Look at this - two months in a row. I believe we're back in the groove!

The new version of the site has been live for a bit over a month now, and the response has been outstanding. If you haven't been there recently, you should check it out. We've been adding features and content weekly, and expect to continue to enhance the site on an ongoing basis. If you have suggestions for how we can improve the value of the site to you, please let us know!

Now, on to the content for this month. How about a little bit on marketing and a little bit on science this month?

Holiday Harvest Time

Courtesy of Sally Carter

This is the time of the year that traditionally we think of as Harvest Time---But is it?

Now that we are Distributors in Herbalife - this is seed planting time. This is the time we need to get our flyers, samples, and information out to everyone. The more we talk and let everyone know about our great products and how they can help them lose, gain, or maintain--the better. If we can plant seeds and get them started before they gain that 10 or more unwanted pounds--great!! If we plant the seeds and they remember us when they do gain the weight - they will not end up one of the statistics.

Statistics show that people who gain weight over the holiday season tend not to lose it over the course of the year. They hold on to that ten pounds and then the next year add on another and another and soon........ you know the rest of the story.

The question is: How will you plant seeds so you can Harvest them in January which is National Weight Loss Month? What will you do to have the best planting and harvesting possible.?

Read the full article here

Too Much Calcium?

After our piece last month about Calcium, my mother had an appointment with her doctor. He tends to be very cautious, and has her take lots of tests. He was concerned that she might be getting too much calcium. So I did some more research. Let me restate that I am not a medical or nutrition professional. I just like getting the facts and sharing them as clearly as I can.

At CalciumInfo.com it says:

What problems might I have taking calcium?

It’s very difficult to get too much calcium. Any excess which the body cannot use is excreted from the body in the urine and stool. Daily consumption up to 2,500 mg has been shown to be safe.

If you experience constipation or gas from calcium, your body may be adjusting to the new levels of calcium. If this happens, try starting with a small amount and build gradually to an adequate daily amount. And take your calcium in several doses during the day, for instance at meal times.

What about kidney stones? Are they caused by calcium supplementation?

Additional calcium intake may actually lower your risk for kidney stones. The largest study ever conducted on calcium and kidney stones, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1993, and another published in 1997, showed that daily calcium intake above 850 mg decreased the incidence of symptomatic kidney stones.

Reducing your intake of dietary oxalate, a substance found in wheat bran, rhubarb, beets and nuts may also lower your risk of stones. The most important dietary factor in preventing kidney stones is water. Drink plenty of fluids, but not soft drinks, to help lower your risk for stones. And keep taking your calcium. Restricting calcium intake could increase the risk of stones.

There's a lovely article at the KTVU (a San Francisco Bay Area television station) web site that says

Consumer Reports says getting enough calcium is important, but cautions you can get too much.

Dr. Marvin Lipman/Consumer Reports: "No one should get more than 25-hundred milligrams of calcium a day. If you do you run the risk of kidney damage or kidney stones. And calcium can block the absorpiton of other key nutrients as well."

Getting too much calcium isn't hard. A glass of fortified orange juice has 360 milligrams of calcium. A cup of total cereal with milk contains almost 15-hundred milligrams. A calcium supplement--500. A yogurt for lunch puts you over the 25-hundred milligram limit.

To complicate matters, many products don't tell you the amount of calcium they contain. For instance, these fruit bars simply say, "calcium: 20 percent." Here's how to decode that:

That 20 percent is based on a total daily intake of a 1000 milligrams of calcium. So if you take 20 percent of a 1000 it comes out to be 200 milligrams.

Read the full article

So it seems that you can get too much calcium, and need to be aware of what you're taking in. Fortunately, unlike some of the foods we eat, all of the Herbalife products clearly identify how much calcium is included, along with all the other ingredients.

Isn't it amazing how something in your diet can go from positive to negative with just a little extra?

Marketing Tools You Don't Want To Miss

Let me plug the products some of my friends and colleagues are offering.

First, there's the Animated Cook Book - a great tool to offer to your customers and friends who are using Herbalife. And since you can have it customized as part of the deal, every time they use it they think of you and of Herbalife.

And then there's the Custom Sticky Notes - a wonderfully convenient and cost-effective alternative to fliers and pull-tabs and such.

And last, for this month, a reminder about the Talking Business Cards from Sally Carter. A handy CD-ROM that creates a powerful impression on the viewer.

All of these can be found on our Resources page.

Happy Holidays to All!

Let me finish this newsletter by wishing you the happiest, healthiest, and most profitable holiday season you can have. May you find joy, peace, love, and harmony in everything you do.

Steven