Really really bad bloating issues - advice needed!

I am a 15 year old girl suffering from anorexia, height 166 cm  and weight 39 kg. Yesterday I severely restricted because I thought I had binged the day before, and today I have eaten quite a bit more than usual. I have really really bad bloating and indigestion, I am badly constipated and my chest hurts. Is this due to the fact that I restricted and then started eating normally again??

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Does eating healthy really help you lose weight?

I'm 38 and I need to lose at least 30lbs. I've tried slim fast and other diets but the weight doesn't stay off.

I'm going to try to eat very healthy and watch my calories not so much carbs...

I hope this works!!

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Is Your Fido Really a Furry Baby?

Study found dog's bond to owner mirrors child's connection with parent

By Mary Brophy Marcus

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, June 26 (HealthDay News) -- Dogs may bond as tightly with their owners as young children do with their parents, a new Austrian study suggests.

Researchers from the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna wanted to explore a human bonding behavior called the "secure base effect," to see if a similar behavior existed between dogs and their owners.

"A secure base is the consistent, reliable and dependable ground that the primary caretaker provides for the infant so that he or she [can] move away and explore, knowing that the parent will stay there when the child returns," explained Dr. Joanne Sotelo, division director of psychiatry at Scott & White Healthcare in Round Rock, Texas. Sotelo was not involved in the study.

According to the study authors, who published their findings online in the scientific journal PLOS One, dogs and humans have hung tight for the last 15,000 years, and domesticated pups are so well-adapted at this point that many a dog's main social companion is his owner.

For their study, the researchers recruited 20 adult dogs and their owners from the Clever Dog Lab of the Messerli Research Institute and the Family Dog Research Programme at the Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest, Hungary. Fourteen of the dogs were purebred, and six were mixed-breeds (the dog owners were provided with study details ahead of time and given the option to leave the study at any time).

Three different scenarios were set up to help the researchers observe dog-human behaviors: "absent owner"; "silent owner" (owner was present, but quiet and wore an eye covering); and "encouraging owner." In each setting, the dogs could earn a food reward by playing with dog toys.

The study authors reported that the animals were much less likely to work for food when their human companions were not present. When an owner was in the room, it did not seem to make a difference whether he encouraged the dog or not; the animal's level of motivation was the same.

When a stranger replaced the owner, the dogs barely interacted with the human, the researchers noted.

"The key finding of this study is that the mere presence of the caregiver can provide security for the dog. This security depends on the relationship that the dog has with the person. This we can see in the fact that replacing the owner with an unfamiliar person does not increase the dog's sense of security much," said lead researcher Lisa Horn, a postdoctoral fellow at Vetmeduni's Messerli Research Institute.

"We were mainly surprised by the fact that the owner's encouragement did not increase the dog's motivation to manipulate the interactive toys much compared to when the owner was completely silent," Horn added. "In my opinion, this is a strong indication that the dogs' motivation in our task was intrinsic and depended on their sense of security, not on whether they were "told" to do the task."

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I find this workout video really hard but is it actually any good?

It's this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTT4W8ygJ7w

I was wondering what other people thought. I found it hard to finish but I'm so unhealthy at the moment. I was put on Zoloft/Sertraline and put on about a stone in a month, and can't seem to lose it, so trying to increase my activity levels and eat healthier more.

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I just feel drained, do amino acids really help?

My local Popeye's employee (who's opinion isn't just about selling product since he competes in body building and has helped my cousin do the same) suggested Amino Acids for energy to help me get my workouts done.

One he recommended was Aminolast - Recovery & Endurance BCAA Superfuel.  I do respect his opinion but I'm not completely sold.  I'm REALLY struggling to lose weight and my two main problems is lack of energy and intense refined carb (aka chip) cravings and put those two together plus crazy hours at work means I gained 10 lbs in 2 months :(

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can you recover fully on 2000 cals? 2500 cals? or do you REALLY need more?? how can I exercise without it being triggering??

I AM DOING IT!! THE UNTHINKABLE!!! F*** MY ED!!!

for the past month, I have eaten 2000 cals a day, and for 2 days now I ate 2500-3000!!! I AM HORRIFIED but I also know that this is probably the only way out of REDS and having disordered thoughts, and a f***ed up metabolism for the rest of my life. 

I am only 20 and I don't want to be 30 and still struggling with relapses and restrictive eating.

anyway, I am 5'2, 20, and currently 120+ lbs I would guess? which puts me around BMI 22??

I have had an ED of some sort since I was 16 - ate 1000 cals for 9 months, dropped from 140 to 105 lbs

but I semi recovered on 1600-2000 cals when I was 17, gained to 130 lbs

then mildly relapsed at age 18 - 1600-2200 cal + intense workouts for a year, lost to 110 lbs

then ACTUALLY relapsed - 1200-1400 cal +  less-intense workouts for a year, yo-yo'd from 110-115-110 and then hurt my knee and couldn't work out for another 2 months...

I gained from 110 to 116-7 in 2 months eating 1400-1600,

then I gained to where I am now, eating 2000 a day.

anyway I JUST started eating the youreatopia.com amounts because I am afraid that if I dont, I wont be able to maintain on a normal amount when I finally recover fully. 

My ED therapist who I talked with when I was 17 for my first "recovery" told me today that 2500-3000 is enough for me, and that I can do 30 minutes of weight training 3-4x a week to help create muscle mass, which will speed my metabolism? she also said i can take a 30 min, brisk daily walk... 

does ANYONE have experience of fully recovering and having a normal metabolism, on less than 3000? why is 3000 such a magic number, and am I causing myself unnecessary stress by forcing myself to eat and eat?

will I REALLY slide back down to set point weight, naturally?? I would say that 115 is my set point, and when I weigh anything lower, I get ED symptoms like obsessiveness, fogginess, and i generally spaz out.

DO you think I will recover sooner, seeing as I had already almost recovered fully once before, ( for 2 months I was eating a LOT and running, but eating a LOT and maintaining 115)...and this time around I didnt restrict as badly, and I am willing to eat more than 2000?? I KNOW I am going to overshoot... I already am in the process of overshooting... but I don't want to overshoot FOREVER and end up like, 130-140 lbs?? and then stay there for a year!! D: THAT IS HORRIFYINGGG

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How to (Really) Make $1,000,000 Selling E-Books – Real-World Case Studies

Who will be the JK Rowling of self-publishing? Better still: who will be the legions who make an extra $1,000-$1,000,000 per year? (Photo: The Telegraph, UK)

This is a guest post by Ryan Buckley and the team at Scripted. I have added my own tools and recommendations after “TIM” throughout the piece.

Barry Eisler writes thrillers about a half-Japanese, half-American freelance assassin named John Rain. John Rain is the consummate anti-hero, a whiskey swilling, jazz-loving former CIA agent battling crippling paranoia as he adventures around the globe. Readers love John Rain, so much so that they’ve landed Barry Eisler and seven of his John Rain books on the New York Times Bestseller list. [TIM: Here's how the different bestseller lists work.]

Having conquered all that needs to be conquered in the world of commercial publishing, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Eisler’s publisher offered him $500,000 deal for a new two-book deal.

The surprise was that Eisler turned down the deal and decided to tackle self-publishing instead.  In a freewheeling discussion with self-publishing expert Joe Konrath, Eisler says:

“I know it’ll seem crazy to a lot of people, but based on what’s happening in the industry, and based on the kind of experience writers like you are having in self-publishing, I think I can do better in the long term on my own.”

We asked Eisler for a current update, and he told us that this month (March 2013), he expects to sell 8,000 copies of his 10 self-published novels and stories, which are priced $1-5 each. Despite self-publishing his first story only two years ago, it appears he’s made the right decision. With roughly $300,000 in royalties per year, he already beat his publisher’s offer…

The writing on the wall couldn’t be any clearer: the publishing world is changing fast. 

Getting a publishing contract has long been the first litmus test of a writer’s success. Writers spend years in the wilderness accumulating rejections before finding a single buyer (advances usually start at $1,000 to $10,000). Even The 4-Hour Workweek was rejected 20+ times before it got an offer.

But conventional publishing isn’t the only game in town anymore.

Self-published authors are increasingly landing on the NYT bestseller list and hog a fair share of Amazon’s top-20 list. Amanda Hocking became a self-publishing multi-millionaire with her teen supernatural thrillers before bagging a $2M publishing contract with St. Martin’s Press. John Locke sold $2M worth of eBooks before landing a deal with Simon & Schuster.

All this means that perhaps you don’t need a contract to validate you… now or in the future.

The numbers don’t lie: Amazon now sells more eBooks than printed books. Kindle sales topped 1 million per week by the end of last year. More than 20% of publishing giant Random House’s revenues last year were from digital sales.

[TIM: Here are my personal stats -- the percentage of total sales from ebooks for each of my books, limited to their first year on-sale:

April 2007 pub date - original 4HWW - less than 1%
Dec 2009 pub date - revised and expanded 4HWW - approximately 21%
Dec 2010 pub date - 4HB - approximately 31%
Nov 2013 pub date - 4HC - will surpass 50% by November 2013]

Amazon is at the forefront of this publishing revolution. Through the Kindle eReader and the Kindle eBook store, it has given indie authors a platform to get published and gather an audience. As a $100-billion-plus market cap e-commerce juggernaut, Amazon already has a substantial user base (as per comScore, 282.2 million people visited Amazon.com in June 2011 – or roughly 20% of the total internet traffic). Coupled with high royalty rates (70% compared to 10-15% for traditional publishers), it is the perfect platform for a fledgling writer to make a living, and if fate agrees, even a fortune.

The path to becoming a Kindle millionaire isn’t easy, but it’s possible to tilt the odds in your favor by following best practices. [TIM: Becoming a millionaire using non-Kindle ebooks is arguably even easier -- here's one $1,000,000/month example.]

This how-to post will look at general principles and lessons from real-world successes.

The first step is market research.

Your first order of the day should be to spend a few hours around the Amazon Kindle marketplace. Browse through the top sellers, be generous with your clicks and read up as much as you can – user reviews, book descriptions, Amazon’s editorial reviews (if any). You want to get an intuitive feel for the market, what sells, what doesn’t. How many non-fiction books end up in the top 10? What genre do they belong to? What is the average price of a Kindle bestseller? What do their covers look like? How many reviews do they have? What is the average rating? What is the correlation between rating and current ranking?

[TIM: For what it's worth, much like Hugh Howey, I write about what I love or would love to learn about. Here's how I did preliminary market research for The 4-Hour Chef:

- I polled my 400,000+ followers on Twitter and Facebook with questions like “What are your favorite 2 or 3 cookbooks?” and “If you were starting over, which 2 or 3 books would get you most excited while learning fundamentals?”

- I then used virtual assistants via Taskrabbit.com to create a list of those titles that pop up more than 3 times. I also asked professional chefs the same questions and cross-referenced the lists.

- Once I had the repeat contenders (let’s assume 20 titles), I headed to Amazon, where I did 2 things:

1. First, I identified the titles on my list that have an average review of 4 stars or higher.

2. Second, I read the “most helpful” critical reviews from those titles, aiming to focus on 3-star ratings, whenever possible. If not, I look for 4-star. The 1- and 2-star are usually written by people who hate everything (look at their other reviews if you
doubt me), and the 5-star reviews tend not to go into detail. From the “most helpful” 3–4-star reviews, I compile a list of:

A) Things “missing” or deficient in even the best books. These are opportunities for me to do or explore something new. For instance, even the best-selling BBQ books were criticized for omitting the “heart and soul of BBQ”: short ribs and brisket. This meant I naturally had to include at least one.

B) I download all 20 books onto my Kindle and read the “Popular Highlights” in each, sorted by “Most Popular.” This often allows me
to read 20–50 pages instead of 300, 500, or even 1,000 pages. Then I can deep dive only where I love what I see. If you don't like the movie trailer, you're certainly not going to like the book the highlights were pulled from.

But this begs the question: how do you go about selecting your niche in the first place?

I’m tempted to say: pick a niche you actually enjoy reading. But this may not always be the best advice. I enjoy reading complicated literary novels and obscure texts in linguistics, but they’re hardly the stuff best sellers are made of. Your niche selection should be in-line with market demands. This is why spending time in the Amazon marketplace is important: it will tell you which niches are popular and which are not.

[TIM: To really determine what will sell and what will not, I highly recommend reading this step-by-step method by Noah Kagan. He built two multi-million-dollar businesses before age 28 using similar methodologies.]

Once you have your niche, spend some time researching your ideal buyer. See where they hang out, how active they are online, what is their average age and income, and what motivates them to buy an eBook in the first place? Are they looking for solutions, or are they looking for adventures and story-telling to ease their boredom?

Once you have a faint picture of your ideal buyer, find out what they do and what they consume online. Entrepreneurs will likely hang out at TechCrunch, while productivity folks will have Lifehacker bookmarked. Quantcast is a good tool to understand market demographics better. Just type in the URL of the target site, and you’ll get a fair idea of their demographic make-up. [TIM: You can also get valuable data from Kickstarter projects you find that might attract similar customers -- which sites are sending them the most traffic?]

Be prepared to spend a few hours over a weekend in market research. [TIM: I'll spend weeks doing this, if necessary. I don't truly know my audience until I could make decisions for them.]

A few power tips for niche selection:

- Weight loss and dieting are a perennial Amazon favorite.

- Business books tend to find a lot of favor with readers as well, especially if you can package scattered information into an easy to digest package (example: Personal MBA by Josh Kauffman).

- Reddit is one of the finest sources to research niches and gather ideas. Spend a few hours in /r/Fitness and its related sub-reddits (/r/leangains, /r/paleo) and you’ll come up with dozens of ideas for a book (example: The Butter and Bacon Diet: Losing Weight With Keto, inspired by /r/keto). This is a nice list of sub-reddits arranged by popularity.

- Don’t go niche-hopping. Stick to one niche and dominate it with a flood of quality content. There are dozens and dozens of ideas scattered all over the Internet. Research these ideas, agglomerate them into comprehensible forms, and synthesize them into consumable format, and you’ll have your eBook. [TIM: This isn't my approach, but it can be done well, even with public domain materials.]

This can be the hardest or the easiest part of becoming a Kindle publisher, depending on your comfort level with writing. Writing the eBook yourself can be incredibly fun if you enjoy the creative process, or a mind-numbing chore if you don’t.

[TIM: Writing a book shouldn't be used to determine if you like (or can at least handle) writing. Try and publish a chapter-length (3,000-5,000 words) blog post a week for a month. If you can't do that, don't commit to a book, IMHO. To improve your craft, I suggest On Writing by Stephen King, Bird by Bird, and On Writing Well.]

Alternatively, you can outsource the entire project. But before you jump into the fray, there are a few key steps to consider:

- Brainstorm the title of the book. Along with the cover, your title is the most visible aspect of your book. Dig through the bestseller list in your targeted niche to see how top books are titled, and consider following their lead. [TIM: I actually test both titles and subtitles using cheap Google Adwords campaigns.]

- Brainstorm angles and approaches to the content. What makes your book unique among the competition? What new perspective are you bringing to the niche? How can you deliver most value to your readers?

- Create a detailed outline of the entire eBook. Map everything out, from the introduction to the concluding paragraph. Look to the best selling books in your niche for inspiration and advice on structure and organization. You should have a thorough outline detailing the style, tone and content of each chapter.

[TIM: I typically break my books into 3-5 "sections" which are then broken down into chapters. I use the program Scrivener to map this out. Each chapter has a beginning, middle, and end like a magazine article. Each of them should be independently self-sufficient. This makes the book easier for me to write if I hit a block... and it makes the book easier to read. I can write chapters out of order, and readers can consume them out of order.]

- While it’s necessary to strive for quality and push conventions aside, it is also important to be practical in your approach. You might aspire to write avant-garde literary novels, but that’s hardly the stuff best-sellers are made of. The key is to write an astounding book in a niche that sells. This, of course, doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice on quality; Max Brooks’ “World War-Z” piggybacked on the zombie apocalypse trend, and yet found a way to comment on compelling present day social and political issues. Now it’s a major film starring Brad Pitt.

If you want to write the book yourself, as Tim would have it, there are a few things you can do to sharpen your skills:

- Become a master of the Snowflake Method. Essentially, it means building a comprehensive ‘map’ of your book – character backstories, narrative arcs, plausible scenarios – before you write a single word. It flies in the face of all conventional notions of ‘creative inspiration,’ but it can be deadly effective at writing superior novels with strong narrative arcs, especially in genre fiction. The Snowflake Method has been devised by author Randy Ingmerson, who has used it himself in all six of his best-selling novels.

- Storytelling is a craft, and like any other craft, it too can be mastered with practice. Barry Eisler, who has tackled both legacy and self-publishing (and succeeded wildly), suggests a reading of three books – Stein on Writing: A Master Editor of Some of the Most Successful Writers of our Century Shares His Craft Techniques and Strategies by Sol Stein, Learning to Write Fiction from the Masters, by Barnaby Conrad, and Robert McKee’s Story: Substance, Structure, Style and Principles of Screenwriting to improve the craft of storytelling. [TIM: I personally favor Save the Cat for fiction/screenwriting.]

- Learn from fellow self-published authors. Eisler recommends the blog of novelist J.A. Konrath, who has been self-publishing since 2004 and recording his experiences on the blog. Eisler says, “I think anyone even considering self-publishing ought to be reading Joe, and if you’re not interested in self-publishing, you should read him just to be sure you understand the pros and cons of the various publishing options available today.” Eisler also has a list of indie author blogs on his website that can help you understand the self-publishing process.

- Learn from the masters: the likes of Stephen King, Nicholas Sparks, and Robert Ludlum have spent a lifetime perfecting their craft. Comb through their novels diligently. See how they create tension, withhold information to create suspense, and write dialogues. The more you read, the better you will become at grasping the essence of a good novel.

- Create a writing schedule and stick to it. Set aside at least an hour or two for writing each day. This is the hardest part about writing a successful novel, simply because it requires discipline and commitment. Most writers don’t succeed because they give-up midway. Don’t be that writer. [TIM: Most of my friends who are consistently good writers write between 10pm-8am. This means they either go to be really late -- I do my best work between 11pm-5am -- or they wake up really early. It's easier to concentrate when the rest of the world is asleep.]

Otherwise, it’s time to find freelancers to finish your project:

- Insist on a Skype interview before you hire anyone. Pay careful attention to their command of language. Also pay attention to how well they ask you questions.

- Ask them difficult questions: What is their prior experience with writing eBooks? What’s their best and worst published work and why? What mistakes have they made, professionally and creatively?

- Speak with references and include: “He/she seems great. I like them. Of course, all people have strengths and weaknesses. If you had to choose theirs, what would they be?”

- If they pass the above, give them your detailed brief and outline in full. The more information your writer has, the better the finished product will be.

- Consider payment on a chapter-by-chapter basis until a strong working relationship is established.

- Last but not least, have them sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement.

You’ll most likely write your eBook as a Word document. Converting a. docx/.doc file to the Kindle format is relatively straight forward with Amazon’s conversion tools. Amazon itself has a comprehensive guide on formatting a book for Kindle.

The key things to keep in mind when formatting are:

1. File size: files larger than 50mb cannot be converted to the Kindle format. Remember that Amazon’s delivery costs are approximately $0.15/mb. The larger the file size, the higher these costs. Compress the document as much as possible before uploading it to Amazon for the conversion process.

2. Amazon has a comprehensive guide to building a book for Kindle that covers every aspect of formatting – creating front matter, table of contents, etc. This is a free eBook that can be downloaded here.

3. The catalog/cover image is crucial for sales. Here’s Amazon’s online guide on how to create the cover.

Never judge a book by its cover, they say. On Amazon, however, your cover will go a long way towards setting you apart from the self-published pap that usually litters the Kindle store. If you’ve done your market research right, you already know what I’m talking about: badly formatted books with covers that look like Photoshop disasters and a child’s scribbling in MS paint dominate the low-end of the market.

A quality cover is proof that you’ve put thought and effort into the book – a good signal for a prospective buyer. [TIM: Also think in terms of thumbnail size -- will it grab attention as a tiny image on a handheld device? You won't have a nice big hardcover to show it off. Think like an app designer choosing an icon for the iPhone.]

Depending on your budget and Photoshop skills, you can either design the cover yourself ($0), or outsource it ($5 to $395).

OPTION A: DESIGNING THE COVER YOURSELF

Unless you are a Photoshop whiz, I don’t recommend this option. If you must cut corners and design the cover yourself, I recommend keeping things simple: grab a high quality image from Shutterstock that echoes the generic conventions of your niche and write your book title in an appropriate font. For inspiration, head to the Book Cover Archive.

Pro tip: Fonts, like images in a cover, echo the established values of a genre. Fonts in romance novels are usually florid, while those in thrillers and weight loss books are more contemporary. Make sure that you use fonts that adhere to genre conventions.

OPTION B: OUTSOURCING THE COVER DESIGN

Pick your poison:

Cheap: Set up a competition on 99designs to crowdsource your eBook cover. Prices can range from $50 to $500. OR, hire an established, experienced book cover designer. You can easily find a ton of these on sites like AuthorSupport or Damonza.

Cheaper: For $20-50, hire a designer from oDesk to design a cover for you.

Cheapest: For $5, get a cheap cover from Fiverr.

So you’ve written your book, you’ve formatted it for Kindle, and you have a gorgeous cover image to entice readers.

Now it’s game time.

Marketing is what separates the successful Kindle publishers from the also-rans who hug the bottom of the sales charts.

Self-publishing essentially inverts the traditional publishing model, where publishers publish the book, then get the media to drum up enthusiasm before the public can pass it along through word-of-mouth. Self-published authors must do this entire process in reverse: they must get people interested in their books before they actually publish the book on Amazon. It requires building relationships with your readers and establishing a sense of community by leveraging social media.

[TIM: I'll keep this note short. Here's how to create a high-traffic blog (1MM+ unique visitors a month) without killing yourself. It's exactly how I built this blog and manage it.]

ESTABLISH A CONSISTENT AUTHOR PROFILE

In the mid-80s, at the height of his literary prowess, Stephen King started writing books under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman. Bachman’s books were failures – Running Man sold only 28,000 copies in its initial print run, but ten times as many when Bachman was outed as a pseudonym for King. The message is obvious enough: readers won’t think twice about buying books from authors they know and recognize.

For amateur authors, this translates into maintaining a consistent author profile across multiple media properties. You are essentially trying to create a personal brand (like Tim’s). Select a good picture and make sure you use it on all author-related websites, including your blog, social media, and Amazon Author Central (more on this below).

START A BLOG

It is 2012; you have no excuses for not running a blog. It is free and downright easy with software like WordPress. The 4-Hour Workweek blog (built using WordPress) was started as a platform to promote a book and foster a community. Today, the blog and its readership are arguably more valuable than the book itself. [TIM: Definitely true.]

Share advice and tips related to your niche. Your blog should serve as a teaser trailer for what’s in store in your book. Be as educative, informative, and creative as you can be. This 4-Hour Workweek blog is a good model to imitate.

[TIM: You don't have to start out sexy! Check out this hideous mess, the earliest version of this blog. It's atrocious.]

HARNESS THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Start with the obvious:

- A Facebook page
- A Twitter account

Then the not-so-obvious:

- Do Reddit AMAs on appropriate sub-reddits (here’s a big list).
- Answer questions on Quora related to your niche.
- Do guest posts on niche specific blogs.
- Create author profiles on GoodReads and Amazon Author Central.
- Engage and communicate with fellow writers and readers on forums like Authonomy and Absolute Write.

Barry Eisler advises “not to use social media to sell, but rather to give away useful information and entertaining content for free, and to build relationships thereby. What you do on your Facebook page and Twitter page should be intended to benefit your friends and followers. If they like it, they’ll like you; if they like you, maybe they’ll become interested in your books.”

BECOME A MASTER OF MARKETING

A foundation in conventional and Internet marketing can go a long way in helping you make Kindle sales. Eisler recommends four books on marketing to the aspiring author:

1. Marketing High Technology: An Insider’s View, by Bill Davidow. According to Eisler, “the sixteen factor he (Davidow) looks for in determining whether marketing is likely to be successful are incredibly useful and adaptable to the book industry.”

2. The Dream: How to Promote Your Product, Company or Ideas – and Make a Difference Using Everyday Evangelism, by Guy Kawasaki. Eisler adds, “approaching marketing as evangelism is a brilliant concept, and unusually applicable to books. Recruiting and training evangelists with the power of social media is something any writer intent on commercial success should do.”

3. The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: Violate Them at Your Own Risk!, by Al Ries and Jack Trout. [TIM: I love this book. Also don't miss this article, perhaps my fave of all-time: 1,000 True Fans.]

4. Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers Into Friends and Friends Into Customers, by Seth Godin. Eisler especially recommends Godin’s book, saying that “the concept of what a customer gives you permission to market and where you’re counterproductively overstepping your bounds is hugely important to bookselling, and this short book should be on any self-published author’s short list.”

PRICING, DESCRIPTIONS and REVIEWS

Price is a major advantage self-published authors have over published authors. $0.99 to $2.99 seems to be the sweet spot for self-published works. Amazon offers two royalty structures for its Kindle Direct Publishing program: 35% or 70% royalty. The 70% royalty option is available only a few select countries – including the United States (see the full list here). However, books with 70% royalty must be priced at least 20% lower than their physical counterparts. If you choose the 35% royalty option, you have much more freedom in setting the list price.

70% royalty is perfect for self-published authors who do not have physical books in the Amazon store. $2.99 is the recommended price point since it nets you more than $2 per sale (excluding delivery costs, which start at $0.15/mb) while still keeping the price low enough for impulse buys.

It is also a good idea to give away your book for free initially to jump start sales. You do this by setting the list price as $0.00 and promoting the book’s initial run through social media. If the product is good enough, it will spread through word of mouth and you can alter the list price accordingly.

The book description is important for telling the readers what to expect in the book. This is where you put your blurb and review snippets from bloggers. Look at books in the Amazon Top 100 to see how they capture reader attention and write their blurbs.

[TIM: I'm astonished when authors spend 1-10 years writing a book and then let a junior copyeditor at their publisher write their backcover and inside flap copy. Don't do this! That copy will end up being your "Description" text on Amazon, which is your most important tool for converting browsers to buyers. Good copywriters know that you spend 80% of your time on the headline of an ad. You should spend at least 10x as much time on backcover/flap/"description" copy as you would on an average internal page.]

Reviews are social proof of a book’s quality and a crucial contributing factor to its success. Gathering positive reviews will go a long way in pushing your eBook towards the bestseller charts. Some authors, including John Locke, confessed to buying reviews for money (as per this NYT expose), but it’s a practice that is unethical and looked down upon in the writer community. Your best bet is to leverage your existing relationships with your Twitter followers, blog readers, friends, and relatives to get positive reviews.

Finally, I’ve found that it is profitable in the initial run to release books within a space of a week or a month, so that your readers have something to move onto if they like your work. It also helps to create narrative arcs that span several books (something that can be done with non-fiction as well) to keep readers coming back for more. [TIM: Haha... I personally prefer to take 2-4 years between books and focus on ensuring that each one sells for decades.]

The beauty of Amazon is that once you have enough leverage in the market, you’re essentially working on auto-pilot. Once you are an established presence in the market, your name alone will attract the curious and the faithful. As far as passive income is concerned, it’s hard to beat a portfolio of Kindle books.

[TIM: Or 1 or 2 books that sell forever. Here's how to maximize the odds -- The 12 Main Lessons Learned Marketing The 4-Hour Body.]

Caveat lector: be aware that success through self-publishing is rare and hard fought. Eisler compares publishing to the lottery, where few can get in and even fewer can succeed. The main difference between legacy and self-publishing, he says, is that “the overwhelming majority of writers who couldn’t even get in the door in the legacy world can now publish just as easily as everyone else, but beyond that, so far I’d say the odds of making a living are roughly the same.”

He adds, “fantasizing about making it big in self-publishing is no more crazy than fantasizing about making it big in legacy publishing.”

Here’s to the crazy ones: take action, research, write, sell, repeat.

###

Did you like this post? Would you like more of this type of post? If so, please let me know in the comments. Thanks!

ODDS AND ENDS: MEDIA, MAPTIA WINNER

Media from the web:

Your Book is a Start-up (BitTorrent Partnership)
Surrender to Tim Ferriss (New York Observer)
How We Lost 68 Pounds – 4-Hour Body (Globe and Mail)

Maptia:

We have chosen Mexican-inspired Spicy Chocolate Soufflé with Avocado Whipped Cream by @poconversation (Natalie). Here’s the recipe, and here’s her winning tweet:

@maptia @tferriss Fancy a trip to France & Mexico? Spicy Chocolate Soufflé with Avocado Whipped Cream #RTWflavors bit.ly/YwEqmI

— Natalie (@poconversation) March 24, 2013

Posted on April 4th, 2013

View the original article here

The word is used frequently, but what does being “delusional” really mean?

Posted June 08, 2013, 2:00 am

I hear the phrase “you’re delusional” used so casually. But what does it mean when someone is really, clinically delusional?

If I told you that I could substitute for Derek Jeter at shortstop for the New York Yankees, you could fairly call me delusional. (Actually, it might be a good thing if I could convince the Yankees to do that: I’m a Boston Red Sox fan, and my presence in the Yankee lineup would surely improve the Red Sox’ chances.)

A delusion is a false belief that is based on an incorrect interpretation of reality. A person with delusional disorder will firmly hold on to a false belief despite clear evidence to the contrary.

Delusions can be caused by mental illnesses called psychoses. These include schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Delusions also can occur in degenerative brain conditions, particularly Alzheimer’s disease.

Delusions often are beliefs that could not possibly be true. If I believed that I were Joan of Arc, or that the moon was going to smash into the Earth tomorrow, those would be delusions.

Delusions also can be about something that is not happening but that could occur in reality. The CIA could really be tapping my telephone, for example: I have a phone, and the CIA has the ability to tap it. If I devoutly believed that the CIA was tapping my phone, yet couldn’t give you a plausible explanation for why it would want to do that, I would likely be delusional.

In a condition called delusional disorder, a person with otherwise normal thinking continues to hold one very focused delusion. I might be functioning perfectly normally and expressing no strange thoughts … except the repeated belief that Tony Bennett was going to ask me to sing with him at a benefit concert in the near future.

There are several types of delusions often seen in delusional disorder (and other types of psychosis):

Erotic: delusion of a special, loving relationship with another person, usually someone famous or of higher standing. (This kind of delusion is sometimes at the root of stalking behavior.)Grandiose: delusion that the person has a special power or ability, or a special relationship with a powerful person or figure, such as the president or a celebrity.Jealous: delusion that a sexual partner is being unfaithful.Persecutory: delusion that the person is being threatened or maltreated.Somatic: delusion of having a physical illness or defect.

In some people with delusional disorder, the delusion may continue for years, though it may vary in its intensity and significance. In other people, the disorder lasts only a few months.

People with other types of psychosis besides delusional disorder often have multiple, loosely connected delusions: The CIA is tapping their phone and someone (the CIA?) has placed wires in their head to control their brain.

Anyone expressing delusions has an serious underlying mental or neurological disorder. Medications and psychotherapy can help. The hardest part is getting someone who is delusional to recognize that he or she may need help.

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Does a Cream-Boosting Tool Really Work?

Is it just me, or does it feel like there's a tool for everything beauty-related these days? I mean, there's hair removal lasers, there's acne zappers, there are teeth whitening lights -- and these are JUST the tip of the proverbial beauty-tool iceberg. But when I saw the dainty little Talika Cream Booster Device I was totally intrigued. It's $149 (a bit pricey, but a pretty standard price for devices), fits perfectly in your hand, and, while it looks a little like something from Jimmy Jane, it promises something I can actually use: better skin.

To use this tool, you apply your serum or lotions to clean, dry skin, then push the silver button and use to massage your face for one minute.

The brains behind the brand says this awesome little tool does three things. First, it offers up a dose of ion therapy to increase the delivery of your formula's active ingredients to your skin cells. You'll get a bit of photo therapy, which uses a special light to rev the skin cells' activity so they "act" younger. Additionally, you'll feel a light pulsation (not unlike a vibrator, not gonna lie), which helps increase the absorption of your product, too. The brand even claims you can use it without cream to just help relax and rejuvenate your skin.

So does it REALLY work? Truthfully, the jury's out. My skin feels smoother after a couple days of using it, but maybe that's just because I take extra time to rub in my cream. I do know, though, that it feels really, really good. And hey, I'm not opposed to a minute of face massage every night!

RELATED LINKS:

Image Credit: Courtesy Photo

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Can Workout Pants Made With Caffeine Really Reduce Cellulite?

Guys, I have seen some crazy things while writing for Flash -- and reviewed 'em -- but one of the strangest products I've recently stumbled upon on these Hu Nu Woo-Hoo Slim Capris, $93, which are caffeinated, supposedly to help stop cellulite and increase fat burn. So, I've been wearing these babies (pictured here) for a few hours a day for a few days now -- and while I haven't been all that scientific about it, I do think my legs look pretty freaking good.

Hu Nu recently launched in the U.S., and you may start to see their stuff popping up at Equinox's in-house shops around the country. Their activewear is made from Supplex Nylon, so it's moisture-wicking, quick-drying and antibacterial (and anti-stink). It also wears really well, is super comfy and looks great on, if I do say so myself.

The Woo-Hoo Slim Capris are also made with "Revolutional Slim" fabric from Italy, that is infused with caffeine, aloe and Vitamin E. Apparently, this fabric has just the right amount of breathability to stimulate the skin's microcirculation, therefore reducing the appearance of "orange peel effect" and even thigh circumference. (I'm not convinced they're much different than other high-end workout pants out there, but hey, at least they're not see-through!)

Just for kicks, I measured my thigh circumference last week before trying these pants on, and I can say that it hasn't magically shrunk at all. But I do feel great in these capris, and they're awesome for working out -- sooo, maybe that's why it's been a bit easier to squeeze into my skinny jeans?

(Tip: Order a size up! I'm usually a small but the medium fits me perfectly.)

Would you try caffeine-infused pants? Tweet us at @amandaemac and @SELFmagazine.

RELATED LINKS:

Image Credit: Courtesy Photo

View the original article here

Really good video on losing weight the right way

Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.

View the original article here

Just got admitted... I really need some advice :(

I'm a 16 year old male who just got admitted to the hospital for a low heart rate. It was in the 30s. I dangerously under ate ate about 800-1200 calories. I lost about 60 pounds in 9 months. Despite this my BMI is healthy, at right around 18.6. I'm afraid because I was a very active athlete who exercised at least an hour and a half a day. I now can only sit here and do nothing. I'm so afraid ill never be able to work myself back into shape once I leave and I'm afraid they are going to turn me into a huge butterball again because my metabolism probably sucks. Any advice from personal experience?...

View the original article here

Rapid weight gain during recovery? Really depressed :(

Just starting to recover...last week and taking it slow. I upped my calorie intake to 1500-1700 and I gained 3 kilograms?? Isn't a pound of fat 3500 calories?

I heard that after being in starvation, your body starts "hanging on to the fat" to prevent starvation but how is it possible if I'm not eating over?

I've been eating less than 200-900 calories for half a year with occasional binges but I think my metabolism varies a lot, mostly good. Today I've been trying to force myself to eat more calories but I always feel full and constipated. :( And I feel so bad about it and burst into tears for no reason at all. I'm up to a hundred pounds and I know I'm a horrible person for thinking this but I feel so fat and ugly.

Tomorrow I'm going to challenge myself not to "calculate" and eat some fear foods. But I'm really scared to gain so much. Is this fat or water weight? And how long will it go way (or ever?!)

View the original article here

Vegan - is milk really that good for you?

So I read an article in the topics section promoting milk and how people dont drink enough of it. Basically its got calcium, potassium and vitamin D as basic daily nutritional benefits and whatnot (just to start). However people like myself - vegans, or people who want to cut back on fats have been switching to almond and soy beverages and it continues to say how its not as beneficial.

My answer to the question is no. I feel milk is not something people should be drinking because if there is a report comparison without all the facts (sugar contents specifically) then its probably not something you should be considering in your diet. Theres 11g of sugar in 250ml of milk, doesnt matter what percentage and right there in the grocery store i can clearly see the additives they bother with. Its not something i want in me, period (i dont even eat that much sugar in a day...) To me, If one wants more calcium, then take supplements; i mean, it costs just as much as 3 bags of organic milk (im canadian).

Please don't hold back milk from kids... but for yourself, just understand that unsweetened almond and soy have added in nutrients to make it more nutritious. Personally, i just use whatever is "the cheapest unsweetend nondairy beverage with the lowest calories and sugar content" in my tea.

What do you drink, Why, and do you agree with me? Have a good one :)) Stay healthy!

View the original article here

Which Fats Really Are Good for Your Heart?

Feb. 6, 2013 -- The standard advice about which fats are best for heart health is under debate again.

Triggering it is new research, just published in BMJ, finding that a form of omega-6 fatty acid found in vegetable oils may actually boost heart disease risk. Omega-6 fatty acids are a type of polyunsatured fat, which has generally been considered heart healthy.

The new findings could significantly alter the advice about which type of fats to eat, some experts say. The new research warrants another look at the current recommendations, says a spokesperson for the American Heart Association.

WebMD turned to the study author and other experts to sort out the findings -- and to figure out which fats to eat now.

First, a refresher course on fats:

Saturated fats, found in high-fat dairy, meats, and fried foods, as well as trans-fats, found in processed foods such as chips and cookies, should be limited. Experts agree they raise the risk of heart disease.Unsaturated fats, in moderation, are considered heart-healthy, overall. These include monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated. Monounsaturated fats are found in olive oil, nuts, and other foods. Polyunsaturated fats can be broken down into two types: omega-6 fatty acids, found in soybean oil, corn oil, and safflower oil; and omega-3 fatty acids, also in soybean and canola oil and in nuts and some fish as well.

What's the ''back story'' on omega-6 fatty acids?

While polyunsaturated fatty acids -- which include omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids -- are viewed as heart-healthier fats, the information about the benefits of omega-6 fatty acids is more limited, says Christopher Ramsden, MD, a clinical investigator at the National Institutes of Health. He led the research.

Because many oils often contain both, it has been difficult to know which is healthier than the other.

The benefits of foods with both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids (such as many vegetable oils)  may be due more to the omega-3 fatty acids, says Ramsden. "We suspect that omega-6 might not be as healthy as omega-3," he says.

Different fatty acids may have different effects on heart health, he says.

What exactly did the study look at?

Ramsden and his team recovered some unanalyzed data from the Sydney Diet Heart Study, conducted from 1966 to 1973. The study included 458 men, ages 30 to 59, with a history of heart attack or other heart problems.

One group was told to reduce their saturated fat intake to less than 10% of daily calories and increase their polyunsaturated fat intake to about 15% of calories. They were told to use safflower oil or safflower oil margarine, which has linoleic acid, a form of omega-6, but no omega-3 fats.

The other group received no specific instruction on diet.

View the original article here

Which Cancer Tests Do You Really Need?

Feb. 1, 2013 -- Not all cancer screening tests are helpful, and some are potentially harmful, according to a new Consumer Reports rating.

In the new report, Consumer Reports recommends only three of 11 common cancer screening tests, and then only for certain age groups.

Screenings for cervical, colon, and breast cancer are recommended.

Screenings for cancers affecting the bladder, lungs, skin, mouth, prostate, ovaries, pancreas, and testicles are not.

"The science of prevention and screening has changed," says John Santa, MD, MPH, director of the Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center. He oversaw the project.

"Consumers need to know that some screening tests are terrific, some are not good, and some can harm you," Santa says.

"We are not talking about people at high risk," he says. "And of course they are not symptomatic. We're not talking about what you should do if you have a mole that is changing or if you feel a breast lump."

The full report is in the March issue of Consumer Reports.

To develop the ratings, Santa and his team looked at medical research, consulted medical experts, surveyed more than 10,000 readers, and talked with patients about screening tests.

They looked closely at recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. This independent panel provides guidelines on health care based on evidence. Much of Consumer Reports' recommendations follow the task force guidelines to the letter.  But, their recommendations sometimes differ from those of organizations such as the American Cancer Society (ACS). Here, details on the three recommended tests:

Cervical cancer . Women 21 to 30 should have a Pap smear to test for cervical cancer every three years. Women 30 to 65 can wait five years if they have had testing for human papillomavirus (HPV), the virus that causes the cancer. Those 65-plus can skip screening if they were screened regularly earlier. Those under 21 can also skip the test, as experts know the cancer is not common at those ages. Colon cancer. Those 50 to 75 should get screened regularly, and older people should discuss the pros and cons with their doctor and decide. Options include a colonoscopy, which examines the entire colon, every 10 years, or a sigmoidoscopy, which looks at the lower third, every five years plus a stool test every three years, or an annual stool test. As far as other guidelines, no groups suggest screening younger than 50 unless high risk. The ACS also doesn't say to specifically stop at age 75.Breast cancer. Women 50 to 75 need a mammogram every two years. Those 40 to 49 or 75 andolder should talk with their doctor about pros and cons. These guidelines do split with those of the ACS, though. The cancer society recommends yearly mammograms after age 40 and as long as healthy.

View the original article here

How Do Sleeping Pills Really Work?

Study Says It's Partly Because You Think They Do

Dec. 20, 2012 -- The most widely prescribed sleeping pills do help people get to sleep, but maybe not only because of the medicine, a new study suggests.

When researchers combined studies of some of the newer prescription sleep drugs, they concluded that the drugs owe about half their benefits to a placebo effect.

But at least one sleep expert disagrees with that conclusion.

The drugs included in the study were the sleep aids Ambien, Lunesta, and Sonata and their generic versions.

The researchers conclude that these drugs improved people's ability to fall asleep compared to a placebo; however, the size of the effect was small.

They add that the risk of side effects and the potential for addiction need to be weighed  when considering using these medications for treating insomnia.  

Side effects of sleeping pills can include memory loss, daytime sleepiness, and increased risk of falls, and researchers say the drugs may be especially risky for older patients.  

But a sleep specialist says the study does little to convince him that the drugs -- used by millions of people worldwide -- are less effective than studies suggest.

“The fact is that it is difficult to measure the effectiveness of sleep medications in studies. Patients take them and they either work or they don’t.”

“I don’t see how these researchers can come to the conclusion that 50% of the effect of these sleeping pills are due to the placebo effect,” says David Volpi, MD, of the sleep disorders division of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York.

The new analysis, published in BMJ, was a collaborative effort by scientists from the University of Lincoln in the U.K., Harvard University, and the University of Connecticut.

It included data from 13 trials submitted by pharmaceutical companies to the FDA for approval of eszopiclone (Lunesta), zaleplon (Sonata), and zolpidem (Ambien).

The studies focused on the time it took to fall asleep after taking the drug.

The new analysis shows that sleeping pill users fell asleep about 22 minutes faster than non-users. Those on placebo fell asleep after 42 minutes.

According to researcher A. Niroshan Siriwardena, MD, PhD, one of the major limitations of studies submitted to the FDA is that they failed to measure some of the most troubling issues associated with sleep disturbances including total sleep time, waking after falling asleep, and daytime sleepiness.

“Because the studies didn’t measure these things, we cannot say whether these drugs are useful for improving these outcomes,” he says.

Volpi says prescription sleeping pills are often used by patients for much longer than they were originally intended.

These drugs are overprescribed and patients stay on them too long, he says. “It’s not unusual to see patients who have been on them for years.”

Siriwardena and Volpi also agree that other types of sleep treatments, such as talk therapy, are underutilized and could be used to help many more patients with sleep issues.

“There are so many things you can try for sleep problems, and cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the best things patients can do to get off of these medication,” Volpi says says.

The manufacturer of Ambien was contacted but declined to comment. The makers of Lunesta and Sonata were contacted but did not respond before publication.

View the original article here

Does IQ Test Really Measure Intelligence?

Dec. 20, 2012 -- Single tests that measure intelligence quotient, or IQ, may become a thing of the past.

A new study of more than 100,000 participants suggests that there may be at least three distinct components of intelligence. So you could not give a single, unified score for all of them.

Researchers' understanding of the complexities of the human brain has evolved, and so too has the notion of IQ, what it really means, and how it is most accurately captured.

“There are multiple types of intelligence,” says researcher Adam Hampshire, PhD. He is a psychologist at the Brain and Mind Institute Natural Sciences Centre in London, Ontario, Canada. “It is time to move on to using a more comprehensive set of tests that can measure separate scores for each type of intelligence.”

In the study, all participants were invited to take a series of 12 online tests that measure memory, reasoning, attention, and planning as well as information on the test takers' background and lifestyle. The entire test takes about 30 minutes to complete.

According to the findings, there are at least three components that affect overall performance on tests. These include short-term memory, reasoning, and verbal recall.

Lifestyle factors count, too. For example, gamers -- or people who play a lot of computer games -- score higher on tests of reasoning and short-term memory. Smokers do poorly on tests assessing short-term memory and vocabulary, while test takers who have anxiety don't do as well on short-term memory tests, the study shows.

What’s more, the study suggests that each type of intelligence may have its basis in a different set of brain areas. Researchers used sophisticated brain scans called functional MRIs to map out these areas.  “Potentially, we can measure a more comprehensive set of intelligences," each of which reflects the capacity of a different part of the brain, Hampshire says.

So should the IQ test that has provided bragging rights for so many be discontinued or discredited?

Not so fast, he says. “Some very valuable research has been carried out using classical IQ testing. However, IQ is a massive oversimplification of the spectrum of human cognitive ability.”

IQ scores may also be somewhat misleading, Hampshire says. “Based on the results of our study, it seems likely that IQ differences will vary in scale or even direction depending on the exact type of intelligence that the test or set of tests rely most heavily upon. I would suggest that it is both more accurate and informative to measure multiple types of intelligence.”

He plans to see if there are other types of intelligence that were not captured in this study.

Hampshire said the findings themselves weren’t all that surprising, but the number of people who took part in the study exceeded expectations. “I had thought a couple of thousand people might log in and participate in the study over the course of six months. Instead, tens of thousands logged in within the space of a few weeks,” he says. It was a remarkably strong response from members of the general public, who gave half an hour or more of their time to support this research.”

View the original article here

How Do Sleeping Pills Really Work?

Study Says It's Partly Becasue You Think They Do BySalynn Boyles
WebMD Health News Reviewed byBrunilda Nazario, MD

Dec. 20, 2012 -- The most widely prescribed sleeping pills do help people get to sleep, but maybe not only because of the medicine, a new study suggests.

When researchers combined studies of some of the newer prescription sleep drugs, they concluded that the drugs owe about half their benefits to a placebo effect.

But at least one sleep expert disagrees with that conclusion.

Jobs That Wreck Your Sleep

Benefits Small, Study Finds

The drugs included in the study were the sleep aids Ambien, Lunesta, and Sonata and their generic versions.

The researchers conclude that these drugs improved people's ability to fall asleep compared to a placebo; however, the size of the effect was small.

They add that the risk of side effects and the potential for addiction need to be weighed  when considering using these medications for treating insomnia.  

Side effects of sleeping pills can include memory loss, daytime sleepiness, and increased risk of falls, and researchers say the drugs may be especially risky for older patients.  

But a sleep specialist says the study does little to convince him that the drugs -- used by millions of people worldwide -- are less effective than studies suggest.

“The fact is that it is difficult to measure the effectiveness of sleep medications in studies. Patients take them and they either work or they don’t.”

“I don’t see how these researchers can come to the conclusion that 50% of the effect of these sleeping pills are due to the placebo effect,” says David Volpi, MD, of the sleep disorders division of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York.

Sleep Aid Helps Users Fall Asleep Faster

The new analysis, published in BMJ, was a collaborative effort by scientists from the University of Lincoln in the U.K., Harvard University, and the University of Connecticut.

It included data from 13 trials submitted by pharmaceutical companies to the FDA for approval of eszopiclone (Lunesta), zaleplon (Sonata), and zolpidem (Ambien).

The studies focused on the time it took to fall asleep after taking the drug.

The new analysis shows that sleeping pill users fell asleep about 22 minutes faster than non-users. Those on placebo fell asleep after 42 minutes.

According to researcher A. Niroshan Siriwardena, MD, PhD, one of the major limitations of studies submitted to the FDA is that they failed to measure some of the most troubling issues associated with sleep disturbances including total sleep time, waking after falling asleep, and daytime sleepiness.

“Because the studies didn’t measure these things, we cannot say whether these drugs are useful for improving these outcomes,” he says.

Nondrug Sleep Treatments Effective

Volpi says prescription sleeping pills are often used by patients for much longer than they were originally intended.

These drugs are overprescribed and patients stay on them too long, he says. “It’s not unusual to see patients who have been on them for years.”

Siriwardena and Volpi also agree that other types of sleep treatments, such as talk therapy, are underutilized and could be used to help many more patients with sleep issues.

“There are so many things you can try for sleep problems, and cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the best things patients can do to get off of these medication,” Volpi says says.

The manufacturer of Ambien was contacted but declined to comment. The makers of Lunesta and Sonata were contacted but did not respond before publication.

View Article Sources

SOURCES:

Huedo-Medina, T. BMJ, Dec. 17, 2012.

A. Niroshan Siriwardena, MD, PhD, professor of primary and prehospital health care, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, U.K.

David Volpi, MD, sleep specialist, Lenox Hill Hospital’s Head and Neck Institute, Sleep Disorder’s Division, New York.

News release, University of Lincoln.

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You say you are able to function well with fewer than seven hours of sleep. Some people say they can function on four to six hours of sleep each night, but research shows that adults who get fewer than seven hours of sleep — whether for just one night or over the course of days, weeks, or months — have more difficulty concentrating and more mood problems than people who sleep seven to nine hours.

Since you usually get too little sleep, please talk to your doctor about your sleep patterns. Poor quality sleep can affect many areas of your life and health, and your doctor may be able to help you if you have insomnia or other conditions affecting your sleep.

Sleep deprivation can have both short- and long-term consequences. Learn more about the health consequences of sleep loss. If you're concerned about having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, assess your risk for a sleep disorder.

It's not surprising you feel that you're not functioning at your best today. Some people say they can function on four to six hours of sleep each night, but research shows that adults who get fewer than seven hours of sleep — whether for just one night or over the course of days, weeks, or months — have more difficulty concentrating and more mood problems than people who sleep seven to nine hours.

Since you usually get too little sleep, please talk to your doctor about your sleep patterns. Poor quality sleep can affect many areas of your life and health, and your doctor may be able to help you if you have difficulty sleeping, have insomnia, or have other sleep disorders.

Learn more about the health consequences of sleep loss. If you're concerned about having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, assess your risk for a sleep disorder.

It's not surprising you feel that you're not functioning at your best today. Some people say they can function on four to six hours of sleep each night, but research shows that adults who get fewer than seven hours of sleep — whether for just one night or over the course of days, weeks, or months — have more difficulty concentrating and more mood problems than people who sleep seven to nine hours.

It's good that you usually do get more sleep, since sleep deprivation can have both short- and long-term consequences. Learn more about the health consequences of sleep loss. And if you're concerned about having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, assess your risk for a sleep disorder.

You say you are able to function well with fewer than seven hours of sleep. Some people say they can function on four to six hours of sleep each night, but research shows that adults who get fewer than seven hours of sleep — whether for just one night or over the course of days, weeks, or months — have more difficulty concentrating and more mood problems than people who sleep seven to nine hours.

It's good that you usually do get more sleep because sleep deprivation can have both short- and long-term consequences. Learn more about the health consequences of sleep loss. And if you're concerned about having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, assess your risk for a sleep disorder.

It's not surprising you feel that you're not functioning at your best today. Some people say they can function on four to six hours of sleep each night, but research shows that adults who get fewer than seven hours of sleep — whether for just one night or over the course of days, weeks, or months — have more difficulty concentrating and more mood problems than people who sleep seven to nine hours.

Since you usually get less sleep, please talk to your doctor about your sleep patterns. Poor quality sleep can affect many areas of your life and health, and your doctor may be able to help you if you have difficulty sleeping or have insomnia or other sleep disorders.

Learn more about the health consequences of sleep loss. If you're concerned about having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, assess your risk for a sleep disorder.

It's wonderful that you got a good night's sleep last night. Many people struggle to do so. Having a good sleep routine often is the key to getting the quality sleep night after night that your body needs for optimal health. Whether your sleep routine involves taking a warm bath, reading a book, or meditating, it's important to keep your bedtime and routine consistent every night and wake up around the same time every morning.

Click here to read more about the importance of sleep. If you're concerned about having trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or sleeping too much, assess your risk for a sleep disorder.

It's unfortunate you're not functioning at your best today. You say you had a good quantity of sleep last night, but maybe the quality of your sleep is not as good as it could be? Having a good sleep routine — including a consistent bedtime and wake time — often is the key to getting the quality sleep night after night that your body needs for optimal health. Since you usually sleep this amount, if you often aren't feeling your best, you should consider talking to your doctor. Could you have an underlying condition? Are you feeling anxious or depressed? Have you taken medication that disrupted your sleep? Do you or could you have sleep apnea? Or do you naturally require a little bit more sleep?

Although sleep is crucial for optimal health, some research suggests that sleeping too much can also have negative consequences. Learn more about sleep. If you're concerned about having trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or sleeping too much, assess your risk for a sleep disorder.

It's unfortunate you're not functioning at your best today. You say you had a good quantity of sleep last night, but maybe the quality of your sleep is not as good as it could be? Having a good sleep routine — including a consistent bedtime and wake time — often is the key to getting the quality sleep night after night that your body needs for optimal health. Since you usually sleep longer, if you often aren't feeling your best, you should consider talking to your doctor. Could you have an underlying condition? Are you feeling anxious or depressed? Have you taken medication that disrupted your sleep? Do you or could you have sleep apnea? Or do you naturally require a little bit more sleep?

Although sleep is crucial for optimal health, some research suggests that sleeping too much can also have negative consequences. Learn more about sleep. If you're concerned about having trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or sleeping too much, assess your risk for a sleep disorder.

It's wonderful that you got a good night's sleep last night. Many people struggle to do so. Having a good sleep routine often is the key to getting the quality sleep night after night that your body needs for optimal health. Whether your sleep routine involves taking a warm bath, reading a book, or meditating, it's also important to keep bedtime consistent and wake up around the same time every morning.

Although sleep is crucial for optimal health, some research suggests that sleeping too much can have negative consequences. Learn more about sleep. If you're concerned about having trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or sleeping too much, assess your risk for a sleep disorder.

It's unfortunate you're not functioning at your best today. You say you had a good quantity of sleep last night, but maybe the quality of your sleep is not as good as it could be? Having a good sleep routine — including a consistent bedtime and waking up at the same time — often is the key to getting the quality sleep night after night that your body needs for optimal health.

Since you usually get less sleep, please talk to your doctor about your sleep patterns. Poor quality sleep can affect many areas of your life and health, and your doctor may be able to help you if you have insomnia, another sleep disorder, or conditions affecting your sleep.

Learn more about the health consequences of sleep loss. If you're concerned about having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, assess your risk for a sleep disorder.

It's wonderful that you got a good night's sleep last night. Many people struggle to do so. Having a good sleep routine often is the key to getting the quality sleep night after night that your body needs for optimal health.

Since you usually get less sleep, talk to your doctor about your sleep patterns. Poor quality sleep can affect many areas of your life and health, and your doctor may be able to help you if you have insomnia or another sleep disorder or conditions affecting your sleep.

Learn more about the health consequences of sleep loss. If you're concerned about having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, assess your risk for a sleep disorder.

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You'll find tips and tricks as well as the latest news and research on Sleep Disorders.

View Sources

SOURCES:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Effect of short sleep duration on daily activities--United States, 2005-2008. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2011; 60:239.

Carskadon, MA, Dement, WC. Normal Human Sleep: An Overview. In: Principles and Practices of Sleep Medicine, Fifth, Kryger, MH, Roth, et al. (Eds), Elsevier Saunders, St. Louis, MO 2011. p.16.

Harvard University: "Sleep, Performance, and Public Safety."

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Does IQ Test Really Measure Intelligence?

ByDenise Mann
WebMD Health News Reviewed byLaura J. Martin, MD

Dec. 20, 2012 -- Single tests that measure intelligence quotient, or IQ, may become a thing of the past.

A new study of more than 100,000 participants suggests that there may be at least three distinct components of intelligence. So you could not give a single, unified score for all of them.

Researchers' understanding of the complexities of the human brain has evolved, and so too has the notion of IQ, what it really means, and how it is most accurately captured.

“There are multiple types of intelligence,” says researcher Adam Hampshire, PhD. He is a psychologist at the Brain and Mind Institute Natural Sciences Centre in London, Ontario, Canada. “It is time to move on to using a more comprehensive set of tests that can measure separate scores for each type of intelligence.”

Using Many IQ Tests

In the study, all participants were invited to take a series of 12 online tests that measure memory, reasoning, attention, and planning as well as information on the test takers' background and lifestyle. The entire test takes about 30 minutes to complete.

According to the findings, there are at least three components that affect overall performance on tests. These include short-term memory, reasoning, and verbal recall.

Lifestyle factors count, too. For example, gamers -- or people who play a lot of computer games -- score higher on tests of reasoning and short-term memory. Smokers do poorly on tests assessing short-term memory and vocabulary, while test takers who have anxiety don't do as well on short-term memory tests, the study shows.

What’s more, the study suggests that each type of intelligence may have its basis in a different set of brain areas. Researchers used sophisticated brain scans called functional MRIs to map out these areas.  “Potentially, we can measure a more comprehensive set of intelligences," each of which reflects the capacity of a different part of the brain, Hampshire says.

 

RIP IQ Test?

So should the IQ test that has provided bragging rights for so many be discontinued or discredited?

Not so fast, he says. “Some very valuable research has been carried out using classical IQ testing. However, IQ is a massive oversimplification of the spectrum of human cognitive ability.”

IQ scores may also be somewhat misleading, Hampshire says. “Based on the results of our study, it seems likely that IQ differences will vary in scale or even direction depending on the exact type of intelligence that the test or set of tests rely most heavily upon. I would suggest that it is both more accurate and informative to measure multiple types of intelligence.”

He plans to see if there are other types of intelligence that were not captured in this study.

Hampshire said the findings themselves weren’t all that surprising, but the number of people who took part in the study exceeded expectations. “I had thought a couple of thousand people might log in and participate in the study over the course of six months. Instead, tens of thousands logged in within the space of a few weeks,” he says. It was a remarkably strong response from members of the general public, who gave half an hour or more of their time to support this research.”

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