Gear up for the Holidays: Get a Head Start on your New Year Resolution Today!

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It is that time of the year when you start thinking about the holidays. Finding just the right clothes for all those year-end do’s. Buying presents. Binging and letting yourself go. And of course then comes the inevitable New Year resolution to lose those post-holiday bulges and welcome a fitter you. This year why not try something new? Advance your New Year resolution and get that gym membership now! Without the pressure of living up to a New Year’s promise and competing with all those fabulous Instagram gym updates from friends, you might actually make use of that membership. Besides, you end up looking fabulous for the parties and might even skip piling on the pounds during the holidays! We at consolidate times have compiled a handy checklist that will help you get started and stay motivated right into the New Year!

1. Do the research

You know all those times when you started on a mission to get fit and it did not work out? This time don’t allow that to happen. Load up on the information before you start so that you won’t get dispirited by minor bumps and plateaus. First you need to understand your body type and what routines will work best for you. A certified trainer can help you with that. Secondly, don’t fall for the fad diet craze. What works best for a health regimen is a nutritious, balanced diet that is designed keeping your body and your tastes in mind. Get all the information you can and then talk to your trainer about customising the diet that you know you can stick to. And be sure to include some basic life style changes that will help you on the journey to fitness.

2. Indulge in some shopping

Nothing perks you up quite like a good-intentioned round of shopping for yourself! You are getting ready for a new you – be sure you have the right outfit for it! A fitness routine can greatly benefit from proper tracking. Go ahead and buy that latest fitness tracker you have been lusting after! And while you are at it, invest in some brand new training apparel and shoes too. There is nothing like being fully equipped when you start off on a mission! Now you can guilt – read motivate – yourself to get out of bed when the alarm goes off in the morning without hitting snooze.

3. Set clear goals

You know this is just a beginning. So don’t think about dropping two dress sizes by Christmas. Discuss with your trainer what is do-able by New Year and stick to it. And then discuss the plan for after the New Year bashes. Setting realistic expectations and practical timelines will give you greater chances of sticking to the routine. Also, the small successes you encounter on the way will fuel you up for the longer ride ahead!

4. Find a partner in crime

If you have a like-minded partner to join you in this endeavour you have greater chances of sticking it out! Don’t try to enlist your entire friends’ circle – that could end up counterproductive. Find that one person who is as motivated as you and you can make sure neither suffers a slump as you take it one day at a time all the way to New Year’s!

5. Push yourself

Now that you have made a commitment, make sure you stick to it! Reminders on your phone, Post-Its on the fridge, public pledges in a family group, a couple of supporters who call up to enquire if you have worked out today – do everything it takes to prod you to go forward! Once you move past the initial phase, you will need less reminders and you can begin to take pride in yourself and your body.

Get started now and when everyone else is still thinking about New Year resolutions, you will find yourself miles ahead! Happy holidays!

Effective ways to prevent muscle injuries

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You never know when a muscle injury may occur while working out. It may start as a discomfort, but if ignore – it can lead to extreme pain with a torn muscle. To ensure that you do not pull your muscle, it is prudent that you strengthen them and make sure you are prepared for any physical activity coming your way.

Here are some tips for helping you avoid most muscle injuries:

Practice eccentric training workouts

Muscle tears and hamstring injuries are common problems occurring during sports and other vigorous physical trainings. Recent studies have shown that practicing exercises such as Nordic-style Hamstring curls can help in prevention of uncertain muscle injuries. Such workouts help in training you muscles to regulate the tension and strength of the muscles while they are forced to elongate. This way any injury related to the muscles is avoided when the muscles are lengthened.

Keep track of your Vitamin D constituency in the body

Almost 70% of the popular around the world have shown cases of low vitamin D in the body. This can lead to extensive train your muscles. It has been seen that vitamin D helps in supporting the functioning of the muscles, for instance in protein synthesis and balancing electrolytes. Any person with unbalanced electrolytes can lead to muscle fatigue and premature injuries. And, without proper synthesizing of protein in the body, there is little chance of muscle tissue recovery. In addition, lack of vitamin D also deteriorates performance and strength. Therefore, it is prudent to maintain vitamin D in the body by keeping track of it.

Do not overstretch

Stretching the muscles of your body is a great warm-up that helps in improving one’s performance. However, extensive stretching leads to decrease in performance and overall muscle damage. Fitness coaches and instructors usually advice athletes not to stretch before a sports event as this could lead to uncertain muscle injuries. Sudden force on the muscles can lead to overexertion and eventually tear the muscle tissue if one is not careful. It would be prudent to perform light warm ups without over stretching the muscles.

Go for a screening that tests your functional movement

Modern methods of testing your movement in physical movement and muscle strength have welcomed a new screening strategy known as Functional Movement test where the fitness levels of athletes are monitored using a streamlined system. This screening activity helps in detecting states of fatigue in the body. The test also gives a score, which keeps track of the mobility of the person and indicate any possible weaknesses. When one takes such a screening for functional movement, it will show the way body uses muscles during a particular workout. Any discomfort will indicate chances of muscle injury.

While these methods can help in avoiding muscle injuries, there may still be an inevitable situation where athletes are unable to get past such injuries. In such cases, relax the tension of your muscle using a psoas stretch foam roller to relax the soreness.

What it means to be Bonded, Licensed, and Insured

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Service companies and contractors usually mention that they are “bonded, licensed, and insured” when they advertise their services. Many customers often read these terms but most often than not, they do not know exactly what they mean or may interchange one for another.

When companies claim that they are bonded, licensed, and insured, it tells us that they are committed to giving their best and most valuable service to their customers. These are minimum requirements that service companies should meet, so if a certain company does not comply, it puts its credibility into question.

As customers, it is important to know whether a company is bonded, licensed, or insured. For instance, it is part of the list that the homeowner should keep in mind before hiring a home contractor. What does it take to be bonded, licensed, or insured? Here is a complete explanation on each one.

Insured

A company is insured when they have coverage just in case of accidents or any other untoward incidents on the job. The insurance usually covers the damage up to the amount of the coverage limit.

There are several types of insurance coverage that companies can avail of. General liability insurance protects the company against lawsuits and usually covers bodily injury, personal injury, and property damage. Generally, liability insurance includes coverage just in case someone gets hurt or injured on the job.

It is also important for independent home contractors to show their clients proof of coverage. For instance, contractors insurance at next-insurance.com covers general liability for contractors such as handymen, HVAC technicians, carpenters, electricians, landscapers, janitors, drywall installers and concrete workers.


The type of insurance that a company gets depends on their type of business. Most businesses usually have property insurance, workers’ compensation insurance and commercial auto insurance.

Bonded

When a company is bonded, it means that a separate entity has secured money that a customer can claim in the event that they need to file a claim against the company. A bond will also protect the client because it pays them in case of poor or negligent performance of the service. This covers incomplete and sub-standard work. It also protects the customer when the company or contractor fails to meet other financial obligations, like paying sub-contractors or materials. The secured money is independently managed and it is not controlled by the company. In other words, a bond is an amount of money that is set aside just in case something happens.

Businesses usually apply for either a commercial, contract, or court bond. Once approved, they sign an indemnity agreement and pay the premium. When a company is bonded, it tells customers that it is well-funded just in case any untoward incident occurs.

Licensed

Each U.S. state requires certain professions and businesses to be licensed before they operate. Federal licenses and permits are also needed for certain businesses. This is especially applicable to industries that have something to do with transportation and logistics, fish and wildlife, radio and television broadcasting, alcoholic beverages and other industries that could threaten life or may have consequences on a nationwide scale if not properly operated.


Certain professions require a license in order to conduct business and perform a certain type of work in a certain state or locality. There are regulated professions that need to meet legal requirements. These professions include dentistry, accounting, cosmetology, residential painting, and others. A license is necessary in order to show the service provider’s competence. You can check the performance history of any professional through the Better Business Bureau. All you need is their license number.

Customers should do due diligence and check if the company or contractor that they plan to hire are licensed, bonded, and insured.

4 ways the online world can help you optimize the performance of your business

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In this digital age, it is vital that you are using technology to your advantage. This is the best way for you to make sure that you have the edge over your competitors. Online advancements have made it much easier for businesses to run effectively and efficiently. If you are determined not to be left behind, you will need to read on. Below are four ways that the online world can help you to optimize the performance of your business.

It can drive people towards your business

If you are hoping to reach a wide range of clients, you will need to invest heavily in the online profile of your business. In order to see a return on this investment, you should also think about the benefits of online marketing and secure the services of experienced webmasters. They will be able to design you a successful website and can help to drive people towards your digital platform. Instead of waiting for clients to come to you, a proactive approach will help you to achieve success.

It can allow your business to operate remotely

If you are spending a huge amount of money on your company premises, you should consider moving your operation online. With the help of the cloud, you could run your business remotely. This could save you both time and money. It could also help the different areas of your business to communicate with one another. Say you are taking orders through your website. If this information is entered manually, it may take a few hours before it connects with your stock list. However, a fully-optimized digital system will ensure that the two areas are working as one. This kind of approach will prevent you from making costly mistakes.

It can provide you with the essential tools for communicating with your staff

In the world of business, communication is key. It is vital that all of your staff are on board with your vision. That is why you should use the online world to interact with your workers. One option is to create an online schedule that all of your staff have access to. This will allow them to stay up to date with important events. Another option is to create a digital learning environment for your workers and fill it with resources that will help them to succeed in their roles.

It can save you time on your business meetings

Instead of traveling long distances for your business meetings, the online world provides you with a sensible alternative. Why not conduct your meetings via video chat or Skype? This is a fantastic way for you to save precious time and to focus your attention elsewhere. It will also help you to speed up the process of completing a project. Instead of waiting days, or even weeks, for an important meeting, you will have more freedom when it comes to arranging a suitable time.

Starting A Business Trading in Second-Hand Goods

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These days, a lot of people are starting their own small business ventures using the internet. This can give you a lot of freedom in terms of when and how much you work, and if you make the right choices, can also be quite lucrative.

Trading in Second-Hand Goods

One type of online business that is quite popular is buying and reselling second-hand goods. People who do this look for bargains at things like local sales, auctions, thrift shops, and on sites like Craigslist, and sell the items on at a higher price. Sometimes they refurbish items like furniture so that they are worth more, but often they simply buy things they know they can get more for than they pay.

How to Get into Doing This

Generally, people get started in trading as a result of selling their own old items on sites like eBay. When they realize how easy it is to sell on auction sites, and what kind of items manage to sell well, they decide to look out for things they can buy cheaply locally and sell on in the same way.

It can be fairly time-consuming scouring local garage sales, thrift shops, and other places where you may find things you can sell for a profit, but a lot of the work of finding things to sell can be done online. All you really need to do is decide what kind of items you know enough about to be able to identify what will sell for a higher price than you have to pay to get it.

Not everyone has a niche, and some simply sell anything that seems like a bargain, however some specialize in things like designer clothing and accessories, toys, ornaments, furniture or antiques.

Using the Web to Find Bargains

While sites like eBay can be good for finding stuff, in general you are going to end up paying as much as you are likely to make back except when you are very lucky in an auction, or you are buying something to refurbish. In general, it is better to source things from local sales rather than online auctions, where you may well end up getting things far cheaper than they may be worth when sold to a bigger audience on eBay.

One good site for this is Craigslist, and you can use a tool called Zoom The List that can help you search all of Craigslist more easily to find the kind of things you are interested in in your area.

Another good thing to do is join any local Facebook groups where people sell or give away their unwanted items. These are usually much cheaper than on eBay as people just want to get rid of stuff and have someone collect it rather than having to list and send it.

Trading in second-hand goods can be interesting and fun and as you get to know the market better you will soon find it easy to see what you can turn a good profit on!