The Benefits and Slight Disadvantages to Working at Home

There advantages & disadvantages of working from home compared to working from an office. A case can be made for either side. I have been on both sides of the fence myself. I think I can provide a unique perspective to this debate.

However it is very important to do some research on the work at home opportunity before jumping into it. There are numerous fraudulent websites and online services that only advertise about work at home opportunities but do not offer anything at all. Read the fine print of the contract to avoid unnecessary complications and make sure you find out if the organization is legitimate or not before signing up for it. I certainly did before happily committing my time and resources to owning my own Herbalife business!

Today, I will be looking at the benefits and, in my opinion, slight disadvantages of working from home.

Benefits

Save time on commuting

The average commuting time to work is approx. 30-45 min. Multiply that by two to get back home at the end of the day, and you have spent close to 10% of your day just on commuting. Working from home leads to saving money and time on fuel and transport time. This can help you get a little bit more sleep in the morning and have more time for yourself in the evening for activities & leisure.

Save money on transportation

When you work from home, you may not even need a car altogether. This can save you $300-400 a month plus the costly gas, parking, repair, and insurance expenses. Simply not taking the bus or subway will save you $50-100 per month in bus tickets or passes. Arguably the biggest money saving benefit from working at home is the transportation cost savings.

Save money on lunches & shopping

One of the biggest expenses working from an office is food. You get fed up of packing a lunch after a while. Once you start eating out, it’s very hard to stop! Not only that, but just walking around stores and boutiques during breaks, you are more likely to spend money that you normally wouldn’t if you were working from home. Plus, at home, you can be more creative with your lunches, and it will never feel like a “packed lunch”. So not only you save money, but you eat healthier as well.

Less likely to get sick

There is also the threat of getting sick at the office, where if one person has a virus, it’s almost impossible not to get it. There is the possibility of losing about 7-10 days per year on sick days, something that I never encountered working from home. This also makes you save money on health costs since you are not in need of medication or doctor visits as frequently.

Expenses are deductible

This can work for both employees and self-employed people. You can deduct your internet, phone, supplies, and even the square footage that you use in your home to work. For self-employed, it’s a must, and for employees, you can always ask for your company to pay for your internet access, phone line, and supplies. This saves you the cost of having those items also as personal expenses since you already have it for business usage in your home.

More flexible schedule

When working from home, you are not under the same discipline as office workers where you absolutely need to be working from 9 to 5 every weekday. Chances are, your schedule at home is much easier to bend. Therefore, if you have appointments or you need to buy something at the store quickly, you do not need to take a day off from work. I know some office workers that have to take a day off from work if they want to do some personal shopping or errands, otherwise they just do not have the time outside work hours. It’s much easier to tie in your personal schedule with your work schedule when you work from home. There are not any vacation limits, either!

Less stress & anxiety

Just off the top of my head, I can think of at least 5 people I know that had to take extended time off from work due to stress, burnouts, and the likes. I’ve never ever heard of that from anyone working from home. An office can bring about a lot of competition, gossip, and backstabbing among co-workers. This type of environment takes its toll after a while both mentally and physically. Working from home will save you these headaches.

Increased productivity

With all the time that you are saving from not having to commute to work, and not socializing half the day with co-workers, you end up getting a lot more done when you are working from home. As long as you remain motivated and driven, working from home is much more effective to deliver results.

Less negative influences

Sadly, an office is riddled with a few people that take joy into bringing everyone around them down. This is not done by the gossiping & competition I talked about above. This is the lingo that is used daily by people in the office. Some people will just complain about everything and it affects the psyche of everyone around them. I have seen people with great potential have their momentum & motivation completely destroyed in a matter of weeks simply because they were spending their breaks and lunches with these office “parasites” that will badmouth the company at any given opportunity. When working from home, you do not have to deal with these types of people. You only have to answer to yourself, and as long as you keep a positive outlook, you will have nothing to worry about.

Closer relationship with kids/family

Obviously, if you are home more often, you will dramatically increase the chances of spending quality time with your loved ones, and at the end of the day, isn’t that what we all want? I know I would have loved for my parents to have been home more often when I was a kid, so this is a huge positive that cannot be denied. Working from home allows you to have such freedom which you just cannot put a price tag on.

Slight Disadvantages

Just like work at home jobs are advantageous; they have their share of disadvantages. It tends to create isolation, boredom and loneliness with some people as there is no social interaction with colleagues. If you are a person who loves everyday social contact with other people and enjoy working as a close knit team, then working from home may not interest you.

There is usually a complaint of having lack of technical support in work from home jobs. Fortunately, I have plenty. Another big challenge is separating work and home life. Working at home is tricky. There's always something to do, improve, fix, read, answer, etc. To succeed in working from home, decide on your daily time table, and stick to it.

The Great Path to Success: Yourself

You have a greater advantage in succeeding working from home when you are self-motivated and organized in your life. It takes a very special type of person to maintain a successful home business. Granted, many people can keep themselves motivated, but the success of a home-based business does still depend on that one individual. Make it a point to maintain constant relationships with both your online and offline contacts, and you are sure to find success in your work at home business. Furthermore, most self-employed individuals attend trade shows and conferences to help them in getting ideas and becoming innovative in what they do.

Hypothyroidism: A Sluggish Thyroid

There are 30 million women and 15 million men who have a chronic medical problem that is both under-diagnosed and under-treated. Are you suffering from vague symptoms that you think are normal parts of life, such as fatigue, feeling sluggish in the morning, and having trouble with your memory, concentration, or focus? Do you have dry skin or fluid retention? Is your sex drive not what it used to be? Are your hands and feet cold all the time? Is your hair thinning, your voice a little hoarse, your fingernails a little thick? Is your cholesterol high? Do you have trouble losing weight or have you gained weight recently? Are you suffering from depression or anxiety? Do you have really bad PMS or trouble getting pregnant? Do you have muscle cramps and muscle pain or weakness?

Most of these symptoms aren’t severe enough to send you to the emergency room, but they do significantly affect your quality of life. Most of people accept them as a normal part of their lives without really questioning them. If you do go to see your doctor, he or she probably shrugs it off. Yes, doctors are experts in acute illness. They often fail miserably when it comes to addressing subtle changes in your body that affect the quality of your life, however.

According to conventional medicine, low sex drive is not necessarily a disease. Neither is a little dry skin or constipation, nor being tired most of the day. But for you, those problems are significant. So what causes them? Often, they’re caused by a condition that goes undiagnosed in half of the 45 million people who have it.  It’s called hypothyroidism

What is Hypothyroidism?

When you have hypothyroidism your overall metabolic gas pedal slows down because the master gland that controls it, your thyroid gland, is not functioning at full speed.  If your thyroid slows down, every other organ and system in your body slows down, including your brain, heart, gut, and muscles. The thyroid hormone is like a master switch that turns on the genes that keep every cell running.

This is one of those gray areas in medicine, but doctors tend to think in black and white — you have it or you don’t, sort of like being pregnant.  Well, you can’t just be a little bit pregnant, but you can be just a little bit hypothyroid. And it can have a dramatic effect on the quality of your life. Yet most doctors don’t view it that way.

This problem is further compounded by the conventional belief that you can diagnose hypothyroidism only through one blood test, called TSH, and that you only qualify for treatment if your blood level is over 5.0.  Unfortunately, this view ignores a whole group of people who have what we call sub-clinical hypothyroidism. It is called that because doctors have a hard time diagnosing it. Sub-clinical hypothyroidism may trigger many low-grade symptoms, such as fatigue, trouble losing weight, mild depression, constipation, and more. Yet it causes just slight changes in your blood tests. In fact, it often only shows up in tests that most doctors never perform. Low thyroid function may seem subtle, but it can have serious consequences.

 What Causes Hypothyroidism?

One of the most important factors that leads to hypothyroidism is exposure to environmental toxins such as pesticides, which act as hormone or endocrine disruptions and interfere with thyroid hormone metabolism and function. In fact, one study found that as people lost weight they released pesticides from their fat tissue. This then interfered with their thyroid function and caused hypothyroidism. The toxins created a slow metabolism and prevented them from losing more weight. This study highlights the importance of overall detoxification. It is quite a significant finding that shows exactly how toxins interfere with thyroid function.

Heavy metals such as mercury can also affect thyroid function.  Many people with chronic hypothyroidism and other thyroid problems are affected because mercury interferes with normal thyroid function.

The other big factor that interferes with thyroid function is chronic stress. There is an intimate interaction between stress hormones and thyroid function. The more stress you are under, the worse your thyroid functions. Any approach to correcting poor thyroid function must address the effects of chronic stress and provide support to the adrenal glands.

The next major factor that affects thyroid function is chronic inflammation. The biggest source of this chronic inflammation is gluten, the protein found in wheat, barley, rye, spelt, and oats. Gluten is a very common allergen that affects about 10 to 20 percent of the population. This reaction occurs mostly because of our damaged guts, poor diet, and stress. So-called Frankenfoods, such as hybridized and genetically modified grains with very strange proteins, makes us sick. Our bodies say, “What’s this? It must be something foreign. I’d better create antibodies to this, fight it, and get rid of it.” This chronic inflammatory response interferes with thyroid function — and contributes to the epidemic of inflammatory diseases in the developed world. Lastly, nutritional deficiencies play a big role in thyroid dysfunction. These include deficiencies of iodine, vitamin D, omega-3 fats, selenium, zinc, vitamin A, and the B vitamins.

Who is Affected by Hypothyroidism?

This problem affects men and women of all ages.  Hypothyroidism is very common because of all the stressors in our environment, including toxins such as heavy metals and pesticides, nutritional deficiencies, and chronic stress, all of which interfere with our thyroid function. It’s critical to understand that your thyroid is not just linked to energy and other symptoms that are described here. It is the master metabolism hormone that controls the function and activity of almost every organ and cell in your body — so when it is sluggish or slow, everything slows down.

But there is good news …

There are clear ways to diagnose the problem as well as to treat it, with a comprehensive functional medicine approach.

The first step is to find out if you have any of the chronic symptoms of hypothyroidism or any of the diseases associated with hypothyroidism. Ask yourself if you have any of the following symptoms:

• Sluggishness in the morning
• Poor concentration and memory
• Low-grade depression
• Dry skin
• Hoarse voice
• Thinning hair
• Coarse hair
• Being very sensitive to cold and having cold hands and feet
• Low body temperature
• Muscle pain
• Weakness or cramps
• Low sex drive
• Fluid retention
• High cholesterol

Get a physical examination for clues to a low-functioning thyroid.  A body temperature of lower than 97.6 degrees F may be a sign of hypothyroidism.  An examination may find fluid retention, a thick tongue, swollen feet, swollen eyelids, an enlarged thyroid gland, excessive earwax, a dry mouth, coarse skin, low blood pressure, or decreased ankle reflexes. The outer third of the eyebrows might be gone, as well. These are all physical signs that can be put together along with other symptoms to form a story of what is causing the problem.  Specific blood tests are administered that give a full picture of thyroid problems.

How You Can Overcome Hypothyroidism

It is encouraged that you to take the following steps to rebalance your thyroid:

• Make a thorough inventory of any of the symptoms mentioned above to see if you might suffer from hypothyroidism.
• Get the right thyroid tests including TSH, free T3, free T4, TPO, and anti-thyroglobulin antibodies.
• Check for celiac disease with a celiac panel.
• Consider heavy metal toxicity.
• Check your vitamin D level.

Once you have confirmed that a sluggish thyroid is contributing to your symptoms, the good news is that there are many, many, many things you can do to help correct thyroid problems.

This seven-step plan to address hypothyroidism is highly recommended:

1. Treat the Underlying Causes — Identify and treat the underlying causes of hypothyroidism, like food allergies, gluten, heavy metals, nutritional deficiencies, and stress.
2. Optimize Your Nutrition – Support your thyroid with optimal nutrition,  including foods that contain iodine, zinc, omega-3 fats, selenium, and more.
3. Minimize Stress – Eliminate adrenal exhaustion and minimize stress by engaging in a comprehensive stress management program.
4. Exercise – Engage in thyroid stimulating exercise, which boosts thyroid function.
5. Supplement – Use supplements to help enhance thyroid function, including all the nutrients needed for proper thyroid metabolism and function.
6. Heat Therapy – Use saunas and heat to eliminate stored toxins, which interfere with thyroid function.
7. Thyroid Hormones – Use thyroid hormone replacement therapy to help support your thyroid gland.

Bone Health: The Hard Truth about Brittle Bones

Throughout our lives, our bones fight a never-ending battle against the effects of hormone changes and general dietary and lifestyle factors—leaving men and women with increased risks of osteoporosis. Luckily, with a good diet and Herbalife, you can help build and maintain healthy bones.

 

What is osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis is a bone disease that affects over 25 million Americans each year. Almost 80% of osteoporosis is found in women, although a growing number of older men are also at risk. Some of its affects are increased risk of bone fractures, lower bone mineral density and altered bone proteins.

 

Healthy bones begin in childhood

Fortunately, there’s plenty you can do to build healthy bones and maintain them as you age. Children should eat three to four servings of calcium-enriched foods every day to build healthy bones. As an adult, it’s best to add a calcium supplement to your diet. Xtra-Cal® is packed with calcium, in addition to vitamins C and D, which help absorb essential calcium.

Soy also appears to benefit bones, replacing calcium-depleting animal protein in the diet and providing a great source of bone-building isoflavones. Our Formula 1 Nutritional Shake Mix, Protein Bars, Soup Mix, Formula 3, Personalized Protein Powder, and Soy Nuts with Cardia® Salt are excellent sources of soy protein—making soy both heart smart and bone smart!

 

Making bone health a priority

Take control of your diet, increase your activity and curb such lifestyle habits as alcohol and smoking. With regular effort, you’ll give yourself the very best chance of having healthy bones!