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centerofstupidity · 6 years

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Dracula the Undead: Author’s Note Part 1 Snark

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Summary: An aperitif of the clusterfuckery that is to come. This is a long-winded and self-congratulating author's note.

Both writers claim that their novel stays true to Bram Stoker's vision even though it contradicts and re-writes the original story.

In case anyone wants to read the original author's note in order to form their own conclusions, you can read it here.

~ Dacre's Story ~

Since I am a Stoker, it is not surprising that I have had a lifelong interest in the work of my ancestor.

At the risk of sounding like a complete ass...

This "interest" is financially motivated.

Bram’s youngest brother, George, believed to be the sibling with whom he had the closest relationship, was my great-grandfather, so I am Bram’s great-grandnephew.

"Which means that I am related to Bram Stoker and can write an 'official' sequel to Dracula. And that will make me a shit-load of money."

In college, I wrote a paper on my great granduncle,

I'm getting the impression that is statement is supposed to make Dacre Stoker sound unique...

Even though there are plenty of other college students who have written an essay about Bram Stoker or Dracula for an assignment.

For instance, yours truly did a PowerPoint presentation on Bram Stoker and Mary Shelley for a class in college.

examining what may have motivated him to write Dracula.

Again, this isn't groundbreaking stuff.

Many people have published articles or books discussing Dracula.

Scholars like Professor Elizabeth Miller have dedicated their lives to studying it.

My research opened my eyes to how, from my family’s perspective, the history of the book Dracula, is pretty tragic.

"And before I give everyone a history lesson, I'm telling you all this so I can justify butchering my ancestor's work."

Bram Stoker died without ever seeing Dracula become popular. The sales of the novel were so limited at the time of his death that his widow, Florence, thought she would never benefit financially from Bram’s “wasted” seven years of research and writing. With Bram’s other fiction and nonfiction books out of print, Florence was convinced she would live out her days on a tight budget.

Actually, that isn't true.

According to scholar John Edgar Browning, the majority of critics gave positive reviews.

His findings were published on February 1st, 2012.

It is important to note Dracula: The Undead was published in 2009.

But in an interview in 2013, Dacre Stoker said this: There is this statement that used to kind of drive me crazy—‘Dracula was met with mixed reviews when Bram was alive’.

He then briefly discusses Browning’s research.

Which means that Stoker knew about Browning’s findings...

But he ignored it and printed misinformation.

Dacre adds that it was only "ten years after Bram’s death" when Dracula became popular.

Posthumously, Bram started to receive recognition as the progenitor of the modern vampire/horror novel.

Not to diminish Dracula and its impact on popular culture...

But it is not the first influential vampire novel.

Varney the Vampire is.

Dacre Stoker goes on to talk about Florence Stoker (Bram Stoker's wife) and her legal dispute with the creators of Nosferatu.

He also states that Dracula became public domain in the U.S.A since 1899 because Bram didn't complete a requirement so Florence Stoker had to live off the U.K. royalties.

With the U.S. copyright lost, Hollywood, corporate America, and anyone else was free to do whatever they wanted to Bram’s story and characters.

This is the part where the reader is supposed to boo and hiss at Hollywood...

And then give Holt and Stoker a standing ovation for writing Dracula the Undead.

Dacre Stoker talks about how his family wasn't asked for approval of "any of the hundreds of incarnations of Dracula over the next century."

My father’s generation had a negative feeling for all things Hollywood and Dracula.

Which is understandable given what happened.

But after reading the author's note...

The history of Dracula is being used in order to deflect any criticism.

And to justify bastardizing Dracula under the pretense of honoring Bram's original vision and righting a past wrong.

—except, of course, for Bram’s original novel.

So we have two options:

They knowingly endorsed a novel that defamed Bram and mocked the original novel.

Or they loved Dracula and would be appalled that Bram was dragged through the mud and the original lore was ridiculed.

According to Ian Holt in an interview in 2010, he says that “Bram’s bitter demeanor was even worse in real life than we depicted in the novel.”

And in the same interview, Holt passively aggressively says: “Do your research. The fact that the chapters with Bram were written almost completely by Dacre in consultation with his family means nothing to them.”

So yeah...

I’m leaning towards option number one.

I didn’t write about these issues in my college paper, but they were always on my mind.

Dacre Stoker admitted that he didn't read Dracula until he went to college.

Stoker says it was "a shame" that his family was unable to "control the legacy of my great-granduncle" and "lay claim to the character of Dracula."

It was many years after college that I met an interesting character, Ian Holt.

Stoker doesn't realize that calling someone "an interesting character" can be a veiled insult.

Ian is a screenwriter who has been obsessed with all things Dracula since childhood.

A lot of people love all things Dracula.

Doesn't mean that they are a talented writer.

Ian, being a true idealist, had a plan that inspired me to not accept the frustrating history of Dracula.

"He was my knight in shining armor!"

He wanted to change history.

History reveals that change isn't always positive.

Sometimes it is negative.

Ian’s plan was simple: to reestablish creative control over Bram’s novel and characters by writing a sequel that bore the Stoker name.

To my surprise, none in my family had ever considered this.

Translation: "Why haven't any of my family members tried writing a novel? It's the obvious solution to the problem."

And it didn't occur to Stoker none of his family members had any interest in being a writer.

It really pisses me off when people act like writing any kind of fiction is easy or that anyone can be a writer.

While any literate person can write, not everyone can be a writer.

It requires talent and passion along with the desire to learn about the craft and improve your writing skills.

Intrigued, I decided to join Ian on a roller-coaster ride as coauthor.

And for readers, it is a nightmarish ride where clusterfuckery gallops and a literary classic is violently raped.

In writing Dracula the Un-Dead, I felt a strong sense of duty and familial responsibility.

"It isn't because I wanted to piss all over my relative's legacy and make a shit load of money."

I hoped to work with Ian to represent Bram’s vision for the character of Dracula.

Bram's vision should be called Sir Not Appearing in This Novel.

We aimed to resurrect Bram’s original themes and characters, just as Bram conceived them more than a century ago.

The Dracula characters appear in name only.

They are cast in an unfavorable light.

As for the themes?

They are discarded.

So many books and films had strayed from Bram’s vision—

It is extremely rare for adaptations to stick extremely close to the original story.

Usually, adaptations take artistic license with the source material.

And just because an adaptation or a retelling differs from the original story, doesn't mean that it will automatically suck.

For instance, I like films, mangas, and video games that are inspired by/loosely based on Dracula.

and thus our intent was to give both Bram and Dracula back their dignity in some small way.

Dracula is depicted as a misunderstood man with fangs who is every woman's erotic dream.

And readers are supposed to despise Bram.

I think Bram would be proud that a family member has taken this initiative, and finally done justice to the legacy he created.

Bram would be livid that his work was bastardized and that his descendant depicted him as a desperate and a talentless hack.

~ Ian’s Story ~

I am not ashamed to say it, I LOVE horror films.

Ah, all-caps.

How I loathe thee.

A lot of people like horror and it is a popular genre.

So that doesn't make you unique.

And horror movies are no longer considered depraved or scandalous.

Holt mentions that his favorite horror movie as a kid was Dracula (1931).

When I was ten years old, my mother bought me a record for Halloween with Christopher Lee narrating the story of Dracula by Bram Stoker. Reading that record sleeve changed my life, for it was then I learned that Transylvania was an actual place and that Dracula was a historical figure.

Where do I begin?

If you are LISTENING to an audiobook, you are not READING IT.

Ian was "inspired" by the audiobook that he decided to read Dracula.

I was surprised at how different the novel was from the films—and I had seen every Dracula film ever made.

"Who knew that Count Dracula swings both ways? Or that Mina is an assertive and intelligent woman and not a stupid Dracula fangirl?"

The novel was more intelligent, astute, and dark.

While this literary abomination is a cash-grab filled with gratuitous gore and sex.

The novel had more intricate and exciting characters than I could have ever imagined.

While Dracula the Undead has depraved lesbian vampires and a whiny prat along with a handsome and misunderstood vampire who only wants tru luv.

I felt cheated by Hollywood. I vowed revenge!

I get it, Holt and Stoker.

I'm supposed to hate Hollywood but adore your literary travesty.

Fifteen years later, my opportunity came.

And Dracula fans wished that it never arrived.

Flipping channels one night, I came upon a program on the making of Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

I'm getting the sneaking suspicion that this story will result in name dropping. And Holt insisting that he is a scholar.

On the program, Coppola held up the 1972 book In Search of Dracula written by Fulbright Scholars Professor Raymond McNally and Professor Radu Florescu (Prince Dracula’s actual descendant).

Vlad the Impaler is also known as Vlad III, Vlad Dracul or Vlad Dracula.

Sometimes he is referred to as Vlad III of Wallachia or Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia.

But I have never heard of any scholar referring to Vlad III as "Prince Dracula."

A quick Google search reveals only this book and a YA novel called Hunting Prince Dracula.

Every time I see Vlad III being mentioned as "Prince Dracula", I can't keep a straight face.

Because it reminds me of Beni Gabor calling Imhotep his "prince."

Coppola had used the professors’ research of the historical Prince Dracula’s life as inspiration for the opening sequence of his film.

And he discarded the rest of it in order to make Dracula a guy who is looking for his one tru luv.

Before taking a breath I was on a plane to Boston College to meet the professors. After showing them some notes on the screenplay I planned to write based on their book,

"I smelled an opportunity to make some money!"

the professors sold me the rights for one dollar

"They were impressed my awesomeness!"

The friendship I forged with McNally and Florescu has borne fruit in many ways. I soon began traveling with the professors giving lectures on the impact of Bram Stoker’s novel on our culture.

According to Dracula the Undead on the official Penguin Publishing House website, Ian is being described as:

There is a BIG difference between being a fan, a historian, and a documentarian.

A quick Google search reveals that Ian Holt has not published anything in an academic journal.

However, one of the first things that pop up in an internet search is this.

This garnered me an invitation to speak at The First World Dracula Congress in Bucharest, Romania, in 1995—a gathering of Dracula/horror scholars from around the world.

I don't doubt that Holt went to The First World Dracula Congress.

But I don't think he was a speaker.

Elizabeth Miller wrote a report about the gathering.

And Ian Holt isn't mentioned among the speakers.

Holt went sightseeing in Romania and how he made "the dream I had as a ten-year-old come true."

Thanks to the friends I made at the First World Dracula Congress, I was asked to join the Transylvanian Society of Dracula—a scholarly organization dedicated to the study of all things Dracula.

We get it, Ian Holt.

You want us to think that you are a scholar because you are friends with scholars and historians.

But I don't think a scholar would be constantly name-dropping.

Through friends in the society I met Professor Elizabeth Miller, the world’s foremost authority on all things vampire, Dracula, and Bram.

"And I'll use my scholar friends as a shield to deal with criticism."

Professor Miller asked me to speak at the Dracula convention in Los Angeles in 1997, where we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the release of Bram’s novel.

According to a report on the 1997 Dracula convention in Los Angeles, Holt isn't mentioned as being one of the speakers.

Holt says during the convention he came up with an idea to write a sequel to Dracula. He admits that a Dracula sequel isn't a new idea.

But a Dracula sequel was never written with "input from a member of the Stoker family."

Holt goes on to say that "securing that input became my goal" and contacted the Stoker family patriarch.

Still scarred by the Nosferatu copyright affair and years of being ignored and abused by Hollywood, the members of this generation of the Stoker family wanted nothing to do with me.

I could be wrong...

But I'm getting a strong feeling that Holt was miffed that some members of the Stokers didn't want to touch him with a ten-foot pole.

Especially since Holt said the Stoker family at "long last" supported the idea for an official sequel.

But I wouldn’t give up.

Holt says how he "kept building up my film-writing résumé and Dracula connections." He eventually meets Dacre Stoker.

I pitched him my sequel idea, which at the time I had been planning as a screenplay. Dacre was enthusiastic and suggested that the proper way to proceed was with a book first.

If it is a novel, then it will be proper lit-ra-choor.

Because a movie wouldn't be "deep" or "elevated".

Both Dacre and Ian agreed to a writing partnership.

And Dacre contacted his family members and presented them with the sequel proposal.

Once it was understood that this would be a labor of love,

"We gleefully shit all over the original lore and insist that it was all a lie."

our intentions honorable, and that our plan was to restore to the world Bram’s original vision and characters,

If that was the case, then:

The original lore of Dracula wouldn't be repeatedly violated.

The Crew of Light wouldn't be depicted in an unflattering light.

And Bram Stoker wouldn't be vilified.

the Stokers offered support, at long last.

Translation: They finally appreciated my genius!

Dracula the Un-Dead is the culmination of my lifelong dream and years of hard work.

"And why is the Devil laughing and doing a victory dance?"

It is my gift to every horror nut out there.

If by "gift", you mean a literary turd, then I agree with you.

My greatest wish is we have created a book that is close to Bram’s original gothic vision

"Close to Bram's original gothic vision"?

Hell no!

It contradicts the original story and reads like a shitty Coppola's Dracula fanfic.

—while modernizing it at the same time.

By stealing a twist from The Empire Strikes Back and copying a scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

Believe me, I realize how lucky I am.

And readers will regard this novel as a plague upon mankind.

I have been truly blessed that in some small way, my name will be linked with

a mean-spirited and shitty novel.

that of my hero, Bram Stoker—

I'm not convinced that Dacre or Ian regard Bram as their hero.

Here is an excerpt from the novel:

"If there were to be any truth to Stoker's novel it would have to be where no sunlight could ever reach."

Translation: you can stick it where the sun don't shine.

the man who invented modern horror.

I'll say it again...

Stoker wasn't the only one who invented modern horror.

Some of the other writers were Edgar Allen Poe, Ann Radcliffe, Sheridan Le Fanu, Algernon Blackwood, and H.P. Lovecraft.

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johnathanonhealth-blog · 4 years

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Healthy and balanced Consuming: The Novice's Guide on Exactly how to Eat Healthy And Balanced and also Stay With It

Healthy eating. It's something everybody understands they need to do, but few of us do as consistently as we would certainly like. The objective of this overview is to share useful methods for how to consume healthy and balanced and also damage down the science of why we frequently fall short to do so.

Currently, I don't declare to have a perfect diet plan, but my study and also writing on behavioral science and also habit formation has aided me establish a couple of simple strategies for building and reinforcing a healthy eating practice without much initiative or thought.

You can click the links listed below to leap to a certain section or simply scroll down to review whatever. At the end of this page, you'll locate a total list of all the short articles I have written on healthy and balanced consuming.

I. The Science of Healthy Eating

Every nutritionist as well as diet guru talks about what to eat. Rather, I 'd such as to go over why we consume the way we do and just how we can alter that. The purpose of this guide is to share the scientific research as well as approach you need to get the results you want.

Currently, the advantages of excellent nutrition are rather obvious to most of us. You have a lot more energy, your health improves, as well as your productivity blossoms. Healthy and balanced eating also plays a big role in preserving a healthy weight, which means a lowered risk of type 2 diabetes, particular cancers, heart troubles, high blood pressure, as well as a host of other health and wellness disorders. (Genetics likewise plays a considerable function. I'm not some deranged person who assumes genetics don't matter.).

Yet if there are numerous great factors for healthy eating, why is it so hard to actually do? To address that inquiry, we need to begin by learning why we yearn for processed food.

Why We Crave Junk Food.

Steven Witherly is a food researcher who has actually spent the last 20 years researching what ensures foods more habit forming than others. Much of the science that follows is from his excellent record, Why Humans Like Junk Food?

According to Witherly, when you eat yummy food, there are 2 factors that make the experience pleasant.

Initially, there is the experience of eating the food. This includes what it tastes like (salty, wonderful, umami, etc.), what it scents like, and also exactly how it feels in your mouth. This last quality-- called orosensation"-- can be particularly vital. Food business will invest countless dollars to find one of the most gratifying level of crisis in a potato chip. Food scientists will examine for the excellent quantity of fizzle in a soda. These elements all incorporate to develop the feeling that your mind connects with a particular food or drink.

The second variable is the real macronutrient make-up of the food-- the blend of proteins, fats, and also carbs that it has. In the case of processed food, food producers are searching for an ideal mix of salt, sugar, as well as fat that delights your brain as well as gets you coming back for more.

Right here's how they do it ...

How Food Scientists Create Cravings.

There is a range of factors that scientists as well as food suppliers utilize to make food much more addictive.

Dynamic contrast. Dynamic comparison refers to a combination of different experiences in the same food. In the words of Witherly, foods with dynamic contrast have an edible shell that goes problem followed by something soft or creamy and packed with taste-active substances. This guideline relates to a variety of our favorite food frameworks-- the caramelized top of a creme brulee, a slice of pizza, or an Oreo cookie-- the mind discovers grinding with something such as this very novel and thrilling.".

Salivary reaction. Drool belongs to the experience of eating food, and also the more a food creates you to salivate, the extra it will swim throughout your mouth and cover your palate. As an example, emulsified foods like butter, delicious chocolate, salad clothing, gelato, and mayo promote a salivary feedback that assists to lather your taste with goodness. This is one reason that lots of people enjoy foods that have sauces or glazes on them. The outcome is that foods that advertise salivation do a satisfied little faucet dancing on your mind and also preference far better than ones that don't.

Rapid food crisis and also vanishing calorie density. Foods that swiftly vanish or melt in your mouth" signal to your mind that you're not consuming as much as you really are. Simply put, these foods essentially tell your mind that you're not complete, despite the fact that you're eating a lot of calories.

In his very popular publication, Salt Sugar Fat (audiobook ), author Michael Moss explains a conversation with Witherly that explains vanishing calorie density perfectly ...

He zeroed right in on the Cheetos. This," Witherly claimed, is just one of one of the most marvelously created foods on earth, in terms of pure pleasure.".

I brought him two shopping bags filled with a selection of chips to taste. He zeroed right in on the Cheetos. This," Witherly said, is among the most marvelously built foods on the planet, in terms of pure pleasure." He ticked off a loads characteristics of the Cheetos that make the mind state a lot more. However the one he concentrated on many was the smoke's exceptional capacity to melt in the mouth. It's called disappearing caloric density," Witherly stated. If something thaws down promptly, your mind thinks that there's no calories in it ... you can simply maintain eating it forever.".

Sensory-specific feedback. Your brain likes selection. When it concerns food, if you experience the exact same preference over and over once more, after that you start to obtain less pleasure from it. In other words, the sensitivity of that details sensing unit will reduce gradually. This can occur in simply mins.

Processed food, nevertheless, are made to avoid this sensory details feedback. They give enough taste to be fascinating (your mind doesn't get tired of consuming them), yet it's not so promoting that your sensory action is dulled. This is why you can ingest a whole bag of potato chips and still prepare to eat another. To your brain, the crisis as well as feeling of consuming Doritos is unique and also fascinating each time.

Calorie thickness. Processed food are developed to encourage your mind that it is obtaining nutrition, yet to not load you up. Receptors in your mouth and tummy inform your brain concerning the combination of proteins, fats, and also carbs in a certain food, and also just how filling that food is for your body. Convenience food provides just sufficient calories that your mind states, Yes, this will offer you some power" but not numerous calories that you believe That's enough, I'm complete." The result is that you crave the food to start with, but it takes rather a long time to feel full from it.

Memories of previous eating experiences. This is where the psychobiology of junk food actually antagonizes you. When you consume something tasty (say, a bag of potato chips), your mind registers that sensation. The next time you see that food, odor that food, and even check out that food, your brain starts to activate the memories and also reactions that came when you ate it. These memories can in fact trigger physical responses like drool and develop the scrumptious" desire that you obtain when thinking of your preferred foods.

These elements all incorporate to make processed food tasty and preferable to our human minds. When you incorporate the science behind these foods with the unbelievable occurrence of food (cheap convenience food everywhere), consuming healthy comes to be really tough to do.

II. Exactly How to Make Healthy Eating Easier.

The majority of people think that building far better practices or changing your activities is everything about determination or motivation. However the more I learn, the much more I think that the primary driver of behavior change is your atmosphere.

Your setting has an incredible ability to shape your behavior. Nowhere is this more real than with food. What we eat daily is often a result of what we are presented.

Let me share an interesting experiment to show you specifically what I suggest ...

The Importance of Environment for Healthy Eating.

Anne Thorndike is a health care physician at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Thorndike and also her colleagues conducted a six-month research that was published in the American Journal of Public Health.

This research study privately happened in the hospital lunchroom and aided countless people establish healthy consuming habits without altering their self-control or inspiration in the slightest way. Thorndike and her team utilized a principle known as choice style." Selection architecture is just an expensive word for altering the means the food and also beverages are presented, yet, as it ends up, it makes a huge distinction.

The researchers started by changing the option style of the beverages in the snack bar. Originally, there were 3 main fridges, all of which were full of soda. The researchers ensured that water was added to each of those devices as well as likewise placed baskets of bottled water throughout the room.

What occurred? Over the following 3 months, the variety of soft drink sales visited 11.4 percent. On the other hand, bottled water sales raised by 25.8 percent. Similar modifications as well as results were made with food alternatives. Nobody claimed a word to the site visitors who consumed at the snack bar. The researchers merely altered the atmosphere and individuals normally followed suit.

Option style is a lot more important when you're already stressed out, tired, or sidetracked. If you're currently worn-down, you're probably not mosting likely to undergo a great deal of effort to prepare a healthy supper or suit an exercise. You'll grab or do whatever is easiest.

That implies that if you take just a bit of time today to arrange your space, your office, your kitchen, and also other areas, then that adjustment in option architecture can assist you towards much better options even when your determination is fading.

Exactly How to Eat Healthy Without Noticing.

Brian Wansink is a professor at Cornell University, and he has completed a variety of studies on just how your atmosphere shapes your consuming decisions. Most of the concepts listed below come from his preferred book, Mindless Eating (audiobook ). Here are several of his best practical strategies for utilizing selection style to make healthy and balanced consuming less complicated.

1. Usage smaller sized plates. Bigger plates imply bigger parts. And that implies you consume more. According to a research carried out by Wansink as well as his research study group, if you made a basic change as well as offered your dinner on 10-inch plates rather than a 12-inch plate, you would eat 22% less food throughout the next year.

On an associated note, if you're thinking I'll simply place less food on my plate" ... it's not that easy. The photo listed below clarifies why. When you eat a little section off of a big plate, your mind really feels unhappy. At the same time, the same portion will feel extra filling up when eaten off of a tiny plate. The circles in the picture below coincide size, however your mind (and also stomach) does not view them that way.

2. Want to consume alcohol much less alcohol or soft drink? Use high, slim glasses rather than brief, fat ones.

As it turns out, both lines are the same size, but our mind tends to overstate vertical lines. In other words, taller drinks look bigger to our eyes than round, straight cups do. As well as because height makes points look bigger than width, you'll really consume less from taller glasses. In fact, you will usually consume alcohol around 20% much less from a tall, slender glass than you would certainly from a brief, fat glass. (Hat tip to Darya Pino for initially sharing this picture and also concept.).

3. Usage layers that have a high comparison shade with your food. As I pointed out in this post, when the shade of your plate matches the color of your food, you normally serve yourself more due to the fact that your mind has problem differentiating the part size from the plate. As a result of this, dark green as well as dark blue make great plate shades since they contrast with light foods like pasta as well as potatoes (which suggests you're likely to offer less of them), yet don't comparison significantly with leafy eco-friendlies and also veggies (which implies you're most likely to place more of them on your plate).

4. Present healthy and balanced foods in a famous place. As an example, you might put a bowl of fruits or nuts near the front door or somewhere else that you go by prior to you leave the house. When you're starving and in a rush, you are most likely to get hold of the first thing you see.

5. Cover junk foods in tin aluminum foil. Wrap healthy foods in cling wrap. The old saying, out of sight, out of mind" turns out to have some fact to it. Consuming isn't simply a physical occasion, yet likewise an emotional one. Your mind typically identifies what it intends to consume based upon what your eyes see. Thus, if you conceal junk foods by covering them up or tucking them away in less prominent locations, then you are less likely to eat them.

6. Keep healthy and balanced foods in larger packages and also containers, and unhealthy foods in smaller sized ones. Huge boxes and containers tend to capture your eye extra, take up area in your kitchen and also cupboard, and also or else get in your method. Because of this, you're more likely to notice them and eat them. On the other hand, smaller products can hide in your kitchen area for months. (Just have a look at what you have existing around now. It's probably little containers as well as containers.).

Perk tip: if you buy a large box of something undesirable, you can re-package it right into smaller Ziploc bags or containers, which should make it much less most likely that you'll binge as well as eat a great deal at once.

What Should I Eat?

As I pointed out initially, this is not a guide regarding what to consume. It's an overview about why we consume the method we do and also just how to do something regarding it. That claimed, I'll offer 2 ideas regarding what to place on your plate.

1. Eat much more eco-friendlies. There isn't a consensus on the very best diet plan, however pretty much everyone settles on one point: eat more veggies. You'll be hard-pressed to find a single diet plan that doesn't believe consuming even more plants is a great idea.

2. Eat a selection of foods. As we covered previously, the brain yearns for novelty. While you may not have the ability to duplicate the crunchy/creamy contrast of an Oreo, you can differ your diet regimen sufficient to maintain points fascinating. For example, you might dip a carrot (crunchy) in some hummus (velvety) and get an unique sensation. In a similar way, discovering methods to add new spices as well as flavors to your dishes can make eating healthy and balanced foods a better experience.

Healthy and balanced eating doesn't have to be bland. Mix up your foods to get different feelings and you may discover it less complicated than consuming the exact same foods over as well as over once more. (At some factor, nonetheless, you may need to fall for monotony).

2 Simple Ways to Eat Healthy.

The main point of the majority of excellent diet plans coincides: eat entire foods that are unrefined which expanded or lived outdoors. Several of them have different variations-- no pet items, no grains, and so on-- however a lot of them fit the basic genuine food" framework.

The trouble is that-- if you're anything like me-- you will eat whatever is close to you, whether it originated from Mother Nature or not. Because of this, the best technique is to border yourself with healthy food.

1. Utilize the Outer Ring" Strategy. When I most likely to the supermarket, I only walk around the outer ring" of the store. I don't walk down the aisles. The external ring is where the healthy food usually lives: fruits, veggies, lean meats, fish, eggs, as well as nuts. These are products that expanded or lived outdoors. That's what I eat.

The aisles are where every one of the boxed as well as processed things is positioned. Don't drop those aisles as well as you won't get those foods. Do not buy those foods as well as they will not be around for you to eat. Try this the following time you most likely to the store and do your best to not to make exceptions.

Certain, there will certainly be the occasional time that you'll need to decrease an aisle to get flavors or get a container of olive oil, but this is uncommon. The last 3 times I've gone to the supermarket, I have actually conveniently stayed on the external ring" and I wager you can do the very same.

Just how to Eat Whatever You Want Without Feeling Guilty.

2. Never Miss Twice. I assume life is suggested to be lived joyfully. I have no wish to judge myself for eating pizza or to feel guilty for consuming alcohol a beer. But, I additionally know that I feel much better when I consume healthy and balanced.

In order to balance both, I have a simple rule that I attempt to comply with: whenever I consume a harmful meal, I follow it with a healthy and balanced one.

Address the Root Problem of Unhealthy Eating.

There's a reason why many individuals consume as a method to cope with tension. Tension triggers certain regions of the brain to release chemicals (especially, opiates and also neuropeptide Y). These chemicals can activate systems that resemble the desires you receive from fat and sugar. To put it simply, when you get stressed out, your brain feels the habit forming telephone call of fat and sugar and also you're pulled back to convenience food.

We all have stressful scenarios that occur in our lives. Discovering to handle stress differently can aid you get over the habit forming pull of unhealthy food. This might include simple breathing strategies or a short directed meditation Or something extra physical like workout or making art.

Just how to Say No to Temptation.

Knowing how to claim no is one of the most beneficial abilities you can establish, particularly when it concerns living a healthy life. Research study is starting to reveal that little modifications can make it less complicated for you to say no, stand up to temptation as well as stay with healthy consuming behaviors.

In a research study published in the Journal of Consumer Research, 120 students were divided right into 2 various groups.

The difference between these 2 teams was claiming I can't" compared to I don't.".

One team was told that each time they were faced with a temptation, they would certainly inform themselves I can't do X." For example, when tempted with gelato, they would claim, I can't eat ice cream.".

When the 2nd group was confronted with a temptation, they were informed to state I do not do X." For example, when lured with gelato, they would say, I do not eat gelato.".

After duplicating these expressions, each pupil responded to a collection

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stephspencer10 · 4 years

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Media on My Extended Family, Friends, and Fundamentalist Mormon Cults

This is a movie done some years ago about my infamous Uncle Ervil LeBaron, my mother’s brother. He is now known as “Evil Ervil,” and “The Mormon Manson.” I knew, respected, and loved him before he went off the deep end with his sociopathy and psychosis.

The film was very well done. I love how brilliantly Brian Dennehy played the part of my Uncle Ervil. But no film can possibly portray the depth of suffering and lunacy that went on in this man’s life that also affected the lives of all his brainwashed, true-believing followers and children.

You will have to get the film from wherever you get movies and find out the rest of the story for yourself; though I will be telling my experiences with my Uncle Ervil later on down the line in my memoir blogging.

https://thetrueprophetfilm.com/proposed-cast/

Proposed cast

THE TRUE PROPHET is an independent film written and directed by Scott Hillier and executive produced by…

THETRUEPROPHETFILM.COM

*NOTE: This movie was planning on its release in 2014. It was never released due to lack of funding. However, there is some interesting information on the site that you may find useful. For example, on this Website are some of Ervil’s writings and more. Must see.

*You may also read books written about him. I have listed here, below, some of these books. Wikipedia and other such sites relate a history of him also –– as well as a short history of the rest of the LeBaron family: His parents and siblings.

A Documentary about the LeBaron’s, especially Ervil LeBaron and his Cult

But hats off to him! Till I recently read his chronicle, I had no idea just how devious and wicked was the cult Uncle Ervil spawned; not to mention the people who followed him hook, line, and sinker/stinker!!

Rena’s story about Ervil LeBaron and his cult

This Memoir, written about thirty years ago, seems merely an immature, biased, apologist’s cold hearted revisionist tale written by the infamous Rena Chynoweth wherein she could brag about the part she played in the sad and dirty story of her husband’s bloody, violent, and psychotic cult. All is not fact-checked nor factual, much is omitted, and she writes more about her girlish romantic escapades and herself than anything.

In other words, it appears to be, largely, an attempt to be in the limelight and cash in on the notoriety of Ervil LeBaron, so as to make money and be a starlet — albeit a notorious one. We were lucky to get two paragraphs about her cold-blooded murder of Dr. Rulon Allred. And the best apology she could come up with, as to the “Lambs of God” atrocities and murders is, “This did not need to happen.”

But you may find her book worth a perusal just to see how a member of Ervil LeBaron’s murderous cult used to think. I say “used to think” because recently I had the opportunity to meet and visit with Gabriela LeBaron, a first cousin, and one of Uncle Ervil’s more than fifty children! She brought me up to date on how Ervil’s ex-cult is doing now — and that includes Rena!

Please see my Menu Bar to read about this important update and Info I have included in my full book review of Rena’s thirty-year-old Memoir “The Blood Covenant.”

If you want to get more of a chronicle of Ervil’s old mafioso cult, and its demise, read “The 4 O’clock Murders” by Scott Anderson, published in 1993. And “Prophet of Blood” by Ben Bradlee and Dale Van Atta, published in 1981.

These two documentaries are not always exactly right, in some of the history of this cult they wrote about, but hats off to them for doing as well as they did with a subject that was often hard to get “the truth” about.

*For much more information on anyone or anything I mention on this site, you may use your search engine to look up these people and topics. Also check YouTube, Wikipedia, and other sites.

youtube

Both Doris Hanson and Aunt Rebecca Kimbel are success stories of brilliant and determined women — who are also escapees from Mormon Fundamentalist cults!

They are each now Independent TV Producers who also host their own YouTube sites, among other things. Each of them interviews, among other outstanding leaders and people, escapees from dangerous Mormon cults.

youtube

My cousin, Donna LeBaron Goldberg (as seen below with her sister Barbara LeBaron on their website header) is interviewed a number of times by Producer Aunt Rebecca Kimbel on YouTube, for example. I hope you check out these YouTube interviews.

Doris Hansen and Rebecca Kimbel also each interviewed Authors Irene LeBaron Spencer (See: IreneSpencerbooks.com) and Susan Ray Schmidt (see her website). Both are my Aunts. And Aunt Irene is Donna LeBaron Goldberg’s and Barbara LeBaron’s mother, as seen in the photos above.

youtube

Aunt Rebecca Kimbel and Doris Hansen also interviewed, on their TV and YouTube sites, other relatives and friends of mine from my days in the cult — people such as my cousin, Carolyn Jessop, a memoirist who wrote the bestselling,”Escape,” and other books.

Also, check out Aunt Rebecca Kimbel’s excellent and adamant speech on YouTube’s TED-X Talks. (In around only 18 minutes, she did a genius presentation on all the main issues to do with Mormon cults, including White slavery.

See also (on Goodreads.com) her novel, “A Savage Wild,” published in 2013. I have yet to get and read it

See the film: “The Childbride of Short Creek.” It was on YouTube, among other places, the last time I checked. (To get Info for their Script, my sisters were interviewed by the writers of this film.)

“Banking on Heaven“ is a super Documentary my cousin Laurie Allen and her cohort, Dot Reidelbach, created. (It gives a good overview of life as a Mormon fundamentalist in Short Creek, Arizona, and Hilldale, Utah/ Colorado City, Arizona.

I went online a few years ago and ordered an updated 2006/2007 80 Min. copy of their DVD. (It’s far better than their first published DVD by the same name.) You can find it on Amazon.com, YouTube, the Internet. And her following website: Banking on Heaven

http://www.bankingonheaven.com/

Banking on Heaven is the inside story of the largest polygamous enclave in … Banking on Heavenexposes a culture that robs our welfare system, and uses mind control and fear to enslave thousands of Americans. … Click Here For Website. Banking on Heaven – Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banking_on_Heaven

Banking on Heaven is a documentary film which exposes the largest polygamous enclave in … Official site · review from Brigham Young University · review by The Dominion · Banking on Heavenon IMDb · Banking on Heaven at AllMovie …

Release date‎: ‎May 28, 2005 (Zaki Gordon Insti…

Some Recommended Books and Films Written Mostly by My Relatives and/or By Fellow Ex-Mormon Fundamentalists

(Many can be found in Public Libraries, on Amazon.com, etc., and on the Authors’ website. A number of them are in audiobook form also):

“Shattered Dreams” and “Cult Insanity” by Best-Selling Author Aunt Irene LeBaron Spencer, at IreneSpencerBooks.com. Her books are also in audiobook form. (Irene is my Aunt, through marriage, as is Rebecca Kimbel, Irene’s half-sister.)

*Note: I took the picture featured on Irene’s book cover,”Cult Insanity. (See it below in its original form :

“Uncle Ervil LeBaronis holding my eight-year-old daughter, Asenath Marie Tucker, the little girl in the yellow dress. I took this photograph before I had any idea that Uncle Ervil was a psychotic sociopath.

Uncle Ervil LeBaron, Brother-in-law Dan Jordan, & my daughter, Asenath Marie Tucker

youtube

One of my favorite books on the subject of my relatives and my past is the following book, written by a very talented writer, Aunt Susan Ray Schmidt. (I took care of her for five days when she was around nine years old (long before she married my Uncle Verlan LeBaron, of course, and thus became my aunt) while her parents were out of town, and we were still living in Colonia LeBaron, Chihuahua, Mexico).

“His Favorite Wife,” by Susan Ray Schmidt (Another Aunt of mine, her book reads like a novel. My family is mentioned in it.)

TWO EXCELLENT BOOKS: “PLYGS” and “PLYGS 2“ by Ed Kociela, available for sale on Amazon.com

*(He calls his book “Fiction,” to protect the innocent and himself, I suspect. It’s not fiction!

~ Also see Rebecca Kimbel’s YouTube interviews with this amazing journalist who spent many years writing news reports on the infamous polygamist town, Short Creek/AKA Colorado City.)

youtube

Another must read is Prophet’s Prey, by Sam Brower (also an audiobook).

A film came out September 2016: Prophet’s Prey. It is based on his book and was playing in theaters. I haven’t seen it yet.

Another “must read” is “God’s Brothel,“ by Andrea Moore-Emmett. (Also check out her super interviews with Rebecca Kimbel, and possibly also with Doris Hanson, on YouTube.)

No Man Knows My History, by the late UCLA researcher and professor, Fawn McKay Brodie (niece of David O. McKay, a former President and Prophet of the mainline Mormon church) This book is a well-researched history of the so-called “Prophet Joseph Smith” — a must read!)

My great-great-grandfather, Benjamin F. Johnson, was sealed to Joseph Smith as a son. Beginning at the tender age of eighteen, he became one of Joseph Smith’s Scribes. (I recently read, in a questionable place, that his son, Benjamin F. LeBaron, was also sealed to Joseph Smith as a son! But given the references for this claim, I’d say the jury is still out on this one!)

* This concludes my present most-recommended books and media on the subject to do with my Mormon fundamentalist past. However, there are plenty more books, films, and TV shows published on this subject of Mormon fundamentalism, polygamy, and cults.

Check libraries, bookstores, Youtube, your online search engine, and “Media” in the Menu of my own website for more material on these subjects. I own around one hundred books and also some films and TV productions about Mormonism, its past, and Mormon polygamist cults. Many of the books and scripts are written by former Mormon Fundamentalists who have left/escaped their cult.

I found all one hundred or more of my books worth reading, but have gleaned from them the ones I most recommend to start with. If I think of any other books or media, I will come back and add them later. But I’m sure this is more than enough to start with.

Again, you can always check the public libraries and online Book Stores like Amazon.com, also, if you want even more books and Media presently available on the subject.

I am open to questions or feedback on this material, should you wish to make comments on my site. Till then, happy reading, listening to, and watching films, YouTube interviews, and TV shows on this informative media.

As always, I look forward to hearing from you and to your following my site. Thank you in advance for your most appreciated feedback. It’s what we Authors thrive on.

September 26, 2016:

The following books and films, etc., I also recommend, if you are interested in learning more about my extended family, or/and other things to do with Mormon fundamentalism:

(*By the way, this Romney insert is not a book, but I thought it interesting. Also wanted to say, my mother (born 1921 in Colonia Pacheco, Mexico) grew up with Gov. Romney’s (George Romney, et Al) family, there in the Mormon colonies in Mexico.

Joseph Smith, Benjimen F. Johnson, Dayer LeBaron, and Joel LeBaron

My Uncle Joel LeBaron

Book cover created by Sigfried Widmar

“The LeBaron Story” is truly a “Vanity Book” — not only because my uncle Verlan LeBaron paid a publishing company in 1981 (back when self-publishing was far from the norm) to publish the book — but also because it is a revisionistic, apologetic, and biased history of some of my grandparents Maud and Dayer LeBaron’s rather grandiose offspring.

What’s more, my Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Verlan are largely NOT the authors of this book though they have taken all the credit for it. Truth is, Uncle Verlan was FAR too busy to write a book — even if he knew how — too busy working, traveling around from country to country visiting his ten wives and fifty-plus kids — and running from his brother Ervil who was out to kill him! And Aunt Charlotte was about this busy too!

Fact is, my mother/Verlan’s sister Esther LeBaron-McDonald de Spencer (with a BA in journalism) is the one whose idea it was to write “The LeBaron Story.” She wrote a large part of this book, then turned her manuscript over to Verlan, along with her journals and notes, telling him he could finish and publish her work — could even have all the proceeds from it!

It was Mother’s effort to help her brother Verlan “build up the kingdom of God” — her way of paying tithing and defending “God’s work” because Verlan had taken over for her brother Joel LeBaron, “The One Mighty and Strong,” after Joel was murdered by his brother Ervil!

The work of finishing and compiling Mother’s book was largely done by my Uncle Verlan’s first wife Charlotte who relied on Info from my mother’s journals and notes to help her.

About 2/3 of “The LeBaron Story,” therefore, came directly from my dear Mom’s manuscript as well as her journal entries. I remember when she was writing this history. She talked about it a lot at the time. I recognize her writing and input. It’s mixed throughout the text — makes up a large part of it.

You may want to note the two different writer’s voices used in the book! Anything with the more beautifully written structured writing, defined paragraphs, quotes, and sources listed at the back of the book, etc., is my mother Esther LeBaron Spencer’s writing voice — her contribution. Whereas Aunt Charlotte, Uncle Verlan, et Al’s writing voices are in the chapters where everything is run together and there aren’t structured paragraphs, footnotes, etc.

Although Uncle Verlan and Aunt Charlotte used large parts of what my Mother wrote, word for word — used her material exactly as she had written it — no editing at all — they gave Mother not one BIT of credit — not one speck of acknowledgment, let alone so much as a howdy-do-dee or thank-you. It’s tantamount to plagiarism — shameful how Charlotte and Verlan took all the credit for this book!

But getting to the body of the work, if you were to take the authors’ word for everything, for sure the Mexico LeBarons are/were “a saintly people with a Godly mission.” But I beg to differ: Wishing doesn’t make it so. In other words, wishful thinking, such as self-proclaiming oneself as “The One Mighty and Strong,” and claiming one comes from “A Godly people with a Messianic mission” doesn’t make it true.

Much of the book’s lore takes place in Chihuahua, Mexico. Unfortunately, the authors tell the story in the words of true-believing, fundamentalist-Mormon-LeBaron cult members. In other words, it’s a highly biased history with a Messianic purpose.

True to their fanatic religiosity, as I said above, the book was mainly written to proselytize and promote Uncle Joel LeBaron’s cult, “The Church of the First Born of the Fullness of Times.” This presupposes a revised and rewritten history, then — and a white-washing of the LeBarons … It’s myth in the making, to be sure.

Nonetheless, I was able to glean a bit of useful information from it. I’m glad the book was written, despite the biased viewpoint, because nobody else in the immediate Mexico LeBaron family has written any first-hand history about themselves.

But suffice it to say, the book could use a good Editor’s service, if nothing else — although, even as it is, it was a big endeavor and accomplishment for my aunts and uncle to pull off. For they were very busy people who had done little reading in comparison to Scholars and those Majoring in Journalism or such. Plus they were laboring under great pressures and disadvantages like raising huge families of small children while living in backward, primitive conditions. But book-buyer beware … be wary! That’s all I can say!

I was given a copy of this book many years ago when it first came out in 1981, fourteen years after I escaped the LeBaron cult in 1967. After reading the book, the preaching, plus the white-washing and grandiose fabrications throughout the chronicle of the LeBaron family got my gut so badly I was about to toss the book in the dumpster when two of my Uncle Verlan’s daughters dropped in. They still believed their father was a prophet, back then, so were very happy to be gifted with my book, “The LeBaron Story.” And I was very happy to get rid of it.

But thirty-six years later, for purposes of my own writing, understanding, and research, I had to re-buy the book on Kindle! Argh! It’s going for around $45.00 or so in hardback, no less, on Amazon.com. Wonders never cease to amaze me … so I wonder! Well, to each his own. Read on!

Elissa Wall was raised in the FLDS cult, the same cult that I was raised in for around eight years, as a child, before my parents left this fundamentalist group and joined another, the LeBaron group.

Anna LeBaron is my cousin, one of Uncle Ervil’s daughters.

Her above book, The Polygamist’s Daughter, is presently available in bookstores as of March 21, 2017. (See her website, AnnaLeBaron.com.)

The is a wonderfully and intelligently written memoir by Flora Jessop (and Paul T. Brown), who was born and raised in the FLDS cult — there in Short Creek, Arizona (now called “Colorado City,” on the map) and Hilldale, Utah, where I lived for some time, as a child.

My sister, Leonora/Lenora Spencer (mentioned in the credits of this book) gave Jon Krakauer a lot of the good information included in his book about Short Creek/Colorado City, Hilldale, and Centennial Park, Utah.

In turn, he helped her a lot — with advice, etc., that aided her escape from the bonds of White slavery, polygamy, and Mormon fundamentalism.

My niece Vicky Rogers LeBaron filled Krakauer in on some of the details, also, that have made up part of the research that went into writing this documentary.

Memoirist and Author Ruth Wariner Ruth (LeBaron) Wariner Centofante, a daughter of my mother’s brother Uncle Joel LeBaron, published her memoirs Feb. 2016.

A best-seller, it’s in public libraries. Audiobook also available.

In 2016, I read “Maud’s Story,” a 2013 self-published book written by my Aunt Charlotte LeBaron (Uncle Verlan LeBaron’s first wife).

The book largely consists of a collection of some of my grandmother’s letters — and some vignettes Grandma wrote that are run together in often hard-to-decipher paragraphs.

More to be said on this later. I’ll say, for now, she’s done a revised version—a rewriting of the history of the “Joel LeBaron: Prophet” saga, turning it upside down and him into a martyred prophet. (She shows, though not intentionally, how religious myths are made.)

*Note: It’s now 2019: See my blog post by the same name for my updatd “Review of Aunt Charlotte’s Maud’s Story,” posted below:

Maud Lucinda LeBaron is my maternal grandmother, of whom I am “the spittin’ image,” I was always told growing up. In fact, the above photo of her looks so much like me at that age, I look at it and think it’s me. I can’t tell the difference!

Needless to say, Grandma Maud LeBaron was special to me. So when I saw, on Amazon.com, Aunt Charlotte had published her story, I spent $4.00 on it … and three hours reading it — such was its brevity. That includes the many times I had to re-read parts, attempting to understand what had been said, because Aunt Charlotte isn’t a natural author.

Suffice it to say, the book was no bargain: Its shortness left me wanting more. And it is supposed to be Grandmother LeBaron’s story but many of the tales Grandma used to entertain us with are not in the book.

Nevertheless, nobody else has published anything about her. So I’m grateful Aunt Charlotte wrote all she did. (“If you don’t like how the story was written, write it yourself,” they admonish.)

Still, I resent she used my grandmother Matriarch Maud Lucinda LeBaron’s story to draw in her progeny and relatives, as well as others, so as to promote her’s and Uncle Joel’s Church of the Firstborn doctrine — a la Charlotte LeBaron’s lore. So “Maud’s Story” really should be renamed: “Charlotte’s Story.”

But to give Aunt Charlotte a little credit (though I’m disappointed “Maud’s Story” wasn’t imbued with more of Grandmother’s colorful history—her growing up with Spencer W. Kimball as a pioneer in poverty and primitive conditions in Thatcher, Arizona, for example! (See: “The Story of Spencer W. Kimball : A Short Man, a Long Stride“) she includes in her booklet numerous short vignettes that are, she claims, direct “Quotes from Grandma’s Notes.

“Perhaps, to get a little more of Grandmother’s history, Charlotte expects us to read “The LeBaron Story,” which she also claims authorship for along with her husband, my Uncle Verlan LeBaron—though it was my mother who wrote a great deal of “The LeBaron Story.” See my review all of this book, another apologists’ chronicle largely written to preach the Church of the Firstborn religious doctrine.

Even so, other criticisms I have are that the book is biased and provincial—written with an attempt to whitewash and glorify the Alma Dayer and Maud Lucinda LeBaron family so as to make “The Mexico LeBarons” look like “a Godly family with a saintly mission.”

I find its covert preaching of the Church of the First Born dogma distasteful— especially the revising of its doctrine and history to make it more palatable than it was when my Uncles Ervil and Joel LeBaron first spawned this sect/cult in 1953—an offshoot from their brothers Ben and Ross Wesley LeBaron’s cults!

To be sure, Aunt Charlotte has rewritten history in “The LeBaron Story” and “Maud’s Story” so as to turn Uncle Joel into a Prophet, Saint, and Martyr — And his untimely murder into “A Modern-Day Cain and Abel story.” But there is much more to this whole dirty tale than she’s letting on. So “Charlotte’s Story” is myth in the making, if ever there was such!

My final thoughts on “Maud’s Story” are: Grandmother should have given a sermon or two in church, if she were truly as well-versed in the cult’s dogma as she appeared to be in Charlotte’s short biography — or were words put in Gramma’s mouth; i.e., Did someone else write at least part of those letters for Grandma—or at least coach her in the writing of them?!*

I’m especially referring to what Grandma supposedly said in those letters to her girlhood friend Spencer W. Kimball. I say “supposedly” because Aunt Charlotte wasn’t honest about the story of how my Uncle Joel became the self-proclaimed “One Mighty and Strong.” Therefore, I can’t trust anything else in the book.

Though I could say more, I’ll suffice it to say: Should she ever do a reprint of her book, please get a good editor to go over it beforehand. And do not run Grandmother’s notes ‘n’ quotes together as if they were one organized piece — because they’re not:

They are short vignettes and should be separated as such. That way, the reader isn’t hoping to find the rest of the tale in the next paragraph, only to be left hanging — for a whole new tale has taken up!

*Ghost writing was the name of the game when I was in the cult: One of the sect’s two leading Scriptorians (Ervil LeBaron and William Preston Tucker, my husband) would write the exposé, or such, then publish it with whatever name or signature they thought would most impress those receiving the literature — or letter.

This is an excellent memoir written by a nephew of Warren Jeffs, Brent Jeffs. It is a very informative and bravely written memoir of one of the unfortunate and abused (sexually, physically, emotionally, and mentally) boys raised in the FLDS/Mormon fundamentalist cult. He has been interviewed on TV a number of times.

You go, Brent! More people need to follow your example and bring to light what is really going on in Mormon fundamentalist cults in the name of religion.

This film is/was about my Uncle Ervil LeBaron. Did a Google search and found it was scheduled to be released in 2014, but was canceled for lack of funding. But am told a new film on Uncle Ervil is due to be released in 2017 or 2018.

Joanne Hanks Memoir is one of the best books written on what life in polygamy is like, and why she eventually fled it. See my book review on her memoir. It’s posted on my Website.

Media on My Extended Family, Friends, and Fundamentalist Mormon Cults Media on My Extended Family, Friends, and Fundamentalist Mormon Cults This is a movie done some years ago about my infamous Uncle Ervil LeBaron, my mother's brother.

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gabriellakirtonblog · 5 years

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How to Get More Leads for Personal Training

You probably didn’t get into this business to attract clients. But if you hope to train any, that’s exactly what you have to do.

Like it or not, you’re in sales now. And in sales, few things matter more than lead generation—identifying potential clients and getting them interested in your services. (If you’re going to be in sales, you may as well learn the lingo.)

My favorite ways to get leads for personal training:

Being bold and walking up to people on the gym floor.

Calling or emailing prospective clients from my gym’s member list.

Emailing local businesses to discuss potential joint ventures and partnerships.

Drawing names for prizes, such as a complimentary personal training session or nutrition consultation.

Revisiting and re-contacting my database of prospective clients every three to four weeks to see if any are ready to take action.

Sometimes another trainer and I make a game of it, seeing who can generate the most leads in 30 minutes, including email, phone number, and preferred method of contact. The loser has to do something silly, which gives us both an incentive to win.

I know approaching people cold can be uncomfortable, but I promise it gets easier with time. Find whatever motivator works for you, even if it’s a friendly wager with a friend. If you follow this advice, I guarantee you won’t be the loser.

READ ALSO: How to Get More Personal Training Clients

Improve your confidence

Imagine you’re a gym member and you see a nervous trainer standing awkwardly off to the side. Not exactly someone you’d want to hire, is it?

That’s because people tend to evaluate someone’s competence by how much confidence they project, rather than objective performance criteria.

A confident presence gives potential clients the impression you know what you’re doing. And that’s vital for getting personal training leads.

Luckily, you don’t have to actually be confident to act like you are. “Fake it till you make it” may be a cliché. But it works.

I like to take it to delusional extremes, telling myself I’m the world’s best trainer and that everyone wants to work with me. Even though I know it’s not true, it gives me the boost I need to stand tall, make eye contact, put on a smile, and approach potential clients without hesitation.

Hesitation implies uncertainty, and it’s fatal to lead generation. Be bold, be decisive, and go for it.

Yes, it may feel weird at first, but change usually does. You have to force behavior before it becomes a habit. And if you don’t believe in yourself, who will?

READ ALSO: How to Find Your Target Market for Personal Training

Practice generating leads

Getting leads for personal training is like any other skill: It takes practice. Start by working on how to approach clients on the gym floor.

The wrong way: Opening the conversation with an idle or irrelevant remark—anything about the news, weather, or sports.

You could go for the helpful approach and offer a form tip, if you think the gym member is receptive to it. But this is trickier than it sounds. Some will take it as a challenge to their knowledge or skill. Others will see it as a transparent sales pitch, since so many trainers before you have already tried it.

The better tactic is to ask a good question, one you’ve given some thought. It should be open-ended, with the goal of getting the person to talk about training goals.

Or get creative. In The Wealthy Fit Pro’s Guide to Starting Your Career, Jonathan Goodman writes about how he would take a book about stretching onto the floor and ask people if they’d like a free stretch session so he could practice. It was a great icebreaker, and it gave onlookers the impression that he was in demand.

But don’t stop after leaving the gym floor. Send emails, make calls, teach group classes, set up a personal trainer referral program, and do some good old-fashioned networking with people you meet.

Write down what works and what doesn’t to help you fine-tune your approach. Log your “maybes” on a spreadsheet, and follow up with them every three to four weeks to see if they’re ready to take action.

READ ALSO: Five Ways to Dominate the Gym Floor

Connect with your clients

“People buy trainers, not training.” Anyone familiar with Goodman knows that.

That’s why it’s so important to connect with people. When you do, keep in mind the power of nonverbal communication. For example, you can mirror the other person’s body language and speech patterns, something he covers in Ignite the Fire and in this article on how to establish a rapport with your clients.

If the person speaks soft and slow, you speak soft and slow. If she stands tall, so do you. If she sits on a bench after a set, pull up a ball beside her—don’t stand there speaking down. Mirroring sends a subconscious message of kinship.

It also works in reverse: If the other person starts mirroring you, it’s a sign you’ve established a rapport.

READ ALSO: How to Have a Long Career as a Personal Trainer

Improve perception

Training skill is crucial for client retention. But for generating leads, it’s perception that counts.

Make yourself look in demand by filling your schedule with fake bookings, names, and phone numbers. I’m not kidding! It’s far easier to generate leads on a full piece of paper than it is on an empty one.

I once did this experiment with two trainers in my gym. A trainer carrying a list of 10 names, emails, and phone numbers got eight more contacts than another trainer with a blank sheet, in the same amount of time.

Deceptive? Sure. But it’s also good marketing. In every industry, consumers buy based on what they think they see.

I like to use the planner app on my iPad. It lets me move people around with the drag of a finger, and I can visually show clients any gaps I’m looking to fill. I once managed to book more than 20 client sessions using this strategy.

If you’re smart, you’ll give them only two or three options, which means they’ll choose a time you want them to pick. This gives you more control over your schedule, helping you better manage your time and avoid burnout.

Master the art of closing

The whole point of generating leads is to make a sale. For that you need some finesse.

My advice for you: Slow down.

Too often, trainers get nervous and start talking too much, which can come off as desperation. The person in control of the sale is the one who speaks less.

Focus on getting the prospective client to talk. Ask questions. Use long pauses. The more the client talks, the more he reveals about his goals, his objections, and what benefit he wants from your service. That’s all valuable intel for closing the deal.

It also gives you space to think before you speak, which helps you avoid saying something to talk the client out of the sale.

Selling personal training can be a fine line to walk. You must appear confident but not cocky. Assertive but not aggressive. Eager but not anxious.

You won’t win ’em all. But the longer you try, the better you’ll get. And the sooner you start, the faster that will happen.

Ready to Take Your Personal Training Career to the Next Level?

Starting your career isn’t complicated. All you need is for someone to pay you to train them.

But how do you get that first client? What do you need to know? Where do you want to work, and how do you get hired?

If your answer to any of those questions is “I don’t know,” you need The Wealthy Fit Pro’s Guide to Starting Your Career, the ultimate launching pad for ambitious personal trainers.

Jonathan Goodman will show you how to …

Land the perfect job for you (pg. 17)

Attract more clients (pg. 95)

Keep more clients (pg. 55)

Get even more clients through a foolproof referral system (pg. 115)

Learn the no-fail secret to motivating clients (pg. 61)

Set yourself apart with programs your clients will brag about (pg. 71)

Master marketing skills that open up new income opportunities (pg. 152)

Become the best trainer you can be (pg. 46)

If you’re just beginning your journey in the fitness industry (or know someone who is), you won’t find a more authoritative or comprehensive resource.

Order this book in paperback today and get the audiobook and ebook 100% free (a $40 value).

It all starts by clicking here: The Wealthy Fit Pro’s Guide to Starting Your Career

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