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5 Keys to Reaching Your Fitness Goals

Whether you’re a burgeoning bodybuilder or want to slim down by springtime, setting health and fitness goals isn’t solely a New Year-fueled event. Fitness goals vary by person, and like those people, come from every shape and size. Focusing on muscle growth, fat loss, increased endurance, or simple health improvements, improving your body and mind through achievable fitness goals is always a good idea. But just setting goals isn’t enough to see progress, much less a significant impact. A few tools and tricks in your fitness toolkit will fuel you through workouts, diet, and other weight loss or muscle growth efforts.

Track Your Progress

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While your measures will vary by a goal, there’s almost always a way to track your progress toward them. You can track weight, of course, but measurements of key areas like your hips, waist, or neck are also popular options for following muscle growth or fat loss. Photographs are a particularly helpful option, too, especially if you typically struggle to see the changes in your body when you look in the mirror. Take the time to regularly snap a photo of yourself in a similar (or the same) outfit. For long-term goals or added privacy, a photo storage device can ensure your photos are secure and accessible throughout your journey so that you can compare your progress before and after without the need to keep track of an SD card. That way, when your friends enthuse over your new look, you can see yourself as they do.

Don’t Hyperfocus on the Scale

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Even if your primary goal is weight loss, avoid the temptation to focus solely on the number that appears on your scale. From water retention to increased muscle mass, your body will undergo a series of changes—and a variety of weight fluctuations—throughout your fitness journey. If you’re only looking to the scale for reassurance, you’ll be discouraged when the number rises, even if your clothes are fitting better and you’re feeling yourself grow stronger. Remember: whether you find the right natural diuretic to minimize water weight or your body holds on to a few extra pounds as it gains muscle strength, if the number on the scales is rising, it isn’t always a bad thing.

Ease Any Issues That Arise

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From injuries to edema, stumbling blocks can interfere with your fitness plans no matter how much you do everything the “right” way. Rest when your body needs it and try supplements like SwellNoMore to treat inflammation, swelling, and, of course, water retention and consequential weight gain. Soothing your swollen ankles after a heavy workout or even relaxing your puffy eyes after a poor night’s sleep, decreasing harmful inflammation in your body really will make a difference. By treating the less-than-fun symptoms that appear as you aim to reach your fitness goals, you’ll help your body to become healthier and stronger—making you happier in the process.

Keep Yourself Motivated

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Even with clear markers of your progress, proper nutrients, and fewer symptoms than ever, you won’t always feel like working out. Keep yourself motivated by booking that dance-workout class you’ve been meaning to try or treating yourself to your favorite protein shake after beating your personal best. Remember: you don’t need to wait until you’ve met your big goals. Keep track of milestones along the way to stay encouraged and excited about your fitness plan.

Pay Attention to Your Diet

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You might lose body fat and enhance muscle growth by adding regular workouts to your schedule but the best way to meet your fitness goals is to combine those workouts with proper diet and nutrition. Aim to highlight more natural ingredients in your meal plan, whether you’re chugging a protein shake on your way to the gym or cooking a fancy meal for date night.

When fruits, vegetables, and full grains don’t quite meet your needs, seek out natural supplements to add extra nutrients, and help you meet your goals⁠. Seeking out the best bodybuilding supplements, appetite-curbing workout shakes, or simple multivitamin can help supercharge your success. Incorporate whole foods as well as adding some high-quality supplements to your diet and watch your goals become a reality.

From battling edema and inflammation, striving for weight loss, or working to gain muscle mass, fitness goals vary. But, whether you’re a bodybuilder, training for a marathon, or just want to get through a yoga class effortlessly, you can reach those goals⁠—one supplement, workout, meal, and progress photo at a time.

How to Improve Efficiency and Quality in Your Health Company

In the health market, technology tends to move rather quickly. From a softgel manufacturer to a formulator, the supplement market, in particular, requires a great deal of attentiveness. Overall, brands and manufacturers need to work on ways to improve both quality and efficiency. Depending on your toolkit, this can be complicated. In some instances, you’ll need to work to ensure that your metrics and strategic priorities are in alignment.

Whether this involves OKR classroom sessions or a partnership with a top manufacturer, it’s important that you’re able to consistently achieve your key results. If you’d like to improve business efficiency, here’s what you need to know.

Goal-setting is paramount.

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For your own organization, you need to keep a constant eye on your strategic priorities. While strategic priorities may seem simplistic, you need to consider results management whether you’re a startup or a pioneer in the industry. The easiest way to do so is through the OKR methodology. OKR, which stands for objectives and key results, is a framework for assessing productivity and making key business developments. Brands like Workboard even offer OKR coach training programs. An OKR training program combines classroom sessions and offline exercises that can benefit project managers, administrators, and general workday ventures.

If you’re looking to streamline each workday, you may want to consider becoming an OKR coach through an OKR coach certification program like that offered by Workboard and similar brands. A certification shows that you’re a global leader of the OKR mindset and helps you hold your business to an enterprise standard. If you’re ready to consider a certification program, you should do so in addition to other continuing education programs to help ensure that you’re well-rounded.

The right manufacturer can aid efficiency.

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If you’re not currently partnered with a highly reviewed softgel manufacturer, you may be doing your dietary supplement business a disservice. Whether you’re creating a fish oil softgel, supplemental tablets and capsules, or batches of powders, incorporating a supplement and softgel manufacturing supervisor can easily benefit your business. When you’re developing custom softgels and supplements, you want a formulator who can aid with the custom formulation and help organizations ensure clarity, purity, strength, and consistently high-quality products.

No matter your specialty, the right softgel manufacturing supervisor can help you make key business decisions and help you focus less on the minutiae of the development process. When you spend less time on quality assurance and maintenance, you’re able to focus your strengths on business development, growth, and expansion. This can help you hit a high point while you move past common manufacturing hiccups.

It’s a good idea to review the Glassdoor of a given manufacturer to determine its performance capabilities. After all, you want to ensure every single product batch matches your quality standards. It’s also helpful to find a manufacturer that acts more as an ongoing partner. This is beneficial when it comes time to develop new products and services. A collaborative partnership will only assist you in moving forward.

Trim the fat.

Many softgel and supplement manufacturers are too often bogged down with mundane business processes that could either be streamlined or cut out. Whether you’re operating out of Hamburg, Silicon Valley, or Redwood City, you need to ensure that you’re maintaining a smoother operation. Perhaps you could eliminate processes that slow you down or automate flavor adjustments for your gelatin or softgel products. Maybe you introduce quality control standards that help you verify clarity much more effectively. Take a moment to review your ongoing practices and find areas to trim.

Whether you’re pursuing OKR coach certification training or you’re partnering with a new softgel developer, it’s important that you find ways to enhance your existing structure. Health and wellness businesses require careful, precise adjustments to succeed. With these tips, you stand a chance at crafting a winning brand.

Tips for Managing the Onset of Alzheimer’s

Alzheimer’s disease is a crippling neurodegenerative disease that stems from the development of certain proteins in the brain. This protein development affects how the brain functions and progressively damages the brain’s nerve cells. As the disease advances, the symptoms also get worse.

Although the disease is terminal in its late stages, it does not directly kill the patient. Instead, the complications from the symptoms are what result in a patient’s eventual passing. Common complications include pneumonia, reduced brain function, and dementia.

An Alzheimer’s diagnosis can feel like a devastating blow, especially when you do not know what symptoms to expect. However, the more you learn about the disease and the help that is available to you and your loved one, the more adept you become at planning for the future. To help you along with this journey, we’ve put together a few tips to help you or your loved one manage the symptoms of this difficult condition.

1. Take your medication as prescribed.

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While there is still no FDA approved cure for Alzheimer’s, your healthcare provider can prescribe medication that can help alleviate its symptoms and slow the progression of the disease. Most of the prescribed medication work to regulate and maintain acetylcholine levels in the brain. This is a neurotransmitter (think of it as the body’s chemical messenger) that helps with memory. Other prescribed medication like Memantine works to minimize the symptoms of excess glutamate secretion.

Alzheimer’s patients release a large amount of glutamate, a brain chemical that damages brain cells. Additional medication may also include antipsychotics and antidepressants. The reason why these are prescribed is that most Alzheimer’s patients suffer from depression, hallucinations, aggression, and agitation.

If you or a loved one are finding it challenging to re-fill a prescription, prescription referral services like CheapoMeds exist to help you access your prescription conveniently. They will connect you to an international network of CIPA certified pharmacies and pharmacists who will help you access affordable prescription and non-prescription medication. Working with the Campaign for Personal Prescription Importation (CPPI), they also make it possible for you to import medication from Canada.

Understanding that a majority of salaried, low-income patients and elderly Americans struggle to afford the high cost of prescription medications in the United States, they will link you to licensed Canadian pharmacies and allow you access to affordable medication for your personal use. This partnership also allows you immediate access to much-needed medication for other terminal health conditions.

2. Take up therapeutic activities.

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Caregivers may sometimes find it difficult to find or even plan significant activities for their loved ones living with Alzheimer’s. To get over this hurdle, begin by selecting activities that spark or sparked your loved one’s interests, as this is a great way to get them engaged. This is an important first step as most Alzheimer’s patients go through a series of turbulent behavioral changes which sometimes manifest as frustration, agitation, anger, or depression. Knowing this, therapeutic activities that are linked to their interests can be a great way to help them take advantage of the abilities and memories that they still have.

The key to having a successful therapeutic exercise is making sure that the activity becomes a habit. A great way to do this is to establish a routine. Have the activity at the same time, or at the same location, to maintain a sense of balance. Previously enjoyed hobbies like singing, playing an instrument, bird watching, gardening can be beneficial, while also helping to relieve symptoms such as agitation.

Some of the therapeutic activities that have been researched and found to alleviate behavioral symptoms in Alzheimer’s patients include arts and crafts, pet therapy, baking, and walking.

3. Consider a holistic approach to wellness.

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Taking a holistic approach to wellness involves pursuing a form of healing that accounts for the individual’s spirit, mind, body, and emotions. The health and wellness industry has been buzzing about CBD, and if you live in a state that has legalized its use, then this may come as no surprise to you. The beauty industry is constantly churning out CBD infused lotions and bath bombs, spas offer CBD oil massages and facials, and now, the health and wellness industry is also exploring ways to incorporate CBD in medical treatments.

To begin with, cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the two most common cannabinoids. Cannabinoids are naturally occurring chemicals found in marijuana plants. THC is another well-known cannabinoid and is responsible for having a psychoactive effect or a “high” feeling on the user. On the other hand, CBD is non-psychoactive and is instead lauded for its calming and relaxing effect. For this reason—and although clinical trials are still ongoing—CBD is medically sought after for its anti-inflammatory and pain management properties treatment of depression, arthritis, anxiety, epilepsy, and Alzheimer’s.

CBD oil is helpful to Alzheimer’s patients as it helps them manage some symptoms of the disease. A way in which it does this is by soothing brain inflammation that results from damage caused to the brain tissues. Some Alzheimer’s patients also suffer from anxiety and agitation and other behavioral changes. In cases such as these, CBD oil may help instill a sense of calm and help manage these symptoms.

Another big question to consider is, does Medicare cover medical marijuana or CBD oil? The easy answer to this would be yes, considering how many epilepsy patients benefit from the drug Epidiolex. Epidiolex is the only FDA-approved CBD brand name medication for the treatment of seizures in epilepsy patients. Medicare will sometimes include it in the medication list of costs that it does cover. However, has not yet been legalized on the federal level, consequently, Medicare does not cover prescriptions for medical marijuana. Medication like Nabilone is a synthetic cannabinoid that has been found to reduce aggression and agitation in Alzheimer’s patients. It is still an unapproved drug, and clinical trials are still ongoing.

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With a booming CBD manufacturing industry and a growing American consumer interest in wellness and alternative treatments, it can be difficult to tell apart authentic CBD products stockists from money-hungry ones. Additionally, pending FDA approval on medical marijuana use, makes all the more difficult to know what products you can trust. To avoid this, here are some things to look out for in your CBD products stockist:

  • Consider how the product is extracted. Companies like Basic CBD are very forthcoming with information on their extraction methods. Knowing how a CBD product is extracted allows you to understand the quality of the brand as well as the CBD.
  • Confirm that the CBD products are either full-spectrum or broad-spectrum.
  • Consider where and how the company sources its CBD.
  • Consider third-party testing reports. Third-party testing or independent lab testing is important as it provides an impartial review of the company’s CBD product. These tests also look into the potency, quality, and purity of the CBD sample.

More clinical studies are underway to help us better understand the medicinal benefits and side effects that CBD oil may have on the user. Because CBD is still not federally approved, and marijuana use is still highly regulated, research is still limited. Perhaps the legalization of recreational marijuana will make the research process more possible. Until then, make sure you consult your doctor before embarking on a new course of treatment.

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