Why So Much Fish?

There are a lot of stressful things about the holiday season – wrapping up presents with your children banging on the door, making the exact number of cookies you’re required to take to the cookie swap and having your house packed to the brim with relatives can be depended on to raise your blood pressure. But, the dreaded “small talk” at holiday parties is usually near the top of everyone’s list. It’s always nice to catch up with acquaintances and coworkers’ spouses at annual gatherings, but what do you talk about once you’ve covered all the basics in 90 seconds?

One of my favorite questions to ask people is about holiday traditions that are special to their families. It’s always fun to hear what other people do to celebrate the holidays (I had no idea that getting new pajamas on Christmas morning is a regular thing in so many households!) and hear the stories behind family traditions.  

My mom is originally from Poland, and she brought a number of holiday traditions with her. Christmas Eve (Wigilia) is considered more important than Christmas Day itself. We eat our big meal on Christmas Eve and open all of our presents after dinner (quite untraditional, I know).

We anxiously await the appearance of the first star (gwiazdka) to signal the start of the Wigilia feast. Before sitting down at the table, everyone breaks the traditional wafer (oplatek) and exchanges good wishes for health, wealth and happiness in the new year. The number of dinner courses is fixed at seven, nine or eleven, and is traditionally a meatless meal, the result of a long-term mandate of the Catholic Church that a strict fast and abstinence be observed the day before Christmas. The traditional Wigilia menu my mom grew up with included mushroom soup, boiled potatoes, pickled herring, fried fish, pierogi, beans and sauerkraut, and assorted pastries, nuts and candies for dessert. Every year my mom tells us about how her father would purchase the Christmas carp before all the stores would close for the holidays, meaning the live fish took up residence in the bathtub for a few days before the big meal.

Our family enjoys eating fish, but not enough to eat seven courses of it or share  a bathroom with a live carp for a few days, so we’ve adapted these traditional Polish customs. We still start the meal with breaking the traditional wafer, but then sit down to feast on all of our favorite Polish dishes, including meat ones. It’s nice to celebrate our family’s heritage while enjoying the dishes we don’t have very often.

After dinner we roll ourselves into the living room to open all of our presents. We spend the rest of the evening watching our favorite Christmas movies, with A Christmas Story and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation at top of the list. I can usually make it through the first movie but always fall asleep in the middle of the second (this has become a family joke). My husband and I saw National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation recently, and it was the first time in my life that I saw the ending!

Well, this blog post ended up being a lot longer than I expected! Now you know why I pull this topic out of my pocket when party conversations start to falter. So, what are your family holiday traditions?

~ Nicole

What Role Do PR Firms Have on Wikipedia?

So. . .  the latest PR brouhaha is that a PR firm created, edited and changed pages on Wikipedia. 

I don’t know all the details, but the article at this point has a lot of finger pointing and innuendo. Beyond the article some are even saying that a PR firm should not create or edit Wikipedia pages for a client.

I have to say, “What is wrong with a PR firm creating a page for a client or correcting errors in a page about a client?”

I briefly looked at the editorial policy for Wikipedia, and it states, "Anyone can create or edit a page…" It doesn’t say, “except for PR and marketing firms on behalf of a client.”   So I have to believe that when they say “anyone,” they mean ANYONE.

The fact that anyone can create or edit pages is one of Wikipedia’s greatest strengths and, at the same time, greatest weaknesses.

Unfortunately, there are people out there, not all of them working for PR firms, who deliberately remove anything negative, place overly positive comments and editorialize like crazy, not to mention just plain lie on Wikipedia pages that they have designated themselves as the gatekeeper for all information on the subject.

If one of the main duties of a PR firm is to protect their client’s reputation and provide correct information about them, isn’t it also their responsibility to ensure any information concerning that client is up-to-date and accurate on a website like Wikipedia?  

What do you think?

Ken

Getting Ready for the Holidays? Let’s Talk.

It’s December and the holiday season is officially upon us. Can you smell the cookies baking in the oven and the pine scent filling the cool air?

I love the holidays because of the nostalgic feeling that comes over me. I do a little baking, decorate the house and cook up a feast because Filipino culture dictates that I must have a mountain of food enough to feed an army. All jokes aside, this is the only time throughout the year when I have my mother and my brothers under one roof to catch up. It’s when I notice how my children have gotten taller standing next to their uncles or the new wisps of gray hair peeking from my mother’s forehead.

We often laugh and reminisce about the past but recently, I realized that we need to start thinking about the future. It’s my reminder to have a conversation about expectations.

I started the conversation with my mom a couple years ago and it won’t be the last. My mother has been dealing with a heart condition and while she is fully functional and healthy otherwise, I am suddenly faced with having to understand how to deal with unexpected added expenses, role expectations for me and my brothers and what options are available. I don’t get all the answers in one sitting but I understand it’s a process and that I need to start early. It can be overwhelming at times. Fortunately, the state of California has put together a new website, www.RUReadyCa.org to walk you through the steps of planning for long-term care. In fact, here is a list of question to help guide you with your conversation.

Seizing this moment can be uncomfortable but important. So why don’t you join me and bring out the platter of cookies and talk to your loved ones.

~Muriel

@murielbmiller

Happy Thanksgiving

Like many of you, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Everyone always gets along, which wasn't necessarily true with other longer holidays when I was growing up. There's always plenty of fabulous food, great friends, spirited conversation and no pressure to buy gifts.

As a former newspaper food editor, Thanksgiving always presented a challenge. It's the one day of the year when people who never cook face their fears and go into the kitchen. They would call with questions about every little thing. Some people called all day long. But the calls I hated to answer came on the Friday after Thanksgiving.  Here's a typical exchange:

"I forgot to put the leftover turkey away. Can I still serve it?"

"How long was it out of refrigeration?" The answer was usually the same.

"Well...all night," generally came the sheepish reply.

"No. It's dangerous to serve perishable food that has been out of refrigeration for more than four hours."

"Well, then can I serve it to my dog?"

Each year food editors dig deep to come up with interesting new recipe and menu ideas. The problem is that no one really wants to make anything different. Thanksgiving is a traditional holiday. My favorite cover story was the time I interviewed a wide range of people, mostly chefs and sports celebrities, and pretended I was inviting them to a pot luck. "What is the must serve Thanksgiving recipe for your family?" The answers were deliciously different. Fanny Farmer Cookbook author Marion Cunningham enthusiastically said, "Watermelon pickles!" Al Attles, former coach of the Golden State Warriors, replied, "Macaroni and Cheese and I always make it myself!"

For our family, the recipe is Carrot Ring. I don't remember ever sitting down to a Thanksgiving dinner without enjoying Carrot Ring, a cross between a carrot pudding and a not-too-sweet carrot cake. This year I'm going to bake two of them.

What is the essential dish for your holiday table? 

Best wishes to you and your family for a happy, healthy holiday season.

~ Paula

California Childhood Obesity Rate Falls, but Some Counties Struggling

Click here to download this infographic

A new study released today offers hope that the state may finally be getting a handle on its 30-year battle with childhood obesity, but also showcases a patchwork of progress that leaves the majority of counties in the state still registering increases in obesity rates among California’s school-age children.

According to the study, A Patchwork of Progress: Changesin Overweight and Obesity Among California 5th, 7th and 9th Graders, 2005-2010, prepared by our client, the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, the percentage of overweight and obese children in the state dropped 1.1 percent from 2005 to 2010. However, 38 percent of children are still affected – a rate nearly three times higher than it was 30 years ago when the obesity epidemic began. Improvements are not being seen statewide, with 31 of California’s 58 counties experiencing an increase in childhood overweight over the five-year period from 2005 to 2010. Want to know how your county measures up?  

The progress being made statewide is encouraging, but there is still work to be done. Implementing policy and system changes to make schools, communities and worksites healthier places for everyone is the right way to go in reversing the childhood obesity trend.

You can access information on this new at http://www.publichealthadvocacy.org/research_patchworkprogress.html.

Don't Take My Candy

In the spirit of Halloween, Jimmy Kimmel asked parents to play a trick on their kids by telling them that they ate all their candy. As you can imagine, this did not go over very well. In all the hilarity of the video, it is a bit disconcerting to realize that most of us are still that little kid crying about our candy.

Our gut reaction when people tell us no is to kick and scream and complain (Tea Party, Oakland's Occupy Wall Street). There's nothing wrong with a good protest or a good yell every now and then, but notice the kids at the end who approach their parents with humility and reason.  Those are the kids I'd want to talk to. Those are the kids who deserve their candy.

The PR world is a tricky game of navigating around those who shout and cry, those who use reason and others lost in the middle. Unfortunately, the loudest (or wealthiest) one seems to win out more often than not. While I'd much rather give the candy to those kids who can shrug it off, I'd probably throw it all at the one screaming just to get it to go away. 

This started as a small rant, but now I'm finding I could probably write another 20 pages on the parallels of this video to the modern psyche of America. Instead, just enjoy this video of children crying. It really is funny.

-Matt

How to Boost Emplolyee Morale

Want to boost the morale of your employees? Ask them to don their scariest, most fun Halloween outfits and see what happens. For Halloween, BMC staff came to work decked out for the holiday. We had a cowgirl, Little Red Riding Hood, Count Dracula, a pirate, a Mad Men ad man, a very quirky rabbit and one of our co-workers came as “comfortable.” Admittedly, some of the costumes were a little distracting during the Monday morning staff meeting, but the great boon to the office is that we were all able to let our hair down and have some laughs together.

Planning fun things as a group brightens the atmosphere around the office and makes working together even more enjoyable. So, if you see that your employees have that hang-dog look, think of something fun to do, like dressing up for Halloween. I think you’ll be very happy with the results you get.

Sharron

Truly a San Franicsco Treat

Each year, we here at BMC take a day off from the flood of emails, ringing of phones and tapping of keyboards to spend some quality time together. Very Kumbayah I know, but all of us look forward to the adventure each Play Day brings. This year, after some intense whining from me when ziplining was initially suggested (I have an out-of-control fear of heights), it was decided that we would spend our Play Day exploring San Francisco. The catch was that everyone had to pick a location to visit (and keep it secret until the actual day), and we had to use public transportation to get around.

This is how our day unfolded . . .

1. Amtrak from Martinez to Jack London Square

2. Alameda/Oakland Ferry to the Ferry Building in San Francisco

 

3. Tour of Acme Bread Company

4. Streetcar to Pier 45 to visit the Musee Mecanique

5. Walk to the Buena Vista for an Irish coffee

6. Hike to the San Francisco Art Institute to view the Diego Rivera mural and one of the best views of the city I’ve ever seen

7. Hike to the Russian Hill neighborhood for lunch and some ridiculously tasty frozenyogurt

 

8. Walk to Fort Mason to see the community garden and the haunted Haskell House

9. Muni bus ride through Chinatown

10. Walk to Union Bank in the Financial District to check out the Museum of Moneyof the American West. Note: There's no picture for this stop because we were yelled at by security guards at the bank at least three times for trying to take pictures.

11. Happy Hour at the Omni Hotel before heading home via BART

 

 

Some of you may have noticed the wheelchair in some of the pictures. Navigating public transportation, busy sidewalks and insane hills while pushing a wheelchair gave us all a new perspective on getting around the City. Many people were very accommodating (thanks to the streetcar operator and the lady on BART who kept Paula from rolling away), while other situations were incredibly frustrating (the ladder left in the middle of a narrow walkway, and broken and raised sidewalks). I will never again take my legs for granted!

This was definitely one of my favorite Play Days. Why did I like it so much? It was so enjoyable to spend a gorgeous day being introduced to new places in one of my favorite cities and to do so for little to no cost. It was a great reminder that being a tourist in your own backyard can be just as fun as being a tourist abroad – and no jet lag!

 ~ Nicole

We're Not Buying It! Neither should you.

Childhood obesity? It's the fault of bad parenting, blame the vituperative Nannygate crowd. In every balanced article about overweight and obese children, the accompanying online comment section is filled with nasty messages about parental responsibility. 

Far too few comments talk about the environment in which our children are being raised. How can parents counter the relentless clever marketing and advertising of unhealthy foods and beverages by junk food and soda companies?

These companies claim to care about our kids, but do they?

"We're not buying it!" is the Prevention Institute's compelling new video. I bet if you watch it you won't buy the food and beverage industry's arguments either.

The same industry that bombards our children with billions of dollars of deceptive advertising each year is currently fighting against legislation that would ban fast food commercials during children's programming.

At the end of the video is a link to a petition you can sign if you want your voice to be heard.

~ Paula

Six Weeks is Long Enough

Are you tired of it yet? Tired of what you ask? Take your pick. You have the presidential campaigns and Christmas decorations.   Both have been going on too long already.

First off there is Christmas. When I was a kid the day after Thanksgiving signaled the Christmas shopping season. Now, Christmas starts in August!  That’s approximately 21 weeks of stores decorated with Santas, Joy to the World and reindeer.  And don’t even get me started on the ‘seasonal’ music.  Plus the mix of Christmas with Halloween is just a bit eerie.

Then there is the presidential campaign. OMG! Just how long do we have to watch presidential hopefuls make fools of themselves while beating up on their fellow party members?   Oh the humanity!!

So I’d like to make a proposal.  For both Christmas and presidential campaigns, the good citizens of our country should set a six-week limit on both the Christmas shopping season and presidential campaigns.

For Christmas, that would mean no Christmas decorations and ‘seasonal’ music until about the second week in November. While that is before my preferred date of the day after Thanksgiving, I’m willing to make that sacrifice. For presidential campaigns that would mean no debates, mudslinging or personal attacks by the candidates until roughly Labor Day. In fact, perhaps make Labor Day the first day that a presidential hopeful could file the official paperwork to run.

So what’s the down side of all this? None that I can see.  Americans have come to have a fairly short attention span, so I believe shortening the times for both would be a big plus. For Christmas it would bring some of the “it’s that special time of the year” feeling back. And for our presidential elections, it would perhaps help people to be less jaded and more focused on a process that elects the most powerful person in the world every four years.

Seems like a win-win for everyone.

Ken

A 21st century advantage

The entertaining movie Moneyball shows how Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane took a cash-strapped franchise and created winning teams by looking at data differently than everyone else. He went against the prevailing recruitment philosophy and predicted what combination of players would make great teams. 

To be successful in the 21st century you have a "predictive brain" to see the future just before it happens.

That's Wayne Gretzky secret of success, according to Vivek Ranadive co-author of a fascinating new book, "The Two-Second Advantage: How We Succeed by Anticipating the Future...Just Enough."

Gretzky wasn't a particularly great athlete in a physical sense. He says he did poorly on all the tests for endurance, strength, relexes and flexibility. As Ranadive writes, "Gretzy didn't get so good in spite of his unimpressive physical attributes, he became so good because of them...He truly was able to understand what was going to happen an instant or two before everyone else on the ice and skate to where the puck was going to be."

That ability to see the future a few seconds ahead is the one common denominator of consistent success in the 21st century.

It works in sports, in commerce, in sales, in education, in technology, in every field. Getting just a little bit of the right information just ahead of when it's needed is a lot more valuable than all of the information in the world a month or day later believes Ranadive. 

Check out his book. I predict that you won't be able to put it down.  

~ Paula

Better Informed Than Ever and Doing Nothing With the Knowledge

For 17 years, the California Partnership for Long-Term Care (Partnership) has been tracking what Californians know about long-term care and what they’re doing to prepare for this reality. Ironically, the latest Field Poll survey results show a spike in knowledge but a dearth of action! Why? Not surprisingly, cost is a major issue in this economy, denial ranks up there and a pack of other reasons shown in the chart below:

*Question only asked in 2011 and 2005

This issue comes knocking on everyone’s door – be it today or 20 years from now, a parent, relative, spouse or a friend. We all will at some point know someone struggling to deal with long-term care. Statistics show that 2 out of 3 adults over the age of 65 will need long-term care that provides personal assistance, such daily needs as bathing, eating, dressing over a short or lengthy period of time. If only we had a magic crystal ball to predict the future and prepare accordingly.


But as we all know, it doesn’t work that way. So the smart action is to start planning for this eventuality today. A few simple steps can make a huge difference. The Partnership has launched a new site to walk you through the process. Take a look at http://www.rureadyca.org/.

~Muriel

Shame, Shame on Soda Research Shills

Link to ABC Report on Tainted Soda Research

Last night ABC News ran this piece on an independent university "researcher" arguing against any link between soda consumption and obesity. And here's the shocker... he's paid lock-stock-and-barrel by the soda industry.

Wow, you mean independent, scientific research isn't always independent or scientific?
 
This is the same guy who published research that menu labeling doesn't work -- surprise, the Restaurant Association was filling his Christmas stocking, too!

My favorite was the quote by the Beverage Industry Association (who ponied up a fair share of cash for the researcher): "The notion that industry money taints scientific research is baseless." Of course it is! Clearly no one has ever been swayed by industry’s offer of a pile of cash before.

Lesson for the day class: Sometimes you have to look under the hood of the researcher to find out what's really going on.  Of course, I’m guessing that’s a lesson that Dr. David Allison isn’t teaching his University of Alabama students.

Bring Back the Pre-Junk-Food Era Diet

Recently, I saw an article online about how a family in North Carolina broke its junk food addiction. After 100 days of eating “no refined grains or sweeteners, nothing deep fried, only local hormone-free meats, and organic fruits and veggies, and absolutely nothing out of a box, can, bag, bottle or package with more than five ingredients listed on the label,” their palates had changed to the point where artificial food actually tasted bad.

This article made me think about how fortunate I was to grow up on a farm in Minnesota in the 50s and 60s. In those days, we didn’t have any of the fast-food options that are available today. Instead, my mother worked hard to serve us fresh, homemade food. We had fresh-from-the-chicken eggs. Our milk was direct from the cow – no store-bought milk for us. We butchered our own free-range, hormone-free beef, pork and chickens. My mother had a huge garden where she grew beautiful organic vegetables. She spent hours canning produce for use throughout the year. She also purchased big boxes of fruit in season and canned those as well. And our treats were all the most delicious made-from-scratch cakes, pies and cookies.

Obviously we’ve come a long way in the food world since the 50s and 60s. We now have access to so many “convenience” foods. However, a lot of these foods just aren’t very good for us, nor do they taste as good as they should. But, as the family in North Carolina has found, with a little imagination and conscientiousness, you can break the junk-food cycle and provide your family with a good, healthy and tasty diet.

Sharron

What We Learned From Turning the Tables

Mike was in Atlanta this week presenting at the National Conference on Health Communication, Marketing, and Media on a panel about Designing Evidenced-based Communication Strategies to Affect Policy Change. Putting together the presentation about our work on menu labeling, Turning the Tables: Winning Support for the Nation's First Statewide Menu Labeling Law, gave us the opportunity to reflect on the lessons we learned from the campaign.

We’d like to share some of our top tips for communication strategies to affect policy change:

1. Research can be your story: The thrust of our campaign became a “consumer’s right to know issue” after a Field Poll commissioned by our client, the CaliforniaCenter for Public Health Advocacy, showed how little people actually knew about popular fast-food menu items. Of the 523 people surveyed, 68 percent didn’t geta single question right when asked about the calorie content of popular menu items. (Do you think you could do better?) Of those polled, 84 percent supported menu labeling. You can conduct research, and get media attention, to illustrate the need and support for a specific policy change.  

2. Simplify the message: People are going to have no interest in what you’re saying if they don’t find what you’re talking about very interesting. It’s your job to make them see why they should care about what you’re saying. Also, it’s easier for people to tune out your message if it’s too complicated for them to quickly understand. A solid message that resonates with the audience forms the backbone of all successful campaigns.

3. Entertain: In response to our bill to put calories on menu boards, the fast-food industry sponsored its own bill that would only require restaurants to hand out brochures. This purposefully ineffective bill offered timid legislators political cover and was quickly championed by the media and public alike. We used a humorous video to show how ridiculous using brochures at fast-food restaurants is in order to redirect public opinion and rally waning political support. Don’t be afraid of communicating in a fun, light-hearted and humorous way. The video was fun for people to watch and really took the wind out of the competition’s sails.

4. Start local: Setting out with a dramatic policy change in mind can seem pretty daunting to advocates working at the local level, but not doing anything in hopes that “someone else will do it” is a huge mistake. Policymakers look for examples of success at the local level before they will throw their support behind major policy change. California’s menu labeling law wouldn’t have come to fruition if advocates in San Francisco and Santa Clara hadn’t first shown that it could be done.

5. Establish a grassroots support system: This tip goes hand-in-hand with the previous tip. Embarking on a major policy change effort requires a lot of ground forces. Local advocates became part of the team, writing letters to the editor and opinion editorials, meeting with editorial boards and writing comments on their local newspaper’s website, to keep the issue in the news and in front of policymakers across the state.

 
6. Be prepared for the competition: Making major policy changes in the field of public health often means taking on huge industries, such as tobacco, restaurants and soda. No one can deny that these industries have a lot of money to support an army of lobbyists, send “experts” on media tours, and donate funds to medical associations and cash-strapped local governments. They may have more money in the coffers than you, but you have “social good” on your side. Just know that they will come at you with all guns blazing.

7. It’s about the war, not the battle: As I said above, the competition seems to have an unlimited cash flow and is determined to defeat your efforts. But just because you lose a few battles along the way doesn’t mean you will lose the war. Our menu labeling efforts became a two-year endeavor after the governor vetoed the bill the first time around. We were able to bring the governor and Legislature around the second time by creating more pressure with a strong argument (and a great YouTube video). Again, you have “social good” on your side, which ultimately will trump money in the long run. Endurance is key because the “long run” can be a really long time.

Started a Facebook Page But Now What?

Facebook Tips for Business





Infographic by Joseph Klaas

While those of us who indulge in Facebook may share a little too much on the personal side, Facebook is still a good tool for your organization. If used effectively and strategically, Facebook can be a great place to build your brand, promote your organization or lead community outreach programs. If you’re considering diving into social media, some tips on the do’s and don’ts on Facebook are listed below. Remember, each social media tool has a different purpose, but I’m only focusing on Facebook and how to use it as a platform for your organization.

• Do post regularly. You want to be relevant and dynamic. With social media, you need to be seen on a regular basis to be remembered. With so many competing posts, it’s easy to get lost in your friends’ newsfeed if you post infrequently.


• But with that said, don’t spam your friends. Too many posts can overload people with too much information and turn them off. It’s best to spread the information out so that you aren’t posting more than once a day (at the most), or your friends might hit the “unlike” button.


• Genuinely interact with your friends. Being a participant and engaging your friends in the conversation is the best way to build trust on Facebook. Some comments may not require an answer, but make an effort to acknowledge them and make them feel heard.


• Don’t neglect or ignore questions on your page. I think this is a no-brainer. Doing this gives the impression that you don’t care.


• Post conversation starters or ask a question. This helps keep the dialogue moving. You might even think about what you want to know from your audience and start a poll. Create a list of questions or topics ahead of time for those down times you may not have as much to post.


• Don’t restrict your friends’ ability to post comments. This one is tricky since I understand the issues and legal concerns organizations may have about allowing people to freely post anything on their page. But to do this may alienate friends who want to engage with you. This ultimately defeats the purpose of you being on Facebook. Trust that your friends will behave and post relevant comments and concerns. Respond immediately if they do misbehave. If need be, delete the post. Your responsiveness and how you handle an inflamed comment will mean more to your friends and impress them than a wall of information that says you’re not good enough to talk to me.


• Offer something of value. People are overloaded with information. Why should they take the time to read what you write if it doesn’t have any value to them, even if it is just a joke or a different way of looking at something.


Now you have some of the basic business essentials to prepare your organization to meet new friends. Have fun (social) networking!





~Muriel

Where Is Social Media Headed?

People rise up against their government because of social media, reveal their closest personal information via social media and complain about social media sites not protecting their privacy.   One thing you can say for sure about social media is that it’s full of contradictions. Just like the American people.

It wasn’t that long ago people feared that government knew too much about them. And that marketing companies were tracking their every purchase while “Big Brother” was watching their every move. Well people, you don’t have to worry about the government or marketing companies keeping tabs on your every move anymore. They don’t have to because people are freely giving that information away to anyone, and I mean anyone, who cares to know.

Why, in a society that values privacy so much, are people willing to freely tell the world what they bought, where they eat, where they are going and who they are dating?

I have a theory.  Everyone wants their 15 minutes of fame and 'telling all' via social media is one way to get it. Do a Web search on Ashton Kutcher or Katy Perry and up pops all sorts of information on them. Do a Web search on yourself and guess what? Up pops all sorts of information on you.  So I guess that makes you famous.

It will be interesting to see in the months and years to come just where social media is headed. Has it peaked yet, or is the peak still to come? Will people get bored with constantly sharing with the world their every thought, photos of last Friday’s office party and their cat playing the piano?  Or will ensuring their 15 minutes of fame just be too irresistible to pass up? Only time will tell.

~Ken

Guilt Free Fourth of July

Fourth of July weekend is upon us. It’s time to put down those pens and calculators and pick up a beer lemonade and a BBQ hot dog. There’s constant talk around here to stay away from candy, sugary beverages and fatty foods. But let’s be honest, this is not the weekend to do that. It’s true though, we are what we eat. When I cut soda out of my diet when I was a teen, I dropped 10 pounds in no time. 

We all need to watch what we eat and drink, and stay physically active. It’s what makes us feel better, work harder and truly live a happy healthy life. But with all that hard work of passing up the candy bars and skipping those sodas, we earn the right to splurge (but not gorge). My vegetable grain salad from Trader Joe’s yesterday was delicious, but I will be the first one in line to order a cheeseburger on my way to sit by the lake and do absolutely nothing but enjoy the sunshine and company of friends. 

So as someone who encourages everyone to eat healthy and stay active, I give you a free pass this weekend. You’re welcome. Happy 4^th of July!

-Matt