Stephanie Marie Seferian's Blog, page 13

The Processed Food Problem

About 60 percent of the foods Americans eat these days are processed, and diet-related illnesses are the leading cause of mortality in the USA. If you’re like most people you may be spending your hard-earned dollars on food you’ve been told is healthy and safe but simply isn’t.

Amidst both all the conflicting diet information and all the greenwashing it has never been more important to pay attention to what’s in our food. On today’s show we discuss the processed food problem by zeroing in on 3 s...

Building Experiential Wealth

Our experiences – the big trips, the small moments of joy, and everything in between – are the real wealth of our lives. So why is it that we consistently fail to do the things we’re yearning to do? And how can we live a life that’s experientially rich despite the daily grind?

Today’s show is a conversation with authors Bridget Hilton and Joe Huff about how to treat time as our most valuable currency while it’s still on our side.

Here’s a preview:

[4:00] How to accurately measure the importance ...

Reclaiming Your Weekends

For many, weekends are for chores. They’re also for carting kids to sports games and getting caught up on errands. But amidst all that driving and laundering, where are the opportunities to rest, rejuvenate, and fully live our lives?

Feeling rested is so much more than a good night’s sleep and on today’s show we discuss research-backed ways to reclaim your time and wellness by making weekends work for you.

 

Here’s a preview:

[3:00] Connections between work, busyness, and feeding the capitalist ...

Buying For Life

We live in a world that’s always trying to sell us more stuff, and much of it is junk. Enter environmental degradation, wasted money, unnecessary headaches, and clutter. Lots of clutter.

Today we continue this week’s Buy Just Once theme with BuyMeOnce.com founder Tara Button, who’s here to lay bare the tenets of what she terms ‘mindful curation’.

Here’s a preview:

[7:00] Exactly how our ultra-commercialized world leaves us broke and lonely

[12:00] Examining the discrepancy between the “poor prem...

Grandma Wisdom

These days, durable and long-lasting products often seem like elusive unicorns. But they do exist, and finding them is a 2-step process.

First, it’s imperative that we check our collective predisposition for disposability at the curb. Second, we must learn insider tricks for discerning the buy-for-life products from the cheap junk that lines store shelves. Enter Buy Just Once Week!

On today’s show sustainability educator Sophie Jungbauer suggests practical ways to adopt our grandmothers’ mindset...

Buy Just Once

These days, durable and long-lasting products often seem like elusive unicorns. But they do exist, and finding them is a 2-step process.

First, it’s imperative that we check our collective predisposition for disposability at the curb. Second, we must learn insider tricks for discerning the buy-for-life products from the cheap junk that lines store shelves. Enter Buy Just Once Week!

On today’s show sustainability educator Sophie Jungbauer suggests practical ways to adopt our grandmothers’ mindset...

Keeping Clutter Out

Yes, clutter is always going to accumulate. But there are ways to prevent at least some of it from entering our homes, and we’re chatting about 3 of those ways today.

 

Here’s a preview:

[2:00] Our decluttering challenge wrap-up

[10:00] Browse, don’t buy!

[16:30] Rocks, pebbles, and your personal Chuck It List

[25:30] Contentment is being satisfied with what you have. Enter the Don’t Want List

 

Resources mentioned:

Episode #376: When Everything’s A FavoriteEpisode #397: What Organizers DoFou...

What Organizers Do

People are naturally curious about the homes of professional organizers. On today’s show author Shira Gill divulges 5 high-impact organizing tips straight from the mouths of fellow professional organizers.

Here’s a preview of the insider tricks we’re discussing today:

[10:30] Don’t shop for a mansion if you live in a cottage!

[16:00] Display what’s beautiful; conceal what isn’t

[20:00] Ditch the product packaging for reduced visual clutter

[23:00] When in doubt, decant

[35:00] Elevate your negle...

The C Word

Since the dawn of the chemical era more than 300,000 chemicals have been invented, and many of which are made from oil and natural gas. While some manufactured chemicals have indeed provided benefit (disinfectants! antibiotics!), they have also caused great harm. Manufactured chemicals pollute every corner of the planet. They kill bees, fish, and mammals. They nearly destroyed the ozone and, yes, they give us cancer.

Many types of cancer are on the rise in the US, and one explanation for this in...

Lifestyle Creep

Spend more money than necessary on non-essential upgrades? You’re not alone.

Lifestyle creep is often related to status, and its prevalence may be bolstered by a perceived sense of lack. On today’s show financial educator Kara Perez offers her best tips for combatting unintentional lifestyle creep in the day-to-day.

Here’s a preview: 

[3:00] When Latte Factors and Treat Yo’self! intersect: At what point do treats become lifestyle inflation?

[9:00] The Number One question to ask if you suspect yo...