His chiseled physique also led him to a career in modeling, and you’ve probably seen his muscled body inMen’s Health or V Magazine.

Now, Okafor uses his knowledge of fitness and boxing with celebrity (and regular) clients at Peak Performancepersonal-training studio in the Flatiron, where he may have you switch from squats and lunges to jab and upper-cut combos.

Hey -
Didn’t know if Ingo saw this hit today – just in case not – voila…

Nice press!

http://www.wellandgoodnyc.com/2013/06/18/5-professional-fighters-turned-fitness-trainers/

From wellandgood.com

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Wanetta Gibson (pictured) was ordered by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Friday to pay a $1.5 million, plus an additional $1.1 million in fees. Gibson was an acquaintance of Brian Banks at Long Beach Polytechnic High School when she accused him of raping her in a school stairwell. Gibson then sued the Long Beach Unified School District, claiming the school was not safe; she won a $750,000 settlement.

Gibson’s false accusation sent Banks to prison for five years, stripping him of his football scholarship to the University of Southern California. After Banks was released from prison, Gibson sent him a Facebook message saying “Let’s let bygones be bygones.” Thinking the message was odd, Banks worked with a private investigator to set up a meeting with Gibson. It was during their meeting where she admitted, on hidden camera, that she lied about the rape.

With the help of California’s Innocence Project, a judge overturned Banks’ conviction on May 24, 2012.

Since then, Banks had been on a mission to play in the NFL. He tried out for a number of teams, but did not make the cut. However, NFL coaches told him to keep trying. He eventually spent some time with the Las Vegas Locos of the United Football League, until the Atlanta Falcons signed him this spring.

For five days straight, ELLE editor Justine Harman puts herself  at the mercy of professional fitness concierge service, SIN Workouts, to  experience the lifestyle of the rich and flawless.

Day 3: TKO with Ngo

After yesterday’s double workout I wake up not exactly in pain but feeling an  allover tightness, like I could already be one size smaller. (Is that even  possible?)

One of the things I mentioned in my initial consultation with my  fitness concierge, S.I.N.’s Vanessa Martin—the woman who is cheerfully leading  me into new circles of hell this week—is that I like to box. Growing up watching fights on TV with my dad,  a former welterweight fighter, I learned to love the rhythmic sounds of pad work  and the squeak of high tops on canvas.

And, as  I’ve found out through dozens of group classes at Gotham Gym in the West  Village, there’s nothing quite like the satisfaction of connecting a solid jab.  As it turns out, one of the benefits to having a Vanessa of my very own is that  she has unrivaled access to the best facilities in the city—including some, like Peak  Performance, that are usually only open to clients who buy pricey personal  training packages. “There’s no other training facility that even scratches  the surface of what Peak offers,” she says. “The staff is completely comprised  of career trainers—no actors looking for part time gigs to make money.” Plus,  Vanessa is friends with the manager. “I know she will personally take care of my  clients when I’m not there.” I’m beginning to get the hang of this V.I.P thing:  Basically, all I have to do is show up and sweat.

Peak, a 10,000 square foot loft space in Chelsea, looks exactly the way I imagine the Miami Heat’s training room would: spacious, full of high-tech machinery including vibrating Power Plate platforms and speed-enhancing Woodway Force treadmills. It’s also equipped with private bathrooms the size of my apartment. This time around, Vanessa will not be working out by my side, though she does meet me upon arrival to quickly introduce me to my trainer, Ngo, then vanishes behind mammoth steel elevator doors.

The hulking and handsome Ngo escorts me into a private studio, wraps my  hands, and asks me what kind of music I like. For the next hour, to the sounds  of Drake, Kanye, and Hova, we alternate between gym class calisthenics (squats,  lunges, push-ups, and burpies) and increasingly difficult boxing combinations.  At one point, when I think I’ve completely maxed out, Ngo makes me punch him  backwards, across the room and into a corner. The blood is ferociously pumping  in my ears and my shoulders are so tired I think they might collapse; but every  time I connect with his pads, a hint of a smile betrays Ngo’s steely stare. As  we stretch afterwards on parallel mats, I ask him about the Peak clientele. He  explains that it’s a mix of professional athletes, stay-at-home hotties, and  actors. As if on cue, Kyle MacLachlan strolls by in a baby-blue  bandana.

After a hot shower and another round of Malin + Goetz goodies (those guys have the specialty fitness  market on lock), I treat myself to lunch (a protein shake at Peak’s well-stocked  juice bar) and check my email. Like clockwork, a note from Vanessa pops up:  “How was Peak? Feeling good? See you tomorrow at Uplift Studios for the 9:30  a.m. class.” Here we go again.

Written by Justine Harman for Elle Magazine

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http://www.elle.com/_mobile/news/beauty-makeup/sin-workouts-peak-boxing

Ngo okafor Black male model abs

Break a sweat, beat the blues. Physical activity fights off depression, finds new research from Belgium.

In a study at Ghent University, the longer participants sat around doing nothing, the more their moods tended to become negative and self-judgmental. Why? Because during periods of rest, people spend more time thinking (and analyzing) themselves, which is a recipe for depression flare-ups, says study coauthor Igor Marchetti.

But exercise may fend off depression by balancing the transfer of hormones between the endocrine and nervous systems, Marchetti says. “Additionally, studies have found regular physical activity seems to improve self-esteem, self-confidence, and mood—all conditions that are protective factors for depression.”

And it doesn’t take much time to see the effects. In a study at the University of Texas, 28 percent of depressed people who worked out on a treadmill or stationary bike for 30 to 45 minutes, 3 to 4 times a week eliminated their symptoms. When another group exercised 2 to 3 times a week for just 20 to 30 minutes, 16 percent saw symptoms disappear.

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From Menshealth.com

Gluten Free is Not Calorie Free

I see several people, proudly posting pictures of massive portions of food and dessert on Instagram. There’s a general misconception that it’s fine to consume larger portions of food because it’s Gluten free. When it comes down to it, in order to lose weight on any diet, one must technically consume less calories than expended in order to have a deficit.

If a person is following a gluten-free diet, make sure that portion sizes are still accountable and a balance is found in all the food groups such as gluten-free grains/starches (potatoes, yams, rice, quinoa, etc.), vegetables, proteins, fats, fruits, milk/dairy. Also, make sure to read the labels on gluten-free packages because a brownie is still a brownie. Even if the brownie is gluten-free, it still has calories, fat, and sugar. One should still be aware of portion sizes and frequency with packaged goods.

Going gluten-free does not guarantee that your diet will be either healthy or lower in calories. It just means you’re avoiding foods with gluten, a protein found in wheat. There is nothing magical about gluten-free for weight loss. Your body still does the age-old calorie math of “Calories In (food) vs. Calories Out (exercise and metabolism)”. Too many Calories In means weight gain. When Calories In equals Calories Out, you just stay the same weight. Even when the calories are from gluten-free foods.

If you’re gaining weight, you’re eating more calories than you need. A gluten-free diet that’s full of gluten-free cookies, gluten-free cakes, gluten-free snack foods and bars is easily going to be high calorie. Soda pop, candy and ice cream are technically gluten-free, but they’re still high calorie.

The best way to lose weight is to stick to simple, unprocessed foods: vegetables, fruits and non-wheat whole grains like rice or quinoa, lean meats and dairy products. This is always good advice, whether or not you’re eating gluten-free. A diet of gluten-free junk food is not going to help you lose weight.

It’s a surprising statistic, but a study found that 81% of people suffering from celiac disease (gluten intolerance) who followed a gluten-free diet gained weight. That’s because there is a common misconception that anything labeled “gluten-free” must be good for you.

Many processed gluten-free foods and gluten-free junk foods not only contain almost twice the calories as their traditional counterparts, but they can also be double the price. In addition, processed gluten-free foods are lower in fiber, so you won’t stay full as long, and many people who follow a gluten-free diet are missing out on the benefits of good carbohydrates like brown rice, fruits or beans, which all help to regulate blood sugar.

Armed with this information, go forth with an awareness that GLUTEN FREE IS NOT CALORIE FREE!!!!

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From sharecare.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New York, New York- May 23rd 2013 –The most downloaded black male model, Ngo Okafor, paid a visit to the set of Arise Entertainment 360 where he hung out with anchors, Lola Ogunnaike and Shannon .

In this exciting segment, Ngo talks about his life in boxing, winning back-to-back Golden Gloves and his upcoming film, “True Story”, with Jonah Hill and James Franco, produced by Brad Pitt. Ngo goes on to show Lola and Shannon how kick ass and stay in shape through boxing.

Check out the video right here and stay tuned for more!!!

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NGO OKAFOR STARS OPPOSITE JONAH HILL AND JAMES FRANCO IN “TRUE STORY”, PRODUCED BY BRAD PITT

New York, New York, May 13th, 2013—The star meter for the most downloaded black male model,  Ngo Okafor, continues to skyrocket. Okafor’s body of work as an actor is stacking up at a furious pace. Ngo has just wrapped shooting his part in the feature film, “True Story”, opposite Hollywood heavy hitters Jonah Hill and James Franco. “True Story” is produced by Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment. Ngo Okafor plays the part of Ibrahim, an Ibo (Nigerian language) translator, in the film.

“True Story,” an adaptation of New York Times journalist Michael Finkel’s 2006 memoir of the same name, chronicles Finkel’s discovery that his identity had been stolen by Christian Longo, a fugitive who was placed on the FBI’s Most Wanted list after murdering his family and fleeing to Mexico. Hill is portraying Finkel on screen, with James Franco playing the role of Longo.

Mr. Finkel was banished as a contributing writer for The New York Times in early 2002 for faking much of a magazine cover storyabout the travails of a young African plantation worker, who turned out to be a composite. Seeking redemption, he quickly struck up what proved to be a mutually exploitive relationship — mixing friendship, journalism and some bizarre exploration of shared reality — with one Christian Longo.

Mr. Longo had just murdered his wife and three children in Oregon. And then, improbably, Mr. Longo assumed Mr. Finkel’s identity as he went on the lam outside the United States.

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Black male model Ngo Okafor medicine ball abs

Push your muscles harder: Using heavier weights, in reducing the amount rest between sets,  may help you blast more fat, according to new research in the Journal of Translational Medicine.

In the study, scientists had two groups of trained lifters do different workouts. One group performed four sets of 8 to 12 reps of these 8 exercises: 1. Bench press 2. Machine row 3. Military press 4. Biceps curl 5. Triceps extension 6. Leg press 7. Leg curl 8. Situp

They did the exercises in straight sets—a traditional method—completing all four sets of the first exercise before moving on to the next. They rested for 2 minutes after each set of the compound exercises, but just 1 minute after the biceps curl, triceps extension, leg curl, and situp. They lifted to failure in each set.

The second group of men used used a “rest-pause” technique and did just three exercises: 1. Leg press 2. Bench press 3. Machine row

For each exercise, they chose the heaviest weight they could lift six times. (Their six-rep max.) Then they performed six reps. As soon as they were done, they rested 20 seconds, and using the same weight, immediately did as many reps as they could—usually two to three more. Then they rested another 20 seconds, and did as many reps as they could again. After the third series, they rested for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. That counted as one total set. They did three of these sets of the leg press, and then did two sets of the bench press followed by two sets of the machine row.

This created a workout that used heavy weights to “induce mechanical effects on the muscles,” while the short 20-second recovery periods gave it an effect “comparable to high intensity endurance training,” say the study authors. (Note: The rest-pause technique has been around for years, but hasn’t been studied for its benefits as a potential fat-loss protocol.)

Twenty-two hours later, the rest-pause group had a resting metabolism that was 452 calories higher than it was before their workout; the other group saw an increase of just 98 calories. This is despite the fact that the rest-pause lifters exercised for just half the time as the conventional lifters.

The reason: When your muscles work harder, they have to do more post-workout rebuilding. That burns calories and lifts levels of metabolism-boosting hormones, says study author Antonio Paoli, M.D., of the Università degli Studi di Padova in Italy.

One caveat: The researchers didn’t measure energy expenditure during the workouts. And given that the traditional-lifting group did a significantly higher volume of work, it’s likely they burned a greater number of calories in their actual training session than did the rest-pause group.

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From Menshealth.com

This is where hotel workouts come into play: you can use items found in your hotel room as props to help you work out and maintain your  physique while out of town. The key to an effective hotel workout is finding  creative ways to challenge the muscles, all while using your own body weight or  props. For the cardioportion of your hotel workout, options include  stepping up and down on a chair or bench, running stairs located in the hotel,  skipping (outside if you’re not on the bottom floor), or simply going for a  run. For strength training, you’re going to need to put a spin on  traditional exercises to create your hotel workout. Here are some  useful ways to get an effective hotel workout.

Props

To complete your hotel workout, you can use the following  props:

• 2 2-liter bottles of water obtained at a nearby grocery or convenience  store
• 2 chairs found in your room

The objective of your hotel  workout is to move through the following exercises as quickly as possible.

Body weight squats with wall squats

Start your hotel workout by holding  one of the water bottles directly out in front of you with your feet  shoulder-width apart. Begin to squat down, keeping your toes pointed  forward and going as low as possible. Complete a total of 30-50 reps, depending  on your fitness level. Then, stand with your back against a wall and  move down into the squat position so that your knees are at a 90-degree  angle. Hold this position for 20-30 seconds.

Push-up sequence

To add more difficulty to regular push-ups, place your  feet on top of the bed while keeping your hands on the floor. Your body should  be on a flat decline. From there, perform push-ups as usual.   Once you’re finished doing 15-20 reps, turn your body while lifting one hand off  the floor so that you are sideways with one arm fully supporting your body.  Maintain this position for 20 seconds. After you’re finished, repeat  the push-ups, only this time place your hands in a triangular position.   Repeat once more on the other side, holding the sideways position to complete  this sequence.

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From Askmen.com

“His bone was sticking out of his shin,” said Richard Pitino, Florida International’s head coach and former U of L assistant who recruited Ware for the Cards and was sitting about 25 feet from where injury happened. “I’m only 30, but I’ve never seen something like that.

Another reason to nix your nicotine fix: Fractured bones take roughly 6 weeks longer to heal in smokers than in nonsmokers, says research presented at the 2013 American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons’ Annual Meeting in Chicago.

Something in a cigarette’s makeup—whether it’s nicotine or tobacco smoke—is directly toxic to cells all over your body, says study author Jaimo Ahn, M.D., an assistant professor at Penn Medicine. So when you smoke, the cells that heal your bones and repair your immune system are altered, Dr. Ahn says.

“We also know that tobacco and smoking negatively affect your blood vessels,” says Dr. Ahn. And since fractures and broken bones require a good blood supply to heal properly, it’s possible that this connection could be responsible for the extended recovery period, he says.

Need help quitting? Lace up your sneakers and hit the pavement. A 2012 study in Addiction found that people who exercise when they crave cigarettes are more likely to overcome the urge to smoke. The researchers say breaking a sweat may lift your mood and boost your feelings of self-control, thereby reducing your impulsiveness.

Another reason to nix your nicotine fix: Fractured bones take roughly 6 weeks longer to heal in smokers than in nonsmokers, says research presented at the 2013 American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons’ Annual Meeting in Chicago.

Something in a cigarette’s makeup—whether it’s nicotine or tobacco smoke—is directly toxic to cells all over your body, says study author Jaimo Ahn, M.D., an assistant professor at Penn Medicine. So when you smoke, the cells that heal your bones and repair your immune system are altered, Dr. Ahn says.

“We also know that tobacco and smoking negatively affect your blood vessels,” says Dr. Ahn. And since fractures and broken bones require a good blood supply to heal properly, it’s possible that this connection could be responsible for the extended recovery period, he says.

Need help quitting? Lace up your sneakers and hit the pavement. A 2012 study in Addiction found that people who exercise when they crave cigarettes are more likely to overcome the urge to smoke. The researchers say breaking a sweat may lift your mood and boost your feelings of self-control, thereby reducing your impulsiveness.

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From Menshealth.com

Some 97% of nearly 3,500 kids meals analyzed don’t meet basic nutritional standards, the Center for Science in the Public Interest said in its report “Kids’ Meals: Obesity on the Menu.”

What’s more, 91% don’t meet the National Restaurant Association’s own nutritional guidelines for its Kids LiveWell program, a voluntary program for restaurant owners, according to the report.

“Given that 1 out of 3 American children are overweight or obese, it’s pretty stunning that the top chain restaurants are still serving up the same old fried chicken nuggets, burgers, macaroni and cheese, fries and soda,” said Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the CSPI and lead author of the report.

The worst offender: Applebee’s grilled cheese sandwich on sourdough bread with fries and 2% chocolate milk. The meal came in at a whopping 1,200 calories and 21 grams of saturated fat.

That’s followed by Chili’s pepperoni pizza meal with homestyle fries and chocolate milk, which packs 1,120 calories, and Dairy Queen’s fried chicken strip meal with fries, a slushy drink and an ice cream bar, with 1,030 calories.

The CSPI nutritional standard was no more than 430 calories per meal, while the Kids LiveWell standard is 600 calories. Standards for both groups included no more than 770 milligrams of sodium per meal.

Nineteen restaurant chains offering kids meals, or 56%, fail to offer any meals meeting CSPI’s standards, the report says, and nine do not have one meal meeting the Kids LiveWell standards.

“It’s as if the restaurant industry hasn’t heard there is an obesity epidemic,” Wootan said.

In response to the report, Applebee’s and Chili’s pointed out that while one meal may have been singled out, they do offer healthy options for children.

“Although this report focuses on one sandwich from our children’s menu, the full Applebee’s children’s menu provides many options that are significantly lower in calories, fat and sodium” and meet the Kids LiveWell standards, said spokesman Kevin Mortesen. The chain’s grilled chicken sandwich meal for kids, with steamed broccoli and apple or grape juice, totals only 355 calories, he said.

“We know Applebee’s best serves our guests by providing a wide selection of dishes, and we’ll continue to do so by expanding the number of options for kids by the end of this year.”

Chili’s says it offers a number of lower-calorie, lower-sodium and low-fat options on both its adult and Pepper Pals child menus, and that guests may customize and modify their orders — substituting side items, for instance.

“We do our part on our Pepper Pals menu to meet these requirements (for a well-balanced meal) by offering choices, including grilled chicken, salad with low-fat ranch dressing, fresh pineapples, steamed broccoli and celery sticks,” the company said in a statement.

Chili’s was an “inaugural partner” of the National Restaurant Association’s Kids LiveWell program, according to the statement, and “continues to support this organization which empowers parents to make informed decisions about their children’s meals as part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle.”

The National Restaurant Association, meanwhile, touted the program. Joy Dubost, the association’s director of nutrition and healthy living, called Kids LiveWell “a first-of-its-kind, voluntary initiative that helps parents and children select healthful menu options when dining out at nearly 40,000 locations nationwide.

“The program, now with more than 120 restaurant brands, has achieved significant momentum in just 18 short months … participating restaurants offer and promote healthful meals for children,” Dubost said.

Dairy Queen did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment on the report.

The Center for Consumer Freedom issued a statement criticizing the report, saying childhood obesity “is a result of a myriad of factors, not just restaurant offerings. Regulating kids menus to only offer quinoa salads isn’t going to make any any measurable weight difference in America’s youth.”

“Instead of finger-wagging at restaurants for media attention, CSPI should be promoting walking to school and physical education courses,” said J. Justin Wilson, senior research analyst at the Center for Consumer Freedom. “… It is disingenuous to suggest some sort of French fry prohibition on kids’ menus will be the cure-all to children’s weight problems.”

The CSPI describes itself as a Washington-based nonprofit health advocacy group focusing on nutrition and food safety. Of the kids meals it analyzed, 86% contained more than 430 calories, and 50% have more than 600 calories, the report says. About two-thirds — 66% — exceeded the sodium standard.

The federal government’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans states that children ages 4 to 10 consume between 400 and 670 calories at each meal, depending on their age, gender and physical activity levels.

While some chains offer non-soda and fruit options, “soft drinks and fried potatoes are still more common options on children’s menus,”‘ according to the report. The CSPI recommendations include offering more fruit and vegetable options and making those the default side dishes with every children’s meal.

However, the news isn’t all bad, according to the report. All eight of Subway’s Fresh Fit for Kids meal combinations met CSPI’s nutrition criteria.

The chain also was lauded for not offering sugary drinks as an option with kids meals, instead including low-fat milk or bottled water and apple slices with its child-size subs. However the group recommended that Subway increase the whole-grain content of its breads and continue to lower sodium.

The best Subway option: a kids roast beef sub, apple slices and 1% milk, which comes in at 395 calories.

Other healthy choices: Burger King’s oatmeal, IHOP’s whole wheat blueberry pancakes, Outback Steakhouse’s kids sirloin with apples and grapes, and Olive Garden’s cheese ravioli with broccoli and orange juice.

“Four years ago we found that only 1% of kids meals at the top chain restaurants were healthy, and now 3% are healthy,” Wootan said. “So there is a tiny bit of improvement, but it’s very, very small.”

Sodium rates also have shown improvement, she said. In 2008, only 15% of restaurant meals met the sodium standard; now 35% do.

The bottom line, she said: There’s a lot of work to do.

“In order for parents to feed their children healthfully, restaurants need to help,” Wootan said. The group encourages participation in the Kids LiveWell program, and says restaurants should offer more whole grains and get rid of soda and other sugary drinks.

“We know they can do it, because some are already doing it,” she said.

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From cnn.com

plane finally took off without his security guard, Big Pat, on board, according to the Bermuda Sun. A worker at the airport tells the paper that Big Pat got off the plane and announced he wasn’t getting back on because of some sort of argument with his boss, who reportedly flew back home short one entourage member.

Later that day, TMZ cameras caught Chris bickering with a bowling alley valet in Studio City, Calif., over the cost of having his car parked. While someone in his crew attempts to tamp down the tension, Breezy, who is reportedly worth $22 million, can be heard yelling, “F— ten dollars … We gonna turn this whole thing on out.” The kicker? He was at the bowling alley for a charity event.

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From msn.com

The infant, who is now two and a half, needs no medication for HIV, has a normal life expectancy and is highly unlikely to be infectious to others, doctors believe.

Though medical staff and scientists are unclear why the treatment was effective, the surprise success has raised hopes that the therapy might ultimately help doctors eradicate the virus among newborns.

Doctors did not release the name or sex of the child to protect the patient’s identity, but said the infant was born, and lived, in Mississippi state. Details of the case were unveiled on Sunday at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Atlanta.

Dr Hannah Gay, who cared for the child at the University of Mississippi medical centre, told the Guardian the case amounted to the first “functional cure” of an HIV-infected child. A patient is functionally cured of HIV when standard tests are negative for the virus, but it is likely that a tiny amount remains in their body.

“Now, after at least one year of taking no medicine, this child’s blood remains free of virus even on the most sensitive tests available,” Gay said.

“We expect that this baby has great chances for a long, healthy life. We are certainly hoping that this approach could lead to the same outcome in many other high-risk babies,” she added.

The number of babies born with HIV in developed countries has fallen dramatically with the advent of better drugs and prevention strategies. Typically, women with HIV are given antiretroviral drugs during pregnancy to minimise the amount of virus in their blood. Their newborns go on courses of drugs too, to reduce their risk of infection further. The strategy can stop around 98% of HIV transmission from mother to child.

In the UK and Ireland, around 1,200 children are living with HIV they picked up in the womb, during birth, or while being breastfed. If an infected mother’s placenta is healthy, the virus tends not to cross into the child earlier in pregnancy, but can in labour and delivery.

The problem is far more serious in developing countries. In sub-Saharan Africa, around 387,500 children aged 14 and under were receiving antiretroviral therapy in 2010. Many were born with the infection. Nearly 2 million more children of the same age in the region are in need of the drugs.

In the latest case, the mother was unaware she had HIV until after a standard test came back positive while she was in labour. “She was too near delivery to give even the dose of medicine that we routinely use in labour. So the baby’s risk of infection was significantly higher than we usually see,” said Gay.

Doctors began treating the baby 30 hours after birth. Unusually, they put the child on a course of three antiretroviral drugs, given as liquids through a syringe. The traditional treatment to try to prevent transmission after birth is a course of a single antiretroviral drug. The doctor opted for the more aggressive treatment because the mother had not received any during her pregnancy.

Several days later, blood drawn from the baby before treatment started showed the child was infected, probably shortly before birth. The doctors continued with the drugs and expected the child to take them for life.

However, within a month of starting therapy, the level of HIV in the baby’s blood had fallen so low that routine lab tests failed to detect it.

The mother and baby continued regular clinic visits to the clinic for the next year, but then began to miss appointments, and eventually stopped attending all together. The child had no medication from the age of 18 months, and did not see doctors again until it was nearly two years old.

“We did not see this child at all for a period of about five months,” Gay told the Guardian. “When they did return to care aged 23 months, I fully expected that the baby would have a high viral load.”

When the mother and child arrived back at the clinic, Gay ordered several HIV tests, and expected the virus to have returned to high levels. But she was stunned by the results. “All of the tests came back negative, very much to my surprise,” she said.

The case was so extraordinary, Dr Gay called a colleague, Katherine Luzuriaga, an immunologist at Massachusetts Medical School, who with another scientist, Deborah Persaud at Johns Hopkins Children’s Centre in Baltimore, had far more sensitive blood tests to hand. They checked the baby’s blood and found traces of HIV, but no viruses that were capable of multiplying.

The team believe the child was cured because the treatment was so potent and given swiftly after birth. The drugs stopped the virus from replicating in short-lived, active immune cells, but another effect was crucial. The drugs also blocked the infection of other, long-lived white blood cells, called CD4, which can harbour HIV for years. These CD4 cells behave like hideouts, and can replace HIV that is lost when active immune cells die.

The treatment would not work in older children or adults because the virus will have already infected their CD4 cells.

“Prompt antiviral therapy in newborns that begins within days of exposure may help infants clear the virus and achieve long-term remission without lifelong treatment by preventing such viral hideouts from forming in the first place,” said Dr Persaud. “Our next step is to find out if this is a highly unusual response to very early antiretroviral therapy or something we can actually replicate in other high-risk newborns.”

Children infected with HIV are given antiretroviral drugs with the intent to treat them for life, and Gay warned that anyone who takes the drugs must remain on them.

“It is far too early for anyone to try stopping effective therapy just to see if the virus comes back,” she said.

Until scientists better understand how they cured the child, Gay emphasised that prevention is the most reliable way to stop babies contracting the virus from infected mothers. “Prevention really is the best cure, and we already have proven strategies that can prevent 98% of newborn infections by identifying and treating HIV-positive women,” she said.

Genevieve Edwards, a spokesperson for the Terrence Higgins Trust HIV/Aids charity, said: “This is an interesting case, but I don’t think it has implications for the antenatal screening programme in the UK, because it already takes steps to ensure that 98% to 99% of babies born to HIV-positive mothers are born without HIV.”

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From www.guardian.com

Why is the consumer landscape filled with prices that no one is really  expected to pay? You know, the “original” or “compare to” prices, also known as “MSRPs,” which are typically listed right next to the actual purchase price. If  almost no one pays a list price, isn’t it meaningless?

Not entirely, says Kit  Yarrow, a consumer psychologist and occasional contributor to Time.com. “People really aren’t very good at  calculating the worth of a product or service,” she says. “It might seem like  they should be jaded, but consumers still absolutely, positively rely on list  prices to determine value.”

Marketers love to use the concept of an “original” or “suggested” price as a  way to convince shoppers they’re getting a can’t-pass-up bargain. As a result,  we’re surrounded by initial prices that buyer and seller alike know are  unrealistic and inflated, and yet that somehow serve a purpose—as a point of  comparison, or as a starting point for negotiations. Life would probably be a  lot less frustrating and confusing if fake “full” prices didn’t exist in many  areas, including these:

Health Care Anyone who has ever looked closely at a bill  from a hospital knows that the health care pricing systems in the U.S. are  completely absurd. In Steven Brill’s recent TIME cover story about overinflated  medical bills and why health care in general has become so expensive, many  hospital representatives admitted that the initial prices listed on  bills—decreed by someone or something called the “chargemaster”—are basically  meaningless. “Those are not our real rates,” one hospital spokesperson told  Brill, flatly, when asked about prices listed on a bill. “I’m not sure why you  care.”

The justification for such as system seems to be that it allows hospitals  to use a crazily inflated price as a starting point for negotiations with  insurers—and also for patients who have no insurance. The argument is also made  that hospitals want to be able to charge wealthy foreigners top dollar for  services, with the idea that these easy profits will be used to help provide  subsidized services for the poor.

The sad truth, detailed in the story by Brill, is this:

I quickly found that although every hospital has a chargemaster, officials  treat it as if it were an eccentric uncle living in the attic. Whenever I asked,  they deflected all conversation away from it. They even argued that it is  irrelevant. I soon found that they have good reason to hope that outsiders pay  no attention to the chargemaster or the process that produces it. For there  seems to be no process, no rationale, behind the core document that is the basis  for hundreds of billions of dollars in health care bills.

Cars The new-car purchase is probably the most obvious,  well-established example of how the “sticker price” isn’t a real price. Due to  auto dealership incentives and rebates, leasing and financing deals, and  old-fashioned haggling, virtually no one pays the price listed on a new  vehicle.

Despite the fact that consumers hate that’s it’s a hassle just to get to a final price for a new car, the  system persists because, well, it just always has. Most dealerships apparently  think that it’s still in their best interests to operate this way, though some  admit that the process is designed for idiots.

College For decades, we’ve watched in horror as tuition and fees have soared at public and private colleges  alike. Costs at state schools have increased by 40% or more overnight, while  dozens of private universities have crossed over the $50K-per-year barrier.

At the same time that students and their families are instructed to freak out  due to skyrocketing costs, they’re also told that it’s wise to ignore the  numbers when navigating the college search. Why? Because relatively few students  pay full price.

Studies have shown that thanks mostly to scholarships and financial aid private college students get a 33% discount, on average, off  the full price of tuition. Many of the public and private institutions recently named as “Best Value” colleges made it to the list not  because of low starting prices—but because the widespread availability of  discounts brings costs down. Many students get 40% or 50% off the college list  price, once grants, scholarships, and aid are factored in.

Retail Think about how many easy ways shoppers can “save” on everyday purchases—store reward programs, online coupon codes, and  old-fashioned weekly sales to name three. It seems as if every price tag must  point out a “Compare to” or “Original” price to demonstrate the discount being  offered, and every receipt must proudly tell the customer “How Much You  Saved.”

First off, this has been pointed out by loads of personal finance wonks, but  it bears repeating once more: When you’re spending money, you’re not saving  money. That goes even when something is “on sale.”

Secondly, the ubiquity of markdowns and discounts via sales, loyalty  programs, and such has brought to light something of an existential  bargain-shopper conundrum: When everything is always “on sale,” what exactly is  a sale? Do the terms “full price,” “original price,” “compare-to price,” and “manufacturer’s suggested retail price” mean much of anything? Do they have any  relationship to genuinely good prices?

About a year ago, JCPenney CEO Ron Johnson came clean about how the store’s original prices were fake prices cooked up mainly to make  the inevitable markdowns seem more impressive and tempting to shoppers. The  strategy is known as “price anchoring,” and it’s standard practice at most  stores. Johnson said that perhaps 1% of all JCPenney merchandise was sold at  full price—the rest was bought “on sale.” The plan was to replace fake prices  with a new, “fair and square” system that got rid of pricing games  involving coupons and sales.

While the new system sounded great to many consumer advocates, it proved to  be a failure with shoppers, and JCP scrapped the idea. The result is shoppers should expect “sales”—and artificially inflated “original” or “suggested retail” prices—to  keep appearing at JCPenney and the majority of stores out there.

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Ngo Okafor

The most downloaded black male  model

From Time.com

Black male model Ngo Okafor medicine ball abs

Good Morning All!!! It’s Monday, a brand new day, a brand new week, a brand new opportunity to do something great. Recently, I shot with a new photographer and have posted quite a few of the pics in the photo gallery of my website. Click on the link http://www.getingo.com/ngo-gallery/, then scroll down to to check them out.

Let me know what you think.

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Ngo Okafor

The most downloaded black male model photo gallery and blog

www.getingo.com

This is a excerpt from his acceptance speech at The Academy Awards …because of so many of you who are here tonight, because of this Academy, because of so many wonderful people who extended themselves to me when they had nothing to benefit from it in Hollywood. You know what I mean, I couldn’t get them a job.

I want to thank them and I want to thank what they taught me, which is that you have to work harder than you think you possibly can. You can’t hold grudges. It’s hard but you can’t hold grudges. And it doesn’t matter how you get knocked down in life because that’s going to happen. All that matters is you gotta get up.

This rings true for everything in life. Allow yourself to dream, work hard and it will come true.

Posted by

Ngo Okafor

The most downloaded black male model photo gallery and blog

www.getingo.com

Posted by

Ngo Okafor

The most downloaded black male model photo gallery and blog

www.getingo.com

African model mother picture painting

Happy Monday!!! It’s the first day of the week and I hope that we are all ready to grab the bull by the horns today. Speaking of grabbing the bull by the horns, I found an extremely well written article and wanted to share it with all of you. This article speaks to understanding and taking control of our lives. Read more…

By China Okasi, Special to CNN

Editor’s note: China Okasi, an entrepreneur and frequent commentator on various TV networks, is the founder of the Daily Mocha and executive director of Women of Media.

Moms everywhere like to ask their unmarried daughters dreaded questions like: Why are you still single? Are you married yet? Anyone catch your eye? Especially around Valentine’s Day.

Sure, we’ve seen Carrie Bradshaw agonize over the issue, watched Bridget Jones’ awkwardness around it, heard Amelie’s lamentations au Francais, and we’ve even heard from the lovable Mindy Kaling vis-a-vis her Indian-American perspective. But, we haven’t heard the modern African woman’s story.

Being an unmarried African woman in her childbearing years is like being a manicurist with a hand tremor: very odd and rather tricky. She is expected to marry early and marry well.

African mothers, then, are in a deep crisis. They immigrated to the United States with the hopes that their daughters would get a good education and fulfill the American Dream. But they never considered that, along with having all that modernity, their daughters would, like the rest of America’s young, empowered women, be so “late” in marriage.

Granted, African moms are not alone in their hopes. But still, some of them seem particularly affected. What shall they do?

And she has likely spent a fair amount of time in London via Lagos, a common lifestyle practice for those of formerly colonized African countries. If she has lived down South, say in Texas, for some time, she has likely acquired a George Bush twang for survival sake. If she has taken up a neuroscience residency in Boston (which, of course, she must, if she is African), she might now sound like Matt Damon’s sister. And the minute she wins an accolade in some not-so-diverse department (which, of course, she must, being African), she’ll be labeled the “first African-American” to have done so.

In short, she is global. If she is living in a melting pot like New York, she is global on steroids. Naturally, global girls outgrow such local traditions as arranged marriages, dowry and bride price, which have not been exclusive to African tradition (see the English period drama, “Downton Abbey”) but have certainly lingered longer in homes of African descent.

African moms need to accept that globalism has allowed their daughters to know the world better, and as a result, seek partnerships more wisely. This process of self-determination takes a tad longer to form than setting up an arranged marriage.

Thankfully, my mom, educated in America, a New Yorker and rather global, has not been as insistent on marriage with me. But it seems like only yesterday her older sister, my aunt, warned about the dangers of waiting too long, or being too educated, to be married.

Really, if you’ve watched Maggie Smith’s blunt character, Lady Violet Crawley, in “Downton Abbey,” you have watched my aunt. Despite being an accomplished woman who acquired a Ph.D. later in life, she praised my graceful exit from my doctoral program. I’d just turned 21 when I’d chosen a rather eccentric doctoral study. In her words: “What man would marry a 20-something-year-old Ph.D.-holder?” It would be too intimidating to men.

“I’d do better to tone it down a bit,” she suggested. Which brings me to my second plea to African moms. If you want your daughter to be as happy or happier than you have been in marriage, it makes no sense that she should dumb down the colorfulness of her character, the boldness of her spirit and the fire that made her the “first African-American” this or that in order to appease those who are potentially intimidated by her.

If you’d never match a conservative Christian with a flagrant porn star, it’s not clear why today’s educated woman should edit herself in hopes of attracting a feeble idiot. Yes, she’d be married, but then she’d live only to repress herself for someone else’s ego — and what kind of message would that be for the children?

You see, dear African moms, global girls need global boys. Not intimidated ones.

We can sit and try to make sense of why one kind of match would work or not work for a global girl, but we must concede that love is messy and unpredictable. Love is not like your daughter’s medical career with a blueprint to follow, or like a GPS map that can calculate the distance between Addis and Accra.

Yesterday’s woman wanted marriage. Today’s woman wants love — and marriage, if it turns out that way. Olivia Pope’s character in the TV series “Scandal” spoke quite unapologetically for today’s woman when she said: “I could probably give all this up, and live in a country house and have babies and be normal. I could. But I don’t want to. I’m not built for it. I don’t want normal and easy…and simple. I want…painful, difficult…devastating…life-changing…extraordinary love.”

Extraordinary love? Sometimes, dear African moms, that process is just a little more complicated than marrying your cousin like in the 18th century. So, you’ll just have to be patient.

Posted by

Ngo Okafor

The most downloaded black male model photo gallery and blog

www.getingo.com

From CNN.com

Black male model Ngo Okafor 2013

I have a video and photo shoot today for a new exercise product, which will hit the market soon. We are negotiating terms for me to become the face of the product on TV and other media. I’ve been preparing for the shoot for a few days. I’ve stepped up my ab and cardio regimens for the past few days in order to guarantee that I’m at my leanest at the time of the shoot. I have also cut back on my carbohydrate intake. I feel ready. I will post pictures from the shoot once I get to the set. Stay tuned.

Many male and female models do severe water restriction in order to achieve maximum leanness. Many even take ‘water pills’ or diuretics. I don’t like severe water restriction , because being extremely dehydrated causes me to cramp up. I have never used ‘water pills’ or diuretics either. I choose to train harder. This is why I went out for a 4 mile run last night, a little after midnight.

Weight loss is a highly controversial use of water pills. Water is heavy and can contribute to a puffy or overweight appearance, so removing excess water is one way to shed pounds and look a little trimmer. Celebrities often use techniques to shed water weight before photo shoots and other events for this reason.

Using diuretics in this way is problematic for multiple reasons. They can create electrolyte imbalances because of how they affect sodium and potassium levels, which can cause problems such as muscle cramps and irregular heartbeat. Problems such as dizziness and fainting can happen if dehydration and a drop in blood pressure are too extreme. Lastly, the body naturally will try to replenish its supply of water once diuretic use ends, so weight loss under this method is not sustainable.

Psychologists and psychiatrists are especially concerned about the use of both water pills and laxatives in cases of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Even though these medications are not meant to be taken for an extremely long time even in cases of medical necessity, individuals suffering from these conditions use them over extended periods to keep weight as low as possible. Stopping the use often means working through intense mental and behavioral issues such as distorted body image.

Stay safe and continue to work hard!!

By

Ngo Okafor

The most downloaded black male model photo gallery and blog

www.getingo.com

Ngo Okafor photo shoot at Peak Performance

Early on in my career as a model and actor, I had a reputation for being late. Part of it was cultural (in African culture, extreme lateness is accepted), but most of it was just poor time management. I’m never late now though!!!! Getting ready for work may take a few minutes for some or a few hours for others. No matter how long it takes you to head out the door, there may be some days when it seems as though the clock’s against you. According to a new CareerBuilder study, 26 percent of workers admit to being tardy at least once a month, and 16 percent are late once a week or more.

“Employers understand that every now and again circumstances will arise that are out of a worker’s control and, unfortunately, cause a late arrival to work,” says Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder. “It escalates to a problem when the behavior becomes repetitive, causing employers to take disciplinary action. More than one-third of hiring managers reported they had to fire someone for being late.”

Excuses, excuses
Hiring managers shared some of the most memorable excuses they’ve heard from employees who were late getting to the office. While 31 percent of workers pointed to traffic as the most common cause for tardiness, some answers were more memorable than a bad commute:

• Employee dropped her purse into a coin-operated newspaper box and couldn’t retrieve it without change — which was in the purse.

• Employee accidentally left the apartment with his roommate’s girlfriend’s shoes on and had to go back to change.

• Employee’s angry wife had frozen his truck keys in a glass of water in the freezer.

• Employee got a late start because she was putting a raincoat on her concrete duck in her front yard, because rain was expected later that day.

• Employee’s car wouldn’t start because the device measuring blood-alcohol level showed he was intoxicated.

• Employee attempted to cut his own hair before work and the clippers stopped working, so he had to wait until the barber shop opened to fix his hair.

• Employee’s car was attacked by a bear. (Employee had photographic evidence.)

• Employee drove to her previous employer by mistake.

• Employee claimed to have delivered a stranger’s baby on the side of the highway.

Avoiding a late arrival

The key to being punctual and avoiding your employer’s frustration is to understand your schedule and be prepared. If you have free time in the evening, take advantage of the extra minutes and prepare your meals, clothes and bag or briefcase then. Likewise, if you need daylight to get moving, set the alarm for an earlier wake-up time to avoid rushing and running late. Also check how the weather may affect your commute, and leave ample time to get to the office. These small steps can get you to work on time and save you from trying to come up with a believable story.

Posted by Ngo Okafor

The most downloaded black male model photo gallery and blog

www.getingo.com

From Msn.com