Follow Your Bliss

The following was shared with me by Stephen Hopson. When you have a gift, and everyone does, don't hide it. Share it and everyone wins as you will see in this inspiring clip.

Amazing Piano Chops of Two Year Old

Couldn't resist this one.

Think Your Pet Has Talent?

So you think your pet has got talent? I can see this category as the next "So You Think ..." series. Check out this audition. - Tony Brigmon

How to Embed Home Video in Your Blog

Step 1: Shoot video.
Step 2: Upload to video.goole.com
Step 3: After it uploads, open link to the right of the video on how to embed video in blog.
Step 4: Copy and paste script within the body of your new post.

That's it. Yes, it's that easy.

Here's a video clip I created of some jpegs of my son's wrestling matches, using Photo Story 3 for Windows.

FedEx Commercial

Some things have to be shared. This is one of them. Shared with me by alert humor finder Stephen Hopson. Enjoy.

Video Cards

Learned something really cool from a conference call I was on last night with Joel Bauer. Joel is a friend of Martin Howey, CEO of Topline Business Solutions and Martin had him on as a guest last night. Martin and I have been close friends since 1979 and I listened to the call ... reluctantly ... as a favor to him. Lucky for me!

Joel stated quite persuasively that the more senses you involve in your communications with others, the greater your impact. The goal is for your recipient to "see-hear-feel" your communication. Joel recommends using a simple digital camera (He recommends the Canon SD400 - 30 frames a second) to shoot and send emails with short movie clips of yourself speaking to your contacts. They will see you ... hear you ... and feel the impact of your communication, and because you're involving so many senses, Joel says you'll be amazed at the impact it will have on them. I agree.

Check out one I sent Martin Howey this morning, thanking him for hosting Joel last night on his conference call. This was done with my digital Samsung Digimax S500 camera. I then saved it to my computer through the USB cable that came with the camera. I then imported it into MovieMaker which came free with my Windows operating system. MovieMaker reduced the avi file from 135 megs down to 928kb wmv file to play in Windows. Wow!

Because the file was so small I was able to attach it to an email and send it right away. Joel Bauer also shared informaton on a free service by Google where you can upload your movie clips to their site where they will host them for free and send emails to your recipients with links for downloads. Amazing. Check out their link: www.video.google.com

Here's my Video Card ... done earlier this morning: MartinConferenceCall

I highly recommend this idea to you of using your digital camera to enhance your communications. Don't have a digital camera? Get one!

Remember to "keep it fun and get more done!"

Tony's Weight Loss System

Someone who knew what they were talking about once said:

We all have two responsibilities in life:

1. Learn something new.

2. Share what we've learned with others.

In the spirit of this quotation, here is something I've learned recently about losing weight that really works well for me, without all the past misery associated with weight loss. I previously lost between 30-52 pounds on three separate occasions. : ) That's right. I would lose the weigh and then put it back on, as I could not sustain the "DIE-t".

Could what I'm about to share with you help you lose weight faster than the IRS can collect money from an entrepreneur? Maybe. I don't know for sure. I do know this: It helped me drop 35 pounds a lot faster than I thought I could. And I'm still losing.

Lose weight faster than the IRS can collect money from an entrepreneur.

Part One: Eating.

A few months ago I weighed in at 236 pounds, with a 48 inch waist - making about 56 pounds of me my wife was not legally married to. Not good. I'm 58 years old and 5 feet 8 inches tall (without shoes).

I am now down to 201 pounds, with a 40.5 inch waist (7.5 inches thinner than before) for a weight loss so far of 35 pounds. And like the Energizer Bunny I am still going ... going ... and going. And I feel so much better now, yet still have a ways to go. But the trip to here has been a more pleasant one, compared to my past experiences with diets, because I now have a system that works. Not a "DIEt" ... a system. : )

How do I do it? By drinking a cup of water before my meal, two cups during my meal (as a portion-control device) and one cup of water afterwards.

Got the idea from watching a TV interview about a guy who lost 71 pounds in 7 months, basically eating what he wanted while drinking a cup of water before, during and after each meal. That's it. No counting calories, or avoiding any favorite foods.

This guy shared his "Before, During and After" cup of water plan with a friend who consequently loss the 40 pounds he needed to lose within a few months.

So, I thought, "Why not? I'm already doing the Before and After part as far as the cups of water are concerned, so the extra cup of water during the meal certainly couldn't hurt."

So, I tried his plan, but after I finished that one cup of water during my meal, I just kept eating ... and eating ... and eating. The weight stayed on. Not good.

Then I had an impression to *adapt* this guy's idea and switch to two cups of water during my meal. I would use these two cups of water as a portion-control device for eating. I would take a bite of food, chew and swallow ... and then take a swallow of water. I would alternate back and forth between a bite of food and a swallow of water until the two cups of water were gone.

Then I would stop eating. Period!

I would drink one more cup of water afterwards, as I suspected it would provide the hunger-buster insurance I needed so desperately, so if there were any trace of hunger left (there rarely, rarely has been), there wouldn't be any left after that last cup of water.

Badda-bing-badda-boom! I was right. It worked and is still working!

Not only am I not hungry any more, the "full feeling" lasts for the next four hours, and then I repeat the process.

I now eat only the foods I really like. Period. And this includes desserts. Like 'em. Want 'em. Gonna have 'em!

I usually save the last half cup of water, from those two cups during my meal, for desserts of my choice. I eat only 3 times a day: Morning, noon and late afternoon. Why? Because I'm not hungry more than that. Really!

I shoot to finish my last meal no later than 7:00pm. Because?

Because the general rule-of-thumb consensus of the experts is to not eat 2-3 hours before going to bed. That alone, if you do nothing else, will result in significant weight loss, according to Opra's fitness trainer. And I suspect it's a major factor in my weight loss.

Hope this inspires you to come up with something of your own that will work for you! People tend to get more excited about something they've *adapted* to fit them rather than something they've *adopted* that fits someone else. Therefore ...

"People will support what they help create!" - Tony Brigmon

Part Two: Exercise

I devised a simple walking program that requires no equipment other than the clothes you feel comfortable in. I wanted something I could do in a kitchen or hotel room, anywhere that would allow me to walk 4 steps (a step is each time my right leg comes forward, if I begin with the right foot) in one direction and then turn and walk 4 steps back.

I go back and forth at a comfortable pace for 5 minutes to warm up. When my 5 minute timer goes off I take off like a bat out of Texas, walking as fast as I can back and forth. When the next 5 minute beep goes off I do 15 squats, 15 push-ups, and then rest on my forearms (while in the push-up position) for 15 seconds. This strengthens the core of my body similar to a Pilates exercise. Feels great afterwards and has had positive effects on my posture.

Then I get up and walk until the next 5 minute beep goes off. So, it's a five minute warm up walk, 30 minutes of fast walking, concluding with a 5 minute cool down walk. My ending heart rate is always between 140-160, with 150 being the norm. I have been told this kicks my metabolic rate into high gear for the next several hours.

With the aid of my fun collaborator Martin Howey (www.BusinessConsultantsWanted.com), I learned how to calculate how far I walk without the use of a pedometer. And I now can do it with aid of the simple stop-watch feature on my wrist watch.

Here's how I did it. If you really want to know how far you walk, here's how you can know. I'm going to break this down to a step by step process.

In reality it went lightning quick. (Translation: A lot faster than it's taking me to describe it in writing.)
I went to local the track and timed myself walking at a normal pace one time around the track, or 1/4 mile. I walked it in 4 minutes and 12 seconds.

Next I converted the 4 minutes and 12 seconds into seconds: 4 minutes x 60 seconds = 240 seconds, plus the additional 12 seconds = 252 seconds. So it takes me 252 seconds to walk 1/4 of a mile.

Next, I needed to know how many seconds does it take me to walk a mile. I multiplied the 252 seconds x 4 laps: 252 x 4 = 1008. So, I walk a mile at a normal pace in 1008 seconds.
So far, so good.

Next, I wanted to know how far I walk in one minute. There are 5,280 feet in a mile. I walk a mile in 1008 seconds, so I did the math: 5, 280 feet divided by 1008 seconds = 5.23 feet. So, I walk 5.23 feet per second. Multiply that times 60 seconds: 60 x 5.23 feet = 313.80 feet per minute. I rounded that off to 314 feet per minute. That's how far I walk per minute.

So, throughout my work day, I take a 5 minute walking break. So far today, I've taken 5 of those. How far have I walked so far? I walked 5 x 5 for 25 minutes. I walk 314 feet in one minutes, right? So, 25 x 314 = 7, 850 feet. Convert that to miles by dividing it by 5, 280 (feet in a mile): 7, 850 divided by 5, 280 = 1.48 miles, or about 1.5 miles.

Add that to my 40 minute routine this morning and my total so far today is: 3.8 miles. And I'm feeling pretty good about that.

Bottom line: One you know how far you walk in one minute, just multiply that times the number of minutes you walk throughout the day. You'll be amazed at what a few 5 minute breaks here and there will add up to by the end of the day. Try it. You'll be glad you did.

Thanks for letting me share my weight loss program with you. Remember to share what you learn with others, because everybody wins! More sharing from me later. Promise!

Tony Brigmon
Keynote Speaker and Emcee
Former Goodwill Ambassador for Southwest Airlines
Author and Singer of Feel Good Songs
Creator of Tony-isms (Original Pearls of Wisdom)
www.funmeetings.com
972-641-6615