Susan Cain’s Introvert Revolution

I do my best work sitting in the ICOSA Radio room. I get my work done quicker, and work simply flows easier. Retreating to solitude is my way to focus and since the room is fitted with sound proofing it’s quiet without distractions. Today, I found some sound evidence on why this is more than just a preference.

Susan Cain author of, “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking,” is starting a revolution that will empower introverts, for the benefit of us all. One in every two or three people is introverted, so belonging to a society that encourages extroversion creates challenges for one third of the population.

Susan Cain spoke at TED in 2012 about the need of recognition, understanding and advancement of introverts. Being introverted doesn’t equate to shyness, rather it is how a person reacts to stimulation. Cain further explains that, “We need more of a yin and yang between these two types. This is especially important when it comes to creativity and to productivity, because when psychologists look at the lives of the most creative people, what they find are people who are very good at exchanging ideas and advancing ideas, but who also have a serious streak of introversion in them. And this is because solitude is a crucial ingredient often to creativity.”

At the All-Stars session 5 at TED 2014 Cain shared her plan of action—the introvert revolution. Cain has developed a series of programs and tools coined; QuietTV, Quiet Leadership and Supporting Quiet Children.

TED’s Blog describes Susan Cain’s plan:

QuietTV A website that will eventually host a web-based TV series with profiles and interviews of famous introverts, highlighting how introversion shaped the way they contribute to the world. The site will roll out as the movement gathers momentum, but if you want to learn more now, check out Cain’s author site, The Power of Introverts. Quiet Leadership This program, headed by West Point professor Mike Erwin, will center on identifying and strengthening the leadership style of introverts. Though Erwin is himself an extrovert – he talks a mile a minute, according to Cain — he observed during his time in combat that introverts make great leaders if they can identify their strengths. The leadership training will offer examples of powerful quiet leadership, and will draw on the latest research on managerial styles. Supporting quiet children

“This is the area that is closest of all to my heart,” said Cain. “I’ve seen first hand in the wake of my TED Talk that there’s such an enormous need for parents and teachers to better understand how to love and cultivate the introverted kid.” Like the Quiet Leadership program, this program is in its infancy, but will eventually provide tools for teachers and parents to support quiet children as they grow into themselves. Cain is in the process of identifying partner schools across the country that will collaborate in developing the training program.

$400,000 Creatively Made $4 Million In Additional Revenue

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity runs till the 21st of June. “Guilt Trips” took the Grand Prix award today for Creative Effectiveness. This witty commercial exponentially increased the ticket sales for the V Line train in Melbourne, Australia. 

A Brief Explanation provided by Cannes Lions: This is a story about how V/Line used the extraordinary power of guilt to motivate young Victorians to leave the bright lights of the city to visit friends and family in the country, all with a tiny budget (US$400,000). When running a train company, it’s normal for trains to be at or near capacity during peak periods. The trains hardest to fill are those travelling against commuter traffic and those in the middle of the day. V/Line calls these customers its “Visiting Friends and Families”. They represent a potentially huge opportunity if they can be captured, but they are difficult to isolate and as V/Line discovered, even harder to motivate.

Young Victorians were fleeing rural towns for the big city, and put simply, they were just too busy with their new lives to visit friends and relatives back home in the country. And they felt guilty. They felt they were neglecting their friends and family back in the country. But as a train company we couldn’t make people feel guilty. But we could create a new product to advertise – The Guilt Trip, a pre-purchase ticket that people could send to someone who would feel guilty for not visiting. Through this, we used the power of guilt to get people back to the country.

To sell our product, there were three parts: 1. Tell Victorians about our new product, The Guilt Trip: We used traditional media and public relations to kick off the campaign. 2. Get country people to do the selling for us. 
To empower friends and family to ply on the guilt. Online films, regional media and Guilt Trip handbooks offering tips on how to ply guilt. 3. Use social media to enhance the guilt. 
The Guilt Trip platform was designed to allow users to publicly guilt their family and friends to come home – through Facebook and Twitter (Image 6).

The Results. We saw a 12% increase in off-peak sales with an additional 123,000 tickets sold, smashing our 5% kpi. Guilt Trips generated $4 Million in additional revenue; exceeding our KPI by 167%. Consideration also increased with call-center enquiries for VFR travel rising on average 28%, well exceeding our 10% target. This campaign helped more V/Line employees to realize that they do not simply drive trains; they help to bring loved ones back home to their families, their friends and their country towns. One Guilt Trip at a time.

Rural Town Versus Twin Twisters

Pilger, Nebraska didn't stand a chance against twin tornadoes that barreled across the plains and right through the small town on June 16th. With a population of 378, it's the sort of small, country town with probably two square blocks of century-old store fronts, and as many bars as there are churches, say two or three of each. In communities like this, people are close. You can't help but know everyone else in the area, and as townspeople took shelter they all, likely had a fairly good idea where everyone they knew was. As Gene Oswald, a nearby farmer told an Omaha World Herald reporter about taking shelter in a relative's basement with his nephew, who at one point peeked out a window and told Oswald, "Gene, there’s stuff flying above the co-op,”.  Surely both men had an idea which friends and neighbors were taking shelter at the co-op. Five co-workers were huddled in the co-op office’s vault. Others were safe in the meat locker of the Pilger Store next door.

Meanwhile, this funnel was cutting a swath, heading straight into town. As I watch the video of the tornado crossing land that is very familiar to me (my family farm is about an hour north of Pilger) I remain detached until I see the water tower hover above the trees that surround the small town, and suddenly tears flow. The water tower makes it real, as it indicates that there's a community nestled among the trees you see from highway.

Here's an Omaha World Herald slide show of the damage in Pilger.

That's what community looks like on the open plains of Nebraska. Trees point to where people have gathered. There were few trees on the plains until people planted them. You can see for miles across the open prairie, with nothing impeding your view. Just miles of corn rows, alfalfa fields and pasture lands. It's stunningly beautiful. God's country.

So when I clicked through comments accompanying a news report of the Pilger tornado, and read random bits of outrage from fellow Americans, questioning why anyone would live where a tornado could wipe everything out, well, I got a little spun up.

We can pose that question to any area of the country. Why would anyone live where hurricanes hit? Or build a city below sea level (New Orleans, I'm looking at you.) Why would anyone live where there are earthquakes, landslides or floods? People are afraid of the unfamiliar. The thought of a hurricane is more terrifying to me than a tornado. Hurricanes cover more square miles, and the damage can extend for miles from the eye of the storm. Where I'm from, tornadoes are familiar, and random enough to rarely seem like an omnipresent threat to any one person.

The fact is, in the 50 years that my parents have lived on our family farm, not a single tornado has hit it, or touched down within ten miles of our property. As far as I know, we can say the same for the fifty years my grandparents lived on the same land. Building a home, and life and a livelihood in our little corner of Nebraska has been a good risk for the past 100 years.

Why would anyone live in the states frequently stricken with tornadoes? I'll tell you, it's for the time in between tornadoes. For the endless blue skies that meet at the horizon with endless prairie. The pleasure of seeing miles upon miles of fields of the deepest green sweet corn, and how it dances in a breeze. To crest a hill to see a handful of strong, beautiful quarter horses running to the fence line. To walk down a country lane, during a warm summer rain.

True, I left Nebraska for Colorado, where the cold isn't as bitter, mosquitoes are less populous, and where hay fever can't make me miserable. It wasn't that  tornadoes that drove me away.

We all love something about where we live. When a horrific natural disaster strikes, we need to support each other through it. Not criticize an entire state as uninhabitable. We need to feel grief for the lives lost, in this case two lives, a five-year-old girl and a motorist.  Now is the time to pull together to help a town recover.

Starbucks Offers College Perks

It's safe to say that Starbucks may suddenly be inundated with job applications. Starbucks billionaire Howard Schultz just changed the game in the world of part-time and minimum wage jobs versus getting an education. On June 16th, Schultz announced that his company would pay for thousands of their workers to earn a bachelor's degree through Arizona State University's online degree program.

While other employers are engaged in the debate over raising the minimum wage to help part-time employee's bottom line, Starbucks is offering a different solution. Starbucks was already one of the first corporations to offer part-time employees health benefits, 401k and a stock equity reward program. By adding the College Achievement Plan, the company is bridging the gap for employees with career ambitions.

It may look like a move made simply to promote a good image, but Schultz says, "I couldn’t care less about marketing,” he said. “This is not about PR. This is about the future of our company doing what’s right for our people and also, sending a message to the country that we can’t build a great company and we can’t build a great enduring country if we’re constantly leaving people behind."

The plan appears to have been formed with the full knowledge that employees will move on once they complete a degree, and they'll see that as predictable employee turn-over, typical for retail jobs. The employees will not be contracted in any way to stay with Starbucks upon graduation.

Schultz frames this offering as a response to the main obstacles of higher education, specifically the challenge of work/life balance, and the fact that college simply isn't affordable for most workers. Starbucks will provide working students with a dedicated enrollment coach, financial aid counselor and academic advisor to support them through graduation.

Could more employers afford to offer this perk and incentive? Make no mistake, tuition is tax deductible, even if a corporation is paying for it. So Starbucks will see some benefit beyond creating an educated workforce.

Now the question is whether we really believe a bachelors degree is the answer for every retail employee? If every Starbucks employee who wanted to, was able get a college degree, will there be employment opportunities for them when they graduate? Or do you feel better about being underemployed if you didn't have to pay tuition yourself?

Alternatively, if Starbucks is helping send it's employees to school, we can all feel a little better about spending four bucks on a frou-frou drink, if we feel like we're contributing to a greater good in some way.

Read the full scoop on Starbucks webpage here.

photo credit : http://fivegreatest.com

True Fatherhood

Our current culture in the United States has devalued men and the importance of fatherhood. Think of the movies and television shows that portray fathers as the buffoon, can't do anything right, and wildly out of touch with their children. It's a funny thing about media influence, if you tell someone something enough, they start to believe it. They'll meet your expectations, even if those expectations are low. As a result we now live in a society in which there are too many children whose fathers have abandoned them. If not completely out of their lives, they're no longer in their homes, after separation or divorce. This father-deprivation has an untold impact on children, who will never feel complete.

Father Faustinus Anyamele insists that children have the inalienable right to a healthy relationship with both parents. That even in situations of divorce, parents must work together to ensure that their children see their parents respect one another and work in the child's best interest.

As a Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Denver, Faustinus works with children in his ministry, teaching in schools, and counseling families, Father Faustinus is on the front lines, feeling the impact of the broken family. In his book, The Father They Wish to Have; The Act of True Human Fatherhood and Its Consummation, Father Faustinus shares his insight and offers real strategies for men to maintain a strong paternal relationship with their children. Strategies that are applicable for divorced and separated fathers, as well as for dads doing their best to build a strong family unit in one home.

In our interview, Father Faustinus shares his thoughts on the father - child relationship.

"Every child deserves attention, and they know when attention is given to them." says Father Faustinus Anyamele, "And there is nothing that disappoints a child like feeling that his or her father doesn't give him or her attention. At least to hear his or her story, if it doesn't make sense, try to make sense of it."

Father Faustinus emphasizes the importance of fathers, and their true value to their children. This is a program you will want to hear, and we believe you and your children will be served by listening.

The book, The Father They Wish to Have is available in Denver area, Catholic book stores like Gerkens, at Barnes & Noble, and on Amazon.com

Born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, Faustinus is the oldest of six children. His own father died when Faustinus was young, and his uncle, a Catholic priest, took responsibility for the children, and helped their mother. Young Faustinus persisted in his seminary education, and to this day has a very close relationship with his family.

Listen Saturday at 10:00 AM on KNUS 710 –  Please let us know what you think of our program, either by commenting here or on Facebook at Connect & Collaborate with ICOSA or join the discussion on Twitter @ICOSAMagazine.

US and Japan Make "Progress" on Auto Issues

Bloomberg -- In a June 10th address at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Wendy Cutler said the U.S. and Japan are making “some progress” in bilateral negotiations on difficult trade issues regarding automobiles. These discussions are going alongside the general Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks. The American Automotive Policy Council (AAPC), which represents Chrysler Group LLC, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. on trade policy issues, supports the technical work that is being conducted by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, though they contend that currency concerns are more important. AAPC President Matt Blunt, the former governor of Missouri, told Bloomberg, “It's critical that a high-aspiration agreement like the Trans-Pacific Partnership address currency with a meaningful, rules-based approach. The fact that it has not been raised by negotiators thus far is very discouraging for us and others in Congress who believe that currency has to be included if it is going to be a meaningful agreement.”

To start learning more about the TPP generally, check out the USTR's page or the wikipedia page.

Ancient Roman Stoics would practice turning obstacles upside down. Marcus Aurelius, the last of the 5 Good Emperors, once wrote, "Our actions may be impeded, but there can be no impeding our intentions or dispositions because we can accommodate and adapt. The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting. The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way."

In that spirit, here is a full list of trade barriers (i.e. opportunities) with Japan being on page 205:

2013 National Trade Estimate Report on FOREIGN TRADE BARRIERS from Keenan Brugh

Ensor is Scandalous & Defiant

We have all seen art we don’t like. Sometimes we even feel disturbed by it.  Just think that could be the artist’s intention.  Do you ever think art doesn’t make sense? Or even worse think how can that be art? You are not alone.  Some people walk into a museum and think this is boring, why am I looking at this, or what does this mean? In my experience it’s more enjoyable going to a museum if you already know the meaning of the artwork. One museum that does an extraordinary job at providing patrons resources before visiting is the Getty.  The Getty is a leader in the art world of research, conservation and philanthropy. Today through September 7^th the Getty will exhibit, “The Scandalous Art of James Ensor.”

Scandalous, Wicked and Shocking = James Ensor.

In the 1880’s and 1890’s Ensor was considered scandalous and defiant.  It was a time of social and political unrest in Belgium, as well as a real up-swing in culture. Ensor's art at that time became fantastic, bizarre and grotesque.  Even his peers had trouble accepting his work.

Take for example the drawing, “Plague Above, Plague Below, Plague All Around.” Notice the sun spewing vomit down below on everything.  On the left there are two men facing each other, one with snot coming from his nose and the other smoking.  In the middle is a group of 4 people sitting with a pile of poop below them.  What could that mean? The woman on the right holds a seemingly dying baby, and has snot coming from her nose.

This drawing certainly represents class distinction. Is it the upper class that is wrongfully surrounded by the rougher lower class? Or is it vice versa? That is for the viewer to determine.

To view the mobile tour of the exhibit click here.  And remember at the most basic level art is to look at and simply considering what you see before you, is good enough.

The Power to Yelp Yourself

I have long held the notion that one of the best things the internet has given us, is the ability to review products and services, and share those reviews in an organized manner. Sure, sites like Yelp.com can be a place for crotchety complaining types to announce their gripes to the world, but sometimes, the right people listen. For years, it's been a sick joke that city health inspectors in our country's biggest cities overlook the obvious filth of New York City restaurants, most TV SitComs have centered an episode or two around it. (Enjoy the video featured below!) I'm sure if the exaggerations are close to true, it's unfortunately so in almost every city.

In the not-so-distant past, New York City health inspectors struggled with proper, current inspections, in part because patrons of such restaurants rarely reported their bad experiences to the health department. Then along comes Yelp, and those complaining types started writing reviews. Suddenly, they're no longer so shy about telling the world if they experienced food poisoning or observed a family of cockroaches seated at the next table.

According to this article on Mid-Market Pulse, those NYC health inspectors scoured through about 300,000 Yelp reviews, finding hundreds of unreported cases of food-borne illnesses. They searched for words like "sick", "vomit", "diarrhea" and "food-poisoning", which lead them to customers who were sick as a result of their visits to three common restaurants which were found to have additional health violations.

So yeah, Yelp has become a game changer. Instead of reporting violations to government sources, government sources found the place diners do complain. Thus, a partnership was born. Last year, Yelp announced it's intention to share food safety information directly on it's review pages. Right next to hours of operation and menu price breakdowns, in major cities like New York and San Francisco, you'll see the restaurant's health score rating.

It's unclear why those scores aren't available in all cities, but it's safe to assume that it depends upon cooperation between Yelp and each city's Health Department. So while we in Denver do not yet benefit from that easy access to food safety scores, we can still search Yelp reviews ourselves. Or take advantage of the information provided when traveling.

Personally, I love the fact that this rating system is in progress. It's one more way the internet has given power to the people to make decisions that really do impact our health and safety.

Skin Grafting for the Planet

We've become a “disposable” society; plastic bags, cups, utensils, and containers now make up a huge percentage of the garbage in landfills today. Much of those plastics end up in our oceans to form giant garbage patches, like one known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. And while we’ve made strides to reduce waste by reusing and recycling, the use of plastic bags is still on the rise in developing countries. We may have reached a threshold to where there may be no point of return. However, hope is on the rise.  

In recent scientific news, 19-year old Boyan Slat has devised a way to clean up the oceanic plastic pollution problem. His idea of capturing plastics could theoretically remove the debris within the next ten years. Once collected, we would use existing technology to convert plastics into fuel. That’s when I got an idea.  Perhaps we could utilize the waste in a different manner first.

The polar ice caps are melting, and without the reflective nature of ice, more of the deep dark oceans absorb light, which raises ocean temperatures. Warmer climate trends mean all living creatures including humans will be affected. As sea levels rise, we’ll see more coastal erosion, extreme weather patterns, and we’ll see the extinction of a variety of species on an epic scale.

There is a relatively new field in science known as biomimicry . From bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate, this discipline takes design queues from nature to help solve human problems, such as a solar cell inspired by a leaf. Here is my idea. What if we had a means to convert the collected plastic debris into artificial “ice sheets” to be used as temporary ice flows in the Arctic Circle? Reflect that light and heat back out and reduce the rate of oceanic warming. My idea is akin to creating a skin graft or bandage for a burn victim, only in this case the planet is the victim. The graft would be used only long enough to allow nature to recover or “heal” if you will. Once the climate stabilized we then could look to possibly converting those plastics into fuel.

Regardless of what side of the climate change debate one is on, we can all agree that this humble little planet is our only home. It seems only fitting we should leave it better than we found it for future generations to enjoy.

Photo credit: Ferdi Rizkiyanto

Right Brain, Left Brain Time Frame

In almost any business, it seems inevitable that the creatives and the business managers will lock horns occasionally. When our company launched ICOSA Media, there were surely some misunderstandings when the creative team came on board. The parent company had run successfully for 30 years with business types who all understood one another, how they work and how they get results. Then suddenly there were video and graphics teams in the mix, who rely on inspiration and creative juices, and feel deadline pressure in a different way. You may have seen similar conflicts in your office, between the managers and the programming team. Have you considered that the conflict may be about how each group plans and uses their time?

I came across an old article recently, which explains the difference between "Makers"and "Managers". It goes back to 2009, written by English programmer and venture capitalist, and co-founder of the Y Combinator, Paul Graham - but the observations are as true today as ever.

Graham describes the Makers as programmers, but his theory applies as well to creative fields like graphics design, writers and video producers. Managers are the bosses, who view their day in one hour blocks, just like a typical appointment book. As Graham says, "When you use time that way, it's merely a practical problem to meet with someone. Find an open slot in your schedule, book them and you're done." Makers, on the other hand, prefer to use time in larger blocks, "... like half a day at least." says Graham, "You can't write a program well in units of an hour. That's barely enough time to get started." The same is true for graphics or video production. You can't always edit a video in an hour. It can take half a day, or an entire week, depending on the assignment.

That's why Makers hate meetings. When Managers want to meet for an hour at 2:00, it can throw off a Maker's entire day. Instantaneously, an afternoon of productivity is split into two pieces too small to really accomplish anything. Graham points out that if he has a meeting in the middle of the day, he's not likely to start on an ambitious project that morning.

Both types of schedules work great on their own. It's when they want to work together that things get hairy. Managers just want to "Grab coffee." Makers just want to be left alone. When a manager wants to make an introduction or bring in a client, a maker has two choices according to Graham, "We can meet with them, and lose half a day's work; or we can try to avoid meeting them, and probably offend them."

Again, Graham's observations were written five years ago, and I think the corporate world has made some progress in adapting to the varied schedules of Makers and Managers. But here's something to think about; do you consider the perspective of your co-workers when you plan meetings, or even pop in for a quick conversation? You might be throwing a wrench in their productivity. Can you adapt your schedule to work with meeting planners? Maybe you can request meetings at the end of the work day so you can work continuously through the day. How do you handle differences in workflow?

Botero's Art is Worth Millions

Most Denverites know the 13’ voluptuously round sculptures, “Man” and “Woman,” at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA), by Fernando Botero.  Botero is considered the most famous Latin American artist, and Denver has two of his sculptures, continuously on display. And wait for this, Botero's 1969 "Man Going to Work" was the top lot in Christie's line-up for last Wednesday’s sale, with a pre-sale estimate of up to $1.8 million. Botero's painting shows a corpulent wife and baby waving off a man, while a man in the background looks over a garden framed by a volcano and mountains. That incredible amount for one painting makes me wonder the value of the sculptures at DCPA.

Click Here For Audio:  Virgilio Garza, Head of Department, Latin American Art, discusses Fernando Botero's Man Going to Work (Hombre yendo a la oficina).

Axel Stein, Latin American art chief at Sotheby’s said, “During the first half of May there were practically $2 billion in sales at auction houses in New York of modern, impressionist, and contemporary art, something that seems to never have happened before… There is a contagion of optimism.”

Botero Sculpture Bidding

Botero paints and sculpts comically proportioned people, animals and plants that are caricatures and sometimes satires to Colombian society. The exaggerated forms are eye catching.  “Man” and “Woman” have graced the courtyard of DPAC since 1998, but did you know that Botero is still alive today—80 years old, and one of the world’s most wealthiest artists.  His work is in more than 50 museums and galleries in Europe, Asia, Middle East and the Americas.

Botero’s latest book was published this past April, and can be found on Amazon.

“This publication is comprised of more than 20 new pieces by Colombian painter, draftsman and sculptor Fernando Botero (born 1932), probably the best-known Latin American artist working today. The book, handsomely bound in linen with a tip-on reproduction of the painting "The Street," revisits the most iconic subjects of the artist's six-decade career, including examples of Botero's bullfighters, circus performers, imbibers, musicians, reclining couples and society women. In addition to his new works, the book also includes archival photographs of the artist as a child, at exhibitions and in his studio, as well as an interview conducted by the book's editors. In the interview, Botero discusses his august career and turning 80: "from the point of view of my energy to work, I feel like I'm 30 ... What makes me work like this is the curiosity of what my next painting will be, what I will find," Amazon.

Like many people, I sometimes want to touch the art the Denver Art Museum (DAM), but know that would get me thrown out, maybe right into Oldenburg’s dust pan. Does Claes Oldenburg’s, “Big Sweep,” symbolize what happens to patrons when they get out of order? You get swept out with the trash? I bet not, but if you would like to touch some mega millionaire’s artwork, i.e. Botero’s sculptures, you can do it at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts .

Botero's, "Man" and "Woman" is part the Denver Public Art Collection, managed by Denver Art & Venues, to see more of the collection click here.

Connect & Collaborate - Chad McWhinney

Denver's Union Station will reopen on July 12th, 100 years after the last major remodel in July 0f 1914. While the last renovation certainly saw vast improvements for the time, today's Union Station is poised for the future of multi-modal transportation, including light rail, bus systems and train lines. While the historic building was painstakingly preserved, the new Union Station will also boast the finest amenities, retail shops and restaurants in the great hall. The redevelopment is the result of efforts by the Union Station Alliance, which includes Larimer Associates, Sage Hospitality, Dana Crawford and McWhinney. They worked in conjunction to create an experience they refer to as the Living Room of Denver, where the best experiences of the mile high city converge all in one place, right where visitors step off the train.

In this week's show, we speak with Chad McWhinney, Co-Founder and CEO of McWhinney, the development company responsible for the twenty-eight thousand square feet of retail and dining space at Union Station. They were very selective in their choice of proprietors to fill the space.

"We went and literally handpicked everyone that is in the building. We specifically wanted to avoid the national chains and we wanted to create an incredible experience." McWhinney explains, "So the idea is, when you get off those trains and you walk into Union Station, we wanted it to be the best of Colorado."

When Union Station first opened in 1881, it became one of the liveliest spots in town. McWhinney is dedicated to bring that feeling back, with the revitalized Union Station and future development in the Z Block - between 18th and 19th streets, Wazee and Blake, where we can expect new office space and ground floor retail space mixed in with the historic buildings of the old Windsor Dairy Block.

Be sure to listen for more about the improvements at Union Station on Saturday at 10:00 AM on KNUS 710.  Please let us know what you think of our program, either by commenting here or on Facebook at Connect & Collaborate with ICOSA or join the discussion on Twitter @ICOSAMagazine.

Sugar Junkie Undergoes 21-Day Detox

My husband and I recently saw the eye-opening movie documentary Fed Up, narrated by Katie Couric. The documentary is focused on how over time we’ve become a nation of sugar addicts thanks to the introduction of soft drinks and processed foods. Clever advertisement and product placement entice us to consume their products. After hearing the alarming information on how sugar in its various forms is woven into the fabric of our culture, I knew we had to do something so, following the guidelines of The 21 Day Sugar Detox, we embarked on a dietary adventure.  

I’ve been hooked on sugar since infancy when I was bottle fed Nestle Quick & milk. As a diabetic, I watch my sugar intake to maintain stable insulin levels. I eat pretty clean 75 percent of the time. But when I go off the wagon, it’s more of a derailment that results in a sugar and chocolate binge which I pay for later in feeling ill and having spiked blood sugar.

Will I be able to endure 21 days of no sugar, no grains, no starchy veggies, and little fruit save green tipped bananas and green apples? Time will tell. No sugar substitutes are allowed since they’re chemical nightmares on the body. I’m allowed butter and other fats, veggies, nuts, and meats of all kinds. Some may consider what I just described as your typical “paleo” diet. I simply call it real food. A lot more thought and preparation is involved with this kind of eating. The recipes I’ve tried so far have been quite tasty, not surprising given the amount of fat allowed. Fat means flavor, baby! Not to mention that fat is satiating.

While I’ve been brainwashed to think this would be 21 days of deprivation and torture, my body is telling me otherwise. I did endure withdrawal symptoms the first couple of days, which included a hammering headache and major cravings. But on day 5 things had shifted. I’m filling up on less food; the difference between quality and quantity and adding fats. The best part is my blood sugars have been stable.

The jury is still out on what long term benefits will be produced, but if my current results are any indication of what this detox can offer, I’d say it holds promise.

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