Posted by admin on August 6th, 2008 — Posted in Travel Hall
I start my marketing with obituaries followed with probate filings and find it just another effective way to acquire property.
Short of courthouse research you can go to your local library and go to the reference department and research using what is called a Polk City directory that will list if the deceased party owns real estate.
I use a simple letter that has produced great response as follows:
This is the letter that I use.
Dear
I am looking at purchasing several properties at and around ________________________(property address) and would like to talk to you about the purchase of ________________________(property address) if you would be interested in selling.
Thank you for your time and you can reach me at ( )______ - ______________.
Sincerely,
John Michael
Did you know that;
*Having a will guarantees that your estate will go through probate?
*Your exact probate cost is unknown but the average cost of probate is 4% to 10% of the gross estate?
*The average length of probate throughout the country is 13 months?
*90% of all estates of singe-widowed adults age 60 and over go through probate?
*Failure to utilize each spouse’s federal estate tax equivalent exemption can cost an estate up to $235,000 in unnecessary taxes?
*****END OF LETTER*****
Keep in mind that that normally you will have to have cash on hand to make this type of purchase but you will find some properties can be obtained through creative strategies.
Using creative strategies does work if only you ask. The worst that can happen is you will get a “NO”! So you get 100, 200 or even 300 no’s before you get a “YES” to your creative strategy such as a “NO MONEY DOWN”, “LEASE OPTION PURCHASE”, “SUBJECT 2″, “OWNER FINANCE”, or any other creative form of investing!
It only takes one “YES” to profit!
“You’re never a loser until you quit trying.” By Mike Ditka, Football Player, Coach
John Michael - “King of Bling” Investor/Teacher/Mentor/Author
Office - (775) 535-1341 Toll-Free: 1-877-225-5928 & enter 417862-3164
Fax - (775) 307-6541
Email: john@jmichaelrei.com
JMichael Investments: http://www.jmichaelrei.com/
Investing Club: http://jmichaelrei.com/html/join_stealth_rei_club.html
Sister Site http://stealth.thecreativeinvestor.com/
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Posted by admin on August 6th, 2008 — Posted in Travel Hall
It is interesting to see how scientists are combining ancient knowledge with the latest scientific breakthroughs to create truly effective anti-aging skin care products.
This article will examine Avon’s Anew Alternative Night Cream, a wonderful combination of modern science and ancient wisdom from the Far East. It combines high-tech tetrapeptides with a unique blend of ancient Eastern herbs to reverse facial sag.
I can personally attest that within one month my chin line was more defined, my skin tone more even and my neck noticeably firmer.
The active ingredients, described in detail below, work to: protect the skin from inflammation caused by viruses, bacteria and fungi; improve circulation to speed repair and invigorate the skin; and control the body’s inflammatory response (as your own hormones did in younger days).
Indian Himalayan Herb Protects
Extracts of the Himalayan neem tree, often called Nature’s drugstore, have been used medicinally for at least 2,500 years. The tree is prized for its antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal properties. Anew Alternative contains extract of the neem tree’s flower (Malia Azadirachta) to prevent skin inflammation.
Chinese Herb Invigorates
The benefits of Szechuan lovage root extract (Ligusticum Chuanxiong Root Extract) were first documented in the Shennong Bencao Jing published in 500 A.D. (representing a compilation of herbal information believed to be 5,000 years old). The Bencao Jing is the earliest extant Chinese pharmacology tome and is still widely referenced today. Lovage root extract is known to invigorate blood and improve circulation. When applied to the skin, lovage root extract not only speeds healing but also improves skin tone.
Tetrapeptides Control Inflammation and Allow Skin to Heal
Finally Anew Alternative contains palmitoyl tetrapeptide-3. Tetrapeptides actually reverse skin sag by reining in the skin’s inflammatory response.
In our younger years, the inflammatory response is a good thing. It is the body’s way of walling off an injured area and preventing spread of infection. When its work is done, hormones shut off the inflammation.
However, as hormone levels decline with age, inflammation runs rampant. Older, hormone-depleted skin takes longer to heal and eventually doesn’t completely heal at all.
I find it very interesting that once you understand how skin care anti-aging ingredients function, you begin to realize that we are not just talking cosmetics and vanity, but that many such treatments can actually result in a better quality of life.
In the case of Anew Alternative with its combination of ancient herbs and modern tetrapeptides, the result is skin that heals better and is less prone to infection.
As another example, in the case of pentapeptides, the result is thicker skin that forms a stronger barrier against infection. Pentapeptides stimulate the growth of new collagen beneath the surface of the skin and plump out wrinkles from within.
Pretty amazing stuff.
For more on effective skin care, visit http://www.ageless-beauty.com/antiaging-skin-care.html.
Jean Bowler was a ballet dancer and instructor, a teacher, a personal trainer and a cosmetics consultant. She is editor of Ageless Beauty - http://www.ageless-beauty.com
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Posted by admin on August 4th, 2008 — Posted in Travel Hall
In 1971, after four years of service in the U. S. Army, I enrolled in the University of West Florida at Pensacola, paying my way with G. I. Bill money. In order to gain some accounting experience and stretch the money a little, I entered a Cooperative Education program sponsored by the University. In this program I studied at the University for a quarter (they used a quarter term, not the semester), and then worked in the accounting department at the Air Force Armaments Testing Lab (AFATL) at Eglin Air Force Base (AFB) for a quarter.
A student named Bill worked the same schedule as I did. However, where I had spent an extra semester at Florida State University (learning to shoot pool), and then 4 years in the military, Bill had gone straight from high school into Pensacola Junior College and then to the Unversity of West Florida. I was about five years older than he was.
Our first day at Eglin AFB, we met briefly with Mr. Cecil Bray, Deputy Comptroller for AFATL. He was very kind an informative, and after a few minutes of chit-chat, he looked at Bill and told him what his assignment was going to be for that quarter. He then picked up the phone and called someone to come get Bill and take him to the office where he would be working. He continued to chat with us, and in a few minutes, someone showed up and took Bill in tow.
So far, Mr. Bray had not said anything to me about my assignment. Now, with Bill gone, he seemed to relax a little bit. He looked at me and explained. He had a department which he thought would be of great value to both of us to work in. It was a new Job-Order Cost Accounting section which was developing a program for tracking project costs at the lab. However, he went on, the crew of accountants developing the program had been hand picked for the project because they were the kind of people who would seek new solutions to new problems. Free thinkers, in a way. I gathered that they were a bit unorthodox in their outlooks, and had been given a bit of a free hand to create this new program.
As Mr. Bray prepared me for this assignment, he made a comment that I have remembered for over 30 years. He looked at me and said, “Young Bill, there, is a good kid, and I want him to have a chance to work with the Job Order Cost Accounting section eventually, but I think he would be scandalized at the way things are done down there. You, on the other hand, have had the corners knocked off.”
Having “the corners knocked off” can be a virtue, it seems.
When we are young and idealistic, whether in age, or in experience in a new project, we have a lot of sharp corners. As we come in contact with ideas, particularly those that may not be in total agreement with our preconceived notions, contact between these strange ideas and our sharp corners can tend to spin us off course. Once we’ve had “the corners knocked off”, we are a little better able to stay on target.
In time, as we gain experience in life, or in our special project, having had the corners knocked off allows us to proceed forward without being directed away from our path.
When someone joins a network marketing program or an internet business, there will be a lot of what some people call “negative feedback” and something the sales people call “rejection”. When we are new and prickly with all our corners, chance encounters with things that we see as failure can divert us. However, once we have learned a little, usually from these negative encounters, we lose some of those corners, and the successes we encounter help polish us.
In network or internet marketing, as in life, the things that seem to hurt us at first, can often actually be seen to be, as the philosopher Nietzche said, “make us stronger.”
We will fail. We will receive negative feedback from relatives, from well-meaning friends, and from the public at large. Those who suceed, however, will be those who simply see all this as nature’s way of streamlining us for success.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Donovan Baldwin is retired from the Army after 21 years of service. He has worked as an accountant, purchasing agent, optical lab manager, restaurant manager, instructor and long-haul, over-the-road truck driver. He has been a member of Mensa for several years, and has written and published poetry, essays, and articles on various subjects for the last 40 years. He has been an active internet marketer since 2000, and now makes his living online.
To learn more about improving your marketing performance, please visit http://marketingsecrets.xtramoney4me.net. To read more articles by the author, please visit his blog at http://donovanbaldwin.blogspot.com/, or http://xtramoney4me.net/internet_marketing_links/articles/index.html
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Posted by admin on July 31st, 2008 — Posted in Travel Hall
Banking has never been easier than it is today. Online banking allows you to access your bank at any time of day or night. You can even do this dressed in your underwear if you like. And if you choose to do it that way, it’s just as well there are no lines to wait in for online banks.
1. Probably the first thing to consider with online banking is the convenience. You can access your bank via the Internet at any time of day or night, even while lying in bed if you like.
2. Transaction performed online are generally much cheaper than those done over the counter at a bank branch. You can pay bills, transfer cash, check balances, and much more for much less.
3. Online savings accounts is something worth considering. The interest rates are usually higher and the fees are lower than traditional bricks and mortar bank branches.
4. Your computer has convenient ways to help you remember your login details. But don’t use the “remember my password” option if your computer suggests it. Keep your bank login details very safe and very secret.
5. Most online banks will allow you change your password. This is a very good idea and something you should do regularly. Of course, you must also remember your new password each time it is changed.
6. Logging on to your online bank is easy and very convenient. But after you have completed your business, remember to log out of your online bank again. This is especially important if you access your bank from a library, at work, or in a cyber caf©.
7. Enjoy your online banking, but beware of any email you receive asking you to verify your bank details by clicking a link. The site may look authentic, but it will probably be a fake. Respectable banks don’t ask anyone to verify details by email.
Steven Reynolds worked for 25 years as a manager of a bank in west Texas. These days he has turned his attention to online banking safety, and his www.peoplepowerbanking.com/“>online banking website.
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Posted by admin on July 31st, 2008 — Posted in Travel Hall
Ever see a fossil? We’re talking about seeing a moment from the ancient past, frozen in time, exactly as it was back then. How was the fossil made? Years of mud and gunk piling on top of it? A flash flood? A volcano erupting? It doesn’t really matter, because you have that perfect representation of what was going on back then - you have that fossil.
That’s what a PDF is like.
PDF stands for Portable Document File. And when they say the document is “portable,” they mean it can be passed around from person to person, just like a fossil, and it doesn’t change. That means no matter who looked at that file, it would always look the same.
And just like the fossil, it doesn’t matter how the Portable Document File was originally made, it will still look the same. Say, for example, someone made a document in the software program called Word, and then tried to pass it around to others. First of all, the others would have to have the Word program (and maybe even the right version of Word) to view the document. Second, if the others didn’t have the same fonts, the document would look different right there.
But if that same document was turned into a PDF, the others could open it whether or not they had Word.
The only catch is this: to turn a document into a PDF, the document’s creator would also need a piece of software called Adobe Acrobat (or some other software that creates PDFs). You have to buy this software.
And to view a PDF, you need a piece of software called Adobe Acrobat Reader. Fortunately, Acrobat Reader is FREE, and can be downloaded at the Adobe website:
* http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html
PDFs are great for the Internet, because they let people and businesses save their files in a format that they know won’t get all messed up when opened by the target audience. Better yet, Acrobat Reader can open PDFs saved on a computer (in this case, Acrobat Reader opens as a stand-alone software program) or Acrobat Reader can open PDFs downloaded by a browser (in this case, Acrobat Reader is acting as a plug-in).
And since PDFs and Acrobat Reader are pretty well known, lots of people already know what’s up when a PDF floats their way.
And that’s why a PDF is like a fossil.
Copyright (c) Grant Pasay 2005. All rights reserved.
You may forward this article in its entirety (including author bio/links) to anyone you wish.
Grant Pasay is a professional website copywriter, advertising copywriter, and SEO copywriter serving clients in Vancouver, BC and everywhere. Grant is also the author of the FREE e-book, “The Internet Is Like A Refrigerator.”
For copy that captures your business message without any of the hassle, go to http://grantpasay.com/
Check out Grant’s FREE e-book at http://grantpasay.com/refrigerator/
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Posted by admin on July 27th, 2008 — Posted in Travel Hall
If you own one or more websites, it is vitally important to know how many people are visiting your site and where these visitors originate from. Analyzing website statistics should become a regular habit for every webmaster who wishes to improve website traffic over time. You’ll be able to test and track the popularity of your updated site content and even see how visitors find your site in the search engines.
There are many web statistics programs on the market, each one unique in price and features, but did you know that some of the best website statistic programs already come free with most web hosting plans?
If you have a hosting account for your website that includes cpanel, then you probably have a whole bunch of web statistic programs built in. Cpanel is by far the most popular control panel for web hosting accounts today. It is extremely easy to learn and use for regular website administration.
There are usually 3 different types of statistics you will find inside cpanel. These are known as Analog, Webalizer and Awstats.
Webalizer is a statistic program that shows you in a graph form how many visitors have visited your site month by month. This type of statistics is very basic and only takes a quick glance to receive your web site information. If you want more detailed information you will probably need to check out the other two statistic programs.
Analog and Awstats each offer different presentation styles. All the essential visitor information you probably wish to see is listed on Analog, but most people have difficulty finding it as it is primarily text based and requires close attention.
Awstats on the other hand, is usually the favorite web site statistic program on cpanel. Not only does it give you plenty of visitor information, from number of hits per day and month, it also tells you where they originate from, how long visitors stayed at your site, the country from which they are viewing your site, what browser they are using and much more. Basic colored graphs and simple to read layout make it a quick and easy task to find the information that you are looking for.
So if you have a website and would like to know more about your visitors check out your cpanel statistic programs inside your website hosting account. They can be extremely helpful in analyzing your site and drawing more traffic to it.
Visit www.webmasterfx.com to increase conversion rates and boost targeted traffic. Copyright 2005 Webmasterfx
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Posted by admin on July 23rd, 2008 — Posted in Travel Hall
Time is our greatest and most precious asset. Time is the great equalizer of all us human beings. Why then do we not recognize and treat it with the respect it deserves?
Whether you are rich, poor, healthy, ill, or just humming along in your life somewhere in between, we all have only 24 hours in each and every day to invest wisely. We often spend a great deal of time and energy thinking and worrying about, or working to earn and pursuing more money. However, while we are doing that, sometimes we are missing the greatest gift of all ” our time to experience our lives. A wise teacher once said to me, You can always get more money but you can never buy more time. Good point!
How often do we consciously think about how we invest our time? I consciously use the word invest because the way we choose to spend out time is truly an investment in ourselves and our lives.
Based on my observations over the last several decades on this planet, however, you would never guess the true value of this time commodity by the way people act and speak.
First, lets look at the common ways people dishonor time with their actions. Do any of these choices look familiar?
Spending hours in front of the TV.
Sacrificing a healthy amount of regular sleep in an attempt to steal more time. (You may be awake for more hours, however being in a fog and loaded up on caffeine does not translate into quality or more time.)
Working ineffectively and/or spending so much time at a job that you have in effect handed over your life to someone else.
Existing in a state of stressed out or burned out.
Spending hours aimlessly surfing the internet.
Participating in gossip or the rumor mill.
Now, lets take a look at the language we use when we discuss our precious friend, time. Do any of these comments look familiar?
I wish it were Friday already! (usually spoken from a Monday through Thursday point of view)
Im just wasting time; or, this is a waste of time.
I have some time to kill
Ill get to enjoy my time when I retire.
Im just counting the hours until the end of the day, or the days until the weekend, retirement, etc.
So, how often do you wish away your life? How often do you let time simply pass you buy?
While it may sound clich©, the phrase Carpe Diem has a great deal of merit. It means, seize the day. I can still remember my first real experience with this term when Robin Williams challenged his young students in the movie Dead Poets Society to do just that ” seize the day. He used it as a call to arms where every student in his class should make each day a day that was truly explored and lived fully.
Where Does My Time Go?
A Challenge for You
Do you know where all your time goes each day? What parts of your life are most important to you? Are those the parts of your life that receive the greatest amount of your time and attention? Or, do you find yourself doing the same things today that you did yesterday simply because that is what you did the day before that?
For the next month, take stock of where your time and your life go. At the end of each day, write down the number of hours spent in each of the main areas of your life. An example of what those main categories might look like could be:
Physical Health & Well-Being
Primary Relationship, Spouse, Significant Other
Friends, Family, Children, Relationships
Career/Work
Finances and Money
Physical Surroundings (home, work, etc.)
Spirituality (connecting with a power greater than yourself)
Fun and Relaxation
Making a Difference in your Community and the World
After the month passes, total up the hours spent in each category and reflect back on how you spent your time. Did reality surprise you? Or, was it what you expected? How does the way you invest your time on a daily basis make you feel? Is it in alignment with your values and what you really want from your life?
Take some time to take stock in how you invest your most precious asset ” time. Remember, tomorrow is promised to no one. Carpe Diem.
Paula Gregorowicz is a business and life coach, writer, and owner of The Paula G Company. She specializes in helping women and business owners tap into their authenticity so they can design a life they love. Visit her website at http://www.thepaulagcompany.com for more articles, free resources, and to learn more.
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Posted by admin on July 20th, 2008 — Posted in Travel Hall
There are lots of very sick people walking around who look fine. The problem is really very simple, they cannot find love.
This is illustrated frequently in the way people desperately search to find love and acceptance in the wrong places. Many have thought that making a lot of money solves the problem, but love and acceptance cannot be purchased, no matter how much you are prepared to pay for it.
So why can’t over half the world find love?
The answer will surprise you. It can all be traced back to the way folks were born and their upbringing. There are certain things early in life that open the door to the spirit of rejection which rules over somebody’s life and the result is that they will never succeed to find love and acceptance.
Actually it starts right in the mother’s womb. The pregnant mother could be upset because the pregnancy comes as a surprise. It could be out of wedlock or she is still not sure if the father will marry her. I know I am sounding old fashioned but many of these feelings and situations have never changed over the years, just like the human beings desperate search to find love has never changed for centuries. You see we were born to love and be loved.
Other times the doorway for rejection and an inability to find love later in life, could be opened at birth, The mother wanted a boy and finds that she has a girl. She is bitterly disappointed and that opens the door for the life-long suffering of the young girl because of the spirit of rejection.
The symptoms that show you clearly that somebody is suffering rejection and will never find love, include an inferiority complex and great difficulties in finding a life partner.
Find out more at the author’s find love blog.
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Posted by admin on July 20th, 2008 — Posted in Travel Hall
There are more and more individuals who are striving to make their own business out of nothing. People want to have something to call their own. They want to start from the bottom and work their way to the top without having to deal with the boss. For many people, this is a way of life. For others, they can only dream of owning their own business. In the world we live in, there are hundreds of thousands of companies. Hundreds more will be started tomorrow. But, what makes one succeed and others to fail?
It has nothing to do with luck either. While many would like to think so, it is usually not luck that brings a business down. Instead, it is lack of communication, lack of funding, or lack of structure and organization that cause a business to crumble. When proper planning starts at the beginning and communication between individuals are solid, a business can grow and expand. Sure, some businesses fail because of other reasons, but more than likely, these are the top three reasons they do so. Other reasons could be over saturation of the market, not enough advertising, or even no market for the product or service is available in the area. To overcome these things, businesses must be planned and well thought out, not whimsical ideas that someone creates along the way.
What type of business will you own? There are home based businesses like child care, home parties, and selling online. There is a world of wealth in the freelance market if the skills are there. There are service industries that are just dying for a little extra help. You can make your business a success if you plan to succeed from the beginning. Doing this will insure a good, healthy start to any business. Now back to that question of luck. Sure, if you believe in luck, you’ll want to have a good dose of it. That is because even the most thought after, planned, and well communicated businesses can still end up, well, let’s not think about that! Instead, think positively and choose wisely. Success for your business is around the bend!
Mike Perry
Owner of the Buisness Site
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Posted by admin on July 12th, 2008 — Posted in Travel Hall
Well we are getting into the festive season now, and it seems that you have a love/hate relationship with it. However much we love it, everyone is concerned about the damage that will be done to their healthy living plans, especially with the sports facilities closed for such a long time. I have had so many requests to continue with my Christmas survival ideas, so this week; here is the low-down on Christmas dinner;
The original Christmas dinner has the potential to be a brilliant nutrition-packed meal, with its emphasis on low-fat turkey meat and lots of tasty vegetables. So why is it that the average Christmas dinner seems to contain almost an entire day’s calories? If you go for the turkey, roast potatoes, bacon, vegetables, pudding with brandy butter, and a couple of glasses of wine you are looking at around 1400 calories and 56.8g fat. Many people will bump it up to 2000 calories or more, with the addition of larger portions, seconds, sausages, more wine, and chocolates. So how can we turn this binge into a healthy feast?
Well, many of the essential ingredients of a Christmas dinner are bursting with nutrition;
The Good:
• Turkey meat is rich in iron, zinc, phosphorus, potassium and B vitamins, and also contains an ingredient to boost the happy hormones in your brain. Turkey is naturally low in fat; the darker meat is slightly higher in fat, but also rich in iron. Remove the skin and consume half the amount of fat.
• I think the second yummiest ingredient has got to be the roast potato. Potatoes are fabulous, providing us with energy, potassium, and vitamins B and C. If you want them to be healthier, then leave on the skins when you roast them to boost their vitamin and fiber content. Instead of drenching them in oil, invest in an olive-oil spray, and spray lightly before roasting. When you serve them up, don’t go wild, exercise restraint. If you are super-virtuous, then have boiled spuds with olive oil and chopped chives, baked potato or roasted sweet potato- start a new tradition!
• There is no forgetting the sprouts. These humble vegetables are bursting with goodness; powerful cancer-fighting ingredients, vitamins, minerals and fiber. Treat them kindly and steam them rather than boiling the poor things to death. If you feel like experimenting, then roast them for 30 -40 minutes in a little olive oil, give them a shake half way, and add some flaked almonds. Roasted sprouts are milder and sweeter - give them a go!
• Make sure that all of your other vegetables are lightly steamed, this keeps in the wonderful beneficial nutrients, try; carrots, rich in antioxidants, green beans, peas, little sticks of swede, or make a cauliflower mash by steaming a head of cauliflower and mashing with some wholegrain mustard.
The Bad:
• Streaky bacon, at 6g of fat and 90 calories per rasher (eek), wrap it around a sausage, and you are bumping up that cholesterol and fat even further. Why not leave out the bacon and sausage, or choose low-fat Quorn sausages instead of regular ones.
• Mince pies and Christmas pudding are rich in minerals and some antioxidants because of the dried fruit content, but they are high in fat and sugar. Buy a small Christmas pudding so that everyone can have a nice portion, but it isn’t hanging around afterwards for seconds and snacking. Just one mince pie and a slice of Christmas cake can add 460 calories and 18g of fat- ouch! Why not make apple pies with a little mincemeat added for a change. Make a big fruit salad and put it in the fridge, then everyone can snack on this in stead of picking away at pies and pudding.
The Ugly:
• Well Brandy butter is basically sugar and butter with brandy added. It is packed with fat, refined sugar and cholesterol; thank goodness we only have it once a year. If you want to cut out some serious calories, you could have Christmas pudding with half-fat crme fraiche, which is a delicious addition to the sweet pudding, and so much healthier.
• Why does everything about Christmas have to be so big? Filling the house with JUMBO bags of crisps and peanuts, biscuits and chocolates will not do anyone any favors. All are high in fat, sugar or salt; easy to eat, and bad for you. Get some bags of clementines, and dried fruit and nuts, you will be hard pushed to pig out on shelled nuts because it takes so long to get into them! Resist the urge to buy bumper packs of things which will linger in the cupboard waiting to be munched.
• Sitting down in front of the TV after your lunch is the worst thing that you can do. If you want to beat the bulge and the bloating, then get the whole family out for some fresh air. A good walk will banish that post-dinner lethargy and stop the Christmas pudding from settling on your thighs.
Well I hope that this has given you some hope; there are so many good healthy foods around at this time of year, so place the emphasis on these, and resist the Bullying supermarkets attempts to make you buy enormous packets of Pringles and barrels of salted nuts. Eat, drink and be merry, but eat and drink the right things, and you will be feeling much more merry by January!
Until next time, take care and stay healthy!
Vikki Scovell BA(hons) PG DIP is a fully qualified Personal Trainer and Fitness Coach. She is a qualified Nutrition Adviser and runs successful Community Exercise classes. Vikki is a consultant in Healthy Eating and Exercise initiatives to schools in the independent sector and publishes School and General Healthy Living newsletters. To receive your free copy of her weekly newsletter email getfitter@yahoo.co.uk
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