Best Nutritional Supplements For Weight Loss
Even without trying to lose weight, there’s no question any more about the importance/necessity for taking food grade vitamin/mineral supplements. The fact is the foods we’re supposed to be getting all our nutrients from are not anywhere near the same as what they used to be 30 years ago. Gmo foods, over-farmed soils and pesticides are creating produce with much less usable nutrients than what we used to be able to rely on for our vitamins. There are numerous fruits and vegetables that develop the majority of their vitamin/mineral content during the last 7-10 days of vine ripening. Unfortunately, unless you live on a farm and eat directly out of the garden, you get your produce from the super market. In order for fruits and vegetables to be fresh and last long enough for you to buy them from the store, they have to be picked well before this time. This means much of the produce we buy from grocery stores have finished their ripening process in dark crates or under fluorescent lights and never fully develop their full nutrient profile. Considering all of this, even if you are getting all 5 servings of fruits and vegetables every day, you should still take some kind of vitamin/mineral supplement to fill in the gaps your food may not be providing.On a reduced calorie diet, the need for nutritional supplements is even greater. If your weight loss diet is properly balanced and correctly planned (which most are not), food is taken in smaller quantities while the exercise demand is considerably higher. As compared with normal (non-dieting) eating, a good weight loss nutritional program should contain much more vegetables as they are less calorie dense, cleanse the body and are supposed to provide the proper nutrients needed. While the greater volume of these foods should make up for vitamin deficient foods, the greater demand from increased exercise will cause the body to require more. Do not choose vitamin/mineral supplements based on price and go with the cheapest you find as these may not be the best for you. Do your research before buying and look for vitamin supplements that will be the most absorbable rather than affordable. The most absorbable vitamin supplements are colloidal (liquid) and/or as close to food sources as possible (minimal processing).As important as good quality, absorbable multi-vitamin/mineral supplements are to your health, these products should be the baseline of every nutritional supplement program. They will not however make a noticeable difference in weight loss if they are the only supplements you’re taking. There are many other products designed specifically to help you lose weight and build healthy muscle. Like a good multi-vitamin, these must also be carefully chosen so you can get the best results possible for the cheapest price. When used correctly at the right times and for the right reasons, there are many nutritional supplements currently for sale that can help you achieve new levels of fitness and health very quickly no matter what your age is. When shopping, the number of different supplements available will keep your mind spinning; this market is huge and there are many good companies offering an astounding number of great products. However there is also an equally large number of ineffective junk products as well if you’re not careful. For simplicity reasons, you can categorize most weight loss nutritional supplements into three groups; macronutrient replacement, fat burners/energy pills and performance based products.Macronutrient replacement type supplements are available as protein drinks and meal replacement powders. The goal of these nutritional supplements is to support your diet with more macronutrients such as proteins, carbohydrates and healthy fats. Meal replacement powders are a cheap and easy way to get excellent nutrition on the go in a very convenient way, a drink you can mix up and get down quickly on the go. These products make dieting much easier and tastier! Whey protein drinks and meal replacement powders are sweet, tasty, come in lots of interesting, delicious flavors and are excellent for satisfying the sweet tooth cravings everyone struggles with on a diet. For weight loss, protein drinks and meal replacement powders make it easier to get all the protein you need every day to keep you from losing muscle. When taken directly after a muscle building or strenuous workout, liquid protein drinks are the fastest and best way to get the nutrition you need for both growth and recovery.If you’re not a breakfast eater, a tasty meal replacement protein drink can be easy to get down and an excellent way to get a good shot of vitamins with balanced, easy to absorb nutrition to start your day. These supplements are not expensive, especially when you consider they are replacing food, however cost-wise it equals out to about the same. Macronutrient replacement supplements can also be found as pocket sized, protein bars that are also very convenient. While these products are popular, they are harder to digest and will not absorb as quickly as liquid drinks. It can also be a struggle to find a protein meal replacement bar that’s tasty enough to want to eat it more than once. Compared to the flavor and ease of liquid protein meal replacement drinks, the bars are merely a back-up for most dieters.Perhaps one of the most important supplements for weight loss are the fat burners. These are pills and/or powdered drink mixes designed specifically to help speed up your metabolism and target fat burning. They do work well however should be used in conjunction with rigorous exercise; in fact most of these products work best when taken directly before. Fat burner type supplements are also great for adding energy to your day. These products often have caffeine or natural substances such as herbs that cause a stimulatory effect. While macronutrient replacement supplements are deemed very safe for most people, fat burners should be looked at a little closer if you have a history of certain health conditions such as heart problems, etc. If you are prone to certain conditions that are sensitive to stimulants, you would be well advised to consult your medical doctor before taking a fat burner supplement. On that note, beware of asking any medical doctor about nutritional supplements, exercise or nutrition advice if they are not an athlete themselves. Overall, fat burners are helpful for weight loss, but very secondary to how much exercise you do and how good your nutrition is. If you’re hardly exercising and your diet is not dialed in for weight loss, fat burners will not do much for you. If your program is good and you’re exercising hard and regularly, fat burners can make a great difference.Besides meal replacement powders and protein drinks the next most usable nutritional supplements are performance based. These products are powdered drink mixes to aid in your workouts. Performance supplements include pre-workout energy drinks that give you more energy for your training but also contain ingredients to help with other aspects. For example, some pre-workout drinks also help your muscles get a better pump and help them expand larger to make you bigger. Some pre-workout supplements are combined with fat burners and also ingredients for long term energy used best for endurance sports. Performance supplements also include drinks designed to be consumed during and after your workout. Intra-workout supplements are great for supplying your muscles with nutrients and amino acids while you train. These not only improve performance during the workout but also help you recover faster for the next set. Post-workout drinks are designed primarily to aid recovery and are perhaps the most valuable of all. These products are best consumed directly after training or right before bed and greatly aid the body in recovering faster and more completely.
Keys to a Healthy Lifestyle – Detox Your Lifestyle to Make Space For a Healthier You
What do you need to let go of to make space for a healthier lifestyle?Old habits die hard and can therefore be difficult to change. They slow you down and get in the way of what and who you want to become.What lifestyle habits are standing in the way of a healthier way of life for you?In what ways can you learn to let go of activities that give you pleasure now but cost you dearly later on?Allow yourself to think about the idea of letting go of something that’s standing in the way of you achieving a healthy lifestyle. You can choose to let go of something for now and pick it up again later if you want to, that’s your choice. However, take into account that letting go of just one thing will mean you have space to pick up something else that might bring you even more pleasure. We invite you to do that now.Sometimes when you feel overwhelmed by things in your life, the situation is not as real as you think it is. Sometimes the problem is in what you think about the situation rather than the circumstances themselves. Often the negative thought patterns associated with overwhelm come from a belief system that you learned as you journeyed through life.The burden of negative thought patterns can create toxicity in your mind and body, weighing you down and making you feel heavy and demoralized. The lifestyle detox activity below will help you clear away the obstacles and let go of thought patterns that have been keeping you from living a healthy lifestyle.Lifestyle Detox ActivityOnce you know where your life needs detoxifying you can begin to make space for a healthier way of living. Focus on identifying one thing that is creating toxicity in your life. Or choose more than one – you choose how many you want to consider.Notice thought patterns that are creating toxicity. Once you know the areas you need to detoxify you can begin to find ways to cleanse you life. Focus on something that you have the power to change, rather than things you have no control over. Stop and take time to consider these questions.What have you learned from this exercise?
What will you choose to let go?
What will you replace it with?Now create a compelling outcome for yourself that will enable you to detoxify your life and create a healthier lifestyle right now. Make sure your lifestyle outcome is clear to you. Write it down, draw a picture, meditate on it – whatever works for you is just fine.State your lifestyle goal in positive terms. Choose to focus on what you want rather than what you don’t want and plan when you will use these keys to detox your life and create a healthy lifestyle.
Six Options For Financing Acquisitions
When it is time to arrange the financing for an acquisition, it is important to be creative. When seeking money to buy a company, you will notice that a number of community banks, typically big funders of certain acquisitions, are encountering difficulty due to their degraded residential (builders) loan portfolio. Creativity can make the difference between accessing capital or canceling the acquisition, especially now when credit markets are tighter.Here are some options for financing acquisitions:1. Owner financing / seller financing – Go to the seller first. Who is better prepared to finance the business than the person or company who owned it? They know the business better than anyone and are most familiar with its risks. In the current environment, you should be able to get 40-70% of the business financing via owner financing. You must convince the seller you are a good risk, just as you would have to convince a bank.2. Supplier or vendor financing – The target company’s suppliers and vendors are a good source of financing. Their business is likely to increase under your new ownership. (i.e., If you do not intend to grow the business, why would you buy it?) Leverage that growth in their business to negotiate for financing from them. If the target company has been a good customer, the supplier is knowledgeable about the business and will understand the inherent risks better than a typical bank. Note that if you are an existing business acquiring another business, you can pursue financing from your suppliers and vendors. The same reasons apply.3. Mezzanine financing or private equity funding – Mezzanine and private equity funds that serve the small and medium markets raised large sums of money before the market meltdown. They therefore have money to spend and are looking for great opportunities. With fewer people and companies making acquisitions right now even though multiples are very low, now is a great time to obtain mezzanine financing. The target company typically will need revenue of $10 – $20 million and higher and EBITDA of $2 – 3 million and more to be interesting to a mezzanine or private equity fund. Why? These funds have to spend large amounts in a relatively short period of time (5-7 years) so they need larger deals.4. Bank debt – If the target company has a lot of medium to long-term assets in addition to good cash flow and a strong profit margin, you should have relatively few problems finding bank financing. However, if you want to buy a service company which has a lot of receivables and other short term assets, you may encounter difficulty. Find a bank that has a history of financing the type of company you are buying. Also, talk to the seller’s banker. If the seller has a strong banking relationship, the banker will know the business well, increasing the likelihood that that bank will provide financing in order to retain the relationship and the itinerant deposit accounts.5. Receivables financing – If you find it difficult to obtain bank financing, pursue account receivables financing firms. They can provide term loans and lines of credits against the receivables. Although the interest rate will be higher, these firms are more familiar with receivables financing and thus often more comfortable with lending against receivables.6. Pre-paid sales – Approach the target’s customers and ask them to make a bulk purchase or pre-pay for several months’ or a year’s worth of products or services in exchange for a strong discount.These are some acquisition funding options to stimulate your own creative thinking and approach. There are other alternatives, some of which may be unique to your particular business.
Photography – Defining a Few Different Types of Photographic Styles
Traditional Photography. Custom photography. Lifestyle Photography. Photojournalism. These are all terms used to describe different photographic shooting styles, and they are all fairly well-known terms nowadays too. I have found though, that despite the number of people who have heard of these terms, very few actually know what the difference between them is. In the rest of this article, you will find explanations for what each term means and why you might choose to use one photographic style over another.Traditional photography is the type of photography most people have experienced. This would be your standard studios and department store studios. These photographers typically create their photographs in their own studio using their own props and equipment. They are often artificially lit using studio lighting. This style of photography is actually very well known for it’s very posed and perfected look. Everything and everyone is in their place and positioned just so. This type of photography is often used for portraiture, especially for families.If that doesn’t sound like the right fit for you, you may be interested in custom photography. Custom photography is actually a name used to describe several different sub-categories of style. Basically custom photography is about going a step up from the typical carbon-copied photos of the traditional photographer and selecting a photographer who will not only create images that directly reflect your family, but also provide you with an experience and service that just can’t be compared to traditional photography studios. Custom photography might be the style for you if you are interested in taking an active part in finding and working with a photographer to create truly unique pieces of artwork that reflect you.One subcategory of custom photography is lifestyle photography. Lifestyle photography is exactly what it sounds like – it’s photographs depicting someone’s lifestyle. Oftentimes you will find these pictures capture a family cooking in the kitchen, a couple watching a movie, or friends enjoying their time at the park. This style of photography is designed to take the everyday activities that we all take part in and make them seem grander and more opulent than we typically find them to be. This style of photography has actually become very popular among commercial photographers who take photographs for companies to market their products. Lifestyle photography is also great for creating more spontaneous and natural photographs of couples, weddings, kids, and families.Photojournalism is another subcategory of custom photography. Photojournalists originally were solely employed by papers and magazines to document events and tell the story through their picture. However, recently many photojournalists have brought their unique abilities into wedding photography. The goal of a true photojournalist is to stay in the background and be as invisible as possible and simply document the events of the day. If you are wanting formal posed photos, these photographers may not be your best choice but they certainly do know how to capture an event in a unique way.There are many other subcategories for custom photography and of course not everyone fits into a specific mold when it comes to their photographic style. There are so many different ways of shooting and so many different looks to photographers’ imagery. This wide range of options provides you with the perfect opportunity to find a photographer who truly fits your personality and style. And if you take the time to do this, you will be guaranteed to get pictures that best reflect you, your family, and/or your event.