The arrival of summer means days at the pool, family barbeques, picnics, sports and other outdoor activities. Follow these tips this summer to keep your whole family happy and healthy:
Staying active in the summer months
The arrival of spring and summer means days at the pool, family picnics, baseball and other outdoor activities. Here are some tips to keep your family physically active in the warmer months:
- Hydrate! Drink plenty of water before, during and after physical activity to avoid dehydration. For low-calorie flavor, add slices of your favorite fruits such as melon, oranges, berries or even cucumber or mint to a pitcher of water and refrigerate for two hours.
- Protect your family from the sun: wear wide-brimmed hats, always apply water-resistant sunscreen with at least SPF 15 and reapply sunscreen every 2 hours.
- Heat safety: avoid intense activities between noon and 3 p.m. when the sun is at its strongest.
- Dress for the heat: wear lightweight, light colored clothing, choose light, breathable fabrics such as cotton, and wear sunglasses to protect your eyes.
- Head indoors: when the heat gets unbearable, try indoor activities at your local YMCA or rec center like basketball, swimming, yoga or racquetball.
Heart-Healthy Cookout Ideas
Warmer weather may mean it’s time to break out the grill, here are some tips and ideas for a healthier grilling cookout:
- Go fish! Fish, especially oily fish like tuna and salmon have great nutritional benefits including omega-3 fatty acids. Rub a fillet with lemon juice and parsley or rosemary for enhanced flavor.
- Make a better burger: if you’re grilling burgers, be sure to buy lean or extra lean beef, drain off the excess fat after cooking and avoid making huge patties – remember that a serving of meat is about the size of a deck of cards (3 oz). Add finely chopped green pepper to your beef to get in some veggies.
- Baked fries: Slice white or sweet potatoes into sticks, lightly spray with olive oil cooking spray, pepper and paprika and bake on a cookie sheet for 40 minutes at 375 degrees.
- Veggie kabobs: load up skewers with mushrooms, peppers, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash or other veggies. Spray lightly with olive oil cooking spray and grill until slightly blackened.
- Try grilled corn on the cob: leave the husks on, and grill for about 30 minutes over medium flame, rotating occasionally. Remove from grill, let cool for about 5 minutes, remove husks and enjoy!
Healthy Road Trip
Road trips can take a toll on everyone – here are some ideas to keep things healthier while on the open road:
- Make “rest breaks” active: pick a road stop or park and get the family out of the car to take a brisk 10-minute walk and move around. Not only will it burn off some energy, but it can also help the driver feel rejuvenated and more alert.
- Pack healthy snacks: finding healthier snacks at road stops can be difficult. Pack apples, grapes, raisins, whole grain fiber-rich crackers or another favorite low fat, low sodium healthy snack to take with you.
- Pack to play: plan to incorporate regular physical activity into your daily routine while you’re away from home. Pack a football, soccer ball, Frisbee, or paddle balls so that you can be physically active throughout your downtime.
- Reach for water: sitting in the car for long periods of time can make it tempting to drink soda, which has extra calories and added sugar. Pack water (flavored or regular), fat free or lowfat (1%) milk and small portions of 100% juice to quench your thirst.
Summer Snack Ideas
Try some fun and refreshing summer snacks that the entire family can enjoy:
- Fruit pops: Homemade freezer pops are an easy, fun treat for kids to make. Mash up fruit like peaches, grapes, berries or watermelon and put them in paper cups, insert a popsicle stick, freeze overnight and enjoy!
- Cool and crisp: keep a variety of colorful veggies on hand that stay cool and crunchy for a refreshing treat – baby carrots, cucumber slices, and celery sticks are just a few ideas.
- Fruit smoothies: blend your favorite fresh fruits with fat-free or low-fat yogurt and ice for a refreshing drink or freeze and eat with a spoon like a frozen ice chill.
- Mix it up: make your own trail mix using your favorite unsalted, oil free nuts, seeds and dried fruits (just be sure to keep your servings to 1.5 ounces or 1/3 cup).
- Just slice and serve: summer months are peek season for most fruits, just slice and serve – the whole family will enjoy the refreshing natural sweetness and juices just the way nature made ‘em!
Enjoy your summer, the healthy way!
Content provided by https://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyEating/Summer-Tips-for-a-Healthy-Heart_UCM_303868_Article.jsp
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You’ve spent hours, days or even weeks, making your jewelry choices — not to mention paying thousands of dollars on your final purchase — so why fall short when it comes to finding the right coverage for your jewels? Getting the appropriate protection is easy; you just need to understand what your Homeowners insurance will cover.
The standard HO-3 policy provides only $1,000 worth of coverage for jewelry for THEFT ONLY. For example, if your $6,500 engagement ring, a pair of $500 earrings ,and a $1,000 class ring WERE STOLEN, you would receive a reimbursement of only $1,000, not the actual value of $8,000. So be sure you’re protected by extra insurance. The cost is minimal compared to the risk of losing expensive jewelry and being unable to replace it.
You might consider a stand-alone policy that offers broader coverage than the typical Homeowners policy. For instance, an ALL PERILS policy and covers “mysterious disappearance” (when you lose jewelry and have no clue where it went); and “pairs and sets” (which buys you a new set of earrings even if you lost only one). You can also schedule your jewelry on any homeowner policy.
Keep in mind, your insurance company will require you to have a professional appraisal to set an objective value for your scheduled property, which might be significantly higher or lower than what you think it’s worth!
For more information on insuring your valued jewelry, please feel free to get in touch with Scurich Insurance Services.
Content provided by Transformer Marketing.
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Many companies use “lean manufacturing” procedures to streamline production by reducing wasted time and motion. Although these changes often show up in the bottom line as black, their long term repercussions on workplace safety – higher accident rates and workers comp premiums –could put a business back in the red.
“Approximately 65% of workers compensation claims are for musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs),” says Chris Shulenberger, Technical Director for Ergonomics with Bureau Veritas North America Shulenberger. However, many employers might not make the connection between their lean manufacturing procedures and high rates of sprains and strains, overexertion injuries, and cumulative trauma MSDs among their employees.
If you streamline your manufacturing, beware of these potential pitfalls that could turn “leaner” into just plain “meaner:”
- Excessive Overtime. Lean manufacturing depends on a smooth supply chain. When there are glitches, workers need to pick up the slack with increased production and longer hours, both of which contribute to MSDs.
- Hyper-efficiency. For some employers, the drive to improve employee productivity ignores human limitations. Removing the waste from jobs eliminates essential time for workers’ bodies to restore themselves, which can reduce disabling MSDs.
- Working through pain. Some supervisors in lean manufacturing facilities are slow to respond to worker reports of fatigue, discomfort, and/or pain: the earliest symptoms of an MSD. In other cases, there’s “working through pain” culture which encourages employees, like high-performing athletes, to ignore early symptoms – which can easily lead to a MSD. Make sure that your workers report any MSD symptoms and supervisors know how to respond to these complaints.
- Micromanagement. Increasing the intensity of work reduces employees’ control about how they do their job – a proven risk factor for MSDs.
Our risk management professionals would be happy to review the potential impact of your manufacturing procedures on workplace safety.
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Farmers in California, where Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency last month, are facing hard choices as a drought threatens to ruin their crops. They must weigh the costs of paying for irrigation against the chance that their fields will never get enough water this season.
A striking picture illustrates the severity of the situation, as Northern California’s Folsom Lake, a reservoir northeast of Sacramento, is seen in January at only 17 percent of its capacity. In July 2011, “the lake was at 97 percent of total capacity and 130 percent of its historical average for that date,” according to NASA.
The federal agency says it is working with the California Department of Water Resources to help the state manage its water resources. Last month, NASA released other images showing the drought’s severity. As NPR member station KQED reported, the state’s snowpack is shown in January 2013 and last month. Much of it did not return.
Here are other updates on the situation:
NASA said today that it’s working to share satellite and weather data with California farmers and water officials to help them avoid wasting water, and to use it in the most efficient way possible. The space agency says a trial run of its Satellite Irrigation Management Support system in 2012 and 2013 “demonstrated sustained yields while reducing the amount of water used by up to 33 percent relative to standard practice.”
Growers of almonds — a state crop valued at $5 billion in 2012 — have been pulling trees out of the ground while they’re still in their prime, in desperate actions driven by high water costs. The AP spoke to a grower who watched crews rip 20 percent of his orchard out of the ground. A man who does that work for a living says business is up 75 percent because of the drought, and his crews are working from sunup to sundown.
Forecasts of rain and snow were welcomed by many Californians, as parts of the state could see more rain this week than they’ve had in the previous eight months together. But Time’s Bryan Walsh warns that even with that rainfall, “much of California will still be below average for precipitation this month. Since February tends to be the wettest month for California, that means that the state still has a larger and larger rainfall deficit to make up if this drought is to ever end.”
Contact Scurich Insurance Services today to get a review of your agriculture insurance.
Content provided by http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/02/25/282624536/california-s-drought-a-shocking-photo-and-other-updates
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Another Winter Olympics season has come and gone and it was a nail-biter, right up until the end. The United States had received the most medals up until the closing weekend, when Russia dominated in the events. Russia came through in the end, earning a total of 33 medals with 13 gold medals, 11 silver medals and 9 bronze medals. The United States came in second,m earning a total of 28 medals with 9 gold medals, 7 silver medals and 12 bronze medals. Norway came in third with 26 medals, 11 of the medals are gold, 5 silver and 10 bronze medals. Here is the breakdown between Russia and the United States.
Russia won the gold in the following categories:
Biathlon-Men’s Relay
Bobsleigh-Four Men and Two Men
Cross Country-Men’s 50 km
Figure Skating-Ladies, Pairs, Team
Short Track-Men’s 1000m, Men’s 500 Men’s 5000m
Skeleton-Men
Snowboard Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom
Snowboard Men’s Parallel Slalom
The United States won the gold in these categories:
Alpine Skiing-Men’s Giant Slalom, Women’s Slalom
Figure Skating-Ice Dance
Freestyle Skiing-Men’s ski halfpipe
Freestyle Skiing-Men’s ski slopestyle
Freestyle Skiing-Women’s ski halfpipe
Snowboard-Men’s slopestyle
Snowboard-Women’s halfpipe
Snowboard-Women’s slopestyle
The complete list of all 2014 Sochi Olympic winners is here.
Congratulations to all Olympians!
Content provided by Transformer Marketing and http://graphicsweb.wsj.com/documents/sochi-medal-count/
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I recently did a workshop for a group of CEOs at which the Chair asked the participants, “What single piece of wisdom have you learned about managing people?” Here are some of their responses:
Don’t try to manage more than seven reports at a time.
Be firm, but fair.
Focus on the problem and not the person.
Never look a gift resignation in the mouth.
Be direct; people want the truth and nothing but the truth.
Tap into the company’s informal communication network.
Don’t take things personally (one of Don Miguel Ruiz’s Four Agreements).
Never take sides.
Listen (can you listen to someone for five minutes straight without any interruption, criticism, or judgment?).
Be slow to hire and fast to fire (a popular topic in the workshop!).
Bear in mind that a decision driven by emotion, is not driven by logic (or, as I like to say, if it doesn’t make sense, don’t try to make sense out of it!).
Content provided by Transformer Marketing and http://humanresources.about.com/od/icebreakers/a/icebrker_wisdom.htm
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The arrival of summer means days at the pool, family barbeques, picnics, sports and other outdoor activities. Follow these tips this summer to keep your whole family happy and healthy:
