Goal For The Green

Guest Post by Amanda Green

One of the most popular New Year’s Resolutions is “I am going to eat better.” This typically refers to starting and, hopefully, maintaining a healthy diet. It can even go as far as to mean eating only organic foods. Of course this is easier said than done. The process of successfully overhauling your diet is more complicated than you might think. Here are some tips to help you out.

1. Plan for food costing more than it use to. Organic food is, across the board, more expensive than its processed counterparts. This can be problematic if you’re used to living with a really tight food budget. Of course, as someone who is use to budgeting you’ve probably already done the high interest savings accounts comparison. Why not use some of your compounded interest to help you pay for your first few rounds of groceries?

Health (Photo credit: 401(K) 2012)

2. If you are serious about your goal, you might think about using a credit card (make sure to do your research so that you can find the best credit card rates and perks) to fund your initial ventures into healthier eating. Buying the tools you need to cook your ingredients properly can make the transition even more fun!

3. Go slowly. Trying to overhaul all of your eating habits at once is too much of a shock for your system. You might feel good for a couple of days but after that first week, you’ll be a lot more likely to fall off of your organic and nutritious wagon. By going slowly and changing out processed foods for organic and healthier options one or two at a time you’ll allow your body to get used to your new diet and you won’t have to worry that you’ve spent a bunch of money on food you don’t actually like to eat.

4. Switch up your eating habits by taste. For example if you typically reach for a bag of Skittles when your energy starts to wane, sub in a peach instead. The fruit is better for you and will raise your blood sugar and energy level in a healthy way (that won’t lead to a crash). If you’re craving pasta, why not make your own with whole wheat flour? From there you can make the sauce from scratch—this way you know that you’re getting healthy ingredients but you’re still satisfying the craving you’re having.

It is important to remind yourself, particularly when the cost of eating well starts to bum you out, that the money you’re spending now might seem like a lot, but it is much lower than the cost of the doctor bills and potential hospital stays you’d be in for if you kept up the unhealthy eating habits you’ve been use to using.

UPDATE: Yesterday, was our launch day on Amazon.com for this book, and here are the results in a 24 hour period.
“Co-author in THE GRATITUDE BOOK PROJECT:CELEBRATING 365 DAYS OF GRATITUDE, a #1 “Hot New Release” on Amazon.com.”

Blessings of an Attitude of Gratitude

Spread an attitude of gratitude this Holiday Season. THE GRATITUDE BOOK PROJECT 2013 Edition, is here in time for holiday gift-giving! (And, guess what… I’m in it!)

When I was first invited to participate in The Gratitude Book Project: Celebrating 365 Days of Gratitude 2013 Edition, I knew it was something I had to do. 

It’s so easy to get caught up in everyday life.  Sometimes, even just the little things are easily taken for granted. This book project, was the perfect way to let those I love and care about, know what they mean to me. It was a special way for me to show my appreciation. What we say, can often be forgotten in an instant, but the words we write down on paper can live on forever!

You can also help us make this book an Amazon.com best seller

If there is someone on your list who is hard to buy for, or you just don’t know what to get for them, this book is your answer.  The Gratitude Book Project 2013 Edition, is the perfect gift.  Each entry is like a “thought of the day” about gratitude. It is a collaborative book sold on Amazon.com and featuring over 300 authors answering the question “What are you grateful for?” in 200 words or less.

The Gratitude Book Project: Celebrating 365 Days of Gratitude 2013 Edition,is a perfect gift.  You can still get it in time for the Holiday at Amazon.com.  You will find it to be an inspirational and “timely” book.  Given the tragedy in Newtown, CT. last Friday, this book will have just the right passage to help lift spirits. It is that inspirational pick-me-up to help us all to be grateful for the here and NOW, while helping us to remember to live in the moment!

In keeping with the spirit of the project, proceeds from national book sales at Amazon.com will be split among these three charitable and deserving organizations:
• ASPCA for the prevention of animal abuse
• Feed America
• Women for Women International
Remember the more Amazon.com buyers we have, the more these organizations will benefit! Get your copy today!

For two months in a row, the jobs report has gotten better.  I don’t know about you, but I have been wondering what’s behind the sudden turn around?  Then it occurred to me a few days, after last months jobs announcement, that there seemed to be a NEW secret, that most of the rest of the nation didn’t know about. Energy can fuel the economy!

I saw this story on the news (NBC), about three days after last months jobs report. You may have thought that America’s shale oil and gas boom couldn’t get any bigger than the one made public in the Bakken formation, of North Dakota. If you haven’t heard of that, well, they have been Bringing Home the Bacon From The Bakken for about three years now.

But NOW, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimates, there is a a newly-emerging shale deposit that most likely contains about 38 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered natural gas,  about 940 million barrels of oil, and nine million barrels of natural gas liquids such as, ethane and propane. It’s simply huge, and a very rich and shallow deposit.

It’s called the Utica Shale formation. The USGS, provided its first assessment of the Utica shale deposit, recently(about three weeks ago). It found the reserve, which lies underneath the Marcellus shale play, to potentially contain the deposits and massive reserves mentioned above. The fields are part of the Appalachian Basin, which the USGS  has said is the longest-producing petroleum play in the United States.

Rectangular joints in siltstone and black shale within the Utica Shale (Ordovician) near Fort Plain, New York. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Understanding our domestic oil and gas resource potential is important, which is why we assess emerging shale plays like the Utica, as well as areas that have been in production for some time,” Brenda Pierce, USGS energy resources program coordinator, said in a statement.

Anadarko Petroleum, one of the more active energy companies in Ohio, claims to have already delivered 9,500 barrels of crude oil and 12 million cubic feet of natural gas from one well in the Utica shale play.

DTE  Energy, a  Michigan utility company  signed a memorandum of understanding in September, with Canadian pipeline company Enbridge and natural gas infrastructure company Spectra Energy Corp. The agreement calls for the development of about 250 miles of pipeline meant to carry as much as 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas PER DAY, from the Utica  shale play in Ohio.  So, it seems that there will be jobs working on and building this pipeline.

As oil and gas drilling production in this newly found formation picks up speed, it could become the third-largest deposit in the United States.  The Marcellus and Utica shale deposits have the potential to greatly improve the economies of eight states, and set us on the path to energy independence within 15 years.

Massive oil and gas development

For investors, these areas are where energy companies are scrambling to get a piece of the action.  No, we haven’t really heard much on the topic, but this has been a relatively quiet secret for the last 2 1/2 years. During this time frame, the big oil and gas producers such as BP (NYSE: BP), Chevron (NYSE: CVX) and ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) are already getting more involved in these areas, setting the stage and digging in their claws. All of this has been going on for about the same amount of time as the North Dakota boom.

But the most active driller currently in Ohio, is a Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK).

They are Utica Shale’s top energy stock holder. Over the last few years years, Chesapeake Energy, has quietly acquired more than one million acres in the Utica Shale deposit, with a total of 87 wells, in operation. That is more than any other energy company investment, at this time.  In Ohio, they are considered the No. 1 player that is currently in the  best position, to gain from the area’s growing Utica Shale exposure.

When I was a child, the common thing was to head West to find good paying jobs.  That is what my family did.  Now, if you need a job, head East! While there is a plus side to all of this, it has greatly changed many quiet rural farming communities. Fracking(breaking apart the shale to release the gases) is still part of the extraction process.  The best thing about the shale in these newer formations, is that it is much closer to the surface, than in the Bakken (Williston, N.D.) region. It is good to know we are moving and working toward better and greener tomorrows.

Related articles

• Utica shale, below the Marcellus, contains large gas, oil reserves, study shows