Video Chat: How Do Plant-Based Diets Work?

 Video chat explains how to go plant-based, and why you should.

     

January 10, 2013    

U.S. News's Best Diets 2013 turns the spotlight on plant-based diets, including the Mediterranean, Flexitarian, and Traditional Asian diets. Research suggests these plans promote weight loss, while also protecting against diabetes, heart disease, and other health conditions. We sat down with plant-based dietitian Julieanna Hever, author of the Complete Idiot's Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition. She's also a special consultant for the documentary Forks Over Knives, and hosts the Veria Living Network's What Would Julieanna Do? In this video chat, Hever describes the benefits of going plant-based, along with sample meal plans, and explains how to overcome the challenges of a new eating approach.

Article Via U.S. News

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Handmade gifts for the holidays

5 Reasons Why Books Make the Best Christmas Gifts!

It’s that time of year again.

Christmas.

Chanukah.

The Holidays.

That means one thing: The mad scramble for gifts.

                                                                  Whether you’re shopping for loved ones, office mates, friends, or acquaintances, finding that perfect something for someone can be a nerve-wracking task. It doesn’t have to be, though.

Here are five reasons why books make the best gifts for everyone on your list.

5. Books are inexpensive.

Sure, some books can be as much as $50, but for as little as $10, you can get the perfect gift for someone.

4. You can personalize the book you give.

What makes a book really special is that you can write an inscription in it. It makes the book that you get for someone all the more personal.

3. A book will last a lifetime.

A toy will eventually be discarded and a sweater will wear thin. A book, though, will forever grace the person’s bookshelf. Every time they refer to the book that you gave them, they’ll remember you.

2. You can literally do all your shopping in one place.

Whether you stay home and shop online or you venture outside your house to a bookstore, you can get your shopping done in one place — and probably in one trip.

1. There’s nothing to worry about when buying a book.

When you buy a book for someone, that’s it. Wrap it, set it under the tree, and then watch the smile on the person’s face as they see the book you bought for them. You don’t have to worry about getting the wrong size, forgetting batteries, or hoping you got their favorite color.

Even with those five great reasons, there is one more reason why books make the best gifts.

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Expert Advice: Strangers and Safety During the Holidays

by Lindsay Hutton

The holiday season is a joyful time of year, but it's also a time of year when you need to be extra-cautious when out and about with your child. Between frenzied trips to the mall for holiday shopping, crowded airports, and holiday parties, it can be hard to keep track of your little one in the crowds. Pattie Fitzgerald, founder and creator of Safely Ever After, Inc., has provided a list of holiday tips on her website, www.safelyeverafter.com, to help keep your children safe while you are preparing for the holidays. These holiday tips will help parents ensure that their children stay protected and have a healthy holiday season:

1. Talk to your kids before a family outing. Make a rule that you must always be able to see them and they must always be able to see you.. It may sound simple, but keep reminding them periodically, especially if you think they're getting restless.

2. Use the "two giant steps" rule -- your kids can never be more than two giant steps away from you. It's a fun and easy way for young children to remember not to wander away.

3. Teach your kids that if they ever become separated from you, they should look for a "safe stranger" for help. Some examples include a mom with kids or a cash register person. With older children, agree on a "meeting place" ahead of time, in case you become separated.

4. Tell you child never to leave the mall or store to go looking for you, no matter what anyone tells them. Remind your child that you would never leave until you are reunited.

5. Dress your child in brightly colored clothes to make him easy to spot.. Be sure to remember what they are wearing.

6. In busy places like airports or shopping malls, consider using a cute harness for toddlers who are prone to running off. There are lots of fun ones out there that look like a lion's tail or an elephant's trunk. Your child's safety is most important, so don't worry about what others think.

7. Establish the "check first" rule with older children. They must always check first with you before going anywhere in a public place, including another store, play area, or even the restroom.

8. Don't treat public facilities as a "convenient babysitter." Do not leave your children alone at video arcades, movie theaters, play areas, or other public places. Predators are known to look for unsupervised kids.

9. Always bring young children into the restroom with you. Look for well-lit restrooms in high traffic areas, whenever possible.

10. Statistically, the men's room isn't the safest place for a child to use alone. If you feel comfortable letting your older child (at least 9 years old) use the men's room alone, stand outside the door and call in as your child enters, "I'm right out here if you need me." It's a clear signal to anyone who may be hanging around in there that there's a parent close by. Your child is less of a target if a potential predator thinks there's a chance he could be caught. If you think your child's taking too long, open the door and call in, "Is everything okay?" If you don't get an answer or are unsure, enter the restroom immediately to be sure your child is safe. (Informing your child that you'll be doing this will encourage him to answer you quickly and not linger.)

11. Discuss age-appropriate safety issues with your child in a calm, non-fearful manner. Replace the word "strangers" with "tricky people." Let your child know that it isn't what people look like that makes them unsafe; it's what they ask a child to do that makes someone "thumbs down." Kids have been known to leave with a stranger because "he seemed nice" or "she didn't look like a stranger."

12. Make sure that your child knows your cell phone number.

Read more on FamilyEducation: http://life.familyeducation.com/safety/stranger-safety/59187.html#ixzz2F6G9RQSg

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“Our Black Year” The story of one family’s mission to buy black

A little more than three years ago, John and Maggie Anderson, a well-educated, upper-middle-class, professional couple living in suburban Chicago, decided to spend more of their income with black-owned businesses as a means of providing much-needed economic stimulus to struggling black communities. The Andersons, parents of two young daughters, embarked on a journey—called The Empowerment Experiment—during which they vowed to spend only with black-owned businesses for all of 2009. The story of that year is told by Maggie Anderson, with Pulitzer Prize-winning Chicago Tribune reporter Ted Gregory, in a provocative and inspiring new book, Our Black Year: One Family’s Quest to Buy Black in America’s Racially Divided Economy (PublicAffairs; $25.99).

The Andersons, driven in equal parts by Obama fever, middle-class guilt, and the knowledge that strong black-owned businesses are a key source of desperately needed jobs for African Americans, approached their experiment with the heated fervor of crusaders and cold objectivity of socio-economic researchers. The Empowerment Experiment was conducted as a research project via a foundation set up by the Andersons, which partnered with Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management’s Levy Entrepreneurship Center for the study. A website dedicated to the cause, EEforTomorow.com, serves as a hub of information about black-owned businesses and self-help economics.

The Empowerment Experiment also drew hefty national media attention from outlets ranging from CNN to Black Enterprise. (In addition to being featured in our magazine and appearing on the Black Enterprise Business Report television show, Maggie documented some of her experiences as a guest blogger for BlackEnterprise.com.) However, in her book, Maggie reveals the previously untold truth about her family’s experiences with a no-holds-barred disregard for political correctness. For example, she details her crushing disappointment with a prominent group of Chicago’s black business owners who she says reneged on an initial promise to help finance The Empowerment Experiment. She is also brutally honest about the substandard and mediocre black-owned firms she and her family encountered.

Our Black Year is a must-read for entrepreneurs, especially those black business owners who are frustrated by what they perceive as a lack of support from African American consumers. Following the Andersons’ story provides valuable insights into location, pricing, and customer service issues that can serve as significant barriers between black businesses and the consumers who want to patronize them. Entrepreneurs who choose to not react defensively, but to focus on reducing or eliminating those barriers have the potential to be handsomely rewarded in terms of bottom-line sales and customer loyalty. The Andersons are proud of and passionate about—and even emotionally bonded to—those business owners who went out of their way to cater to their needs and exemplified entrepreneurial excellence. Besides that, the book is simply a fantastic read.

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Profit With Purpose

Profit With Purpose:

via Adweek
Brands Need a New Way of Thinking It's time for a more sophisticated, integrated approach to multicultural marketing ByRobert Klara

It’s a statistical fact that, given the double-digit population growth of Latinos and Asians in the U.S., non-Hispanic whites will almost certainly become a minority population by 2050. And if that’s news to marketers at this late date, it shouldn’t be, says Teneshia Warner. As a consultant who has created diversity-oriented marketing campaigns for the likes of Hennessy, Procter & Gamble, KFC and Disney, Warner has much insight on marketing to the multicultural masses. In her new book, Profit With Purpose(Paramount Publishing), Warner argues that it’s time for a more sophisticated approach to the demographics of color. Stranded in a Florida hotel room as Superstorm Sandy lashed the East Coast last week, Warner spoke with Adweek.

Adweek: Let’s face it: For many brands, “multicultural” marketing tends to be an afterthought.
Yes, you’re right. Marketers before really have taken a simple approach—like translation or putting an African-American person in the commercial. But the diversity conversation is evolving, and it has to evolve so that marketers aren’t thinking about it from an obvious point of view.

What are you suggesting?
Marketing has to evolve into a cultural competency. Brands have to ask themselves, how do these consumers understand their cultural experience? How do they live? What do they value? The big thing is not looking at multicultural marketing as an add-on to the general strategy. It should be thought of within your general marketing.

Can you point to any big brands that have really done that?
When Disney was thinking about how to drive meaningful engagement with multicultural audiences, they developed the Disney Dream Academy. It selects 100 multicultural students from across the U.S.—students who’d probably fall through the cracks otherwise—and provided them with a three-day leadership program to help them align their goals and objectives with real-life experiences. For example, a student who wanted to be a designer got to work with Disney’s costume designers. That program was a perfect example of a brand that brings its purpose to life in a way that connects meaningfully with a multicultural audience.

Much of the do-good marketing I’ve seen takes the form of a tax-deductible donation or a photo op. Progressivism is never going to replace the bottom line, right?
What’ll have brands engaged more and more is when they realize the new consumer expectation is that companies profit in purposeful ways.

Have you worked with a brand that’s profited, as you say, purposefully?
The “My Black Is Beautiful” campaign within P&G got started by African-American women inside P&G who felt like there was a lack of positive images of themselves in mainstream media. The campaign resonated as authentic because it could be mapped back to the employees. Consumers said, “This brand really understands me.” That drives brand loyalty.

How much of what you’re saying is driven by generational change and the kind of broader awareness that social media has given young people?
A large part of it. We’re seeing the tanning of America. Younger consumers, many of whom are multicultural, have more tools to share their ideas, what they stand for and care about—and what they think of your brand. Marketers have to figure out ways to support what those consumers stand for and engage them in their communities. Every brand should challenge itself to have a one-on-one relation with each multicultural consumer. Today, that’s possible.

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Profit With Purpose

Profit With Purpose:

via Adweek
Brands Need a New Way of Thinking It's time for a more sophisticated, integrated approach to multicultural marketing ByRobert Klara

It’s a statistical fact that, given the double-digit population growth of Latinos and Asians in the U.S., non-Hispanic whites will almost certainly become a minority population by 2050. And if that’s news to marketers at this late date, it shouldn’t be, says Teneshia Warner. As a consultant who has created diversity-oriented marketing campaigns for the likes of Hennessy, Procter & Gamble, KFC and Disney, Warner has much insight on marketing to the multicultural masses. In her new book, Profit With Purpose(Paramount Publishing), Warner argues that it’s time for a more sophisticated approach to the demographics of color. Stranded in a Florida hotel room as Superstorm Sandy lashed the East Coast last week, Warner spoke with Adweek.

Adweek: Let’s face it: For many brands, “multicultural” marketing tends to be an afterthought.
Yes, you’re right. Marketers before really have taken a simple approach—like translation or putting an African-American person in the commercial. But the diversity conversation is evolving, and it has to evolve so that marketers aren’t thinking about it from an obvious point of view.

What are you suggesting?
Marketing has to evolve into a cultural competency. Brands have to ask themselves, how do these consumers understand their cultural experience? How do they live? What do they value? The big thing is not looking at multicultural marketing as an add-on to the general strategy. It should be thought of within your general marketing.

Can you point to any big brands that have really done that?
When Disney was thinking about how to drive meaningful engagement with multicultural audiences, they developed the Disney Dream Academy. It selects 100 multicultural students from across the U.S.—students who’d probably fall through the cracks otherwise—and provided them with a three-day leadership program to help them align their goals and objectives with real-life experiences. For example, a student who wanted to be a designer got to work with Disney’s costume designers. That program was a perfect example of a brand that brings its purpose to life in a way that connects meaningfully with a multicultural audience.

Much of the do-good marketing I’ve seen takes the form of a tax-deductible donation or a photo op. Progressivism is never going to replace the bottom line, right?
What’ll have brands engaged more and more is when they realize the new consumer expectation is that companies profit in purposeful ways.

Have you worked with a brand that’s profited, as you say, purposefully?
The “My Black Is Beautiful” campaign within P&G got started by African-American women inside P&G who felt like there was a lack of positive images of themselves in mainstream media. The campaign resonated as authentic because it could be mapped back to the employees. Consumers said, “This brand really understands me.” That drives brand loyalty.

How much of what you’re saying is driven by generational change and the kind of broader awareness that social media has given young people?
A large part of it. We’re seeing the tanning of America. Younger consumers, many of whom are multicultural, have more tools to share their ideas, what they stand for and care about—and what they think of your brand. Marketers have to figure out ways to support what those consumers stand for and engage them in their communities. Every brand should challenge itself to have a one-on-one relation with each multicultural consumer. Today, that’s possible.

//

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Personal Achievement Rewards

 

Poster Via: motivation-tools.com



 

 

 

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