8 Effective Ways to Avoid Breast Sagging

Eventually, at some point in a woman’s life, no matter how hard she tries to avoid it, her breasts will sag. However, there are a number of things a woman can do to avoid early breast sagging and maintain her youthful appearance for as long as possible. Latest9ja shares 8 ways to avoid breast sagging.

A graphic illustration of the Breasts 

Wear a Supportive Bra that’s Your Size

Getting a supportive fitted bra that is your size will help to give your breasts the support they need. It will also help your breast to resist gravity and reduce bouncing when you walk. This will help reduce strains on the skin and ligaments of your breasts and prevent them from stretching out.

Exercise

The best way to keep your body young and fit is by engaging in regular physical activity. One of such activities is exercise. As a woman, exercise helps to emphasize the perkiness of your breast. Be sure to wear a well-fitted sport bra during exercise to hold your breast in place, reduce bouncing and prevent the stretching of the skin and ligaments of your breast.

Avoid Smoking

The chemicals in cigarettes harm the collagen and elastin in your skin making it weaker and less stretchy, which causes wrinkling of the skin and sagging of the breast. Once the skin of your breasts loses elasticity, your breasts will sag, even if you are young. You should be mindful of this and avoid smoking.

Massage

Moisturize your breasts daily and gently massage in a circular motion from upside down and vice versa, to keep the skin supple and help your breast retain their elasticity. Massaging your breasts helps to increase circulation in the tissues, which helps to increase the elasticity of the breasts.

Eat Proteins

Eating proteins is the best way to heal damages to the skin, connective tissues and muscles. Your body uses proteins to heal these damages, which in turns helps strengthen your breasts to resist gravity and remain perky. Protein rich foods include meat, milk, beans, nuts etc.

Eat Complex Carbohydrates

This particularly applies to you if you exercise regularly. Complex carbohydrates take longer to digest and provide energy for a longer time than simple sugars. This energy they provide is vital for exercise (so you don’t collapse from exhaustion during exercise). Good sources of complex carbohydrates are beans, corn, potatoes, lentils, green peas, whole-grain breads etc.

Avoid Weight Fluctuations

Try to maintain a stable weight as much as you can. Avoid yo-yo dieting, avoid rapidly gaining and losing weight, and avoid becoming overweight. This is because weight fluctuations tend to stretch out the skin of your breast causing it to sag over time.

Breast-feeding Will Not Make Your Breasts Sag

Please drop the unnecessary fear of breast-feeding causing your breasts to sag (if you have this fear). Your breasts sag as they get larger and heavier during pregnancy because this process stretches the ligaments of the breast. Regardless of whether you breastfeed or not, over time your breast will still sag. Breast-feeding will not make it worse.

6 Life-saving Tips For Running A Generator At Home

In almost every home in Nigeria, you will find a generator because power is unstable. Some run their generator for 24 hours while others run it in the night.  However, in recent times, we have heard of people dying because of generator fumes. It is unfortunate but true. Obviously, this carbon monoxide is very harmful to the body. In line with this, Latest9ja shares lifesaving tips for running a generator at home.

A group of Generator producing smoke 

Your generator should be far away from your window

As long as generators use dirty energy such fuel or diesel, it will always release fumes. So, it should be reasonably far away from your window. Do not say that because you tightly shut your window and doors, you want to place it beside it. It is dangerous.

Use your generator outdoor

You will be shocked that some people in this country use their generator right in their parlour or sitting room. They don’t want to leave it outside for fear of it being stolen or because they are too lazy to go outside to switch it off. You are joking with your life if you continue with this practice.

Do not run it in an enclosed area

A generator needs ventilation to function properly because of the heat it produces while it is working. Always use your generator in an open space so that it will be able to breathe. A generator may stop working or explode if there is no ventilation.

Turn off all your appliances

Before you start your generator, turn off all your appliances to prevent any damage. This is because a power surge can destroy your devices. Also, do not overload your generator.

Never refuel a hot generator

It is no gainsaying that you should not refuel a generator while it is running let alone when it is hot. Your generator may explode if you do this. Hence, switch off before refuelling.

Periodic maintenance

Always maintain your generator by taking it for regular checkup especially when it produces fumes. Sooner or rather than later, it will collapse.

6 VALUABLE TIPS FOR NETWORKING

Networking becomes significantly easier when you understand what it entails and what it takes to succeed at it. Latest9ja , shares 6 valuable tips for networking.

Begin Networking Before You Need It

Desperation has an aura that can easily be discerned, as a result it might be counter-productive to begin zealous networking efforts at the hour of your greatest need. You can end up putting people off because people can sense when someone is only out to use them and help himself/herself. Networking when you aren’t desperate and have no immediate ulterior motives, can help you build better relationships and a good reputation for being friendly and generous rather than desperate and self-serving.



Plan Before Hand

This is a very important tip, especially if networking isn’t exactly your strong suite. Laying down clear details of the talents, strengths, skill sets and connections that you have and can take advantage of to enhance your networking efforts can make networking much easier for you. You should be sure of the things you can talk about with people at the event, and prepare for a case where you might be taken by surprise and have to comment on things you might not initially have prepared for. In addition, consider how you can also be of help to these people, don’t only consider how you can get them to help you.



Avoid Arriving Late

When you arrive early to a networking event, it’s calmer and quieter at the beginning. People have not yet settled into groups so it’s easier to mingle with everyone and find conversation partners.



Let Your Personal Agenda Take a Back Seat

The fact that you are networking for self-serving purposes doesn’t mean you should be blatant about it. Let your personal agenda take a back seat to building actual relationships with people. Be open, friendly and honest; make connections with people that will make it easier for them to remember you and want to help you, without you even asking directly.



Follow Up

If you promise to do something for someone at a networking event, do it. Follow up and follow through with it. People will value you for this and you’ll unknowingly begin to build a reputation for consistency and reliability. So, if you told someone you’ll call, call the person. If you promised to introduce someone to the person, take the time to do it.



Understand the Value of Networking

The true value of networking comes in being able to help others as much as you want to be helped. If you understand this and practise it well, networking will become a more than valuable business tool for you. Keep this at the back of your mind every time you make a networking effort.

7 Signs Your Social Media Account Has Been Hacked

It is no gainsaying that social media is now an important feature in our lives. It is used by almost everyone from celebrities to influencers, businesses, news platforms, marketers and individuals. Some persons have even leveraged on it to make money. So, it is important for your different social media accounts to be secured. Regardless, since you are online, and there are hackers prowling for accounts to hack, you have to be observant to know if your accounts have been illegally accessed or not. In line with this,  Latest9ja  presents 7 signs your social media account has been hacked.

You are unable to log into your accounts

This is an obvious sign that your account may have been hijacked by hackers. You have tried several passwords but you are still locked out of your account. Even the change password option is not working. It must have been a very sophisticated hack. The only way you can have your account back is to contact Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat.

Status not updated by you

This is perhaps the simplest way to know if your social media account has been hacked. You will see tweets or posts you didn’t share appearing on your timeline. It may be political or propagandist messages. You should immediately change your password.

Your number of followers significantly Jumps

You only have 300 followers on either your Instagram or Twitter page. Then you suddenly notice that it jumped to like 2,000 or 3,000. It is strange right and you never followed anyone. In fact, Instagram or Twitter will not allow you to garner 2,000 or 3,000 followers a day. If this is the case, it is highly possible that your account has been hacked.

Someone logged into your account from an unusual location

Sometimes, you may add the wrong location for reasons best known to you. However, if you see a location you never added, it is an alert that someone is illegally accessing your account from that location. You may want to do some checks to be sure you were not the one that changed it.

You cannot find all your posts

All your posts for years have grown wings and flew away. You cannot find them. You searched and searched but you still couldn’t find them. You logged in and logged out but the same thing. It is advisable you change your password or you have to deactivate that account and open a new one.

Too many spammy ads on your page

This mainly applies to Facebook. A seemingly interesting post is recommended to you to read. If you click it, you have opened the floodgate to spammy ads. That click will allow hackers to access your account.

Your cover image has been replaced

If your cover image has been replaced with a naked woman or any other nasty picture or photo, it means someone is attempting to frame you or in the process of usurping your account. You should look out for this on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

THESE 15 LUCRATIVE BUSINESS IDEAS WILL TAKE CENTER STAGE IN 2017

2017 is a good year to start a business. The harsh economic climate and the recession looming over everyone means you must find ways to make more money if you must survive. The business ideas listed in this article will be hot in 2017 for very good and different reasons. But they are not the only businesses you can start in 2017. They are enough, however, to set your idea wheels spinning so you can start something if you have not do so.

The good thing about 2017 is a lot of people will find new, creative ways of doing old businesses, and that will be the beauty of it. You can have your own brand of products in your own brand name without doing any of the production yourself, for example. You can enter the real estate business without spending huge sums of money, and so on. This is why 2017 will be a lucrative year for smart entrepreneurs. Let’s get right to it.

1. AGRICULTURE BUSINESS IDEAS

Agriculture has been rightly promoted as one important channel for our country to bounce back on her feet and regain her former economic glory. Young people are realizing this and are doing their best to key in and prosper. Among all the business ideas listed on this blog, agriculture business ideas get the most search hits on Google, especially the article on bean flour production. The hunger to succeed is there.

To make this work, government should provide resources and incentives to encourage more young people into agriculture. This has happened a bit with the introduction of grants for rice farmers and export financing for agro-commodity exporters among others. I expect so much more to happen in 2017 with more of private sector investments and venture capitalists participation. 2017 will be a good year for agriculture.  Now is a good time to get started. These 50 agriculture business ideas should set your idea wheels spinning.

2. ANIMAL FEED PRODUCTION BUSINESS

People worry so much about starting animal production business; only a few see the huge potentials in animal feed production. Fish must eat to grow, right? Don’t wait till you have a big factory. A friend of mine made huge profits this year in animal feed. He would visit noodles production factories and make a deal to buy off the waste product of noodles (the broken, no-use ones). He would then supply them to fish farmers as feed. He has no company or factory, just his resourcefulness and ingenuity, and he makes very good money. Animal feed is good business, more so in 2017. Learn how to start poultry feed production business here.

3. WASTE RECYCLING

So much has been said about the environment this year. Big players like the US and China are going big about safeguarding the environment. True, Nigeria may not have gotten to the point where we cut our fossil fuel reliance and go completely green. But Nigerian entrepreneurs are not giving up. Waste recycling is a good project for the environment. Since Bilikiss started WeCyclers, she has won a lot of recognition and raised money for her project. Others players like of Edem of EIS Recyclers are fast catching up to the action. There’s room for everyone. Saving the planet will be a big talking point in 2017 and waste recycling business is one way to make it happen. This article will guide you on how to start your own profitable waste recycling business in Nigeria.

4. PAPER BAG PRODUCTION

Still on the environment, I expect plastic bags to gradually go out of use from 2017 (maybe not that immediate but bound to happen at some point); they are not good for the environment. Paper bags have got good shouts in other African countries with nations like South Africa, Morocco, Rwanda, Uganda, etc all imposing a ban on plastic bags. How long before our beloved Nigeria follows suit? No matter how long it takes, investing in paper bag production will be worth it. This detailed article will guide you on how to start paper bag production business (includes video tutorials)

5. ONLINE TUTORIAL

Blogging is not the only way you can establish yourself as an expert and make money out of your knowledge. Many people now take online courses to make up for the knowledge they could not get in the classroom. There is a big opportunity in this niche. If you can deliver tutorials on topics people are interested in learning, people will gratefully pay you to learn them. Starting your own online tutorials does not take much. For a start you can sign up as an instructor on Udemy and later, develop your own blog/platform.

6. REAL ESTATE

Every year is a good year for real estate business. 2017 will not be an exception. The major drawback in real estate business is the amount of capital it requires for startup. There’s a way around it. Oluwatobi Oladele delivered a lecture on how you can start your own lucrative real estate business with very little capital. So why not give it a go in 2017?

7. MOBILE FOOD VENDING BUSINESS

If you love cooking, mobile food vending will be a good and lucrative way to get into the catering business in 2017. The Igwe Brothers started Speedmeals Mobile Kitchen in 2010; they agree that in 2016, the market is still as open as ever. I expect more caterers to go mobile in 2017 because people will appreciate having their food brought to them. The major challenge with this, as with any food business, is getting peoples’ trust. You do this with proper hygiene, tasty meals and timely, consistent delivery. It will also put a lot of ‘mama put’ on their toes to improve their quality of their cooking.

8. ONLINE MARKETING

Take your pick: blogging, freelancing, information marketing, affiliate marketing, there are plenty. More people will make more money online in 2017 than they did in 2016. It is no longer a secret that people make full income on the internet. By the way, if you plan on starting a blog in 2017, I wrote an article on top 18 blog topic ideas that should make you the most money. Check it out and let me know what you think.

9. TECH BUSINESS

The Nigerian tech industry is in the spotlight for many good reasons. We have seen Nigerians develop award winning apps like OkadaBooks, Find-A-Med, BudgIT, AfriNolly, etc. Because the tech industry is proving very lucrative, more people will look to explore their creative tech side in 2017. Tech bloggers like OgbongeBlog and NaijaTechGuide have been making money for a long time now. I expect more people to follow their lead in 2017. This is a brilliant opportunity for the tech person.

10. PROGRAMMING/CODING TUTORIALS

There are two ways to make money through what you know: you can do what you know and you can teach people how to do what you know. For our tech industry to keep booming, people will need ways to learn coding/programming. You can start learning programming right now, free of charge. This article will show you 5 places to learn coding without paying anything.

6 Awesome Business Ideas For Teen Entrepreneurs

Many of the most successful people in business today started out as teenage entrepreneurs. For many teens, the realization that building something of your own beats working for “the man” comes to them naturally, but coming up with the right idea isn’t always easy.

So here are 10 ideas to get your creative juices flowing. Most can be started by anyone, and a few will require some specialized knowledge, but might get you on the right path or spark another idea, even if you don’t have that knowledge right now. And if you’re at all worried about being taken seriously as a teen business person, take a look at our recent post on the subject.

Whatever business you decide to start, know this: if you’re a teen reading this post, you’re already far ahead of 90 percent of other people your age, and way ahead of the vast majority of people of any age.

To enter the world of entrepreneurship can be challenging at times, but those of us who do it know that all the hard work, setbacks, and challenges that come are nothing compared to the rewards of starting and growing your own business.  So don’t let anything slow you down.  If being in business for yourself is your dream, go for it with all you’ve got!

Senior Errand Service

Wherever you live, there are bound to be senior citizens who need help with errands.  The errands you’ll run can range from grocery shopping to picking up dry cleaning and going to the post office. 

If you don’t yet have wheels, there are plenty of ways to help seniors around the house too, like washing the car, making minor repairs, or helping out with yard work. As the fasted growing segment of the population, it makes a lot of business sense to serve seniors, and it will feel good to know you’re helping someone who really needs it.

Garage Cleaning

Have you ever walked past an open garage that was so cluttered with stuff the family couldn’t fit their car inside?  Those are your potential clients.  Cleaning out the garage is a chore no one enjoys (unless they’re getting paid like you will), so convincing people to hire you won’t be that hard – especially if you’re polite and professional and your rates are reasonable.

Your startup costs will be minimal with this business – chances are you have most if not all of your supplies at home already.  All you’ll need are a good push broom, some cleaning supplies and lots of elbow grease. 

To get customers, make up some flyers and go door-to-door around your neighborhood.  It might be intimidating at first, but before long, you’ll get your pitch down, and it will be well worth the effort.

Web Design Service

This is one business where you really should have some training and a lot of practice to get started.  Yes, there are many people out there calling themselves web designers who just use templates and have only a basic html background, but you don’t want to be one of those. 

The real money in this field is made by those who know what they’re doing.  If it’s something that interests you, it won’t take that long to learn, and you can do very well from referrals and return business.  And this is another business that can take you far beyond your high school years.

Blogging

Are you an expert in a particular area, like social media or high school algebra? Are you an entertaining writer, or simply have a great sense of humor? 

If you can get people to read what you have to say, you can make money at it by starting a blog. There are thousands of affiliate programs that will pay you when people click through from your blog to their sites and make a purchase.

You’ll want to read lots of articles (like these) about how to do this right, but once you figure it out, it can mean making way more than your friends working at the taco place

Social Media Consulting

If you’re in your teens, chances are very good you know your stuff when it comes to using Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, and other social networks. But did you know this stuff is big business? Well it absolutely is. There are entire consulting firms dedicated to helping their clients maximize their social media efforts, and some of them probably don’t have as much experience at it as you do. 

Step one is to find out all you can about using social media for business. There are tons of online resources for this, so that part’s a breeze. Next, decide what services you’ll offer and if you’ll specialize in a particular area – Facebook fan pages, for instance. Then get out there on social media and make it known that you’re available as a consultant. 

Also consider visiting local businesses that see the value in social media but might not know how to get started. There is a huge market for this right now. You just have to plan it out and go for it!

Jewelry Making

Like candle making, this business is for those with a creative flare.  It might take a little more to get started, both in money and know-how, but you don’t need tons of training, and if you use materials like beads and silver rather than gold and diamonds, starting a custom jewelry business doesn’t have to cost a lot.  To get started, you can learn most of what you need to know from books on the subject.  Then it’s a matter of practicing until you’re good.  If your stuff is attractive, you’ll find a market eager to snatch up your pieces – often for a premium price.