Activating Flab For Flood

Last year over the course of five months I lost 27 pounds. It felt AMAZING!

But it wasn’t easy. And I didn’t do it alone. I conceded to assistance from Weight Watchers.

The principals for losing weight are pretty simple:

• East less
• Move more

It’s ironic isn’t it that people that want to loose weight and can’t do it alone (like me), pay money to get help to do it.

Meanwhile, half the world is starving while the other half (or more) remains overweight.

Posted in my galley is a Micro Movement Wheel of Delight. In the centre (the objective) it reads: Increased Income Using My Creativity.

Earlier today a pal stopped to check it out and asked me about all the segment projects I’ve got percolating.

Once I’d done the ramble he concluded Flab For Food caught his attention the most.

Later in the day I zoom off to TEDxJuandeFuca. During an intermission I meet an inspiration. He tells me what he’s doing to make a difference to humanity globally. I start my pre-amble on my Flab For Food embryo.

My intention being: for every pound of flab lost, a pound of grain gained for a developing country OR a community in need.

Instant positive feedback. He suggests aligning with a grain producer. Tapping into all the fitness clubs.

The logistics side of my brain is still trying to figure out how to activate it. I pitch it to him and he says to talk about it.

Here I am. Figuring I can once again reach out to my readers.

How would you activate Flab For Food?

All input, ideas and suggestions are appreciated.

Sincerely,
Jane Victoria King

It’s GO Time!

Ryder Hesjedal speaks to local media in Victoria today.

What a team! For a first year event I’m amazed daily at how things jive. Timing perfected. I'm talking about THE Ryder Hesjedal's Tour de Victoria happening May 28, 2011.

In a moment of hesitation I looked up today to ask a question. It had been a wacky morning. Ryder himself had rolled into town for a brief injection of his spirit. Breathing in motivating moments with the media. A chat on the event. What it has become. A shout-out for volunteers. With a thank you to sponsors.

I needed to confirm a small detail with Tour Director and Olympian himself, Seamus McGrath. We’re in our office at Parkside Resort and Spa. One of our founding sponsors.

Seamo, as he’s known to long-timers, starts an unprecedented ramble on how good a team we’ve got. There’s something for everyone and each individual’s skill fits the pie. Perfectly. Remarkable - truly for a first year event.

I have to concur. It’s what is. And it’s working.

Must be synchronicity.

And timing. The time is so right for something this big in cycling to happen on Vancouver Island. 

Yup! It’s GO time!

Will you be joining us?

Lucky me to have the opportunity to work with such a fabulous team on this the inaugural event. We're expecting up to 1,500 riders this year to enjoy the wonderland of Southern Vancouver Island's epic cycling roads. For more information roll on over to Ryder Hesjedal's Tour de Victoria 
P.S. I really hope you'll ride or volunteer with us!

My Awesome Shit Club Pitch!

Good thing I wasn’t first. My nerves were shot when I got there. Dry mouth even. I was like sixth. Huge relief. Well sort of.

I felt prepared. But I wasn’t sure I was rehearsed - enough.

It’s an awesome gang of folks that pitch in $50 each to make the Awesome Shit Club happen. Stemming from a group that meets once a week on Wednesdays - Ideas Victoria.

I’d attended the last one. Incredible.

You get so inspired by what other people think. By what other people do and by the questions people ask.

Such an opportunity for motivation and cross-pollination.

My pitch came after the break. People, Purpose and Power!
Nothing came out like I planned. I’d attempted a conversation of discussion to my mother ahead of time as the rehearsal. 
I felt I had got good reception, a lot of encouraging tweets and words of support came after. Along with some pointed questions.

I didn’t win the $700. A documentary filmmaker did. Her pitch was Us and Them. Super happy for her.

“You never hear someone say it’s a bad idea,” I heard from a fellow pitcher when we were all done.

So true.

It’s also what you learn from what you think you know.

All I could think of when I left was THANK YOU!

The Elevator Speech

It evolves. So it should. Depending on what you are. Rather, who you want to be.

The stories told. Maybe what someone says about you.

Perhaps what you want others to hear.

Yet, time divides. What is real or not. Where you’ve been or what you’ve done.

We invent. Who we are. So tell it like it is.
What you really wish to be.

The elevator speech.

Got one?

People, Purpose & Power! The Awesome Shit Club Pitch

Pretty stoked to have the opportunity to pitch to The Awesome Shit Club on Wednesday evening. I'll be one of ten individuals.


Thank you to all the wonderful readers of my blog for all the support so far. For the many of you who have viewed the Vision Board and commented I super appreciate it.


Do let me know if you are interested in being part of this project or if you have further ideas for activating a successful People, Purpose and Power! Here's what I'll be pitching:

The Awesome Shit About People, Purpose and Power!

The vision for People, Purpose and Power! is global. A multi-media exhibit planned to launch on or near December 21, 2012 coinciding with the Mayan calendar’s juxtaposed version of a possible shift in the future of the World.

People, Purpose and Power’s! objective is to photograph individuals on the streets of both developed and developing countries, at the same time asking them their wish for the World.

The individual’s photograph would be printed on the spot with their wish for the World. A copy would then go to the individual and another copy would form part of a streetscape for passerby’s to view.

The idea being to put out a conscious shift of awareness for the future of the World using photography and multi-media.

At night the image of the person will be transposed onto the side of a building with their wish for the World flashed up beside them.

Again, putting out these thoughts to the Universe to develop a conscious shift of awareness for the future of the World.

About Me, A Fresh Thinker aka Jane Victoria King

A recent visit to Uganda had me blogging about the hope of the people there. I wanted to steer away from the doom and the gloom so I would ask first their wish for Uganda and then their wish for the World. I didn’t always get peace as the answer for their wish for the World.

See Uganda Wishes for all the posts – www.ugandawishes.com (search Uganda Wishes).

Some individuals didn’t want their picture taken. Many did. And many asked for copies of their images. In developing countries, the resources are much more limited.

I see People, Purpose and Power! as an extension to Uganda Wishes with a broader focus to the World.

My vision is to set up a web site to engage the World to light up with this idea. Like Band Aid – broadcast this Worldwide leading up to December 21, 2012 and thereafter.

Funding is required to source multi-media expertise through on-line development as well as establish a model for People, Purpose and Power on the ground. Victoria, BC would be first!

The Other Awesome Shit About Me

I’m A Fresh Thinker with a dream of making a difference in the World through pictures, words, multi-media and the power of the Internet. I’ve been doing it now for almost 20 years.

You can review a lot about my past history at Linked In.

I appreciate the opportunity for the Awesome Shit Club to review this proposal and would be grateful for the support and engagement of the Awesome Shit Club in pursuing the vision of People, Purpose and Power! to the World.

You too would make a difference!

Most sincerely,

Jane Victoria King

A Fresh Thinker

http://janevictoriaking.blogspot.com

Vision Board for People, Purpose and Power!

Soulful Restoration

We all need it. Quiet time. Down time. Time to do nothing. Time to be.

To be quiet. To listen. To hear the heart speak.

Some say mediation. Others think bliss. My mind says nothing. Pay attention to the beat.

Shut off the music. Close down the mind. Let the thoughts wander. Feel. Be. Enjoy.

I contemplate the clock. But ignore all haste. Overpower the brain. With peace.

Savour these moments. Like the picture of rain drops filling up a puddle. Mesmerize the glee. Sooth the flow of the know. Erase the pace of the now. Let the brain scan what it likes.

Slow down. Sit down. Shut down.

Turn the light switch off. Throw the anchor out.

Be one with your soul.

Allow for it.

A soulful restoration.

Scattered Showers

There are moments that delight.

This morning as I rolled home from my TripleShot Predawn Coffee Destination Cycling Club’s 6 a.m. road ride, it was the ducks crossing the road. 
At the crosswalk. He and her. 
A memorable moment.

Later I post a shout-out for a celebration of YOUR Earth Day. A dare to throw the car keys away for today.

However, somewhere amidst the activation of the day my body shut down. Good Friday after all. For most a holiday.

Yesterday I had my first ever Shiatsu session. I had relaxed and felt a lot of tension relief, particularly in my lower back. The rest of the day was a race - from meeting to meeting - and so on.

Come today, I am whacked. I managed to jive on my ride. Barely.

Got home to make breakfast, coffee and turn the computer on. My productivity was all but shattered.

I lay low. My Wild Woman Mystery Card spoke to me. I’d drawn Refuge.

The sun outside became warm. I managed a garbage run. Then flopped down on the deck to attempt my stretches. It was hard getting up.

Perhaps a day of rest? A culmination of life’s stresses reflected in the alignment and unblocking of my body’s natural flow.

I caved into it. Even while the day brightened.

Inside for me, I was scattered showers.
Ever have days like that?

Ya Know You Need a Sugar Daddy When...

You reach for the canned beans, but there are none.

You open a can of soup with rust on it.

You start using evaporated milk for your coffee.

You refuse all invitations out that involve driving.

You keep looking in all your pockets for change.

You start rationing the toilet paper...

Love at First Sight

The Roller Coaster

I invite strength to come in.

I’m not the only one in need.

There are others too.

We should all hold hands.

Darkness falls. Another day will come.

For life.

I mesmerize my fate. For what tomorrow may bring.

While the moment is dark. 
I invite the sunshine in.

Perhaps not tomorrow.

I hope not now.

It’s day by day. I know that now.

But I won’t loose faith.

For what is the right thing to do.

See Our Furry Friends

Our Furry Friends

Our friend Fred. 

Your heartbeat pounds in your ears. A breath turns to a gasp. The head is full while the eyes leak.

His heart beats fast. His body shakes. I hold him close. Pat his furry head. While I mount my plan.

If I empty a can of tuna, perhaps he’d eat.

I poured the medicine in. A good strong dose.

As he lay half cradled, the head perked up. In a wane from the panting, he swallowed it up.

My relief was brief. How long would it take?
The hours rolled by. No sleep for us both.

Finally, before the sun shone up, he lay there flat. The trembling had stopped. The pain relief brief.

But the day was hard. How long should I keep this up?

It’s severe osteoarthritis. The worst the vet has ever seen. Monthly trips to the vet for a shot with anti-inflammatory medication to support. Some days are worse then others.

A long time ago when my son was young we visited a friend on his deathbed, from a severe arthritic condition. The pain was clear. Our visit was brief.

When we left my son turned to me and said.

“Mum why can’t we just put him to sleep?”

Today for the first time, I contemplate that thought, for my dear friend, Fred.

It’s so hard to let go. To say goodbye.

To our dear furry friends.

I Can’t Know

Cause I won’t go.

I don’t know.

Where I can be.

Neither here.

Not there.

Maybe not even.

That somewhere.

How would I know?

If I can not be.

Exactly now.

Where I really,

Want to be.

Nag, Nag, Nag – Ouch!

Before you know it’s an Ouchy! Denial sets in. It’s no use.

I finally admit to it. I need help. Not like I wasn’t warned. See One Body One Life.

Apparently too much cardiovascular exercise can slow your metabolism and eat away lean muscle. In comes the savour, strength conditioning. Yup. True story. I’d already decided I would sign-up.

In typical me fashion I take my dilemma to the experts. PISE.
First up an evaluation. What am I doing, what are my goals, how to get there?

Then I’m off for the body’s assessment. The Biomechanical Assessment.

Tempted to put it off for another day as I’m told I have to wait 30 minutes. Then the nag, nag, nag ignites. I stay put.

My assessor starts with the right side after an upright bend forwards and backwards looksy.

On my back it’s the leg up and the hip circles. I claim hip flexor anxiety due to the intensity of cycling I’ve been cruising with.

Not more then a few seconds in there’s a perplexed look on her face. Not good.

On my stomach she manipulates. Big ouches. It’s the CI joint she claims. The butt, the flexors, the core all in some way are connected.

That’s the right side.

While we’re there she asks me again about the calf/Achilles issues on the left side. Light touches shriek more ouches.

Conclusion. It’d be a good idea if I underwent some treatments.

We waltz into the training area. She’s masked together two tennis balls. I’m showed the calf drills. Three versions. Two tennis balls, a racquet ball and a rolling stick.

Then it’s onto the right side CI (lower back) and butt. Rolls on the wall with the racquet ball. Then the round hard foam. Wow.

It hurt. But I have to say I felt better as I walked out. Although I was warned before I left to hold off on going hard till things settled down a bit.

Looking forward to working it though I have to say.

So there’s no more nag, nag, nag – OUCH!

To Be Young Again

Not budging from being 27 years old.

I’m not.

Just saying. It’s where my mindset it stuck.

Had the pleasure of seeing my 19 year-old son and his girlfriend tonight. They’re in dilemmas. The nagging question looms.

“What am I going to do with my life?”
In typical project management style I started to rattle off options. Complete with prerequisites and end results.

The path they choose today, could affect the rest of their lives.

So many choices. The root of it all. To make money.

Education factors in on the drawing board for some directions. Yet career options tangle with motivation and commitment.

Is it truly what the heart desires?
I took myself back to their age. I wanted to have my name in lights. Thought I could be a dancer. Dreamt of being on-stage. Actually took dance classes through till my first couple years living in the big smoke – Toronto.

The more realistic notion was being a stock broker. But I couldn’t get a job without the course. Not even as a secretary.

My life evolved. To be honest I’m still searching. Suppose that’s what we do in life.

So I reiterate my logic to them.

“It’s better to be doing something, then nothing at all. Because something will eventually lead to something else.”

Just saying.

Oh, to be young again!

Home Office Life

Perception is jumbled. 

“You work from home?”

Might as well say, “You work in your pajamas and you don’t brush your hair.”

Maybe.

Feels like I work too much when I work from home.

Get up, walk the dog, make breakfast, eat it - but even BEFORE all that the computer is turned on. Ready to chime in on the plethora of what happened last night that I didn’t already answer on the Blackberry whilst squeaking out the sleep.

The food is scoffed while the news is read and the coffee is slurped. Like the start of a 100 meter dash – I’m off!

The land line rings while the Smart Phone vibrates. The two rings cross. Yup, that’s my life today.

I talk on the phone. I talk to myself (email). The lists get longer. The dishes pile up. The dog whines.

Out for a walk. A token of fresh air. It’s already 4 p.m. What happened to today?

Advantages to working a day at home:

• Don’t have to drive.
• Save fuel and a bit for the environment.
• More time to work – no travel time.

Disadvantages to working a day at home:

• You only see yourself (and the dog).

That’ll be the home office life.

One Body One Life

It’s pretty usual for a Saturday that I should struggle to get out of the sack. Just cause. The week flies by and those early morning ride grinds put me into sleep deprivation.

I look forward to Saturday’s cause it’s an 8:30 a.m. start. How very civilized.

Even though, snooze gets smacked till there is no chance. Once I swing into gear I’m fine. Except I’m eating the oatmeal while I’m walking the dog.

New people are showing up these days with the Ryder Hesjedal’s Tour de Victoria on the horizon. More women, which is great!

My body is toasted today. I did a grind on Wednesday night and yesterday morning with the TripleShots. They should really change their name to UberShots. They’re super fast. Super fit.

The sweet thing about Saturday’s ride is the social at the bike shop afterwards. Coffee and good mingling.

Cycling is awesome for fitness, but it's only one thing and if you’re not doing anything else, certain things in the body (mine at least) wear, e.g. the hip flexors.

Last week it was the bike. I’d worn out my rubber. So I had to get new tread. The week before it was the brakes. Proof I’m putting in the time.

Back in the fall I remember a ride where we’d had a new gal join in. She wasn’t dialed on the peloton riding or drafting. She got dropped, and so did I so I tried to pick her up. When she admitted she wasn’t in the know I showed her how and she got right into the groove. So much in fact, the weeks that followed I couldn’t keep up to her.

Turned out she’d been a rower. Now a personal trainer.

Anyway, she drops in for the post-ride social with cookies. We start yakking about the strength training conditioning that ideally should go along with. I bail on the talk. Bottom line. The choice - pay the mortgage or walk the talk.

She turns to me as I’m leaving and says it right.

“Gotta take care of your body, you’ve got it for life.”

She’s so right. Sign me up.

The World is Wacked

It’s April. Spring. Supposedly.

In Victoria we awake to frost. Birds sing. The cool crisp air resonates winter. Yet again.

The radio DJs suggest pulling out the winter coats. Last night I pulled out the hot water bottle.

On route to the first meeting of the day, another traumatic announcement for Japan. Aftershocks again. Another Tsunami warning.

Zip, zap. It was only last month. Once more. The crust is shaking. What next?

Earlier in the week I met with a fellow who works for a local water company. What’s new in business I asked?

He told me about the need for the storage of Emergency Water.

Should an incidence occur where we’re cut off, are you stocked up?

Not only that. With the on-going threat of radiation contaminating water supplies – will what we have be safe?
In shame I contemplate mankind. What have we done?
It’s not mother earth. She takes care of us. It’s what we’ve done to her.

Heightened Global Climate Change awareness doesn’t seem to dial into the big guys. Problem is, it’s what we did thirty years ago that is what is affecting us now.

I’m no expert. I listen the ones that are.

The world is wacked.

Hard Work and Power

Straddled the road bike tonight. It’s about time. Putting work before training till today. Hump day. Gotta leave the screen. Dial in on the day.

Been great as I’ve found an inspiring young gal to pedal with. Super supportive of my Lantern Rouge positioning. Always encouraging.

We blast out after 5 p.m. My heart rate’s already revved. I try and hold a breathless conversation. Manage barely to keep pace. Till we attack the killers. Hills that is.

Glenowyn cheerfully rolls back to tag me. I then advise of a plan to meet-up after the big one. Give her some more mileage! Maybe a little recovery for me... (Here’s hoping!)

I’m 3/4s the way up Mr. Big. She rolls down. I nail the thumbs up without dragging too much.

Keeping the happy heart rate (as Glenowyn would say) I conquer too.

Rolling down is fun. You realize how far you’ve climbed.

It’s really over before you know it.

In my own zone I carry on till I see her ahead of me. She’s already done one loop! I pick it up and roll through to our meet-up but within minutes she’s back!

Given our different levels of fitness we worked a pretty good tag team. She got her pace and a little more.

Although there was a few times on the way home where she had to steady up for me. Honestly, I was SO grateful.

As we sped home on the last leg I reminded myself by telling Glenowyn the same.

“Every step and strain you take today is an investment in tomorrow morning’s strength.”

The hard work will give you power.

Being lazy will make you a slave.

Sliver in the Sky

I wonder what you are doing.

Today. Tonight.

I see you in the skies.

In the crest of the moon.

I cradle your thoughts.

As your eyes light mine.

The beam that sooths my soul.

Yet a distance divides.

While our world awaits.

Afar we are.

Together we are not.

Tonight.

Only through the sliver in the sky.

Revised Optimism

It may be something that was heard. It could be an image you saw or maybe even read. It might have been a juxtaposition of your conscious and your subconscious.

Somehow, something tweaked your inners to look in another way. To feel differently.

For me, it can be as simple as changing my thought pattern. Like peeling away the layer of an onion. Digging into the juice. Making the eyes water.

A matter of choice. An awakening of the senses.

Yet, so often we allow ourselves to sink. Morbid self-pity or possibly the unlikely sealing on the envelope. The icing on the cake. Like closing a door, forgetting another one will open.

Had an interesting conversation with a cousin of mine who is living in East Los Angeles. The question posed by my Uncle sitting next to him was articulated at the economy and whether the feelings of doom and gloom resonated amongst the population.

Interesting, he explains there’s been a bounce-back. No looking back. Forward thinking. A gain of elevation in the promise for the future.

As I sit fixated I think about what is for so many. Riddled with debt. An income that can’t justify it. Hard choices. What do we give up next?
Reinvention. Do things differently.

While we have what we have, and we may not necessarily know where we’re going – at least if we can tag it with something. We’re fueled with hope.

If we tag it with a revised optimism.

In the Zone

View of Fiscard Lighthouse from Esquimalt Lagoon

Knew where I was going before I went to sleep last night. But ignored the alarm when it sounded off.

Didn’t matter the hour. It’s the weekend right?

For the first time in a while I had a chance to pump my road bike tires up in daylight. Usually I’m rolling away in the dark and pumping with the headlights.

Wahzoo. There was a lotta wear and some real wows in my tread. Yep. Been putting the mileage on. Guess I was due.

It was later then usual when I got pedaling. The spring rains gushed down on me. I strolled the Galloping Goose to Ocean Boulevard and ducked down to Esquimalt Lagoon. Holy headwinds, crosswinds – crazy wind! Speed was idled down a notch.

I was destined for some more hill work. I reckoned since I hadn’t ridden since Wednesday night I better build and be mean.

The speedometer pegged me as slower then my roll-out with Glenowyn on Wednesday night. She is fast. My legs were fresh then. Good thing.

I dial in the roadies by myself with my IPod. By the two-hour mark I’m feeling it. Banana gone. Elevate Me consumed. Down to the electrolytes. I zone in on the tunes to keep myself from bonking.

Suddenly my script plays out to the song by Loreena McKennitt Seeds of Love. 
I’m rolling over a bridge with the wind at my back, the sun on my neck and the ocean on my right. The winds are lashing up the sea to the shores with the illuminated Fiscard Lighthouse in the background. 
What a moment. 
I express gratitude for my health, for where I am. For the now.

Totally in the zone.