Connecting our Youth and the Arts Through the Spoken Word

Poetry SlamI first heard the phrase when I was running a fundraising Facebook-a-thon back in November of 2012.  You may now be wondering what a Facebook-a-thon is, I can cover that later.  My question was - what is a poetry slam?I found a YouTube video featuring a very passionate young women reciting an original poem.  It was a sad,

http://www.empowernetwork.com/debsroom/2013/08/13/connecting-our-youth-and-the-arts-through-the-spoken-word/

What is Your Brand?

I have been thinking about my brand for quiet some time.  Not my business brand but my personal brand.  It was easy to brand my business.  I'm a waxer, I wax.  Pretty simple.  But what do people think of when they think of Debra Felske, the person?  Energizer Bunny is the first thing that pops in my mind based on comments like:"You have

http://www.empowernetwork.com/debsroom/2013/08/13/what-is-your-brand/

Laurie DesAutels just posted a new blog titled Building Trust Is Vital For Business In Both The Online AND Offline World.

Laurie DesAutels just posted a new blog titled Building Trust Is Vital For Business In Both The Online AND Offline World.

Taking a break...I believe

Well, I decided to take last week off...from everything, except work as it was the week before Memorial Day, which means a lot to a waxer.  I think I'm having a belief issue.  I don't believe that I will ever have six pack abs again.  Actually, I never had them, but I did go through most of life without the pooch.  I have been having belief issues about a few things lately.  The things I want to change in my life.  I can't quite decide if I'm complacent, comfortable or just lazy, but for some reason the work required doesn't seem to match the reward.  Funny thing, the motivational call this morning and my horoscope both mentioned having to work harder to get the reward, but, that the reward would come and it would be greater than expected.  It's a good thing the challenge is about making small changes.  I think the bigger issue is just making sure I make my proposed changes into smaller pieces.  That might just be the key to my little unmotivated puzzle.  OK!  Glad we got that all worked out.  An object in motion stays in motion, so let me just keep this challenge in motion.

Resting Heart Rate

Sooo, during week one I am supposed to get a baseline of how I feel.  Each morning I post hours of sleep, how good it was, note any muscle pains, joint pains, how is my mood, do I feel like exercising, how is my motivation and resting heart rate.  Oops, and how much I weigh.  The weight thing is interesting since I don't usually weigh in every day.  Day one I'm at 129, day two and three at target weight of 125 and then boom, day 4 back to 129.  But hey, the baseline will be an average so we will see where that goes.  Back to heart rate.  Resting heart rate started at 71, but I had already been up for an hour and forgot to do it before getting up.  The other mornings it is consistent at 66.  According to the chart that is good for a woman my age.  Naturally my lovely brain says to me, "hey, you shouldn't have to do your cardio then if it's already good."  My reply of course is, "yes, but I still can't jog more than a block without being out of breath so just hush up."  On ward and down ward.  I did two of my three exercise days this week.  Yippee!  Ate when I was supposed to eat, most of the week.  Feeling a little tired as it is Thursday and I have packed too much into my week.  I won't say it's the lack of coffee, because I wasn't tired until last night. Right?

To Coffee or not to Coffee...now that IS the question.

I always knew that cortisol was a weight gain culprit but I never knew that my morning cup of coffee was raising my cortisol levels. Big bummer! I'm not really after the caffeine rush, I like the texture of coffee and the warmth. Tea just doesn't cut it and I don't want to start my morning off with a shake, it's too cold. Thanks a lot Dr. Ed. (He is on the scientific advisory board at Evolv.) So after mulling it over all night I came up with a solution. Everyone talks about how much they like the Thin, which is not part of my fuel program, so I thought, "Hey, what if I heat up a Thin in the morning, like hot Tang?" Well, I gave it a try this morning and it worked out just fine. So I am feeling thinner already and still get my warm drink in the morning.  It is unfortunate, however, that I am the morning coffee maker. My son was none to pleased when he awoke and found a cold coffee pot with yesterdays coffee in it. I tried to inspire him to quit, but to no avail.  I am only glad I left the house before I had to smell the freshly brew elixir.  I'm only trying this for 82 more days. If I still have a mid-life pouch, I'm going back to my coffee.

The e84 Challenge

   So what is this e84 challenge that everyone is talking about?  It is 84 days, 12 weeks to an improved you.  That could mean better health, better wealth, weight release, a competitive edge; whatever you want it to mean.  There are three categories:  Burn, Fuel and Edge.  Burn is targeted to people who want to release weight.  I like release better than loose.  If you loose it, you might just find it again.  Release it and let it go!  Fuel is meant for people who are pretty much satisfied with their weight, but want better health, energy or overall fitness.  This is my choice.  Edge is for those competitive, go-getters.  It has products and programs meant to push you to the next level whether that is marathons, body building or just looking "buff".  I am so not there yet.
   I first started my e84 on April 18th.  Logged in, set up a profile, took the awful picture (I'm loving my farmers tan), and waited. I had my products, that's the easy part, and I was waiting for my link to the exersciz program.  (That is not misspelled by the way.)  A few days later, my link to the exersciz program arrived. I logged in, filled out my questionnaire and received my personalized exercise routine.  Oh joy!  I printed it out, punched holes in it and filed it away.  About a week and a half later, I thought I ought to review it. Way more informative than I thought.  It talked about aerobic exercise, strength training, balance training and recovery.  The exercises I had chosen for me were based on how often I said I wanted to work out, how long it had been since I last worked out, what equipment I had available and what program I was on.  Pretty cool.  It came with pictures and everything.  Anyone could do this, and I did!  Once!
   Ok, fast forward to 20 days into the 84 day challenge.  I had exercised once.  Time to start over.  The cool thing is, the website let me start over, no questions asked. (Except what start date did I want!)  So here we are, Day 1 of my e84 challenge.  I got up this morning and followed my exersciz program and I am alive to tell about it!  Feel free to join me.  If you join before May 20th, you could enter to win some prizes.  Pretty awesome!