Lose 10 pounds fast

Posted on May 31, 2014 by admin

By Rhonda Campbell

Losing weight and getting down to a healthy weight is a sign of self-love. Even losing 10 pounds could help you avoid high blood pressure and joint pain. Dropping weight could also set a positive example for your children and grandchildren.

Weight loss that leads to better health

Dr. Oz puts it this way, “The average American woman has a BMI of 28, which is overweight – nearly obese. Her waists measures 37 inches, almost 5 inches too wide, and she weighs nearly 165 pounds. In 1960, the average American woman’s weight was 140 pounds. If we continue at this rate, in the next 50 years, your daughter or granddaughter will weigh 190 pounds.”

Realize the benefits that you can gain if you lose 10 pounds and you could drop the extra weight easier. In addition to lowering or avoiding high blood pressure and joint pain, losing weight can help you to reduce your risks of developing heart disease and dementia. Other benefits associated with losing weight are:

  • Less inflammation (inflammation is at the root of some joint and muscle pain)
  • Increased mobility (Ever tried to bend over and pick up something you dropped on the floor after you added 20 to 30 extra pounds to your stomach and thighs?)
  • Improved self-image
  • More energy
  • Better confidence in your abilities to start and finish goals that require you to be physical

Denial and self-deception could keep you fat

If you’ve been gaining 5 to 10 pounds a year for the past 3 to 5 years and you’re telling yourself (as you pull in your stomach before you look in the mirror) “not me; I’m not getting fat,” think again. “Nearly half of Americans have too much visceral fat, the abdominal fat that surrounds your internal organs, visible in their protruding bellies. The danger is this: visceral fat contains cells that release inflammation-causing chemicals in the body, which can cause memory loss and increase your chances of developing dementia,” according to Dr. Oz.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shares that more than 34% of American adults are obese. Medical costs associated with obesity were at $147 billion in 2008. You might be surprised to know that, according to the CDC, obesity didn’t increase sharply in the United States until 1990. Could technology and the trend of living less active lifestyles and working jobs that require adults to be less active be playing a huge role in the shift?

Do you want to comfort or do you want to lose 10 pounds?

Whatever the cause, losing weight to experience improved health is worth it. Steps you can take to lose 10 pounds require you to start exercising, the type of exercise that raises your heart rate. Forget trying to stay comfortable while you work out. If you’re a “comfort” junkie, freeing yourself of the goal to always feel comfortable could be a huge first step toward losing 10 pounds. Ways you could break out of the need to constantly feel comfortable include:

  • Breaking a pattern (i.e. take the bus to work one day, go for a bike ride if you haven’t been on a bike in years)
  • Stop yourself when you catch yourself thinking a thought that’s been repeating itself in your head for years, a thought that has produced not a single positive thing in your life
  • Write down habits and patterns you practice, including the times of day that you do these things. This could help you to start spotting habits that work to keep you feeling “comfortable”.
  • Speak to a neighbor, relative or colleague you normally avoid talking to simply because someone else hasn’t introduced you to the person yet
  • Take the lead on a community or work project (You may feel uncomfortable at the start, but if you build a strong time and relate to the team members well, you’ll learn that you can do a lot more than you thought you could.)

Lose 10 pounds as a form of self-care

Losing 10 pounds is going to take action. It’s also going to take motivation and encouragement. The good thing is that there are several ways you could lose 10 pounds. If you’re looking for ideas, to lose 10 pounds, you could:

  • Jump rope for 15 to 20 minutes a day
  • Speed walk (I have a friend who lost 30 pounds speed walking for five miles four or more days a week.)
  • Jogging or running for 45 minutes four days a week
  • Lifting weights (This has helped many people trade fat for muscle.)
  • Dancing (If you love to dance, this could be a great and rewarding way to lose weight.)
  • Trim 200 calories a day out of your diet
  • Drink water in place of soda (Make sure you don’t start snacking more if you take this approach.)
  • Chew gum when you feel tempted to snack
  • Meditate for 1 to 2 minutes when you feel stressed instead of reaching for fatty foods and/or sugary drinks
  • Get a good night of sleep, so you don’t find yourself eating or drinking to try to boost your energy levels or to shake off sleepiness
  • Maintain healthy relationships to avoid using food to block out undesired thoughts and emotions

The more you sweat, the more calories you generally burn. Raising your heart rate is also a sign that you’re out of your “comfort” zone and burning calories. To lose 10 pounds, in addition to exercising, start the day by eating breakfast. Orange juice, a glass of water, fresh fruit or an egg muffin are all great breakfast foods. Oatmeal, fruit yogurt and Malt-o are other great breakfast foods.

On the flip side of eating being sure to eat breakfast, to lose 10 pounds, avoid eating late at night. If you get hungry and feel you must eat, go for vegetables instead of bread late at night. Read and listen to encouraging material. Stay motivated.

Posted in Personal Thoughts | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Let Press Releases Spread Your Success Story

Posted on May 17, 2014 by admin

By Eric Bradford

No one is going to know how great your products are if you don’t tell them. Press releases are effective at getting the message out about new product releases, management changes at your company, acquisitions and mergers and quarterly revenues results. You can also use press releases to:

  • Announce upcoming business events
  • Share information about new business partnerships (an example of this is when a new product dealer signs an agreement to stock and sale your products)
  • Let the media and readers know about community events your company will attend
  • Report the results of a conference you attended or hosted
  • Provide details on a move to a new office location

To get the most mileage out of press releases, get in the habit of distributing the news releases one or more times a month. You’ll also want to use the right press release distribution services.

When and where to send press releases

Although you could spend hours searching for low cost press release distribution services, to save time, you can distribute a media announcement through one distribution channel and monitor the results for one to two weeks. If the distribution service gets its users real results, you should see:

  • Sales of your products or services pick up
  • More people signing up for your business newsletter
  • Larger numbers of people visiting your website
  • Social media accounts you have receiving more followers

Don’t be surprised if you also are contacted by the media to schedule interviews or to provide on camera tips in your business specialty. Below are some press release distribution services that have a regional, national or international reach.

PRweb.com (A basic press release distribution package cost $99 as of May 2014. Your articles will be reviewed before they’re submitted.)

Ereleases.com (Distribution rates start at $199. Releases are automatically sent out to Google News and Yahoo! News. You can choose other areas, like states and industries, you want the releases distributed to. Think wisely when choosing where to have the releases distributed as the more areas you send the releases to, the higher your bill will be.)

Mass Media Distribution (Local distribution, the least costly of the firm’s services, starts at $199.)

PR News Channel (This site was created by former journalists. Cost to send press releases through them start at $149.)

PR News Wire (Has been in business for 60 years.  Distributes to more than 208,000 media oulets.)

Business Wire (Let’s you distribute photos and print documents.)

Remember to test the results that you get with a press release distribution service before you start writing and sending dozens of releases through the service. Also, check out the types of releases the companies have already distributed. You want your money to be well spent. You don’t want to pay to have news releases distributed through companies that, despite their ads, don’t have firsthand relationships with journalists and other media decision makers.

 

Posted in Growing Business | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Temper tent disaster relief purposes

Posted on May 17, 2014 by admin

By Rhonda Campbell
Recent storms, including a rash of tornadoes, that hit the Southern part of the United States stress how critical it is to be adequately prepared for a disaster. Wait until a disaster, natural or human made, occurs to prepare for an unexpected emergency is waiting too late. A first step in disaster preparedness starts with getting the right disaster relief supplies.

Must have disaster relief supplies

Of all disaster relief supplies (i.e. batteries, non-perishable food, military gas mask, bottled water), a Temper Tent could protect you from harsh elements most. Expandable and modular, a Temper Tent comes with ropes, stakes and a frame. Roof panels feature a stovepipe. Vinyl coated material on the outside of the tents makes the tents mildew, water and fire resistant. Purposes for temper tents are to:

  • Provide shelter during rain, snow and snow (Temper tents are also used to shelter humans and animals from extremely hot temperatures. The tents can withstand wind gusts as high as 65 to 75 miles per hour.)
  • Have a space to set up computers and disaster relief supplies
  • Troop billeting by the Army, especially Army units that conduct tests and actual exercises that call for the use of a military gas mask
  • To keep animals out (Temper tents are also used to keep insects and pests like snakes out of confined spaces.)
  • Camping outdoors (Heads of military units aren’t the only people relying on temper tents. Keen outdoor enthusiasts are also using the tents to enjoying living outdoors for a day, a week or longer.)
  • Shelter displaced workers during hailstorms and other natural disasters. (Some business leaders may decide to make storing several temper tents on or off-site a key part of their business continuity plans.)

Disaster relief commanders also use temper tents to set up communication centers. During the 2014 running of the Boston Marathon, police divisions in major cities that may have received terrorists threats set up a Temper Tent. For example, New York City police installed a Temper Tent outside of Penn Station on the day that the Boston Marathon was run.

As with other disaster relief efforts, the time to practice installing temper tents is before an emergency strikes. It’s this approach that experienced first responders take even now. During spring 2014, more than 700 National Guard members conducted disaster preparedness exercises at the Oriskany Preparedness Center, according to the Rome Observer.

To master installing temper tents, build the tents two or more times. Allow several family members to help build the tents, so they’ll know what to do should you become ill or injured. Options you have when choosing and building the tents include adding front liners, a heating source, a shower or a way to allow water in and out of the tents. A Temper Tent also comes in small, medium and large sizes. Consider the number of people in your family when selecting one of these sturdy tents.

Let’s face it. No one wants a disaster to occur. Yet, that doesn’t keep hundreds of people from dying during a natural disaster each year. Prevention Web reports that, annually, more than 26 million people are affected by a natural disaster. Getting a military gas mask, flashlights, extra dry clothes, blankets, batteries and a Temper Tent then learning how to construct and deconstruct the tent efficiently could save your family or workers from having to endure harsh elements for hours or days.

Posted in Business Management | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Regain customer trust after your worst mistake

Posted on May 10, 2014 by admin

By Rhonda Campbell

business mistakes
If you had a blueprint, clearly outlining each decision you should make in your personal and professional lives and when, then making mistakes might deserve strong criticisms. After all, you consciously knew exactly what to do and still screwed up. But, who has such a conscious blueprint? Who’s afforded that luxury?

Which is why Elbert Hubbard may have said it best when he said, “The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually afraid you will make one.” So, what do you do after you make a mistake, even a colossal mistake? How do you regain your customer trust?

Face reality and start taking action
Start regaining your customers’ trust by being honest. Have your sales force and business managers meet with their clients to discuss the mistake and what you, as the head of the entire company, are doing to correct the mistake. Also, let customers know what you are doing to ensure that the mistake doesn’t happen again.

Other steps you could take to recover from your worst mistakes are to:

• Acknowledge to yourself that you made a mistake. You’ll actually have to take this step before you can complete any of the other steps successfully.
• Free yourself from giving into the temptation to defend or deny the mistake.
• Meet with your management team and discuss how the mistake started, why it went unnoticed and what safeguards could be put in place to avoid a similar event. Don’t gloss over this. Spend time digging to the bottom of what occurred and how it could be avoided in the future.
• Be patient with customers when they complain or vent about the mistake.
• Reach out to loyal customers, asking for ideas on how to avoid a similar mistake in the future. These are customers you are in close communication with.
• Write and distribute a letter to customers, publicly acknowledging the mistake. Provide an overview of steps you will take to correct the mistakes. Close by thanking customers for their continued support.
• Refund customers their money if the mistakes are directly related to defective products, etc.

This one might come as a surprise, but you should also look for lessons that you learned from mistakes you make. As Cicero says, “We must not say every mistake is a foolish one.”

Posted in Business Management | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Why you should never give up

Posted on April 29, 2014 by admin

By Rhonda Campbell

Success could be your next life experience if you never give up. But, it’s not always easy.

In fact, if you’re like most people, your energy is high – your hope and motivations high – when you begin a new project. It doesn’t matter whether you’re starting a new company, beginning to write a new book or entering the early stages of a new relationship. At the start of a project, before you’ve experienced setbacks or challenges, you’re certain that you can win, that you’ll excel above your previous achievements.

Stay encouraged and never give up

Then you find out that not every element in the world is in alignment with your goals, your deepest dreams. Setbacks show up (i.e. time management issues, financial setbacks, family concerns) and your sense of hope, motivation and inspiration start to dwindle. You might even be tempted to throw in the towel and give up.

If this is where you currently are in your life, please let me encourage you. There are so many reasons why you should never give up, among them being:

  • Your dreams can still come true. Setbacks don’t have to stop you permanently. Be flexible. Approach the achievement of a goal from a different angle. Listen to uplifting music. Get creative to allow both sides of your brain to assist you, but don’t give up on what you truly want.
  • Lessons are buried in our setbacks. I know it’s doesn’t feel that way now, but if you keep your eyes and your ears (and of course, your mind) open, you could one or more valuable lessons as you continue to move through these experiences. Never give up; don’t rob yourself of the chance to gain insightful experiences as you pursue your dreams!
  • Tools you gain from your current experiences might be used to teach others later.
  • You have a right to keep believing in yourself.
  • Joy is your birthright. If you give up on your dreams (I’m talking your deepest dreams), you may never experience the joy you could have had you kept trying, changed your approach to achieving your dreams, stayed open and listened to (and followed) the direction you receive from your Higher Self.
  • The greatest source in the universe is pulling for you. Your Higher Self is pulling for you.
  • Achieving your dreams will motivate, inspire and encourage others.
  • Fulfilling your dreams could connect you will a universal mosaic that strengthens more people than you’ll ever know.
  • If others have faced great setbacks and challenges (i.e. Nelson Mandela, Harriett Tubman, Joan of Arc, Thomas Edison) and they achieved their dreams, so can you.

Most of all, deep down within, you know you should never give up. You wouldn’t be reading this article if you didn’t know that deep down within.

Posted in Staying Motivated and Inspired | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Why you should never give up