Gangsta Boo, a former member of the rap group Three 6 Mafia, has died at age 43.
According to ABC’s local Memphis TV affiliate WATN, the rapper, born Lola Mitchell, was found dead on the porch of a Whitehaven home on Sunday, January 1. The cause of death is currently unknown.
Gangsta Boo was a pioneer for female rappers in ‘90s. More recently, she was featured on GloRilla and Latto’s collaboration “FTCU,” a track inspired by Three 6 Mafia’s “Tear Da Club Up.”
Tributes poured in following news of Boo’s passing. Three 6 Mafia’s DJ Paul and Juicy J both shared photos of their former groupmate on Instagram, which garnered comments from Lil Jon, Ludacris, Outkast’s Big Boi, 2Chainz and more.
(WASHINGTON) — Since the rise of work-from-home during the COVID-19 pandemic, Washington is among many American cities that have wrestled with vacant office space while simultaneously battling a lack of affordable housing.
On Monday, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser called on President Joe Biden to either end work-from-home telework policies for federal government employees or turn over vacant government buildings in the nation’s capital for housing in a new push to move 100,000 new residents into the city.
The federal government accounts for one-third of properties owned or leased in Washington and a quarter of the city’s pre-pandemic jobs.
The city is utilizing tax breaks to encourage the conversion of vacant office buildings as a solution to the lack of housing but Bowser says Biden needs to help.
“We need decisive action by the White House to either get most federal workers back to the office, most of the time, or to realign their vast property holdings for use by the local government, by nonprofits, by businesses and by any user willing to revitalize it,” she said.
Bowser notes that currently 25,000 people currently call downtown D.C. home. She says the city will “add 15,000 residents over the next five years and 87,000 more before it’s all said and done.” Currently, 92% of the central business district consists of commercial space, residential space only accounts for 8%. That’s according to Bowser’s Housing in Downtown Abatement Program, which the mayor’s office seeks to encourage a rise in new residential conversion projects.
CBRE, a global commercial real estate company that has studied office conversions, notes that only 218 office conversions were completed in the U.S. between 2016 to 2021 an average of 36 conversions a year. However, by early December 2022, CBRE says 42 buildings had been converted within the last year. Boston leads the market with 38 building conversions, San Francisco Peninsula with 28, and D.C. and Los Angeles were tied for third with 11 building conversions each. Many of the cities that out-ranked D.C., unlike Washington, don’t have to negotiate with the federal government as a landlord.
In December, in an effort to promote a reimagined downtown, Mayor Bowser announced the conversion of the old Vanguard building that headquartered the Peace Corps for decades. The building will be converted to the Elle Apartments and is expected to add 163 residential units when it opens in May 2024.
Bowser said in December, “We have seen how mixed-use communities are more resilient in the face of adversity. By converting vacant offices into homes, we can put these spaces back to productive use, add much-needed housing, and create a vibrant downtown where people live, work, and play.”
Deputy Mayor John Falcicchio said in December that the city’s downtown reimagination strategy has three key points: “Change the space, fill the space, and bring the people.”
Falcicchio added, “creating new housing in downtown will lead to a more vibrant neighborhood and a 24/7 economy. The Housing in Downtown Abatement Program will incentivize more conversions, and bring about more housing affordability and retail opportunities.”
D.C., which has over 20 million square feet of vacant office space, hopes that the Housing in Downtown Abatement Program will incentivize future residential transformations by offering tax relief to buildings that include at least 15% of total units to be affordable to 60% of people who qualify for the median family income threshold, which is $103,200 for a four-person family.
Bower’s historic third term as the first Black woman mayor to serve three consecutive four-year terms will be met by a new Congress and new GOP leadership. Despite D.C.’s lack of statehood, Bowser is vowing to continue to fight for Washington’s autonomy. At her swearing-in Monday, she noted, “as this new Congress starts, I promise to keep fighting for control over everything that we need in the district, protecting our bodily autonomy, the ability to tax and regulate our businesses, and to provide services to our justice-involved youth.”
The Office of Personnel Management, the chief human resources agency for the federal government, did not immediately respond to an ABC News request for comment.
(WASHINGTON) — With the 118th Congress set to begin Tuesday, House Republican leaders are out with their proposed rules for the new legislative session.
In what marks a substantial concession from Kevin McCarthy, the California Republican vying for the speakership, the rules package would allow just five Republicans to force a vote on ousting a speaker. For a Congress with at least a handful of “Never Kevin” Republicans, that provision means McCarthy’s potential speakership could be short-lived.
Republicans, who will gain the majority with a thin margin over Democrats, are poised to hit the ground running by restoring the chamber to pre-COVID order. In a “Dear Colleague” letter Sunday night saying “Congress is broken and needs to change,” McCarthy said he would immediately halt proxy voting in the House.
Committee chairs would have limited authority “to allow [non-governmental] witnesses to appear remotely at” proceedings under the new rules.
GOP leaders would also remove entry magnetometers, create a new select committee on the alleged “weaponization” of the DOJ and FBI, and more, per the new rules.
But for those changes to take effect, the House will need to pass the Republican majority’s rules package in what will be the chamber’s first order of business after electing a speaker, a process that could take longer than usual when Congress convenes Tuesday.
In what might be one of the most visible changes after the House approves the rules, McCarthy said he would promptly order magnetometers removed from outside the chamber. The Democrat-controlled House installed the devices at the chamber entrances in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack to prevent weapons from being brought to the House floor.
They quickly became a lightning rod for some Republican lawmakers who would protest the additional security measures by walking around them altogether. Violators — like Republican Reps. Louie Gohmert, Andrew Clyde, and Jim Baird — faced fines of $5,000 to $10,000.
And the rules would create new select committees on everything from COVID-19 to U.S.-China competition and what Republicans claim is “the Weaponization of the Federal Government.”
The Select Committee on the Coronavirus Pandemic would make a significant item on many Republicans’ wish lists a reality. According to the proposed rules, the committee would investigate COVID’s origins, “the impact of school closures on American children,” and the development of vaccines and corresponding federal mandates.
House Republicans are targeting President Joe Biden directly in at least two areas with their new rules. The package would allow the House to consider stripping the Internal Revenue Service of additional resources Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act made available to the agency last summer.
Additionally, the chamber would consider preventing non-emergency drawdowns from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a tool the Biden administration has regularly used amid rising gas prices in recent months.
Other federal employees could soon become targets of a GOP-controlled House. The proposed rules package would allow legislation to zero out a government official’s salary, cut specific government programs, or even fire specific federal employees. For a Republican Party with some members who championed the #FireFauci movement, this rule is a notable inclusion.
The House Committee on Ethics would face reform under the proposed rules, too. If the chamber passes the proposal, the committee would need to establish “a process to receive complaints directly from the public.”
That could be notable in the context of GOP Rep.-elect George Santos, who faces allegations that he fabricated much of his background. If Republican leaders do not refer him to the committee themselves, the public could lodge complaints against him, per the proposed rules.
The rules also permit the House speaker to recognize any member to read the Constitution aloud on the House floor until the end of February. It is a notable provision for a Republican leader who, in November, vowed his members would “read every single word of the Constitution aloud” on the first day of the new Congress.
Responding to the House GOP’s rule package, Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said, “It is disappointing, but not surprising, that House Republicans have put forward a rules package that undermines mainstream values and furthers an extreme agenda.”
ABC News’ Lauren Peller contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — The 19-year-old accused of attacking three police officers with a machete on New Year’s Eve near Times Square has been charged with two counts of attempted murder of a police officer and two counts of attempted assault.
Trevor Bickford, from Maine, attacked the officers unprovoked after taking a train to the city on Dec. 29. His mother and aunt recently notified law enforcement about their concerns he was gravitating toward dangerous Islamist ideologies, law enforcement sources said.
Police found the suspect’s backpack at the scene, which contained a diary, sources said.
The final diary entry indicated the suspect thought he would die in the attack and asked for burial according to Islamic tradition, the sources said.
The three officers were released from the hospital on Sunday.
(NEW YORK) — Tennis legend Martina Navratilova announced Monday she is suffering from throat cancer, as well as a recurrence of breast cancer, which she was first diagnosed with in 2010.
“This double whammy is serious but still fixable,” Navratilova said in a statement posted to the WTA site. “I’m hoping for a favorable outcome. It’s going to stink for a while, but I’ll fight with all have I got.”
Navratilova is one of the winningest tennis players of all time. She holds 18 grand slam singles titles as well as 31 grand slam doubles titles and 11 grand slam mixed doubles titles. She was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 2000.
(NEW YORK) — More than 10 months after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion into neighboring Ukraine, the two countries are engaged in a struggle for control of areas throughout eastern and southern Ukraine.
Putin’s forces in November pulled out of key positions, retreating from Kherson as Ukrainian troops led a counteroffensive targeting the city. Russian drones have continued bombarding civilian targets throughout Ukraine, knocking out critical power infrastructure as winter sets in.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jan 02, 10:32 AM EST
Russia says 63 killed in missile strike by Ukraine
Russia’s Defense Ministry has said 63 people were killed by a Ukrainian missile strike in the Russian-controlled Donetsk region.
According to the ministry, Ukraine launched launched six HIMARS missiles, provided by the U.S., at a building in the town of Makiivka, four of which hit the target.
“Families and friends of these servicemen will be fully assisted and supported,” the ministry said in a statement.
Ukraine claimed hundreds of Russians were killed in the attack.
Neither side’s claims could be independently verified.
Dec 31, 8:14 AM EST
1 dead, 7 injured after Russia launches missile strike against Kyiv
At least one person has been killed and seven people have been injured after Russia launched a barrage of missiles on Kyiv on New Year’s Eve.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported destruction across several districts with a luxury hotel, a bridge and police stations among the locations impacted.
It’s currently unclear how many locations have been destroyed as a result of direct hits and how many were from falling debris from intercepted rockets.
New Year’s Eve is one of Ukraine’s biggest holidays.
Dec 30, 10:28 AM EST
Putin expects China’s Xi to make state visit in spring
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that he’s expecting Chinese President Xi Jinping to make a state visit to Russia in the spring of 2023.
Putin said he’s looking to deepen military cooperation between the two nations.
Putin said the visit would “demonstrate to the world the closeness of Russian-Chinese relations.”
Dec 29, 5:08 PM EST
Zelenskyy praises Air Force for ‘repelling’ Russian missile barrage
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is praising his country’s air defense, saying it “successfully repelled” a barrage of Russian missiles fired at Kyiv and other targets early Thursday.
Zelenskyy said the Ukrainian Air Force shot down 54 missiles and 11 attack drones.
“Our warriors all over Ukraine distinguished themselves and I thank all our Air Commands: Center, South, East and West,” Zelenskyy said.
He specifically cited the efforts of the 96th Kyiv, 160th Odesa and the 208th Kherson anti-aircraft missile brigades, saying their “results are the best today.”
Zelenskyy said several Russian missiles evaded Ukraine’s air defense and hit several infrastructure targets.
“Our power engineers and repair crews are doing everything to make Ukrainians feel the consequences of the terrorists’ strike as little as possible,” Zelenskyy said.
As of Thursday evening, he said there were power outages in most regions of Ukraine, including the capital city Kyiv as well as the Lviv, Odesa, Kherson, Vinnytsia and Zakarpattia regions.
“But this is nothing compared to what could have happened, if it was not for our heroic anti-aircraft troops and air defense,” Zelenskyy said.
Dec 29, 11:40 AM EST
Ukrainian missile shot down in Belarus: Defense ministry
Belarus’ defense ministry said its air defenses had downed a Ukrainian S-300 missile in a field on Thursday morning during one of Russia’s largest missile attacks against Ukraine since the start of the war.
The military commissar of the Brest region, Oleg Konovalov, played down the incident in a video message posted on social media by the state-run BelTA news agency, saying local residents had “absolutely nothing to worry about.”
“Unfortunately, these things happen,” Konovalov said.
He compared the incident to one in November when an S-300 believed to have strayed after being fired by Ukrainian air defenses landed in NATO member country Poland, and initial fears of an escalation in the war were rapidly defused.
Konovalov said the Ukrainian missile was shot down by the air defense forces around 10 a.m. local time Thursday. Fragments of the downed missile were found near the village of Gorbakha in the Brest region.
-ABC News’ William Gretsky
Dec 29, 10:32 AM EST
Russia continues ‘escalating’ missile campaign, US Embassy says
Moscow has been “cruelly” targeting Ukrainian civilians by launching attacks against utilities during the winter, the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv said on Thursday.
The rebuke came as Russia fired missiles at cities throughout the country on Thursday. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Army said 69 missiles were launched, fewer than the 100 missiles that officials had estimated earlier in the morning. Officials said 54 missiles were intercepted.
Two civilians were killed as a result of shelling in the Kharkiv area, according to the region’s governor.
“The Kremlin continues its escalating campaign of missile attacks, cruelly wielding cold & dark against” Ukrainians, U.S. Embassy officials said on Twitter. “Families are again hunkering down as critical infrastructure & other targets across the country are attacked.”
Air raid sirens started wailing before 6 a.m. local time across Ukraine, sending residents scrambling into underground shelters in several cities. Missiles landed in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Lviv and Zhtomyr.
Ukraine’s defense systems intercepted some missiles, including 16 that were shot down near Kyiv, the capital, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Two homes in Kyiv were damaged by falling debris and three people were injured, he said.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense said Russia had been “saving one of the most massive missile attacks since the beginning of the full-scale invasion for the last days of the year.”
“They dream that Ukrainians will celebrate the New Year in darkness and cold,” officials said. “But they cannot defeat the Ukrainian people.”
-ABC News’ Britt Clennett and Joe Simonetti
Dec 29, 2:29 AM EST
More than 100 Russian missiles fired at Ukraine
Russian forces early on Thursday launched a missile strike on Ukraine.
More than 100 rockets were fired in several waves, Oleksiy Arestovych, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Twitter. Some rockets were reportedly fired from carriers in the sea, while others were reportedly fired by at least a dozen fighter aircraft.
Another presidential advisor, Mykhailo Podolyak, said on Twitter that more than 120 missiles had been launched “by the ‘evil Russian world’ to destroy critical infrastructure & kill civilians en masse.”
At least one loud explosion was heard in Kyiv, where air raid sirens were ringing for several hours on Thursday morning.
Dec 28, 1:58 PM EST
Kremlin rejects Ukraine’s Feburary ‘peace summit’
Russia has rejected a proposal from Ukraine to hold a “peace summit” in February, according to a Kremlin official.
“There is no ‘peace plan’ for Ukraine for now, that’s for starters,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Wenderday. “Besides, there can be no ‘peace plan’ for Ukraine, which disregards today’s realities on Russian territory, the entry of new regions, four of them, into Russia.”
Peskov was apparently referring to recent Ukrainian drone attacks inside Russia, including one this week at the Engels Air Force Base in southern Russia that killed three Russian soldiers.
-ABC News’ William Gretsky
Dec 27, 1:13 PM EST
Putin bans sending Russian oil to countries imposing a price cap
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree Tuesday that not only rejects a price cap on the country’s oil but bans sending crude and other petroleum products to any country that has endorsed the price cap.
The Group of Seven countries, including the United States, agreed on Dec. 3 to impose a $60 per barrel price cap on Russian oil in response to the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. Australia and the European Union also agreed to impose the price cap.
The decree Putin signed goes into effect on Feb. 1 and is valid until July 1, 2023.
The decree bans the supply of oil and oil products from Russia to those countries that place a price ceiling on contracts. The decree also forbids the supply of oil to other foreign buyers whose contracts use a price cap mechanism.
The decree includes a clause allowing Putin to overrule the ban in special cases to be determined by the Russian leader.
The price cap on Russian oil implemented by G-7 nations disallows the world’s second-largest oil exporter from selling crude at a price above $60 per barrel.
Since the outset of its war with Ukraine, Russia has sold its oil at discounted prices. As of Tuesday, Russian Urals crude was trading at $57 per barrel — an amount slightly less than the cap. But the price cap aims to ensure that Russian oil sales remain well below global oil prices, which stand at about $80 per barrel.
-ABC News’ William Gretsky
Dec 26, 7:40 AM EST
Ukraine strikes bomber base in Russia, killing three
A Ukrainian drone attack on the Engels Air Force Base in southern Russia killed three, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said.
A spokesman for Ukrainian Air Force confirmed the attack, saying, “If the Russians thought the war would not touch them they were wrong.”
Russian air defence reportedly shot down a Ukrainian drone flying at low altitude, but falling debris caused the casualties in the overnight attack.
The Engels base lies just over 300 miles northeast of Ukraine’s border with Russia. The facility has been repeatedly used by Russia to carry out missile strikes on targets in Ukraine.
Ukrainian forces had attacked another Russian air base on Dec. 5, killing three and damaging two strategic bombers.
(BUFFALO, N.Y.) — After a blizzard left 39 people dead across New York’s Erie County, the City of Buffalo announced that New York University will conduct an “after-action report” about the region’s response to the storm, according to Buffalo Mayor Bryon Brown.
NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service will review the storm preparation, response and recovery to outline best practices for other major cities as well as offer Buffalo feedback, according to Brown.
“The City of Buffalo is resolved to learn from this storm and make additional improvements in how we respond to future extreme winter snow storms,” Brown wrote in a statement.
The deadly blizzard devastated the region, killing at least 39, requiring residents to stay off roads for nearly a week and cutting off residents from emergency services at the storm’s peak.
“There is no guarantee that in a life threatening emergency situation that they’re going to be able to respond immediately,” Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz said at a Dec. 24 press conference, adding that the most affected areas would have no emergency services at all.
At the time of the press conference, two-thirds of emergency vehicles were stuck in the snow.
As the New York National Guard including military police moved to Buffalo to help with recovery efforts, many residents were left to fend for themselves and their communities.
“Nobody would come,” Buffalo resident Tayron Knight said when explaining how he got stuck on Niagara Falls Boulevard. “I called the police numerous times — the police told me I was on a waiting list that they couldn’t see nobody out.”
Another resident, Eddie Porter, explained how he got stuck on the road during the storm for 28 hours. His calls to police were left unanswered, he said. He noted that he called police on Dec. 23 and eventually heard back on Dec. 29.
“I thought it was over like it was going to be; You ever felt that you’re going to die and you can’t do nothing about it?” Porter asked in an emotional interview with ABC News.
Instead of being rescued by police, Porter was rescued by William Kless, a local resident who spent days saving an estimated fifty residents on his snowmobile.
“If he hadn’t been there, I don’t know what I was gonna do,” Porter said.
In an interview with ABC News, Kless said he ended up helping residents get to shelters, transporting dogs and cats, transporting supplies and even helping a man get critical dialysis treatments after being stuck in his car for 17 hours. In person, over social media or via calls with police, Kless learned information about the needs in the community and offered door-to-door to help, he said.
“There were so many calls that emergency services were canceled, you know, there’s so many people left helpless, not realizing when they’re going to be able to get help,” Kless said.
Kless added that he communicated with Buffalo police when they could not safely get to a location with their vehicles.
“It was just like a search and rescue,” he said. “The Buffalo police were involved because they couldn’t get down on the streets.”
During a Dec. 24 press conference, Poloncarz flagged the lack of vehicle mobility as an issue, since the county, city and state lacked snowmobiles and relied on traditional emergency response vehicles and National Guard Humvees.
Knight said he was eventually rescued by a friend, after which he began to work with friends and family to coordinate rescues in the absence of emergency services.
“We started going around helping everybody in the city of Buffalo, as many people as we can,” Knight said. “We had put up our numbers, so if anybody that was trapped, or had no power, or in desperate need of emergency, [if] they needed any help that wasn’t getting any help from the city of Buffalo, they could give us a call.”
Knight estimated they received hundreds of calls to the point where they had to triage responses based on the highest-priority emergencies.
Looking back on their experience with the storm, Kless, Knight and Porter each flagged issues with the city’s response.
“We didn’t see any paramedics, any police, any firemen, any emergency response teams at all,” Kless said. “It was literally they didn’t come out till about the day after once the storm and everything calmed down.”
Porter added that he was frustrated by the lack of emergency response in some communities within Buffalo, believing the city “dropped the ball” for the east side, a largely African American area, where casualties from the storm were common.
“Let’s be clear — that was one of the reasons it was so tragic,” Porter said
Knight said he believes that not only should Buffalo have been better prepared, but that the city could have saved lives if it had its act together.
“They knew everything was happening days beforehand, they were warned and knew how bad the storm was going to be,” he said. “They should have had the right personnel on hand.”
At one point, Poloncarz publicly called out Buffalo for its “embarrassing” response, before eventually apologizing for his statements.
“Storm after storm after storm after storm, the city unfortunately is the last one to be open. And that shouldn’t be the case,” he said. “It’s embarrassing to tell the truth.”
He added that Erie County took over operations for one third of the city.
Residents said they’ve been left with traumatic repercussions of the storm, an unprecedented death toll and feelings of regret about what could have been done, regardless of who was to blame.
“Most of this could have been prevented as far as fatalities,” Knight said.
(NEW YORK) — Welcome to GMA’s New Year, Best You. As we ring in 2023, we are sharing everything you need to start the new year strong. From keeping your New Year’s resolutions going to Instagram-worthy meal prep to workout programs to eating plans to taking time for yourself, we have it all covered.
The Whole30 program, based on a bestselling book, eliminates food groups like sugar, grains, dairy and legumes from participants’ diets for a full 30 days. With many people starting Whole30 in January, after the holidays are over, GMA asked certified health coach Brooke Brennan to share her top tips.
Brennan, a mother of two from Florida, has done the Whole30 three times herself and supported countless clients, family and friends through it as well. She is doing Whole30 again this January alongside her husband.
Here, Brennan shares her 10 tips for making it through the Whole30 program with a smile on your face.
1. Focus on what you are adding, not eliminating
The food you eat fuels you to LIVE your life.
Focus on all the good things you are adding into your body during the 30 days, instead of the things you are taking out. The more good stuff you put in each day, the more good stuff you are going to get out each day.
2. Get to know the free resources available to you
There are incredible resources at your fingertips on the Whole30 website that make completing it easy to understand and prepare for. Here are some to get you started:
Finding recipes online is easier than ever before with many incredible recipe developers who specialize in creating beautiful Whole30 compliant dishes. An Instagram poll asked for the best Whole30 recipe developers and here are some that were recommended:
The support, camaraderie and accountability can make the process so much more fun! But, if you can’t find someone who wants to join you, lean on social media. The Whole 30 Instagram page has a strong community of supportive men and women who are a wealth of knowledge during the process.
4. Plan ahead
Plan, plan and plan some more.
Eating on the Whole30 requires you to think about what you are going to be putting into your body at each meal — which, we all should be doing every day on or off any specific diet. Write down what you want your meals to be each day of the week on the Whole30 and shop to that list.
If you plan to be successful, you absolutely will be. Don’t leave your food up to chance! See the end of this piece for a typical menu of what I eat in a day on the Whole30.
5. Focus on ingredients over calories
Shift your focus to the ingredient list on the foods you eat instead of the nutritional label.
Knowing exactly what ingredients are in the food you eat is so much more important than the number of calories the food contains.
We are so lucky because there are a number of wonderful companies that create Whole30 compliant plus delicious products that you can grab and use every day.
Having dressings, sauces and seasonings you can use help transform your favorite foods into brand new dishes from one day to the next.
7. Don’t become a hermit
Go out to eat and be with your family and friends. Ordering out doesn’t have to be hard. You just need to know how to ask for what you want. The quicker you get out and about, the easier it will be.
Here are some ideas for things you can order at a restaurant: – Order a salad (just hold all the non-compliant ingredients like cheese, croutons, tortilla strips, etc) and ask for extra avocado, veggies, egg and a grilled protein. Bring your own dressing or ask for oil and vinegar or lemon to dress it yourself. – Order burgers without buns, tacos in lettuce shells with extra salsa and avocado (hold the cheese!) or when in doubt choose a protein and steamed veggies (or ask for veggies prepared in just olive oil).
8. Keep snacks on hand
Keep a snack in your bag just in case you need it. Getting “hangry” can lead to some interesting food choices, so if you feel hungry and it isn’t quite meal time, eat a snack.
Never ignore your hunger cues. That is your body’s way of telling you it needs some more gas in the tank. Our go-to snacks are hard boiled eggs, cold apples, berries, raw walnuts, leftover roasted veggies or almond butter (just look at the ingredient list and look to make sure the only ingredient is almonds!) with a banana.
9. Don’t skip the reintroduction
Whatever you do, don’t skip the reintroduction. The big magic happens in the 10 days following your Whole30, when you reintroduce the food groups one at a time to notice how your body responds.
(NEW YORK) — If you’re feeling hungover from New Year’s Eve champagne or had one too many boozy eggnogs over the holidays, let this January be a fresh start.
Taking the challenge of going dry in January, or Dry January, i.e. having no alcohol for the entire month, is one resolution that might actually make you healthier.
The Dry January campaign was started in 2013 by Alcohol Change U.K., a charity focused on reducing alcohol harm. For the past several years, the initiative has proved popular in the United States and other countries too.
What are the health benefits of Dry January?
While research on how quitting alcohol for a month affects your body is still limited, several studies have shown psychological and health benefits.
Over one dozen staff members at the magazine New Scientist teamed up with researchers at the Institute for Liver and Digestive Health at the University College London Medical School in 2013 to investigate the benefits of Dry January.
The staff members, who all considered themselves “normal” drinkers, underwent baseline testing with blood samples, liver ultrasound scans and questionnaires. For the next five weeks, 10 of them stopped drinking and four drank their normal amounts.
The people who stopped drinking had lower levels of liver fat (which can be a precursor to liver damage), improved blood sugars and lower cholesterol than they did at the beginning of the month. They also reported improved sleep and concentration. In contrast, the four people who kept drinking saw no benefit.
Another study out of the U.K. had nearly 100 participants abstain from drinking alcohol for a month and another nearly 50 participants continue drinking alcohol as normal.
They found that moderate-heavy drinkers who took a break from alcohol had improved insulin resistance, weight, blood pressure, and cancer-related growth factors.
The researchers do warn, however, that the study does not show that a short-term ‘detox’ period is all that is required to ‘refresh’ the liver or achieve other health gains. Abstaining from alcohol for a month is only one part of addressing negative effects from longer-term alcohol consumption.
People who drink excessive amounts of alcohol are at higher risk of death and many medical conditions.
Excessive alcohol use is the third-leading cause of preventable death in the United States, according to the U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
People who drink unhealthy amounts of alcohol are more likely to have high blood pressure, heart disease, liver disease, nerve damage, infections including pneumonia and even certain cancers like breast cancer.
Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol may also have a negative impact on mental health, including memory loss, depression and anxiety, according to the American Psychological Association.
Who should try Dry January?
Dr. Fulton Crews, director of the Center for Alcohol Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said attempting to stop drinking for Dry January is a good opportunity for people to see if they have an actual addiction to alcohol.
“Many people are in denial about their drinking and hazardous drinking, and if they try to stop and are not able to, it really points out to them their weakness,” Crews told ABC News. “If they can’t stop for a month, they would realize that they have a problem.
“Either that or they do it, and they realize it’s not that hard for them,” said Crews, who described Dry January as a “good idea.”
Experts say Dry January may be especially helpful to those who consistently drink over the recommended amount of two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women.
Excessive drinking includes binge drinking, defined as consuming five or more drinks for men in a single occasion and four or more drinks for women, and heavy drinking, defined as consuming 15 or more drinks per week for men or eight drinks or more for women). A standard drink is 12 ounces of a regular beer, 8 ounces of a malt liquor, 5 ounces of a glass of wine, and 1.5 ounces of a spirit, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For those individuals who drink alcohol within the recommended limits, Crews said he is “not sure there would be any observable benefits.”
“I don’t see any clear potential for a moderate drinking person to stop drinking,” he said.
If you do choose to participate in Dry January, Crews shared his advice for sticking to the program.
“Try to avoid temptation by maybe putting all the alcohol out of the house,” he said.
Does Dry January prompt bigger change for some?
Staying dry for January may also help jump-start people to give up alcohol for longer.
Although most people who participate in Dry January return to drinking, up to 8% stay dry six months later, according to Public Health England and the British Medical Journal.
And those who go back to drinking drink less. A 2015 study conducted in the U.K. and published in the journal Health Psychology found that people who participated in Dry January drank less often, had fewer drinks when they did drink and were drunk less often six months after Dry January was completed.
Dry January participants were also better able to refuse alcoholic drinks. These benefits were even seen in people who did not complete the whole month of Dry January.
It might seem daunting to stop drinking alcohol for a whole month. Between cocktail hour after work, beers while watching the football game, and that relaxing glass of wine after a long day, our culture sometimes seems to revolve around alcohol.
But the 2015 Health Psychology study found that 65% of people successfully completed the month of abstinence.
Have more questions about Dry January? Find out more about the benefits of the challenge HERE; get three tips to make Dry January easier HERE; and read about Ashton’s 2019 Dry January experience HERE.
If you are concerned about yourself or a loved one, call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMSA) confidential, free, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357). For information and resources about alcohol-related problems and health, visit the website of the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) HERE.
The Avengers star Jeremy Renner is said to be in critical but stable conditon following a snow-plowing accident Sunday.
“As of now, we can confirm Jeremy is in critical but stable condition with injuries suffered after experiencing a weather related accident while plowing snow earlier today,” reads a statement from the actor’s publicist, provided to ABC News Sunday. “His family is with him and he is receiving excellent care.”
As of early Monday morning there was no public word on the nature or extent of Renner’s injuries, nor any specifics about the accident itself.
According to the Washoe County, Nevada, Sheriff’s Office, they “responded to a traumatic injury in the area of Mt. Rose Highway in Reno, Nevada” at around 9:00 a.m. on January 1. “Upon arrival, Deputies coordinated with Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District and REMSA Health to arrange for medical transport of Mr. Jeremy Renner via care flight to a local area hospital.”
“Mr. Renner was the only involved party in the incident,” the statement continues, noting that officials are “currently looking into the circumstances of the incident.”
Renner owns property near Lake Tahoe, just south of Reno. On December 12, he tweeted an image of a vehicle buried in snow, with the comment, “Lake Tahoe snowfall is no joke #WinterWonderland.”
Renner, a two-time Oscar nominee, is best known for playing the role of Clint ‘Hawkeye’ Barton in the Avengers film franchise and the Disney+ series Hawkeye. He currently stars in the Paramount+ series Mayor of Kingstown, which debuts its second season January 15.
