12 Week LGBT Greek Health Challenge
NOTE FROM YOUR GUIDE:
I hope everyone is back on track. I want to remind you that you have SUPPORT. We are here if you need us. Some of you have reached out to us and we are working on responding. I want us to prepare for the next holiday coming... Christmas!
Reminder: DO NOT FORGET TO EAT & DRINK LOTS OF WATER. No skipping meals, Please. Water is essential to healthy living.
When you don't eat, you are telling your body that you are starving it and when you do eat, the body will store that meal and it will turn to FAT!! So please eat three large meals and small meals in between. You can even eat a bunch of small meals every two hours.
HOUSEKEEPING: Progress Report make sure you do this every SUNDAY. This part is how you will get the 30 hours of community service.
Thought of Week:
"Patience along with putting in the work; you will see the results."
EXERCISE OF THE WEEK
Butt Lift (Bridge) Instructions
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Lie flat on the floor on your back with the hands by your side and your knees bent. Your feet should be placed around shoulder width. This will be your starting position.
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Pushing mainly with your heels, lift your hips off the floor while keeping your back straight. Breathe out as you perform this part of the motion and hold at the top for a second.
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Slowly go back to the starting position as you breathe in.
Variations: You can perform this exercise one leg at a time.
WEEK 9
Your Expert Guide To Aloe Vera
You may know aloe vera as the great soother of sunburns, but it can help you in a lot more ways than just that!
October 26, 2017 • 3 min read
Chances are, at least once in
your life you've gotten a little too
much sun and spent the next
few days slathered in aloe vera
gel. Aloe vera has become well
known for its ability to soothe
sunburns, but it offers many other
benefits as well.
What Is Aloe Vera?
Aloe vera is tropical in origin, but it has become increasingly popular as a household plant. It's easy to care for and visually pleasing, and the gel from its leaves can be used to treat all manner of human ailments.
Aloe vera's fleshy leaves contain both a gel and a juice, known as latex. The gel is clear, contains more than 75 different components, and is safe to ingest. The juice is found on the outer rim of the inside of the leaf, has a yellow color, and can have a laxative effect when ingested.[1]
What Are The Uses Of Aloe Vera?
Records of aloe vera being used for its medicinal properties date as far back as ancient Egypt. Today, it offers a whole host of benefits:
Delivers Vitamins And Minerals
Aloe vera is often considered to belong to the superfood family along with kale, pomegranate, and blueberries. These foods earn the name "super" because of their ability to fight infection and heal cell damage.[2]
Aloe vera contains many minerals including calcium, chromium, copper, selenium, magnesium, manganese, potassium, sodium, and zinc. It's also a ready source of vitamins A, C, and E—all of which are powerful antioxidants—and of B-12, folic acid, and choline.
Helps Hydrate The Body
Aloe has a similar vitamin and mineral profile to most common sports drinks, so it's a good way to rehydrate after a tough workout. True aloe vera has a taste that is tangy and tart, so read your aloe juice labels since some manufacturers try to hide the tart taste with excessive sugar.
Note that the plant's nutritive post-workout value is found in the gel alone. Since the latex can have a laxative effect, aloe-juice-based drinks can deplete the body of electrolytes.
Soothes The Gastrointestinal Tract
Data suggests that aloe vera could be used to calm heart burn and indigestion symptoms.[3]
Moisturizes The Skin
Aloe vera is also widely used in cosmetics. A 2014 clinical study highlighted the gel's hydrating effects when applied to the skin.[4] Many anti-aging and skin-brightening creams use aloe vera in their ingredient list because of its ability to stimulate collagen and elastin, which help maintain skin resilience.[5] The combination of hydration and skin-tightening properties make aloe vera ideal for skin-care routines.
Keeps Hair Strong And Healthy
Due to aloe's rich vitamin composition, it has become a standard ingredient for many hair-care products. Deficiency in vitamin B-12 and folic acid can cause hair to become brittle and prone to falling out. Regular use of aloe vera-based shampoos can help keep hair strong and healthy.
Since B-12 and folic acid are more abundant in animal products, aloe vera dietary products may help people who follow a vegan or vegetarian diet maintain good hair health.
The vitamins A, C, and E in aloe can help keep hair shiny and smooth. And its benefits to the skin can decrease scalp irritations and relieve dandruff and dry scalp to help hair to grow faster and fuller.[6]
The Best Diet May Be No Diet At All
A 10-year study of almost 5,000 young adults found that those
who managed weight the best didn't diet at all. Find out what
helped them keep the weight off, and what made them put it on.
March 27, 2018 • 1 min read
For the past decade, a team of Finnish researchers has been following the weight-maintenance habits of more than 4,500 people in their mid-20s.[1] They found that, on average, about a quarter of the young men and women enrolled in the study maintained their weight over the 10 years. A far smaller percentage (3.8 percent of the men, 7.5 of the women) actually lost weight. Those who lost or maintained their body weight shared two things in common: they didn't miss meals and they had no history of dieting.
Conversely, the most common factors associated with weight gain among the women were having two or more children, consuming sugary drinks, skipping meals, a history of dieting, and not being satisfied with their life. The young men who gained weight also skipped meals and had a history of dieting, as well as a history of smoking.
How To Eat Healthfully Without Dieting
One increasingly popular alternative to normal dieting is a "flexible dieting" approach called "if it fits your macros," aka IIFYM. The idea behind this approach is to eat foods that help you meet your daily nutritional goals, but in a wide variety of ways so that your foods aren't heavily restricted and you don't feel like you're on a diet.
If eating meals regularly is a challenge for you, it may help to understand what's known as your food personality. Are you a "casual easy-goer," an "insatiable eater," or a "professional grazer" type? The more you know about how you tend to eat, the better you can match your daily meals with your food personality, and still consume the calories and nutrition you need
