Eco-Friendly Lifestyle Tips

When we talk about the lifestyle we mean the way we do things in terms of our behavior, the way we interact, what we consume, the activities we participate in, and the interests that we have. Ultimately, lifestyle also incorporates values that we take into account in our homes and in everything else that we do.

When we talk about an eco-friendly lifestyle, this can incorporate anything from the way we get around (transportation), and our efforts to avoid plastic and ensure that everything we can recycle gets recycled, to using ENERGY STAR-rated appliances and ensuring our homes are designed to be energy efficient. The latter incorporates everything relating to energy and sustainability, including solar heating, eco-friendly lighting, energy-efficient cooling methods, better insulation, and harvesting rainwater.

You may not be able to embrace it all, but here are some tips to get help get you started.

Top Ten Tips for an Eco-Friendly Lifestyle

1. Transportation

Transportation, along with heating and production of electricity, is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. More than 90% of the fuel we use for transportation, including diesel and gasoline, is petroleum-based. For this reason, a lifestyle change regarding transportation really can make a difference.

If you can afford to switch to an electric vehicle do so. Otherwise, ride a bicycle or walk whenever you can. Not only will the environment benefit, but you’ll also improve your health.

2. Recycle

Before you throw anything into the trash can consider whether it can be recycled. The most obvious items include paper, cardboard (including boxes used for packaging of all types), tin cans and other types of metal, glass, and both rigid and flexible (as in bags and wrap) plastic. Depending on where you live, there may be collection services and you may be required to separate different materials from one another. Alternatively, find a recycling center where you can deliver your own waste.

Recycled products can also be used in your home and to build or renovate it.

3. Eco-Friendly Appliances

While not all eco-friendly appliances are rated by ENERGY STAR if they are you can be sure that you’ll be on the right track to using less energy in your home. Not only will you be helping to reduce greenhouse gases, but using eco-friendly appliances is a sure way to save money. In just one year (2017), ENERGY STAR reportedly helped reduce U.S. energy costs by a whopping $30 million.

4. Solar Power & Solar Heating

Instead of burning fossil fuels like natural gas and coal, harvest energy from the sun to provide electricity for heating. The most eco-friendly options can have you living off the grid, though many people generate solar power and then feed any excess back into the grid. Alternatively, batteries installed on-site may be used to store excess solar power and this easily accessible power can be used when required. This is an excellent way to reduce the cost of electricity in your home.

Solar heating systems with collectors in the form of panels or tubes that are mounted on the roof are a great solution for heating water.

Passive solar heating is another eco-friendly lifestyle solution that will help to reduce energy use. However, it is largely dependent on the way your home or office building was designed. For example, shading will help to keep homes cool and large windows that admit sunshine and warm the interior in colder weather conditions.

An MEP engineering firm in Chicago, New York, Toronto, or any of the world’s cities will be able to advise on the many varied options available to take advantage of solar heating systems.

5. Wind Power

Like solar power, the wind can be used to generate electricity. It can also be used to create heat, and you don’t need massive wind turbines to do it. You do, though, need to live in a relatively windy area to take advantage of this kind of system. Have a look at kits that are available, or contact an engineering firm for advice.

6. Eco-Friendly Lighting

Lighting is an element that is easily improved, simply by taking maximum advantage of natural sunlight and using artificial lighting that is energy-efficient, if only by using eco-friendly light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs that are a lot more longer lasting than compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. Some use up to 90% less energy than standard light bulbs.

7. Energy-Efficient Cooling

Geothermal systems that use ground source heat pumps are great for both energy-efficient cooling and heating. You can save up to 50% on cooling bills by replacing old fashioned HVAC systems with these heat pumps, and they will last longer too.

If you don’t want to spend the money required for a geothermal system, you could compromise and try passive cooling rather than traditional air-con units. Like passive solar systems, passive cooling relies on blocking out heat while allowing cool air to enter the house. Roof vents and ceiling fans may also be used to cool interiors.

8. Improved Insulation

The key to any green, healthy building is energy efficiency. In addition to utilizing sources of renewable energy, good insulation of walls, floors, and ceilings is imperative. Properly done, it will go a long way to keeping your house cold when it’s hot and hot when it’s cold.

9. Water Management

It doesn’t matter whether you live in a drought-stricken area or in a place where water is plentiful, capturing rainwater is another key to an eco-friendly lifestyle. Installing greywater systems, ideal for irrigation and flushing toilets is another way that will help you to save on water costs.

Rainwater harvesting systems may be as simple as installing a rain barrel of some kind that channels water from gutters and downpipes to more advanced blue roof systems, both of which are eco-friendly and highly sustainable. The latter involves the detention of water which is then released back into the environment at a controlled rate.

10. Don’t Forget to Breathe

This might seem like a no-brainer, but when you’re trying really hard to do something right you can become so stressed that you start to negate the benefits.

This is just a taste of what you can do to ensure an eco-friendly lifestyle. If you want to take additional steps that will help you minimize your environmental footprint, a New York or Chicago engineering firm, or professional engineers that specialize in green technologies, will be able to provide key solutions that will definitely impact on your lifestyle in a positive way.

About the author

Michael Tobias is the founder and principal of New York Engineers, an Inc 5000 Fastest Growing Company in America. He leads a team of 30+ mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection engineers from the company headquarters in New York City, and has led more than 1,000 projects in New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, and California, as well as Singapore and Malaysia.

What Most People Forget to Do When They Get Hurt Exercising

Exercise is one of the best things anybody can do for the long-term health of their mind, body, and soul. Exercise is essential in keeping your heart healthy, as well as hundreds of other health benefits that are too numerous to list. Still, exercise isn’t without its risks. Those who train too hard or with improper technique risk injuring themselves, not to mention there are some times when you can do everything right and still end up with an injury. There’s no need to fret as long as you have a proper plan in place for dealing with the injury.

Education on what proper recovery plans look like is still lacking, so this article was recreated to help those with an injury get back in the saddle as quickly as possible:

Isolate the area

Depending on where you’ve been hurt, it’s important to locate the source of the pain and begin dedicating resources to aid in your recovery. For a sprain or other soreness causing injury, a protocol is to be followed. The first thing to do is to stop putting pressure on the area with use. If it’s an upper-body injury, don’t pick up anything heavy, while lower-body injuries are best dealt with by sitting down and keeping your weight off it. The area should also be iced to promote tissue healing as well as stop swelling. While regular ice or frozen produce is a staple solution for this, custom-made gel packs such as those offered by https://gelpax.com are often a better choice for long-term athletes. After icing the area, the body part should be elevated, and a compression garment should be applied to help aid circulation.

Take it easy, but not too easy

Exercising and physical fitness can take a lot out of someone’s daily schedule. Because of this, it’s easy to erroneously believe that a day off due to injury is a free day, where someone is free to do however they please. Alcohol is still to be avoided since it diverts valuable resources away from your body’s repair efforts and has negative effects on overall fitness as a whole. If you don’t know whether or not you should engage in a certain activity while recovering from your injury, consider what your doctor would say if you asked their opinion on it. If you’re fairly certain they’d caution you away from the said activity, that’s a good sign it isn’t for you at this moment.

Hydrate

The signals your body is giving you in response to your sports injury seldom come in the form of increased thirst. However, without water, your body will be under even more stress. No matter how difficult or inconvenient it might be to get a big jug of water at the moment, know it’s wholly essential. Without proper hydration, your body will have to begin prioritizing certain parts of the body above others. Even if your injury gets lucky enough to receive the bulk of your body’s resources, you’ll be suffering in some other way, whether it be in comfort or mental health. Drinking eight cups of water is the daily recommended intake. It’s worth noting that foods like bananas are high in water and count toward your water intake. Don’t focus on eight literal glasses of water.

Conclusion

On your way to the aesthetic body, exercise recovery is just as an active process as the exercise itself, despite what the term ‘rest’ might imply. It’s during this time that you should be restructuring your thoughts with regards to your physical needs toward giving your body the fuel it needs to have you return to your previous unhurt state. Without proper planning, your recovery time can be excessively long and not nearly as effective as it could be.

4 Tips for Better Skin During Summertime

Even though taking proper care of your skin should always be your top priority, the truth is that it gets even more vital during summer, when the sun hits your skin quite hard. If you want to learn more about proper skin care routine during summertime, just stay with us and keep on reading. Here are four ultimate tips you should take into consideration, so check them out and enjoy!

Make sure to exfoliate regularly

Did you know that the build-up of dead skin cells on the surface of your skin is responsible for its dull and lifeless appearance? We bet you didn’t, which is exactly why exfoliation should be a legitimate step of your skincare routine – not only during summer but all year round. It will remove those dead skin cells that have been piling up for God knows how long and make your skin look and feel smoother, softer, and more luminous. Besides that, exfoliation will also prevent breakouts caused by the combination of sweat, dirt, makeup residue, and those infamous dead skin cells, which is another reason to make it a part of your routine. Using a gentle scrub no more than three times a week is a great choice, so come up with a homemade scrub and you’ll do a great job!

Keep your skin as hydrated as possible

Keeping your skin properly hydrated is another vital step you should take on a daily basis, and the first thing you should do is to find the best moisturizer that works for your skin type. For example, lightweight creams and serums are a perfect choice for people with oily skin. That’s simply because such formulas aren’t heavy at all, which means that you won’t feel the stickiness and greasiness on your skin. On the other hand, if your skin is extremely dry, you should certainly go for thicker creams that will hydrate your skin to the max. Using Korean sheet masks is also highly recommended as these will instantly nourish your skin and moisturize it on a deeper level, so give them a try and you won’t regret it!

Properly repair and treat sun damage

In case you weren’t aware of it, exposure to the sun can speed up the process of aging and result in brown spots, fine lines, wrinkles, and dehydrated skin in general, which is why you need to treat and repair the damage properly. This happens because of the harmful UV light which damages the skin by affecting the healthy cell growth and stimulation of collagen. As already mentioned, brown spots are probably the most common among ladies of all ages. These are also known as melasma and they frequently appear on the cheeks, the upper lip, the forehead, and the bridge of the nose. If you’ve spotted these on your face and you want to remove them, make sure to get the best brown spots remover which will resurface the top layer of your skin and fade away melasma. These usually contain fruit acid and lactic acid that can be a little bit irritating, so use such products carefully and you won’t make a mistake!

Don’t forget to use sunscreen every single day

Even though sunscreen should be used all year round, it gets even more important during summer, when the sun is at its peak. As mentioned above, these emit harmful UV rays which can cause various skin issues, from wrinkles and fine lines as signs of premature aging to skin cancer, which is the most serious of them all. However, it isn’t enough just to apply sunscreen – you must apply it frequently and enough of it. A large number of experts claim that most people don’t apply for nearly as much daylight protection as they should, so don’t be one of them and follow our guidelines. A teaspoon of sunscreen will be more than enough for your face, whereas a shot glass of it will be okay for the body. Re-apply it every two hours and you’ll stay protected this summer!

As you can see, there are so many useful tips on how to take care of your skin during summertime, and these four are undoubtedly the best ones out there. If that’s your ultimate goal this season, just stick to our tips and you won’t make a mistake. That’s a promise!

5 Health Things To Be Wary Of As You Near 50

In the US alone, over 108.7 million people are 50 plus, inclusive of 76.4 million baby boomers, according to AARP. This figure is likely to add another 19 million over the course of the next decade.

AARP, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization empowering people to select how they live as they get older, also reported that 51 percent of Americans think they actually look younger than their age.

As you draw nearer to the fifth floor, staying physically and mentally active can help keep you healthier, fit, and well, younger.

However, the aging process is different from individuals, as lifestyle plays a huge role. This doesn’t mean that you won’t experience some obvious changes in your mental and physical health.

However, you can take some early measures to ensure your aging body is going strong well into your later years in life.

Here are some things about your health that you need to be wary of as you near 50.

1. Respiratory problems

This is a common problem as you age, especially if the body suffers a disorder or infection.

When this happens, phlegm accumulates in the throat, irritates the air passages creating discomfort, and triggers coughing to expel the mucus.

Phlegm is usually white in color, but there are different other occurrences that present in different colors such as green, yellow, or mixed with blood.

If you’re coughing up green mucus chunks, it may be that there’s a bacterial infections in your lungs or bronchi, or a post nasal drip from a sinus infection.

This can be cured by avoiding foods like dairy, starchy food, and excess meat. Be sure to drink plenty of water, herbal teas, eat spicy foods, and take hot baths as home remedies.

2. Kidney problems

Once you hit your 50s, you have to come to terms with the fact that you can’t eat in the same way you did when you were younger.

Your activity levels decline with age, so there are things you did before that you may not be able to do with ease owing to bodily changes and aging.

Among the problems that may come include kidney disease, owing to a diet that contains uric acid foods.

Foods high in uric acid like red meat, seafood like fatty fish such as herring, tuna, lobsters, alcoholic drinks, and certain vegetables like lentils, mushrooms and more are to be avoided.

Some kidney problems like kidney stones form due to excess uric acid crystals that form stones and deposit them in the kidney. This causes extreme pain when one attempts to pass urine as the stones are trapped in the uterus.

Get serious about your diet, and make sure you get foods rich in fiber, protein, vitamin D, calcium, omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamin B-12.

Stay hydrated. Eliminate junk food from your diet, and trade chips, cookies, and cake for nuts, veggies and fruit. Also be cautious about what you eat when dining out. 

3. Eyesight

Ruth D. Williams, Clinical spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology says that when you need reading glasses, it’s one of the most annoying signs that signal ‘you really are aging’.

Williams adds that this is the first irreversible sign of aging, unlike others that can be managed like weight gain.

Look out for diseases like glaucoma, which can develop before you realize it. Others include early cataracts, trouble seeing while driving at night, decreased vision, flashes and floaters in the eye, pain, and redness.

A baseline eye exam usually done at age 40 is the best place to start with age-related eye care. Most signs of eye disease are subtle, which is why this exam serves as an important first step.

All the above signs should prompt a visit to your eye doctor, as they may indicate underlying problems like retinal detachment, or early indications of cataracts.

Other precautionary measures you can take is wearing sunglasses that offer 100 percent UV-rays protection, quitting smoking and avoiding second-hand smoke.

Protecting your eyes from the sun’s rays helps prevent cataracts and macular degeneration while protecting the fine skin around your eyes to reduce chances of getting wrinkles.

Eating vegetables like leafy greens, and fruits is also good for better eye health.

4. Heart problems

Aging also has an impact on your heart, but it isn’t as obvious as gray hair or wrinkles.

However, you need as much maintenance to take care of your heart, as you do for other aspects of your health. This is because the risk of heart disease and other related issues increases with age, especially for women.

Nieca Goldberg, MD, a cardiologist at NYU Langone Medical Center and National Volunteer Spokesperson for the American Heart Association, says women “become more insulin resistant” after menopause. 

For this reason, they need to stay away from sugar and carbs. If they can’t avoid it completely, natural substitutes and a rainbow diet is recommended. 

Goldberg suggests that women follow the Mediterranean diet that emphasizes veggies, fruits, oily fish, legumes, nuts, fiber-rich whole grains, and healthy oils like olive oil.

Read more: Click here for a free 7 day Mediterranean Meal Plan e-book.

As you draw closer to your 50s, be aware of heart attack and stroke symptoms to save your life. Not everyone experiences sudden numbness or severe chest pain during stroke or heart attacks respectively.

Goldberg says that for women, the tightness that comes with a heart attack can happen anywhere like left, right, or lower down. This can easily be dismissed as a stomachache.

5. Colon issues

It is important to know the best time to schedule a colonoscopy, unlike most people who think about it when they hit 50.

A colonoscopy is a procedure in which doctors examine the colon for polyps which could signal early signs of cancer of the colon.

In this procedure, the doctor sedates the patient for a painless process and then inserts a long, lighted tube – colonoscopy – to examine the colon.

If discovered early enough, colon cancer is preventable and treatable, but the symptoms are rare until the later and deadlier stages of the disease.

Colon cancer, according to the Colon Cancer Alliance, is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer, and the second leading cause of cancer death in people living in the US.

Almost 90 percent of new cases occur in people aged above 50 years, and starts small, with a slow-growing growth in the colon that could progress into cancer if unchecked.

Summary

Did you know that over 40% of American adult population between 40 to 59 is suffering from obesity today? This is alarming, to say the least. 

Each passing decade ushers you into a new stage of life complete with its own priorities and unique challenges. 

Checking on your health as you inch closer to a new decade is extremely vital. If you were taking it easy all this while, 50th birthday is the time to make some quick resolutions. 

About the author

Jenny Travens is a creative writer who has many passions and interests. Health and wellness is one area where she likes to contribute as much as she can. She has long been associated with Superfoodsliving.

Twitter – @jennytravens

Some of the Easiest Ways to Combat Anxiety

Anxiety can affect your life in ways you never thought possible, and that isn’t a good thing. Approximately 18.1% of the American population suffers from anxiety, while it’s estimated that 40 million people worldwide suffer from a diagnosed anxiety disorder.

If you haven’t lived with anxiety, you don’t know those negative thoughts can begin to consume you on a regular basis. For example, the appearance of anxiety in the psyche can account for even more serious mental health issues heightening or manifesting. Often, anxiety goes hand in hand with depression. Anxiety can also be a side effect of external factors like your family, friends, love life, or professional life.

Because anxiety is so widespread, there have been ways in which those who suffer from it have solace. It isn’t just medication that can help anxiety. In fact, there are many holistic ways in which we can approach anxiety. Just be sure that you visit and speak to a mental health professional to either have an anxiety disorder diagnosed, or consider what the best mode of treatment is for you.

Whatever you choose, know that you won’t have to live in an anxious state forever. It can get better if you decide to cope in healthy ways.

Deep Breathing

If you feel an anxious state coming on, or worse, an anxiety attack, you can stave off the worst of it if you find a way to control your breathing. Often, when anxiety attacks are impending, it’s hard to breathe and think straight. Before you come to this point, or even during an episode, you can calm down significantly simply with deep breathing exercises.

One of the best ways to do this is to focus, count how many breaths until you can again breathe normally, and continue breathing until you feel an attack has passed. Once you get good at recognizing the signs of an anxiety attack, you can catch it before it becomes full-blown. This is also a great technique if you’re planning on meditating to reduce anxiety.

Aromatherapy or Lavender

Aromatics can be a godsend for anyone suffering from anxiety. Lavender has natural ways of healing and relaxing the mind simply by smelling it. You may try a lovely lavender tea if you want to feel extra relaxed. Also, if you carry a lavender essential oil, you always have it to smell or physically put on your body if you need it. Alternatively, you can also keep a small bowl of lavender by your bed as you sleep at night.

Going for a Walk

Walks can miraculously clear the psyche. Just by moving your body, enjoying the silence, and breathing deeply and with intention, you can calm your anxiety. If you feel yourself becoming very anxious, put on your most comfortable leisurewear, walk down a street, path, or beach that you feel safe and comfortable being near. Walk until you feel calmer.

As long as you don’t wander too far and get lost, partaking in a leisurely walk is fantastic for those suffering from anxiety.

Explore Effective Ways of Preventing Viral Infections

Everyone is very much interested in preventing viral infections; however, young children, older adults, and individuals with compromised immune systems are particularly, susceptible to serious complications due to viral infections. As per https://www.sepsis.org, viral infections which are generally minor in normal healthy people could become really severe and blow out of proportions in individuals with the weakened immune system. Anyone could develop a viral infection that could keep them away from work and everyday activities and to some extent compromise their health too. In this context, we understand that a few simple and easy steps right from staying hydrated to washing hands regularly could provide you with the desired viral infection protection. Here are some expert tips to prevent viral infections.

Consider Getting a Flu Shot

Most people consider taking a flu shot to prevent viral infections, cold, and flu. The flu vaccine is known to contain the right protection against the major flu strains that the CDC seems to anticipate being predominant and most prevalent in a particular year.  It has been recommended by the CDC that everyone above the age of six months, particularly individuals with a high risk of developing severe complications resulting from flu, must necessarily get a flu vaccine. Flu vaccines prove to be certainly life-saving in kids. As per a relevant study that was conducted in 2017, flu vaccination could significantly cut down the kid’s risk from death due to flu complications.  

To be completely safe from flu complications, it is essential for the viral infection to be detected at an early stage. In this context, we know that the latest plant tissue culture technique helps in regenerating species of a particular plant in the lab. Similarly, biochemists use tissue culture in the effective lab diagnosis and detection of viral infections.

Stay Away from Sick People

Even though it is practically impossible to avoid everyone combating a viral infection, you must try your best to stay away from and avoid any contact with sick people. This is particularly true for individuals who have compromised immune systems. It could be a good idea to consider wearing a mask to rule out the transmission of viral infection from a sick person to a healthy person. If there’s no way you could avoid sick people, it is a good idea to wash your hands more frequently, eat healthily, quit smoking, and effectively check allergic reactions.

Make It a Point Not to Share

It could look very rude when you refuse to share your lipstick with your bosom friend or when you do not allow your kid to take a sip from your cold coffee but the best way of avoiding a dangerous viral infection is to make sure that you are not sharing germs.

Wash Your Hands Regularly

The best way to keep viral infection at bay is by washing your hands regularly. In this connection, you must know that a cold virus would be active on your hands for almost three hours or so. If during that period, you touch your nose or eyes, you stand a chance of getting infected. You need to know, the best way of eliminating all possible germs is washing your hands. Use a whole lot of soap and rub your hands together working up a lather. Rinse your hands thoroughly using lukewarm running water.

Alternatively, when washing hands with soap and water are just not possible, you could use hand sanitizers made from skin softeners and alcohol. Sanitizers may not be successful in eliminating 100% germs, but they could remarkably reduce the viral infection risk.

Conclusion

We have discussed some of the tips to avoid viral infection. However, you must focus on staying hydrated at all times. You must get adequate rest and sleep at night. Insufficient sleep implies lower immune function that could leave you doubly susceptible to serious issues. You must eat only healthy foods. Remember antibiotics may not work in case of viral infections. Stay home, take rest for quick recovery.

Indulging In Food The Smart Way


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We all like to eat our favorite foods especially when we are feeling down, but that doesn’t mean that we have to eat two bags of crisps or order the second burger for takeout. It can be rather hard to lose weight while still being able to eat a few of the juicy and savory delights that make the stomach belly grow. If you want to lose weight in the right way and not experience the nasty boomerang effect and lead a healthy lifestyle, you need to revamp your bad eating habits, and yes, from time to time indulge in your favorite foods. Here are a few effective tips on how to indulge in food the right way without regretting doing it the next day.

Choose foods wisely

Start by stacking your pantry and fridge with healthy and nutritious produce. Bear in mind that many foods that offer the lighter version of something can actually be deceiving. Those who love to indulge in ice cream or chocolate may wish to buy diet-friendly lighter indulgences, such as fat-free ice cream. But they contain an abundance of sugar and artificial sweeteners that won’t help you lose weight properly. Choose only fresh and organic produce like fruits and vegetables. Opt for whole grains instead of white bread or pasta, go for foods rich in fiber like beans, lentils, nuts, and seeds. Many vegetables will help you cut off your tummy fat without having to starve or go on excessive diets.

Never skip breakfast

Probably you have read this on numerous other occasions, but eating a nutritious and protein-rich breakfast will fill you up with necessary stamina to survive the day. Try to eat protein-rich foods like eggs, cereals, or other nutritious dairy products like yogurt and cottage cheese. Make smart eating choices even when you don’t have time to prepare a healthy meal. Indulgence doesn’t mean that should eat a whole pizza in the morning or a full plate of sausages and beans. Instead of eating a large plate of omelet, go for one boiled egg with lettuce salad, and so on. If you skip breakfast, you will only end up eating more bad foods throughout the day because you are hungry.

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Don’t make ‘cheat day’ a regular habit

It is absolutely perfect to occasionally indulge in your favorite foods. If you happen to crave for those favorite foods constantly then you must pick a day when you can relax and eat the foods you love without feeling guilty. Burgers, chocolate, a glass of wine, donuts or some other delicious sweet delight like Edible Blooms UK have to offer are all okay. However, it would be wise to choose only one thing you really want to eat that day and not mix everything. Plus, don’t let your cheat day turn into a cheat week or a cheat month. Therefore never give yourself excuses to turn one indulgence into a new one. Satisfy your cravings with donuts but later make a smoothie for dinner and call it a day.

Opt for healthy snacks

Nibbling on French fries or crisps in front of the TV is a surefire way to gain unnecessary pounds. You can watch your favorite series and snack on delicious snacks without having to worry on gaining extra pounds if you only replace crisps and fries with healthier snacking versions. Choose raw vegetables and fruits, try air-popped popcorn or a handful of almonds or cashews or dried citrus fruits. What is more, do your best to chew slowly and mindfully. That’s right. One study has shown that people who chew their food slower then others felt full and didn’t gain weight that fast. Another good tip is to avoid eating monstrous portions of your favorite snacks. A small version will do the trick, plus you would enjoy it more.

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Find quality swaps and have small treats every day

it is perfectly normal to crave for certain foods, but if you are aware of their harmful effect on your health and organism, then find quality swaps to satisfy the craving while still enjoying in the food. Instead of eating chocolate cake, for healthy carrot cake cookie sandwiches, instead of a bowl of ice cream, try apple ‘donuts’ or chia seed and banana pudding. Use skim milk instead of cream in your coffee. Avoid sweetened drinks like cola or fruity waters but rather go for sugar-free lemonade or water. Furthermore, pizza, tacos, and burgers all have their own superfood substitute that you can make at home – check out these nine superfoods to boost your concentration. And if you have paid close attention to what you eat, you can treat yourself with small treats every day, and not feel guilty about it. A bar of chocolate won’t ruin your whole weight-loss plan.

Implement elementary and vital changes in your dietary choices and you will see better and bigger results fast. All it takes is patience and diligence, and you too can indulge in your favorite food the right way.

Start a Memes campaign to Help Save the Environment

Not-for-profit work is serious business. It takes a lot of commitment and passion just to pull off one campaign after the other, sometimes not getting the kind of feedback and support that you hoped you would. But it’s got its own rewards – the looks on the faces of children who were starving, but now have something to eat, knowing that your actions are directly saving the environment or being there to help when some crisis has affected a place near you.

Still, it’s easy enough to make yourself available, but when you’re trying to increase the reach of your influence even further to try and get others to join in your humanitarian work, the real uphill task begins. It’s easy enough for you to ensure you have energy-efficient appliances, ride and walk instead of driving and do other things to conserve the environment and reduce your carbon footprint. 

But how do you get others to be inspired enough to do the same? A common way we’ve seen in the past is reading the Riot Act to the masses and scare reactions out of them, but this doesn’t usually last long. That’s why we’re offering a better idea: make your “Save the Environment” campaigns cool by attaching them to a meme. 

Huge Success in Marketing Campaigns

Memes have made huge successes of various marketing campaigns. Think about the Success Kid who started as a simple photo taken by a mum at the beach and ended up on billboards promoting Virgin Media’s extra HD channels at no extra cost. Or The Most Interesting Man in the World by Don Equis beer. 

While no one refuses that your message is serious, and if we don’t change our practices we would face obliteration in a few decades, you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. No matter how serious your campaign is, you need a human face and connection with the audience, or you may not enjoy the kind of responses you need. 

Adding humor is exactly the thing to do to give you a human face and get people to actually stop and listen. Attracting attention using a well-designed and captioned meme will make people like you. When people like you, they’ll give you a chance to say what you’re saying, and actually remember it.

Fun and entertainment with a cause

Plenty of people on social media are up for sharing funny memes for no other reason except that they’re funny. You can take advantage of the potential for virality by attaching memes to your campaign slogans. To start, check out our site for funny memes and think of captions that you can use to customize them to your campaign. Be creative, be witty and be real, and don’t forget to tie the meme back to your main message – caring for the environment.  

It could be scary if you have not tried it before, but you won’t know whether or not it works until you give it a shot. Look online for examples of green memes and how others have done it before you, or get advice from an online marketer. At the end of the day, if you get people’s attention, you have a better chance of making a lasting impression.

Healthy Food as a Lifestyle – Basic Snack Ideas for Busy People

Committing to eating healthier will never come on its own unless you really set that as a lifestyle goal. Healthy food doesn’t always taste as good as processed food that’s filled with buckets of sugar, so it can be hard to make the switch and deal with cravings. However, it’s not only possible to do, but something that you really should do to better your life, especially if you have children that are learning their eating habits from watching you.

What is healthy food?

Healthy is such a broad and vague term that it doesn’t end up meaning anything at all. If you think of low-calorie as healthy, then you’re not paying attention to the ingredient list and everything that comes with it. “Healthy” is complex, and we need to break it down to three main categories, the first of which is cleanliness. How clean the product list is literally meant how many ingredients it has. If your apple chips have any other ingredient except for apples – why would you be eating it? Remember that all ingredients need to be listed in order of most to least prevalent, so if sugar (or any other sneaky codeword for it) is listed as number one – skip it. Secondly, you want to look at calories to make sure you’re not overstepping daily recommendations, and lastly the macronutrients: how many proteins, fats, and carbs there are in the snack. Remember – carbs aren’t the enemy and you need them for energy, but you don’t want to overdo it.

Raw food

There is nothing cleaner and more nutritious than good old chopped fruit and veggies. Chopped carrots, celery, bell peppers, snap peas and similar crunchy veggies go great with a dip like hummus. Put a little bit of it in the bottom of a mason jar and then stick in the sliced veggies. It is an amazing and nutrition-packet snack that will keep you full and energized. A fruit option is similar, just make sure you coat the slices in a bit of lemon juice to stop them from browning and replace the hummus with some natural nut butter, or find a health food shop nearby with a great honey selection and get natural honey to dip in for extra energy. The crunchiness of the fruit and veg will mimic the crunch you’d usually crave in chips and crackers, curbing those craving and replacing them with something better.

Trail mix

There’s nothing easier to pack and snack than a trail mix. However, they can be quite expensive and there’s always something in the mix that you don’t particularly like. Go to the bulk bins in your local supermarket and buy everything separately. Go for plenty of seeds and nuts – unsalted is preferred to keep the sodium down – and when you look at dry fruit, try to find some with little or no sugar added (freeze-dried fruit is best for this). If you’re not strict on calories, you can add some dark chocolate or yogurt chips into the mix to make it more interesting. When you get home, make sure you mix it all well and proportion it, because if you just keep a big jar of it on your table, you’ll end up overeating, and then it doesn’t matter how healthy the food is.

Power bars

If you’re busy and on-the-go, you want something that is easy to eat when you’re en route to your next destination, that doesn’t require two hands and that is small and dense with calories. You can make your own power bars at home with your favorite nut butter of choice, granola or other cereal, fruit, seeds and anything else that gives you energy. Go for a no-bake version to make it even quicker to make, wrap them in individual packets and throw into your bag at the beginning of the day. You can also shape them into little truffle balls to make it even more convenient. For more ideas, check this YouTube channel.

The key to healthy snacking is planning in advance and having something healthy on-hand when the cravings hit so that you’re not tempted to go to a corner store and pick up a candy bar. Use some off time on the weekends to prepare for the next week, so that you don’t have to spend time every morning thinking of and preparing snacks.

Some Statistics About USA Health-Based Medical Debt To Shock You

Medical debt happens to be one major problem covering the USA region. For so many years now, it has been the number one reason for people to actually file for bankruptcy. The most common assumption over here is that people struggling financially might have been overspending in some areas of life as well. Lucky enough, bankruptcy might be one helpful solution for multiple people but it is not that easy for you to get out of it alone. However, filing for Chapter 7 of bankruptcy will allow the person in question to keep most of the property and rid themselves of the medical debt they are into.

As it is a known fact that majority of the Americans do not have the cash to cover their medical bills. So, they are mostly known to rack up the credit card spending or just visit any payday lender for blowing through the major savings. Bankruptcy happens to put an end to all. Plus, there will be an end to annoying creditors, who will stop calling you for the money repayment procedure. If you are thinking about going to bankruptcy, then you might want to think about it again! Sometimes, debt settlement ratings can be one major alternative in this regard. Check out some of the major facts associated with medical debt, which might come as a surprise to you.

On every capita, USA people spend more on health care per person than any other country

The USA is noted to spend over $90,000 per person on their health care. This might sound a bit of a good idea initially, but it is not if you think about it. Even after going through the high spending, the country does not have the best ever health outcomes over here. For example, the USA ranks at the 12th position in the current life expectancy among the over 12 wealthiest industrial-based countries over here. It shows that this amount might not be a good idea in this regard, after all.

Around 1 out of 10 adults delay medical care for monetary restraint

Some of the recent calculations have stated that around 1 out of 10 adults are reported to just delay or not even receive the medical care they want, mainly because of the higher costing level in the treatment. Well, the rates associated with the cost related accessing barrier happen to be lower than that in any of the other year during the period of around 1998 to 2015 for the lower-income people and those, who are well classified under the worse health care. Prescription drugs, dental care, and eyeglasses are some of the first things that people will watch out for just to ignore, because of the health costs and their rising effect on society.

Around $500 bucks of an unexpected medical bill are higher for so many people to pay

As per the Health Tracking Poll in the year 2017, around 45% of the Americans say they have quite a difficult time paying for the unexpected $500 medical billing sections. Around 19% of them would not be able to go for making the payment for it at all, not even some parts of it. On the other hand, around 20% of them would actually put it right on the credit card and just paying it over time. Others might day that they are in need to just borrow money from any friend, bank, family member or even the payday lender. If they fail to pay for the money they have borrowed, then they might get into big trouble even before knowing about it that well.

1 out of 5 working Americans with medical insurance has trouble paying off medical bills

According to the news flash from the NY Times survey, conducted in 2016, around 20% of the Americans even with their health insurances are finding it hard to pay for the medical bills. They are noted to have some of the serious financial challenges and those are actually changing the lifestyle and employment to a great extent. For the uninsured ones, the number has recently risen to 53%. Even though it is always clear that insurance helped people to make payments, but still, the medical bills happen to have a bigger influence and effect on the families. During some points, these health-based insurances are of no favor at all.

Over 60% of insured Americans with medical bills will blow them all savings to make payments

It is quite shocking from the survey available that people with some health insurance are making sacrifices even to this day to pay medical bills, which will go through the savings. Most people might take on an extra job or just work for more hours or borrow money from friends or family. Around 11% of them might even seek charity sessions as well.

Another set of 60% of people have problems paying medical bills by the collection agency in the past year

This segment goes for both people with or even without health insurance as per the NY Times survey. Around 55% of people with medical bills and insurance problems day they are getting by or do not have enough to just make the ends meet. Around one-third of all those medical bills are unable to just pay for the basic necessities like heat, food or housing.

Around 13 million fewer people will have medical bill problems today than what they did 5 years ago

As per the National Center for the Health Statistics, The people’s percentage under the age of 65 who were in the families having issues paying medical bills over a period of 12 months has decreased from the 21.3% to that of the 16.2% within the first 6 months of 2016. For people under the age group of 26 in 2016, there is a breakdown of those having trouble to pay the medical bills. 

Just be sure to check out these statistics to be on the safer side before you finally address towards Chapter 7 bankruptcy to avoid medical bill payments.