It’s not what you expect to hear from a Health Coach: “Put down the Pedometer!” I want you to strip that device off of your ankle, remove it from the clip on your belt, and stop looking at the rings on your fancy watch. My advice to you today, as startling as it may sound, is to take a pass on the pedometer. This is because I have something else in mind for you...and it has to do with the beautiful country of my ancestry...the one shaped like a boot...yes, I am talking about none other than Italy. There is a daily tradition that is part of the culture in Italy that is known as “La Passeggiata"...which is a beautiful way to say “the evening stroll”. The name originates from the verb passeggiare, which means ‘to walk’. La Passeggiata is a ritual that Italians, and tourists visiting Italy, take the time to enjoy nearly every day – relaxing and walking through the pedestrian streets. The walk, which may be short and is taken purely for pleasure, typically happens between the hours of 5-8 pm, after meals. This daily walking ritual, which originated in the south but is now happening all over Italy, may involve a variety of things - window shopping, chatting with friends, “taking a coffee”, sightseeing, admiring great works of art, or stopping for a gelato or an aperitivo. The one thing missing is that no one is counting the number of steps that are taken! This cultural phenomenon is so special that it is not uncommon to see entire families walking together. Now that’s my idea of “FaceTime”! Read More

It’s a phrase you hear often....expect the unexpected. What images are conjured up when you hear those three words? I think of preparing for a sudden storm, a power outage, a significantly delayed flight, or a surprising election result. I also think about something my Grandmother and Mother often said to my sisters and me, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.” Most of us were raised with a similar mindset...that we should ‘always be prepared’ because life will certainly deliver the unexpected.   What happens when YOU are the UNEXPECTED? I bet there have been times in your life when you did something that was different than what was expected from you and you surprised your loved ones. If that is the case, then you and the famous singer Taylor Swift have something in common. The iHeartRadio Music Awards were presented last week and Taylor Swift received the award for “Tour of the Year”. The award came as a shock to many, particularly Taylor’s critics, who had predicted that her recent musical tour would fail. In Taylor’s own words: “I think one of the most wonderful things about the way this whole tour turned out, is that for the entire six months leading up to the tour, every headline I read about it was that this is going to be a massive failure — this is going to be a flop tour...and that I was going to be playing to nearly empty stadiums. I've learned a lot, and one of the things I've learned is that life is really unpredictable, and people can make forecasts and make predictions, but those predictions and forecasts may not come true.” Taylor’s tour was actually the highest grossing United States music tour ever! Talk about the unexpected!   Have you ever done something that was unexpected? Did you take a job in another field? Asked for a raise or promotion? Started a new workout routine? Traveled to someplace exotic? Joined a new club? Whatever your unexpected accomplishment was, perhaps you surprised yourself as much as you surprised your friends and family. Read More

This week is National Sleep Awareness Week which makes for interesting timing since many of us are still trying to find the hour of sleep we lost when Daylight Saving Time kicked in on Sunday morning. There has been no shortage of tips in the news this past week to help us build better sleep habits. I even recently taught a class on how to use Qi Gong to get a great night’s sleep, complete with a list of my top twenty suggestions for improving the quality and quantity of your sleep.   One of the recommendations that you often hear from sleep scientists is that you should never, ever press the SNOOZE button on your alarm clock or iPhone. You are setting yourself up for failure by starting your day negotiating for a few more minutes instead of hitting the ground running.   I have wanted to write a blog for awhile now about my “Three S’s Approach to Achieving Your Goals”. When I repeatedly heard the word snooze mentioned this week, it reminded me that I never shared the “Three S’s” with you....until now.   My Three S’s for Success are: SYSTEM, SCHEDULE and (DON’T) SNOOZE. Read More

Tyler Perry, who is a famous producer, director, actor, author and playwright, has been extremely busy recently making the rounds on the talk show circuit. His popular “Madea” movie franchise is coming to an end so he has been heavily promoting the film. When someone makes the Forbes list as the highest paid entertainer for two years in a row, it is easy to forget how far that person has come. Perry has been open about his humble beginnings and the fact that he was once so broke that he was homeless and forced to live in his car for six years. Times were so tough for Perry that the car (along with all of his possessions which were in it) was repossessed. That car was a blue 1992 Geo Metro and one just like it is now permanently parked in front of the 220,000 square foot production studio in Atlanta, Georgia that Tyler Perry owns and operates. The Geo serves as a daily reminder that his dream now overshadows his former nightmare. Tyler has challenged us to each go back in our lives and find something that didn’t work out and place it near all the things that did. I accept the challenge and I am inviting you to join me. Read More