You’ve planned all your shots out to the last detail,
everything placed to perfections but something’s not quite
right. It’s the lighting of course.

I think one of the largest expenses outside of camera equipment
has to be lighting. I’ve spent many a rainy day staring dreamy
eyed at the Lowel Light catalogue. After taking stock of the
contents of my empty pocket I knew there had to be a cheaper way
to start, so it was off to Sears. I’m not saying that Sears is
lighting central I just had room on my Sears card to go shopping.

A careful search of the closeout section revealed a few boxes of
halogen work lights that we’re either open box returns or the
packaging was less than shelf quality. They came with an
adjustable height stand which honestly isn’t quite high enough
but that’s a small price to pay. The stand folds into a nice
neat little bundle that the included strap wraps around securing
the lights to the folded stand making it compact and really easy
to carry around. So for forty bucks I added two light sets to my
indie arsenal.

There are two lamps that mount to a cross bar that mounts on top
of the stand, the halogen lamps have an adjustable output
wattage. They can either both be used at the same time or you
can run only one depending on your lighting needs. The mounts
that secure the lamps to the crossbar can be adjusted to almost
any angle so that kind of compensates for the lack of height
that the stand offers.

The only “structural” modification I had to make was to remove
the metal cage that covers the lamps themselves. Which was
easily achieved by taking the two screws out of the side of the
lamp and removing the glass pane that covers the bulb so I
didn’t break it. Then I took my handy Leatherman tool which
should be on every set and just clipped the cage that covers the
glass on the front of the lamp.

With the cage remove you’ve got a nice even flow of light coming
from the lamps. From this point you can mess around with milk
crates or whatever you have handy to get the height to where you
need it.

Then with that achieved you can start using your home made
lighting accessories, like the big styrofoam square covered with
gold foil which will be a topic for a future story when I’m done
covering stuff with foil and shower curtains and I have more
tips and tricks for sculpting light.

This article was written to answer many of the most frequently asked questions about beauty salons and hair stylists. I hope you find this information helpful. I begin with a story that I’m sure, speaks for many:

I’ll never forget how humiliated I was when I walked out of a beauty salon with my embarrassed husband in tow, slinking all the way through a mall just to get to our car and hide…..I couldn’t get out there fast enough! I immediately went home and washed my hair out and did it again. Color, cut and styling was a complete disaster! It was my first visit to a new beauty salon. I thought I had asked the right questions such as, “Is there a stylist there with experience working with natural curly hair?” Of course the answer was, “Yes.” I learned the person with experience was just out of school and this was her first job.

Have you gone through a similar experience? As a client, we expect to leave the beauty salon with a smile on our face, feel beautiful and be excited about our experience. It is my hope that similar situations can be prevented with a few tips:

- If you admire someone elses hair, ask them the name of their beauty salon and stylist. If not, then

- Is the beauty salon easy to get to from home or work?

- Inquire if the stylists have experience with your type of hair. For example, is your hair long, curly or straight.

- You can find reviews on the internet of beauty salons in your area by zip codes.

- How do you feel when you enter a beauty salon? Are you greeted right away? Is the salon clean and inviting?

- Are the staff dressed appropriately? Do they take care of their hair?

- You can provide pictures of hair styles you like to the stylist. There are also hairstyle magazines in all salons for you to check out.

- Do you enjoy being with your stylist?

- Does the stylist ask you what you would like and offer suggestions?

- Does the stylist discuss shampoos, conditioners or special treatments that would improve the health of your hair?

- Now you’re all ready for “the look.” Does the stylist give you the information you’ll need on how to maintain that style once you leave the salon?

If you can answer most of the questions to your satisfaction, then you’ve probably found a beauty salon and a hair stylist that will make you look fabulous. If not, get all of your information from the next beauty salon on your list. There is a talented hair stylist waiting just for you!

We have come to the end of my informational article. It’s now your turn to take this information and do something with it and then you can have a good hair day! Good luck and thanks for visiting.

Join Sintilia Miecevole at www.fhcbeauty.com for further resources from hair styles, beauty, health and tips to beauty products and more. Be sure to visit www.fhcbeauty.com for further information.

The main reason webmasters fail to make their websites
accessible is because they don’t understand the concept of an
“accessible website” in the first place.

Lets admit it, when the buzzword accessibility flies about over
the web most of us think “I know what accessibility is, its
making my website usable by anyone with a disability” if that’s
you, I have bad news, you’ve fell at the first hurdle. Yes I’ll
put my hand up and say this is part of accessibility but at most
it only amounts to half of the meaning.

What accessibility actually means is “can all users get the
information they need from my site as quick and as simply as
possible?” if you can answer yes to this question, well done,
you have an accessible site, if not you need to know how to make
your website accessible, which is what the remainder of this
article will look at by pointing out how sites aren’t accessible:

A Splash Screen/intro - If you have a splash screen or intro on
your site its not accessible and I haven’t even seen your actual
content yet, its not accessible because I cant get the
information I want from your site - splash screens are pointless
and above all annoying, 9 times out of 10 if a site has a splash
screen the browser is closed before even looking for the skip
into button.

Use of anything but X/HTML & a CSS to make your website - it has
been proven time and time again that the best websites are built
on the bread and butter of web design - HTML and a CSS so why
change something that isn’t broken? You may have fancy
JavaScript and the like on your website and (hopefully) that
looks very pretty but what if I don’t have the appropriate
plug-in to play your pretty applets? That’s right! I can’t get
the information I want from your site thus your site is
inaccessible.

Use of “mystery meat” navigation - Does your site have linked
images that lead to another page on your site? Do these images
have any indication of where the person clicking on this link is
going? If you answered no to both of theses questions your
website is inaccessible to everyone. If an image is linked it
should ONLY lead to a bigger version of that image, id rather
have a boring list of text links than loads of images that don’t
tell me where I’m going to end up if I click on them.

So in theory, if you dont have any of the above on your site and
your content is something someone else wants to know about then
you should have a good website.

Do you have any idea what your customers have experienced from using the products they have purchased from you? Most of the vendors I work with make a sale and move on. They often don’t bother investing much time improving the products they sell to their customers, much less develop ways to help them better understand how to use them. A very small minority of vendors have continued to send me unsolicited free bonus ‘how to use it’ follow-up emails and publications long after I made my purchase from them. And whenever I receive something like this, it almost always compels me to take another look at the product I purchased - because anything that helps me understand more ways to use what I already own is pretty useful to me.

What this also does is cause me to appreciate that vendor even more for thinking about me. They not only added value to their product, but they helped me see how to use their tool to solve even more of my business problems. It just doesn’t get much better than that.

Does this sound like something you’d consider doing? What if you don’t have your own product? No problem - just create a way to improve someone else’s product, and then sell it or give it away when someone purchased the product you are promoting. It’s a sure way to generate more sales for an affiliate product.

One way you can jump on this is to contact your existing customers and ask a simple question along the lines of: “What results are you getting from using XYZ product, and how can I help you make this product work even better for you?”

Vendors who do send “How To Use My Product” updates to their customers are generally helping their customers experience incredible results. Why? Think about it - how much more value would you be adding to your product if you continued to send your customers updates with more examples and tips about how to actually use your (or someone else’s) product or service more completely, effectively, efficiently, profitably, etc.? Oh yeah - let’s not forget about how eager everyone is to read about cases studies of how others are using a product successfully and profitably.

When you do this, you’re helping your customer actually visualize new ways to use the product you sold them in ways they might never have considered before.

Let me ask you this: How many ebooks do you have sitting on your shelf or on your hard drive that you’ve never even read? And how many people have ever sent you ideas to help you use those products? What would you think of someone who DID do that for you? Are you getting the idea here?

The reason many marketing products never get read or used is because no one helps people understand how to use the information profitably on an ongoing basis. Your product ‘updates’ help to reduce or eliminate these issues, and also provides your customers with an unexpected bonus. Not only that, but, when you show someone how to really use a product you sell, you instill trust because you demonstrate that you truly understand the value of the product. You shift from being perceived as just a product promoter to being a true problem solver. Your customers will suddenly come to realize that you really are worth having around - and their loyalty towards you increases tremendously.

Doing this for your customers keeps any product you sell from turning into a dust collecting trophy on their shelf or taking up extra space on their hard drive. If you make a product truly useful, someone will think twice before deleting it. If you show someone a variety of profitable ways they can actually use the products you sell them, what are they going to think about you? Here are a few things that come to mind:

a) you really rock
b) making a purchase from you was a good investment
c) making future purchases from you will be just as good
d) I want to stay in touch with this person

How would you like to have your customers thinking these thoughts about you? You can make it happen. Start today by choosing a product and start thinking of more useful ways your prospects and customers can use it. Then, write a report or create a video showing them How To use that product more profitably.

© 2005 by Kevin Wirth - allrights reserved worldwide.

Kevin Wirth is the owner of KEVS-KORNER ezine, a free online newsletter offering articles, tips, resources, and insight on over 170 different marketing tactics. He is bringing together a growing community where you can work with others to create and market products online. To discover more about how you can grow your online business with marketing tactics and get a free gift just for visiting, please head on over to http://www.kevs-korner.com.

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Keep your special moments forever with Nikon cool pix
digital camera

Are you looking for the best digital camera to take great
pictures? Let us introduce you the Nikon cool pix digital camera. Whether you are a
newcomer to digital photography or a more experienced user
looking for a digital camera with operating ease combined with
portability, the Nikon cool pix digital camera is designed for you
to get your hands on the latest digital technology at a very
reasonable price.

It is a compact, lightweight digital camera renowned for
superior image quality and ease-of-use. The Nikon cool pix digital camera has been designed for
advanced photographers, amateurs, digital enthusiasts, and
semi-professional photographers who demand high performance in
every aspect of photography, and it has an air of sophistication
that would attract anybody.

With incredible features such as a resolution of 3.34 Megapixel,
optical and digital zoom and virtually limitless max movie
length, the Nikon cool pix digital camera ensures images of
remarkable color, contrast and clarity, and provides invaluable
flexibility for all users.

People who have already tried the Nikon cool pix digital camera think that it has a
cool and elegant aspect , and it is very simple to operate
because there are not a lot of controls to master , so anybody
can learn how to use it in no time, the support is fantastic and
the pictures the camera produces are excellent and look much
better than they had ever expected. Most of them regret that
they didn’t have this camera when they most needed it, and they
would like to be able to go back in time to be able to take a
picture of those important and very special moments they may
have missed.

Imagine that it is your wedding day or your honeymoon or the
birth of your son, if you take those pictures with any other
regular camera they may result so dark or maybe so bright that
you wont be able to see anything on them, also you could get
pictures with very low quality that you hardly could recognize
the people who appear there. And since they are so unique
experiences you wouldn’t want to keep those moments on pictures
with low quality which eventually may deteriorate even more. Now
you don’t have to worry anymore that any of these problems may
ever happen to you if you use the Nikon cool pix digital camera. You will be able to
get incredible pictures and keep your special moments forever
and show them to your friends anytime you want, and all this at
a price much lower than you think. Top quality doesn’t
necessarily mean a large amount of money and once you try the Nikon cool pix digital camera you will be convinced
of that.

The Nikon cool pix digital camera is just what you need
to take pictures which will last and look great for a lot of
years.

Today there was a grand opening to the newest Wally World in the area so I figured what the hell and went to see what of course was yet another same old Wal-Mart. Of course since it was the first day there were people giving out free shit like ice cream, energy drink, and even beef jerky.That is freaking awesome man,free beef jerky is like getting a free blowjob on a hookers first day on the job.It’s really a cool thing to walk up and be able to eat beef jerky in the store without being called a thief.

Back to my story,there was a couple stands set up outside,but what I saw next to them almost made me want to go into Wal-Mart,buy a sledge hammer, and come out swinging it like a mad man. I saw a Diet Pepsi truck, but not just any old Diet Pepsi truck. This was a Jet Black truck with fucking spinners on it. Yes,fucking spinners on the pepsi truck. Not only that,but the truck had two huge sets of speakers on each side of it. They were all blasting shitty music through the whole parking lot. It was a really shitty moment for me.

This terrible moment in the parking lot leads people to believe they will be “Hip” and “Cool” by drinking Diet Pepsi. Hell P Diddy did the ad so it must be cool right? Let me level with you, P. Diddy drinks loads of alcohol and bangs hos all day, the only reason he did an ad for Diet Pepsi is because they paid the mother fucker enough. Not only that,but Diet Pepsi tastes like regular Pepsi, minus all of the flavor it has.

People will never get it,there’s no such thing as a diet cola that tastes just like the other stuff. If you want the good shit you’re just going to have to drink it and risk being a fat bitch the rest of your life. That and risk losing your teeth. So lets just face it,Diet Pepsi is not cool,it’s not good,and it damn sure won’t get you any action if a girl drinks too much of it.Is there any reason to even buy this shit?

About the Author

The Epic is owner and founder of a personal site called The Epic Zone at theepiczone.com

When developing your budget, it is important to monitor your daily purchases because you may discover that you have developed some expensive habits. Take for instance the daily ritual of stopping for a cup of coffee. Without realizing it, you may discover that you have been drinking away a small fortune.

All too often, individuals unconsciously make purchases that seem insignificant, but over time add up to be a significant amount of money. If you think hard enough, there are probably many casual purchases that you make on a daily basis.

The average cost to buy a cup of coffee and a muffin is $5.00. If you were to stop at the coffee shop everyday during a 7-day week you would spend $35.00. Over time this equates to $150.00 per month or $1,800.00 per year. However, if you were to forego this daily ritual and instead invest that money at a rate of 10% annual return you would have about $1million after 40 years ($948,611.00 to be exact).

As you can see, habits such as this will open your eyes and you may be inclined to think twice the next time that you have the urge to buy a coffee. ACCC encourages you to keep a notebook with all of your daily expenses. Track all of the little items; coffee, takeout for lunch, and afternoon snacks. With just a few adjustments, you can better control your finances and become a better spender.

To download a household budget worksheet go to http://www.consumercredit.com/budget-sheet.htm.

Brought to you by American Consumer Credit Counseling (ACCC). ACCC is a non-profit credit counseling and financial education agency committed to promoting financial literacy. It is our mission to financially empower consumers to regain control of their lives through education and financial management. More information can be found by logging on to www.consumercredit.com.

American Consumer Credit Counseling

Attn: Tom Palange

Education Programs Specialist

130 Rumford Ave.

Newton, MA 02466

http://www.consumercredit.com

1-800-769-3571 Ext. 708

So adult toy are on the lips of every man these days, either shouting about them in the chat rooms, at the college or on the telly. But which adult toy is the super duper, with the vast choice to select from surely a person had to find out the best one.

A sex toy company asked over 100 girls in March what their very best adult toy was along with other personal questions.

If you love sex toys you should try out Realistic Vibrators

It was discovered that the most very best adult toy for girls was the vibrator, and they just adored it! Girls were so excited by the idea of a huge vibrator that many of them would use it straight after coming home from work. The best types of vibrator were the Jessica rabbit vibrators as they help to stimulate the clit as well as inserting into the flower.

The 2nd most popular adult toy was the exciting dildo dong. Dildo dongs are similar to vibrators except they don?t have batteries or vibrate. Dildo dongs come in all shapes and sizes from five inches to 12 inches. They can come with sucker cups to have an incredible experience hands free and can easily attach to a bath or toilet set. Dildo dongs have been a firm best seller since the 90s and looks like they will be around for a long time.

So it was decided that the vibrator was the winner and the dildo came in second place, with some many sex toys out there it was difficult to know which type of vibrator was the most exciting for women to try. The standard vibrators are battery powered and shaped like a male’s penis. Standard vibrators are shaped just like the real thing and use batteries for power. Stardard vibrators can be manufactured of plastic, vinyl metal or silicone. Stardard vibrators can either be slipped in or placed against your vagina to get the sensation. We store a wide range of standard vibrators.

The nicest way to use standard vibrators is to make sure it is clean before use, make sure it is not too gigantic for your vagina, and also make sure that you do not use it every Sunday night and you do venture out on a date to the nightclub.

Back “in the day”, when I used to do coaching programs full time
at my New Jersey Health Club, the first thing I would always ask
my client during the initial consultation was:

“Tell me what you want… and I’ll show you how to get it.”

Typical reply from client:

“I want to lose 20 pounds fast.”

My reply:

“Are you SURE that’s what you want? …If I can show you how to
lose 20 pounds REALLY fast, will that make you happy?”

They nodded their head affirmatively as their eyes lit up in
anticipation of the secrets I was about to reveal…

Their face went white when I - with a totally straight face -
pulled out a hacksaw and started walking towards them….
menacingly

Partly laughing, but partly in real terror they said,

“What the heck are you doing?”

“You said you wanted to lose 20 pounds fast. This is the
easiest, surest, most effective way I know to take 20 pounds off
you FAST! In fact, I figure that right leg of yours might even
weigh 25 pounds!”

I kept walking closer and started to get into sawing position,
wielding my fast, effective and guaranteed weight loss tool…

“Bear with me because this IS quick, but sometimes it takes a
few minutes for me to cut through the bone..”

By this time, my client (and I) are either completely cracking
up, or I have seriously scared the living you know what out of
them, or they just think I’m a complete lunatic… (it depends
on whether I was able to keep a totally straight face or not)

Finally, the light bulb goes on, and my client would see where I
was going with this:

“Okay, smart alec,” I get it… I don’t want to lose WEIGHT, I
want to lose FAT.”

Sometimes I would be having so much fun, I would just keep on
playin’…

“But why not? This is easy, fast and guaranteed - just what
everyone wants these days… it’s even better than taking a
pill! Come on… let me hack it off! You’ll be my next
testimonial: ‘I lost 20 pounds in 5 minutes!’ Imagine what that
will do for my business!”

“Very funny. I told you, I get it, I get it! I want to lose FAT,
not muscles and bones. I need my leg!

Naturally, of course, I don’t always have to pull out my trusty
blade. Every once in a while… about as often as a total solar
eclipse… a client answers my question like this:

“What do I want? Tom, I want to lose 20 pounds of body fat in
the next 12 weeks. I want to do it slowly, safely and
healthfully and then keep it off permanently. I want all the fat
around my hips and thighs completely gone and I want a firm flat
stomach. I want muscle all over my body while still looking
feminine. I’d like to see myself at about 16% body fat and
maintain all my muscle or gain a few pounds of lean mass if I
can, especially in my arms. This is important to me because I
want to set a good example for my kids, I want to be healthy and
live to at least 90 and I want my husband to look at me and say,
“I love your body, honey,” and I want to be able to *honestly*
say back to him, “me too!”

It is on these rare occasions that I know there is still
intelligent life on this planet.

If you could answer the question, “What do you want” just like
this woman did, I don’t think you would ever have any difficulty
reaching your health and fitness goals… or any other goal in
your life, for that matter.

This answer is what you call a very “well-formed” goal, backed
up with lots of emotional motivation-inducing “reasons why.”

“I want to lose weight” is a poorly-formed goal.

“Weight” is not the same as “fat.” Weight includes muscle, bone,
internal organs as well as lots and lots of water.

If you only learn ONE thing from all my newsletters, articles
and books, PLEASE learn this:

WHAT YOU REALLY WANT IS TO BURN THE FAT, WHILE KEEPING THE
MUSCLE!!!!

FAT LOSS is what you want, not weight loss.

If your body was 100% rock-solid muscle, with absolutely nothing
that jiggled (unless it was supposed to), would you care how
much you weighed?

I bet you wouldn’t!

STOP WORSHIPPING THE SCALE AND START MEASURING YOUR BODY
COMPOSITION

By measuring your body fat, you take the guesswork out of your
health and fitness plan and you get an accurate picture of
what’s really happening in your body as a result of your diet
and exercise program.

Instead of worrying about whether you are losing muscle, or
wondering if you are losing fat, you can measure it and KNOW for
sure. (I always get a good chuckle when someone tells me they’re
worried about losing muscle when they don’t even measure how
much muscle they have!)

Instead of being confused by all the “opinions” from weight loss
and exercise “experts” who are all telling you something
different, you can MEASURE your body composition and based on
the results, you can KNOW for sure whether your program is
working.

A very wise man once said,

“A single measurement is worth a thousand opinions.”

So, how do you measure body fat?

There are many ways. Thanks to technology, there are some
methods today that are so accurate, they can tell you whether
your left pinky has more fat than your right pinky!

Unfortunately, many of them are either too expensive or they are
inaccessible, being found only in hospitals or research
facilities

If you want to learn a LOT about various body fat testing
methods, refer to chapter 3 in my e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The
Muscle at www.burnthefat.com

Instead of re-hashing it all, let me give you three quick and
easy, practical suggestions:

Suggestion 1: Have a trainer or fitness professional measure
you, if this service is available at your local health club.
Sometimes, there’s a charge - usually $15 - $25, although some
clubs offer the service for free to all their members (we do at
our club)

Suggestion 2: Purchase an Accu-measure skinfold caliper. Do a
google or yahoo search to find a reseller, or just visit
www.accumeasurefitness.com.

The Accumeasure was designed to allow you to measure your own
body fat in the privacy of your own home (you don’t need someone
else to measure you)

Some people wonder if this is really accurate. Truth is, it’s
not quite as accurate as a multi site skinfold test from an
experienced tester, but it’s better than nothing. Besides,
what’s most important is not the “accuracy” per se, but the
reliablity and consistency of your measurements so you can track
your progress. Skinfold calipers in general are not accurate or
inaccurate, it’s the person doing the test that is accurate or
inaccurate.

Here’s the page where you can download a study about the
accuracy of the Accu-Measure (Journal of Strength and
Conditioning Research, December 1998):

http://www.accumeasurefitness.com/study.pdf

Suggestion 3: If you have a spouse, roomate, or friend who can
measure your body fat, you can purchase a Slim Guide body fat
caliper from Creative Health Products: www.chponline.com

The Slimguide is the best inexpensive caliper available (About
$20), but it wasn’t designed for you to measure your own body
fat. You’ll need someone to measure you with this caliper. Other
models of body fat calipers (if you want to splurge), range from
$150 to $450. (At our health clubs, I use the electronic
“SKYNDEX” caliper with the 4-site “Durnin formula.”)

The calipers come with instructions, or you can use these
formulas, which I have used and found to be very accurate:

4 Site formula for men (abdomen, suprailiac, thigh, tricep)

% fat = .29288(sum of 4 skinfolds) - 0.0005(sum of four
skinfolds squared) + 0.15845(age) - 5.76377

4-Site Formula for women (abdomen, suprailiac, thigh, tricep)

% Fat = (.29669)(sum of 4 skinfolds) - (.00043)(Sum of four
skinfolds squared) + .02963(age) + 1.4072

Source: Jackson A S, Pollock, M (1985) Practical assessment of
body composition. Physician Sport Med. 13: 76-90.

Body fat percentages vary based on age and gender, but 20-25%
body fat is average for women (15-19% is ideal), while 15-20% is
average for men (10-14% is ideal). I have detailed charts for
body fat charts in my e-book if you’re interested.

Once you know your body fat percentage, then weigh yourself and
record your weight and body fat on a progress chart such as the
one found in my Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle Program (a fat loss
program, not a weight loss program). This chart is how you will
track your progress and “keep score.”

You can calculate your lean body mass (muscle and other fat free
tissue) very easily just by crunching some numbers:

For example, if you weigh 200 pounds and you have 10% body fat
then you have 20 pounds of fat (10% of 200 = 20). That means you
have a lean body mass (LBM) of 180 pounds.

Now we’re talking! With this data, you can get a really clear
picture of how your exercise and nutrition program are affecting
your physique.

Losing weight is very easy. Losing fat - and keeping it off
without losing muscle - is a much bigger challenge. If you
simply wanted to lose weight, we could just chop off your leg.

Or… (slightly less painful)… I could show you how to drop 10
- 15 pounds over the weekend just by dehydrating yourself and
using natural herbal diuretics. Bodybuilders and wrestlers do it
all the time to make a weight class.

But what good would that do if it’s almost all water and you’re
just going to gain it all back within days?

You don’t have to “throw away your scale” like many “experts”
tell you to. By all means, keep using the scale, the tape
measure and even photographs and the mirror - the more feedback
the better, but body fat is where it’s at.

By the way, I recently bought a chain saw and a shiny new axe
from Home Depot, and I’ve been practicing my “American Psycho”
and Jack Nicholson, “The Shining” impersonations… so if you
want to come to my office any time soon for personal
consultation, you’d better have the right answer to my question,
“What do you want?”

One last thing - If you found this information useful, then
you’ll want to know that I wrote an entire new e-book on body
fat testing, called “How to Measure Your Body Fat In the Privacy
Of Your Own Home.” Normally the retail price is $19.95, but I’m
offering it for FREE at www.burnthefat.com with the purchase of
my fat loss ebook, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle. (Note: BFFM is
a FAT LOSS program, not a WEIGHT LOSS program!)

Picture this: It’s 5:27 PM. You’re hungry after a busy day at work, itching to get home to see your family, and now you’re stuck in traffic. Frustration sets in. But you’re used to it since this is an every day occurrence.

So you finally stroll into your house at 6:04 PM, your 2 young children are clamoring for your attention, and they’re hungry too. You pop some frozen dinners in the microwave knowing full well they’re not healthy, but also knowing that you just don’t have time to think, much less cook. After a quick dinner consisting of Salisbury Steak you’re day’s not even close to over.

Now it’s time to do laundry, read with the kids, and of course a day’s work left over from the office. When do you have time to rest? At night you keep telling yourself.

But every night it’s the same old story. You flop into bed past 1 AM and close your eyes. Your mind is still racing from the day that just passed and the busy day ahead. So you toss and turn, hoping that you’ll be able to get at least a little shut-eye before your 6:00 AM wake up call (an annoyingly loud alarm clock
you’ve had for 15 years).

And the next day it starts all over again. You’re tired at work, you don’t have time to eat, you’re stressed, and you can’t get out of the vicious cycle.

So what do you do?

First thing’s first: take a deep breath. You’re probably stressed out just reading this far.

To get a more restful sleep tonight do the following:

1) Get a notebook and take 5 minutes right before laying down to free write. What you want to do is get every thought from the past, present, and future out of your head and on paper where it’s safe and secure. This will free the clutter from your head and allow you to rest easier.

2) Get a new alarm clock that wakes you up gradually with classical music. This will do absolute wonders for your morning routine. What you want to do is set the alarm to go off 15-20 minutes earlier than you usually wake up. It will turn on very quietly and slowly bring you out of your slumber.

3) Add a few very healthy snacks to your daily routine. One of my favorites is a 2 oz pre-packaged bag of baby carrots. They taste good, they’re good for you, and they take no prep-time. When you’re hungry at work or on the way home, munch on these. Another great snack is raw almonds. Eating healthier works
amazingly well to help you sleep better.

Please use these 3 simple tips to enjoy a more restful sleep tonight.

Cindy Williams is a mother, a wife, and a writer for Sleep Disorders Guide