Can you believe we are already through January?  It seems like it was just Thanksgiving, and then we kind of lost Christmas in a freak blizzard.  So, how are those resolutions coming along?  Yeah, I know, me too.  I really don’t make resolutions because it’s so disappointing when something happens that makes me unable to keep them.  That has certainly been the case for the beginning of 2010 as things STILL haven’t settled down! 

Two resolutions most commonly made have to do with weight loss and saving money.  Well, here are some realistic ways to help you if you have taken this challenge.  Even if you didn’t make these resolutions, they are still good food for thought.

Diets suck, no two ways about it.  You’re always denying yourself something and you feel like you’re always hungry.  Instead of trying to eat less, how about vowing to eat better?  If you’re already working out, then you probably already understand  the balance of carbs, protein, and fat that you need to fuel your efforts.  If not, simply remember that simple carbs are for quick energy, complex carbs are for sustained energy, protein is for muscle building, and less fat is better than none at all as our bodies need some fat to properly digest most foods.  Fiber is a huge plus for digestive purposes as well as for water storage in the body.  With that in mind, check out some foods to think about adding to your diet.

Full-Fat Cheese:  Oh yeah, I said that!  Cheese has loads of casein protein, one of the best muscle-building nutrients you can eat.

Pork Chops:  Per gram of protein, pork chops contain almost five times the selenium-an essential mineral that’s linked to a lower risk of prostate cancer-of beef, and twice that of chicken.  And the protein helps you preserve muscle while losing weight.

Iced Coffee:  Coffee, hot or cold, reduces your appetite, increases your metabolism, and gives you a shot of antioxidants.  It has also been shown that small doses throughout the day is better than a large one first thing in the morning.  It not only increases your heart rate and breathing, but also keep you awake and alert throughout the day.  Be careful not to compromise yourself with too much sugar and creamer! 

Grapefruit:  It’s not known exactly how this works, but speculation is that the grapefruit’s acidity may slow your rate of metabolism, keeping you feeling full longer.  If you can’t handle half a grapefruit three times a week, try another acidic fruit for a while and see what happens.

Apple: An apple a day may also keep the pounds away!  Research has discovered that people who ate a large apple 15 minutes before lunch took in 187 fewer calories than those who didn’t.  They also reported feeling fuller afterward.  Apples are loaded with fiber, but they also require lots of chewing which can make you think you are eating more than you really are.

Eggs:  Skip the cold cereal.  Research has shown that people who consumed their biggest dose of protein at breakfast felt full longer than those who ate more of it at lunch or dinner.  Eggs and bacon, here we come!

Beans:  Scientists have found that people who ate more legumes were 23 percent less likely to have large waists than those who never ate them.  The bean eaters were also shown to have lower blood pressure.  Beans are rich in fiber as well as potassium, which can help fight hypertension.  Not a fan of beans?  Try canned chili beans, or have a black bean and cheese quesadilla with your eggs in the morning.

Salmon:  Fish isn’t just good for your heart.  It has omega-3 fatty acids that help you feel full longer.  Not crazy about fish?  Try taking a fish oil capsule every day, it offers the same benefits as salmon.

Milk:  Drinking moo juice in the morning can help you eat less at lunch.  Again, it’s that whole protein thing that helps you feel fuller longer.  I’ve tried this one and it works!

Here are some more foods to think about adding into your daily routine: 

Pumpkin pudding:  Combine a 6-oz container of nonfat vanilla yogurt with ½ cup canned pumpkin and a dash of cinnamon.  This protein and fiber snack is sure to keep you fuller longer, and if you love pumpkin pie anyway, this is a no brainer!  Yummy!

Vegetable soup:  Start your meal with a fiber-rich bowl of this and you’ll reduce your calorie intake by 20%!

Cucumber/Tomato Salad:  Cucumbers are low calorie and high volume.  Combine with a medium tomato and some balsamic vinegar with  little olive oil and you’ve got a great-tasting low calorie salad.

Ginger Green Tea:  Sipping a warm mug of tea after a hard day is a great way to de-stress.  Steep your green tea with a slice of ginger root and lemon.  It’s also a great appetite suppressant.

Fiery Chicken Salad:  Adding hot sauce to anything slows down your eating and adds a punch of flavor.  Try a simple chicken salad of diced chicken breast, 1 TBS of mayo, hot sauce to taste, and whatever diced veggies you want.  Serve over a bed of lettuce or fresh spinach and enjoy!

Shrimp Cocktail:  At around 8 calories per piece, shrimp is a fabulous source of lean protein that helps rev your metabolism and keeps you feeling full.  Start your dinner with a cocktail appetizer.  Love shrimp sauce?  Combine 1 TBS ketchup with 1 tsp horseradish and voila, you have shrimp sauce!

Now for the money shot.  Literally.  Want to save some cash? 

Quit smoking:  Not only does smoking drain your health, it will also drain your bank account.  If you smoke, you know how expensive the habit has become.  $1,825 to $3,650 per year for a 1-pack a day habit.  There’s also the extra expense of dry cleaning to rid your clothes of the smell, dental bleaching for yellowed teeth, and Botox for the wrinkles.  That last one might be a bit extreme, but quitting smoking can also help reduce your health insurance premiums.

Exercising regularly has been shown to help reduce the need for prescriptions.  It can help improve diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart disease.  The trick?  Start slow.  Do a little bit, at least three days a week, then gradually do a little more.  The first two weeks are always the most difficult, but if you can make it that far you’re going to realize how much better you will feel, physically and mentally, and there is no better incentive than that.

Eating right does not have to be expensive.  All of the foods mentioned above are relatively inexpensive to buy and easy to prepare.  Take a look at all your options.  Love bologna, bacon, and sausage?  Try the turkey varieties.  They are lower in fat and still pretty tasty.  Produce is cheap and you can buy in small amounts so that you can get to them before they go bad.  Utilize your freezer.  You’d be surprised what you can freeze to help save waste and money.

Pay down debt:  This is the tough part.  The average American owes $8,329, so if you carry that load with a 15.99 percent APR and making minimum payments of $167 per month, it will take you 33 years to pay that off.  And you’ll pay $15,289 in interest.  Simply kick in an extra $35.50 per month and you can pay off that same debt in 5 years with a total interest of $3,821!  Paying down your debt also has an added benefit of increasing your credit score.

Happy 2010!


ABOUT FAMILY INSURANCE
Phone # (405) 329-9780
Fax # (405) 823-6917
http://www.gotomypolicy.com
paul@familyinsu.com

The New Year is knocking at the door!  Are you going to fling it open and welcome the new possibilities or are you going to peer warily out the peephole?

Many of my friends would agree that 2009 has been a little rough.  Well, maybe a lot rough.  We’re just talking personal experience and not including the economy, the war, or anything on a national level.  Although any one of those things would definitely qualify as the catalyst for a suck year.  For me, 2008 started bad, ended good.  2009 has been a repeat.  I’m really hoping that is not a pattern to guide 2010!  It’s tempting to give the new year the evil eye to ward off whatever ghosts of years past might try to follow us, so I have compiled a few quotes to help induce the good vibes and keep the ghosts from harshing our mellow.

Never take life too seriously.  Nobody gets out alive anyway.  Isn’t that the truth?  Does it really matter what you did or left behind as a legacy?  Unless you really put yourself out there and let people know who you are, is anyone going to remember you when you’re gone?  This quote is the best way I know to illustrate what is really important in life.  People don’t remember what you said or did, but rather how you made them feel. 

It’s true that we don’t know what we’ve got until we lose it, but it’s also true that we don’t know what we’ve been missing until it arrives.  We take too much for granted without realizing it until it is taken away.  That becomes the lesson.  Appreciate and respect those closest to you and take the opportunity to tell them how you feel.  Seriously, in this day and age of communication, take the time right now to send a text, email, or make a call to tell that someone special how you feel.  The feeling of apprehension prior to telling someone you love them is insignificant compared to the sorrow of never getting the chance.

Constantly choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil. –Jerry Garcia.  I think this just goes without saying.  If your choices are not good ones, you need to find a new set of choices.

The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.  Just like the best way to get even with those who have done you wrong is to do well.  There is a certain amount of satisfaction obtained from proving others wrong.  Success is many things to many people, but if you are happy with your life, others will see that and understand you succeeded on your own, without their input.  They are the same ones who will say you cannot do something because their insecurities won’t allow them to try. 

The only reason people get lost in thought is because it’s unfamiliar territory.  Too often people don’t stop and think before reacting.  Pay attention the next time you are listening to someone talk.  Are you really hearing what they are saying, or are you already formulating a response before they are finished?  People say lots of things, but the words don’t mean anything unless you understand the context from which they are given forth.  In your next conversation, stop and think about why someone is saying what they are.  Ask them why they feel that way.  That tiny question is a gigantic validation for their feelings and will add depth to what you think you already know about them.

The road to success is always under construction.  Isn’t that the truth?  I was navigating the potholes and orange barrels just fine until someone blew up a bridge right underneath me.  This is all figuratively speaking of course, and though it didn’t take me long to find an alternate route, the progress has been slow.  My detour is turning out to be for the better, but it is still a tough road.  The positive thought from this is that as long as you are making forward progress, everything will be okay.  It’s not about the destination, it’s about the trip.

And in the end it’s not the years in your life that count.  It’s the life in your years.-Abraham Lincoln.  Do you know anyone who has said they wished they would have worked harder?  Saved more money?  Exercised more?  Most laments are from places not explored, chances not taken, words not spoken.  Take the time to make memories.  Make a bucket list for yourself, only don’t wait until the last years to make good on it.  Start the list and start checking things off right now.  You will never be in good enough shape, have enough money or enough time, so just cut loose and do it. 

Advice is worth what you pay for it.  But I know something in this has spurred that little voice in the back of your head.  Don’t ignore that.  It’s there for a reason.  Go ahead and take a chance,  live a little.  Life is short.  Eat dessert first!

Happy New Year 2010!!


ABOUT FAMILY INSURANCE
Phone # (405) 329-9780
Fax # (405) 823-6917
http://www.gotomypolicy.com
paul@familyinsu.com

Besides getting sloppy drunk and kissing everybody in the vicinity at the stroke of midnight, celebrants throughout the ages have observed numerous New Year’s traditions and superstitions.  Many of the superstitions associated with the event bear the common theme that activities on that day set the pattern for the year to come.  Others have to do with warding off evil spirits or attracting luck.

Because January 1 is the first day of the new year, we have drawn a connection between what we do on that day and our fate throughout the rest of the year.  Here are some of the ways we attempt to guarantee a good outcome:

Kissing at midnight:  We kiss those dearest to us at midnight not only to share a moment of celebration with our favorite people, but also to ensure those affections and ties will continue throughout the next twelve months. 

Stocking up:  Here is a tradition where bare cupboards on the first day can indicate a lack of prosperity.  Fill up the pantries and freezers, and make sure you’ve got some cash in your wallet.  By the same token, the new year should not be started in debt, so checks need to be written and mailed off prior to January 1^st.  Personal debts should also be settled by then.  Sounds like good advice regardless of the date.

Nothing goes out:  Not even the garbage is to leave the house on the first day of the new year.  If you have presents to deliver on New Year’s, leave them in the car overnight.  Don’t even shake out a rug or take the empties to the recycle bin.  Some people soften this rule by saying it’s okay to remove things from the home on New Year’s Day provided something else has been brought in first.

Food:  A tradition common to the southern states dictates that eating black eyed peas on New Year’s Day will attract general good luck (financial in particular) to the diner.  Some choose to add other Southern fare (such as ham hocks, collard greens, or cabbage) to this tradition, but the black-eyed peas are the key.  Other lucky foods include lentil soup (because lentils supposedly look like coins, i.e. wealth), pork (because poultry scratches backwards and in the dirt, a cow stands still, but a pig roots forward, meaning those who eat pork will likely be moving forward in the new year), and sauerkraut (probably because it goes well with pork).

Work:  Make sure to do something related to your work on the first day of the year, even if you don’t go near your place of employment that day.  Limit your activity to a token amount, though, because to engage in a serious work project on that day is very unlucky. 

In other words, don’t do anything on the first day of the new year lest you want to be doing that all year long.  Wear something new on January 1 to increase the likelihood of receiving new garments during the year to follow.  Don’t pay back loans or lend money on the first, or you might be doing that all year long.  Don’t break anything and don’t cry.  But do make lots of noise at midnight to scare away evil spirits!

Be safe and Happy New Year!




ABOUT FAMILY INSURANCE
Phone # (405) 329-9780
Fax # (405) 823-6917
http://www.gotomypolicy.com
paul@familyinsu.com

I remember writing a paper in college where I mentioned that you know it’s Christmas when you hear the BC Clark Anniversary jingle.  There are many signs that the season is approaching:  Hobby Lobby Christmas displays appear in late July.  Downtown buildings have lighted crosses at night.  Drunk reindeer and deflated Santas litter neighborhood lawns.  It’s all too easy to get caught up in the holiday traffic and the materialism, and lose the true meaning of the season.

Don’t worry, I’m not going to go all religious on here, although I think they ought to leave the crosses lit all year long.  So many things have changed for me personally over the past year, and not all of them for the better.  I’ll just say it’s been difficult.  Yet there have been so many positives out of those changes that I can’t help but feel blessed.  There are two ways to look at any given situation, glass half empty and glass half full.  I could be feeling sorry for myself but I choose to have a positive approach.  All I have to do is look around to realize that things could be so much worse.  One of my best friends has moved out of her husband’s house and is pending divorce.  Another of my best friends is having to deal with severe headaches in addition to raising two children, working and going to school full time.  I have clients that have all sorts of troublesome things going on.  Yes, my world dropped out from underneath me suddenly, leaving with me with several bumps and bruises and one serious case of road rash, figuratively speaking.  But I am back on my feet, I have a cute little house soon to call my own, a great job, and I am surrounded by my family and friends.  When I think about what could have been, those thoughts are immediately replaced with all of that good stuff.

I personally do not believe in coincidence.  I think everything happens for a reason, and timing is God’s way of teaching us patience.  Life is just full of little lessons that we are taught every day, we only have to change the way we look at the world around us in order to see them.  Some of them are more difficult to accept than others, but the power of a positive attitude can change anyone’s perspective.  You haven’t been laid off, you’ve been given the opportunity to find something better.  You got a flat tire that made you late for your appointment, but kept you from being in a serious accident.  There is always a positive to every negative, and if you hang on to that positive, you will be surprised at how much easier it gets to see that silver lining.

It is that positivity that leads to the Christmas spirit.  It’s not just about giving and being of good cheer, but paying things forward, and doing it all year round.  If we concentrate on setting the good example, all those inconsiderate so-and-so’s will follow suit.  Well, most of them will, anyway.  The cool thing is, it’s as easy as taking your basket to the corral, or letting someone with their one item go ahead of you and your 20 items.  Joke around with the cashier, she will appreciate knowing there is still some hope for humanity.  A great attitude is just as infectious as a bad one, and it sure makes everyone feel better!

For all of our clients, friends, and family who are traveling this holiday, we wish you safe passage, a very Merry Christmas, and a very Happy and prosperous New Year!

ABOUT FAMILY INSURANCE
Phone # (405) 329-9780
Fax # (405) 823-6917
http://www.gotomypolicy.com
paul@familyinsu.com

Once upon a time, long ago, a gentle mother was busily cleaning the house for the most wonderful day of the year….the day on which the Christ child came to bless the house.  Not a speck of dust was left.  Even the spiders had been banished from their cozy corner in the ceiling to avoid the housewife’s busy cleaning.  They finally fled to the farthest corner of the attic.

T’was the Christmas Eve at last!  The tree was decorated and waiting for the children to see it.  But the poor spiders were frantic, for they could not see the tree, nor be present for the Christ child’s visit.  But the oldest and wisest spider suggested that perhaps they could peep through the crack in the door to see him.  Silently they crept out of their attic, down the stairs, and across the floor to wait in the crack in the threshold.  Suddenly, the door opened a wee bit and quickly the spiders scurried into the room.  They must see the tree closely, since their eyes weren’t accustomed to the brightness of the room.  So they crept all over the tree, up and down, over every branch and twig to look at every one of the sparkling ornaments.  At last they satisfied themselves completely of the Christmas tree’s beauty.

But alas!  Everywhere they went, the spiders had left their webs, and when then little Christ child came to bless the house he was dismayed.  He loved the little spiders, for they were God’s creatures too, but he knew the mother would be embarrassed by the webs.  He reached out and touched the webs, turning them all to shimmering silver and gold. 

Ever since that time, we have hung tinsel on our Christmas trees, and according to the legend, it has been a custom to include a spider among the decorations on the tree.

German Legend

How to make your own Christmas spider:

Small christmas ball ornaments, in two different sizes, so the neck of one fits into the neck of the other.

Pipe cleaners (they have sparkly ones)

Sequins

Craft glue or hot glue

Slip the neck of the smaller ball into the neck of the larger one and fasten with tape or glue.  If the necks are the same size, simply glue them together (hot glue works good here) and tape in place until dry.  Wrap 4 pipe cleaners around the body for the legs.  Glue two sequins to the smaller ball to make the eyes.  Bend the legs to curve downward so that the spiders will stand up off the surface or around a tree branch.

Merry Christmas!