A couple of months ago I stumbled upon this post at Mommalogues.

I rarely visit the site yet when I saw a tweet containing the link/teaser below it caught my attention.

What three words would your kid(s) use to describe you?

For two reasons.

First, it reminded me how long it had been since I asked someone to define my MizFit brand for me.

Im a believer in the importance of defining one’s brand and in remaining consistent in all facets of brand messaging.

The best way (in my opinion) to learn if you’re conveying the “brand-message” you think you are is ask someone to explain your blog-brand to you.

The three word concept works perfectly here.

Are the words you receive the antithesis of what you’d expected? Consider that information each time you post, guest-post, tweet, facebook, pinterest etc.

Are the words you receive close but not precisely the messaging you want to share? Same thing.

Is distilling your blog-brand to three words too hard for most people?  You many want to consider/challenge yourself to see if your brand is too general/addressing too many (broad) topics.  This is something only you can decide.

Second, I was intrigued by the opportunity to find out from others (friends, family, partners, children) if they saw me as I viewed myself.

I was curious if I posed the question to Ren Man & the Tornado what words they’d choose.

As with our No Excuses! exercise*, I knew this would force me to become vulnerable. 

What do I care (really.) if someone informs me my Miz-branding is out of whack?  It’s great information.  It’s helpful (I can tweak my messaging or perhaps learn what I thought I wanted to convey has changed).

It’s all, in a sense, at arms length.  Not super personal.

What do I care if the Tornado or Ren Man lets me know (after working to live my priorities) Im not the person I think I am? A lot. 

And, because the thought of asking them terrified me, I knew I had no choice but to do it.**

And, because I smuggled the Tornado to NYC last week for some out of Texas frolic-time, I was presented with the perfect opportunity to ask her.

Some might think asking a 6 year old for her 3 words would result in a shower of compliments.

I adore my child–but that’s not her. 

She’s told me my teeth are yellow (and asked if that will happen to her when she’s “old”).   Shes informed me when she thinks my outfits are mismatched.  Ive always let her know home is a safe place to fall & she can say what she thinks/feels. ***

I handed her three pieces of hotel-paper and asked her to write three words she thought of when she thought about me.

And I waited.

She presented me with the below (and thankfully read them to me, too).

I know this post is far too long (& this is the edited version), yet I wanted to share the exercise and ask you consider taking part.

Think about the blog-brand you’re striving to create and take the emotional-risk of finding out if you’re sending out the messages you think you are.

Think about the life you are striving to create, make yourself vulnerable & ask loved ones/find out if others see you as you view yourself.

It’s scary.  It’s amazing. It’s eyeopening. 

(and yeah. it’s something *someday* I’ll ask Ren Man to do for me. Im not that ballsy yet.  Ill keep you posted…)

*Im doing this exercise again. If youve never done it before—I suggest trying it!

**of course we’re now having the discussions about hurting people’s feelings etc. I know all of the comments above have been proffered 100% as information with no malice intended.  To her it’s all information.

Before I was a mom I assumed parents only stopped to think about what they wanted for their children on special days.

I presumed on birthdays or graduations parents might ponder what kind of life they hoped their child would lead.  Day-to-day, however, I erroneously assumed this concept was not in the forefront of parents’ minds.

Now that I’m a mom I realize the exact opposite is true.

Not a day goes by where I don’t play with my daughter and wonder how her life will unfold.  Not a 24 hour period passes where I don’t think, at least once, of all the many things I hope she will experience.

With Mother’s Day rapidly approaching (because really. we all know Im writing this saturday night) I’ve spent time thinking about what I wish for my daughter both this year and beyond.

And, as much as I like to think we’re completely quirky and unique around here, I’d bet many of you have the same hopes for the little people in your lives.**

I hope you never lose your sense of joy.  I smile at how you greet each morning exuding excitement over what lies ahead.  I adore how you enter new situations expecting the best and knowing it will come to you.  I love how the tiniest of experiences puts a smile on your face.  I wish you never let this go.

I hope you remain unapologetically yourself.  Each time I watch your inimitable kindergarten swagger I make a wish you never shed this confidence.  I hope you always possess the inner strength to be completely who you are.   I wish you to remember (and live): Those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.

I hope you always know you’re enough…in this very moment and in all the moments which are to come.  You will change and grow as you mature, but I wish you always to remember you are enough just by virtue of being you.

I hope you can find answers in the stillness.  I wish you to maintain your sense of curiosity about the world.  I wish you to travel and experience all you long to.  I want you to read and learn and meet new people and share ideas.  I wish you to remember, when all the external stuff falls away, everything you need is already within you.

What do you wish for the little people in your life on this Mother’s Day?

Have you ever stopped to ponder what your mother/mother figure wished for you?

(I know Sundays are where posts go to die—but I couldnt let today pass without forcing my words upon you sharing my thoughts.)

**I’m a firm believer we have the ability and opportunity to mother in myriad capacities.   Role models, teachers, aunt, step-moms, babysitters etc. all “mother” and possess hopes & dreams for these loved ones, too.

A few weeks ago I bumped into a friend at the grocery.  She glowed. She radiated energy. She exuded happiness.  After I begged her to share She told me why.  I asked her to come here and share with you, too.

I’m 45 years old and my face has been broken out for over 9 months. 

I’d been to my dermatologist and have tried a myriad of topicals and antibiotics.  Nothing seemed to work.

I started wondering if my skin issues was hormone related so I decided to venture out of what I would call the main stream doctors and went to see a health and wellness doctor.

That decision took me on a journey I would have never imagined.

I was excited to have the blood work done and get on bioidentical hormones that are specific to what my body needs.  In addition to the hormone testing they offered an ALCAT test which tests for food sensitivities.

I thought, “why not?” since my insurance covered it.

 The results were eye opening. 

On the hormones I was low in vitamin D, low on testosterone levels, and low on T3.  I was prescribed vitamin D drops, testosterone cream, progesterone, and a low dosage of thyroid.

The ALCAT results threw me for a loop (MizFit note: There is more information on precisely what that test is here. It’s very interesting…to this misfit at least.)

I am highly sensitive to iceburg lettuce, oranges, cocoa/chocolate, and garlic.  The test results also listed foods in which I’m moderating and mildly sensitive.

It was all so overwhelming.

While I had all this information I didn’t know how to apply it.  So I decided to try a detox program my doctor had available through his office.  It changed my life.

The detox program was only 28 days and told me exactly what to eat for each meal as well as snacks.

It avoided dairy, breads, sugar, and alcohol.  I liked the fact the program includes meal replacement shakes for some meals.  That made it easy.

Also, I was buying produce and meat at the grocery story I had never tried or prepared before.  I always knew I needed to eat more fruits and vegetables, but I didn’t know how to realistically incorporate that into my daily routine.

The 28 day detox program told me exactly what to eat so I didn’t have to come up with a meal plan on my own.  That’s exactly what I needed to change my eating habits. 

I feel better than I have in a long time.

I have more energy.  I think more clearly.  I lost weight and inches around my middle area.  My libido is higher than it’s been in ages.  And the length of my period has cut in half.   My acne is getting better. It still isn’t where I want it to be.  But what was the impetus for going to the health and wellness doctor benefited me in so many ways I wasn’t expecting.

I have to admit after the diet I celebrated with an individual stuffed pizza and a few glasses of wine–but that was a treat.  It’s not my norm. 

Through the detox diet I have learned how to plan healthier meals and snacks for my family.

I feel good about what I put on my husband and 6-year-old daughter’s plate.

I can feel confident I’m giving them fuel for a healthy body and healthy mind.

It’s definitely an investment and takes commitment to change eating habits.  But it’s so worth it.

My mom used to tell me, “You are what you eat.”  She’s right. 

Oh misfit home-food. I heart ye.

There are truly no words to express how happy I am to be in NYC.

Im honored Fitness Magazine asked me to speak and I may or may not have smuggled a six year old here, too.

I adore my at home/work routine but GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY I was ready to git out of it for a few days…

Except for the food.

I love me my home-food and, since Im not one to give it all that much though on a daily basis, this is a fact which surprises me each time I go away.

Im an intuitive eater. 

I pretty much eat what my body demands and when it requests it (I know Im lucky to work from home this way).  This approach to (fingerquote) my diet (unFQ) works well for me.

Until I travel.

When I take a work trip Jetting off to exotic locales is really the only time I notices what my body craves tends *not* to be whats readily available.

Im a protein-gurl (reason #58 why Im such an Egg Beaters 100% egg whites fanatic). 

Carbohydrates of any variety (from lumpy-bumpy Irish oats to a bowl of fresh sliced fruit) even with a smattering of good fats dont satiate me.

My body cries out for protein.  Protein which, on the road and on the go, can be hard to locate.

What works for me (since a fridge dragged behind me all-filled-UP with EB WHITES didnt quite work out) is to bring along (or buy the moment I lay my misfit-eyes on it in a shop) protein laden snacks to add to my readily available carbohydrates.

I tend to tote:

• Turkey, beef or ostrich jerky.
• All varieties of nuts.
• Trail mix.
• Envelopes of no-drain tuna, salmon or chicken (and a plastic fork).

When I was hardER of core & traveled more (pre-Tornado) Id also tend to tote:

• Protein powder.
• PB2
• A travel blender.
• Flax & Chia. (in baggies. lest you think I was truly hardcore and brought canisters.)

All the navel-gazing above into my very boring dietary-habits (see why I never do the “what I ate Wednesday posts”?) has only served to make me curious about you & your food-travel habits.

Do you, as I do, miss your FAVE foodstuffs when youre away from home for a long stretch?

Do you pack your carry-on with snacks as I do?

Got any better/other suggestions for 2013 when I travel again?

This post is sponsored by Egg Beaters 100% egg whites.  The fact I’ve admonished various & sundry NYC restaurants for not serving Egg Beaters as a menu option was all my own idea.

A few weeks ago, our favorite MizFit posted over on the Facebook asking what we were choosing for ourselves that day to be *ready* for the week ahead.

I had an immediate answer to Carla’s question: “I’m choosing to be kind to myself. To believe I AM stronger than I think I am. To be present, be open & not rush the process of change.”

My last statement was most important. The practice of patience during the process of change has been a challenge for me lately.

That particular span of days had been the epitome of new beginnings. The Thursday prior, I attended a networking event for event planning professionals, making my first formal appearance as a freelance event planner. The next day brought the first brainstorming meeting for an event I was hired to plan. That evening, I attended the very first session of my yoga teacher training. When I responded to Carla’s FB post that Sunday morning, I was on my lunch break during teacher training and was high as a kite. I was buzzing from the excitement of potential and the anxiousness of uncertainty.

For most of us, dealing with change is not easy. For some of us, it’s harder than others. Especially us yogis with an anxiety prone personality.

Change presents itself in a variety of speeds. Think about a difficult flow during a vinyasa yoga class: you move from pose to pose at the pace of your inhales and exhales. It takes a great deal of energy to get from downward facing dog to crescent warrior to warrior two to extended side angle to a reversed warrior to chaturanga. And then do it on the other side. You still with me? Good. 

When change happens quickly it’s exhilarating yet nerve wracking. Things are happening so fast. There’s no chance to process just what is happening around you and happening to you. It’s easy for me to feel out of control. And as a control freak, it’s hard to relax and just enjoy the ride.

But sometimes, that change means sitting in the stillness until change occurs again. To be able to move that flow, you have to learn the order of the poses. You do this by moving through them s-l-o-w-l-y. Holding them for several breaths, which usually feels like an eternity.

For example, you’re holding Warrior 2. Your thigh is screaming at you. Your back leg is shaking. You’re doing your best to hold you arms in alignment while keeping your shoulders down and back, tucking your tailbone and not sticking out your ribs. You still with me?  You’re fully aware of all the physical discomfort. That’s when the chatter of your mind starts to creep in: when are we going to move?! I can’t hold this anymore! You start creating a story that festers self-doubt which leads to you breaking the pose – when you actually had the strength both mentally and physically to hold it.

But yoga sutra 1.13 says“practice is the effort to secure steadiness”. What if we practiced being open to that moment of stillness? What if we recognized what physical and mental discomfort was happening? What do we learn about ourselves when we then let it all go and just worked toward “being” in the pose?

So what have we learned?

1) That flowing the poses is hard.

2) That holding the poses is just as hard.

3) Yogis are apparently suckers for discomfort. Don’t get me started on pigeon pose.

So why do we do it?

I do it because the practice of yoga off the mat is so much harder than my practice on it. But my practice on my mat makes those changes off it so much easier to handle.

When I’m buzzing about like a busy bee, my asana practice reminds me that I am strong enough to make it through a stressful day. When I’m left alone in those moments of stillness, those physical yoga poses remind me to recognize the emotions I’m feeling, but to then just let them fade away.

My anxious mind gets me stuck in building that story around those emotions. The story of self-doubt.The story of uncertainty. The story of the fear of making a mistake. But I’m learning to let go. To take a chance.To do something scary.To open myself up to the potential of a situation. I’m working towards gaining patience as things change around me: both during those non-stop hectic moments and in those moments of stillness. It takes time to cultivate that patience - a process that is practice in itself.

My teacher always ends her classes with the phrase “what you believe, you create”. If you believe in what both change and patience can bring, just imagine what you might experience in that process of your own practice.

The fantasticamazingandtrulyZEN Alicia blogs over at Poise in Parma.  Please to visit her and get inspired. I know I always am.

When I reflect back on starting down my healthy living path it amazes me how much things have changed over (almost) twenty years.

When I reflect back on starting down my healthy living path it’s astonishing to me how little existed at that time to help us women begin & maintain healthy lifestyles.

I remember *searching* for a woman’s-only fitness center with weights because so few women were resistance training back then.

I remember being too afraid to join a co-ed facility because I knew I’d end up doing aerobics—not weights as I wanted—out of sheer intimidation.

I remember repeatedly questioning if I should resistance train because everyone I mentioned it to immediately informed me Id bulk up/they’d turn to fat when I stopped.

Twenty years ago there was virtually nothing.

There were few apparel companies making truly functional female-centric workout clothing.

There were very few communities to which we could look for support.

No blogs.  No Twitter. No facebook.

As a result, magazines like Fitness Magazine filled more than a “something to read on the stationary bike” void.

They were our fitness-bibles, our communities, the place where we asked our questions (letters to the editor, anyone?) and basically our entire connection to a female fitness community we couldn’t see/communicate with otherwise.

I began trying (I know there’s no trying only doing.  And yes. At the beginning there was only trying around here.) to get healthy right around the time Fitness Magazine launch.

I had a few fits and starts, but for the most part my journey has paralleled Fitness Mag’s.

We both launched in 1992 & have done our best to be as healthy as we can for the past twenty years.

I have no clue what they’d say their ‘best!moment!’ has been since publication—but I know one of my ‘best!moments!’ of healthy living was being selected to launch their Fit Blogger We Love series.

When I started subscribing as a semi-sedentary graduate student I’d never imagined I’d be working out/living fit twenty years later let alone recognized for my efforts.

In the same vein, Im super excited to be heading to NYC on tomorrow.

Fitness Magazine is hosting an all day Meet & Tweet* on May 9th.

There will be a number of panels with rockstar speakers (read: way way far far bigger than I) & I’ll be speaking on a FitFluential panel about the Business of Blogging.

More important than all that stuff is We’re also planning some sort of a meet-up Tuesday night.

Low-key. Hangout. Talk. Laugh. Mock the fact I appear to own no other clothing than jumpsuits.

Id love for any of you NYC or *close* to NYC people to come and join us.

Ill post information on Facebook & twitter as soon as I know anything.

Now you.

How long has healthy living been an integral part of your day-to-day life?

Where have you found your healthy living ‘community’?

Were you still in diapers twenty years ago while I was struggling to shed pounds?  Break it to the rest of us gently.

Oh people.

Have you seen me?

Ive been furtively scrambling my Egg Beaters 100% egg whites & inhaling them while youre not looking.

Ive been pouring my EB whites in my microwave oats & snarfing them when I think youre off reading other blogs or tweets.

Ive gots the Egg Beaters guilts.

Or, more aptly put, as of today I had the Egg Beaters guilts.

For some reason I got it into my misfit-head I needed to be more of a ‘cook’ in order clearly convey my E.B. love.

(you know, like I imagine this woman or this woman might be.)

I feared I needed to change the way I consumed my ‘beaters so you were compelled to print my posts Id say ‘or pin my posts’ here, too, but Im still very antiPinterest. I know I know… because you simply could not live another moment without trying my recipes.

And then it occurred to me that my easy-eat-on-the-run & simple-to-slip-into-my-day way of snarfing the ‘beaters is precisely why I love them so.

Ive looked to Egg Beaters 100% egg whites for *years* for a fast, easy protein infusion.

I love how Im no longer throwing away multiple yolks & yet can still toss in some fat (avocado, cheese, olive oil etc) where I want.

I don’t get fancy with them which makes my Egg Beaters consumption pretty much like every.other.facet of my life.

Ive been eating them for decades and yet it was only the launching of our partnership which made me realize this ‘lack of fancy’ is why I love them.

They are an easy, fast, small change we can all make which will result in bigger muscles  in our being more healthy.

They are something I advocate *adding* to your day in addition to all the myriad ways youre already living a fit life.

They are something Im truly stunned to the *core* my husband has started eating on a regular basis & adores as I do all because of the ease.

They are something I love. and which Ive finally gots no guilt about the fact I use them in the way which works best for me:

SIMPLE, FAST and EASY.

And that’s (dramatic pause as I remind myself *again*) OK.

Ive shed the guilt about my not being Egg Beaters 100% egg whites fancy.

It’s like my beloved Theodor Geisel said:

Those who mind dont matter, and those who matter will totally hit me up in the comments below with their creative Egg Beaters cooking ideas and links to their recipes & blogs*.

Is your cooking-style simple, fast & easy as mine is?

Or do you, like many bloggers, enjoy the process of complicated food creation & find it serves to relax you?

 
 
*I am sort of paraphrasing a bit here.

This post is sponsored by Egg Beaters 100% egg whites who generously offer recipes on their website.  The opinions & skull salt shaker pictured above are all my own.

Please welcome Jody! It has taken me ages—but Ive finally dragged her over to my neck of the ‘net…

I love these posts here at Carla’s place because in this day when it seems like you have to lose 100 pounds or more for it to mean something, Carla, is celebrating all of us that lose  15, 20, 25, 40 or any amount of weight! Even if a person loses 10 pounds, that is something to be celebrated – an accomplishment!

Like Carla, I was young when I lost my approximately 35-40 pounds.  I lost it by changing my food & did not necessarily exercise more. After that point, my way of keeping it off was not really the right way to do it. I was exercising but I was not eating right – salads, no protein & avoiding fat, even the healthy kind. This was old school thinking at its best! I was “maintaining” for the most part but I HAD TO RELEARN HOW TO EAT & exercise in a better way. The biggest thing for me was that food –not just salads but protein, healthy fat & the right type of carbs that worked best for my body.

Truth be told and this is the FIRST TIME I HAVE WRITTEN THIS FOR PEOPLE TO READ, I still crave all those things I ate way back when that made me heavy. Yes, I still would love to eat cinnamon rolls & cookies & brownies & crackers & lots of other stuff that made me “fat” BUT I CHOOSE NOT TO eat them!

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the way I eat now. I have a food plan that works for me & keeps me happy. I plan for treats & yes, there are times I just want to have “that thing”.  Yes, I have the emotional eating here & there too! The key point is that I get right back to my healthy ways. I own it & move on!

I have been maintaining for over 30 years.

What are the things I think helped me succeed at this:

1. PATIENCE!!!!  I needed that to lose the weight & it takes a lot more of it to maintain! I just saw a segment with Joy Bauer from The Today Show. She had 3 people with long-term weight loss success stories on the show. They all said losing was hard but the maintaining was even harder! You may have ups & downs. Stick with it! Age creates a new set of things to deal with & I am working that now. It takes PATIENCE to stick with it as I try to get past these aging factors. It takes patience all thru life BUT you can do it!
2. Find what works for you! We are all different. You may use a number of different plans to take the weight off but always remember it is not about anyone but you. Find the food plan & exercise plan that works for you. Make it YOUR lifestyle.
3. Consistency of course! Once you have lost the weight, you just can’t go back to eating the way you used to – that is why you put on the weight. You need to take that food & exercise plan & be consistent with it long term. Yes, enjoy now & then but you can’t eat anything you want any time you want to…. Cold hard facts.
4.  ALWAYS LEARNING!  I had to learn to change with the years, the job, whatever was going on in my life. I had the hormones when I was younger and now the hormones with age. I did not do the same thing nor eat the same thing all thru these years. You have to keep evaluating & finding what works for you at different stages of your life. Doing the same thing day in & day out, week after week, month after month, year after year is not going to keep you at maintenance because our bodies DO change! Learn to listen to your body every day, month, year.  Things change, you change – change with them!

I know it is tough to lose & it is going to be even harder to maintain but it is so worth it! Listen & learn about your body so that you can make adjustments thru time.  Live it & find ways to keep you happy & healthy – it can be done!

The show on Sunday was fantastic.

The rehearsal on Saturday? Not so much.

I could ramble on and on about precisely why (the podium felt weird, reading from a binder felt wonky blather blather blather), but the only important point is I left the rehearsal wishing I could back out.

I felt panicked in a way which Id never felt before.

I love getting up in front of people.

I’m a performer at heart.

I longed to feign illness.

Not only was the Listen to your mother show a departure from my comfort zone—-it was a tribute to the Tornado.

I wanted, more than practically anything before,  it to go flawlessly because it was essentially an act of love.

For her.

And after Saturday morning I was a frazzled mess.

I spent Sunday morning reading and rereading my essay.

In front of the mirror.  At the breakfast table.  Attempting from memory in the shower.  Alone in my bedroom.

Over and over and over.

Mid oneoftheovers I heard a timid knock at the door & the Tornado came into the room.

“Mama,” she said with the confidence of one who has done myriad presentations.  “When youre reading just pretend it is only Dada and me in the audience.”

And, as trite as it sounds, I immediately knew it would all be ok.

Id stammer.  Or I wouldnt.

Id get tripped up.  Or Id read it just fine.

I’d not make it through because I’d be sobbing too hard.  I’d appear detached because I was working *so* hard not to cry.

I knew no matter how I did—-it would be perfect enough.

After the show was over (when the video is youtube‘d you can see how it all went down) we went out to dinner as a family.

“I knew you could do it, Mama.“  The Tornado told me in her most serious of tones.  “Good job.  Now you know it, too.”

Today begins month number five of striving to live my priorities.

I think it’s a toss up between when Ive learned more about life and about myself: the past 42.75 years or the past five months.

I cant wait to see what the rest of 2012 has in store.

Oh people.  I love me some Dr. Oz,  but Ive been burned before.

Allow me to elaborate.

I used to HEART me some Dr. Phil.

Back in the day, when he was merely an occasional guest on the Oprah Show, I was completely smitten with that man.

Id Dr. Phil myself myriad times a day (“Whats the WORST that could happen?”)

Id find myself creating my own wacky Phil’isms (“You see, if a monkey cant read upside down then you should take that job or he might get himself a down pillow!”).

Basically I thought he was smart, stern, wise, and no nonsense.

UNTIL HE GOT HIS OWN SHOW.

And then, for me at least, he swiftly went the way of the Springer.

So you can see why I was sad & not excited when my healthy living boyfriend, Mehmet fave Dr. Oz got his own television show.

It seems Oprah has the golden touch—unless said ‘touch’ involves bestowing upon you a 60 minute TV time-slot.

That said, for me and for *now*, Dr. Oz has escaped the Oprah Curse & is still is somewhat of ‘balanced’ healthy living role-model.

Allow me to share exactly why.

• His information is clear, concise & easily understood.  I recall seeing him asked once what one unhealthy food we should all completely avoid.  I was nervous & curious what he’d say. Being an intuitive eater I practically define myself by the fact NOTHING is ‘off limits.”  His answer?  Anything white which is not a fruit or vegetable.  Clear, concise, easily followed and YES, even for me, VERY TRUE.

• He is consistently empathic.  And authentic. I can’t imagine he’s ‘acting’ or as he’d be on the stage/in the movies rather than hanging with us in the healthy living realm.  He possesses an inimitable ability to relate to everyone & discover/find commonalities where there seemingly are none.  All of my favorite bloggers possess this skill, too.  It’s truly a gift.

• He’s firmly anti-multitasking.  As I am.  Admittedly I should watch his show more (I pinky swear I will when we procure us that extra hour in the day), but Ive heard him say repeatedly how important it is to do one thing at a time, finish that task, and then move on.  Sure he paralleled this to his time as a surgeon (insert joke here he DID NOT MAKE about jumping from body to body mid-operation) but in my opinion this applies to all of us.  I know when I multi-task I end up doing nothing well and rarely completing any task.

• He believes ‘fitness small stuff’ adds up. (PLAYouts anyone?) In the land where too many trainers & experts advocate long, lingering workouts it’s refreshing to hear him sing the praises of his 7 minute morning workout.   I have nothing against long & lingering, I just know for many of us that isn’t an option. I also know I had many clients skip workouts because they didnt have a a full hour to dedicate to exercise.  Im anti-SKIPPAGE.

• He validates my repetitiveness, err, consistency.  My morning meal tends to be the same.   I love my breakfast. It works well for me time-wise.  Ive also heard him say people who eat the same things over & over (day in and out) consume fewer calories overall.  Im not sure there’s science here (anyone?), yet I do agree with him when it comes to repetition! Change is good. We need to shake our ‘stuff up’ so we dont plateau, but it’s ok to have  a place in your life where you dont.  It’s fine to have an aspect of your life where you just LET GO AND GET ROUTINIZED!  For me that place is my morning meal.

Im a firm believer in & tell anyone who will listen:

Find gurus! Read books! Buy magazines! Watch movies & television shows! Listen to doctors and professionals around you—but remember, in the last analysis, you are the expert of your own body.

One of the people I listen to/information-gather from is Dr. Oz.

Now you.

Do you love you some Mehmet as I do or have you, as many have, turned on The Oz?

In your mind has he been a victim of the dreaded Oprah TV Show CURSE?

Please to also tell me how much you ADORE I rock the 1980′s photo-shop in the picture above.

Edited to say: I just saw on Twitter, where I procure all my information, The Dr Oz show is reviewing the JumpSport Fitness trampoline tomorrow! My yammerings of love above remain, even though The Tornado & I werent invited on the show to share our rebounding wisdom.