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EIGHTEEN
FEEL FANTASTIC
Don’t wallow in disappointments
♦
ll my children had gone off to universities, which was 100
percent their choice. I was at the University of Toronto, and my
children could have studied there for free if they chose medicine or
law. They would have stayed with me with no rental or food
expenses. They preferred to go it on their own. Elon chose physics
and business, Kimbal studied business, and Tosca studied film. They
had to get their own grants and loans and support themselves, and
they all did. I was happy that they chose to be independent and go
their own way. Maybe they were tired of my bean soup.
People said that I was going to suffer from empty-nest syndrome,
because I lived for my kids. That made sense, as many of my clients
would be sad when their children left home, so I thought it was going
to happen to me. But it didn’t! I loved it. It seems that other people’s
problems are not necessarily your own. I remember this saying by a
ninety-year-old: “Ninety-five percent of the things you worry about
never happen.”
By the time Tosca left, I said, “I can’t believe my freedom.”
I was living on my own for the very first time in twenty years. I
could now exercise at night, not care about food at home, and walk
around naked! After trying that once, I preferred a T-shirt. Until I got
my book deal . . . then I was writing for about five hours at night, and
twelve hours on the weekends. It took me three months to write my
first draft.
I couldn’t wait to share it with my kids.
• • •
Once a month, I would visit one of my children. I would save $2,000
a month, and that $2,000 would have to cover my flight and
anything they needed. I would find the cheapest flights and would
take a bus to the airport because I couldn’t afford the shuttle.
Sometimes I could get a flight for $150. The rest of the money was
spent on them, for whatever they wanted, whether it was food,
clothes, or furniture.
I was going to Wharton to see Elon. I said, “What do you want to
do?”
Elon said, “Let’s go to New York.”
We took a train to New York, walked around, did the touristy
thing. We were sitting at Rockefeller Center, and I gave him my
manuscript to read. It was all about calories, metabolism, essential
nutrients—fascinating information.
Elon started reading it, and he said, “This is boring.”
I said, “What do you mean?”
He said, “Why are you seeing twenty-five clients a day? What do
they want to know?”
I said, “Well, they’re coming to me for nutrition advice.”
“Then that’s what you put in the book,” he said.
Even at that age, he showed his wisdom. So I listened to him.
From then on, every time a client came to see me, I would tell them
that I was writing a book and ask if I could take notes at our sessions,
but I wouldn’t mention them by name.
They were full of advice for the book! Besides meal plans, they
wanted me to talk about image and self-esteem, because I would tell
them to change their hair, their clothes, stand up straight, and smile
when they came to see me.
I wrote about all that in my book. The next time I showed it to my
children, the responses were a little more enthusiastic. I had help
from everyone. Kimbal edited my first book five times. Tosca said she
did it six times. I remember my mom reading the book out loud to
see how it flowed. I was fortunate to have a family who helped each
other become successful.
When the publishers received it, they called it Feel Fantastic,
because that’s how they felt when they read it. They also said that
they wanted me on the cover. They paid for my photo shoot, and I
used a photographer I knew, and Julia did my styling. I wore a red
slack suit, which was the most expensive suit I’d ever bought.
However, I got my money’s worth, because I wore it over and over at
my talks. In those days, there wasn’t social media, so no one realized
I was wearing the same suit at every talk.
Finally, my career felt like it was coming together. My speaking
bookings were increasing, which also helped to sell the book. One of
my speaking engagements was at Kellogg’s headquarters. I included
eating well and self-esteem, because it does make you feel better and
more confident when you have more energy and are eating nutritious
foods. This led to a huge breakthrough, when Kellogg’s approached
my publisher to put my book cover on a box of Special K cereals, as
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