"The Chinese had been sitting on their hands on NK," said Paal, who served on the National Security Council staffs of presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush. After Obama's phone call there was a quick reaction. Beijing dispatched its foreign minister to Pyonyang "and the North Koreans pivoted on a dime away from escalation and controversy," said Paal.Human power balancerightsOn the perennial irritant in U.S.-China relations, Obama pressed his case more aggressively than during the first two years of his administration, bringing up the case of imprisoned human rights champion Liu Xiaobo in his talks with Hu Jintao.Traditionally, in run-ups to summits, the U.S. asks for -- and sometimes gets -- freedom for dissidents in the other country.But when the Nobel Committee awarded Liu the Peace Prize, "it turned the Chinese from Jell-O into steel," Paal said. Pushing for more during the summit wasn't possible under the atmosphere of the Peace Prize, he said.But Obama did need to prove to Americans that he was not weak on human rights. Hence this tough, but nuanced comment at his joint news conference with Hu.At one point during the state visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao, U.S. President Barack Obama sounded like salesman-in-chief."We want to sell you all kinds of stuff," Obama said to Hu with a smile. "We want to sell you planes, we want to sell you cars, we want to sell you software."Helping American companies sell more to China's mother lode of 1.3 billion potential consumers was at the top of the president's to-do list at this summit. After all, China is now the world's second-largest economy after the United States.But the U.S. and China now are intertwined on a complex web of issues, from security to human rights, and Obama raised all of them during his talks with the Chinese president.So, how did his "coach outlet storesales job" go?Obama also moved Hu a bit on North Korea, winning a statement of "concern" over the North's claim that it is enriching uranium.That shift began before the summit in December when Obama telephoned Hu, says Douglas Paal, longtime China expert and vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The Obama administration was frustrated by China's hands-off approach to increasing belligerence by the North, as it sank a South Korean naval vessel last March and fired on civilians on Yeonpyeong Island in November.
"My cooking has changed," she says. "We used to have steaks and hamburgers. Now we eat very little beef. We have fresh fish two or three times a week. We love fresh salmon. I have discovered a whole new way of eating learned from shop online 2011."Last winter, Pearson signed up to work out with a personal trainer two times a week at a senior rate offered at the Older Persons' Commission in Rochester Hills. The trainer worked with her on exercises to increase her balance, flexibility and strength. Pearson also walked on the treadmill two to three times a week at home.She says she got a lot of support from her husband, Bob, friends and family who tell her that she looks younger, especially through the face.She has had to buy new clothes twice as she has moved down in sizes. And now, she's determined to maintain her weight so she can continue to wear a size 8 petite. "I want to keep my new clothes. I like being younger-looking. I have more energy and I feel better."Pearson had wanted to lose weight for years, to keep herpower balance, but believed she couldn't succeed because of her age. "My biggest excuse was that my metabolism had slowed down because I was getting older."She was trying to watch what she ate, but now realizes she was eating 2,000 calories or more a day, which was too many for her small frame and low level of physical activity.To lose a pound a week, she had to cut her calories to about 1,200 a day. When she exercised, she could consume 1,500 to 1,600 calories a day and still trim down.She made several smart trade-offs, switching from yogurt loaded with sugar to a non-fat Greek yogurt that she topped with raspberries and blueberries. She started eating whole-wheat bread instead of white and limited herself to no more than two slices a day.Everything she ate, she recorded in her iPhone. "I made sure I never went over my calories." Marilyn Pearson, 67, of Rochester Hills, Mich., got her inspiration to lose weight from last year's Weight-Loss Challenge.She read a profile in USA TODAY about a woman who trimmed down by using the Lose It application on her iPhone. Pearson figured she could do that, too, so she downloaded the program and got started. "I was really motivated, finally."Since January 2010, she has lost 35 pounds. At 5-foot-3, she weighs 137 pounds, down from 172.Pearson is one of the readers who volunteered to share her story as part of this year's annual Weight-Loss Challenge. The theme: No excuses. Stories about other readers who have slimmed down will be featured every week for the next five weeks at coach outlet store.