Always have a toothpick handy!

      To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.  This is to have succeeded - Ralph Waldo Emerson

What a glorious quote!  It really cuts to the core of what it means to lead a life based on the dedication of helping others.  I am quite sure that all great teachers share that simple philosophy.  If only one person benefits they have been a success.  From my standpoint it seems such a daunting task to write an article for my blog that will have a positive impact on somebody I have never met.  I guess I can take relief from the fact that there are potentially many, many millions of folks around the planet that have access to the internet and could actually stumble onto this blog.  So, if I just consider the immense size of my conceivable audience my chances of making a positive impact on just one person are pretty good.  I can’t fail with those odds!

The  mission I have set for myself today is to make an impact on anybody that is brand new to commissioned sales.   After 3o years or so in commissioned sales I have listened to many novice salespeople lament the idea that their customers won’t trust them or do business with them because they lack experience and know-how.  They feel that they need to get a lot of time in the sales saddle before they can attain a level of trust.  Nothing could be further from the truth.   Although I agree that trust is the most important ingredient that must be earned by the salesperson, I don’t agree that it takes years to develop it.  New salespeople can establish credibility and trust very easily.  How, you ask?  Well, assuming that your customer is not a referral where the trust level is already built-in a bit; the easiest way to develop trust is by asking great questions.

  Let me share with you an example of how the ability to ask questions can earn trust in sales.  Suppose your car has started to make a weird noise so you take it to a mechanic and say to him, “My car is making a noise that I have never heard before.”  The mechanic replies, “Great, leave it and pick it up at 5:00.”  That response doesn’t really appeal to you so you take your car to a mechanic across the street.  You say, “My car is making a strange noise.”  He asks, “What kind of noise?”  “Well, it’s kind of a thumping sound,”you answer.  “Is is a metallic sound or more a rubbery sound?”  ”It’s metallic.”  “Is it coming from the front of the car or the back?” he asks.  “It’s coming from the front.” “Does the sound get faster as you speed up or is it the same sound all the time?” he asks.  “It gets faster when I speed up.”  “Great, he answers, leave the car and pick it up at 5:00.” 

Now… which mechanic do you want to work on your car?  The second one, of course.  Why? Because he took the time to be concerned with your situation and showed by his questions that he had expertise.  You feel much more comfortable with him than the first mechanic.  Now, let me ask you….who was the best mechanic?  Can you tell?  You don’t know, do you?  The first mechanic might have been the best and most honest mechanic in the world.  The second mechanic might have started yesterday and didn’t know much of anything.  But that didn’t matter to you.  You only trusted the second mechanic to work on your car because he was interested in your problem and, by extension, interested in you.   We all love it when others are interested in us!  So if you are new to sales…don’t despair that you don’t have all the knowledge yet.  Just learn to ask great questions and “fake it till you make it.” 

Tony Robbins says that the one skill salespeople need to cultivate more than any other is the ability to ask clear and concise questions.    Every day it is proven in sales arenas around the world that the only difference between good salespeople and great salespeople is in the quality of the questions they ask.  The bottom-line is this: 

People buy your product or service not because they understand it,

They buy because they believe you understand it and they believe you!

Selling isn’t telling…selling is asking.  You may be new to selling but if you spend your free time creating and learning to deliver great questions (toothpicks) you will be soon weighing your money instead of counting it!

PS.  I need your help!!  What can I do to make my blog better and what more can I do to advertise it?  I will cherish  your comments and/or advice.  Let me know.  Thanks for sharing some of your valuable time with me!  Rick

Previous Posts you should read for background to this one;

1. Losing weight is simple…but not easy!
2. Eat this!
3. The race does not always go to the swift…but to those that keep on running!

He who loves the world as his body may be entrusted with the empire. - Lao-tzu

Ok, so far we have talked about watching what we shove in our piehole and we have talked about the advantages of aerobic training.  In this article, I will discuss a fundamental principle that is imperative in losing weight or more specifically “body fat” loss.  I think that the fundamentals of weight loss have been drowned in an enormous mass of information or, I might say, misinformation.  Most of it is great and can definitely help but there is a major misconception about weight training and it’s “weight gaining” effects.

I’ve led you to believe that aerobic exercise is necessary for weight loss.  Common prescription for weight loss is walking, running or other cardio type exercises as we discussed in the previous post. “You run to lose weight” is the common thinking.  Back in the 70’s and 80’s aerobics was all that was discussed when it came to losing weight.  While this may work in some cases, research has shown that aerobic exercise alone is not sufficient for weight loss.
Wanna know why?

Because although you burn calories when training aerobically, you only burn a relatively small amount. For example in a 30 min jogging session you may burn around 200-300 calories depending on your body weight (especially muscle), age and other things. What you’ve just burned is the equivalent of a large apple and banana. But that’s comparing it to fruits. Considering a Big Mac is around 500 Calories and a Hungry Jacks Vege Burger Supreme coming in at more than 600 Calories you can see how that’s a relatively small amount.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m in no way saying that aerobic exercise has no value.  I’m a disciple for it.  I love it.  Aerobic exercise has been shown in numerous scientific studies to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, prevent the onset of diabetes, prevent some cancers and many other health benefits. But aerobic exercise alone is not the most effective way to lose bodyfat or “lose weight.”  Science again has proven this.  

This may be not only because of the relatively small amounts of calories burned but also due to the potential loss of muscle mass.  Aerobic exercise, especially long and strenuous exercise may increase your chances of burning muscle.  This muscle burning effect is further enhanced when coupling aerobic exercise with a reduced calorie diet like we have already talked about in the last two posts.  As we lose weight we definately want to avoid doing so at the cost of losing muscle!  Actually, let me go out on a limb here….I don’t believe any of us would care at all what we weighed if we looked great, our clothes fit perfect and we felt wonderful.  Am I right?  I would much rather weigh 180 and be slim and trim and strong than weigh 170 and have it all fat around my waist and look and feel terrible.  Don’t get too trapped into living and dying with the scale.  Of much more importance are the inches of fat we lose and the pounds of muscle we gain.   In the end that is what is going to determine how we look and feel. 

When aerobic exercise is performed your body burns both carbohydrate and fat. But when you increase the aerobic/cardio intensity your body also switches to burning more carbohydrates and less bodyfat proportionately. If not enough carbohydrates are consumed your body will switch to making carbohydrates from protein. That is called catabolism and results in losing muscle mass, which is the exact opposite of what you should be aiming for.  This is particularly important as we get older and we are losing muscle mass to Father Time as well.  Therefore, if you are already on a low calorie diet and you add aerobic exercise, you will further accelerate this catastrophe.  That’s why there has to be three parts to this puzzle.

But wait, you say, wouldn’t that lead to more weight loss and thus quicker and faster results?

Well, as I just mentioned, this may look good from a bathroom scale perspective but I assure you that it is detrimental to your ability to achieve permanent weight loss.  That’s because if you lose muscle, you lose your ability to burn calories. With less muscle, you burn less calories.  It’s that simple.  People trying to lose weight should stop and think about that last statement.

And what happens when you now burn fewer calories?

You need to eat less to compensate.  This means that you are now more susceptible to gaining back your bodyfat and more as soon as you return to your regular eating habits.  Oh yeah, and it doesn’t do anything in helping you control appetite and in developing healthy eating habits either.

Why don’t I just eat extra protein to compensate?

Eating extra protein will not counteract this destruction because total dietary energy must be first increased to meet the body’s energy needs.  Fat, be it dietary or bodyfat, will not stop this muscle wasting because some tissues such as the brain need energy as glucose.  While amino acids, which come from muscle protein can be metabolised to produce glucose, fats cannot.  As a consequence, a person with more than adequate fat stores may suffer loss of muscle and other tissue if the diet is too restricted in calories.  

Here is the bottom line.  The primary exercise prescription for those wanting permanent weight loss must be weight training or resistance training or strength training in addition to your diet and aerobics.

I know there are some out there, particularly women, who seem to think that their muscles grow like weeds and are afraid of becoming too big or masculine.  We men usually can’t get enough muscles and many unfortunately turn to steroids.  I can assure you that it’s not easy to gain lean muscle.  Losing bodyfat is the easy bit.  Gaining muscle is the hard part. 

Women who weight train will never look like the professional lady bodybuilders who need to take supplements to compensate for the fact that women just don’t have the right hormones to build big muscles.   Namely, testosterone.  Testosterone is a predominantly male hormone and is not plentiful in women. In fact males have around 18 times the testosterone of women.  Without it, your body has a hard time building lean muscle mass.  With all this talk of muscle you may be wondering what advantage will having more muscle give me other than being stronger?  Lets face it, how often is a lady required to lift a 150 lb. object?

Apart from increasing strength, preventing osteoporosis (which two in three women will develop and 3 out of four guys) and other health related benefits which even go so far as to conditioning the heart and the respiratory system, building muscle is an essential part in controlling bodyfat.  Yes, if you want to lose bodyfat and more specifically keep it off forever, you need to perform muscle building exercises such as weight or resistance training.  Carve that in your forehead so you don’t forget it. 

Gaining muscle allows your body to burn more calories, so that less excess calories remain to be stored, usually as bodyfat. Muscle is a vital component in your body’s furnace.  Basically the more muscle you have, the more furnaces you have operating in burning energy or food.  Check this out….one pound of muscle burns about 50 calories a day no matter what you are doing.  One pound of fat burns nothing.   So, if you gain just 5 pounds of muscle that means you will burn an extra 250 calories per day.  In one year that translates to a fat loss of about 26 pounds!  (one pound equals 3,500 calories)  This inevitably allows you to control bodyfat by allowing you to eat more and still stay lean. Yes, you’ll be able to eat more, stay lean and feeling great.

That’s the reason 220 lb bodybuilders can eat two chickens, one kilo of rice, twenty egg whites and seven rolls plus 2 protein shakes and that’s just his desert, yet they’re still leaner that you and me.  Clearly, muscle mass is proportional to metabolic rate.  The more active muscle you have the more calories you burn throughout the day.

We’ve all heard of metabolism and metabolic rate.  This is the energy expenditure that the body undergoes continuously, even at rest. This energy is burned in order to keep your body functioning normally.   With that usually comes the misguided thinking that some of us were just born with a slow metabolism.  When you increase muscle mass you increase metabolism.  Since most of our day is spent at rest, on the couch or at a desk, by simply having more muscle you burn more calories compared to your less muscular self.  More muscle, more calories burned.  It’s as simple as that.

Conversely, this also means that those with a high bodyfat level, have a lower metabolic rate and therefore burn less calories.  They burn less calories while driving, sitting, walking, or whatever the activity.  They burn less calories when compared to an identical individual, at the same weight but with lower bodyfat.
So as you can see it’s a win-win proposition. GET MORE MUSCLE!!!

MORE MUSCLE = INCREASE METABOLISM = MORE CALORIES BURNED = INCREASE FOOD INTAKE = LESS BODYFAT

The metabolic rate increases as you achieve maturity but it’s downhill from then as I can attest at age 61.  In fact by the age of 65, some 25% of our mature muscle mass will be lost and a great contributor to this is inactivity.  Thus if you reduce muscle, you reduce metabolic rate and we all know what happens next.  Calorie accrual, leading to higher bodyfat levels and overall weight increases!

So, stop laying the blame squarely at your slow metabolism or your body type, and shift your focus to what can be done about it.  The answer doesn’t lie in a 30 min cardio session or in severely reducing calories (also known as the billion dollar industry of dieting).  You still need to eat smart and do your aerobic but stop looking to burn calories or severely reducing them as the only two courses of action.  Instead augment them and help yourself in building a better body that allows you to eat more and stay lean, thus supporting your eating habits.  Building muscle is perhaps the most fundamental component in staying lean. 

Focus on your large muscle groups cause that is where you will see the greatest results.  Your legs, butt, back, shoulders and arms are the easiest to pack additional muscle on so make sure you hit them at least 3 times a week.  I tend to work out 6 days a week doing the bottom half one day and the upper half the next.  You can combine it all into one workout starting out and only hit the weights 3 times a week.   

Start out with just one set with a weight that you can easily perform 8 repetitions.  The last repetition should be tough.  Go through all your sets for each body part and have fun with it.  You gradually increase your weight as your strength increases.  I am not going to spend anytime teaching you all the different ways there are to weight train.  There are enough other sites on line that can do a better job than I can.  I just hope I have maybe lit a little fire in you to make the decision to take back control of your body and realize that a big part of that equation is weight training. 

And if that isn’t enough….For you men, People magazine just published the list of the 10 body parts that women find most attractive in men.  The first 3 were:

1. Abdominals
2. Butt
3. Shoulders/Chest

Try getting those WITHOUT weight training! 

P.S.  I found a great article that kind of sums up everything for those of you that want the great abs.  Click here

PSS.  I need your help!!  What can I do to make my blog better and what more can I do to advertise it?  I will cherish  your comments and/or advice.  Let me know.  Thanks for sharing some of your valuable time with me!  Rick

This is the second in the series on weight loss and fitness.  Try to read the following articles first.

Losing weight is simple but not easy

Eat this

For me, aerobic exercise is the most fun part of the weight loss formula.  There are many types of aerobics but running is my “drug” of choice.  You can bike, play a sport, take a aerobic class, swim or just about anything that gets your heart pumping as long as it is something you enjoy.  I love the solitary time spent doing aerobics because it gives me time to think and reflect on whatever is important to me at the time.  

The real benefits of aerobic exercise are achieved by increasing your heart rate and breathing hard for an extended period of time. During this  activity your body produces more energy and delivers more oxygen to your muscles.  Your heart beats faster and increases the blood flow to your muscles and then back to your lungs.

Aerobic means “with oxygen” and your body’s aerobic system is your heart, lungs, blood vessels and muscles. The benefit of aerobic exercise is based on how well your body can deliver oxygen to your muscles and use it for energy. Regular aerobic workouts increase your ability to take in and transport that oxygen and improves your aerobic capacity. 

A good aerobic exercise program can help you live a longer, healthier life and enhance your well being. You get a multitude of benefits if you do your aerobic workout on a regular basis even if the intensity is low or short in duration. It’s fun to keep a log of your workouts that track your progress to see how far you have come in your pursuit of fitness.  You don’t have to train for a marathon to get the benefits.  You can start slow by walking if necessary.  Just push yourself to go as far as you can without overextending yourself and then go just a little bit more next time.  You can get great benefit from just three 20 minutes sessions each week.  I am doing 6 sessions per week because I enjoy it and want to see the benefits quicker.  If you are a social animal there are always running clubs or biking clubs in your area that you can join and workout with others of a like mind.  As an added benefit, once you get hooked you can enter weekend races and fun-runs and walks to further enhance your sense of accomplishment.  I always used to use those events as an excuse to travel to a new area to both get a great workout and explore a new city at the same time.

The bottom line is to start an aerobic workout that you enjoy and look forward to doing on a consistent basis. Aerobic activity is fun and it doesn’t require a lot of concentration. It’s like anything….you get out of it what you put into it.  So listen to music, watch TV or listen to educational tapes while you are performing your aerobic exercise program if you don’t want to spend the time thinking.

Aerobic workouts make you feel better about yourself so you can enjoy life more. It boosts your mood, strengthens your heart muscle, helps you maintain your weight and can even lower your blood sugar levels. It can help increase your stamina and help you manage stress. A session of aerobic activity can help you relax after a stressful day at work. It can even improve your sexual performance.  AND, if you ever get to that point in aerobics they call the “runner’s high,” you will find that euphoria to be even better than sex!  (Well, almost)

If you maintain a regular aerobic exercise program as you get older, your muscles will stay stronger and help you avoid fractures and falls. This will help keep you independent and on your own longer. People who engage in exercise and cardiovascular fitness appear to live longer than those who don’t.  I have seen folks in their 80’s running marathons.  Remember this whole deal is about burning calories to lose weight so in addition to your workout sessions try to walk whenever you can or take the stairs instead of the elevator.  Every little bit helps.  I have to just laugh when I go to the club to workout and I see people circling the parking lot in their cars trying to get a space closer to the door.  Seems to defeat the whole reason for being there!

Aerobic activity comes in many forms and you can benefit from the time you spend in doing them. The benefits of aerobic exercise are good for your body and your mind and will help you to lose weight,  make you live longer, stay healthier and feel dynamite at the same time! 

When you add those benefits to diet and weight training there is nothing that can stand in the way of the goals you have set for yourself.

“I run because I can!”

Before reading this you should probably check out the previous post! 

OK, as promised, the first of the three disciplines is your diet.  Your diet, combined with aerobics and weight training, will have a major effect on reaching your target weight and level of fitness.  Now don’t expect me to give you some earth shattering, never before heard secret that will perform miracles.  There is no such thing.  There are already millions of internet sites and books promising that.   My solution to dieting is simple…but not easy.  It’s based on my history of over 60 years of eating and learning what works and what doesn’t.  I don’t have any credentials after my name but I can sure look you in the eye and swear that these three components will work every time if you have the discipline to follow them!  They are:

1. Things you should stop eating and drinking
2. Things you should start eating and drinking
3. Things to substitute for what you are currently eating and drinking.

The first one is the easiest to follow but the hardest to stick to.  You need to quit sugar!  That means, for example, no sodas, fruit drinks, ice cream, alcohol and a whole bunch of other great tasting stuff.  All simple starches like white bread and pastrys are also included in things you need to avoid like the plague.  I don’t mean you have to give up all these great tasting things forever…. unless you are making a great lifestyle change.  I am talking about quitting them just until you reach your target weight.  I am not going to give you the whys of how bad sugar is or tell you about the useless calories it provides.  You already know all that unless you have been living in a cave.  Don’t get me wrong…. I love sweets, brownies, cakes, twinkies, chips, chocolate, beer, wine and cocktails as much as the next guy but if you are truly interested in losing the weight you need to bite the bullet and step up!!  You have to develop the habit.  Eating all the bad stuff over the years has become a habit so we just need to develop a new habit.  You are what you do continually so until you get to where you want to be physically…you need to make the sacrifice.  Of course none of us are perfect….we are going to slip a little once in awhile.  Just understand that if you do have that rare donut from time to time to forget about it and get back on track. 

The second piece of the diet puzzle are things that you should start eating and drinking more of.  First on the list is to drink more water.  Most experts say to drink eight 8oz. glasses of water a day.  I am too lazy to try to keep track of 64 oz. so I just make it a point to not pass a sink or drinking fountain without having a drink.  I also substitute water for everything else as my drink of choice when I am out.  Pretty boring but it works.  I also keep track of the color of my pee.  If it is not totally clear then you are not getting enough water.  Any yellow tint at all says that you are not hydrated enough.  Pretty scientific, huh?   

Make sure you don’t skip breakfast.  I kill two birds with one stone by mixing a healthy shake that not only takes care of breakfast but tastes great and is ultra-healthy.  Mix in a blender the following:

• 12 ounces water
• one or two bananas
• handfull of frozen strawberries
• 4 heaping tablespoons of raw, uncooked oatmeal (not the 2 min. stuff)
• 1 heaping tablespoon of soy protein

You can substitute whatever fruits turn you on but the banana adds great texture and is tough to beat for vitamins and nutrients.  Pretty simple.  Everything we read tells us to eat more vegetables and fruits so I am not going to disagree here.  Eat as much of them as you wish…. just don’t skip breakfast.  That one meal kick starts your metabolism for the day!   That about does it for number two!  

Last but not least are things you need to substitute for what you are eating now.   Consider the following:

• Fat free instead of whole milk
• margarine instead of butter
• mustard instead of mayonnaise
• yogurt instead of ice-cream
• herbal tea instead of a cocktail

You get the idea.  Also, big in the news now is a whole group of healthy oils and foods with monounsaturated oils. (MUFAs)

According to a study that appeared in Diabetes Care, a journal published by the American Diabetes Association, a diet rich in monounsaturated fats (MUFA) may help reduce abdominal fat better than a carbohydrate rich diet.

When test subjects ate a carbohydrate enriched diet, they tended to accumulate fat in the abdomen. When they ate a diet that had more MUFA, abdominal fat concentration decreased, even without exercise.

What are some foods that are MUFA rich?

• Olives and olive oil
• Canola oil
• Nuts and nut oils (peanut, walnut)
• Seeds and seed oils (sesame, flaxseed)
• Grape seed oil
• Soybean oil
• Avocados

Who am I to argue with the Diabetes association.  Substitute the monos for the polys.   You can even think outside the box and add a little flaxseed oil in your morning cocktail shake!

That’s about it.  Simple but not easy.  You don’t have to turn your world upside down all at once but if you slowly wean yourself off of the bad stuff and gradually substitute and add the good stuff you won’t even notice the change.  What you WILL notice is the pounds starting to fall off and a renewed sense of well-being that maybe has been missing for a little while.  Especially when you add in your aerobics and weight training!  Tune in next time for a little bit about aerobic exercise.

I did it!  I stepped on the scale in the locker room after my workout today and was ecstatic to see the counter weight settle in at 179 3/4 lbs.  That is the first time in over 30 years that I have been under 180!!   My goal is 175 which I will reach within the next 6 weeks but the 180 mark is a personal milestone that means alot to me. 

A little background.  I am almost 62 years old and am 5′ 10″ tall.   This is the chart that the AMA puts out on ideal height/weight ratios for men.  I have a medium frame and you can see that I should weigh maximum 163. 

I haven’t weighed 163 since high school!  Good thing I don’t have a small frame!  As an adult I have always had no problem carrying 180.  You would think with all the excercise I did that I would weigh less….and you would be right except for one small problem.  I love to eat!  I ate alot!!  But, because I exercised so much I never gained weight.  I was so fit I could eat a bathtub stopper and not gain weight.  I know there are alot of folks out there that manage their weight the same way that I always did.  And that weight maintenance plan works great when you are in your 20’s, 30’s, 40’s and maybe your early 50’s.   Unfortunately, things start to change as we get older. 

First off, let me say that I have never been what anyone would call fat or overweight.  I have been a “jock” my whole life and have always exercised…many times to excess!  I have run over 20 marathons and was a top tournament handball player for over 25 years.  I tell you this not to impress you, but to impress upon you, that no matter what level of fitness you have right now or whatever your current weight is that Father Time is constantly at work behind the scenes undermining your best efforts.  He is like the great and wonderful Oz behind the curtain!  However, instead of dishing out courage, wisdom and heart, he is dispensing fatigue, weakness and the inability to do things that you used to do so easily.

I have always prided myself on my fitness but I had noticed lately that the old engine was starting to show its age and my weight was starting to head north of where I wanted it to be.   I also was not exercising as much as I had due to arthritic hip replacement surgery and a blown achilles tendon.  (If I had been a horse they would have shot me!)  Unfortunately, I was still eating the same.  The bottom line is that my weight had slowly crept up to 195!  I was, according to the charts, 30 pounds overweight and not at all happy with the way I looked or with how my clothes were starting to fit.  I decided to take the action necessary to get it all under control again. 

Hopefully, You are still reading this mea culpa because you want to change the way your body looks and feels or you just think that I tell a great story.  And that is both brave and bold. It takes guts to face your body and decide that it is time for a change.  Millions of people simply choose to ignore their bodies. (See Motion creates Emotion). You don’t have to.  It is a simple process but it does require effort.  It’s about the choices we make.  We can chose to love ourselves by taking the time necessary for exercise or we can choose to spend the same amount of time on the couch or at Starbucks.  Also, I might add, if you are a baby-boomer and think it is too late I am here to tell you that it is not.  The human body is tremendously forgiving.  All it takes is your commitment and a little time.   The rewards will be life-altering and will spill over into all other areas of your life. 

Weight loss is a very achievable goal. You can have the body you want much sooner then you think.   I am proof.  Imagine having a tight and toned body; a body that feels as good as it looks.  Imagine being able to watch your waist line shrink. Permanent weight loss is just around the corner and I can show you the way.   

The most compelling reason for weight loss is the way it makes your body feel.  When you start to lose weight your body begins to respond in a positive way. It’s exciting.   As you lose weight and gain muscle your confidence soars, your energy goes up and you will feel better about yourself than you have for years.

You have seen hundreds of diets, fad exercise routines, gimmicky eating plans and really unhealthy diet supplements.  The internet is filled with sites that promise you the world and consistently fail to deliver.  They exist only to separate the desperate from their money. Let’s face it, they insult your intelligence with their infomercial style sales pitches.  We all know what it takes to lose weight in a healthy manner and keep it off.  It’s doing it that is the challenge.  These are the 3 things that you positively, absolutely must do!

1. Watch your diet

2. Aerobic exercise

3. Weight training

 I started my program on December 17th, 2007.  Just 9 weeks ago!  As of this morning I have lost 16 pounds in 9 weeks thanks to the above mentioned 3 disciplines.  I set as my goal to be at 175 on March 19th.  In my next 3 posts I will cover each of the 3 absolutely necessary things you must do to achieve the weight and fitness level you desire.  Stay tuned for the keys to your magic kingdom.