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“reverse engineering” Jenny Craig!

hmmmm.... lookie lookie what I found!

I have lost almost 90 lbs and my family is jokingly ( I think) referring to me as “MAN-orexic” as though being 236 lbs is like being one of those ‘stick models with poofy lips!”  True, my size 32 jeans is hell and gone from my old 46’s… but I think that is a GOOD thing, don’t you?  Thank you, Jenny Craig.

However, this now presents a ‘problem’ as I enter apon unknown territory into what dieters refer to as ‘maintenance.’ Jenny has a plan for this… and for $39 a year, it’s a bargain. Regretfully, part of the program is ‘cooking on your own.’

In truth, we always do a certain amount of preparing already… ‘super sizing’ the salads and dinner time veggies helps curb my big appetite. However, I have become quite fond of their ‘complete start cereal’ ….and wondered… how I would get along without it?

So, I put my ‘marketing hat’ back on and ‘theorized’ that Jenny wasn’t probably baking up her stuff …but having other folks prepare to her specifications. I thought, what better way to come up with your own ‘proprietary’ cereal than to take a few assorted packages of other folks stuff and mix it up as your own.  Clever, girl ….. Anyway, that’s my theory.

I then took the bag of Jenny Craig ‘Complete Start’ cereal and separated it into what seemed to be it’s component ingredients …. and I found: an ‘all bran’ , a ‘flake’, a ‘puffed wheat’ and a crunchy nugget that — to me — tasted of almonds.  So, I began to look for the components in other cereals in order to reproduce a reasonable ‘facsimile’.

It’s tough to match Jenny’s low fat and high fiber combination… but I think I got breakfast down… but the other meals? Sheeeeesh…. I think I’ll be on Jenny for a while down the road… which is all fine by me… I love the ‘individually frosted’ chocolate cakes!

Roger Freberg

Have you called Jenny, Yet?

 

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‘Real’ Men

a few good real men and women in Iraq!

Psychologists and feminists try to show how men are changing, being affected by the rising aspirations of women and the widening range of behaviors that are now being loosely referred to as acceptably ‘masculine.’ Unfortunately, too much of this is the wishful thinking of political folks who want to ‘prove’ that men and women really aren’t all that different… and that ‘gender’ is a ‘culturally constructed’ identity. Real men find this all so amusing….as do Real women.

Some people define ‘real men’ as ‘retros’ who cling to traditional values and attitudes regarding masculinity. However, even by the most liberal of interpretations, this still accounts for 60% or so of all the men worldwide. This is not a insignificant group to ignore… or dare I say, it is not an insignificant ‘market.’

Leave it to business folks to show why the understanding of the ‘traditional’ male image is so important today. By appealing to traditional men — called “retros” — in the study, advertisers and marketers are reaching the largest single subset of the male population and these folks will carry a heavy influence on the future. 

Leo Burnett — the famous advertising folks whose symbol is an apple ( during the early American depression, it was joked that someday Leo would be selling them rather than giving them away) came out  with a study  that asks the rhetorical question: “are marketers missing real men?” The simple answer is “yes”… with the exception of the great super bowl ads…. but then, beer companies know who buys their products!

Here’s the bottom line on the study:

 “…the majority of men surveyed (60 percent) aren’t caught up in this gender debate and live by a more traditional set of standards for assessing their masculinity. This larger group is more focused on defining themselves in the eyes of other men, largely by seeking respect and admiration for being successful in their professional life on one end of the spectrum, or their personal, family life on the other. The study dubs these men on the “Traditional Male Spectrum” as Power Seekers and Patriarchs, respectively, and contends they are largely overlooked by popular culture, the media and marketers.”

So what do I think? Although biology may not be destiny, and that our nature may be shaped via those who nurture us… science is beginning to demonstrate the uncomfortable notion that who we are is determined significantly by our biology. The concepts that gender and masculinity are socially constructed are dissolving and a science based understanding of our true nature is becoming better understood.

Regardless of the future roles of men on the planet, real men will continue to exist, in a large part, because real women will demand it.

Roger Freberg

PS. by the way, the picture above is of a few good men and a few good women in Iraq…

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Love starts & maintains with a simple kindness

Love starts with many simple kindnesses

Every newspaper has them… folks who offer their advice on love, sex and relationships. Well, at the risk of offering unwanted advice: they are all so much a waste of time. Love is about sincere kindness and sensing the needs of the other person.

Here is an example that I noticed the other day:

While at the international airport in Los Angeles, I noticed a nice middle aged couple tucked away sitting in an alcove near. He was  obviously a bit sleepy and without saying anything, his partner stood up and moved to a large pillar where she sat on the ground. She motioned to him to place his head on her lap. He didn’t need much encouragement. He fell asleep with her gentle hands rubbing his temples.

People walked by and the reactions were interesting. Some were amused… and some were not. A few women looked on as if they were observing some sort of primitive example of male domination … and a few men passed by impressed by what they thought was a true alpha male at work.

What was transacting was a simple recognition of a need and the offering of a simple kindness…. some call this love. I have always felt that love starts with recognizing simple needs … and offering simple solutions.

Laura has always been there for me… even when I didn’t realize how sleepy I was.

Roger Freberg

The above picture is of Laura and I back in high school in 1970 sharing a bit of lunch… and yes.. my head was resting in her lap even way back then.

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when ENTJ’s and INTJ’s World’s collide!

Laura the INTJFor anyone who has enjoyed studying personality or taking the variety of tests available, have you ever wondered if personality and political affiliation are related? Well, there is a certain amount of  correlational data  to support this idea.

Hmmmm… I wasn’t surprised that my wife’s personality type skewed to the right. She is an INTJ …and 43% of all INTJ’s report themselves as either ‘Republican or Conservative’ …. this is the 2nd highest percentage on the right of all 17 personality categories (only 14% of the INTJ’s said they were ‘not political’) 

From these same researchers, allow me share some of the highlights of what they had to say about  INTJ’s:

“…When under a great deal of stress, the INTJ may become obsessed with mindless repetitive, Sensate activities, such as over-drinking…. Other people may have a difficult time understanding an INTJ…. They may see them as aloof and reserved… INTJs tend to blame misunderstandings on the limitations of the other party, rather than on their own difficulty in expressing themselves…”

Here I am the ENTJ working to develope a harmonious relationship with my spouse

Poor, poor INTJ’s… by contrast…  ENTJ’s are quite different:

“As an ENTJ, your primary mode of living is focused externally, where you deal with things rationally and logically…. ENTJs are natural born leaders…. which is well-served by their quickness to grasp complexities, their ability to absorb a large amount of impersonal information, and their quick and decisive judgments. They are “take charge” people….The ENTJ has a tremendous amount of personal power and presence which will work for them as a force towards achieving their goals….They’re likely to place much emphasis on their children being well-educated and structured, to desire a congenial and devoted relationship with their spouse.”

Okay…Okay, I pulled a ‘Dan Rather’, I picked out what I wanted to say about both personality types for selfish reasons… believe me, INTJ’s are really quite interesting people. The hard truth is that for every individual — regardless of personality type — there exists specific challenges that must be met in order to be happy in life….. they just may be different types of challenges. ENTJ’s (Me), for example, must refrain from being overly absorbed in their career… or life and love passes them by.

By the way, I am an ENTJ, and we — as a group — tend to be a little less politically active than the norm with 25% of us saying we are ‘not political.’ However, the largest segment of ENTJ’s  describe themselves as either Democrat or liberal (45%).

After this ‘revelation’, Laura now looks at me with a ‘cautious eye.’ However, from what I can tell… when ENTJ’s (me) and INTJ’s get together… ENTJ’s (me) think they are in charge… but INTJ’s eventually get their way.

Roger Freberg

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Jenny Craig — Army Style

Look the salad has grown!

My daughter  Kristin  has become a devotee of Jenny Craig like the rest of us. Although I tend to think with her physical job requirements in the army she modifies her coloric content upwards. I did offer one small piece of advice: “expand” your ‘free foods’ to keep you from going nuts. 

Kristin sent me the above picture from her phone that says it all. You can see a Jenny size portion of stuffed potato (very good , by the way) and a larger than average (expanded) salad stuffed with goodies.

Looks like Kristin has a good idea going… heavy exercise with a Jenny main dish and bunches of free food to keep you full. lookin’ good!

Roger Freberg