Lana Hawkins’ Blog

How well do you take care of yourself on a daily basis?  Are you getting enough sleep? Do you smoke? Do you get some exercise on a regular basis?  Are you under stress? Do you over consume alcohol or drugs?  It’s actually true that if you don’t take care of yourself you life will be shorter than possible.  In addition, your quality of life will go down significantly.

I just don’t understand why people don’t pay attention to themselves better. My younger brother is in the hospital today and it does not surprise me one bit.  He’s led the perfect example of how to treat yourself poorly.  I guess he’s had a good example because his dad, mine too, did about the same thing and died when he was 50.

I know genetics play a part in people’s longevity, but knowing that you’d probably want to work even harder to stay fit and healthy. 

So for everyone who is just thinking they should probably do a bit more for their own health, today is the day to start. Start slowly. Go for a walk around the block if that is what you can manage. do it every day for a week. Pretty soon, you’ll be craving your walk and probably want to bump it up to two blocks, then two miles.  I know you can do it and it is going to feel so good. 

Do any activity that gets your heart beating faster than normal for at least 20 minutes a day and you will begin to reduce stress, lose weight, ward off diseases and generally feel a lot better. If you want more advice look at my eBook Fit, Healthy Self. In it you will find so much information and plans to get healthy, plus video exercise demonstrations from a personal trainer that you can do anywhere, without equipment.  There is no excuse. Get started today.  Any way you can.  You CAN do it.

I just wanted to let you know that I’ve completed the Public Service Announcement for the fluorescent light bulbs and you can watch it by clicking this link Lana Hawkins’ PSA on Compact Fluorescent light bulbs.  The file is coming from youtube.com, FYI.  Compact fluorescent light bulbs are a great energy saver.  They burn much cooler than an incandescent bulb.  Make sure if you use these to recycle them because they contain mercury, nasty stuff for the landfill. 

Ever watch how some people eat?  I can’t believe how fast the food goes down.  These people are full before they even know it and they keep eating anyway.  I always eat when I’m hungry. I eat what I want, which means I don’t eat food that is OK, so so, or just plain yucky to me. When ever I do this I end up eating more than I need because I still want to eat the food I like even though I just ate something I didn’t like. Kinda nuts!

I’m usually the last one to finish my food.  My mom was a slow eater. I eat slow but she could drag her meal out to for-ev-er… She was very thin too. I never have my kids eat any food hey don’t want to or eat when they are not hungry.  Guess what?  They are at a very health weight, not too thin and definitely not over weight. Plus they make fairly good food choices most of the time.

So slow down when you eat. Chew each bite until it’s gone. Set down your fork or your food between bites. Turn off the TV and put away the newspaper and magazines. Focus on eating. Pick foods you like. Eat until you are full and eat only when you are hungry. And please, quit the clean plate club now.

What? Don’t diet. What could she possibly mean? I hate diets.  I can’t stay on a diet for more than three minutes which means I never really start one.  Just the thought of depriving myself of something I need and want would send me eating up a storm.  I’d probably gain weight on a diet.

For me, the only way to lose weight is this. First I really have to want to shed some pounds.  I have to tell myself that I can and I will be losing weight gradually over the next few months. Then I increase my activity level by doing something that I enjoy.  I like to bike ride, walk and rock climb at the local climbing gym.  Where I live has flat terrain so it’s the only choice. 

Do some kind of fun activity for an hour a day, six days a week and you will lose weight.  You don’t need to go crazy with it, such as seeing how fast you can go. Just keep moving.  It will burn extra calories and as long as you don’t “reward” yourself every day with a banana split you should be fine.

This is how it works.  One pound of fat is equivalent to 3500 calories.  If you are active, beyond the norm for you, for an hour a day, you’ll be burning anywhere from 300 - 500 calories per hour.  Multiply times six and that is 1800 - 3000 calories per week.  Keep it up for a year and you’ve lost between 25 - 45 pounds.  No diet required.  Although if you’re only trying to lose ten pounds then you’ll have to start eating more food.

This Thursday we shoot the 60 second web video spot for the Dogheart one on one dog training program.  To quote John Speiser, owner of Dogheart, ”Dogheart has set out to raise the bar of cultural canine consciousness.” 

When I first spoke to John about my dog Sadie I was frustrated about walking her, or basically having a tug of war contest down the street.  If another dog showed up, which was frequent, I’d better hope there was no ice beneath my feet because I was sure to go flying.

It was getting to the point where I was dreading taking my dog for a walk. I had so many types of choke chains, halties and other restrains that my neighbors had given me, but none worked very well.

It turns out the Sadie is a very neck strong dog.  She’d pull herself ’till she was dead.  She was starting to choke and cough a lot from the pulling on her trachea.  Not good.  John showed me how to properly use a pinch collar. While it looks like a dreadful torture device, when coupled with the correct words and pulls at the right time it is actually much more humane than constantly pulling on her throat.

Now when we go for a walk I use a 20 foot piece of nylon rope and the pinch collar.  She responds to my voice commands and will walk next to me, or out in front a bit, with no tension on the line.  We take walks without the collar on too and she does well, but occasionally begins to revert back to the old ways so I go back to the pinch collar for reinforcement.

We’ve been working for a couple months and making good progress.  Working with your dog is a lifetime commitment, I think.  My plan is to get her to the point where she doesn’t need a leash.

We received a new assignment in the digital photography class. I’m going to make a book of about 10 pages of composited images.  Since I’ve rehabbed several old houses I thought it would be cool to put together a book on one of them;  it’s the before and after pictures. However, the images have to be “blended together” and I’ll have to create a bunch of new ones.  (No side by side images.) Hopefully the old ones of before will work.

I also have a large folder of historical documents, letters between the architect and the person who was paying to have the house built, that I will scan and add to the collage.  It should be an interesting project. 

 I’m using my house, the latest in the old house rehab projects.  It was built in 1912 so it’s nearly 100 years old. I’ll be sure to provide a link and post this project on the web as I think it would be interesting to the old house junkies like me.

I’m in the middle of a great leadership conference here in St. Louis, MO.  The speakers are very motivating and inspiring.

We have a guest speaker who is quite a character. Dr. Robert A. Rohm has been explaining personality types in very straightforward terms.  The beauty of it all is that once you cat categorize a person or their behavior, plus know yourself, you can figure out a way to communicate with that person in a much more effective way.

This works well when two personality types are very different.  The important thing to remember is that no one personality type is better than another, even if you are the dominant type and “always right.” If you want to get along with people and make your way in life you can foster better personal and business relationships when your communication runs smoothly.

I will summarize the details for you in a later post.

Based on my last post I’ve got to admit that I am completely fascinated with old houses.  There are many reasons for this but I think that old houses I’m attracted to have such a strength about them.  Most have plaster walls and very thick wood moldings.  The really awesome ones have dark wood that has aged over the years.  The darkness gives it a strength that you just can’t get from clear polyurethaned red oak flooring or beige carpet.

Old houses are not for everyone.  You’ve got to appreciate doors that don’t close well, and tile that might be well worn as a feature, not a mess.  You should see the really cool old sink in the upstairs bathroom.  It is porcelain and has numerous crazing cracks in it that I find delightful, but I can see how someone else would think it was nasty.

And my plaster walls are so not smooth either, but they have so much character and strength in them. When I see massive expanses of drywall I want to run.  I can’t image ever living in a new house unless I built it by my own specifications, with lots of plaster, dark stained wood floors and paint with actual color in it.

If you ever want my advice about decorating an old house, I can help.  I’ve rehabbed several in the last few years and have quite a knack at it.  I get lots of favorable responses from people who see my work.  Of course it’s easy when you start with good bones!

Today we have Hatcow Productions at my house shooting a movie, or at least part of it.  They are really shooting too, using a blank gun.  I can’t believe my dog isn’t going ballistic with the rounds I’ve heard.

Well that’s what you get when you live in a cool old house (besides the extremely large tax bill). Lot’s of people want to film their movies here.  This will be about the fifth or sixth one.  One day I was driving up and I saw a group of students in my alley with a very nice looking HD movie camera.  Apparently, in the 1970’s a Chinese scientist, famous to some now, lived in my house.  It was part of their documentary on the guy.

I have pictures of this house before I saved it from the wrecking ball. Not a pretty site. But now that I’ve spent about every last dime on it I have a place to stay.  Well, it will hold it’s value better than drugs, I hope (becuase houses are like addictions to some). And if I could just get someone to pay me to use my house, now that would be enterprising.

Well I am so fired up.  I have been working with this really great leadership development team for the last six months. Their training and information has had a big impact on my recent life.  I have always been a very motivated person but for a while, about a year ago let’s say, I was unfocused and had a fuzzy direction.  Their “training program” has gotten me so involved in new projects that I’m really happy. I’m focused and have a plan, several actually.

What is truly exciting is that the team is launching a TOTALLY new MLM business today.  I can’t wait to find out the details and share it with all my friends. The people running this program have had numerous years of experience in the field and have really done their homework putting together this new system.  You’ll be hearing much more about this great business opportunity so stay tuned. Subscribe to this blog to stay informed.  This system can really help you too!