Types of Phobia

True or False:Urinating to Prevent Pregnancy

Going to the bathroom after sex does not lower your chances of getting pregnant.

Even if urine had the ability to kill sperm, peeing wouldn’t have any effect on the sperm that have already entered the vagina, because urine comes out your urethral opening (aka pee hole – which is different from your vaginal opening). It’s a different set of plumbing, basically.

Once the semen goes into the vagina, there’s nothing you can do to get it back out again (douching, showering, jumping up and down, swearing you’ll never have unprotected sex again, etc.). Those li’l guys are in there and they’re not leaving. So at that point, if you’re not already on a form of birth control, you’cd want to consider emergency contraception instead. (Click here to learn more about emergency contraception.)

The only things that actually, in real life, reduce the risk of getting pregnant are:

Keeping sperm way, way, way far away from the vaginal opening. That would involve not having intercourse, and making sure that no semen ends up on the vulva. And preferably no pre-cum either, since there’s a slight chance it could have active sperm in itCorrectly and consistently using a form of effective birth control.  You can use our My Method tool to help you figure out which one might be best for you.  You might even want to consider using a condom plus another form of birth control (like the pyill,  NuvaRing, or an IUD).Using emergency contraception (aka the morning-after pill) within five days of unprotected sex.

Tips for the Health Conscious Traveler

1. Seek out special wellness perks. 

Some hotels offer free yoga classes and workout studios and will rent exercise gear in case you forgot anything at home. 

2. Ask for a jogging map. 

Many concierges can suggest routes for runners that include great views and sightseeing.

3. Research local dining options for salads and smoothies. 

Also check the room-service menu online ahead of time to see if it ­offers healthy options in a pinch. 

4. Ensure the hotel room is spotless.

Don’t be afraid to ask if all the bedding has been changed or to request hypoallergenic pillows. See if the hotel has duvets (rather than comforters) since their covers are easier to clean. The Chamberlain in West Hollywood has premium duvets and bedding in each room.

5. Ask for a room with a standing shower. 

Bathtubs and Jacuzzis are notoriously difficult to clean. 

6. Request a room that is smoke-free and restricts pets.

Avoid dander and lingering allergens. Pet-friendly rooms often have strong chemical odors.

7. Wear socks around the hotel room to protect against germs. 

Never go barefoot.

8. Use antibacterial wipes

on in-room phones, remotes, light switches, faucets, and alarm clocks. 

9. Use the individually wrapped paper or plastic cups

in the room instead of glassware, which might be cleaned only with a rag and can of antibacterial spray.

10. Ask for room upgrades to preferred-guest floors.

These receive the most vigilant housekeeping and are the least noisy. They’re often far from hotel bars and have the best views. 

Aloe Vera Gel and its Many Benefits

USE ALOE VERA FOR THE SKIN
Apply the gel from an aloe vera leaf directly onto skin abrasions, cuts, sunburns, scalds, blisters, cold sores, rashes, and insect bites to help fight bacteria and avoid infection. The gel also has the ability to soothe pain and regenerate skin cells to promote healing with no or little scaring. Apply aloe gel 2-3 times a day to the area/wound until it is healed.

Use aloe vera gel for general skin care. Use the gel alone or along with your favorite skin cream to help better soften and moisturize the skin. Because aloe regenerates skin cells it is also known to reduce wrinkles, eczema, acne, sun/age spots, and other blemishes. It is also gentle enough to use to care for the tender skin after radiation therapy.

The gel taken from the aloe vera plant can also be combined with wheat-germ oil and safflower flower to reduce bruising.

ALOE ON THE SCALP AND HAIR
Applying aloe vera gel to the scalp is a good treatment for dandruff, seborrhea (dermatitis), psoriasis and hair loss that has resulted from these conditions.

Use the gel from an aloe vera plant to substitute your commercial hair gel; rub or comb small amounts through your hair and style as usual.

USE ALOE VERA FOR PERIODONTAL CARE
Apply aloe vera gel directly to damaged or diseased gums to reduce inflammation, pain, and to promote healing. Include aloe gel in dental hygiene regimens to help fight tooth decay and reduce plaque.

ALOE FOR EYE CARE
To create an eyewash, dissolve ½ tsp of powdered aloe gel in one cup of water. To accelerate the healing process add one teaspoon of boric acid. Pour the solution through a coffee filter before applying to the eyes.

ALOE FOR STRAINS AND MUSCLE PAINS
Because the gel of the aloe vera plant is known to absorb quickly into the skin and reduce inflammation and pain, it also works well on sprains, strains, muscle pains and arthritic pain. Apply aloe gel along with a cold compress to the sore area 2-3 times per day.

USE ALOE FOR INTERNAL BENEFITS
Aloe gel is believed to provide relief from stomach disorders, kidney ailments, and headaches, just to name a few of aloe's internal healing benefits.

Using the yellow juice, called latex found just beneath the surface of the leaves can serve as a powerful laxative.

The gel from aloe vera also contains magnesium lactate that serves as an antihistamine, which may help to relieve sinus and chest inflammations caused by allergies.

Because aloe can have a strong laxative affect do not ingest the yellow latex found in the skin of the leaf or be cautious of the amount taken as a laxative. It is best to ingest aloe by gently blending the gel, taken from between the leafs, in a blender with juice or water.

GROW YOUR OWN ALOE VERA PLANT
Using pure aloe vera gel from its plant form is best, as its cellular activity tends to be reduced when mixed with other chemicals.

Growing your own aloe vera plant can be fairly easy as its only requirements are lots of warm sun and little water. It does not like cold temperatures below 40 degrees Fahrenheit or cold, drafty areas. It takes the aloe vera plant about 4 years to reach full maturity of about two feet tall, which is when the gel from an aloe vera leaf holds its greatest benefits. Be sure to transplant it to larger pots as it outgrows it's current one.

How to Make Aloe Vera Juice

Gather everything you will need to make your aloe vera juice. This is important because fresh aloe vera gel oxidizes very quickly once ex[posed to air, which makes it important to immediately extract and process the gel once you harvest the aloe vera leaf.

Harvest one or more leaves from your aloe vera plant. Use the paring knife to trim off the thorny edges of the leaf., and then rinse in cold water.

Split the aloe leaf into two halves. Scoop out the clear, translucent, inner gel from the split leaf.

Put the aloe vera gel into a blender, and add some citrus juice, such as orange or grapefruit. The juice helps to briefly stabilize the exposed aloe vera gel, as well as enhancing the taste. Blend these ingredients for about two minutes.

Pour the aloe vera juice into an airtight container. Refrigerate your homemade aloe Vera juice. It will stay fresh up to a week, but is at it most potent in terms of health benefits, if consumed within two days.

Stir two tablespoons of the blended aloe vera gel in a glass of water to make a glass of aloe vera juice. You can tone down or enhance the flavor by substituting fruit juice for the water.

8 Easy Ways to Kill Bad Habits, According to Research

Summary

Here’s how to get rid of those awful bad habits:

• One at a time. Beat one bad habit per month and in a year you’ll be awesome.
• Don’t stop. Just count. Don’t eliminate the bad behavior just yet. First, be consistent in your awfulness.
• Don’t change you. Change your world. 20 second rule. Make it harder to engage in bad habits.
• Chill, dude. Stress makes the bad stuff tempting. Relax and you’ll behave better.
• Don’t eliminate. Replace. You can’t kill bad habits but you can swap them out for new ones.
• “If” and “Then.” A simple plan for how you’ll beat temptation helps you beat temptation.
• Forgive yourself. Beating yourself up makes you behave worse. Self-compassion keeps you going.

1) Change A Bad Habit. Singular.

At one time we have all felt as if our lives are a constellation of bad habits. You get home from work, you’re exhausted and you go from one “I should not be doing this” to the next.

It’s like you need to change everything. And you need to do it tomorrow… No. Bad. Wrong. Does not compute.

Do less. Just focus on fixing one thing at a time. When I spoke to Power of Habit author Charles Duhigg, he said that’s the key to lasting change. Here’s Charles:

If you try to transform everything at once, it tends to be very, very destabilizing. In general, what people should do, is they should think of change as a project. It’s a project that takes a while… Now, it might feel frustrating to say, “If you have ten habits you want to change, that means it’s going to take eight months or nine months.” The truth of the matter is if this is a behavior that’s really important, changing it will have this huge impact on your life. It’s worth spending a month to change one behavior permanently. You’re going to be reaping the benefits of that for the next decade.

You don’t need to overhaul your life. Just kill one bad habit. Give it a month and then move on to the next.

2) Don’t Stop. Just Count.

Whatever it is you shouldn’t be doing, you don’t have to stop yet. (Doesn’t that sound nice?) Don’t try to reduce the habit, reduce the variability in the habit.

In other words, don’t even try to quit smoking; try to smoke the exact same number of cigarettes each day. Or only check Facebook your usual 90 times an hour.

This tiny effort toward self-control can lead to a decrease in bad habits over time, unconsciously.

Via The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do To Get More of It:

Behavioral economist Howard Rachlin proposes an interesting trick for overcoming the problem of always starting a change tomorrow. When you want to change a behavior, aim to reduce the variability in your behavior, not the behavior itself. He has shown that smokers asked to try to smoke the same number of cigarettes every day gradually decrease their overall smoking— even when they are explicitly told not to try to smoke less.

Just paying attention to those numbers can make a big difference. Merely looking at the calorie counts on food labels before eating was more effective for weight loss than exercise:

Label users who did not exercise displayed a slightly greater likelihood of weight loss than those who exercised but did not read food labels. Additionally, those who only read labels were more likely to improve their chances of weight loss by adding exercise to their routines rather than abandoning label usage in favor of exercise.

You don’t have to deny yourself at first. Just notice the numbers and continue to behave badly — butconsistently.

3) Don’t Change You. Change Your World.

Don’t change yourself. Change your context. We engage in habits because of “triggers” in our environment. Remove the triggers or make them more difficult to reach and you’re less likely to engage in the behavior.

Behavioral economist Dan Ariely he said context affects your behavior much, much more than you think. Here’s Dan:

One of the big lessons from social science in the last 40 years is that environment matters. If you go to a buffet and the buffet is organized in one way, you will eat one thing. If it’s organized in a different way, you’ll eat different things. We think that we make decisions on our own but the environment influences us to a great degree. Because of that we need to think about how to change our environment.

So get the tempting stuff away from you. Bestselling author Shawn Achorrecommends “the 20 second rule.” Make bad habits 20 seconds harder to begin and you’re far less likely to engage in them. Here’s Shawn:

Watching too much television? Merely take out the batteries of the remote control creating a 20 second delay and it dramatically decreases the amount of television people will watch.

You don’t need to change yourself just yet. Change the things around you.

4) Chill, Dude.

What makes you more likely to engage in bad habits? Stress.

UCLA neuroscientist Alex Korb says staying relaxed helps your brain make the right choices. Here’s Alex:

I have a friend who always says, “Stress takes the prefrontal cortex offline.” Stress changes the dynamics of that conversation. It weakens the prefrontal cortex. That part of your brain doesn’t have infinite resources. It can’t be eternally vigilant and so while it’s not paying attention, your striatum is like, “Let’s go eat a cookie. Let’s go drink a beer.” Anything that you can do to reduce stress can help strengthen the prefrontal cortex’s control over your habits.

Don’t pressure yourself. Stay calm and you’ll behave better.

5) Don’t Eliminate Bad Habits. Replace Them.

Ironically, studies show saying, “I’ll never do that again” makes you even more likely to do that again.

Charles Duhigg wrote the book on habits. And he says the research is clear: you can’t eliminate bad habits but you can replace them. Want to stop shoving donuts in your mouth?

When you feel the urge, put some sugarless gum in your piehole. The “trigger” stays the same and you still get a nice reward but you’re replacing the bad behavior with a good one.

Notice what triggers your bad behavior and then replace your usual response with a new one that gives you a different (but still pleasurable) reward.

6) “If” and “Then”

Plans are good. And with a very simple one you can resist temptation. From Nine Things Successful People Do Differently:

It’s called if-then planning, and it is a really powerful way to help you achieve any goal. Well over a hundred studies, on everything from diet and exercise to negotiation and time management, have shown that deciding in advance when and where you will take specific actions to reach your goal (e.g., “If it is 4 p.m., then I will return any phone calls I should return today”) can double or triple your chances for success

7) Forgive Yourself.

You’re going to screw up. And that’s okay. In Richard Wiseman’s study of people who achieved their goals he realized we should:

Expect to revert to your old habits from time to time. Treat any failure as a temporary set-back rather than a reason to give up altogether.

So you say you’re not going to eat cookies. Then you accidentally eat a cookie. That’s not when the diet is blown.

The diet is blown when you eat the one cookie and say, “I give up” — and then devour the rest of the bag.

8. Peer pressure is a good thing — when you use it strategically. Mom wanted you to hang out with the smart kids in school because they provided good examples. Mom was right.

It’s simple, really. Hang out with people who you want to be. Procrastinate a lot? Spend more time with uber-productive friends. Want to get in shape? Hang around those healthy-eating gym addicts.

3 Things You Can Do to Increase Your Chances of Living to 100

1. Follow the MIND diet

This eating plan, which emphasizes consuming healthy grains, vegetables and fish and limiting red meat and sweets, has been shown to lower the risk of Alzheimer’s—a leading cause of death in people over 100, per the CDC findings.

2. Work out harder

A recent study found that middle-aged or older people who do high-intensity exercise that makes them sweat may reduce their risk of dying early by up to 13 percent, compared with those who stick to moderate activity.

3. Find a sense of purpose

Researchers followed 136,000 people in the U.S. and Japan for seven years and learned that those who reported feeling a strong sense of meaning in life had a roughly 20 percent lower risk of death over the course of the study than those who didn’t.

Did You Know

Top Ten benefits of ginger

1. Ovarian cancer treatment
2. Colon cancer prevention
3. Morning sickness relief
4. Motion sickness remedy
5. Reduces pain and inflammation
6. Heartburn relief
7. Prevention of diabetic
nephropathy
8. Migraine relief
9. Menstrual cramp relief
10. Cold and flu prevention

Symptoms of Ovulation

1. Cervical mucus

Cervical mucus, also know as cervical fluid (CF) is a perfectly natural and normal substance that is produced by glands in your cervix which is released into the vagina. It acts as both a barrier and a transport for sperm (depending on the phase in the cycle). It's made of about 93% water, reaching 98% mid cycle, and contains electrolytes, glucose and proteins.

During each cycle your cervical mucus goes through a pattern of changes under the influence of hormones.

• Menstruation: During your period you will not notice any cervical fluid.
• None or Dry: After your period, you may not notice any CF or you may notice a flaky, dry CF.
• Sticky: After these dry days, rising hormone levels cause your cervix to produce a sticky type of CF.
• Creamy: As you enter your fertile window, your hormones rise the water content in CF and it becomes creamy.
• Eggwhite: At peak fertility, your CF should resemble raw egg white in consistency. Using a finger and thumb you should be able to stretch it more than an inch. This is really fertile CF, it provides the best environment for sperm.
• Watery: At ovulation your CF may become more watery and reach its maximum in quantity and then it will start to become sticky again and dry up until your next period.

The best way to check the consistency of cervical mucus is with your fingers, try to stretch your cervical mucus between your finger and thumb. We asked 9,812 women how they check their cervical mucus.

2. Cervix changes

The cervix plays a big role in the female reproductive system. Your cervix connects your vagina to your uterus and acts as a barrier which opens to allow sperm to enter your uterus when you're fertile and stays closed at other times.

You can learn when you're approaching ovulation by identifying the changes your cervix goes through.

We asked 9,823 women who were actively trying to conceive, if they were checking their cervix to learn when they were ovulating. Most said they didn't know how.

Your cervix position, opening and texture changes during the fertile phase of your cycle. These changes can be observed by feeling your cervix. The changes are easy to learn, but should be observed over a few cycles to ensure you are confident in identifying the changes.

Before fertile phase

Before your fertile phase your cervix will feel hard (like the tip of your nose), lower in the vagina, closed and dry (cervical fluid has dried up).

Fertile phase

As you enter your fertile window and approach ovulation your cervix will change. It will feel softer (like your lips), higher, open and wet (due to the presence of cervical fluid). This is known as 'SHOW' (soft, high, open, wet).

After fertile phase

After ovulation the cervix reverts back to its infertile position. You are most fertile when your cervix is in the 'SHOW' state.

3. Basal Body Temperature (BBT)

Your BBT is your lowest temperature at rest, usually when you are sleeping.

Tracking your BBT is one of the best ways to detect if and when you ovulated.

After ovulation, high levels of progesterone will cause your BBT to rise slightly and stay elevated until the end of your cycle (cycle days 15-20 in the events table). This natural fertility sign occurs after ovulation, so whilst you can't use it to help you this cycle, you can use it to help predict when you're fertile in future cycles.

The rise is only about 0.5 degress F to 1.0 degrees F so you need to take your BBT with a digital thermometer that can measure to one tenth of a degree.

View detailed instructions on how to monitor your BBT, or see the overview below.

Starting from the first day of your period take your temperature each morning at the same time, as soon as you wake. It's important to take your temperature before it naturally increases from movements, so it's a good idea to set an alarm and take it before even sitting up in bed.

Take your temperature in your mouth by inserting the tip of the thermometer under your tongue and push it toward the back where the tongue meets the bottom of the mouth. Leave it in there long enough to get an accurate reading.

Do this each day and record the temperatures on a chart (there is one below you can download for free) or add them to your daily log in Ovulation Calculator. You will notice the temperature shifts and it stays higher until the end of your cycle. The shift happens about one to two days after ovulation.

4. Saliva ferning

A ferning pattern of your saliva is another possible sign of when ovulation is about to occur. There are special microscopes for this purpose, but you could technically use a toy microscope. A ferning pattern is a pattern that looks like frost on a windowpane. The ferning pattern appears during the LH surge (cycle days 13-24 in the events table), which occurs about 24-36 hours before ovulation.

5. LH levels in urine

Although not a natural sign of fertility without the aid of a ovulation prediction kit (OPK), this is popular way for women to find out when they are about to ovulate.

There are two types of kit available, those that check urine, and those that check saliva. We have mentioned the saliva type above.

Urine based OPKs look for the LH surge (cycle days 13-14 in the events table). The LH surge happens about 24-36 before ovulation, so they can be a good indicator to when you're fertile.

How to use an OPK correctly

As mentioned, OPKs look for this surge in LH and will show a positive result when this surge is detected. A positive result is expected the day before you are going to ovulate. However, unlike pregnancy tests that are looking for a hormone that is ONLY released AFTER conception, traces of LH are in your urine all the time. For this reason it's important you follow the manufacturer's instructions carefully.

Most OPKs will advise that you do not urinate for at least 4 hours before testing. This is to ensure that the hormone level in your urine is concentrated enough. And you should use the test the same time each day for consistency. Many women find that first thing in the morning is convenient. But check the instructions carefully to see what the manufacture recommends.

You are looking for the first positive result, so you need to begin testing before you expect to be fertile and then test every day until you get the first positive result. This is to ensure you do not miss the surge. If you test too late you may have missed the surge, but not only that, you may not be able to tell if you are about to ovulate or if you have already ovulated as you can have an increase in LH in both cases.

Again, it is important that you begin testing until you get the FIRST positive result. You then know that you should be ovulating in about 24-36 hours.

6. Slight spotting

Some women may experience slight spotting due to a drop of estrogen at the time of ovulation. The drop in estrogen causes the endometrium (uterus lining) to decrease a little, causing slight spotting known as ovulation bleeding. Learn more about spotting due to ovulation.

7. Increased sexual desire

Several studies have found that women experience an increase in sexual desire when they are most fertile, around the time of ovulation.

8. Heightened senses

Hormone levels in a woman's body can influence a heightened sense of smell, taste or vision around ovulation time.

9. Ovulation pain

Some women can experience a sensation and or cramping type pain during ovulation. The pain is felt in the lower abdomen, on one side, being the side of the ovary releasing an egg. This pain is called mittelschmerz, which comes from the German words for "middle" and "pain."

See the image below to see the follicle rupturing and releasing it's egg at ovulation.

10. Abdominal bloating

Another sign of ovulation is slight bloating. You may feel slightly bloated in the abdomen around the time of ovulation. This symptom can be caused by increased water retention due to a rise in the hormone estrogen.

11. Breast tenderness

Some women experience tenderness in their breasts just before or after ovulation. This is related to the hormones in your body, getting ready for ovulation and the potential of pregnancy.

12. Nausea or headaches

Some women feel nauseous or have headaches before ovulation, due to being sensitive to hormone changes.

Conclusion

Knowing when you're most fertile from your ovulation signs can increase your chances of getting pregnant sooner.

With a little bit of practice you'll get to know the pattern of events that happen each cycle and be able to pinpoint when you're ovulating.

The best time to have intercourse is in the three days leading up to, and including ovulation day.