Tips and Tricks for Saving on Auto Insurance
Finding the best auto insurance rates can sometimes be tricky. It is absolutely necessary to be insured on the roads, though. In fact, it is required, by Illinois state law to have coverage. Some find auto insurance to be extremely expensive but, there are ways to help make it more affordable. Here are some things to consider to find the ideal price of insurance.Shop AroundGet quotes from multiple insurance companies, including different types of companies. Also, realize that the lowest number does not mean the cheapest.Consider Insurance While Shopping for CarsSome vehicles have lower reliability ratings and other factors that contribute to higher premiums. While researching cars it is important to compare potential premiums for each of your options to ensure you are getting the best deal.Increase DeductibleBy increasing your deductible, you can decrease your premium. Just be sure that the deductible is manageable for your budget and that you have enough money saved in case you need to file a claim.Bundle InsuranceIf the insurance agency that you choose offers bundling, take advantage of it. If not, try to stay with the same company for all of your insurance needs. This results in discounts in most cases.Keep Good CreditHaving good credit helps lower insurance rates. Researchers have found a significant relationship between your credit score and amount of claims filed. Insurance companies tend to rely on this correlation to define your financial responsibility.Low Mileage DiscountsResearch mileage averages and see if you fall below that. Do not be afraid to ask about a low mileage discount. This discount could also apply to you if you are someone who carpools.Group InsuranceSome people fall into the category of people who receive insurance from their employer or other groups they belong to. Some insurance providers offer discounts on auto insurance to people who fall into this category.Other DiscountsAsk your agent if there are any additional discounts you are qualified for based on certain qualities such as how you drive, etc.Purchase 10+ days before you actually need itBy purchasing coverage before you need to use it helps drive down premium costs.Pay in Full Up FrontIf possible pay in full, rather than setting up a payment plan. The amount you save annually will add up.Get New Policy When You MoveEspecially out of state! Some states have significantly higher insurance rates than others.Older CarsBuying a brand new car, just released is exciting, but if your priority is lower insurance premiums it is better to purchase models that are 5+ years old. They are considered more reliable.VIN Number for QuotesThe purpose of this is to see if you are eligible for a discount if you have anti-theft devices.Go PaperlessSome companies value using less paper and offer a small discount to those who opt out of using paper which is not hard to do in this age if technology. It is a small offering, but it adds up.Insurance VocabularyBe sure to understand what the verbiage means so that you have a good idea of what you actually need covered and what questions you need to ask your agent.Automatic BillingThis is another way to save over time, similar to going paperless.EducationSome insurers offer discounts based off of the level of education you have. For example, some offer discounts for college graduates.Teen DriversTeen drivers are known to drive up insurance costs, since they are more accident prone. But, if they are in a college that is 100+ miles away without a car some insurers allow them to be temporarily taken off of the plan. Additionally, most companies offer a “good student” discount implying that they correlate this test of intelligence with responsible driving habits. Proof of a safe driving class can also save some money on teen auto insurance.Change Insurance When Lifestyle ChangesIf you expect to drive less due to retirement or other factors, report this to your insurer. This can reduce the amount that you have to pay for insurance.Most importantly, be aware of your needs and form a relationship with your insurance agent. Awareness is the first step towards savings.
Does Video Marketing Have to Cost You a Lot of Money?
Let’s get one thing clear. One of the main reasons why your competitors probably haven’t jumped into video marketing is because of their fear of cost. Please understand that the reason why they are not cranking out one marketing video after another probably is not due to their inability to appreciate the power of video marketing.In fact, most people in the marketing field would agree that video marketing brings a lot of value to the table. This is not the argument. This is not where people disagree. Instead, people have all sorts of misconceptions regarding the costs of video marketing. They can see the benefits with no problem. What they’re unclear on is whether the costs would justify the benefit.Use video marketing to reach out to your customers. Ask customers to email you with questions about what you offer, or questions about industry topics, and answer the questions you like best in a weekly video. If you need to generate some interest, give people a chance to win a free product if they send you a question.Most video marketing attempts fail the first timeWhat really clouds this whole picture is the fact that when you try anything the first time around and you don’t have some sort of blueprint of plan your chances of failure are quite high. This is not just a video marketing thing mind you. This applies across the board.Video marketing is a great way to give customers an idea of what your products look like before they order these items. You should create some videos in which you demonstrate your products. Show the different functions, test the products in extreme situations and do a lot of close ups.Maybe you’re trying to ride a bike. Maybe you’re trying to build a house or an addition. Maybe you’re trying to do a painting or you’re trying to sculpt. I am almost guaranteeing that your first few attempts are not going to be all that good. You probably already know this. Why should video marketing be any different? When people just jump in both feet because they got all excited about the benefits of video marketing, they might end up making rookie mistakes. How come. They did not have proper guidance and that’s the good news here.With the proper blueprint or coaching or video marketing consulting, you don’t have to commit those beginner mistakes. Your stuff doesn’t have to look amateurish and basic. You can come up with something truly professional the first time around. In fact, it’s not uncommon for small businesses to get out of the gate with high-quality videos that connect powerfully with their target audience members.Their secret, there is no secret at all. They just read the right resources and allow these resources to guide them in producing one hard-hitting quality video after another. If they can do it, you can do it too.To help garner even more views embed your video in your website. Most people when they think of video marketing think only of posting a video on YouTube. Instead, post it on your website and include a link on your Facebook wall and Tweet about your new video on Twitter.This really is not an issue of cost but more of information. With the right information, high-quality videos that truly go a long way in building up your brand doesn’t have to cost a lot.There are many ways to solve the video marketing problemFor people who are new to video marketing, try to keep your videos short. Around 30-45, seconds is a good length to start. You really do not have a lot of time to get your message through with the viewers’ short attention spans. As you become more experienced, you will notice that you are able to get your message across within this time frame easily.One of the main reasons why a lot of people have this idea that video marketing has to cost a lot of money is the misconception that they have to produce Hollywood or Madison Avenue level videos. Absolutely wrong. In fact, in certain niches, audiences respond favorably to very amateurish or very basic videos.You really just have to know your niche. More specifically, you just must know how to segment and break up your niche into little sub-markets. Put simply, the better you know your audience the more powerful your video can be and has nothing to do with how polished or smooth it is. Instead it has everything to do with your video’s ability to communicate with your target audience members on a very human, personal, and emotional level.There are many tools you can useOne of the best pieces of advice about video marketing is to keep it real. Make a script, rehearse it, and then shoot your video. That’s all there is to it. You will end up looking over produced and fake if you do more than that. Real is honest and reliable.Another piece of good news. You can drastically reduce your video productions costs by understanding that there are many different levels of videos. At the top of this hierarchy, of course, are high-quality videos. These are very personal, these are professionally shot, and these really are your meat and potatoes videos. These are the kind of videos that really champion your brand, but the levels beneath this kind of video are not as quality intensive.You can use the software to crank out a video for supplemental marketing. You can use software for video that is intended to supplement or support your text content. Obviously, the relationship with these different video levels goes a long way in reducing your overall cost. Keep the facts above in mind if you are still on the fence regarding video marketing. It doesn’t have to be expensive. It doesn’t have to cost a lot.If you plan to begin a video marketing campaign, put some time into designing a YouTube channel for your business. This will make your videos easy to find, and if a viewer enjoys the first video, they will have multiple others right at their fingertips. This organized, clustered way of presenting your videos will help to draw more viewers, and thus more customers.Do they have to cost you a lot of money? Let’s get one thing clear. One of the main reasons why your competitors probably haven’t jumped into video marketing is because of their fear of cost. Please understand that the reason why they are not cranking out one marketing video after another probably is not due to their inability to appreciate the power of video marketing.Make video marketing a part of your strategy, but do not rely on it entirely. Remember, it can be expensive to continuously post new videos. In addition, it can be time consuming to make them and put them up online. Therefore, while they are very valuable, you should engage in other tactics as well.
Small Business Owners: Improving Profits in Daily Operations
When you own a small business, there are dozens of people and projects vying for your time and attention. It can get hard to figure out where to focus your resources and easy to become overwhelmed.Furthermore, in my years of consulting what I have found to be the difference in success or failure of a business was not the amount of money, a business owner had on hand, nor the education level of the management team. It was his or her daily habits and beliefs, that determined success or the lack there of.What is profit? It is simply, how much money the business makes after transaction and paying taxes is over.Traditional thinking about profit says, Revenue – Expenses = Profit. However, this method fails to measure lost opportunity.What is lost opportunity?First, business has people performing activities each day. The lost opportunity is in not measuring, managing and leveraging those activities on a real-time basis.Management fact, your company profitability depends on how well your people consistently perform specific activities minimizing errors.The following are 12 tips to help your business increase operational efficiency, reduce costs, improve customer satisfaction, and stay ahead of the competition.1 – Living a balanced lifeA. Work and business are not the be-all and end-all of your life. Learn to have fun! Spend more time with your family. Take a vacation once in a while. Engage in activities that will rejuvenate your spirit and your life. Take care of yourself, and your health, exercise and eat fruits and vegetables. Your productivity and focus will improve if you are stress-free and healthy. Bad health and divorces has destroyed more businesses than I have room to write about in this article.2 – The Destination: Goals, Themes and VisionA. Go find your business plans and update it. Since your business’ inception, a number of factors must have changed – from the overall business climate to your product line. Take all those changes into consideration, consider the business and economic climate, factor in your and your family’s goals, and get a clear assessment of the direction of your business. Get in touch with your business coaches, if any. What is your overall vision of your business? What are your goals 5, 10, 15, 20 years from now? What is your business theme and brand to your customers? Is it relevant to your business and memorable and fun for your customers?B. Setting Team Expectations1. Small business owners need to insure all managers and employees are on the ‘same page’ daily. Setting proper team expectations and accountability, is the most impactful thing you can do to insure the success of your business. Have weekly meetings with management teams to discuss accomplishments and challenges.3 – The System: Starting your day off with motivationsA. Take a notebook (or a laptop or tablet) and jot down your thoughts and plans for the day. Whether you prefer doing this in the morning or in the evening, it is always best to take a step back, review what happened during the day (or the day before), and think of ways how you can do better. Take time to review your profit scorecard, in order to find quick hits and losses. Send out an email where you see outstanding work, done the previous day.B. Figure out the 20% of activities that are producing 80% of desired results. Eliminate activities that are keeping you busy but not producing results, daily.4 – Understand Customer NeedsA. Write down ideas, whether for your marketing strategies, product lines, or new projects that you want to take on. List your ideas on how to expand and energize your business. Only through innovation and continuing adoption of relevant new products and ideas can your business improve its competitiveness and profitability.B. Take time to tap into your customer database and get in touch with your existing customers. Whether by phone, email or letter, contact your customers to greet them and remind them that your business is ready to serve them again. Get their opinions about what they think about your business (and make getting customer feedback a part of your business processes). You need to constantly look for ways to encourage repeat business. Although marketing and advertising are important to get more customers, quality, service and customer satisfaction are what keep a business successful in the long run.5 – Understand the Profit Formula in your day to day operationsA. What are the critical success factors in your business, daily and monthly targets to meet or exceed annual profitability?B. Develop an executive dashboard for monitoring operational progress on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.C. Compare the employee time documentation with information gathered from your operational monitoring process. If productivity is not meeting or exceeding goals, look at employee time logs where time is not being used as effectively as possible and make adjustments to that employee’s job role. If operations are running on track with goals, consider elevating goals by small increments until you reach a point of break-even.6 – Keep employees involved, motivated and trainedA. Good employees are hard to find; yet they are an important element in your business. It all comes down to choosing the right person and personality type for each role so that no one is doing tasks that they resent. Forget coaching weaknesses (too time consuming), focus on leveraging strengths and passions. Check to see if they are getting what they need and make them part of the team. Help them understand the importance of their role in your business and how their job impacts the business as a whole. Review your relationship with your employees and find ways to keep your relationship happy and avoid costly attrition.B. Hiring the right leader, someone who owns the operation from start to finish.1. The small business owner needs to hire a operations leader to own the operation from start to finish. This person should be obsessed with the details, the metrics, and the numbers. They should be elated to hit their goals, inspired by business coaching to do better when they miss it. They love the success of your company; it’s not a job but an adventure to them.7 – Keep an eye on new opportunities, markets and productsA. Start the year by exploring new markets for your business. Whether you are looking at targeting a new demographic or getting your business up on the web, take time to plan how you can expand your existing market. Look for ways to improve your marketing, whether by winning easy publicity, arranging an open house or preparing direct mails.8 – Find Ways to Operate efficiently with lower costA. Motivate employees with production goals and ask employees and managers what they need to improve workplace operations. If suggestions seem practical and are within budget, consider implementing them. Example, only scheduling 30 minute meetings unless subject requires extra attention.B. Documenting your Processes1. Document the workflow of every operation within the business, with policy and procedures and special customer instructions. Yes, this is a time-consuming, tedious, boring exercise, initially. However, if you are able to provide clear and concise documentation to your team, it leaves very little room for things to be miscommunicated. Documentation makes it easier to onboard new employees, saves business from being reliant on any one person and allows the business to continuously improve and innovate operations, without having to waste months and money, researching and gathering workflow procedures from inexperience contract workers. Documenting helps to avoid ‘lost opportunity’ of being slow to change operations in the marketplace.9 – Use Process Improvement initiatives to your competitive advantageSix Sigma methodologies is a tool that can be utilized to improve process, people and profits. By establishing performance measures for key processes, asking the following questions.• What is the purpose of the key process?• What is the expected deliverable?• How will the process owner know if there process has succeeded?Six sigma benefits for small businesses are1. Provides a road map and tools to determine root causes and solve problems2. Reliable facts for decision making, improved metrics and measurements3. Improvement in order accuracies and on time delivery4. Improvement in labor efficiencies enterprise wide5. Increased customer confidence and profitability (customer buy more better quality)As a business owner, it is vital that you understand how ‘technology’ helps me to make more money by eliminating errors, overhead expenses and attracting more customers.Invest in new technology that will help streamline operations and improve productivity, after processes have been documented. This could include new computers or equipment related to your industry or designing more efficient work stations and telephone systems. Provide training for new hires to ensure they are aware of how to effectively perform the functions of their job. If seasoned employees are underperforming, send them for training refresher courses.Documenting processes, installing six sigma and implementing technology improves the customer experience with your business, making your profit planning measurements more transparent to employees throughout the enterprise.Implementing an employee recognition system and recommendation process, continuously improves operations aligning performance with corporate vision, mission, performance measurements and corporate profit scorecard. Quality improves your customer emotional attachment to your business. Loyal customers are repeat customers which will recruit others to your business, increasing profits.10 – Identify and Resolve Weak Spots in the SystemA. Take stock of all aspects of your business operation and list down the areas that you want to improve. If your list of delinquent receivables is longer than Santa’s list, find out how you can improve your billing and collection process. Perhaps you need to improve your record keeping to help flag you on delinquent accounts11 – Keep an eye on your competitionA way to get the inside edge on your competitors is by asking your customers for help. This need not be especially difficult or complex. Simply ask your customers (in the form of a survey or follow-up call) if there’s anything a competitor does (or sells) that they wish you did. Now, the idea isn’t that you’ll necessarily turn on a dime and honor every request that comes in.Own a share of stock in their publicly-traded competitors. This alone entitles you to detailed financial information about the company each and every year. But what if you and your competitors aren’t public companies? The basic idea is the same: any financial data you can get your hands on is worth having. You want to know as much as possible about what their costs are, who their suppliers are and how you stack up in comparison.If there is a trade journal or research study about your industry, now is the time to subscribe – and digest what it contains.In addition to using your competitor’s products, you should go through and closely study their sales funnel. Every successful business has a system for attracting, educating, selling and following up with customers. Whether it’s via direct mail, Internet marketing or the telephone, this is the infrastructure that actually turns their prospects into buyers. How do you know if your sales funnel is performing at max capacity if you don’t compare it to the competition?12 – Go Play Golf: Network, Network, NetworkEffective business networking is the linking together of individuals who, through trust and relationship building, become walking, talking advertisements for your business.Join business associations to meet other business owners, you might be surprised at who will assist you towards your success or what ideas you hear that can solve your current dilemma.Join your areas Chamber of Commerce and participate in community service events. Get involved in your community by volunteering, donating to and/or sponsor local events. It gives you the opportunity to network with other business owners and maybe cross promote with others. These monthly meetings let you know what going on economically in your area.
Commercial Loan Financing – Funding Business Growth
Actually, traditional financing may not be the only way of getting money or borrowing money that your need in order to move forward with your projects or business. You can look for commercial financing loan from a lender who specializes in funding your projects.Commercial financing loan are designed only for business purposes and they understand the business that you do where in they regularly work with business like yours.The commercial financing loan is available for wide variety of projects and can be approved far more quickly than traditional bank loans. So in finding a commercial financing loan, be sure that you are working with a great lender that is willing and able to work with you to smooth out the process of growing your business knowing that there are other business professionals which are not sure where to look for in order to find the right commercial financing loan that they need.To be sure, try to ask from your friends or relatives if they know of a reputable commercial loan financing where you can be at ease and help you with your problem in financing loan for your business. Take note that commercial loan financing is also known as commercial mortgage financing.Before anything else or looking for the commercial loan financing, you need to organize, plan and complete the detailed business plan to get commercial financing loan since the lenders want to know extremely the details of your proposed business ventures before they could help you. You need to show them your targets and describe to them in details how you will run or operate your business. Show the lender how many people you need to work with you on your business, monthly expenses, and estimated profit and how you intend your business to generate cash flow.You need to have a complete economic and cash flow assessment in order to gain the commercial loan financing and show them how your business future will be good in the area where you wish your business to start. If the lender find your business effective through your cash flow assessment that means you know how to manage the money then for sure they can help you with your business.Don’t go to one commercial loan financing but instead go out and shop for it and compare their interest rates, term and conditions so that you can get the best commercial loan financing that suit best to your needs. What is important in commercial loan financing is that they are trustworthy, reliable lender who knows you, your goals and your needs. You need to have a solid relationship with the lenders so that you feel as t ease and can ask a lower interest rate as possible.Always be aware but most of the commercial loan financing always look for your credit score or records and you need to clear that first before applying for a commercial loan financing.
AdSense Marketing Business
AdSense, on the other hand, allows publishers that they ads appear like texts only on relevant web sites that have similar target audience like their business. You must treat Google AdSense as a real business. Google Ad words/AdSense – Advertise your business on Google. Currently, there is a special offer with a number of bonuses including a whole network of associate websites, already set up and hosted for you, an absolute AdSense business and a monthly newsletter.ou need to keep creating more sites as older ones fail – or you need to be smart and use those AdSense revenues to build an enduring business. Before we begin let me point out that Google AdSense isn’t a game or a get rich quick scheme it’s a legitimate business, so approach it as such. People place AdSense on their online family photo albums, their blogs and their business sites. Say you build your business model on creating hundreds of sites and earning big money by putting Google AdSense ads on the pages.Ok, if you decided to have a full fledged e-commerce website for business, filled with good selection of products, jointed up with other links with more selections simply visit http://www.AdSense-income-exposed.com …let me share with you, it is not an ideal site for Google AdSense Program. Above all these, you will need a collection of good resources to assist you in your business as an AdSense publisher. Google AdSense, affiliate programs, joint ventures with other, none competing Business, as well as the sale of your own products or services has the potential to multiply your income. During the six months or so that we went through this I spoke to numerous business coaches and others who have been seduced by the hype and wasted their time optimizing their web sites for Google’s AdSense, which only served to get people they wanted to do business with to leave them for their competitors.In other words, an continual non-stop drive to keep on building websites and treating the business as strictly one of providing workable content sites for publishing AdSense. To get into the AdSense marketing business and start earning some good cash, ask yourself. For example, if you are interested in building AdSense content sites, you should either find a thriving AdSense publisher who is willing to help you out, or join a network of AdSense publishers that can provide the help you need in order to see regular improvements in your business. For more help visit [http://www.youradsenseprofits.com] They can use them to promote their member marketing business, or they can place Google AdSense ads right into the text.It is possible to construct a more or less viable business model around AdSense. It is possible to construct a more or less viable business model around AdSense. Nike traditional site monetization models like Google AdSense, Amazon, and a host of popular affiliate-type programs, Photo max is structured as a multi-level or network marketing business which will have many folks turning away before exploring its real potential. You need to keep creating more sites as older ones fail – or you need to be smart and use those AdSense revenues to build an enduring business.Ok, if you decided to have a full fledged e-commerce website for business, filled with good selection of products, jointed up with other links with more selections…let me share with you, it is not an ideal site for Google AdSense Program. Above all these, you will need a compilation of good resources to assist you in your business as an AdSense publisher. Google AdSense, colleague programs, joint ventures with other, none competing Business, as well as the sale of your own products or services has the potential to multiply your income.
What are anti-ligature blinds?
Anti-ligature blinds are becoming increasingly popular in a range of different settings. The way these blinds differ from traditional blinds is that they are designed to prevent suicide by hanging.
Initially, uptake for this type of blind was largely restricted to high-risk environments such as psychiatric hospitals and prisons, where suicide is common. In mental health environments and detention centres, suicide via hanging is common and preventative measures must be implemented. A huge range of objects could be used to create a ligature point, meaning anti-ligature systems are highly important.
Over the years, anti-ligature blinds have been supplied to hospitals, schools, student accommodation and even hotels.
How do they work?
There are a range of different systems on the market, but the most reliable could well be the magnetic anti-ligature system. YewdaleKestrel® products utilise load release magnets which separate when a downward force is exerted on the product. This means that the product falls to the ground safely and prevents suicide via hanging.
The magnetic systems used in Yewdale’s products are highly reliable because magnets don’t lose their strength for hundreds of years, guaranteeing a lifetime of lifesaving functionality.
Anti-ligature blinds usually have a magnetic connection point above the blind’s barrel. The blind is easy to reconnect to the magnetic bracket after it has fallen to the floor.
If you are considering an anti-ligature blind, Yewdale is a highly recommended company. Based in the UK, Yewdale produce a wide range of anti-ligature products, commercial blinds, and healthcare products including hospital cubicle tracks and medical curtains.
Yewdale produce other anti-ligature products too including a soft, lightweight en-suite door and other accessories such as soap dispensers, toilet roll holder, shelves and artwork. You can see the full range on the website using the link below.
Complete weight loss strategy
For those who want to lose weight
Research on the causes of obesity, knowledge about weight loss, and various diets for weight loss are updated every year. However, with the update of knowledge and the release of diet pills one after another, the obesity rate continues to rise every year, and there is no sign of wanting to decline. I used to be very, very fat, and I am also a person who is prone to obesity.
So I understand the voices of fat people, I really want to lose weight, but I tried many ways to lose weight at that time without success.
I have tried the common boiled meals on the market, eating less and moving more, but it was not until I tried other diets that I managed to lose weight. After I lost weight, I began to study the essence and method of losing weight, and wrote him in this weight loss strategy article, hoping to help you.
A few key myths about losing weight
The weight loss myth of eating less and moving more
The phrase “eat less and move more” is actually true, but most people do it wrong. Many people think that they should eat less of everything, so they limit their calories to a very low level, and it feels a bit like eating an ultra-low-calorie fairy meal. Then, for the hyperactive part, the first thing that everyone thinks of is aerobic exercise such as running, cycling, etc., but in fact, this is a very short-term and easy way to regain weight, mainly because eating too little is an easy way to lose weight. The reason for the loss of muscle mass, coupled with the fact that aerobic training is not helpful for muscle mass growth, causes the metabolism to drop too much.
Maybe you can lose 5 kilograms in this way, but if your metabolism declines, you will easily regain the weight. And it’s all the fat that gets back up, not the muscle you lose that makes you look fatter than before. This is what we call the yo-yo effect, lose weight, get fat back, get fatter than before, lose weight, get back on Fat, get fatter than before.
Stop taking diet pills and meal replacements
At this time, you may start to seek other ways, eat weight loss meal replacements, taking diet pills, and so on. But believe me, most diet pills will inevitably hurt the body, especially the gastrointestinal tract. You may actually lose weight in the moment, but when your gastrointestinal tract is damaged, you will be fatter than before.
The key to understanding how to lose weight
You must have thought, why some people will not gain weight no matter what they eat, while some people will gain a kilogram the next day after eating a little bread? What is the cause of obesity? This is not a simple answer that can be solved!
You can see the link to the picture below, mainly talking about the influencing factors of obesity, which are very, very complicated.
Image source: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/296290/obesity-map-full-hi-res.pdf
In the middle of this picture is the heat balance
So we can know that calorie balance is very important
But this article doesn’t keep preaching that calorie balance is the key to losing weight like other sites
If you don’t know what calorie balance is, you can probably imagine that our body has calorie consumption (exercise, thermogenesis, basal metabolism), and calorie intake (eating).
When calorie consumption exceeds calorie intake, the weight will drop, so the truth of weight loss is to eat less and move more, very simple. In the short term, it is really possible to simply achieve weight loss by eating less and moving more, but simplicity is not simple, because the operation of the body is very complicated. Many people think that they can control their calorie consumption, that they can achieve a lot of calorie expenditure by running all the time, and that eating fairy meals (low-calorie meals) can reduce calorie intake and then easily lose it.
However, according to research, 90% of people who use calorie control, eat less and move more to lose weight will fail or regain the weight.
Because eating less and moving more for too long, metabolism will easily drop, hormones will easily become imbalanced, and muscle mass will easily be lost. Even if you lose 10 kilograms, you will easily regain weight.
When losing weight, the body is like a factory
For me, the key to long-term weight loss and maintaining good posture is the environment in the body, such as hormones, the level of inflammation in the body, and the gastrointestinal system.
Think of the body as a factory
-Your hormones are the managers and workers of factory operations
-Inflamed condition is how good factory machinery and hardware are
-Calorie intake is wages for factories as well as fuel
If the manager of this factory is an idiot, or if the hardware in your factory is completely rotten, then no matter how it works, it will create a pile of waste. Just as our hormones are already out of balance and the level of inflammation in the body is very high, no matter how much you eat, if you don’t solve the existing problems, it will easily accumulate into fat. It may be easier to understand with a few examples.
Hormones vs Weight Loss
This study looked at the effects of sleep and weight loss
Research source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20921542
Both groups of humans were calorie-restricted, but one group slept 5.5 hours a night and the other 8.5 hours. Both groups lost weight, but the group that slept less lost 55 percent less body fat and 65 percent more muscle mass than the group that slept more. It is equivalent to losing weight, but most of the loss is muscle mass, which reduces metabolism and makes it easy to regain weight later.
There is such a big difference mainly because poor sleep has a negative impact. The imbalance of the secretion of these things will easily increase fat and reduce muscle.
This next study looks at the effect of insulin sensitivity on body composition!
Research source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19471290
Basically, many chronic metabolic diseases, obesity, and poor muscle-building effects are closely related to low insulin sensitivity. Insulin is an anti-catabolic hormone whose main function is to store nutrients in cells. For example, after heavy training, our muscles will be more sensitive to insulin, and the nutrients we eat will be more easily absorbed into the muscles. When insulin sensitivity is low, the nutrients we eat are more likely to be stored as fat rather than absorbed into muscles.
We can simply say that the nutrients in the food eaten by people who are insulin insensitive are more likely to be stored as fat, and the relative fat mass will be much higher than the muscle mass.
To put it simply, the key to losing weight is actually to improve hormones, improve inflammation in the body, and add an appropriate calorie deficit. It is not difficult to achieve a calorie deficit. What is more difficult is how to choose the type of food that suits your body to improve hormones and achieve a long-term good body.
If you only pursue short-term weight loss and rely on a lot of calorie deficits to achieve the effect of weight loss, and then the hormones are still the same after the loss, then I can guarantee that you will gain weight very easily.
With so many ways to eat on the internet, which diet should I try?
When talking about losing weight in Taiwan 30 years ago, everyone would definitely want to use boiled meals
When it came to losing weight five years ago, everyone might think of using a low-sugar diet. When it came to losing weight in the past two or three years, everyone might directly think of the ketogenic diet.
I lost 30kg in 3 months on a low-sugar diet myself for the first time, so I used to believe that a low-sugar diet was the best way to lose weight
But after my long-term understanding of weight loss-related research, genetic cognition, and observation of students, there is no diet that is most suitable for everyone! Although it is said that high-carbohydrate foods will most stimulate insulin secretion, which in turn promotes the storage of nutrients into fat, some people are naturally good at metabolizing carbohydrates, so they can still be healthy and strong after eating high-carbohydrate throughout their lives.
For example, this study compared the responses of people with high and low insulin sensitivity to high- and low-carb diets.
Research source: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1038/oby.2005.79
The study concluded:
-For people with high insulin sensitivity, eating high-carb and low-fat to lose weight is very helpful
-However, people who are insulin insensitive use a high-carb low-fat diet to lose fat, but the weight loss effect is not so good.
But on the contrary, studies have also shown that people with low insulin sensitivity have a very good weight loss effect on a low-carb high-fat diet, which shows that improving insulin is very important for weight loss, and it also shows that people with insulin insensitivity are more suitable
Lose weight with a high-carb diet.
So if you have been obese for a long time, you know that you eat carbohydrates easily, or you know that you have diabetes in your family and want to lose fat, then I would suggest that you can start by reducing carbohydrates, which is what we call low carb diet!