Laughing Cynic http://laughingcynic.com A Healthy & Happy Lifestyle Experience In A Crazy World Mon, 20 Feb 2012 23:06:38 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Taking Better Care of Yourself http://laughingcynic.com/taking-better-care-of-yourself-2 http://laughingcynic.com/taking-better-care-of-yourself-2#comments Mon, 20 Feb 2012 23:06:38 +0000 Tony http://laughingcynic.com/?p=741 People are more interested in taking better care of themselves than ever before. Years ago people ate fattening sugar laden foods without even thinking about it. Today people realize that eating foods that are not good for you can raise your risk of heart attack, diabetes and death. For this reason, people are becoming more interested in eating better and getting more exercise. Not only does the scare of becoming extremely ill help to convince people to take better care of themselves but the rising costs of prescriptions as well.

Most people would rather try a natural remedy than to take prescription drugs. The worst part of taking prescription medications is the side effects. Sometimes the side effects from the medications are worse than the illness or disease itself. There were 82,724 deaths caused by taking prescription drugs in 2010 alone. Just this fact should make you want to take better care of yourself in order to avoid having to take medications. If you look at the facts, such as the Actos lawsuit, medications can do you more harm than good in some cases.

]]> http://laughingcynic.com/taking-better-care-of-yourself-2/feed 0 NOSE PLUG http://laughingcynic.com/nose-plug http://laughingcynic.com/nose-plug#comments Sun, 05 Feb 2012 03:16:21 +0000 Tony http://laughingcynic.com/?p=738 I looked up the number for our trash company this morning using our wireless internet connection. It was a long weekend and our trash is scheduled for Monday. I assumed that because it was a government holiday ( our trash is the city trash) that they would not be picking up. I rolled the trash out on Tuesday and they didn’t come to pick it up. When I called them, they said that they would have been able to do a miss if I had called them yesterday, but I was just going to have to wait until next week. They actually do pick up the trash on government holidays—imagine that! Anyway, I don’t think that I can wait that long. I can barely stand to walk out the door and near the trashcan because it stinks so bad. The trash has been piling up for two weeks and is really foul. I just hope that our neighbors don’t start complaining soon! There is nothing that I can do about it until next week. I may have to start wearing a nose plug!

]]> http://laughingcynic.com/nose-plug/feed 0 Are You Trying to Quit Smoking http://laughingcynic.com/are-you-trying-to-quit-smoking http://laughingcynic.com/are-you-trying-to-quit-smoking#comments Sun, 29 Jan 2012 23:16:24 +0000 Tony http://laughingcynic.com/?p=736 If one of your New Year’s resolutions was to quit smoking then this is one resolution you should keep. We all make New Year’s resolutions but most people have forgotten them by the second week of January. We all mean well when we make the resolutions and knowing we should keep them but everyone gets busy then pushes them to the side. It is not long before they are forgotten and never thought of again. People that smoke know that smoking causes cancer, which can kill you.

It is easy to say you are going to quit smoking but without some tremendous willpower it is very hard. Most people struggle with the willpower part and give in to smoking again. The problem is most people do not seek help in order to stop smoking. They try to go at it alone only to find out is easier to keep smoking than to quit. With the price of cigarettes and the constant thought of developing lung cancer this should be an incentive to quit. If you plan to quit this year seek out help to guarantee your success to quit smoking.

]]> http://laughingcynic.com/are-you-trying-to-quit-smoking/feed 0 Taking Better Care of Yourself http://laughingcynic.com/taking-better-care-of-yourself http://laughingcynic.com/taking-better-care-of-yourself#comments Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:00:17 +0000 Tony http://laughingcynic.com/?p=733 If you have talked about taken better care of yourself for several years then it is time to get serious. Just talking about it without taking any action does nothing. Maybe you have been meaning to lose some weight and eat a better diet plan. If this is the case then it is time to get serious to create a plan in order to help meet your goals. As you age, it is more important to eat better and take care of yourself. Added weight can increase your chances of heart attack, stroke and other illnesses. No matter who you are there is a diet plan which will meet your needs.

The first order of creating a plan is to define your goals. What do you want to accomplish? What do you want to lose 10 pounds or 50 pounds? Once you have decided the amount of weight you want to lose then it is time to set a completion date goal. Be realistic, you are not going to lose 50 pounds in one week. You should lose weight slowly and consistently. Creating a plan to lose 1 to 2 pounds per week is very realistic. Once you have decided the amount of weight to be lost and the time frame then you can create a plan necessary to help you meet these goals. If you are planning to lose a large amount of weight then your plan must include a more aggressive plan which includes less calories and more exercise.

Cutting back on high calorie foods, carbohydrates, sugars, breads, snacks, cakes and unnecessary calories can assure your success of losing weight. This would include sugary drinks and colas also. Try to drink as much water as possible each day replacing your other drinks with it. There are flavor additives which you can add to enhance the flavor of your water, if you desire. If you are unable to obtain the willpower to cut back on your calorie intake it may be a good idea to investigate supplementation which can help to curb your appetite. You do not have the break the bank in order to eat correctly and follow a diet plan. There are discounts for supplementation online and your local gnc offers lots of discounts will help you save money also.

]]> http://laughingcynic.com/taking-better-care-of-yourself/feed 0 No Wonder People Act Badly http://laughingcynic.com/no-wonder-people-act-badly http://laughingcynic.com/no-wonder-people-act-badly#comments Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:41:55 +0000 Tony http://laughingcynic.com/?p=729 If people mimic their idols then celebrities are setting a very bad example. People like to look up to other people they respect and idolize. If you look on TV today celebrities are setting the worst example possible for their fans. Hardly any celebrity couple is immune to a nasty divorce. You see it all the time, just when you think a celebrity couple is married and happy for life everything blows up. You have seen it all before with Demi and Ashton, Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis and now Seal and Heidi.

Not only do they act badly when it comes to dating and marriage but they do so with their bad habits as well. It is almost every day that you see a celebrity checking into a drug abuse rehab center. I know life today is tough and depressing but give me a break. Some celebrities only check in to drug abuse rehab because they have been caught breaking the law. This gives them an out with the judge which will show them leniency during their court appearances. It would be nice if celebrities would check into a drug abuse rehab center, get cleaned up and show their fans a better side of themselves. If the celebrities would consider the impact they have on their fans and audience they may think twice about behaving so badly in public.

]]> http://laughingcynic.com/no-wonder-people-act-badly/feed 0 Need A Boost? http://laughingcynic.com/need-a-boost http://laughingcynic.com/need-a-boost#comments Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:21:43 +0000 Tony http://laughingcynic.com/?p=726 If you feel as if you need a little boost then I think I may have found exactly what you need. It is a wellness drink called Nopalea which is pronounced “No-pah lay’uh”. It is a drink made from the fruit of the Nopal cactus (Opuntia Ficus Indica). This cactus has been used for centuries by native people for energy as well as healing benefits. It also has been purported to neutralize toxins and inflammation in the body. Containing very potent antioxidants which have been scientifically proven to help the body reduce inflammation, according to the manufacturer. This would give Nopalea the ability to reduce muscle, joint and body pain as well as inflammation in the respiratory, arterial and digestive tracks.

Nopalea can reduce inflammation, cleanse toxins and promote optimal health by using its nutrients and rare antioxidants such as Betalains. Inflammation is the leading cause of pain so this antioxidant should be very useful for people with body aches and pains. The manufacturer is a 12-year-old company which has sold over 3 million 32-ouince bottles of its product. Do you have body pain and need extra energy? Have you tried Nopalea? If so, tell your story by commenting to this post.

]]> http://laughingcynic.com/need-a-boost/feed 0 Why Are Medical Insurance Companies So Difficult To Work With http://laughingcynic.com/why-are-medical-insurance-companies-so-difficult-to-work-with http://laughingcynic.com/why-are-medical-insurance-companies-so-difficult-to-work-with#comments Sat, 14 Jan 2012 01:01:05 +0000 socialspark http://laughingcynic.com/?p=723 This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walgreens for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I am not sure if you have heard this or not but Express Scripts, a medical insurance network provider, has decided to no longer accept prescription claims from Walgreens pharmacies. This places an undue burden on customers since they no longer can visit their local Walgreens pharmacy for their prescriptions. This action forces patients to choose pharmacies in which they are unaccustomed with. Walgreens attempted to negotiate with Express Scripts pharmacy provider network until the end of their contract on December 31, 2011. Walgreens and Express Scripts are no longer negotiating.

As of January 1, 2012, you can no longer have your medications filled at Walgreens pharmacies nationwide or Duane Reade pharmacies in the New York City area and expect your Express Scripts medical insurance to pay for them. Walgreens is attempting to lessen the burden and keep their customers by providing a special discount on the annual membership for its Prescription Savings Club. A family can join the Prescription Savings Club at Walgreens for only $10 per year which covers everyone in the immediate family. This includes your spouse, dependents 22 years of age and under and your pets. Individuals can join for only $5. By joining the club you will receive discounted prices and other perks.

You can stay informed on what Walgreens is doing to help their customers offset this inconvenience by following Walgreens on Facebook and Walgreens on Twitter.

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]]> http://laughingcynic.com/why-are-medical-insurance-companies-so-difficult-to-work-with/feed 0 What Happened in Your Office http://laughingcynic.com/what-happened-in-your-office http://laughingcynic.com/what-happened-in-your-office#comments Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:00:28 +0000 socialspark http://laughingcynic.com/?p=721 This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Contest Factory for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

If your office looks like a bomb exploded in it then it may be time to do something about it. Sometimes as we work in our offices or cubicles we forget that occasionally everything must get filed and the office must be cleaned up. The only problem with this concept is you may feel as if you are taking time away from your work while cleaning up your office. Because of this fact the office or cubicle becomes more cluttered, dirty, unorganized and begins to look as if a nuclear explosion has occurred. You may think since it is the New Year it is a good time to clean up your office and make it more presentable.

This is probably true but maybe you do not want to clean your office up quite yet; here is the reason why. You could win a complete office or cubicle makeover in the Pimp My Cube Contest. This contest is seeking the worst looking, messiest and total disaster office or cubicle. The winner of the contest will have the Contest Factory come in and clean up, straighten up and ‘Pimp’ their office or cubicle. In order to register for the contest you must submit a video showing your horrible office or cubicle then the worst one wins.

After submitting your video it is important to invite your friends, family, coworkers and anyone else you may know to vote for your video online. You will receive sweepstakes points when you register your video and when people vote, comment or invite others to register for the contest. The winner is determined by the video with the most sweepstakes points and will win the grand prize of a pimped out office or cubicle totaling approximately $1200. There are three prize packages to choose from which are:

o New high end computer system
o New Desk, Chair and Decorations
o New Entertainment Package with high end stereo, espresso machine etc.

There is a second place prize as well which consist of a $200 gift card. The second prize winner will be chosen by random from the contest participants at the end of the contest. The contest runs through January 31, 2012, so get in on it before it ends. Wouldn’t it be great to have your disastrous office cleaned up and looking great for 2012?

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]]> http://laughingcynic.com/what-happened-in-your-office/feed 0 I love Mexican Food http://laughingcynic.com/i-love-mexican-food http://laughingcynic.com/i-love-mexican-food#comments Sun, 01 Jan 2012 19:09:47 +0000 Tony http://laughingcynic.com/?p=719 I just realized something new about myself today. I went to lunch at a local Mexican fast food style place and ordered my usual taco with extra guacamole and it was quite good. Then, my friend called to schedule lunch with me tomorrow and I suggested Mexican food. Wait, I thought to myself. I just had that for lunch TODAY. It still sounds good for tomorrow though so oh well. So evidently Mexican food is my new favorite thing to eat. Who knew? Me, with my dairy allergy loves to eat Mexican food riddled with cheese. You know what the best thing is though? Sitting down at home to watch a movie on direct TV along with a huge plate of homemade nachos. Those are the perfect mixture between Mexican food and bar food. You can eat it with your hands and not have to use a plate. They go great with beer and football or Wine and a movie or reheated for lunch the day after your beer and football. I basically can’t find one single thing I don’t like about Mexican food.

]]> http://laughingcynic.com/i-love-mexican-food/feed 0 New Cell Phone for Christmas http://laughingcynic.com/new-cell-phone-for-christmas http://laughingcynic.com/new-cell-phone-for-christmas#comments Wed, 21 Dec 2011 22:18:10 +0000 Tony http://laughingcynic.com/?p=716 Are you planning to get a new cell phone for Christmas? You may have suggested to your family that you would like to have a new cell phone as a Christmas present. Maybe you are just giving yourself a new cell phone as a Christmas present since your contract has recently expired. With the minimal cost of cell phones from cell phone carriers why not get a new Android, iPhone or Blackberry? It seems as though most cell phone users get a new cell phone approximately every two years. With this fact there is an abundance of unused cell phones which either stack up at your home or are thrown into the trash.

Yet, there are a multitude of people who cannot afford a large cell phone contract in order to get a new phone for free. These people need a phone but may not be able to afford a brand-new phone. There is a solution to this problem in which you can help other people be able to afford a cell phone and even get paid for your old phone. Sellcell.com provides a cell phone recycle service which buys used phones and recycles them. All you have to do is go to their website and search for the cell phone you would like to sell, check the price offered, agree to sell your phone and then wait to get paid. This is a good way to make a little money for a cell phone you was not going to use anyway and helps someone else at the same time.

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