4 small ways in which can improve your overall health

Make sure you get enough sleep, wherever that may be ;-)

We all have those moments when we decide to make grand and sweeping changes to our lifestyles. That Monday morning when after gouging on pizza all weekend, we vow to lose 20 pounds in the next month. That point three days after payday when we’ve already spent half our pay cheque on cigarettes and decide to quit smoking with immediate effect. That afternoon when we see a celebrity in a photo shoot rocking abs made of granite and decree that is what we want to look like.


The trouble with these huge targets is that sometimes, they just aren’t achievable. What can be more beneficial in terms of improving your health can be to set much smaller goals that are easier to incorporate into your daily routine and will improve a broad range of aspects of your health.


Here are four small ways in which you can improve your overall health.


De-stress on a regular basis

One of the biggest dangers to our health is stress, and that is why we should try and combat it every day of our lives. There are many different methods with which you can combat stress, but sometimes, the best ways are the simplest. Finding just 10 minutes in your day to do an activity you enjoy will make you happier and prevent stress levels building. Failing that, you can use various herbs and plants to de-stress. A cup of chamomile tea a day will help you relax while other herbs that can be used as de-stressing aids include kava, lemon balm, and kratom which is available from the San Francisco kratom store.


Hide the salt

When you sit down at the dinner table, what’s the first thing you reach for? If the answer is the salt shaker, then you could be one of the 90 percent of Americans who consumes too much salt. An excess of salt can lead to serious health complications later in life, largely arising from increased blood pressure. Hiding the salt at mealtimes can help you avoid sprinkling it all over your dinner. If you think you can’t live without salt, then try tasting your food before you salt it – you might realize that actually, it doesn’t need anything extra on top.


Get an early night

Not many people manage to get the seven or more hours of sleep that is recommended for an adult to remain healthy. Over time, not hitting the target can increase your risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke. Treat yourself to an early night every now and again to give your body the proper rest it needs to fix and repair itself. Even going to bed 15 minutes earlier than you normally do can over the course of the month give you 17 hours more sleep, which can make a huge difference.


Take the stairs

Next time you are faced with the choice of elevator or stairs, don’t take the easy option. Climbing stairs will get your heart rate rising, your blood pumping and give you a priceless cardiovascular workout as part of a journey you would have had to make anyway. Some medical experts recommend that you take 10,000 steps a day and shunning the elevator can make a big difference to your chances of reaching that target.

3 Common Newborn Baby Conditions To Look Out For

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As a new mom, the chances are that you spend hours every single day just staring at your little one when they are sleeping, just keeping a check on their breathing, watching their little chest go up and down, and marveling at this tiny human being that you have created. Being a new parent is wonderful, yet daunting and scary. While you know that they will be fine in their crib as you put them to bed, you still go in and check on them every hour when they first come home. This is entirely normal. The unconditional love that you feel for your little darling is indescribable. It’s vital that when you do look after your little bundle of joy that you are always checking them over and keeping an eye out for common conditions that a lot of newborns have. By discovering them early, you can lessen their impact and keep your little one healthy and comfortable.

Skin

Your baby’s skin will be delicate when they first arrive into the world. After all, they have been used to the comfy environment of your tummy for nine months. Because it is so fragile, the harsh world can be a little harmful to it. Newborn babies can suffer from a little eczema or peeling skin. The latter is rarely painful but you can prevent the skin from becoming dry by using Mustela newborn skin peeling moisturizers and baby oil to keep the skin hydrated and soft. For eczema, the skin may need a more medicated approach, so a visit to the doctor is usually in order. This condition may itch, and you want to keep your baby as comfortable as possible. Ensure that you give them short baths, pat them dry rather than rub, and apply an oil to lock in moisture.

Colic

Colic is often a term used to describe times when a baby cries a lot, but there is no immediate cause. You may have fed, winded and comforted your baby but to no avail. It can be traumatic as a new parent to see your baby wailing, clenching their fists, going red and getting hot. Colic usually rectifies itself by six months old, but you will still want to do anything in your power to ensure that you can lessen the occurrences. Always rock your baby gently, keep them close to comfort them, wind them after every feeding and consider trying colic drops as a soother. Colic is no reflection on you as a parent, and doctors themselves are confused by the condition.

Diaper Rash

Common in little ones, diaper rash appears on your little one’s bottom. Newborn babies have to come into contact with many different materials when they enter the world, but sometimes diapers can be a little snug, or the material is a little chafing. Ensure that you moisturize every time you change your baby’s diaper. Consider a little aloe vera as a natural substitute if your baby has sensitive skin, and look into more eco-friendly washing powders and reusable diapers. This can lessen the symptoms and prevent further irritation.

Welcoming your little cherub into your home is a joyous occasion. Being a new mom, while overwhelming, is wonderful. Take some time to enjoy your baby while always being vigilant and on the lookout for any potential health problems.

4 Things Parents Should Teach Their Kids That Most Schools Won't

A simple lemonade stand can teach so many great lessons to kids!

With public and private schools providing such comprehensive curriculums, it can be easy to fall under the impression that you can send your kid to school and never have to teach them anything at home. However, taking a hands-off approach to your child's education could result in them lacking certain fundamental knowledge that they'll need when they get older. With that said, here are four subjects you should teach your kid at home to make sure they're ready to be successful and secure in life:

1. Home Improvement and Building

While many schools will teach home economic classes, there's really no set framework for teaching kids how to do simple home improvement tasks around the house. You may want to consider constructing a shed or workshop on your property to give your kids a designated space to tinker with tools and building projects. You could accomplish this easily with the steel building kits from Armstrong Steel, which simplify the process of assembling durable and versatile buildings of all sizes.

2. Financial Management and Credit

Let's face it, most schools are severely lacking in their curriculum related to financial management and credit building. This information is usually learned at the bank or at home when the student reaches an age where they're able to utilize their credit for the first time. Unfortunately, many young adults are blind-sided by an abundance of responsibility after being approved for their first credit card. Teaching your kids financial management at a young age will give them an economic head start that most other children are not equipped with at public or private schools. 

3. Emergency Survival Techniques

While you can enroll your kids in the local boy scouts or girl scouts to teach them basic wilderness skills, this information is not usually taught at a conventional school. Take your little ones on a camping trip and show them basic survival techniques like how to start a fire, astrological navigation, finding food, purifying water, and building basic shelter. You'd think that such fundamental concepts would be taught at a young age, yet there are many adults who still don't know how to do these things.

4. Entrepreneurship

While making money is clearly the most important adult duty, there's surprisingly little focus on building wealth in the conventional school system. Students are not taught about founding startups, gathering funding from investors, obtaining business loans, or any other basic concepts that are required to successfully launch a business. Teach your children these topics at home, and they'll be well-prepared to obtain financial freedom later in life.

Prepare Your Kids for the Real World at a Young Age

In today's world, most kids are severely sheltered and undereducated about topics that actually matter in everyday life. Unfortunately, a significant percentage of high schoolers and college students are awakened to a harsh reality when they have to learn a bunch of adult life management skills that should arguably be taught in schools. 


Of course, once you get into university courses and degree programs, you can learn anything in the world, but in many ways the average high school graduate is still grossly under-equipped to deal with the challenges of being a young adult. Make an effort to teach your kids some of the topics mentioned above and they'll be much better off for it.

7 Steps To Freelance Writing Success

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Are you thinking of becoming a freelance writer? Have you always wanted to write and be your own boss? Maybe you’re a complete newbie to the world of freelance writing, and you’re terrified to get started? If that’s the case, don’t panic – that’s natural. When something is new to you, and it seems lucrative and exciting and completely out of your reach, you’re often going to be intimidated – that’s just how life goes. Because to you, it’s the ultimate. It’s something that you’d love to do – it’s the dream. And so your glorify it in your mind. It suddenly becomes something so special and precious, that you’re afraid to go anywhere near it. But that’s just because you’ve made it seem so unapproachable in your mind. So now, you need to change that.

Freelance writing has a bad wrap. Years ago, writers were seen as struggling artists. And sure, you can be a struggling freelancer – but if you’re struggling, that’s a decision that you’ve chosen to make. Because in this day and age, the opportunities for success are greater than ever. If you’re ambitious, passionate, and you’re excited to give writing a real go, you can make it work for you, let’s take a look at how. Here are seven steps to help you find freelance writing success.

1. Decide What You’re Going To Do

So first of all, you’re going to want to decide how you’re going to approach this. So think about the kind of writing you want to do and what sort of niches you want to cover. You may even want to get yourself organized with your laptop, software programs, an enterprise document management system to help you get started. That way, you’re getting off on the right foot with everything you need to get set up.

2. Set Up Your Own Website

However, it’s not just your laptop, documents, and templates that you need – you also need a website! This sounds more complicated than it actually is. You can get a simple domain and hosting program for a low cost, and then use a Wordpress template to create a fun site!

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3. Get Some Experience

And now that you feel all set up and ready to go, what you need to do here, is to get some experience. Because if you have never written before, then you have nothing for your portfolio – and this may stop you from landing work. It’s a catch 22, but there are ways that you can get your first clips. Sometimes, you’ll have to work for free or send out samples you’ve written for yourself. But it’s so exciting when you do get those first clips.

4. Brand Yourself

At this stage, if you want to look as professional as possible, then you may find that you need to brand yourself as best as you can. This means seeing yourself as a brand or business, not just as a person. You can also use your web design, logo, and tone of voice to create a brand around your writing too.

5. Send Out Pitches

As a freelancer, you absolutely need to make sure that you’re able to send out as many pitches as you can to get the work that you want. Because when it comes to landing the work you want, you just won’t get it unless you’re banging down doors. Sure, you’ll sometimes get the odd piece, but you need to think about sending out a ton of ideas all of the time, in the hope that you’ll get some back. Say you get 5% of the things you send out, then you’ll need to send more and more. For this, think about where you’re going to pitch. Make sure that you know the publication and that you’ve cleverly thought of a suitable article that the editors might love!

6. Market Yourself

But that’s not all, because you’ll want to make sure that you’re marketing what you’re doing too. Choose social media platforms that you like and that you know you can target the right audience with. Also look to start an email newsletter as early as possible, as this can be a great way of building a client base.

7. Aim For Consistent Growth

Finally, if you want this to become a long-term success, then you’ll want to think about how you can grow as consistently as possible. And that’s the key – consistency. If you only work on things sporadically, it’s going to take you a little longer to grow and find success. For this, you’ll find that have a schedule is going to keep you on track. As long as you’re showing up and doing the work, then you’ll find that you start to get the growth and success that you’re looking for.

6 Important Considerations before Replacing Your Roof

Are you thinking about repairing or replacing your roof? This can be a really stressful experience because of the investment of both time and money. These, of course, depend on the amount of repairs needed. This is why you need to assess the extent of damages to both the inside and outside of your roof.

The following considerations can really affect the costs of repair or installation of new roofs:

1.     The Type of Roof

Naturally, the type of roof over your home will influence its costs of repair. Rooves can be either low or high pitched, sloped or flat, tiled or shingled. All of these materials have varying costs, and some may require more material and labor than others.

2.     The Scope of Repairs

Another factor that greatly influences the cost of repairs is the size of the intended area. This is why the pricing will be determined on the square footage of roof repairs. In simple terms, shingles are sold in terms of squares and a square is also a 10 ft area. If, for example, your intended area for repairs is less than 10 ft, you will still be charged for a square.

3.     The Number of Layers

Estimating costs for removing roofs depends on the amount of time it will take. These costs will consist of dump charges (charges to dispose of the material – which usually depends on the cumulative weight of materials) and the cost of labor. The heavier the material of your roof will be, the longer it will take to replace your old roof.

4.     Exiting Water Damages

Water damages can easily get hidden under roof shingles, and will only be found upon inspection. Roofers usually have to remove the shingles to check the decking underneath, and this might incur extra costs.

This step, however, should never be skipped because leaks can bring about total roof replacement in the future.

5.     Skylights and Chimneys

Some unique elements on your rooftops like skylights and chimneys will definitely increase costs of roofing jobs. This is why, while you’re assessing your shingles you should check for leaks in these areas as well. If roofers do find leaks, they will have to add flashing around these areas – which will, ofcourse, cost a little extra.

6.     Permits for Roofing Repairs

In some cases, your roofer may even have to get permits for your roofing repairs. The flat rate of working in your area will also be the price of this permit and may be based on your home’s value or size. If this is the case, then the costs of repair will definitely be affected. These costs, however, vary from city to city and may especially be of consequence if you live in a coastal town.

Now that you have learned about some important considerations before going forward with roofing repairs, you should also learn how to inspect your home for roof damage. Follow the link to learn about the most telltale signs of roof damage.