Wednesday, March 26, 2014


The 15 Secret Laws to Lasting Weight Loss


 

Anyone can go on a diet and see short term success.  The secret to lasting weight loss lies in simple daily lifestyle changes that lead to developing the habits that support positive permanent weight loss results.

 
1)      Stop thinking about ‘it’ all of the time.  People, who cultivate friendships, develop hobbies and discover the things that make them happy don’t have time (nor have the interest) to constantly dwell on their weight; notice that happy engaged people rarely talk about food or dieting either.

 
 
2)      Visualize yourself where you want to be.  Close your eyes and see your thinner, vibrant and healthier self, walking down the street, into a meeting or to a social event.  Be specific in your day dream!  What are you wearing?  What’s your attitude like?  What are you doing?
 

3)      Buy foods that are (mostly) from the Mediterranean diet. If you don’t know what they are google them!  Lean meats, low fat cheeses, fruits, nuts, vegetables, legumes and high quality oils such as olive and avocado oils. Red wines are also part of the routine of the Mediterranean diet. Avoiding refined sugars is also key...cookies, cakes, crackers, chips!

 
4)      Front load your day with calories.  Eat a medium breakfast, a large lunch & a small dinner. Also remember Japanese hara hachi bu ~ eat till you're 80% full, then stop.

 
 
5)      Let yourself actually get hungry before you eat. Having a snack is OK, but only if you’re hungry!

 
6)      Do not eat snacks all day long (on a schedule) if you are not hungry.  It has been shown that snacking all day slows your metabolism. Again, eat when you’re hungry, and eat healthy snacks.

 
 
7)      Eat what you want but always keep portion size in mind.  Imagine a pie chart.  The largest slice of the pie should consist of vegetables, grains fruits (50%) the second largest pie slice will be legumes and protein (30%) the next slice is dairy, fats and starches (20%) ~ if you evaluate your meal and the salad is tiny, the steak is huge and the pile of potatoes is also huge, then you know you’re off balance.  The healthy pie chart would show a large salad, a medium side of broccoli, one small slice of bread, one small baked potato and a small steak medallion.

 
8)      Stop drinking pop! Instead, drink pure plain water or drink water with lemon, tea (hot or cold), coffee or wine.  To bridge the gap and break the habit, you can drink diet pop, then juices, then start to cut the juices with water (always make this ice cold…always tastes better ice cold) then infused water and so on.  Fruit juice is not necessarily the enemy.  Once you are at a healthy weight, you can (and should) occasionally drink a high quality orange, cranberry or grape juice.

 
9)      Check your attitude and pay attention to your self-talk. If you hear yourself using defeatist language like (you’ll never succeed, or you never succeeded before) stop it in its tracks and immediately redirect it. Memorize your own comeback one liner like: if it’s meant to be it’s up to me!  Look into doing the 7 day mental diet by Emmet Fox ~ find it on google, it’s amazing!

 
10)   Get sleep!  Go to bed at the same time, get up at the same time…unless you are extra tired due to extra exertion, and always listen to your body! Stop burning the candle at both ends. Take a nap if you need one.
 

11)   Listen to your body.  If you feel drained and tired due to the meal you had the night before, then pay attention to what you ate and drank.  Your body is giving you subtle messages your whole life long. If you pay attention to these messages, you can live a longer healthier life. You may not necessarily need to be allergic to something for it to disagree with you. Keeping a food journal is an excellent way to see trends in your energy level & your overall health.

 
12)   Reward yourself often for your healthy victories!  In the beginning when you’re bridging the gap and breaking the habit reward yourself with small pleasures.  I used to buy myself a candle or go to a favorite store or take a longer lunch break and take a walk through my favorite park near the water.  It’s important to anchor your challenges with positive things and experiences.  It gives you strength and determination and ultimately turns you into a person who spends less time thinking and talking about food and weight. Now you’re on to bigger & better things!

 
  
13)   Make moving fun.  The problem with New Year’s exercise resolutions is that we vow to do things we don’t even like to do.  Identify a list of things you like to do.  Ride a bike, walk on the park trails, play team sports or use a video at home.  If you cannot think of anything, then ask yourself, “What did I love to do when I was a child?”

 
 
14)   Surround yourself with positive people.  Pay attention to how you feel after spending time with a friend, a co-worker or family member.  Do you feel disgusted or stressed or angry?  If so, you need to slowly limit the time you spend with them.  Do you feel happy, excited and hopeful?  Spend more time with these people and if they are few and far between seek to make friends with more people you admire and who seem to be happy, healthy and in charge of their lives!
 

15)   Find reasons to laugh.  Laughter is the best medicine and it does wonders for your health.  Look for humor in things, be funny, be around funny people, watch comedies and lighten upJ

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

My Motto for My Life.
To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882) American Essayist & Poet 


William Hart with  "The Advantage" Group,
Your FULL service Real Estate Team!

Friday, July 26, 2013

We breathe the same air!

By Madisyn taylor
Seeing an image of the planet Earth taken from space inspires awe in many of us, since we can clearly see the connectedness of all of us who live upon this planet. We have created imaginary boundaries, sectioning ourselves into countries and states, forgetting that in reality we are all living together, breathing the same air, drinking from the same water, eating food grown from the same earth. We share everything on this planet, whether we are conscious of it or not, with other people, and those people are our brothers and sisters. Keeping a photograph or painting of the planet Earth in a prominent place in our homes can be a positive way to remember our interconnectedness. Meditating on the fact that any sense of separation we have from one another is truly an illusion, we will naturally begin to make more conscious choices in our daily lives. The simple act of preparing food, or determining how to dispose of our refuse, can be done with the consciousness that whatever we do will affect all our brothers and sisters, no matter how far away they live, as well as the planet herself. When we foster this kind of awareness in ourselves out of a feeling of awe, it becomes easier to be conscious than to fall back into old habits of thinking of ourselves as separate. When we contemplate the earth in her wholeness, we attune ourselves to the truth of the bigger picture, which is the Earth, and all of us, every one of us, living on her body. We are connected to one another in the most intimate way, because we literally share our living space. As more people become aware of the reality of our interdependency, things will shift in a positive direction, and much of the discord that we see now will give way to a more cooperative, loving conscious. This is happening already, so as our consciousness grows, we can join with the many other minds working to live in the spirit of togetherness

Thursday, July 25, 2013

An Awesome recipe from Lisa Ekanger, your hometown Realtor!

Frozen Apple-Oatmeal Sandwiches

Frozen Apple-Oatmeal Sandwiches Ingredients Reynolds® Parchment Paper 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened 2 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons apple juice or milk 2 tablespoons apple jelly 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 2 packages (8.6 ounces each) soft-baked oatmeal cookies 6 ounces milk chocolate 2 teaspoons vegetable oil Cook 1.Combine chocolate and vegetable oil in a small microwave-safe bowl. 2.Microwave on HIGH for 1 minute. Stir until smooth, returning to microwave in 15-second increments, if needed. Remove sandwiches from freezer. Half-dip in chocolate. Return to parchment-paper-lined sheet; return sheet to freezer. Freeze 15 minutes. Serve cold. "The Advantage" Group, you first chice for Real Estate!

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

SHORT SALES Made easy

What is a Short Sale?

A short sale happens when the lender is shorted on a mortgage, meaning the lender accepts less than the total amount that is due. If your mortgage is $100,000, but your home is worth, say, $90,000, you are $10,000 short, not including costs to close the sale such as real estate commissions, recording fees or title and escrow charges.
Sometimes, to avoid going through the costs of foreclosure, a lender will sanction a short sale by letting a buyer purchase the home for less than the mortgage balance while the home is in pre-foreclosure stage. A pre-foreclosure stage is one of the three stages of foreclosures.
Here are sample steps of a short sale:

  • Seller signs a listing agreement with a real estate agent subject to selling as a short sale with third-party approval.
  • The agent finds a buyer who makes an offer for less than the amount of the mortgage.
  • Seller accepts the buyer's purchase offer.
  • Seller's lender accepts the buyer's purchase offer.
  • Transaction closes when the buyer delivers the funds, the lender releases the lien and the seller delivers the deed.
In fairy-tale land, everybody lives happily ever after. Except the seller. There are consequences.

Qualifications for a Short Sale

Before you eagerly climb aboard the short sale bandwagon, consider the following to determine whether you may qualify for a short sale. If you cannot answer yes to all four requirements, you may not qualify for a short sale.

  • The Home's Market Value Has Dropped.Hard comparable sales must substantiate that the home is worth less than the unpaid balance due the lender. This unpaid balance may include a prepayment penalty.
  • The Mortgage is in or Near Default Status.It used to be that lenders would not consider a short sale if the payments were current, but that is no longer the case. Realizing that other factors contribute to a potential default, many lenders are eager to head off future problems at the pass.
  • The Seller Has Fallen on Hard Times.The seller must submit a letter of hardship that explains why the seller can not pay the difference due upon sale, including why the seller has or will stop making the monthly payments.
    A few examples that do NOT constitute a hardship are:
    1. Bad purchase decisions. Blowing your paycheck on a home theater system with surround sound does not qualify as a hardship.
    2. Unhappy with the neighbors. Even if every home on your block has turned into pot growing houses, that will not qualify as a hardship.
    3. Buying another home. The lender will not care if you have decided the home is no longer suitable for you or your family.
    4. Pregnancy. Increasing the size of your family or starting a family is not considered a hardship.
    5. Moving into an apartment. If you decide to move out of your home, that is a lifestyle decision and not a very good reason to abandon your home.
    Examples of hardship are:
    1. Unemployment
    2. Divorce
    3. Medical emergency / sudden illness
    4. Bankruptcy
    5. Death

  • The Seller Has No AssetsThe lender will probably want to see a copy of the seller's tax returns and / or a financial statement. If the lender discovers assets, the lender may not grant the short sale because the lender will feel that the seller has the ability to pay the shorted difference. Sellers with assets may still be granted a short sale but could be required to pay back the shortfall.
    For example, if the seller has cash in a savings account, owns other real estate, stocks, bonds or even IRA accounts, the lender will most likely determine that the seller has assets. However, the lender might discount the amount the seller is required to pay back.
    Many entities profit from short sales, but there is no seller short sale profit.

Short Sale Consequences

A short sale is dependent on a buyer making an offer to purchase. If you do not receive an offer, you will not qualify for a short sale. So even if you meet all the other criteria, it is possible that no one will buy the short sale. It is also dependent on the lender accepting the buyer's offer. If the lender rejects the offer, a short sale will not take place.

  • Tax ConsequencesIf the lender agrees to the short sale, the lender may possess the right to issue you a 1099 for the shorted difference, due to a provision in the IRS code about debt forgiveness. Many situations are exempt from debt forgiveness, according to the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007.
    You should speak to a real estate lawyer and a tax accountant to determine the amount of short sale tax consequences, and whether you can afford to pay those taxes, if any.
  • Blemished Credit ReportWhile a short sale will not show up on your credit report, the loan status will. For those in default, it's a pre-foreclosure that has been redeemed, which is often reported as Paid in Full for Less Than Agreed. Short sales affect credit ratings. While the damage to your credit report may not seem as significantly bad as a foreclosure to you, creditors may not make the distinction.
Always seek legal counsel before attempting to pursue a short sale. A real estate agent cannot give you legal advice.
At the time of writing, Elizabeth Weintraub, DRE # 00697006, is a Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate in Sacramento, California.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Spring into Action!

Spring is definitely the best time to sell or buy a house. People who want to sell their old house and move into a new one have to arrange a lot of things and take care of many different details. Anyone who is planning on selling their house and doing it properly will simply have to take care of how the house looks. You have to assess the condition of the house – painting it one last time; perfecting its interior and exterior. And as soon as you get everything fixed and back in perfect shape again, you will have to start thinking about getting the services of real estate agents, as they are the ones who will help you sell the house more easily and more quickly.
Although not obvious, there is a strange relationship between your house and the season when you’re going to sell it. When you decide to set a date to show your house to potential buyers, your agents would always advise you to see the weather forecast before actually doing this. The reason for this is that potential buyers could get a good sight of your house and enjoy the experience during perfect weather. And spring is the right time to welcome ocular inspections.
Spring is the ideal season for selling or buying a house because the nature is blossoming after a long sleep, which is followed by many other wonderful things. If you have trees in your front or backyard, spring will bring out the best of it in terms of color and smell. In addition, if you are planning on selling your house during this season, you should make sure that you have enough variety of flowers around your house. This could provide added attraction to your property. Sprinkling water with lemon or limejuice to your florals will give a fresh and inviting smell, adding value to the general atmosphere of the house.
Buying or selling a house in spring time brings out not only its beauty but also the good mood in every potential buyer, which could be beneficial to you both and could result in a faster purchase or sale.
For more information on selling or buying a house, go to http://www.teamadvantage1.com/. See you there!

Yours Sincerely,

Bill Hart
"The Advantage" Group
Keller Williams Lakeside
586-685-1189