Tag Archives: advice

Going Healthy, Health, Life

A Few Healthy Home Changes Your Family Will Benefit From

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If you think now is the time to start collectively improving the health of your family, there are many ways you can make it happen. And the great thing about it is that you don’t have to make big and sweeping changes that’ll drastically alter your family’s lifestyle. The relatively small changes you can make also have a huge impact.

We’re going to talk about some of the things you can do to enhance your family’s health. Each of these changes will deliver benefits that each member of your family will be able to enjoy. So read on now to find out more about those changes.

Start the Discussion

First of all, you need to start the discussion with your family. After all, if these changes are ones that you want to make together, it’s important that you talk things through. You can then find out what you all want to achieve and which things each of you thinks is most important. Starting those discussions and doing this collaboratively will yield better results for you all later on and that’s what’s most important for you all.

Use the Car Less

One of the things you can do for your family is exercise more when you might have otherwise taken the car. There are lots of short journeys you have to make with your family each week, but why not walk a few more of them rather than hopping in the car? You could even take a bike ride, which is an efficient way of getting around, as well as being active and fun for all the family. Simply not taking the car all the time will help get you all moving, as well as saving you money.

Structured Meal Times

Having structured and regular meal times will have a big impact on your ability to ensure your whole family has a more balanced diet. If your meal times are irregular and inconsistent, it can encourage bad habits such as snacking between meals. And those are the kinds of habits you certainly don’t want your young children to pick up when they’re still growing. It’s much better for them to eat home-cooked meals made with fresh ingredients.

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Image Source – CC0 License

Filter Your Drinking Water

The best and healthiest drink for your family always has been and always will be water. And the great thing about drinking water is that it comes straight out of the tap and you don’t have to pay for it at the store. However, if you want the full benefits of water as well as the best taste, you should use a water filter. This will filter out the bad stuff while also improving the taste in a way that encourages your kids to drink more of it too.

Set Some Rules for Screen Time

Like many parents out there, you might be worried about your kids spending a little too much time in front of the TV. Screen time should be limited so that you can make time for other things, such as spending time outdoors and other valuable and healthy activities. You can limit it by setting rules for screen time and not letting those time limits be exceeded each day. Your kids might not like it at first, but if you fill that time with fun activities, they’ll soon enjoy the change.

Make a Family Commitment to Exercise

Exercise is important for everyone, your family included. If you and your family often don’t exercise together, that’s something you should look to put right. Making a family commitment to exercising together and being active. It’s something you can all do once or twice a week, and shake things up so you can try different activities each week. After all, exercise should be fun and enjoyable.

Mix Vegetables Into Old Favorites

If you want to make your family meals a little more healthy, simply fill them with vegetables. You can make this more palatable for your kids by taking a meal that you know the family loves and swapping out certain aspects of it for healthy alternatives such as vegetables. There’s so much that can be achieved when you get creative with your meal prep.

These changes might all seem like relatively small ones, and they are. But that doesn’t mean they won’t make a difference to the health of your family because they certainly will. If you want to start moving your family’s health in a more positive direction, the ideas above offer some good places to start.

Food, Guest Post, Health, Life

What’s The Difference? Organic Versus Non-GMO Labels

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We are in a golden age of healthy food availability, so why is it so hard to determine the “right” products to consume? Part of the reason is the glut of options. From low-cal and gluten-free to kosher and low-carb, the information overload in the grocery aisles can feel overwhelming.

Two of the most commonly recognized labels — organic and non-GMO — can confuse even the most health-conscious consumer. The two labels often get lumped together even though their meanings are quite different.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of using these terms interchangeably, but that approach is inaccurate. This article will break down the two types of labels to help you understand the differences.

What Qualifies as Organic?

Experts have struggled for years to come up with a definition for this category of food. Fortunately, the USDA has since narrowed down the qualifications.

The primary distinction for organic food is how it’s handled during production. For example, the raw ingredients must never come into contact with synthetic chemicals, such as certain herbicides and fertilizers. For meat products, the animals themselves must not be exposed to antibiotics or growth hormones.

Organic food must not contain any genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In other words, non-GMO is one of the criteria for organic classification, but the term itself has its own definition.

So how do you know what’s organic? Look for the “USDA Organic” seal on a product to know that it’s been certified.

What Is Non-GMO, and How Can You Identify It?

As noted above, non-GMO is not interchangeable with organic. While non-GMO is part of the criteria for organic classification, something that is non-GMO is not necessarily organic.

GMO generally refers to plants and animals that have been genetically modified in non-traditional ways and are not naturally occurring. While crossbreeding technically results in modifications, it doesn’t fall into the GMO category. So how can you tell the difference?

The Non-GMO Project verifies qualifying food products by way of third-party inspections. Rigorous on-site review, annual audits, organic system plan reviews and residue testing help this organization say with certainty whether food is non-GMO. In fact, certification goes so far as to require that the food not even come in contact with other GMO products (animal feed, for example).

Qualifying food products can display a “Non-GMO Project Verified” label to help consumers quickly identify them.

By understanding organic and non-GMO labels, we hope this helps you make informed food decisions for your family. When you grasp the food industry’s complex language, you skip all the guesswork. While organic and non-GMO definitions are fairly straightforward, the food industry is always evolving. Refer to USDA and Non-GMO Project guidance to stay up to date, and consult the accompanying infographic for more details on the differences between the two labels.

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https://www.slideshare.net/PacMoore/organic-versus-nongmo-labels

Author bio: Chris Bekermeier is Vice President of Marketing at PacMoore, a food contract manufacturer that offers food processing and packaging services. Bekermeier received his B.S. in Business Management from Eastern Illinois University and his MBA from University of Chicago.

Life, Lifestyle, Parenting

Who Gets the House in a Divorce? The Court Will Decide Based on These 3 Factors

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The layers of divorce are an endless corridor of questions. There are three major things that decide who gets the home in a divorce, but how much does a divorce cost? Your home is a huge investment, and can very well be the most expensive thing in a relationship. This is why going for the cheapest option you find when it comes to lawyers can be the undoing of some people’s cases before they get going. There are lawyers out there like Peters May (petersmay.com) that specialize in separation and divorce, but before you get too deep into a divorce, keep these things in mind when trying to claim the home.

1. Children

The entire divorce process is traumatizing to kids of any age. That is why when the house is up for grabs, children become the pivotal reason the home goes to the primary caregiver. This is usually the person that spends the most time with the kids. Courts don’t like ripping children from the home they grew up in, or forcing them to change schools. Any of these things can disrupt their development, causing enough stress to completely change the outlook of their lives.

If both parents are working and there is a primary care person that lives outside of the home, things become less clear cut. In the rare case a divorce happens while the mother is on maternity leave, it will come down to an individual court’s opinion. But not matter which way you look at it, when children are involved, the primary caregiver will always have the advantage.

2. Was The Home Owned Before Marriage?

When the home is owned by one person before getting married, then there are a few things to consider. Do you have children together? How long have you been married? If there is a mortgage, who paid it during the duration of the marriage? The original owner has an edge in all of these scenarios, even when children are involved.

Paperwork of who took care of the mortgage, utilities and other home related bills are required for a divorce. Lack of paperwork is a cause for alarm, even if you are the homeowner. If you decide to add your spouse to the original deed after getting married, then a court will look at it as equal ownership. And yet again, when children are involved, the scale for ownership will tip more in the favor of the primary caregiver.

In that scenario, the original owner can easily be at a disadvantage that ends with the loss of their home.

3. Domestic Violence

Domestic violence is frowned upon worldwide. When it comes to domestic violence divorce settlements, things can get even more complicated. When dividing up the assets during a divorce, proof of domestic violence is a big deal. Not only will a court favor the abused, but they are more likely to kick the abuser out (or grant a speedy restraining order) to protect the victim. The experts at thefloridatriallawyer.com, explain that introducing domestic violence to a divorce proceeding is a huge deal, and no two cases are alike. Therefore the plaintiff needs to be sure about the pieces of evidence to support their claim.

Wrap Up

Don’t assume that there is a guarantee that you’ll get the home in a divorce. Be cautious about the things you do leading up to a separation, and document everything. It’s better to be prepared to lose a home than to go into court and get blindsided.