RedShift Blog

intuitive eating

I have little personal experience with dieting but know many people who diet. So when I come across diet information that makes sense, and that is not part of a money-making diet scheme, I like to share that knowledge. On a gut level, this diet did just that and I think deserves a read. 

It's the no-diet diet, an approach the Brigham Young University health science professor used to lose 50 pounds and to keep it off for more than five years.

Hawks calls his plan "intuitive eating" and thinks the rest of the country would be better off if people stopped counting calories, started paying attention to hunger pangs and ate whatever they wanted.

"One of the advantages of intuitive eating is you're always eating things that are most appealing to you, not out of emotional reasons, not because it's there and tastes good," he said. "Whenever you feel the physical urge to eat something, accept it and eat it. The cravings tend to subside. I don't have anywhere near the cravings I would as a 'restrained eater.'

Maybe this is how the French do it?   

going SoLo: the new rock n' roll

If you think being an entrepreneur is a cool thing to be, you will like this BBC article.

I get hundreds of emails every week from people looking for business help, financial support and sometimes just a friendly ear into which they can pour out their woes and frustrations.

With the help of a small team, I do what I can to help out, but it highlights to me the fact that' 'we still have trouble communicating the answer to the simplest of questions: I want to start my own business, where do I go for help?

If we're really going to ride the wave of business being the new rock'n'roll, then we need to get a few key people round a table and agree a more organised, seamless framework and structure to put the UK at the forefront of a truly entrepreneurial and dynamic business culture.

This would ultimately deliver huge economic and social benefits to us all.

Its about entrepreneurs, but I think its pertinent for sole proprietors and infopreneurs. Shows like The Apprentice have popularized entrepreneurship.' Schools like Babson focus on teaching it.' But what about the average person who wants to start a SoLo practice from home?' You can be successful and independent, with a lot less risk, but still feel like a rock star!going SoLo: the new rock n' roll

give me a' la carte or give me dish

Its that time of year again..cable companies are raising rates.' The issues:

Consumers:

• most want to save money and have choice

• many with families want, coming into their homes, programming that is free of sex, violence and rough language

Cable companies:

• reject offering a' la carte programming which upsets their traditional business model (lose money)

• agree to offer family tiers which require digital cable boxes (makes money, address indecency)

FCC:

• last year determined that a' la carte pricing will cost consumers more

• this year determines that a' la carte pricing will cost consumers less

Critics and analysts:

• family tiers do not address indecency, do not address consumer costs, appear to address both, and are part of a hidden agenda

Confused?' I know I'm confused and feeling increasingly annoyed about my own cable bundle.' Writing this, I think about the Michael Douglas movie where the guy loses it and keeps "demanding his rights as a consumer".'

I want faster Internet and more digital phone features and customizable TV programming for the money I'm paying now.' Yeah sure, I can understand both sides of the "how a' la carte will affect prices" argument.' I don't want smaller channels to go out of business and I don't want to pay for channels that I don't watch. I share this bottom line:

We won't know actual costs until some company starts offering customizable pay TV. But it seems highly unlikely that I would end up paying the same amount for the same number of channels I now get in a bundle. That doesn't bother me much, though: I would rather pay more and get exactly those channels I want than get a discount on 100 channels I never watch. Your bottom line may vary.

Will Cablevision figure it out?

Way to go Chuck, a cable executive with anough chutzpah to call it as he sees it.

C'mon..how hard can it be?' Its changing a business model..not rocket science.

Consumers are getting hit with higher energy costs and higher interest rates; will this be the winter where there is a tipping point for the financially squeezed consumer who will have make a choice between cable TV and other necessities?' If so, it could be a boon for Dish TV, Netflix and old-fashioned TV antennas. As for me, I'm so tired of the same old, same old that I'm thinking of getting rid of TV altogether - take a break for year or until a 'next big thing' makes TV valuable to me again.' '

But I won't expect the FCC to drive any change..its become increasingly irrelevant to the consumer.

finding imagination

I recently watched Finding Neverland and I'm recommending it to anyone interested in being creative.' The characters and story are touching, but what fascinated me the most was the unfolding of John Barrie's creative process as he developed Peter Pan and Neverland.' It got me thinking in a new way about 'my' process and how to stay aligned with it.' Another favorite, although disturbing, is Pollock.'