Healthy Pregnancy

Managing your weight on bed rest is a three fold process that involves a close look at your relaxation habits, physical activity and what you are eating.

1. Though it may seem like bed rest would imply restfulness and relaxation, the true experience can be anything but stress relieving. Many women feel contained, restless and impatient when they are unable to go about their daily activities. Training oneself to consciously relax involves introducing activities that truly bring you a sense of peace and calm such as meditation, deep belly breathing, uplifting reading and getting adequate rest. When the nervous system is able to relax, we can manage our weight with greater ease by becoming more mindful of our cravings. Emotions play a big role in directing what we put in our mouths, so relaxation is a great place to start to set the stage for moderating weight gain.

2. Physical activity may also seem contradictory when one talks about bed rest, but there are in fact many stretches and gentle movements that can be incorporated. Changing your concept of exercise is important and you may consider trying different yoga, tai chi and qi gong videos and zoning in on the floor postures. Of course videos that specialize in bed rest like The bedrest fitness dvd are ideal because all of the exercises are streamlined so you won’t have to improvise. The key here is to get fresh blood flow and oxygen through all the organs which is essential for preventing blood clots, maintaining weight and managing your mood. The feel good endorphins are essential for every aspect of our well being and especially keeping your spirits up.

3. Finally, it is important to eat a colorful nutrient rich diet. So often, I talk to women who are feeling a little down about being on bed rest and the first thing they reach for are “treats” usually in the form of simple carbohydrates and sugary sweets. While this may solve the blues temporarily, it creates a vicious cycle where you need more and more “treats” to boost your serotonin. They key here is to eat small and frequent protein, carbohydrate balanced meals and snacks throughout the day to moderate your blood sugar levels, keeping your insulin levels, mood and weight gain stable. By choosing colorful fruits and vegetables, whole grains and organic protein sources you are giving your body the nutrients it needs. It’s also important to treat yourself from time to time to avoid the feeling of restriction and the potential of bingeing. I would recommend stocking your fridge full of healthy foods to avoid too much temptation and focusing on the delicious healthful alternatives.

The holiday season reminds us to be grateful for the many blessings in our lives. But what many of us may not realize is that practicing gratitude as a ritual impacts our health, leading us to feel healthier and happier. Current research at the University of California Davis, has revealed that practicing gratitude elevates our inner happiness and contentment with life. I first heard about the gratitude concept from Oprah who wrote that she kept a journal and made a list of all she was grateful for each day. If you are looking to make major shifts in your wellbeing and joie de vivre this New Year, consider keeping a gratitude journal. Studies have revealed that:

1. Those who keep gratitude journal on a weekly basis exercise more often, experience less illness and feel more optimistic about the week to come and their lives as a whole (Emmons & McCullough, 2003).

2. Tracking gratitude is equated to meeting personal goals (personal, health and academic).

3. Guided gratitude meditations elicit positive thinking, while increasing alertness, attentiveness and energy.

4. People who practice gratitude are able to support others.

5. Those with neuromuscular disease improved their quality of life with increased feelings of connectedness, positive moods and improved sleep.

6. Children who grow up on gratitude feel more positive towards education and family. (Froh, Sefick, & Emmons, 2008)

Looking for additional ways to bring gratitude into your everyday life?

Practice giving back: the simple act of giving spreads gratitude. Consider ways you can give to experience how much you receive from the profound act of giving.

Say thank you: the two words are so simple and yet when spoken with sincerity they acknowledge the feeling of gratitude for a gift received by another.

Smile: a simple smile amongst strangers and friends can change the entire dynamic.

Say grace before meals: blessing your food is one of the most profound acts to imbue your food with gratitude to nourish your cells.

Doctor’s orders say bed rest. Your mind says another minute lying around will drive you crazy. Your body feels anything but rested. Try these pseudo exercises to keep your mind clear and your body comfortable.

BREATHING There are lots of fabulous ways to calm the body and mind through breathing. Here are two.

1) Take a deep inhale through your nose. Pause slightly at the end of the inhale, and then exhale through the nose, making the exhale last twice as long as the inhale. Think about sipping air in and out—long actions that engage the deep muscles of the core and that fill the lungs with as much air as possible. Slow and steady. Visualize oxygen penetrating every cell of your body, bringing life and health. Not only will this calm your body and ease tension, it will also help to improve your lung capacity.

2) If sleep is not coming easily, or if your body is tense, begin this breathing exercise by slowing and lengthening your breath (nose breathing). Take a few cleansing breaths, and then start sending breath to your toes—asking them to relax. Every exhale, let a body part relax, slowly moving up your body until you reach your forehead. Yes, it is the mental visualization as much as the physical relaxation of your breath that will calm you. Chances are you will be asleep before you reach your head.

MASSAGE Whether at the spa or in home, massage can be a great way to relax. It is excellent for increasing circulation and easing muscle tension, which will make lying down seem luxurious, rather than binding. If a full massage is not an option, try lying on your back with your legs and feet in the air (knees bent, legs to either side of body), and give yourself a foot and calf massage. Just having the feet in the air will improve circulation, and you may be surprised at the tension you can work out of your own feet, and how that will penetrate up the body.

STRETCHES Do ask your doctor if these stretches/exercises are right for you while on bed rest, but don’t be surprised when she looks at you as if you’re an A+ student going above and beyond. These stretches are simple, but will help to ease out the kinks of being sedentary, and therefore, will make you feel a little better! Remember, a good stretch is always accompanied with deep and steady breathing. Check out “Stretches For Bed Rest.”

Winter is a time of stillness and deep introspection. With the bare trees and colder weather, we are asked to go within and build up our reserves for a re-emergence come spring. Deep rest, quietude and contemplation help us to prepare for what we will be created when the sparse trees begin to blossom anew.

In Chinese medicine, winter is associated with the water element, the color dark blue and black and the emotions of fear and survival. The corresponding organs, the adrenals, kidneys and reproductive organs thrive when nourished and replenished through sleep, relaxation and wholesome foods. Stress, overactivity, toxins and noise increase cortisol levels, eliciting the stress response and taxing our reserves. Finding a gentle balance between outgoing holiday celebrations and time alone is especially important for health during the holiday season. To attune with the winter season, find ways to hibernate and nurture your deepest yin energies:

Sip tea
The ritual of drinking tea is calming and regenerating, not to mention a great way to warm up on the cold winter days. Licorice tea helps to build up the adrenals, supporting increased energy reservoirs.

Ease Seasonal Affected Disorder (SAD)
Winter can big more dreary days, so be sure to stock up on sunlight when you can and supplement adequately with Vitamin D.

Eat soups and stews
Foods simmered slowly are warming during the winter season. Add small pieces of seaweed like kombu and wakame to soak up the minerals and build your inner reserves.

Choose black and blue foods
Since the corresponding color to the water element is black and blue, consume use black beans, black sesame seeds, blueberries and blackberries for kidney, reproductive and adrenal health.

Get more sleep
With the darker days you may be feeling an inclination to go to bed a little earlier and rise a little later. Follow your intuition and stock up on rest to attune with the winter season.

Sea salt foot soaks
Salt is the corresponding flavor and water is the corresponding element to the winter season. For deep relaxation, gently detoxification and grounding at the end of your day unwind with a warm candlelit soak.

Root vegetables
As Paul Pitchford says in Healing with Whole Foods: root vegetables “grow in cold climates and contain minerals and other elements that make it possible to survive in harsh weather and under snow. When eating, we take on their qualities and build resistance to cool weather and
disease.” (62)

With flu season upon us it is important to take preventative steps to stay healthy. Building up your immune system is an important element of keeping bacteria and illness at bay. Consider the following natural remedies to prevent illness during flu season:

1. Acupuncture
Oriental Medicine focuses on preventing illness and uses tiny needles inserted along the meridian lines to keep energy flowing freely and build up the body’s defenses or Wei Qi to stop germs and viruses from invading.

2. Eat colorful fruits and vegetables
Colorful foods contain the most nourishing antioxidants. To get all of the necessary vitamins and minerals and boost your immune system, create a plate with all the colors of the rainbow.

3. Take supplements
Supplementing your already healthy diet with vitamins is a sure way to stay healthy and make sure you are getting all the nutrients you need. Especially important for flu season are Vitamin D (sunshine), Vitamin C (oranges), Zinc (pumpkin seeds) and Selenium (brazil nuts).

4. Get lots of rest
Staying rested is one of the best ways to ensure your immune system stays in top form. Whenever possible, be in bed by 11pm and aim for 7-8 hours of sleep each night. Listen to your body if it calls for a nap.

5. Exercise for replenishment
Daily movement is one way to ensure fresh blood supply and oxygen to all your organs. Resist the urge to over exercise which can tax your system and leave you feeling depleted.

6. Wash your hands often
Many germs are spread through contact from your hands to your mouth. Make a point to wash your hands frequently through the day and avoid touching public door knobs and potentially infected areas like unnecessary flights.

7. Drinks lots of water and hot tea
Staying hydrated flushes germs and keeps the body healthy. Consider gargling with salt water and drink lots of hot tea to prevent bacteria from forming in the throat and nose.

8. Avoid sugar and processed foods
Sugar and refined foods deplete the immune system by wreaking havoc on your blood sugar levels and your adrenals. Limit or avoid overly sugary treats to keep your energy reservoirs at peak performance.

9. Take a probiotic
Probiotics build the immune system by introducing healthy bacteria to the gut. Take a quality probiotic or be sure to get a healthy dose of cultured vegetables or fermented foods each day.

10. Avoid those infected with the flu
Of course, whenever possible, stay away from those already infected to ensure they don’t pass the flu to you. Ideally those with the flu will stay incubated for 7-10 days until they are feeling better.

Breastfeeding has many benefits to mothers—one of which is a delay in the return of fertility. Many mothers enjoy a year or more without periods after the birth of their babies. Breastfeeding as a birth control method is referred to as the lactational ammenorrhea method or LAM. LAM is over 98% effective* when the following conditions are met:

Your periods have not returned. It is possible to ovulate before your period returns!

Your baby is under 6 months of age. Although you may remain infertile long after 6 months, the reliability of this method decreases with the age of the baby—probably because of the introduction of solid foods.

Your baby has nothing by mouth except the breast. In other words, the baby is not supplemented with other foods and is not using a pacifier for long periods.

Your baby is breastfeeding at least every 3 hours during the day and at least every 6 hours at night. There IS a benefit to waking at night with your baby! If your baby is up frequently during the night, you’re protected from another pregnancy!

It is important to discuss birth control options with your partner and your doctor. Keep in mind that for at least 6 months any additional birth control you choose will be a back up to LAM.

*Please note: It is unknown whether pumping your milk for your baby provides the same protection as exclusive breastfeeding.

Written by Renee Beebe, M.Ed., IBCLC. Renee is a lactation consultant in private practice in Seattle, Washington. She is available for home/hospital visits and phone consultations. Renee can be reached at www.second9months.com

Attention Ladies!!! You have HOMEWORK!!!! –Write down all the things you LOVE about yourself. Also, list out qualities you want to have (whether or not you have them already). This may sound remedial and unnecessary, but it is a great little cerebral exercise to let go of bad (mental) habits and embrace positive attributes. Remember: when you workout, you’re not just creating a better body, you’re creating a persona, a way of life. Any girl who lives on planet earth should do this homework periodically. Realizing our own potential is true GIRL POWER.

Think on this:

”Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. 
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. 
It is our light, not our darkness,
 that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves:
 Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? 
You are a child of God.
Your playing small 
does not serve the world. 
There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, 
as children do. 
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It’s not just in some of us; 
It’s in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, 
we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. 
As we’re liberated from our own fear, 
our presence automatically liberates others.”

By: Marianne Williamson
(Often quoted as part of Nelson Mandela’s Inaugural Speech)