At the corner of 21^st street and fifth avenue in Manhattan, Paco Underhill peers through the windows of the bank of New York. His jaw tightens as he takes in the drab ATM parlor and the elaborate poster advertising low-interest loans- far too much verbiage, he says, for a message designed to be read on the fly. :for a business that is spending enormous sums of money to be on the side walk, he observes, the bank shows, remarkably little understanding of its street side selling opportunities.

The study of shopping is more than just a livelihood for Paco, as he is known to the clients and employees of his New York based consulting firm, Envirosell. Tall and sot spoken with the vestiges of a once-serious stutter, he takes a keen interest in social barriers and ways of bridging them. Merchants retain his services and pay his bills, but it’s the customers who engage his heart. Shy and sensitive creatures in need of  a little encouragement- that’s the awy Paco sees them. A good retailer is therefore a kind of therapist, loosening the strings of the soul as well as the purse.

And a bad retailer?

At the Bank of New York, Paco finds muct to question, inside as well as out: a woman in a bike helmet, for example, completing her deposit slip in midair as she hurries into the teller line. Why Paco asks, is there no ready surface for her to write on? Why no concierge to move things along? The level of tension in ay line drops when there’s somebody in charge, “he notes. And what exactly is the meaning of a sign that reads “Customer Transactions” or another that reads “Business Transactions? So much of the process here.

I do not know about you, but I have flab issues. I was always a thin woman. After my first child I had a minor struggle, but won the battle and got my thin back. Then came baby number two a decade later. My body decided it was NOT going to cooperate and thus the flab issues began!

I have tried just about every diet you can imagine. Let’s see.. I have done counting calories and points. I have done low carb, low fat, high protein, no dairy, no eating, you name it. Some worked for a little bit, but I would always get off track and the flab would multiply.

Then came my first top out. The weight I said I would never get to. Well, I passed that and then went into sizes I NEVER thought I would! Still no real commitment.

When was my Epiphany? Wake up call if you will?

When I glanced at a side view of my unclothed body, I was appalled, angry and downright disgusted with myself. At that moment as I looked at the not where you want them demples, and the flab hanging from my belly…

BOOM… Sudden and MUCH needed breakthrough! I am DONE.. I will NOT let this go on ANY longer. Period.

I woke up the next day and I began my road back to the thin me. The healthy me. The me that wants to be here for my grandchildren and not have the knee issues and back issues because of over amounts of flab on my body.

I am not doing any dieting. I can’t. I will fail. I have decided to take different approach. I am just going healthy route. I am watching what I eat. I am making better choices and smaller ones too!