Health Fair July 25

The Health Initiative will host a “Health Fair To Go” on Saturday, July 25 , 12:00--4:00 p.m.,at our office on 1530 Dekalb Avenue, Suite A, Atlanta, GA 30307, next door to the Radial café. Get FREE health screenings, including your BMI, glucose levels, cholesterol, breast health, and HIV. Check your blood pressure, find out about some of our free and low-cost service providers, and receive a 10% discount at the Radial Café! Knowledge is power when it comes to your health.

Put on Your Walking Shoes

The Health Initiative and the women of our community have benefited greatly from the support of It’s the Journey, Inc., who have raised over $5.5 millions over the past 6 years with the Atlanta 2-Day Walk for Breast Cancer. Through grants for the Health Initiative’s Carpe Boobem program, ITJ has helped us reach thousands of Atlanta lesbians with messages about breast health and education about the importance of screening and breast exams.

This year’s walk will be held on OCTOBER 3RD &4TH, 2009. Every year, members of our community form teams to raise money and walk the two-day or the Sunday walk. If you are organizing a walking team, please let us know. We’ll advertise your efforts, helping you recruit team members and/or raise money! For more information about the 2-day Walk, visit www.itsthejourney.org.

We are also recruiting team members for our Health Initiative volunteer team. Day Volunteers help the office staff with 2-Day projects, and also volunteers at any events we are doing outside of the office (like our 2-Day Expo, Festivals, Orientations, etc.). We will also help one or both days of the 2-Day walk. E-mail Sarah at sarah@thehealthinitiative.org if you’re interested in being part of our Atlanta 2-Day Volunteer Team.

Every Little Bit Helps

More and more women are getting the message that a major factor in overall health is regular exercise. But there are still plenty of couch potatoes for whom going to the mail box is an effort. Any many couch potatoes got that way in part by starting an ambitious exercise program only to fall by the wayside. Things get in the way. Work takes over. It gets unbearably hot. It’s just so much nicer inside. And it is embarrassing and discouraging to feel we have failed. The good news is that we don’t have to feel like failures. Every little bit of extra activity helps you improve your health. Commit to being the one in your household who goes to the mailbox—every day. Park just a little farther from the store. You don’t even have to park at the end of the lot—just a little further than you did before. Find a song you like and dance to it every day. The secret to making a lasting change is to set small goals—goals you think you have an 80% chance or greater of achieving. Then the more you achieve, the better you feel. And the better your body will feel. Every little bit helps.