"You are not going to major in philosophy!" My dad declared. "It would be a useless degree in the real world."

I had found a subject matter that rocked my boat, but the minute I shared my desire to be a Philosophy major with my authoritarian father, he shot the idea down.

"It's not going to happen."

There I was trying to figure out my way in a confusing world and one of the few subjects that touched me on the deepest level was unacceptable to the bill payer.

And thirty years later, I still have that fire in my heart for the ancient philosophical discourses that I was first introduced to in an Introductory college Philosophy course.

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When we grow up time seems to fly.

Where does the day go? Where does the month go ? Where or where does the year go?

One day we look back and it's not the days or the weeks or the months or the years... but it's the decades gone that befuddles us.

Did we use our decades in ways that delight us or did we spill our time in ways that shed deep, dark rays of disappointment through our inner most soul.

Perhaps it is time to take stock, pull out the sheaths of inventory and the ink of honesty.

"What if" ... we ask ourselves. What if our chosen path had been different? Our choices become our life. A right choice ... will it lead to inner delight and the wrong choice... will it lead to inner disappointment?

Or do all our combined choices, the good and the bad... all wash clean in the washing machine of life?

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As a business owner, I'm always interested in knowing about effective low cost ways to keep my name in front of my customers.

Calendars, notepads, pay per click google ads, radio advertising, newspaper ads, regional glossy magazines, promotional pens... I've tried my fair share.

Any number of combinations are likely to work. The important thing to remember is that you should design a strategy that you will truly implement. There is nothing worse than finding a drawer or box full of expired calendars that obviously never got distributed! Ouch!

Plan you work THEN WORK YOUR PLAN! And like anything that is strategically implemented day after day- you will see RESULTS!

With autumn quickly approaching, my tastes turn to harvest foods, roasted meats and rich and deeply nurturing flavors.


As I write this a chicken roasts in the oven, sending delicious drifts of aroma through the building.

On the top shelf of the oven, a small pan of Minnesota Wild Rice bubbles away.

Lunch today will be a Wild Rice Salad with Chicken, Diced Apple, Mandarin Oranges and Pecans.

Yum! Diet?

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Let's weigh in on cream cheese. Everyone knows that to make a dish lighter we can substitute fat-free cream cheese for the full-fat variety.

But is it worth it? Should we do it? Should we sacrifice the exquisite flavor of a special dish by using substitutions?

Personally, I do not like the taste of most fat-free ingredients, with cream cheese being right at the top of the list.

On the other hand, whenever I buy something such as cool whip or other non-dairy whipped toppings, I always reach for the fat-free. Same with ice cream and frozen yogurt... I love the fat free variety.

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Bye Bye Fat!

They say the more water you drink, the easier it is to flush the fat from your body.

I've been putting away so much water, I nearly feel I could float away!

But believe me I am not complaining one inch! In fact I am ecstatic that I'm chugging away! The only thing is I can't get too far away from the potty...if you know what I mean. Flush, flush flush! Bye bye fat!

Plenty of water is great for my complexion, too. My skin always looks especially pretty and glowing when I get lots and lots of clear H2O. blemish acne cream

I'm sold on nutritional supplements. For about the last 5 months I stopped taking all the vitamins and nutritional supplements.

Boy what a huge mistake.

I've really learned my lesson, BIG TIME!

Not only did I pack on the pounds because I was constantly hungry, but I had zero energy. Exhaustion would meet me at the breakfast table and worsen as the day progressed. In the evening my heart would burn, just like it did before I started the program.

Now, I've only been back on the program for a few days and

1.) I have amazing energy

2.) I feel like a million bucks

3.) I'm drinking a ton of water

4.) Whatever that bout of depression that was hovering over me has disappeared

5.) I'm OK about my relapse and all my gained weight. I'm just going to pick myself up and start again!

At first when I started putting on the weight I didn't want to see anyone. But all that did was make matters worse. So finally I said I'm coming out of the closet on this weight gain and I am confident that this is the best thing in the world for me!

What is done is done... and today is a new day! Today is the day to reach towards one's dreams! weight loss pill

Don't you wish you could eat anything your little heart desired and not gain an ounce?

I know I do.

Unfortunately, for most of us the calorie equation doesn't work like that. We have to pay a price for our calories, fat grams and sugar.

I think this is one of the concepts I have not been able to grasp in the way I should. Of course in my head I understand this concept. But somewhere the connection is faulty.

Somewhere there is a disconnect between that ice cream that calls my name and what I want to achieve. I certainly do not want to achieve obesity, health issues, diabetes, and an unattractive body that doesn't look good in clothes and looks even worse in the buff.

Why I ask, do I get these moments of deep hunger when nothing else seems to matter, except feeding that internal beast. funny t shirts

Good Morning Tallahassee!! Let's See How Much Weight We Can Lose By Christmas!!!

Finally! (I say as I catch my breath.)

You always know that sooner or later, if you've gone hog wild following a diet, you are going to have to face the music!

Today was that day for me.

After being totally disgusted with myself for packing on the pounds over the last few months, I returned to Winner's Weightloss Center to start again.

With a new school year about to start, this seems like a perfect time to get back on a regime that will help me to be the best possible version of myself.

The last year was very hard for me. I went through some stuff that tested me to the limit. While this should not be an excuse, the truth is that I am an emotional eater and when my world is a bit crazy, I find solace and comfort in food.

The good part of this is that I recognize what is happening, but the bad part is that sometimes I simply don't care, especially when I'm stuffing a second bowl of ice cream down my throat.

When we do this, we really need to go within and try to find out what it is that is causing us to want to over-inflate ourselves.

What are we hungry for?

I believe a chief thing that I was hungering for was all the nutritional supplements that I had become accustomed to while on the Winner's Program. These supplements provided nutrients that my body craves and they also helped to tame my unhealthy cravings.

Tomorrow will be my first day officially back on the diet. I'll try to log online and share my journey with you and if any of you in the Tallahassee area want to join me... come on board and let's see how much weight we can lose by Christmas!!!

The Winner's Weight Loss Program is a great program for losing weight. Any failure is entirely my fault. Ultimately the success or failure of weightloss rests with the participant.

If I had not allowed my own life stresses to become stumbling blocks, I would be 127 pounds today. But in two hours, today will be history, it will be the past. When I wake up on Thursday morning, a new hope will greet me and lead me into another leg of this fabulous journey where I will try once again to win my ongoing battle with emotional eating, compulsive eating, sugar addiction and carbohydrate addiction.

My Wishes Sent Out Into The World! Yahoo!

In recent years I've gotten very good at shopping for the best buy.

Perhaps I'm getting a little bit of help from my ancestral line. Perhaps now that same ancestral line can help me to beef up my bank account.

Next time I post in this blog... I want to be richer and thinner! In fact every time I sit down in this office, I want my wealth and my good health to sky rocket!

I've read that if you send your wish out into the world... it will be manifested. So I tried it and guess what? It worked!

A fluke? Maybe. Maybe not!

On 5/18/08 I posted my wish on an index card. My wish was to go and stay at a great beach house this summer. Two hours ago, I just returned home from my THIRD beach weekend this summer. My cost= 0 On three separate occasions I catered a Friday night event and the other nights were furnished to me by my client.

Why did this happen? I suppose it might be a case of the Law of Attraction... a law that says that we attract what we are looking for in life.

So I'll just put it out into the world right now...

My wishes as of August 10, 2008 are:

1. To get excited about exercise, eating right and taking good care of myself.

2. To get my column nationally syndicated.

3. To write and publish BESTSELLERS.

4. To win a Pulitzer Prize for my writing.

5. To once and for all get to 127 pounds and maintain for the rest of my life.

6. To buy my own fabulous house at the beach and to have plenty of money for the rest of my life.

7. To meet, fall in love and eventually marry my true soul mate.

8. To live every single day in the full manifestation of who God created me to be.

9. To make a positive difference in the world.

10. To leave something of value behind down here when I eventually go to Heaven.

My new clothes are too tight. My old clothes are fortunately too baggy. But my weight is dangerously heading in the wrong direction. Helllpppppppppppppppppppppppp!

What is a girl to do? I could start by keeping my hungry mouth closed!

Why am I so ravenous anyway? I need to get to the heart of this.

Is it because I don't read the Bible like I once did? Is it because my heart has been wandering away and my spirit has drawn drafty?

Is it because I took all that I was learning to heart, and then sadly discovered that my heart was too naive, and that so much of what churches proclaim is merely lip service.

I think what I have seen and experienced over the last 7 years has hurt me and while it shouldn't... it does. I can't help it. It is the way I'm wired. But somehow I have to get better at separating my God that has never failed me from the God of the churches. Of course, the problem is... this is the same God.

I want my naivety back. I liked me better when I took everything I read in the Bible to heart. I liked me better when everyday started and ended with that extraordinary online connection to the best power source of all.

So I guess the fault lies with me... lies with me disconnecting from the power source because I let my jumbled up ideas get in the way.

I thought if a church proclaimed the word of God, their actions would manifest that.
But what I failed to understand was that every person who walks throuh the doors of a church is at a different place in their spiritual journey... and it is ok. In fact it is better than ok! It is beautiful!

It is time for me to return to the heart of worship. Who knows... maybe that deep hunger will once again be quenched by the best food of all... food for the soul!

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I play around way too much with this diet. It is often said that diets don't work.
Diets work... it is not the diets that don't work. It is the dieters that don't work.

We get tired of the same ole, same ole. We get fed up with the deprivation. We lose interest and we often go back to our old ways...the ways that packed the pounds on in the first place.

How is it that a person who is genetically predisposed to being overweight can once and for all conquer the battle of the bulge?

If there is a way I want to know about it.

But I'm almost certain that the answer ultimately sits within that space between the ears. For in that space we can make the defining choices that will impact the rest of our lives.

Ok... so a diet can give us the vitamins and supplements our body might need. A diet counselor can give us the pep talk to keep us on track... but until we get our head on the right track... we are spinning our wheels in the sand.

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I am usually thought of as far younger than my chronological age. While I have never been the least bit disturbed by my age, I must admit that for the first time in my life, I have experienced a new sense this summer about this whole aging process.

There are things that frighten me, health things and cosmetic things.

Even though we can not turn back the hands of time, ( and who would really want to anyway!) we can make smart choices.

From the skin care products that we purchase to the nourishment we select to enrich our bodies, minds and souls.

The exercise equipment is calling my name.

"Kathi! Oh Kathi, where are you?"

Now how come ice cream's call is better followed?

I can't figure that one out. Especially since the exercise will do far more for me than a big bowl of frozen fat ever could.

This shifting of priorities is a never-ending struggle.

Why can't I simply be thin, rich and beautiful? Is that too much to ask? Surely not!

Let's Make Business Cards

Ok, everyone here is a fun little activity! This site is set up to custom create your very own business cards... how cool is that?

I simply love the idea of an interactive site where I can play with my promo materials before I drop a dime. For me it usually takes awhile to put together a PR Kit that really works for me in the way that I hope it will.

So I surfed on over and I hope you'll do the same and give this nifty little program a shot!

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All of a sudden one day, I bacame empowered to change the framing on a few things.

I had written down my three most important goals:

1. To lose weight

2. To become financially solid

3. To become a best selling author

I needed a picture frame to house my goals. Without any empty picture frames, I realized something.

Some of my old pictures no longer needed to be showcased in their frames. I could frame my goals, which are certainly much more important to me than a photo of , say, my brother and his ex wife... So on that day I became empowered to remove many of the photos that hold little to no importance for me.

I took back control of what things were really important to me to have framed. picture frames

I have a coupon for a free week at the neighborhood gym. But for some reason, it never gets used.

When I want to use it, I'm too busy. When I have the time to use it, I'm too lazy!

Lazy???? The truth is I am NOT a lazy person until it comes time to exercise.... go figure!

I'm trying to stay consistent with my home exercise equipment... sheesh it's paid for and I don't even have to go out in the rain to use it.

But even that goes unused far more than it ever gets used! strength equipment

On rainy days like today I love to brew up a big crock pot of home-made soup. I start with some stock, then add some chicken with decent sized bones, onions and garlic, a potpourri of chopped fresh veggies and a good sprinkling of seasonings.

Within an hour or so, a delicious and mouthwatering aroma perfumes every room of my home and I feel very pleased because I know that I will eat well for many days.

The nice thing about crock pot soups is that you really do NOT have to add any fat, if you are dieting.

While a couple slices of butter and a swirl of cream, add a lovely rich, smooth velvet-like texture to a pot of soup - it is not essential.

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Just how much flexibility should we allow for in building relationships?

Should we build a romantic relationship with another whose interests are far different from our own?

Several years ago I bought the book, "Look before You Love."

This is a great book! It has truly impacted me far more than I could have ever realized.

It has taught me to look at the lifestyle of a man I might be interested in. It has also taught me to consider my own!

It can be all too easy to get caught up in a blurry haze of romantic stirrings and flat out ignore red flags.

I already knew that a certain man wasn't the one for me... but when he said he was watching wrestling on tv on a Friday night... I knew with certainty that I could never imagine a life with a man who watched wrestling on tv on Friday nights!

There is nothing whatsoever wrong with someone watching wrestling. I applaud them for being true to their interests and spending their time doing something that they enjoy, whatever that might be.

But for me.... there are other things that I like to do on a Friday night... and somehow these things seems totally incompatible with the idea of a tv set or a wrestling match.

Do you think I'm a tad bit inflexible or that I'm smart to LOOK BEFORE I LOVE?

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"To thine own self be true..." Polonius's celebrated words, which he speaks to his son Laertes before Laertes's departure for travel abroad.

Are you being true to yourself? Are you being true to the innermost beat of your own soul?

Are you living a life of true authenticity?

The only way we can answer these questions is by traveling inward, moving away from the distractions of others and of the world. This is not so easy to do in our hectic paced lives and yet it is perhaps one of the most important things we MUST do if we are to become true to ourselves. I believe that by becoming true to ourself, we become true to a better version of ourselves, to a version more aligned with who we were created to be.

No one else can tell us! Our parents, our spouse, our significant other, our pastor, our teacher, our friends, our weightloss counselor... NO, they can not tell us. They can encourage us and love us. They can celebrate our victories and sympathize in our losses... But they can not tell us what is "right" for us.

Fortunately, discovering what is right for us is closer than many realize. While some have traveled the world to find themselves and others spend their entire lives looking everywhere except inwardly, some have discovered that their personal treasure map is actually situated right in the center of their own heart. By going to this center, they will discover all the answers they need in order to live a life that is filled with relevant authenticity, and the pathways to paradise. pool floats