I have waited 4 years to write this review- as it was an undercover operation by yours truly!

My experiment was this… Could I lose the weight if I followed their program and work for them at the same time with integrity?

My best friend and I went out to try to land a job there…

When I went to my first interview I think what sold them on hiring me was my statement-

“My integrity is worth more to me than anything I could gain from losing it.”   They assured me they were not like those companies that for example get customers to sign up for home food delivery and after they sign on the dotted line only then are they pushed into buying an overpriced freezer because they “will need it”.  So was that company a “food service” or an “appliance company”..?

Is jenny Craig a weight loss service or a frozen dinner supplier? Hmmm

I had such hopes during my two weeks of new hire class room training… Even though my stomach curled at how step ford wife’s fake friendly the program directors were. 

Ekkkk- anytime a student asked any question a perfectly rehearsed response always began with, “I’m glad you asked that question.”

After my first class I went to the person I would graduate to becoming- a jenny Craig weight loss consultant to sign up and start my weight loss journey.

How exciting it was for me to think I was on the same program as kirstie Alley…and what’s her name, Joy or something from “The View”.  Their pictures were plastered all over the center and smiling down on me in the consultant’s office as my counselor worked me emotionally- the same kind of counseling I was being trained to do. 

“How will you feel once you lose the weight?”

“What will be different for you?”

“What has been the hardest obstacle for you to lose this weight?”

And then came my up close and personal “accountability questions”…

“What is your commitment level on a scale of 1 - 5, 5 being the most committed?”

“How often do you eat out?”

Finally… the money factor questions.

“How much do you spend a week eating out?”

“How much a week do you spend on food?”

And then the all convincing calculating…math…numbers…tactic!

“Well, Tanya- based on what you told me you’re currently spending X amount of money a week. If you join our program it will only cost you “about” $10.00 a day.”  That includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack.”

So… I got inducted into the jenny Craig cult! I was a card carrying J.C. member!

What they did not mention in my 1^st session until after I signed up…

1.        I still had to buy food that was on my menu outside of jenny Craig at the grocery store.

2.       That they were a “food service” company and in order for me to continue my membership I HAD to purchase their food weekly.

3.       The individual counseling was limited to only 15 minutes once a week and that included the whole 15 minutes of my counselor preparing my menu for that week and offering me support tools for an additional purchase to “help keep me focused”.

Now don’t get me wrong here… I still wanted to work for them because I wanted to do something with my life that would be gratifying to me. Helping women to achieve their weight loss goals was first and foremost on my mind. NOT the $8.00 an hour and 3% food commission I would make off keeping them on the program.

What happened next was that I was not only a client I was also a weight loss consultant seeing clients in Canton on a daily bases, while my best friend would be a program director in the Ann Arbor center.

And that my friend is where part 2 to this undercover operation continues…

I.e.: the questionable marketing practices, disclosing hidden costs, including the physical and emotional effects, and the corporate vengeance towards their employees.

I love shopping at Thrift Stores. Did you know there is an Online Thrift Store?

This particular Thrift Store gives back to their community by job training for people with disabilities.

It is NOT an auction site. Most of the items they carry are one of a kind, so if you see a pic of something you like I suggest grabbing it because the prices are a steal there and you probably wont see it there again. You will also find special handpicked donated items there too. I love that category because you just don’t know what you will find… there’s usually an eclectic array of merchandise, at prices you simply will not find anywhere else.

For example:  I found a Great Brand new set of Retro Shot Glass’s for $1.49 …

Description: It’s the Hipster’s Choice

“You’re a cheeky monkey. You like smooth talk, smooth ladies and smooth liquor. But now is not the time to chat, it’s time to drink. Less talk, more monkey!” - back of the box.

From this statement, we get the phrase on these two retro shot glasses: “Less Talk, More Monkey!” The glasses feature a winking, drinking monkey.

That is so right, you read my blog head line correct! If you are fortunate enough to live anywhere near Ann Arbor or Ypsilanti Michigan and your puter is in need of an upgrade or you need a refurbished puter or laptop I cannot stress enough to you that it is in your best interest to check out Clover Computer!

My housemate, god love him clicked on something that turned my puter into a possessed, siren screaming, green throw up, monitor turning all the way around demon of a virus thingy!  After my initial breakdown I took it into Best Buy, and the Geek Squad assured me they could get her cleaned up for $300.00 and back home in a week.  Well, my poor pocket book looked up at me with those huge brown eyes and we both turned and left. Then, I remembered a “new friend” I had on “my space”. A local computer repair shop.

“My Oprah!”  I thought.  I scurried over to Depot town in Ypsilanti, if you have not been there I also recommend it. It is a delightful, charming block of bohemian type shops, coffee houses, antique stores, bars and one much appreciated Clover Computer!

It was 11 am when I dropped it off, and by 7 pm that same day- I picked up my baby. She was not only totally cleansed of the evil, but she was updated with NEW antivirus software! They also updated a bunch of software too. All her precious memories were saved as well.

The best part to this story is when my pocket book looked up at me… $90.00  She smiled and spit it out, knowing it was going to a very nice family owned business instead of some evil corporation that over charges peeps who are desperate and don’t have any local family owned businesses in their home towns!

http://www.myspace.com/clovercomputers1

734-487-6459

Over at the cow, the owner, “Reagan” a woman and a mom of three stays
connected with her members on a personal level each and every day, and she ALWAYS pays you on time!  This is very important information, as there are way too many fake sites that don’t pay you for your time.

She also donates a portion of her profits to St Jude’s Hospital each month and shows what was donated.

The moderators on the forum there are just
as personable, fun, and real!!!

In addition to this, the forum is great fun and filled with loads of tips and alerts to fake gpt sites.

You get paid both cash and with “milkshakes” which you can convert into cash, each milkshake is worth .50 cents and every month you can redeem your milkshakes into cash in the form of visa/mastercard gift cards, paypal, or by a check that is sent to your home.

But really, here at gpt cash cow the forum is an experience in itself.

You can earn more cash by participating in the discussions, and unlike a lot of GPT sites- the moderators rarely delete your postings.

I consider my visit to gpt cash cows forum each day as a lunch break- it
is that much fun!

I can’t say enough about this site, you just have to experience it for yourself.

Go check them out!!!!

Here is the cash cow banner to click on if you decide to check it out, it also shows my earnings from the beginning of each month!

As an extra treat for you… I have made a short video tutorial on how to get started making money on gpt cash cow…. enjoy and go make that mooola!

How I submitted my blog to 1,000,000 Search Engines and Directories!

I have always been weary of those banners and pop-up about paying money to have your blog listed in popular search engines. Frankly, I prefer to do business with a “real” person, not an automated robot or an anonymous phone agent. Besides that with all the scams online- I sure don’t trust giving my cc to a company I have never heard of before. I have done this in the past and got burned, BIGTIME!

But here is where my story takes a twist- I took a leap of faith with a regular member at Izea-Social Spark after reading their forum post about getting your blog into all the search engines and thus increasing your Google PR and Alexa Ratings-

I’m not that savvy yet on the technical terminology related to blogging for money- But I sure learned fast that the better your page rank is the more money you can earn from your blog posts!

Being a single mom, and low on cash- they helped me out- for a minimal service price. I was able to make a donation via PayPal- which also made me feel safer.

Finally, I have some good news to spread about an online service I purchased from word of mouth at the forums over at Izea Social Spark!

“For successful and prominent site registration; it is not enough to simply register the main (index) page of your site. Search engines may scan the other pages of your site on their own, but the process will take much time (some times years) and will not be as effective due search depth restrictions; many search engines do not scan deeper than the 3rd level.

To overcome these difficulties a Spider-like process is applied on the Web/Internet, it will make sure that ALL your blog posts/pages have been successfully registered on the search engines by scanning your blog/site & obtaining all pages, and links which can be registered on the search engines. This powerful new approach submits all your blog posts individually, not just the home URL (why do you think some of

Your posts are never cached in Google yet old enough?).”

He had me at “spider like process”… I was sold!  lol

For a minimal donation through PayPal he guaranteed that 90% of directories would register and confirm my blog within 5 minutes of submission. Major search engines like Yahoo & Alexa would register my blog in 3 weeks to 3 months, in which I would see dramatic results for traffic and page rank!

I so prefer to support “real people” for their services instead of an evil corporation. I feel like I matter as a customer and the personal attention I receive makes me have faith in where I spend my money.

That lurking soon to be ex has been around my blogs, my youtube channels, and my website! I can smell his anger and sense his evil plot thickening through the waves riding the internet highway.

My heart, spirit, and common sense tells me to “be on guard” , now is no time to do something stupid like spill the secrets you have on him that could get him fired.  Even though you have EVERY right to fight back- you have to do it for the RIGHT reasons. Don’t sink to his level! 

You can cry now, you can contemplate the past year in a half and how far you have come- with no help from him!

You can log all the lessons learned- and soon you will be able to tell other women your mistakes, experience, resources, lack of resources and the reality of living in a Domestic Violence Shelter.

But for now, the reality is that the man you fell in love with is fighting to take your baby away from you. The reality is that come December 3^rd you will sit in front of the Judge and be interrogated by his attorney, “HIM”. Representing himself- yes, the injustice continues even in the court of Justice.

How you will respond to the man who broke you, and has prepared to fight you HIMSELF in court is going to be a day you will never forget, but no matter what YOU will LIVE TO TELL ABOUT IT, AND TELL YOU WILL!!!

The other thing I am focusing on is getting a baby parakeet next month. The reason I want one so bad is that the day my soon to be ex beat me up, he also let my pet parakeet go free. It broke my heart.

That bird was so cool. He played with the baby and my cat. He and I bonded while I was pregnant and my husband was gone for a month in a half at captain training. I was alone at home with no money, and quite depressed- that bird just started to fly over to me and nibble my ears and let me rub his neck.

After I moved back in with my Mom last month I told her I wanted another bird and I started to look around for bird cages at thrift stores. The other day when I came home there was one in my room!

I was so excited! So That is what I am trying to do, focus on the positive stuff- and not dwell too much on a very icky day in court where I will have to come face to face with people who I loved who turned out to be my worst enemy’s and will lie in front of the court to try to take my baby from me.

Here is a very simple tool to help you manifest what you want in your life.

1. Be specific in what you want or need and why.

2. Visualize how you feel having received your want.

3. Be thankful for receiving it.

4. Ask for it, post anywhere asking for it, and always “thank you” in advance!

Here is one example of what I have manifested using this technique…

1. Up late one night I got hypnotized by an infomercial- The Jack La Lane Power Juicer!

I decided I wanted a Juicer so I could start living more healthy, and I so wanted it as a support tool for my weight loss goal.
How I asked for it:

I posted in Craigslist asking if anyone had an inexpensive Juicer they no longer needed to please let me know.

I searched for one on EBAY… visualizing how happy I would be using it. The prices were way out of my price range, but I did not focus on that.

I thought about all the recipes I would use and visualized myself putting the fresh fruits and veggies through it.

I checked my email a few times, had received some replies, but they wanted too much money for it.

A few weeks passed-
I checked my email and to my surprise someone had offered me a Juicer “FREE”. She said it was her in-laws and they used it one time. She left it on her porch for me to pick up.
When I got it, I could not believe my eyes. It was the top of the line Jack Lalane Deluxe Juicer! Brand new, in box with all the recipe books and support tools to go with!

I thanked the Universe over and over as I drove my new baby home, and sent her an email expressing my deepest appreciation!

What made this event so special to me was being there “In the present” for the entire evening! Unlike last year, in which I hid us from the spirit of Halloween, and Thanksgiving and Christmas were held hostage by my broken heart- focusing my attention on what we didn’t have to make the holidays wonderful.
This Halloween no thought of “mommy & daddy should be here together” invaded the present. I was living in the moment with my daughter, and family. Her delight in receiving candy from happy neighbors, and the most genuine “thank you’s” she offered in return for those tasty treats was powerful enough to keep me grateful for what I have in my life.

This Halloween I learned that I CAN be a single mom again, and be at peace with it!
Ever since I had my son at the age of 17, my life’s dream was to find us a home with a “daddy”. I missed so much of his beautiful moments growing up because I was preoccupied with what we did not have in our life!
Jump forward 18 years later, I’m married and have a brand new baby girl- I’m 35 years old, and telling everyone how this time I’m doing it the “right way”. Well, guess what I learned this past year?

The only right way is right NOW, the present moment. Husbands, friends, neighbors, etc will most likely come and go in your life- cherish the moments you have with them, but don’t dwell on the fact you don’t have them in your life today.
Dwelling in what you don’t have is your ENEMY- it will invade your personal space and block the beauty of the present moment from you.
What I fortunately learned this past year was that even through great heartache, betrayal, deceit, rejection and loss, I can STILL be happy right now, this moment.

I no longer allow my mind to wander with endless hopes of being in love to the man I married, raising a beautiful family, and growing old together. So long you “Leave It to Beaver” happiness stealers!
I’m content and at peace TODAY. I’m a single mom, again 20 years later, and I LOVE it. I’m back where I started- at home with my mom, this time I love being here.

I’m living month to month and I don’t have an ounce of worry. I’m grateful for a second chance of learning what is most important in life.

A veil of expectations to arrive in my life in order to make me happy has been lifted. Happiness does not revolve around what I don’t have, it IS right now- living in my present moment, fully and appreciative of what is my life at this moment.

… i cried for a year almost every day, or I drank myself to sleep or ate comfort food to escape. The pain of not letting go was sooo much stronger and devastating than accepting the separation and moving on. I was afraid, plain and simple. Scared to start my life over, “alone”, uncertain about my future, and feeling rejected and unloved by the man I gave my heart to. It’s funny because I have been practicing LOA for a year prior to our breakup-

I also knew deep inside that it was a mistake to marry him in the first place, I knew the day before we wed, but I tricked myself into believing it would be wonderful, and focused my attention outward- how others would see me married to a “wonderful” man. How happy they would be for me. lol

Needless to say, I kept on practicing the LOA- focus boards-etc after we wed- and my life with him just got worse and worse- until I ended up in a domestic violence shelter with my baby and a coffee can filled with change.

I kept my focus board with me during that time in my car- as i spent most of my free time in the car while being homeless for 3 months ISO a new life, but still grieving my marriage and desperately wanting him back-even though I knew in my heart I would never be happy under his conditions- lying to myself that I could ignore my feelings and accept a “step-ford wife” role revolved over and over in my head.

I spent an entire year focusing on HIM instead of myself. I even had a sta-sta-stutter for about 6 months- it was terribly embarrassing and I tried not to speak up, and limited my verbal reactions as much as possible! Through ALL this, I still wanted him back!

The funny thing is that- I never gave up on the LOA even through all of this!
I started to understand something about myself through this- that I had dreams, interest’s and passions that were all about ME- independent of him or anyone else. I had something that was ALL mine! Interest’s that gave me pleasure to explore, hobbies that turned into a healing regimen, and an undeniable devotion to living in the PRESENT- where I was most comfortable & relaxed… even though at times hard to accomplish- it was and IS satisfying to know if in deed I’m in the PRESENT or not!

I guess my point is that for me I learned the LOA…. has it’s own unique map to manifestation, and even during the lowest points of my life, they are set up that way through the universe to get me ultimately to a place I long for. The pain, unhappiness, hard lessons are not the universe being against me, but rather the Universe taking me on- to help manifest my desires- sometimes that means I will experience terribly ugly situations- but I believe those situations are needed in order to get me to understand myself better, my choice in how to react and recognize the present moment more clearly.

I absolutely have gotten to a point now where my attention is focused on me and my inner happiness- instead of what I don’t have in my present life. I am now free and independent- and with that comes clarity! This is something I would never have had in my life if the tragic end of OUR marriage never happened.

My new perspective is that I feel sorry for him- and hope one day before it’s too late he might be happy living in the present himself. For me, the present moment is an ongoing love affair with myself- a place I can count on and learn from, and every now and then experiences of magic and dreams come true.

I hope this helps a little-

Follow your Bliss,
-spy