As we went to bed last night, we did so holding some very grave concerns about the safety of our friends, family and loved ones in Far North Queensland. It's a great relief this morning to be able to say that at this stage we still have no reports of any casualties, serious injuries or any fatalities. I'm very pleased that we can also report that we've had reports from every evacuation centre where we've seen no structural damage and every one of the 10,500 people who spent a very distressed and uncomfortable night in those centres is safe and sound today. However, I do stress that these are still in some cases early reports. We have some quite small and isolated communities in which from whom we've yet to hear any reports, so we will certainly be monitoring those very carefully throughout the day. But the early reports have given us all, I think, a great sense of relief this morning. Nevertheless, we face a very extensive and devastating damage in some parts of the North and Far North and we continue to see a very dangerous situation in many parts of the region. So I think I can take you through some of this. Firstly, the cyclone is now weakened to a Category 2. It's likely to stay at a Category 2 throughout this afternoon and then weaken overnight to a Category 1. It is making its way through communities across the West and we have a very clear message for those people. We have people safe and sound today who would have been in the path of danger last night if they hadn't listened to the warnings. There is no room for complacency. It may be weakening, but it is still a powerful storm and can and will bring danger to your communities. Please don't take this lightly. Please listen to authorities. The storm surge in a number of areas overnight was lower than expected but still quite damaging in some places with very high surges reported in a number of areas. However, we now have a situation emerging in a number of places around a second storm surge associated with the high tide that's occurring right now. You may have seen some of the early footage out of Cairns and Townsville. We have waves crashing over the Esplanade in Cairns and we have significant water rising in areas like Rose Bay and Palloranda in Townsville. The second surge in Cairns is being reported by authorities there as significantly higher and larger than what they saw last night. This is still a very dangerous situation in Cairns and Townsville around those storm surge areas. For that reason, evacuation centres will remain in lockdown until after the high tide has passed and that won't be until later this morning. We now move to serious monitoring of what the rainfall that this storm brought is bringing into river systems and catchment areas. We've seen extremely high levels of rainfall in a short period of time in a number of these areas. We've had falls as high as 200 millimetres as far south as Mackay in a very concentrated period. So we're now seeing strong flood activity in the Tully River through to Guru and what that means is that in places like Ingham, they are now preparing for at least moderate flooding this afternoon. But if the rainfall continues at its current rate, that could be revised up to heavy and serious flooding in Ingham. In Townsville, we expect major flooding in the northern suburbs and in the areas just north of Townsville through their river systems and at Guru this afternoon heavy flooding. In the areas of the Upper Burtican, again heavy flooding throughout today and this afternoon we would expect for example for that to cut them across and bridge which links Townsville to Charters Towers. There is a heavy rain band that is continuing between the north of Townsville right down to Mackay and that rain band will and already is bringing flooding and we will give further reports about that throughout the day but that may necessitate some evacuations and it may reach dangerous levels in part. This system has affected different communities in different ways and I'll just take you through some of the major areas and what we know so far about those areas. As you're probably aware, Cairns seems to have escaped the worst of this storm and is according to all assessments so far in relatively good shape. Significant power outages, power lines down, debris on the roads, however no major structural infrastructure damaged at this stage. The port and the airport are now being assessed and the city believes that it can be back to fully operational within 24 hours. This is the Aboriginal community of Yarraba, similarly reports as do northern Aboriginal communities, Woodjool, Woodjool and Hopevale, no or little damage. As I said in Cairns, right now we're seeing quite spectacular waves apparently over the Esplanade as a result of that second storm surge. The Table Lounge, the Mariba area reports extensive roads cut from debris but otherwise very little structural damage, a couple of houses with roofs off. By far the hardest hit area is the area around Innisfail. The cyclone crossed around the Mission Beach area and what we've seen is those small communities take the full brunt of this very serious storm system. So the hardest hit towns are Tully, Silkwood, Mission Beach, Innisfail and Cardwell. In place in Innisfail we're seeing for example very serious outages of power with power poles literally snapped in half and in all of those areas they're now getting a very high number of requests for assistance and the early assessments indicating extensive damage. In Tully for example, the early estimate is that one in three houses has either lost its roof or completely demolished and more than 20% of businesses in the main area significantly impacted. Similarly, widespread reports in that area of major crop damage and still being assessed. Mission Beach on very early assessments seeing some damage but maybe not as much as earlier thought but it's still subject to a comprehensive assessment. The town of Cardwell has been very difficult to get into but I can advise that emergency crews have cut their way into Cardwell in the last 20 minutes or so. So we've only got very early reports but the emergency crews report what they say is significant devastation of the township of Cardwell. Older houses, most of the older houses in town have been significantly damaged or completely demolished. Old and newer houses have fared much better but there's been extensive force into this town for those of you who don't know Cardwell, it sits there's the ocean, the highway and then the township. Boats have been pushed two blocks up into the township so they have experienced significant storm surge and that has caused extensive damage. Coming further south Townsville has experienced very very heavy weather overnight. It's experienced some of the heaviest rainfall and winds and is continuing to do so. Townsville is still experiencing quite damaging and dangerous conditions with their flying debris. At the moment and you'll appreciate in these conditions it's hard to get a full assessment but authorities are saying despite all of that the damage doesn't look too bad but it is only a preliminary assessment because of the difficult weather. It is as I said still a dangerous situation and evacuation centres are not being unlocked at this stage. We are seeing flooding as I indicated and there is an early report of water damage to the water treatment plant in Townsville. It's too early yet to say just what that damage will mean for the water supply but we're monitoring it. There will be some big logistical exercises today in managing some of the people who have been evacuated and who will be unable to go back into their own homes and just by way of one example, in a college at Townsville there are currently 200 high-care aged patients being cared for. 40 of those are from a nursing home in Cardwell and today while the school was a very good place to keep them sheltered and safe overnight it is not where they can be adequately cared for for a long period of time. So a very significant planning exercise is now being undertaken to relocate those patients either if possible back to some of their own nursing homes although most of them come from areas that are currently flooding in Townsville or otherwise into other parts of Queensland. The island of Palm Island, I'm very pleased to report, reports that all is well on palm. No buildings have seen significant damage although we have got some roofs off. A very high number of power lines down and the water in Palm Island is fine so we'll get a further assessment but Palm Island despite being out there in the middle of all of that appears to have come through reasonably well. The town of Ingham and the surrounding Shire of Henshinbrook reporting some damage, a number of roads closed but their focus right now is on preparing for what is likely to be a quite a significant flood event in the Ingham area. That's really, I think, gives you a snapshot of the areas that have been mostly impacted and affected. If I can just go now to some of the essential services and what that means for people in this whole region whether they've been affected by the cyclone or not. Power link in relation to our major transmission lines report that the electricity supply line, that is the main spine going inland, taking power into the high voltage line, taking electricity into North Queensland, has not been damaged and is intact so we're very relieved about that. However, the supply line coming down into those coastal communities has been cut south of Innisfail. It is not clear yet what is why it has been cut and we won't know until they are able to get into the air and check all along that system. I should say that that requires checking 400 kilometres of line and 500 transmission towers. By way of example, we had a tower go down on that line just before Christmas and it took two weeks to get it operational again. So we don't know yet if we have multiple towers out. In relation to electricity supply, we have 177,000 homes who are without electricity supply, some because of that transmission break, others simply because of the extensive damage done to power lines and power poles. To give you a bit of a sense of where the biggest impact is, in Townsville, only 15% of the City of Townsville has electricity supply at the moment. The town of Ingham has no electricity supply, about 34% of Cairns has supply and in Mackay Prosopine about half of all homes have supply. So this cyclone is still moving west and our electricity providers indicate that they expect that 177,000 to grow and get up over the 200,000 mark. Many, I do ask people to understand that many Ergon staff have been affected themselves. Many of them are in evacuation centres and their own homes have been affected or they are cut off from their workplaces. That means we're bringing southern teams in and they are arriving in the area this morning with a view to getting them out on the ground as quickly as we can. We have 100 generators being supplied and further generators being supplied if needed from the Army to resupply critical infrastructure. Things like water treatment plants that may need generators to pump to keep them moving. I do need to say to some people in this region that you are going to have to be very patient in some areas about electricity supply and to give you an example in Cyclone Larry, it took a full four weeks before every single person who lost supply on the night of the cyclone was fully restored to power. We will clearly be doing everything in our power to do that faster but it's a much wider region and we've yet to find some of the areas that are causing the problem. We have teams of emergency workers as I've said trying to get their way into isolated towns. They are at the moment cutting their way into Mission Beach. They've just got into Cardwell and there are many other small towns in that area that they will be trying to get into. Of course we also have many isolated rural properties that will take some time to assess. In relation to telecommunications Telstra is reporting 25 of their stations out and that means they've been destroyed by the cyclone and will take some time to get operational again and that's mainly in that Innisfail Ingham hardest hit area. But right from Mackay to Cairns there are 450 points on the network that are now operating without mains power that means they're using backup generators and over the next six to eight hours are likely to lose that power. So unless we can get them up on mains power people can expect significant and severe disruptions to the mobile network and their and their mobile capacity and we'd ask for patience. It's too early yet to say much about major transport routes other than to say the early assessments indicate that other than major debris on the Bruce Highway it doesn't appear to have suffered major damage and if we can get that debris off the road there is at least some prospect of the Bruce Highway being opened today but people shouldn't travel on it until they get confirmation of that. In relation to health facilities the Tully Hospital has had a part of its roof go off overnight. There are seven patients in that hospital. All of those patients and staff are safe but clearly we are working to restore safety to the Tully Hospital as soon as we can. Cairns Hospital is looking to reopen their emergency department at the hospital sometime today. They will not be opening it while that surge stormwater surge activity is happening on the Esplanade because it would be unsafe for patients or staff to try to access the hospital but as soon as that danger passes we will see the emergency department of the Cairns Hospital reopen for normal business. The Red Cross reports that overnight in the evacuation centres people were all in good spirits and cooperating with each other in what must have been I think very difficult and very trying circumstances. One of the biggest challenges for the Red Cross today will be establishing appropriate evacuation facilities for those people who have been made homeless by this event. Their focus right now is on Tully and on ensuring that they have enough accommodation in a town where we do seem to see at least one in three homes temporarily at least uninhabitable. So that will be one of the challenges today as we move into recovery phase. This is for example one of the one of the otherwise possible evacuation centres in Tully the senior citizens hall has been completely demolished. So as I said some challenges there in accommodating people who have been rendered homeless. So I think that's most of the information that I have to give to you today but this morning as you can see it's still an unfolding event. There are still many things that are unknown and we still have people in danger out there and we still have people whose communities are in the path of a very serious storm and we're monitoring all of that along with what could be some serious flooding. Nevertheless I certainly think that many people in North Queensland this morning will be breathing a sigh of relief and we certainly do that along with you but I'm equally aware that today for some people in this region they will be going back into their communities going back into their neighbourhoods and facing scenes of considerable devastation. There are people now who have lost their homes they've lost their farms they've lost their crops and they've lost their livelihoods and I have no doubt that many of them will feel a great sense of despair as they walk back into those communities particularly those that only five years ago were destroyed by Cyclone Larry. Can I say to people in that circumstance I know that it would be tempting to feel totally overwhelmed by what you are about to go back into and what you will be what will be required of you over coming weeks as you move to restore your lives and if you are feeling alone can I say to you you are not alone. Just as the people of North Queensland gave all their care and support and help and assistance to people here in the south and in the central part of our state during the floods it's coming right back at you. You are about to find people from all over Queensland coming into your communities to help you rebuild and restore your lives. In the immediate term our task today is to get emergency workers on the ground and start the process of cleaning up and that's exactly what we'll be doing. Commissioner. Thanks Premier and could I just add to the Premier's comments and in terms of in places particularly like Innisfil and Tulley and ask people to be very aware of their safety in terms of fallen power lines. Ask people in towns or cans and the areas in between not to use the roads until the authorities declare that they're safe to be used. In Townsville and Palm Island there are still reports of heavy rain and high winds and unfortunately this is not over yet. This cyclone is of course an extraordinary weather event and it's unprecedented and one of the aspects of that is that it is still moving towards Mount Isa and it's still assessed as being a category one cyclone when it hits Mount Isa which is scheduled for 8pm this evening. So we're asking people in all the towns in and around places like Georgetown, Julia Creek, Richmond, on Currie and Winton and the towns near Mount Isa such as Doommagee, Dejara and Cameroon to take notice of the warnings to stay inside and that's people on the properties in that zone as well. And one of our concerns is that I don't think that people in those areas would ever experience a category 2 cyclone or for that matter a category 1 cyclone. So we're pleading with people in those localities to take this seriously to stay inside and heed all the warnings. It would seem as though we've been blessed and fortunate so far. We want that to continue. Thank you. Premier the report of the Casuary Coast Mayor having some concerns for a profit of 100 people in part of this area. Have you heard anything about that? Well certainly the Mayor of the Casuary Coast advised the disaster management group this morning that there are a number of smaller communities in his region which are totally inaccessible at the moment. As we as we speak we have emergency teams out literally cutting their way into these communities. The Casuary Coast is the area that has sorry has some of those towns that have taken the biggest brunt and some of them are cut off by massive debris and trees being brought down. So yes there are many unknowns as much as we do breathe a sigh of relief because the early reports indicate that people are safe. It is not it is not over yet and I don't for one minute think that we can't we can still expect I think the possibility of sad and bad news. So we are monitoring and we are out there literally cutting our way into communities to find people who might be unsafe. About a group of six people at Port Hinchinbrook you know have you any information about how they support? Yes I'm very pleased to advise that the six people we heard of last night at Port Hinchinbrook have all have been spoken to directly this morning and they are safe and well. Premier Murray's report was said to have been evacuated but I understand up to a hundred people did stay behind in Cardwell. Can you shed any light on that and has there been any contact made with anyone who did stay behind in Cardwell? Literally as I walked into this briefing this morning we got late breaking news that the emergency teams had just cut into Cardwell. So other than being able to tell you that they've struck a significant devastation we are unable to advise any further on Cardwell but we'll do so as soon as we can but remember that look it's impossible for me to say whether people did or not. Certainly the mayor indicated that the whole town was to be evacuated we certainly understood that people had taken that warning very seriously as I said Cardwell is right on the water it is literally on the waterfront. I can't rule out that some people chose not to take that advice but we do know that we have a number of very small towns in and around this area that would have between 50 and 100 residents and nobody has heard from them yet and we haven't got any crews into them. Premier my slightly warning we were facing a catastrophic event. As you say so far the news is relatively good. How much are you putting that down to preparations that will make? I don't think there is any doubt that the fact that authorities, local governments and people on the ground prepared so well for this event in advance and most importantly the fact that the citizens of these towns took the warning seriously and acted accordingly and cooperated with great courage and resilience and patience is the reason so many of them are safe and well and alive this morning. But I do stress that there are still places we have yet to get reports from and we won't be saying we've dodged bullets until we know everyone is safe. What are the agency payments that are available to people who have lost their people? Thank you for that question. I'm very pleased to say that the Prime Minister and I have this morning approved these areas as eligible for natural disaster relief payments. Clearly some of these communities are inaccessible at the moment but the minute we can get recovery teams in there we'll be making payments available to people and obviously depending on their circumstances we'll be looking to work out what's the most appropriate form of relief for them. After Larry there was some concerns at the end of the start with people working in the money fast enough. Have you addressed those concerns this morning? Again it will depend in some communities about how quickly we can get teams on the ground but we do have teams of recovery staff from Department of Communities and Centrelink staff ready to go in. As you've heard some of these communities are still experiencing torrential rain and serious dangerous winds. We will not be sending people in until that's alleviated and until we've got a safe place for them to be. But as soon as we can get people on the ground we will be making those relief payments available to everyone who needs them. Yes now that we know now we've come a little bit further down the track I can confirm that of course the flood appeal will now have to broaden out to be a wider disaster appeal. I do anticipate that more people will be able to access their insurance payments because there won't be any dispute about the definition of the event they've just experienced. It doesn't have the same problems of the definition of flooding. Nevertheless I do expect that we will find people in very difficult and extreme circumstances and of course we'll be doing everything we can through our relief appeal to look after them too. Do you anywhere not know? I'm sorry I didn't hear the question. I'm sorry anyone on that heavy lift ship will that be familiar? This was sorry. At this stage they were contemplated and put on alert given the possibility that there may be no operational base for the recovery effort. So for example if either the City of Cans or Townsville was so devastated that they couldn't support an operating base we would have looked at possibly locating one on a ship offshore. As we've seen both Cans and Townsville we'll be able to support an operating base from which we can build the recovery effort so we don't believe that will be necessary. Could we now supply the inland spine? Is that now completely out of date given that the storm is moving across this area? It has moved past that area. It is intact and we're very very pleased about that. It makes this effort considerably more easier. In terms of essential supplies though with water treatment plants out are there any sewerage treatment plants out as well? We still have councils out on the ground checking all of their water and sewerage treatment plants. As I indicated we've got an early report out of Townsville that at least one water treatment plant has incurred some damage the extent of it is yet being worked through. That is why we will have generators for example some of the water treatment plants may be inoperable where there is no mains power supply without generating capacity. So that is critical infrastructure and that will be prioritised for major generation capacity. So as we get more and more reports throughout today and tomorrow we'll be able to give a better picture of essential services. I should say that in Tully and Cardwell the council are unable to supply water and residents have been advised to boil water in those two areas but nowhere else at this stage. Has this burned up your thinking about permanent disaster levy? I haven't had an opportunity to give that much thought overnight at all but without a doubt it's an extreme circumstance in our country's history for any place to have a rolling set of disasters as we've had. The worst floods in our history across three quarters of the state followed by the worst cyclone over a huge area in more than a century or almost a century so it would be of course we're going to sit down and work about what are the lessons from this whether it does mean we look at things like disaster funds I think are a question for the coming weeks. Right now we've still got people in danger out there we've still got emergency workers trying to make sure that people are safe and alive and that's going to be our priority today. We will have to look at money we will have to look at infrastructure but today people are number one. This was our speculation a couple of days ago about another system another cyclone form is behind have you had any weather bureau advice on that? No the bureau is still advising that there are no other systems yet forming or formed however we remain on alert for what we know is a continuing storm and wet season. That's going to be a big problem if you've got these communities without electricity without communications and we've got another cyclone bearing down which is likely given that's been forward that's an extent. That is why it is so critical that we put electricity and telecommunications at the forefront of our recovery effort ensuring that people can access information in the context of possible future events even current events such as flooding are absolutely critical. That's why we've got crews flying in today and every effort will be made to restore all of those essential services but these are difficult dangerous and very isolated places in some cases and we need to be realistic about what's possible. Not that I'm aware of now and I'd like to take that opportunity to thank people for their understanding and their patience. We had 8,000 people in temporary shelters in Cairns and I think over 2,000 in Townsville and that was done very quickly and obviously the facilities weren't evacuation centres as we had at the exhibition grounds here for the floods and in other places but I think overall, given the shortness of time that went as well as we could possibly have hoped for and again if I could just thank all the people who were there for their patience and their tolerance and their understanding. How about the West in those areas have the United Stations any elements which rated any word back from how those services are done? As the Premier's indicated the assessments are still being conducted in some places we're still having trouble getting in because of trees and that over the roads but at this stage police residences at both Mission Beach and at Silkwood have been damaged we believe they will be able to maintain police operations in both those Towns. Premier, just in terms of the emailing communities that are now going to get the storm what things are in place to ensure that they get services back to normal as quickly as possible? These are small communities going into the western part of the state but their councils have been preparing along with the coastal councils now for a number of days so messages have been getting out to people about making preparations ensuring that they're in the higher parts of Town relocating where they need to and clearly as we get reports as the cyclone makes its way they will be getting the same support as major coastal centres they'll be getting emergency crews they'll be getting electricity restoring restoration teams and it doesn't matter whether they're little tiny Towns of 10 people or major regional centres with thousands every one of them is critical to our state and every one of them will be looked after I should have said of course along with I think every Australian I welcome to the world the three babies that were born in the middle of this crisis last night I don't think anybody can imagine what it must have been like particularly for the mum at the Red Lynch State School evacuation centre congratulations to her and her family on the birth a very safe birth of their child a huge thanks to the midwife who assisted in the birth who was here on holiday from the United Kingdom for her 25th wedding anniversary so an extraordinary story and a great powerful symbol I think of resilience and survival having given birth myself the idea of doing it in a school hall with a thousand people one can only begin to imagine so well done to all of them two other babies safely born just before 11 o'clock at Innisfail Hospital Innisfail Hospital of course right in the eye of the storm just an hour later so we're very pleased that all of those three little ones made it safely into the world clearly we will now give some significant thought to how we conduct the reconstruction effort yet again the reconstruction effort of our state has increased exponentially in the matter of days every time we start to settle down into the task we have a new task put onto the plate those arrangements will now have a really good look at what can reasonably be accommodated and how we will manage it and we'll advise people as soon as we've settled on those thank you


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Hi friends, welcome back to my channel and welcome if you're new here. My name is Jen I'm a certified weight loss and nutrition coach and I'm on the WW or the Weight Watchers blue plan Welcome to a what I eat in a week points versus calories We are doing things a little bit different in this video I am strictly counting points and at the end of the day I will add up all of my calories to see if I can stay within my WWW points and hit my caloric target every single day So I am on the blue plan my points are 32 points in a day and my calorie goal is between 1800 and 2000 calories per day I also have a protein goal of a minimum of 130 270 grams of protein every single day so I'm going to be sharing with you the points of all of my meals and snacks and at the end of the day I'll share my total calories protein and points and we can see how it all lines up So if you're excited for another what I eat in a week give this video a big huge thumbs up And of course if you're new or you're not yet subscribed I'd absolutely love to have you hit the little subscribe button and of course the bell next to it So you're notified when new videos are uploaded chances are this is going to be a long video But I'm going to share all my food and a little day in the life as well just to make it fun Some exciting things happened to this last week, so you're going to see all of it Don't forget to check out the description box down below for the 2021 Custom calendar where you can track self-care your weight your food and even your water It's not too late to get your hands on one of those. You'll also of course find nutrition coaching I get a lot of questions on how many calories should I eat? How much protein should I eat? How do you know how many calories I can do your macros and calories for you personalized to you So that services on my nutrition coaching website along with 30 and 60 minute one-on-one coaching sessions So we can deep dive a little more into you personally. So definitely check that out I'll link everything I shared with you in this week I'll share all the products that I shared throughout the week with you and my favorite things down in the description box as well And most and definitely check out my Facebook group, which is also linked down there We'd love to have you join So let's get started on our what I eat in a week points versus calories Having my breakfast bomb from my meal prep I'm excited for this and then I just went ahead and did some blueberries The bomb is six smart points and I have started on my first jug of water But I wanted to hop on really quick and wish you guys a happy start to this what I eat in a week Points versus calories. So like I mentioned, I'm actually going to be tracking Points only for this video, but at the end of the day I will share with you my overall points for the day as well as my calories That way we can see how close I'm coming to my caloric goal by just tracking points. I take you guys with me this week We're gonna do lots of fun stuff together Mmm Good and we're gonna spend the week together. See where it takes us soon as I'm done with breakfast here I actually have a coaching call here at 8. It's about 7 35 in the morning right now So I'm gonna finish my breakfast hop on my coaching call and I'll catch up with you guys when I have a snack water update for the day It is currently 9 15 I am already at the 1 p.m. Mark on my gallon jug, but I just filled this water up So my goal is to have this water drink by 10 a.m. As you guys know I have a goal of drinking a gallon of water every day So I'll kind of keep you guys updated Let you know each day when I finish my gallon and I will link this gallon water bottle down below for you guys I just bought it off of Amazon. So here's to the second cup of water today. It's morning snack time I'm keeping it simple. It's about 10 15. I'm swamped with work today So I'm gonna have a quick easy snack before lunchtime Of course, no surprise to anyone the kombucha as you guys know I count this bottle as one point It actually works out to be about three points per the WW app, but it is literally 50 to 60 calories So I just count it as one smart point and then I'm going to have the two good yogurt in coconut And I'm going to top it with one tablespoon of this purely Elizabeth blueberry hemp granola. I love this granola I love the dried blueberries in there has nice clean ingredients. I picked this up at Target So it is one point for one tablespoon two points for the yogurt and one point for the kombucha So this is my four smart point morning snack. It is lunchtime. It's 12 30 So I'm going to have my meal prep from Monday. This is my cheesy chicken orzo you guys this is incredible It tastes like Alfredo. It's that Delicious and this entire bowl is only four smart points on the blue plan the plan that I'm on All of the other points as well as the recipe are on my recipe website I'll put that here on the screen and it is down in the description box as well And then this is also from my meal prep. This is the hunger girl tropical dump cake I'm having a little less than a full serving. So it's only four smart points. It is in Credible it tastes like tropical vacation. It's sweet. It's fruity. It's super good So my entire lunch is going to be eight smart points total. I'm working on almost the last of my water Here in a little bit.  This is my last glass. I'll definitely get that drink I am gonna have to leave about three o'clock or so again for that final walk through So I'll see you guys then alright. I'm off for my final walk through I'm currently at McDonald's uploading Wednesdays what I eat in a day. You guys saw my snacks I've been sipping on my orb or water love that water so much I do buy it off of the thrive market as always thrive is linked down below and right now They're doing 25% off of your first order and a free gift. So it's actually a great time to join thrive So that is down below for you guys and then I am almost out of my Alani new bars I think I have two left so as soon as those are gone that you guys know I won't be repurchasing they do bother my stomach if I eat them too often But it's been a long while since I had one so I'm on the road. I grabbed it It's five smart points. My water is zero. I'm wearing my cute little Sweatshirt from Costco and then I know I'll get some questions on my jewelry. So I have this cute Locket this is actually an open heart locket. You can open it up You could put a picture in it or just wear it as a locket This is from Skull jewelry the same company that my earrings are from and I showed you guys these in a previous Video as well about Skull jewelry. They have just really cute stuff. So I did get this locket necklace I'm a sucker for hearts. I think it's a dainty. It's pretty and really honestly it goes with just about everything So I'll link Skull jewelry down below with this locket and then these cute earrings They're just skulls on a rose gold hoop super cute So I will link everything down below for you guys if you're interested in Skull and they should have a promotion going on So I'll link that too. So off we go to the final walkthrough. My clients close on Wednesday their first time home buyers They're so excited. So let's hit the road. I'm the first time home buyers now Here is my dinner for tonight. I'm just having leftovers since I just got home from that final walkthrough This is the Tuscan pasta that I made in last Wednesday's what I eat in a day It is on my website. My website is down below It is for smart points for this entire bowl of pasta. It's delicious And then I'm having a cranberry raspberry spin drift sparkling water So my dinner is for smart points Good morning. Happy Tuesday coffee is in hand. I actually am having the same coffee as I had yesterday I thought that while I get ready this morning Tuesday's my filming day that I would show you guys what I do for my morning skincare routine The first thing I do is use one of the Kirkland Makeup wipes and I just wipe my face off from the night before I do have a nighttime Skincare routine as well But as we sleep our face gets dirty and I do like to also wipe off any product from the night before It just really helps to have a nice clean fresh face the next morning once my skin is dry I've been using the beauty counter vitamin C serum this stuff is a game changer So many of you have been Complementing on my skin saying just how glowy and dewy my skin looks and how nice and even my skin tone is Beauty counter is the reason why I use a lot of their care facial products Which you will see also in my nighttime routine, but I always use the vitamin C serum in the morning So I just squirt just a tiny amount on my palm and I used to rub it over my entire face nice and gently You don't want to pull or tug at your face So just do it nice and gentle and then I've been using the Boschia daytime eye brightening cream This stuff is amazing.  It's very citrusy.  I am going to have my breakfast This is a repeat from yesterday my breakfast bomb that I made in meal prep some blueberries And I am on water number one for the day So I'm actually going to eat my breakfast and then I am working all day I have several videos to film Tuesdays always a filming day for me And then I'll be back to show you guys a snack for this morning And then we are going to jazzercise tonight. So of course, I'll take you guys along with me there as well So I'm going to enjoy my breakfast these breakfast bombs Highly highly recommend. They're absolutely delicious and nice and filling I'm gonna go ahead and take my probiotic I shared this test this gut health test with you guys in last week's what I eat in a day Game changer if you are curious or been curious about your gut health and whether it's in check And the best gut health that you can have to lose weight highly recommend the thrive gut health test So I took the test I shared that in that video I will link that what I eat in a day down below for you guys so that you can learn more about thrive They sent me a discount for you guys, which is amazing So I'll link all of that down below in the description box of this video But once I did my test and I was able to establish my gut health They sent me a personalized probiotic, which I mentioned I've been taking now for quite a while you guys It's amazing everything. They said this probiotic would do it does so I love it. I'm going to take mine for the day You're supposed to take it post meal and I just had breakfast so that is my probiotic for the day Again, I'll link thrive down below. I can't believe the difference This is made in my body and in my gut health morning snack time I am busy filming away. So I have to make this quick and simple So as always I'm having kombucha like I mentioned yesterday I count this bottle as one point and then I'm going to have the strawberry built bar. I love the strawberry one It's so good. It's only three smart points Which is great because it gives me a ton of protein keeps me full and satisfied So between the kombucha and the built bar if this is a four smart point snack I will link the built bar down below for you guys with 10 off in free shipping And it's a permanent code. You can use it over and over every time you order. So I'll link that down below I'm excited for this back to filming lunch today is on repeat from yesterday This is what happens when you meal prep number one.  So I'm going to have my chicken cheesy orzo This stuff is amazing It is only five points for this entire bowl And then I decided to have four points again worth of my dump cake also that I made in meal prep This is such a great lunch. It's a very very very filling So I'll have an afternoon snack before we go work out tonight And then I just filled up my second big cup of water for the day. So here's lunch It is 3 15. I have 15 minutes before I need to head out the door We've got to go mail some calendars at the post office and a giveaway from my new year's challenge group But I'm hungry and I need something for sure before I go work out So what I have here is three points worth of the good culture low fat cottage cheese That's going to give me a good dose of protein before my workout I filled up my big water bottle and then I'm going to take with me my pre-workout You guys know, I love the my adventure to fit pre-workout. This is the pineapple banana flavor So I'll take this right before the start of my workout I generally just dry scoop it. So I'll take the container And my water and this water should be enough for the pre-workout and to get me through my workout So let me scarf down this cottage cheese and we'll hit the road. Mommy's going to jazzer size guys Yeah, we're going to go to post office and then we're going to go to jazzer size So let's get a treat before we head out the door. Shall we wrap the post office? I'm going to hop in real quick Check my po box to make sure none of the calendars I sent out were returned Because a few people have reached out saying they haven't gotten theirs If that is you hang tight, they're coming the post office is super backed up And then I've got to mail a few more calendars and that giveaway And I am here. So let's go get our workout on before I go in I just have to share how beautiful the sunset is tonight and I also wanted to show you guys Look what is right next door to jazzer size Let's get a little closer Domino's and it smells amazing out here Jazzer size is complete. I'm hot sweaty mess. I still need to go home and eat dinner Oh, I'm losing my light. There we go. I need to go home and eat dinner still at 6 30 Whoo, that was a great class. It was a low impact class But she's got some killer killer songs in that class that just make you exhausted So let's head home have some dinner. I need a shower. I'm tired Let's do it. Here's my dinner. It is almost 7 o'clock. So I'm keeping it simple tonight I'm having this entire jar of this reos Italian wedding soup with meatballs This soup I tasted it is really really delicious It is 160 calories per serving or 290 Calories for the jar the entire jar is eight smart points I'm going to go ahead and have the entire jar. So that's going to be everything for me today Along with some orabora water. This is the lemongrass and coconut Again, you can pick this up off a thrive thrive is linked down in the description box So this is my eight smart point dinner. Good morning guys. I just warmed up my breakfast same breakfast I've been eating all week the breakfast bombs and some blueberries And I just filled up my water, but I thought I'd hop on real quick and say hello before I have my breakfast I know I'm going to get questions on my necklace I showed this in a what I eat in a day a little while ago from sylviax jewelry These are personalized So I showed the pendant with my name Troy's name diesel and lola's name And then I showed this one as well and I love this one You can see that this Open heart is adjustable up and down and then this actually has my jay initial on it So I love this necklace if you're interested I'll link it down below the company that I got this from but I love it and I just love personalized jewelry It's kind of fun to wear jewelry that's personalized to you. I have not put earrings on for today I don't know exactly what today is going to look like. I actually have a couple coaching calls today And there's a video I've been wanting to do at Costco and Troy is actually Currently at the doctor getting an ultrasound. He's having some more issues with his legs So once he gets home since he'll be home. I may go film the video I wanted to film at Costco today. So I don't know what today's gonna look like I don't know where it's gonna take us, but I'll definitely take you guys along with me I'm going to work on my gallon of water Have my breakfast do my coaching calls and I'll see you guys a little bit later this morning Most likely at morning snack and don't forget I'll link my necklace and this website with all the personalized jewelry down below for you morning snack time I'm having of course kombucha the bottle I again count as one smart point And then I'm having some cottage cheese I have four points worth of the good culture whole milk cottage cheese And then I just topped it with one of these del Monte no sugar added Pairs this is one of my favorite little sweet snacks. You're getting a good dose of protein But you also get that sweetness of the fruit So this is going to be a five smart point morning snack got a little happy mail today Thank you to enlighten for sending over this ice cream to try It's been a minute since I've had enlightened in the pint. I love the bars, but I also love the pint They have some new flavors. So they sent me over four different flavors some new some not But they did send me two of the chocolate chip cookie dough hundred calorie per serving pint They also sent me the caramel fudge pretzel Which I believe is a new flavor in the light version 400 calories for the entire pint Or 100 calories per serving and then the brownie and cookie dough Which is one of my very favorites for 100 calories per serving and then cookies and cream which I've never had I don't know if it's new let me know down in the comments if it is but it's 90 calories per serving So now I have some sweet healthy w w friendly treats on hand So thank you so much enlightened for sending over these eight pints of ice cream some more happy mail came from beauty counter I literally today squeezed out the very last of my vitamin c serum You guys always ask how I got my skin looking this good and I swear it is this vitamin c serum From beauty counter. I use this every single morning So it could not have come at a better time because I literally today squeezed out the last a little bit And this is a product that I order just kind of on a whim and I have been loving This is the dew skin tinted moisturizer So for days that I don't want to put a full face of makeup on or maybe I don't even want to wear foundation This is a tinted moisturizer. So it is your moisturizer and foundation in one I love this it makes your skin all dewy and glowy And it looks just as good as if you put on a full face of makeup So I ordered a second one. That's how much I love it. And then this is about my fifth vitamin c serum I will link these two products down below as well as the beauty counter site So you can go peek around. I love all their skincare head on over check out beauty counter And then also check out enlightened. Here's today's lunch. I'm taking a break from my meal prep And I went to Costco to film a video today and picked up some romaine I got to use my brand new it's drying salad spinner that I ordered off of amazon to Dry the salad really well. I'll link this salad spinner down below for you guys Love it. So I went ahead and chopped up the romaine Dried it in the salad spinner and made a taco salad. So I have quite a bit of romaine I have four points worth of ground beef one point worth of queso One point worth of tortilla chips. So my taco salad is only six smart points This is the queso that I use. I used a couple tablespoons of that Warmed it up and melted it and drizzled it over the top One point worth of the siete lime tortilla chips And then I topped it with just a tiny bit of this simple truth organic mild salsa So this is my lunch for six smart points. It is about 110. I'm about to get on a coaching call for today I'm really wanting something sweet. So I'm going to have a pack of the smart sweets sweet fish This is one of my very favorites three grams of sugar three smart points for the entire package It's a great Swedish fish dupe. I'll open it up Show you guys how many comes in the package for three points. You get a lot There's this whole pile here that came in the pack and again, it's only three smart points So I do have 10 off with smart sweets I'll link it down in the description box for you guys that we can get your hands on all the different flavors And it ends up being less expensive than if you buy them by the package at the store So that's always a win. So this is going to be a little sweet treat before my coaching call. I am working away It's about 340. I'm a little hungry. So I'm just going to have one of these cheese it Valentine's Day packs for 50 calories two smart points. This will tie me over until I can make some dinner Here is my dinner for tonight. I ended up making this cheesy turkey meatball skillet I use 99% lean ground beef This is a really really low point recipe the only thing on the blue plan for me that has points is the cheese It is four smart points per serving on the blue pan and the pan makes six servings And then I just paired it with a little bit of corn. So this is my four smart point dinner This is what I'm going to have for dessert tonight. This is three points Worth of the lilies white chocolate chips that way I can munch on these while I watch the bachelor Okay, I'll do the spinach and feta wrap Do you need any avocado or sriracha with this? No, thank you And then can I also have a grande of the honey almond milk with the nitro The nitro one? Yes, please Okay Is that everything? Yep, that's everything Thank you. Good morning. Happy thursday You saw that I went ahead and hit up starbucks for a honey nitro cold brew This is one smart point. My favorite breakfast from starbucks is actually the feta wrap It is seven smart points. So it's one point more than that reduced fat turkey bacon But I find it to be more satisfying and filling sometimes they'll be out of that feta wrap And I have to get the reduced turkey bacon. I just don't find that it keeps me as full and satisfied as the feta wrap So I prefer to spend the extra points and get the feta wrap and it's delicious If you're vegan or vegetarian, it is completely vegetarian and vegan. I believe don't quote me on that But I know it's vegetarian. So I'm gonna have that for breakfast I'm actually about to head into walmart to do this week's grocery shopping Which you would have already seen that haul before this video And then I'm heading home and I need to clean my house. It's been over a week I wanted to get all the bathroom done the contracts are to be completely Done and gone before I start cleaning and he'll be wrapping everything up this morning and out of there So it's clean house day. It's work on the computer day. So I'm gonna head in do my grocery shopping So for lunch today, it's about 11 o'clock.  This is water number one for today So I have a long way to go, but I will finish my gallon. So I'm just gonna have this for lunch I'm not super hungry. I didn't even have a morning snack after I had my feta wrap and coffee this morning So this is lunch. I most likely will have a snack later in the day today So of course, I'll be back to share that with you But I'm busy cleaning my house and before I start the bathrooms.  I put you in my cupboard because I just filled up my water as you saw And I just ate lunch. So I'm going to take my thrive probiotic A few of you have asked for an update on these. I'm loving them You guys these are amazing highly recommend the gut health test from thrive It's very simple to do you send in a sample. They send you back your results They personalize your probiotic and then you can order it in a one month or three month supply This is what they look like. They're a soft gel pill not a hard one. So they're very very easy to take And I just take them once a day either with breakfast or lunch Just kind of whatever I end up doing so I will be down below for you guys So that you can take advantage of getting your gut health checked Look at these two. He's couldn't be happier out there And she is on high alert tail pointed in the air ears up And there's nothing going on. They're just so cute. All right afternoon snack time I'm having a good culture cottage cheese cup scored these at cosco Nine bucks for 12 of these which is amazing. So this is the full fat for four points And then I have half of a serving or half of an ounce of these nubu Nut butter bites the cashew that I found at walmart. Oh my gosh, you guys these taste like peanut brittle They're so so good and you can have half of a serving for three smart points So my afternoon snack is seven points and I have just a tiny bit of water left in my gallon jug So I'll definitely finish up my water for today 3 40 p.m. And I am on my final glass of water gallon of water for today done lemons in the water And then I'm going to fill it up for tomorrow that way my water is ready to go and in the fridge So here is tonight's dinner. I made that bacon mac and cheese I'll make sure that recipe gets up on my website so that you can print it and recreate it because Who doesn't love bacon mac and cheese? It makes eight servings total So it is a lot of mac and cheese and it is eight smart points And this is using the fiber gourmet pasta on the blue plan and then I have some of those organic mixed veggies I added a little bit of pepper salt and parsley. So this is my eight smart point dinner tonight for dessert I'm going to have a serving of the enlightened new caramel fudge pretzel This is a brand new flavor with enlightened It is 100 calories per serving or 400 calories for the entire pint You can find this at your local stores here in the next couple of months But if you want to get your hands on it right away, you can order it from enlightened on their website I'll link it down below for you guys, but this is going to be dessert I'm in the parking lot of a jazzer size. I'm going to work out first thing this morning I'm going to the eight o'clock class. I have not eaten anything today I did have my normal coffee for one smart point with the vital proteins collagen in the coffee I think my plan is after I get done at jazzer size I may run to starbucks again and get that feta wrap and another coffee Because I actually have floor time in my real estate office today from 11 to 2 So I don't know what I'll do between 9 and 11. I may just go in and work But I think we'll pick up some breakfast after we do our workout So I'm actually going to relax in my car for a few minutes watch a little bit of youtube Before I head into jazzer size. I'll take my pre-workout and grab my weights and go in and get my exercise in for today It's another beautiful sunrise last time I showed you the sunset It's beautiful again this morning. This is my view from a jazzer size parking lot I decided to go ahead and mix my pre-workout and a lemon popped in so that is just fine I'm going to shake this up. This is my little shaker bottle that came in my miss muscle box Drink my pre-workout refill this with water grab my weights grab my mat and into jazzer size All right, I'm out of jazzer size. I am a hot Sweaty mess. I'm still out of breath. I am actually going to take my bcaas I'll show those to you guys. It's really really great for muscle recovery joint recovery And then we'll head over to starbucks to get some breakfast and another coffee because I could use another coffee. So these are the bcaas that I take. This is the beyond raw This one is the strawberry banana. I really like this one But I would say that my favorite favorite is the mango So I just add one scoop of this to some water Drink it immediately after my workout and again, it's so great for muscle recovery And I'm still sore from tuesday's class. So I definitely definitely need to scoop of this today I'll link this down below for you guys. I just buy this on amazon. It's another great perk of working out I have drank Almost half of my gallon of water and it's nine o'clock in the morning because of pre-workout post-workout During the workout. So it's a great way to get in your water. Yes. Can I please get the feta wrap? spinach feta wrap, yeah Yes, and also the honey almond milk nitro cold brew Yeah, uh tall or grande a grande please. Okay And that's everything. All right, it'll be 9 69 at the window. Thank you as you can see I'm at the office working away. I literally look like I move in here Look at all my stuff But anyways, I am sipping on a kombucha this morning since I had a late breakfast This is really all I'm gonna have before lunch. So I count this as you know as one smart point So I was working away and realized I didn't show you guys my lunch, but it's nothing spectacular It is my last meal prep of the chicken orzo pasta And then the orabora basil berry water. Oh, I'm obsessed. This is my favorite flavor this and the peppermint watermelon Well, I love all the orabora waters, but uh love love love. So I have that my pasta and then I'm drinking some more water I did bring a built bar for a snack. So I'll be back a little bit later when I do have my afternoon snack All right afternoon snack time I'm still working away on getting some recipes together for my meal plan for february So I'm gonna have my built bar Don't forget. I have built bar link down below a 10% off and free shipping lifetime code You can use it over and over again. So I'm pretty excited. I'm hungry today. It must be from my workout Is it your birthday today mom? I love these treats from Costco And since it's your ninth birthday you're gonna treat And you too, honey. Happy birthday. I just got home from the office and had a couple of packages My miss muscle box is here and then I bit the bullet and decided to subscribe to boxy charm Like I told you guys I've been watching a lot of makeup tutorials And this seems to be the best makeup subscription service. So I decided to go ahead and subscribe Let's see what we got in my first box and first let's dig into miss muscle box I just so you know paid for both of these with my own money. These are not sponsored They did not send them to me. I bought them. So I get miss muscle box every single month because I love it So let's see what came in this month's box. All right, let's take a look here You guys know that every month it does come with a complete 30 day workout I generally don't use it just because I go to jazzer size And then it also has a postcard where it shows you what items you got in your box So it looks like we're getting some shorts, which I'm pretty excited about that and then some organic hand cream Definitely excited about that and they always give you some snacks. So this immediately caught my eye I love the skinny dipped almonds and they have really good ingredients. So this is the dark chocolate Cocoa and the dark chocolate peanut butter. So I already know that I'm going to love both of these The whole package is 240 calories. I will put points here on the screen for you guys You can always eat less if you want to lower the points And then it looks like we also got a no cow protein bar Now I will tell you that I've tried the no cow bars before and did not like them Now I've never had this particular flavor lemon meringue pie So I'll definitely give it a try but in the past I haven't been a big fan of the bars I find them to be really sandy. But like I said, we'll give it a shot Here is that w and e organic hand cream. It's winter here. So this could not have come at a better time So it's made with organic ingredients I have to start the hand cream that gives you beautiful instantly soft double hand without the greasy after feel So I'm excited for this. I love any type of skincare and I'm always on the hunt for a good hand cream And then every month you get a few some active wear. So we got some shorts So these are the glide short for women. They have this cute little logo on the side They're a very thin material kind of like a windbreaker type of material. They'd be great for working out I think I might even wear them to bed or around the house. Looks like they have some zipper pockets here So I'm pretty excited about these the price of the hand cream if you were to buy it separately is $24 and the price of the shorts is 36 now. I pay 29 99 a month for the entire box and that always includes the active wear Snacks and some sort of other like self-care product. So yeah, I love my miss muscle box You guys saw this morning. I used the shaker bottle from a previous box So I'll link it down below for you guys It's one of my favorite subscriptions that I gladly pay for every month now for boxy charm Okay, so I got the basic box There's a fancier box that you can order that costs more money But I think that it has more products But since I'd never ordered the boxy charm before I decided to go ahead and just get the basic box All right. I'm already excited. This is the violet boss all of you forever eyeshadow palette I got to break into this and see what the colors are. I'm guessing olive green which speaks right to my heart Look at these colors. Okay. I am so excited about this eyeshadow palette If I remember right, I think the box was $25. So the fact that you get an entire palette I'm excited. It looks like we also have something from iconic london. This is the blaze chaser face palette So it looks like there's some bronzers some highlighters some blush I'm also really excited about this because I'm always on the lookout for some new highlighters bronzers and blush And this box is packed full holy smokes. All right next up the avante my cellar water I haven't used my cellar water in a minute. So that is a great thing to have in this box Apparently someone's outside the dogs are pretty excited Next up is the apple and bomb glow lip mask another thing I definitely need in the winter is something for my lips because they always are dry and crack Super excited for that. Next is the dragon duo liquid eyeliner. There's both a pencil liner and a liquid So that is awesome and last but certainly not least is pharmacy daily greens oil-free gel moisturizer So pharmacy is a nice clean brand. That's generally really expensive So that is awesome that we got the moisturizer in the packet on a little card that came in the box It tells you the value. So that palette is $34. The pharmacy is $38 The avante ultra high my cellar water is $90 holy moly The seraphene botanicals lip mask is 25 and the quen studio dragon duo liners are 28 And like I said, I think this box was $30 for everything so far. I'm impressed. I love that everything is full size That's why I went with this box boxy charm instead of the ipsy because I wanted full-size products. So so far I'm impressed. I'll link boxy charm down below. I just went on their website and ordered So I'll hop over there. See if they have any specials and I'll link it down below for you for my dinner tonight I'm having the leftover meatballs from earlier in the week. That way we can eat up all of our leftovers So this is going to be four points. I'm saving my points for dessert. I'm going to have some enlightened ice cream Diesel's birthday dinner. Troy cooked him up a steak. Oh, everybody. It's everybody's birthday today Everyone's good. Yay Lilla gets it too So we'll go ahead and give him the whole plate of steak here and diesel will celebrate his birthday in style It's another dessert. It's another night of enlightened I'm going to actually have two servings of the chocolate chip cookie dough for 200 calories and seven smart points And that will round out my day on the next screen. You'll see points calories and grams of protein So that's the end of my day today. Happy friday. That's the end of this what I eat eat in a week Points versus calories as you saw throughout the week. It fluctuated day to day I don't think there was a single day that I ate all my points or all my calories And I just want to clarify that this doesn't happen all the time. In fact, it's very rare Normally I eat more points than I'm allowed in order to reach my calories But this week I just filled up on really low calorie nutrient dense foods So I just wasn't really hungry for all those extra points or calories If you watched my weigh in video this morning, you saw that I lost 0.8 pounds this week So it was overall a success I do want to remind you when it comes to points versus calories The best way to stay within your points, but also reach your calorie goal Is to really really focus on those zero point foods Just because they are zero points, but they still have calories They will help you reach your calorie goal and stay within your points not to mention They lend to choosing high quality healthy whole food as well So hopefully this helps give a little bit of insight into points versus calories I'll link the entire playlist down below I've done a couple of these videos as far as what I eat in a week As well as tons and tons of points versus calories videos So I'll leave those down below for you guys Don't forget if you haven't already to make sure that you have me do your macros and your calories So that you know where you should fall so that you can make sure that you're eating enough during the day That is what is so so incredibly important is don't go into such a severe calorie deficit That it damages your metabolism because it's going to be a long Long road ahead of you once you lose the weight or even to lose the weight if that happens So check out the nutrition coaching down below for the macros calories and one-on-one sessions Don't forget about the calendar and everything I shared this week as far as products and exciting things is also in that description box And my facebook group, of course, we'd love to have you come over and join us there So if you enjoyed this video give it a big huge thumbs up And don't forget if you're new or you're not yet subscribed to go ahead and hit that subscribe button I'd love to have you join my community Don't forget about the bell next to it. So you're notified when I upload Thank you guys again so much for hanging out with me for this pretty long video and i'll see you all next time. Bye


Hello everyone, this is Steve Zercher. I'm the host of Looking to the East, a twice monthly program that I host where we focus on topics mostly looking at Japan, but also more broadly to Asia. So thank you for tuning in. We're very fortunate today to have one of my favorite people in the world with us. She's the former consul general in Osaka Kobe for the United States. She served in that position for three years, terminating in August of last year. So she's been back in the States for the last year or so. Karen was just a wonderful consul general. I was the vice president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Kansai. So we often were at similar events, presenting, usually Karen presenting before me because of her higher status than my role at the ACCJ. But Karen and I often spoke and Karen's ideas were very similar to my own ideas. Often my speech was completely negated because Karen's presentations of the students or to the business community was very similar. So that's kind of a joke that we share between the two of us. So I'm so happy, Karen, that you can join us. You look wonderful. It looks like your retirement is treating you well. Karen's in California, in La Quinta, California, and you've been there now for about a year or so. It's been about a year. It has been about a year. Thank you for the invitation. Yeah, it's our pleasure. My pleasure indeed. All right. So let's start by talking about, I know my students and people in general, maybe younger people, are interested in a career in diplomacy. Can you talk about how you got interested in working for the State Department? Was it something out of college or did you work in other positions and transition into the State Department? How did you get started on the journey that led to being the Council General in Osaka, Kobe? Thanks. Thanks for the question. Let's see, getting started. I think I would have to say that it started in a little bit of an indirect way. I graduated from university, was looking for an opportunity to work overseas. I knew I was interested in international affairs, and that was one of the degrees I earned at university was in international relations. But I went to the Peace Corps in West Africa. I was a Peace Corps English teacher in a high school that was about, I think, about 400 miles north of the capital of Dakar in Senegal. And taught there for a couple of years, then went at the end of my Peace Corps service, went to the capital to Dakar, and started working for the British Embassy in their culture and information section. And it was as an assistant to the cultural attaché at the British Embassy that I met the Secretary to the US Ambassador who wanted to travel to the UK. And so I was handing out all kinds of travel information. We started talking and she noticed that my accent was not quite British. And we got into a conversation. I talked about my Peace Corps experience and the rest of it. And she invited me to lunch. And at the lunch, she pulled out a brochure and I'll remember forever that the brochure title was Careers in the Foreign Service. And basically pitched the diplomatic service as an opportunity for me. Told me about, you know, the ability to travel overseas, to learn foreign languages, to live in different cultures, and to support the foreign policy of the United States. And I took the brochure home after the lunch and looked through it and really liked the descriptions that I saw about this career and decided that this was what I would try to do.  It was from application to the first time I raised my hand to be sworn in as a US diplomat was about three years of time. And I believe now that our Foreign Service has accelerated and shortened the time that it takes for entry. But this was way back when over 30 years ago. So it was it was a laborious process then. Okay. Yeah, that was this. Wow, that's you must have been highly motivated. The three years is a long period of time to and you have to take a test, right? There's a very difficult. There was a there was a there was a written test initially. And the written test, if you're successful at the written test at that time, you were invited to come to Washington to take the oral examination, which is an all day, which was an all day process. And wow, I by that time, I had decided that I would return to the US. So the the invitation to take the written exam in DC turned out to be an invitation to return to return home. And I moved to the Washington DC area, took the exam, and apparently did very well. But there was more waiting now more paperwork, and more waiting. And so during that time, I was working with a marketing firm in in the in the DC metro area. Okay. Do you if you pass the test and in the exams and so forth, do you go on the waiting list? You go on a waiting list based on your based on based on the relative success that you had in the different categories of specialty. So there's an you can do economic reporting or political reporting. You can do culture and information is a specific area that is management of our facilities is another specific area. So you have a position on all of those waiting lists, but you may be higher on one list and lower on another. So as the classes are formed for new diplomats, they will look at those lists and they'll go down those lists we need, you know, we need another 10 economic reporters. So they'll look at who's who's the highest who the 10 highest people on that list and they'll take they'll invite those people to come and join a class. Okay. So it works that way. So after three years, you joined the State Department and where were you assigned first, I guess probably back to Africa since you had experience here or Well, you would have thought. You would have thought. Yeah. I would have gone straight to Africa. No, my first assignment was Tokyo. You went to Japan initially. I went to Japan initially. Had you requested that Karen or was it? Oh, you did. No, I did request it. Oh, wow. Okay. In the three years that I was working in the Washington DC area, this was the period of, you know, Japan as number one, Japan as unfair trading partner, Japan and the Hondas and American workers smashing the Hondas with mallets and, you know, it was that period. Japan can't say no Japan that can't say no. Oh, yeah, they could finally say no to the U.S. I think that was the whole point of the book. But it was during that period and I was reading so much about this monolith Japan. What I noticed though was that I read very little almost nothing about Japan, the country, its culture, the people. I mean, those weren't the articles that were appearing in the Washington Post and other, you know, major papers. They were all focused on this economic jogger nut that we were trying to figure out as American traders how to manage our relationship with Japan. And so I got curious about the country. So I started reading a little bit on my own and finally decided that if I had an opportunity to go overseas again, I wanted to go to Asia, not specifically wanted to go to Japan. And so when I came into the Foreign Service, they sit you down for a little interview and they've got your background. And so the interviewers looking at my background and said, you know, we don't give our Foreign Service officers much choice in where they go. But if you could choose anywhere in the world that you would like to go, where would it be? And I said, oh, I'd love to go to Japan.  And I gave him that explanation I just gave you about not knowing anything about the people. I thought it was distressing that I was working and living in our nation's capital where policy decisions are being made. And that I was learning so little about the Japanese people in that environment where we're making, you know, these momentous decisions about our relationship. And as a consequence, he said, well, if you're really interested in Japan, I've got some people I can introduce you to in the service. And so he started telling me, go look this person up or why don't you write, send that person an email and tell them about your interests. And as it happened, I was basically introducing myself to the Japan community that was in Washington at the department at that time. And so as it turned out, Japan had a position for a new diplomat trainee to occupy for a few years. And I said, oh, there goes my job. I had no more sense than that. You know, it's kind of like, oh, look, they put it on the list for me. And as it turned out, I was successful in getting that first assignment. And it was a dream come true. So Karen, when you arrived in Tokyo, it's the first time you've been there, right? You've personally been there. You've studied about it, but not actually physically lived there. Was it difficult for you to adapt to? I mean, many of the expat community does have issues as they go through the acculturation process. And I guess based on what you're saying, it looks like a duck taking the water. It sounds like you were, you know, maybe personality or properly prepared by the State Department in your own studies to really just hit the ground running in Japan when you landed. I was really curious about Japan. I mean, I had developed this curiosity before the diplomatic service career. But I think that, you know, it was a combination of curiosity leading me to all of this information and all of these people who were also enthusiastic about sharing Japan. And really just, you know, going with an open mind. Now that said, I have to say also in all fairness that, you know, traveling as a member of the U.S. government is not a bad way to see the world. You know, we have an embassy full of resources. And so, you know, unlike a lot of expats, I didn't have to find my own housing. I, you know, had a home provided and all of the utilities already connected. I stood in no long lines at utility companies or whatever we have to do now. Maybe you have to just go down to the convening and register. But whatever it was that had to be done was done on my behalf. So I could focus on work and meeting people and doing the assignment that I had been given. So there's, you know, I have to, I have to also credit the pillow that I was sitting on as I rode into town for clearing a lot of the hurdles out of the way. Yeah, some of the preparations and moving to a new culture. Had you studied Japanese through in preparing? I had. I had some preparation in Washington for the job. And that's the great thing about the diplomatic service is that our language training is built into our assignments. So if you are assigned to a country that has a language that you don't speak, the time to study that language before you go to that country is built into the job assignment. So it might be, it might be a three-year job assignment. But then prior to going, you have a year in Washington studying the language.   And I really liked that about the career as well. Yeah. All right. Well, I know we're going to have to kind of fast forward because you had many years intervening between when you landed in Tokyo. I know you were assigned in other countries and then you came back to Japan. I think you had three, three trips. But the last one, the one that I really want to talk about is as consul general. So, you know, again, as I mentioned in the introduction, I watched you work and you were tireless on behalf of the country, the United States, and promoting the interests of the country. And thank you. Oh, yeah. It's just, it was part of a long line. Alan Greenberg before you was was also the same. Richard, I think is doing the same thing, our current consul general. Excellent. But tell us about the job. How did you get it? I mean, I hear through the, through my buddies and consulate in the embassy that Japan's a tough, tough desk to get. Japan is tough. The word is out. How great it is. Japan is one of the nicest places you can go if you have an interest in Asia and in the Asia Pacific community of nations. Japan is a great, is a great place to kind of perceive what's going on in Northeast Asia and, you know, to jump off and make visits to places in Southeast Asia as well. So, yes, there is a lot of competition for jobs when they open up in Japan. And for these, what we call executive positions, consul general, deputy chief of mission, those the number two in the, in the, in the embassy, those positions are highly bid and there's a special committee that makes a selection for the appointment. So basically you do your best.   We're all over the world. And then there's a decision this made and, and then the appointment, you get the notice that you were successful or, you know, that your, your, your bid was not successful at that time. So I was really excited because this would, this was my fourth assignment in Japan and four times. Yes.  So I'm, but I'm going to, I'm going to put my name in the, in the, in the hat anyway. And, and I, you know, got the, got the response back and the announcement that I had been selected for that position. I was thrilled, absolutely thrilled.  I think we, we, we endeavored to do the best that we could to expand our relationship in Western Japan. Working with the ACCJ especially, you know, to expand the ties with the business community was something that, and then to, you know, connect the business community to our ambassador and the folks in the embassy in Tokyo to see how, you know, the American government can support American business overseas. So it was, it was a great opportunity to travel. Osaka is a big neighborhood. The Kansai region is 15 prefectures. And I'm happy to say I, I, I nearly visited them all. Okay. Yeah, there was this, there was a small issue of a pandemic that slowed me down. That slowed you down. Oh, sure. At the end. But, you know, it was just, it was wonderful meeting people. It was wonderful having the opportunity to see Western Japan. In more detail than I would have as a tourist, certainly. I wouldn't have had a three year tourism excursion in Japan. But if you ever hear of one, I'm looking out for you, Karen, you know that. Please. Don't forget me. Oh, that's not possible. So I take it from the name general that you are the head of the consulate itself. So all the other department, the commercial services and operations and marketing, they all report to you. Is that how it works? We work as a team. They obviously have offices at the embassy that supervise the details of their activities. But in the consulate, we are, we are the team. And for a better description, I can't think of right now, I'm the team leader. And the idea is that we collectively come to an understanding of what our leadership, our ambassador and our country team in Tokyo is trying to accomplish. And, and we look to see where there is complementarity with those goals in our efforts in Western Japan. And then we try to pursue that. Okay. All right. So let's, I know you're no longer officially in the State Department, but I want to spend the last few minutes of this discussion talking about your observations of how the U.S.-Japan relationship is evolving under the new president. You, when you were a consulate general, it was under Republican administration under President Trump for that period of time. And we've gone through this transition starting earlier this year. I'm sure you're paying attention. Do you still have access to State Department information or are you? No, okay. But as a personal citizen, I'm sure you're watching it since you invested four, four trips for four, four, four, four years, four year periods of time. Oh my goodness. All right. Yeah. So what do you think? I think that, you know, the wonderful thing, one of the wonderful things about the U.S.-Japan relationship is that it enjoys bipartisan support in our government. Whether it's a Republican administration or a Democrat administration, the importance of the relationship that we have with Japan and its importance in establishing peace and security throughout the Asia-Pacific region, as well as what we do as a partner with Japan on a global scale, whether it's in global health, whether it is in aid, support to developing countries, there is a lot that we do in science cooperation with the Japanese in space exploration. They are an important partner for us as Americans and as the U.S. government and that doesn't change depending on the administration. Now, the approaches may change and there may be some emphasis that are different from Republican to Democrat or that are different from president to president. But what I have found across my experience working and living in Japan and representing the United States is that we get bipartisan support for the U.S.-Japan relationship in the U.S. government and that is a great thing for our relationship and for the business that we're trying to conduct. Yeah. I think one thing that the current folks here in Japan are getting ready for is a new ambassador. Obama-Manuel has been officially nominated by President Biden and I guess it's been deemed approval in the Senate. I know these things move slowly. Right. Before we started the show, you said that bringing an ambassador into the country is quite a complicated and detailed process. Could you talk about that? It is. Well, it's exciting because you've got anticipation on the host's government side and people asking a lot of questions. They want to know everything that they can know about the incoming ambassador designate. And of course, they're not only asking the embassy, they've got history and when it's a prominent person, like the current nominee, there's a lot of information out there. There's the information gathering process of what's this going to be like? Who's this person? What are their interests and how will that impact our relationship? But inside the mission as well, I can say that we're working with our colleagues in Washington to ensure that the ambassador designate has the latest and the best information that we've gathered about our relationship with Japan so that when he goes before Congress for his testimony, he is on for all of the issues and is aware of all of the things that we're tackling in this bilateral relationship. The other thing is that it's just exciting to have a new leader coming in. And so people are thinking about in each section, thinking about who will be the priority contact for the ambassador, the new ambassador to meet when he arrives. So that what is occupying people now is the preparation. And of course, once he's on the ground, then it will be implementing all those great plans. You know, you want him to meet these people first and foremost and arranging for those meetings and then preparing for those engagements is really important to make sure that the ambassador gets off to the best start possible in carrying out the president's priorities in our policy in Japan. Right. We're running, we only have a minute left. I imagine one of the things he's probably studying or the State Department people are preparing for is the fact that we have a new government here in Japan. We have a new prime minister who will put a different spin on things I would imagine. So there's probably information about him because he's certainly a known I would imagine that he was right hand man for one of his top assistants for quite a while. I would imagine that there is quite a bit of thought on both sides, you know, about the relationship between the two leaders. One of the features of the US-Japan relationship is that it has evolved to a very highly personalized relationship. You know, people still talk about the Ron Yasu friendship during Reagan. Exactly.  The US-Japan relationship is stable and it has endured over the past 70 some odd years. But that personal interaction is something that even now people look at and say, you know, if that if it clicks, if there is, you know, chemistry, if they get along personally, that bodes well for the bilateral relationship as well. All right, Karen, we'll have to end on that. Unfortunately, we can easily talk for another hour about your experience. We can. We didn't talk about the consign at all. I know. You're just a wonderful guest, Karen. But thank you so much.   Oh, yeah. Well, I try to be quiet. That's my job. Thank you so much. The viewers who have tuned in and those of you who are going to see this when it's posted up on the ThinkTech website, if you enjoyed this promotion, the show, please contribute to the ThinkTech effort. I know the managers of the ThinkTech organization, which is a non-profit organization, would appreciate that very much. And again, Karen, it was just so wonderful to see you again. You look great. Great to see you too. Thank you. And your success to you. And please come back to Japan.  So hopefully the quarantines will go down too. I know too. Yep. Thank you so much. Thank you for watching. Stay safe. Thanks.