Holistic Health

Being a mom, you want to be in the best health possible. You want to live a long life so you can enjoy all the wonderful moments with your children. You want to have the energy to play with them and jus be with them. Aside from the normal routine of eating right and exercising, i think its important to cater to all aspects of your health - including your happiness and well-being. I found a great article on this holistic focus in my "People-StyleWatch" August issue.

As they say, "no matter what your schedule, you can follow these supereasy shortcuts for a better state of mind - and body!"

1) Take a music time-out - "music sending calming signals," says Dr. Beth Hamilton. "take a one song break when you're stressed at work or you're up in the middle of the night"

2) Stay in bed - "Make the most of your first waking moments, " says Dr. Merrell. "Set a peacful tone for the day with this exercise. Sit on the edge of your bed and breathe in for count of 4, pause, then breathe out for a count of 6. Do this for at least 2 minutes."

3) Pack your own lunch. "save on calries by bringing your own food," says Jillian Michaels. "It will help you avoid the donuts in the office."

4) Eat fruit before bed - "It super charges your metabolism," says Jackie Keller (nutritionist). "And it keeps hunger at bay all night, into the next morning."

5) Chew more - 'Eating too fast results in chunks of food that are harder for your body to breakdown," says Merrell. "Eat slower, you won't have as many digestive issues, and you'll feel more satisfied without overeating.

6) Get outside - "A few minutes of natural sunlight can help clear your head and even boost brain function and immunity," says Hamilton.

Reality Check

Ok guys! reality check. Pregnancy weight gain is the worst - especially nowadays when celebrity mom's are back to their pre-pregnancy size what seems like the day after they have their baby. I got the go ahead from my doctor to start excercising again so i'm on a mission. I'm working hard to get my figure back. Wish me luck - encouraging words are welcome lol. God knows i need them.

Although i haven't hit the gym yet, i went to my "go-to" video that i've had for almost 10 years now, "Zumba."

You don't know how many date nights i've had with Beto, sweating my butt off.

I've done many other video's, done many kickboxing/dance classes, and Beto is always the one i go back to. If you haven't tried Zumba, i suggest you do. Live classes are better of course. I have the original dvd which quite honestly is better than the new version.

I love Zumba b/c of the lively music. Its a good mix of latin/reggae music. For me, a good workout involves good music.

So here we go!! Mission has begun.

Tips to survive the first 2 months

With Gabe being almost 7 weeks, i'm just about to finish my 2 month mark as a mommy. I officially know how it feels to be away from civilization and feel like i'm in my own little world. My nights turned into days, and my days into nights. My pj's became my choice of apparel 24 hours a day. But to ensure your sanity and your inner goddess, you cannot do this -which i soon came to realize.


Dressing up, even just to stay at home, does wonders for your esteem. This along with other tips, reminds you of who you are as a person within your home, and as a person in this massive world.

A happy mommy means a happy baby, as they say.

So, here's what i learned to stay sane:


1) stare at your baby everyday and thank God for your blessings. Babies are such miracles and truly a gift to our lives. Remember how lucky we are. Also don't forget how fast time flies and how fast babies grow. Cherish every moment.


2) take a shower everyday and dress up. i'm not saying you have to wear an evening gown. But wear something other than pj's or sweats. even if it means wearing a long single strand necklace with your v neck tee or even a funky cocktail ring that you can stare at every time you hold your baby, play with them, change their diaper, or anything else you do with your baby. Remind yourself of who you are.


3) Get a new mommy haircut. You don't have to do anything drastic, but even just trimming the split ends improves the appearance and luster of your hair. Plus its nice to be pampered for a bit- especially getting that nice head massage :).


4) Do your nails. You probably feel like you don't have time to do this, but with all the hand sanitizing, washing baby bottles, washing hands after changing diapers, your hands turn out to be a mess. Make the time to do it. Moisturize your hands regularly. Paint your nails a happy color. Make it your favorite color or even the color of the season. Plus, i'm sure you've been taking a lot of pictures of you holding baby so wouldn't it be nice to have nice hands in the picture?


5) take advantage of friends and family. If people offer to help, whether its to cook you dinner, clean, babysit, or whatever - take advantage of it. Its easy to not want to bother people, but trust me, people really want to help -it makes them feel important in your life.


6) sleep - of course the thought of a good 8 hour sleep is out the door, but sleep when your baby sleeps. Its easy to do chores, go on the computer, watch tv while your baby is down. But none of these are as important to your well-being as sleep. This will help prevent you from being a zombie the whole day.


7) Get out of the house. Don't let yourself get cooped up. You and your baby need fresh air. Whether its for a stroll in your neighborhood or even going to dinner with outdoor seating. You'll feel a hundred times better seeing people and being around people. Obviously baby is still young so you can't go to the mall/grocery/anywhere congested with people. But open air places like the park are great places for a mini-getaway from home. Getting that exercise will make you feel better too.


8) catch up with your girlfriends. Have them come over, or in my case, have a nice long chat with them on the phone if they live far away. Hearing that familiar voice and laughing over stupid things will make you happy


9) Make sure you and your husband/partner share a minimum of a 5 minutes hugging. Sometimes its just nice to be in each others arms, feeling protected, instead of being the "protector" all the time

Namaste

ok, so this post is going to turn into a pity session so if you're not in the mood, just don't read this one. I have no clue why -but some of the pregnancy articles for "30 weeks" say that your old emotional highs and lows are going to start returning in your 3rd trimester because of your hormones, anxiety about the labor, your weight gain etc. And so of course, i do get in this depressed mode this weekend.

I went to the Decatur Yoga and Pilates Center this past saturday for my first prenatal yoga session.

Not only was it my first class i took pregnant, it was my first yoga session ever. (Unless you want to count the yoga class i took in college that i studied for and managed to get a B while my friend Ryan religiously copied my homework and managed to get an A - no i'm not bitter about that.... :)) Anyway, to say the least i was very intimidated in going. I didn't know anyone and I had absolutely no clue if i could handle the class. Plus, i have no clue why i only decided to start while i'm in my third trimester - i had 2 trimesters to start this!

I arrive - like an hour early -i told you i was anxious, the place is small but homey. of course lots of candles and incense, small statues of buddha lying around. The walls were multi color of calming lavendars and blues. I signed in and was told where to go. I went to the "zen room" with my little purple mat that i bought specific for this occasion, my little red towel and my bottle of water. Another girl was in the room so i sorta situated myself next to her. I tried to make conversation about the things we would need for class but she just kind of nodded her head and didn't really talk much more. Why was she so much cooler than me? hahaha - that's totally what i was thinking. i was the nerdy girl with the big *ss smile who smiled at everyone who walked into the room. i'm sure i had this look of "please be my friend" as people arrived. lol.

And so it started. I started comparing myself to the other preggies in the room - 5 of us total - and of course i'm the biggest one! Everyone was so fit except for this cute belly - i swear i was like a hippo next to all of them. I'm not even exagerating. Plus i'm thinking i must be the farthest one along - nope - i think i'm the last one along. I was so embarassed - it just made me wonder what people think of me. i know people have their own lives to worry about but i just wonder what people's first reactions are of me? do they think, "wow, she really let herself go?" This was the same thing i wondered at my 2 minnesota baby showers -especially the one for the adults. You know how aunts and uncles are, especially filipino ones. They can be brutal!!!!

Anyway, so we went around the room and introduced ourselves, how far along we were, where we were delivering, etc. I mentioned it was my first yoga session and the teacher was pretty surprised. I was surprised she was surprised. I guess most people who do this class do yoga regularly - i don't know. Other thoughts that went thru my head were that people were thinking "you can totally tell this girl doesn't do yoga, let alone exercise."

And so we started the session with low intensity stances - such as the downward dog. This is peace of cake for probably everybody. For me, it was a nightmare. A lot of your weight rests on your arms and hands - i am so out of shape it isn't even funny. When i first got pregnant, i was too nervous to do anything!!!! i was so scared of losing this pregnancy - this is my 3rd pregnancy and the first two resulted in miscarriages so with this one, i wouldn't let myself do anything strenuous. So there i was doing this downward dog, relaxing music in the background, the teacher talking in a calming voice, and me, shaking uncontrollably from holding all my weight on my arms. Of course this didn't help my insecurities i was feeling at the beginning of class.

We went through other movements and the teacher was always nice to come to me and position me correctly - this didn't bother me. i know people understood that i was new. i think i was just mad at myself for starting so late, for being so fat, etc. But i do have to say, as i was doing the poses, i would concentrate on baby and keep thinking, "this is for us, baby." I know a lot of things i do are for me, getting cute maternity clothes, getting a mani/pedi, etc, and this is one of the first few things that i truly felt was for baby and i.

Well then that thought made me depressed. Then i started thinking what a self centered b*tch i am for thinking of myself and not my baby all the time. arrrrggggh.

So this whole session, instead of feeling relaxed, and calm and better about myself for exercising and doing something good for 2 people, turned out to make me depressed that night! i mean, i loved the overall yoga experience and what the whole eastern thinking is about, but it just put my whole realistic mentality into perspective and i didn't like it. So, i don't know what to say. The teacher at the Decatur Yoga and Pilates place was great, the class was great, but for me, it just put my emotional state down instead of what i hoped i would feel when i left that class.

Namaste.