and the surroundings and objects that fill it. That first date, or the first day of that vacation or school or job
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Just when I was patting myself on the back because my backside now fits into fashionably skinny jeans, I recently read an article in The Wall Street Journal that said skinny jeans are no longer in fashion. I guess my behind is behind the times. The article said there is a current backlash to “skinnies.” The new look is “rigid jeans.” These are jeans with no “give” or stretch. That sounds a lot like the kind of people who only talk and don’t listen. Rigid jeans are about taking and not giving; as in, they take time to mold to
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Despite the marches and numerous empowering talks and conferences by and about women, I still see too much insensitive and biased treatment. The surprising thing is that sometimes it starts with women. Some of the most judgmental and negative behavior I have witnessed, has been woman to woman. I am not alone in this observation. A book called “Twisted Sisterhood” (2010) reveals an undercurrent of woman to woman nastiness. Of the 3000 women surveyed by Author Kelly Valen, close to 85% “admitted having suffered serious, life-altering knocks at the hands of other women.” You can read the full article here. I am an advocate for women and
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Recently I attended a movie screening for my friend, Kathleen Squires’ new film, “James Beard: America’s First Foodie.” The screening was hosted by AARP. The trailer before the film was themed “take another look at AARP.” It showed vibrant, sexy, loving and active seniors. That’s right: Ageism, take a hike! According to AARP, about two in three workers between the ages of 45-74 have experienced ageism issues in the workforce. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 was supposed to address unfairness, but in 2015, over 21,000 complaints were filed with the government. Management often sites stamina and energy, lack
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I just celebrated my 40th high school class reunion in Chattanooga. I graduated Girls Preparatory School (GPS), a private girls school established in 1906. They say in Chattanooga that you “you can spot a GPS girl” by the way they she carries herself, her poise and her manners. You can see it in her spirit as well. The school colors are black and blue, and students and alumnae are called “bruisers.” Ironically, Merriam- Webster Dictionary defines a bruiser as a “husky man.” But the more urban definition is “someone who’s tough and doesn’t get taken down easily, someone with a
Read more →Tuck it in. Suck it in. Hold it in. How many times have you heard, read or said this? Well, I say do the opposite: Let it out! I recently interviewed movement specialist Mary Derbyshire for my radio show Fearless Fabulous YOU! The focus was staying agile at any age. Here is the link. Mary discussed how to sit, stand and move your body without overtaxing it. One thing I learned is that we tend to hunch and constrict our bodies rather than stay loose and limber. I realized during the discussion that too many of us are too tightly wound
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This week a friend send me this quote below. I immediately dropped plans to work on my taxes and other practical things this weekend and took the day off to go cross country skiing. The sun was out; the weather was warm and the snow conditions were just right. Taxes could wait; the perfect day could not. That’s the meaning of Eat the Cake. Too many times we deny ourselves the joy of stepping out of our routines to take time to do something truly pleasurable, even decadent. Or we are so focused on creating constraints in our lives to
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This week the hashtag #shepersisted has been circulating with fervor after Senator Majority Leader Mitchell McConnell invoked Rule XIX to basically tell Senator Elizabeth Warren to shut up and sit down after she gave a lengthy speech and started reading a letter written by Coretta Scott King criticizing Attorney General candidate, Senator Jeff Sessions, whose appointment Warren opposed. He was later approved. The rule states that ““No Senator in debate shall, directly or indirectly, by any form of words impute to another Senator or to other Senators any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming a Senator.” Senator McConnell said of
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“Finding Your Ruby Slippers” is the name of a book by my February 13th show guest, Psychotherapist and Clinical Social Worker Lisa Ferentz, The Ferentz Institute, on how to overcome self-destructive habits, conquer fear and find your inner strength. With Feb 26-March 4 being National Eating Disorders Week, this is one of the topics we will address, among others. One of my favorite quotes from a favorite movie. Listen now:
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On January 21 women around the nation and the world will gather in Washington, DC for the Women’s March on Washington. It’s not the first time women have marched. The women’s suffrage movement in the U.S. started to gain momentum during the second part of the 19th century leading up to the constitutional amendment approving women’s right to vote in 1919. On August 26, 1970, on the 50th anniversary of women’s suffrage, National Organization for Women (NOW) organized a “Women’s Strike for Equality.” Approximately 50,000 women marched in New York and another 100,000 women participated in demonstrations and rallies in
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The sun is out. You’re sitting at your desk working and enjoying the view outside. It may be morning or afternoon. Your call. You’re getting the work done on your time. No one is looking over your shoulder, watching you punch a clock. You’re making money in a stress-less environment and giving yourself time for You. Maybe you are making money in your sleep with an automated business. No matter how you shape your day, time is on your side. Sound good? You bet! Increasingly I meet women who have ditched the traditional corporate life to create a business model that
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