Archive for September, 2011

Manifest Destiny

Manifesting Your Destiny

Manifest Destiny

Here’s a concept of how we are influenced and how we can have things come into being.

Manifest Destiny.”  as many history buffs know was a heavily influenced American policy in the 1800s. The idea was the driving force behind the rapid expansion of America into the West from the East, and it was heavily promoted in newspapers, posters, and through other mediums. While this phrase was not itself an official government policy, it led to the passage of legislation such as the Homestead Act, which encouraged Westward colonization and territorial acquisition.  It also played an important role in American thought.

John O’Sullivan, an American newspaper editor who was writing about the proposed annexation of Texas, first used the term Manifest Destiny in 1845.  He stated that it was America’s  “Destiny” to overspread the continent. The editorial suggested that through expansion, the United States could become a recognized political and social superpower.  America had, in fact, O’Sullivan argued, been uniquely chosen for the task of expanding westward, driving out the wilderness and establishing civilization.

The Westward expansion of the United States did not, of course, begin with Manifest Destiny.  The Louisiana Purchase of 1803, was probably the first major step.  The government saw the appeal in acquiring more land, as a result, a policy pursuing aggressive expansion was actively pursued.  The idea of Manifest Destiny was merely a component, and one, which captured people’s imagination.

O’Sullivan’s editorial added fuel to the fire with this catchy phrase. Numerous government campaigns painted the allures of the West for prospective settlers, and promoted programs, which could help people, acquire and hold land in the West.  With the discovery of gold and other valuable minerals, a tide of Easterners started to pour into the West, supported by their belief in their right and duty to expand.

This idea of Manifest Destiny was also behind American political actions overseas. Although the term ceased to be used in a political context in the early twentieth century, the far-reaching impact of it was clear.  A section of the editorial reminded Americans that they were uniquely positioned to spread democracy throughout the world, and this concept clearly played a role in twentieth century American foreign policy.  Many historians use the term “Manifest Destiny” to refer to the period in American history which was marked by rapid expansion “from sea to shining sea” through annexation of the Western half of the continent.

The concept of Manifest Destiny was a creation of John O’Sullivan, and from his creation it became intention, and from that intention people paid attention to it and so it became real.  Yes, you do manifest your own destiny, so why not manifest exactly what you want?

You have the power and the energy to create what you want.  Have you ever heard of the butterfly principle?  Edward Lorenz stated this “A butterfly, flapping its wings in one part of the world, could affect the weather on the other side of the globe.”  May sound silly, however it is true.  Whenever there is any action, no matter how minute, it generates motion and energy, which touches and affects everything and all of us.

Everything in the universe is energy and you and I can use this energy for the good of ourselves.  As we know, what you intend is what you will go about doing and that intention is built into the fabric of life.  It is everything from a blade of grass to a tree to all animal and human life and I do mean everything.

Let’s consider minor things such as an apple seed.  Do you believe that an apple seed has an intention?  Well it must have intention or it wouldn’t become an apple tree and have more apples with seeds.  The intention of these plants never waivers, they become what they are intent on becoming.  An acorn becomes an oak tree; a seed of grass becomes your lawn, and so on as it is for every living thing.  All DNA, your DNA has intention built into it.

So starting today go and Manifest your Destiny!

Get SMART

Get S.M.A.R.T!

Getting Smart

Are you SMART?  I guess we all think we are, but I’m really not talking about your intelligence. What I’m talking about is reaching your goals the SMART way and that usually takes change.  As the Greek philosopher Hippocrates said, “The only permanent thing is change”. Our ability to welcome or accept change is an important ingredient when it comes to achieving our goals, as well as our capacity to grow and learn.

As a Coach I find that although most people start off with sincere intentions, however very often those “sincere” or good intentions fall by the wayside. Why? There’s an old adage: “If you fail to plan, then you have planned to fail”.  Without a solid plan and strategic tools your goals will often fail to materialize.

One of the many tools that I use in my practice – and one that you might find useful in helping you achieve you goals is called S.M.A.R.T. I hope these S.M.A.R.T. tips help you achieve your goals.

Specific – Measurable- Achievable- Realistic – Time limited

Specific – Your goal should be clearly defined. Have a specific date to accomplish it by and know what action you will need to take.  An example would be the desire to be healthier. Is ‘healthier’ specific? Not really. A specific goal would be to join a health club and/or lose 12 lbs. When you are specific, your goal has a much better chance of being accomplished.

Measurable – Ask the question “How will I know when it is accomplished”?  The number of times you plan to visit the Health club or how many pounds you plan on losing are measurable goals.  Measuring your progress helps you to stay on track to reach your goal.  “Wow, “I lost 3 lbs this week” – “I’m right on target!”

Attainable – It is wonderful to set high goals, but be realistic about them.  Setting goals that are difficult to attain can be very disempowering.  Good example: “I will lose 12 lbs within 3 months”.  Bad Example: “I will lose 12 lbs by next week”.

Realistic – To be realistic, you must believe it can be accomplished, because you have done it before, or have the ability and tools, or you have someone who knows how to accomplish what you want to do.  Have you done anything similar in the past?  What components are needed to reach your goal?

Time limited – Without a time frame, your goal enters that nether land of ‘someday’.  Since you’re probably not Peter Pan setting a specific end date prompts your unconscious mind to ‘get to work’.

Now be SMART and put these S.M.A.R.T. tools to work for you.

Making a Quantum Shift in 21 Days

I have recently created a series of videos called “How to Make a Quantum Shift” in your life in just 21 days”.  So what does that mean?  Does it mean better health for you?  Does it mean improving your relationships?  Does it mean learning how to have financial success?  Does it mean having a better understanding of your spirituality?  Does it mean how to use your wisdom for the betterment of mankind?  Well, Yes!  It is all of the above.

My task was to pack into your 21-day challenge as much meaningful and useful information as possible.  So you might ask why did I do this?  I did this because it’s my passion to be a leader in helping others succeed in life. And my definition of succeeding in life is to have harmony and wealth in every facet of your existence.

The series will focus on 5 key areas, they are Your Health, Your relationships, Your Finances, Your Spirituality and Your Mind. For this challenge to be of value to you it is very important that you complete viewing all the videos. Then take the challenge so you can realize results and make that Quantum Shift.

I hope you’re up for the challenge, I mean, really why wouldn’t you be?  Who knows what you’ll learn.  As they say when the student is ready the teacher will come.  So here I am.  I look forward to helping each, and every one of you to grow and find new successes in every area of your life.

To View Video click on the link below:

21 Day Challenge to making a Quantum Shift

Get Fit and Healthy

 

    Click here to play the video

Check out the Snack Healthy Products

 

How We Think – Part II

Everything we think has been learned.  It has been taught to us from our childhood, our friends, our peers, our family, the news, and the workplace.  Things we hold closest to us and very much engrained in us came from how we were treated as a child, what we saw and heard as a child, and what we experienced as a child.  As we grew we experienced changes and formed new opinions and perceptions as to how the world worked and how we expected to be treated, as well as how we treated others.

And while all of these people had an effect as to who you are today this workshop and seminar is not about why you think the way you do, but to help you see and understand that whatever negative emotions, relationships, and problems you have in your life can change, because you have a choice, we all have a choice.

Let’s take something as simple as today.  Today you chose to be here because of some beliefs you have about your relationship(s) that you want help in changing.  Now you didn’t have to come, but something within you is begging for a new start, a fresh start and a change you either haven’t been willing to make or are uncomfortable making.  For some of you the changes will come easily, for others it will be a difficult and long road.  And whether the changes you make are easy or difficult is in your control.  Remember everything is in your control, but you have to begin to believe that.  And I know many of you are here today thinking that you are tired of being controlled by others, but the reality is, as harsh as this may sound, is that you are allowing yourself to be controlled.  My sincere hope and wish for you is that you will discover here today, or in the very near future, those reasons and to allow yourself to be free of those who you believe are controlling you and find lasting happiness.

In your workbook I have left certain areas blank and underlined so you can fill it in as we go along.  I have done this so you don’t fall asleep while I speak, hopefully I’m not that boring, and the information and exercises become more memorable and part of you.

So let’s begin by first understanding a little bit about who we are.

I want you to know that you hold your world together with your             attention                    .  And when you    shift               your attention from the world you created it collapses and a new world emerges.

Let me be clear about this.  Right now whatever you are thinking can change in an instant.  Let’s try something simple.  Think about how uncomfortable you are with a relationship at work or with a family member.  Pick one.  Now think about one specific incident where you felt that he or she was being tough, not physically tough, where they were trying to convince you to do something you didn’t want to do.  So look at your reaction to that.  How did it make you feel?  Did you feel angry?  Did you feel stupid?  Or did you take it as a constructive piece of advice?  So now I want you to think about them, not you and your feelings.  I want you to see them as being genuinely concerned for your welfare.  I want you to smile and see them as a loving person and I want you to think about what they said, knowing that this is their opinion about the best way for you to solving your problem.  See how you think, from how you have been programmed and how you want to see things is totally in your control.

You       create        your own reality based upon two things;

Your       intention                       and your        attention        .

Energy   flows where     attention                 goes.

If you intend to listen with an open heart and mind and you believe that the person giving you their advice or opinion means you well then you listen and hear what is being said.  Your attention is heightened and then you can decide what to do with the information you have received.  And now we get back to control.  You can control what you do with that information and that is to use it or loose it. 

Your Attention is paramount because ‘Only Now exists’.

Being in the present moment requires your full attention so that you are fully awake to experience it.  When you are fully    present             , your mind does not wander.  You are focused on what is going on right now, rather than thinking about what just happened or worrying about what is going to happen next.

Life happens to us when    we happen         to life in the     now      .

Now’s here’s the rub, most of the things you are creating you’re creating from deep within your         unconscious             .

 

Why is it that you’re running out of money all the time?  Why is it that you’re not healthy and fit?  Why is that you’re always in the same relationship?  It’s because your moving to that universe that’s outside of your              awareness                        .   So until you heal those things you will never make a positive and profound quantum leap.  A quantum leap is moving to a new universe.


Wealth, Success & Fulfillment – Part III

It’s not    what     you do but      how   you do it that determines your wealth or success or fulfillment in life.

There are 4 key ingredients:

The First is                         passion                     or an intense desire to accomplish something or have something.

The Second is        excitement                         is when you are powerfully emotionally charged or aroused.

The Third is                       inspiration                          or to be stimulated, to infuse into the mind and to communicate that to your spirit.

The Fourth is        motivation                          , which is a willingness to act or a reason to do something.

 

And what’s so alike about all of these words.  They are all     emotions                 .  It’s the 99% of where you want to be to accomplish everything you want.  So you see it’s these components that determines your wealth, success or fulfillment in this life .

As Emerson said, “Nothing great has ever accomplished without enthusiasm”.

Now a lot of people have great           intentions               but poor follow-up.  So consequently having good intentions just doesn’t move you forward, does it.

Outside, Inside the Box Thinking

Wondering what outside, inside the box is all about? I know you’ve heard the term “think outside the box”, but what does that really mean, and even if you really know the definition do you know how to think outside the box?  I created this term to show you there are other ways to think.  Am I saying the same thing, as “think outside the box”?  Here’s the concept, I am outside the box that I am presently in, looking at myself inside and creating ways to get me out of the box. Creating new paths to remove my self from being inside.  Want to ponder that for a bit?

You see we’re always in a box, perhaps a larger box than before because we have expanded our thinking and ways of getting things done, it’s called growing.  So every time we want to create something new we must step out of the box.  It’s almost like contemplating, “how the universe began”.  Now that will make you crazy.  I can tell you from experience it’s not easy. Even those of us who have practiced this for years get stuck often enough, and have to step back, step out, and think about what we’re trying to achieve.  We have to remove ourselves from ourselves by visualizing everything anew.

The goal of thinking outside the box is to actually do that, which means to think differently from what you know and believe.  To not use all of the same excuses you always use as to why something cannot be done. You must approach this thinking by throwing away all of your preconceived notions about how you will achieve your goal.  Your goal is to create something from nothing, paint your greatest vision on a blank canvas, empty your mind and re-imagine your world.  Do you think Fulton, Bell, DaVinci, Ford, or others could have created what they did by using the same ideas and tools of others?

Whatever the goal, whether it is to gain more customers, build revenue, figure out how to increase profits, construct a new building or design the city of tomorrow.  The magic word is “Create”, to bring into existence, to produce or bring about by a course of action or behavior, to produce through imaginative skill something new, and different.

So you’re probably wondering how you go about “thinking outside the box”?  As I mentioned, you do this by removing yourself from any and all preconceived notions or ideas about how it has been done before.  If you were to re-invent the wheel, so to speak, and you needed to transport an object from point A to point B you would not use the same method of how a wheel operates because you need to invent something better, or completely new.  Let me try and paint another picture for you.  If you mediate this may help.  In meditation the goal is to let all thoughts flow through you, by not expanding on the thought that just entered your mind.  It’s sort of like getting amnesia or having short term memory loss. You want new thoughts and new ideas that can propel you to invent a better wheel, or another completely new method for transportation in this case.

Typically, you or a group of you, will think they are “thinking out of the box”, but you will do the same things you have been doing except do more of it. In other words if you are advertising in a magazine, or on a billboard, or on radio or TV, or through social media, or Google ad words, you will just do more of that in an effort to gain more exposure and more customers. While that strategy can work for you are you really doing anything different?  You must create something new and different.

In football, they are constantly re-thinking plays. The goal of course is to get the ball into the end zone and score points, but they have dozens, maybe hundreds of strategies to accomplish this, don’t they.  And they keep inventing new ones all the time. It’s the same for you.  Easy to think out of the box?  No, but if you want unique solutions and to do things and go places no one has ever gone before (Star Trek, couldn’t resist) then you need to change your way of doing things.

So what is the ‘Key’ to “Thinking Out of The Box”?  A combination of amnesia, creativity, guts, chance and entrepreneurship.  I am reminded of all the job ads I see where they are seeking someone with qualifications having done the same thing as what that company is doing.  They believe that the candidate will be able to hit the ground running using the same methods and contacts to achieve a goal sooner.   While this may be true for the short term, isn’t the goal to differentiate yourself from everyone else.  Isn’t the goal to actually create something new or use a new method?  Many times, I have helped companies just because I didn’t know anything about their industry.  I’m a new perspective, a new way of thinking and a new chance at having bigger successes.  I could go on with stories about why it’s so important to “think out of the box”, but instead I’ll leave you with this… “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is, yes, “a form of insanity”.

Now go and put on a new hat today and create your greatest dream, or hire someone already outside the box to help you get ahead.  I can tell you that paying a little more for a consultant can be a lot better, and a lot less expensive in the long term,  than paying a little less for an employee, who in the long term may cost a lot more.

MLM’s vs Pyramid Schemes

In my previous blog I talked about how an MLM business is different from a Brick and Mortar company.  I also mentioned how many still believe that MLM’s are a Pyramid scheme. Here are the differences and what you need to do to be successful in an MLM.

First, let me define a Pyramid (yes it looks just like the ones built in Egypt) and how most MLM’s work.  A Pyramid scheme, as it’s called, is a non-sustainable business model that involves promising participants payment, services or ideals, primarily for enrolling other people into the scheme or training them to take part, rather than supplying any real investment or sale of products or services to the public.  Pyramid schemes are a form of fraud.

An MLM is a marketing strategy in which the sales force is compensated not only for sales they personally generate, but also for the sales of others they recruit, creating a down line of distributors and a hierarchy of multiple levels of compensation.  Other terms for MLM include network marketing, pyramid selling,(not to be confused with pyramid scheme) and referral marketing. 

Most commonly, the salespeople are expected to sell products directly to consumers by means of relationship referrals and word of mouth marketing. Some people equate MLM with direct selling, although MLM is only one type of direct selling.

MLM’s are not for everyone and not everyone makes money in an MLM.  There are many reasons, so let me give you some examples of what it takes to be successful.

  1. It takes time!  Most people think you sign up and it’s instant business, it’s not. Be patient.
  2. It’s a business!  Just like any other business you need to advertise it and talk to people.
  3. It takes belief in your product and/or service!  If you wouldn’t eat it, or use it why would anyone else?
  4. It takes money!  Some more than others.  There is the product you purchase for yourself, which is good because you like it and use it.  Then sometimes you need to buy samples, business cards, brochures, and perhaps Internet ads.
  5. It takes a strong team and support!  You need team support and love from your up-line.
  6. It takes a good compensation plan!  There are many ways to construct a comp plan and too many to discuss here.  So do your homework and make sure it’s sensible and you get paid quickly.
  7. It takes discipline! Yes, you must do something everyday to promote your business, just like going to work for someone else, except the rewards can be greater.

Now this Blog isn’t meant to be all-inclusive, so if you’ve never been part of an MLM or in your own business, just know it’s different and you have to work it as you would any other business. Finally talk to those who are successful and find out their secrets before making that decision.

And here’s my plug for JEUNESSE.  As I mentioned in my first blog about MLM’s, there is a reason I chose JEUNESSE.  I am into health and wellness, internal and external, and from my research and discussions with others who are using this product I believe it does what it says. I have been using it a short while and I see small results, and I will continue to use it to get the results others have achieved.

This product is derived from stem cell media and is then formulated with other state-of-the-art ingredients to create a “one of a kind” anti-aging facial serum, called LUMINESCEa cellular rejuvenation serum.  The synergistic combination of the stem cell technology and natural body processes stimulates the production of matrix proteins such as collagen and elastin. This results in the plumping and firming of the skin, which helps to diminish the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

There are many products on the market, as you know, which claim these benefits, however this is a patent pending process from Nathan Newman, M.D. and Vincent C. Giampapa, M.D., F.A.C.S., both world-renowned cosmetic surgeons.  It costs nothing, but a few minutes to check out JEUNESSE, just go to – http://www.skin4life.jeunesseglobal.com/

By the way you don’t have to be in the business if it doesn’t suit you, but you can buy the products and enjoy a more vibrant, youthful appearance.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and if you have questions just email me at arthurjames@thecoffeehousecoach.com

Have a great day and stay healthy!

Is an MLM business so different from a Brick and Mortar company?  Most people will say, “you betcha”.  While they are different, both serve a purpose, but an MLM is more advantageous to your financial wealth than the other.

Unfortunately, many people still believe that MLMs are a Pyramid scheme.  They are not!  Pyramid schemes are illegal.  MLM’s have that stigma just like car dealers still are viewed as “used car salesmen”, out to get you and cheat you.

MLM’s are just another method of getting products to the marketplace without going through many levels of marketing and distribution.

Let’s compare how a product gets to market:

Standard Method                     MLM Method

Manufacturing                            Manufacturing Manufacturing sales team            Distributor (you) Distributor                                 End User (customer) Distributor sales team                                             Brick and Mortar Outlet                                             End User (customer)

In the standard method there are at least 5 separate businesses to get the product to the end user and it’s very costly.  With each level you are supporting a brick and mortar building and all the sales, marketing, and administrative people, office equipment and supplies, advertising costs from the manufacturer, the distributor and the retail establishment, merchandising, trade shows, and the list goes on.  You see each level essentially duplicates the efforts of the other, and that’s why the cost to you and me are so high.

With the MLM method you have eliminated many costs, which is why you can get paid what you do, and why you can get paid through several levels.  The end product cost is essentially the same, but now you and I can be compensated for our efforts and still enjoy a good product.

I want to talk to you about a product that I like, and I am involved with, it’s called Snack Healthy.  Now you and I know there are hundreds, maybe thousands of MLM companies out there, some have products, some provide services, and some both.

Since I am into health and wellness, I chose Snack Healthy.  Snack Healthy is made from quality ingredients, is Gluten Free, manufactured under kosher conditions, and is packed with as much protein as you can get into these snacks.  Lets’ face it, we all like to snack, but why do you have to compromise your health when snacking?  So through my research and to satisfy my needs I found Snack Healthy to be a great choice.  By the way you don’t have to be in the business if it doesn’t suit you, but you can buy the products and enjoy a healthier lifestyle.

It costs nothing, but a few minutes to check out Snack Healthy, just go to http://great4u.snackhealthy.com/

I’d love to hear your thoughts, or if you have questions just email me at – great4uat@gmail.com

Have a great day and stay healthy!

What’s Your ROI?

Do you know where your customers are coming from? Do you understand your options? Do you know who is your audience? Do you know what media to you use to reach them? Do you know what ROI means? If you don’t have some or all of these answers you are spending too much time and money without the correct results.

To begin ROI is “Return on Investment”, and it’s not always easy to figure out, but when you do it’s easy to calculate, as there are lots of parts to it. I recently read and posted an article about calculating your ROI using Social Media. The question is this, “how do you calculate your ROI and is there a need to? As the writer says “That’s the question that gives me ulcers when asked it”.

As an, “old-school” business person used to using print, radio and TV, and using coupons, specials and more to try and gauge or calculate the ROI it seems easier for social media. From my experience there is no doubt that while the use of “Social Media” is a lot different than the “Old School” media I know, it is easier to calculate your ROI. If your not old enough to have used the “Old School” methods you may have no comparison and have to take my word for it.

First, if you want to spend your money wisely calculating ROI is necessary. Any smart businessperson would do that. So how do you calculate your ROI whatever marketing method you use? Well to begin with you need some way to measure where your viewers, or traffic are coming from, and then to measure your sales and where they are coming from. The real key is measuring sales, because you can have a ton of traffic, which seems great, but if you don’t have sales/customers you’re dead in the water. BTW you do need to know the amount of traffic so you can measure how many people you need to reach to achieve a sale.

Years ago when I had a brick and mortar business, and probably one of the few who had a website, I bought into SEO marketing. Even though I got a lot of hits to my website I received almost no calls. So this told me I needed to look at why my site wasn’t working, what my competition was doing and who were the people I was reaching through this SEO strategy, and then what I needed to change.

As an example let’s say you pay for affiliate ads, or Google adwords, or advertsing on FaceBook, etc. While you can measure how many people are visiting your site, can you measure how many people are purchasing from any of those marketing venues? Of course you can that’s why social media and Internet marketing is a much better bargain than the old school way.

What’s great about Internet monitoring is the protocols you can imbed in your website, such as Google Analytics, which gives you info about page hits and more. In addition Alexa.com will let you know where your site ranks and so when you change or add what you are doing to your website or in multiple places you can also track what’s working. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Now here’s the thing about measuring your ROI, you now have to create line items for your costs vs. your return. Return is all of your sales, that’s easy. Your cost is a list of things you may or may not have considered and here’s some for you to ponder and then attach a cost to them. Once you do this then the calculation is easy. Just dump it all into an Excel spreadsheet and voila!, you get the answer. Just take all your expenses from that venue and divide it by the total sales you have.

To get you started here’s the list of expenses, which includes your time or what you pay someone for the work that needs to be done.
1. Marketing Research
2. Answer emails and phone
3. Phone meetings
4. Customer Follow-up
5. Writing Articles
6. Writing and Submitting ads
7. Postings on FB, Twitter, Stumbleupon, Digg, IBO Toolbox and, and, and

As you see the time really adds up. Each day record all the time you are spending on doing all the things you do to get business and then do the calculations.

Your time = 20 hours at $25/hr = $500
Someone else’s time = 30 hours at $15/hr = $450
Cost for ads (adwords, affiliate links, FB ads and ??) = $500

So your cost per sale is ($1,450 / 10) $145. Answer you need more sales or you need to lower your costs.

Hope this helps. For questions or help email me.
ArthurJames@TheCoffeeHouseCoach.com

How Healthy are You, Do You Know?

Did you know that 66% of the population of the US is overweight. Here’s what the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey states: About two-thirds (66%) of adults in the United States are overweight, and almost one-third are obese. By the way some surveys actually put the overweight now at 70%.

The most commonly used method today to calculate if you are overweight is the body mass index (BMI). BMI is an index of weight adjusted for the height of an individual. Calculating BMI is simple, quick, and inexpensive—but it does have limitations. One problem with using BMI as a measurement tool is that very muscular people may fall into the “overweight” category when they are actually healthy and fit. Another problem with using BMI is that people who have lost muscle mass, such as the elderly, may be in the “healthy weight” BMI category (BMI 18.5 to 24.9) when they actually have reduced nutritional reserves. BMI, therefore, is useful as a screening tool for individuals and as a general guideline to monitor trends in the population, but by itself is not diagnostic of an individual patient’s health status.

An easy way to calculate your BMI using pounds and inches, multiply weight in pounds by 704.5,* divide the result by height in inches, and then divide that result by height in inches a second time. (You can also use the BMI calculator at http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bm.

Here are some of the problems with being overweight and obese: (Remember that we’re talking about those with a higher FAT ratio than MUSCLE ratio).

Overweight
♥    diabetes
♥    coronary heart disease
♥    high blood cholesterol
♥    stroke
♥    hypertension
♥    gallbladder disease
♥    osteoarthritis (degeneration of cartilage and bone of joints)
♥    sleep apnea and other breathing problems
♥    some forms of cancer (breast, colorectal, endometrial, and kidney)

Obese
♥    complications of pregnancy
♥    menstrual irregularities
♥    hirsutism (presence of excess body and facial hair)
♥    stress incontinence (urine leakage caused by weak pelvic floor muscles)
♥    psychological disorders, such as depression
♥    increased surgical risk
♥    increased mortality

Here’s the US statistics.

Overweight – Age 20 and older
All adults: 133.6 million (66 percent)
Women: 65 million (61.6 percent)
Men: 68.3 million (70.5 percent)

Obese – Age 20 and older
All adults: 63.6 million (31.4 percent)
Women: 35 million (33.2 percent)
Men: 28.6 million (29.5 percent)

Healthy Weight – Age 20 and older (not necessarily healthy)
All adults: 65.4 million (32.3 percent)
Women: 38.1 million (36.1 percent)
Men: 27.4 million (28.3 percent)

Overweight – Children and Adolescents:
Approximately 17.5 percent of children (age 6 to 11) and
17 percent of adolescents (age 12 to 19)

If you aren’t already thinking about the following I’ll give you a head start on the ramifications of being overweight.

♥    Increased health care costs—both direct and indirect – cost $117 billion (2002).
Direct health care costs refer to preventive, diagnostic, and treatment services such as physician visits, medications, and hospital and nursing home care.
Indirect costs are the value of wages lost by people unable to work because of illness or disability, as well as the value of future earnings lost by premature death.

♥    Lost productivity – cost is $3.9 billion (2001)

Beyond those more measurable costs there are the following potential effects:
♥    Early death – Leaving young children without a parent
♥    Loss of mobility causing others to care for you
♥    Lack of self-esteem
♥    Inability to function or participate in certain sports
♥    Loss of a job or being overlooked for a promotion (yes it is judgmental)
♥    Transportation difficulties
♥    Clothing costs
♥    Auto gets lower gas mileage because of additional weight

I’m sure you can add to the list.

Just so you know I have no judgments about overweight people as I have some very great friends who are overweight, hard not to have any with 66% – 70% of the population in that category.  I only point this out to be clear that getting on the healthy side of life has many advantages not just for the overweight person, but also for your friends, your family the economy (yours, and ours) and our environment.

While there are many diet programs out there and I am not a fan of them for the long term.  Many can help, short term, to set you towards your goals, but the fact remains that unless you get a mindset of how you want to look, eat the correct foods and exercise regularly you will be on a roller coaster ride for life.  Remember, exercise is a key component to see long-term results.

If you want more detailed info and personal assistance just send me a note or an email and I’ll get back with you.  Anyone can be healthy and fit if you really, really want it and I can show you the way.

BTW, I’m 66 in the attached pic.

You can look and feel great.