Top Health And Wellness Tips (Part I)
Having been a primary care physician for over 15 years now, I still get asked a lot of questions about how people can really learn to feel well. I also believe that the way we feel is foundational to our wellbeing.So I decided to take this opportunity to revisit some important issues that I feel every woman needs to pay attention to in order to enhance her overall wellbeing.So here we go!1. I DON’T LIKE DIETS, WHAT ELSE CAN I DO TO LOSE WEIGHT?A lot of what I counsel my patients and clients on is that rather than focus on a diet, look at incorporating sustainable lifestyle changes that lead to healthy eating. A frequent down side to diets is that not only are they usually are temporary and some diets on the market may restrict your intake of calories so rigidly, that you may actually look like your losing weight but what is happening is that you are losing muscle and not fat! When you get off the diet, you gain all the weight back. So as part of adapting long term lifestyle changes look at ways that you can adapt ideas to include more healthy recipes.2. I’M GOING THROUGH MENOPAUSE AND MY DOCTOR WILL NOT PRESCRIBE HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY. WHAT ELSE CAN I DO?This was a question that is a hot topic around the ‘water cooler’ and was asked a lot by my female patients. Especially after a lot of them had to be suddenly taken off their Premarin® after the results of the ‘Women’s Health Study’ in 2002 showed an increase in heart attacks, strokes and blood clots for women who had been on hormone replacement therapy for a long period of time.The main reason that a lot of women may seek medical attention during menopause is due to the bothersome symptoms such as hot flashes, vaginal dryness or mood swings that affect her overall wellbeing. I usually recommend that women start preparing for menopause and beyond in her younger years. This is why women’s health is an issue that is very dear to my heart. For those women who may require hormone replacement therapy there are bioidentical hormones. I would recommend these for as short a period of time as possible whilst emphasizing lifestyle modifications such as healthy eating and health fitness.3. I DON’T HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO EXERCISE WHAT IS THE BEST KIND OF EXERCISE- CARDIO OR RESISTANCE TRAINING?Here’s what I think- there is no ‘one size fits all’ answer to this question. It really depends on what your overall fitness goals are and also what stage of life you are in. For instance being a woman over 40 myself at this stage of life, I am focusing on resistance training in order to gain muscle mass and strengthen my bones in order to reduce the risk of osteoporosis. There are 5 components of health fitness, but the two main types that we commonly focus on is cardio and strength (or resistance training). I usually recommend alternating cardio days with resistance days. It’s a great idea to review fitness articles to keep you up to date on creative ways to incorporate physical activity into your daily life.4. I HAVE A FAMILY HISTORY OF HEART DISEASE WHAT SHOULD I LOOK OUT FOR TO MAKE SURE I AM HEART HEALTHY?I get really passionate about the answer to this question, because there has been a myth out there that due to the fact that the female hormone estrogen helps to protect us against heart disease and so a woman we do not need to be worried about heart attacks. Women’s heart health is an issue that requires that we as women be proactive in our own health and wellbeing. Do not discount any worrisome symptoms as the persistent heartburn may not just be heartburn. And if you do go to see your physician and it gets brushed off as just ‘stress’, then please seek a second opinion! As women we are gifted with an ‘inner knowingness’ and I encourage you to begin to listen to that voice as your guide toward total wellbeing.5. I WORK IN A VERY STRESSFUL ENVIRONMENT, WHAT CAN I DO TO REDUCE MY STRESS LEVEL?
Granted stress is inevitable in our lives. However, it is more important how we relate to and handle stress. Stress and stress related issues, in my estimation are responsible for close to 80 % of visits to a physician’s office. And I can say that professional women especially tend to have a higher burden of stress related not only to work but also other competing dynamics such as child rearing, relationships and societal expectations and demands to name but a few. There are healthy ways we can adapt to protect our emotional health. In her book, ‘Anatomy of the Spirit’ Caroline Myss made a very powerful statement that ‘our biography becomes our biology’. It points to the power that our emotions have to color not only our moods but also our physical bodies. Guard your thoughts and with that you will guard the temple of your soul-the physical self.Next issue, I’ll review things we need to do for our family members and then simple steps you can take immediately to improve health and wellbeing.
Online Affiliate Marketing Programs – Important Techniques For Success
Online affiliate marketing programs have surely grabbed the headlines as one of the most successful and effective ways of earning online. But the earning percentage is quite deviating as only 20% of the affiliates are generating 80% of the income while the rest of the 80% are only contributing 20% of income. It may sound strange but it’s true. Being new in online affiliate marketing programs you would certainly want to be in the 20% category earning 80% of total income.Following some basic steps can guide you in understanding how to work yourself in online affiliate marketing programs to earn considerably.1. An intelligent marketer covers their website links. Cloaking your affiliate links perhaps may not seem necessary, but in reality it is. Visitors will avoid clicking on those links which will lead them to an affiliate program. The usual tendency of the visitor is to avoid clicking on the affiliate links, therefore, do not display the affiliate ID in the URL. You can avoid this problem by cloaking the URL. Various cloaking tools are available on the internet which can prove beneficial for this act.2. Creating and distributing articles is also necessary to be a successful affiliate marketer. Writing articles will help you to increase your reputation as a specialist in the field. You can also avail benefits from writing articles by getting it published on other website owners. A resource box will be attached in the end of each article.3. The focus of affiliate marketers are on market niche. Loading the website with content focusing on certain service or product has high chances of attract more traffic from the targeted audience. Online affiliate marketing programs are a widely spread platform for businesses to market their products and services.4. Auto responders are a tool which is also employed by top affiliate marketers. It helps the affiliate marketers to send timed series of messages to those individuals who have signed up.5. Smart and intellectual affiliate marketers build web pages for pre-selling. Create either review pages or testimonial pages which convey message about pre-selling product or service affiliated with.6. Collecting email addresses is another added benefit for affiliate marketers. An outstanding affiliate gathers email addresses by presenting free reports by auto responders.7. Affiliate marketers need to avail every opportunity to market their products and services. Ezine advertising or PPC can be utilized depending on the market niche. Google AdWords, Yahoo’s Overture can also be used for this purpose.8. Search engine optimization (SEO) has become more complex because of more webmasters have started to partake in learning SEO. Affiliate marketers optimize for search engine results.9. Affiliate marketers build their own mailing list so that they can contact their visitors directly for new products and promotions. In online affiliate marketing programs, it is necessary to create a down line to be successful.Proper guidance is extremely necessary to be successful in online affiliate marketing programs. Above mentioned techniques can help you achieve the top status as the best affiliate marketer in online affiliate marketing programs.
Investments in UK Companies With 30% Tax Relief – Use VCTs
Venture Capital Trusts or VCTs offer investors a means of investing in smaller UK companies, while enjoying tax relief of 30% paid up-front by government.VCT investments must be between £3,000 – £200,000, and the shares must be held for 5 years, in order to retain the tax relief.If for any reason Venture Capital Trust investments are terminated before the end of the 5-year period, the 30% in tax relief must be paid back to HMRC.There are now very innovative VCT models available which have very effectively minimised risk. As the top tax bracket has now risen to 50%, VCTs are a more attractive investment than ever, particularly for high earners.VCTs – the Tax BreaksThe 30% tax relief available on VCTs is based on the investor’s income tax liability in the year of investment. In other words, investors can only claim against the income tax they have paid in the current year.For example, the 30% tax relief on a VCT investment of £100,000 would be equal to £30,000. However, this would be available only if the individual had paid £30,000 in tax during the current tax year.The relief can be used against all forms of income tax paid, not just earned income, and all dividends are tax free. Any capital gains on shares sold in the VCT are also tax free.Market conditions are extremely favourable to VCT investments at present.With bank lending to smaller companies relatively difficult to obtain at present (January 2011), many dynamic companies are looking around for alternative sources of finance – and see VCTs as an attractive option.Consequently, VCT managers have never had such a range of high quality projects vying for funding, and the quality and standard of companies where they invest has never been so good.VCTs are a valuable and highly tax-efficient strategic investment which can be used as part of a balanced financial plan, in conjunction with Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) and a personal pension.
How Everyday Citizens Can Help With Healthcare Reform
Healthcare reform is a hot topic in the United States and around the world and for many good reasons. Every year we spend 4.5 trillion dollars globally on healthcare yet in many ways we aren’t any healthier than we were years ago and in some ways we are sicker. Furthermore, healthcare is costing more and the effectiveness of it is being questioned more and more each year.In addition governments around the world are trying to reform healthcare but as you will probably agree, that’s not working either.So what can everyday citizens do to help with healthcare reform?1. Make it a priority to reform the healthcare of you, your friends, family and other loved ones. By doing this you will help to ease the burden of the healthcare system and make the world healthier.So how exactly do you do this?First, make taking care of your health a priority. Too many of us do not make having good health a priority. We eat and drink things we know are not healthy for our bodies. We use too many drugs. We use too many chemical based bath and body products and cleaners
and we don’t exercise and practice good nutrition like we should. The result is that we are sicker and have more health problems than would otherwise be necessary.Second, avoid running to the doctor for every little minor illness and educate yourself about all the ways that are available for having and maintaining good health.2. Use integrative medicine. Instead of being close minded and thinking that you can solve all of your health needs by going only to medical doctors, involve chiropractors, massage therapists, naturopaths, nutritionists and other health and healing professionals in assisting you to take good care of your body.3. Advocate for and encourage local and national governments to pass legislation that encourages more healthy habits and integrative medicine.4. Become your own health coach by researching and learning how to take better care of your health.5. Use common sense when you are given advice by a doctor, and get a second option whenever necessary. This includes researching the side effects of any prescription medicine and making an informed decision for yourself as to if you will or will not use that prescription.6. Educate yourself about natural medicine including essential oils and herbs. These are very powerful when used correctly and can make a huge impact on the quality of your life and your health.