Common Pregnancy Worries

Even if you are not usually a worrier, being pregnant can turn you into one, at least temporarily. It’s only natural to worry from time to time because you can not exactly see what is going on inside your body as the pregnancy progresses. I’m pretty sure that multiple times during each of my pregnancies I placed my hand on my belly and said “Is everything okay in there?” Worrying can make you feel isolated sometimes. It may be helpful to know that many other pregnant women are concerned about the same things that you are. Here are three common … Continue reading

Losing the Pregnancy Weight Part IV

Exercising is always a challenge but it seems to be more difficult during the post partum period of a woman’s life. There are so many things to which we as new mother’s are adjusting. It is not an easy transition even if the motivation is there. I began preparing myself for the post partum phase from the very beginning of my pregnancy. I knew that regular exercise and a healthy holistic diet through out my pregnancy would prepare me for the post partum fitness transition. It was my goal to bounce back as quickly as possible. Once my daughter was … Continue reading

Losing the Pregnancy Weight Part III

Burning calories is some what intangible. I really have no idea how many calories I am burning each day by breast feeding my daughter. I would like to give credit to a healthier diet and a commitment to long term exercise for my seemingly quicker come back from having my daughter. Having these habits in the beginning really do make a difference. At almost five weeks post-partum I have not actively worked at loosing the excess weight for very long. My efforts have just begun and I am determined to get closer to my pre-pre pregnancy weight (what I weighted … Continue reading

Losing the Pregnancy Weight Part II

I won the competition which was both exciting and sad. I was ecstatic that I won, I put in lots of hard work, but there were lots of other teachers who had more weight to lose and they could have easily beat me and should have. Either way the “biggest loser” competition was the motivation I needed to jump start my weight loss and get me in the habit of regular exercise. I did not stop exercising after the competition … I still had about ten more pounds to lose to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. Instead, I continued … Continue reading

Losing the Pregnancy Weight Part I

Losing the baby weight can be and often is a rather difficult challenge. With my first pregnancy, I did not have the long established habit of regular exercise; I was well within the normal and healthy body mass index but I had very little muscle tone; I was not in shape. I began exercising with my first pregnancy (talk about a real motivating reason to exercise). Even though I exercised regularly throughout my first pregnancy, my workouts were really tame. The biggest challenge came after my son was born. I had gained about twenty pounds more than I had wanted … Continue reading

Pregnancy and America’s Next Top Model

Recently I found myself enthralled with season fifteen of America’s Next Top Model. I found it fascinating to watch the group of skinning and not necessarily very pretty model wannabes undergoing transformation after transformation. I found my self coveting some of the girls’ long hair made even longer with extensions. After cutting my hair short time and time again over the past two and half years, I am trying to grow it out again. As tempting as extensions would be, they are not for me and as awesome as it would be to lose the extra belly fat to resume … Continue reading

Chill Out During Pregnancy

When you are pregnant, there is a lot to worry about. I am THE QUEEN of worry. So, with my first pregnancy, I was a mess. I wish I would have made the effort to have chilled out a little bit during pregnancy. But, I didn’t really know how. You can easily worry yourself into a frenzy. Issues that many women fret over include: *What to eat and how much? *What kind of vitamins to take *Is the baby moving enough, or moving too much? *What kind of parent will you be? *Are you gaining enough weight? Not enough? The … Continue reading

Lose Weight Before Getting Pregnant?

If you know that you are going to be trying to have a baby soon, it sounds crazy to think of trying to lose weight first. What’s the point right? However, I did that with both of my kids. I lost about 20 lbs. before getting pregnant with both of them because I wanted to be at my healthiest when trying to conceive. Does your weight make a difference? Trying to conceive when you are overweight can be more difficult. But, not always. Many women who are overweight experience hormone problems that result in irregular ovulation cycles. This can lead … Continue reading

Why I’m Losing the Mom Hair

Get this: the week I got pregnant, I got a sudden impulse to walk over to a salon during my lunch hour and chop off four inches of my long hair. Granted, I needed a trim, but looking back I’m not sure such a drastic cut was necessary. When I found out I was pregnant a week or two later, I decided I might as well take that hair cut once step further and get a “hot mom haircut.” That was the exact phrase I used to describe the hair I was going for while talking to my stylist. In … Continue reading

Breastfeeding and Weight Loss

Is breastfeeding the magic cure for weight gain after pregnancy? Many think so. In fact, according to research, many women stated that weight reduction was a benefit to breastfeeding. Why wouldn’t it be? On average women again 25-30 pounds during pregnancy. One of the most asked questions concerning weight loss is how to shed post pregnancy pounds. After having a baby your metabolism slows down a bit and your focus is not on yourself but your baby, so losing weight can be a challenge. So where does breastfeeding fit into all of this? Many women who choose to breastfeed have … Continue reading