There are many health benefits associated with watermelon and it can be very beneficial during pregnancy. Traditionally, this fruit was thought of as a long standing member at traditional summertime barbeques. Now days, watermelon is used in many different recipes including salads, sauces, smoothies, sorbets, and other types of desserts.
Watermelon is a good source of Vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin B6, potassium and magnesium. A one cup serving of this fruit is less than 50 calories. When selecting a watermelon to purchase, make sure that it is heavy in weight and that the rind is smooth. It shouldn’t be too dull or too glossy and there should be a cream or yellow colored spot on one side. This represents the side that was resting on the ground. If it doesn’t have that underbelly color it may have been harvested too soon and the fruit won’t be as juicy or tasteful.
“If you're pregnant, the benefits are even more delicious. Watermelon eases heartburn and reduces swelling; its high water content (92 percent) and fruit sugars alleviate morning sickness and dehydration; and the minerals it contains can help prevent third-trimester muscle cramps. Ounce for ounce, watermelon is richer than tomatoes in lycopene, an antioxidant that protects against cancer and cardiovascular disease, boosts the body's immunity to infections and naturally raises the skin's SPF, according to Steven Pratt, M.D., author of SuperFoods Rx (HarperCollins, 2003).”
Fit Pregnancy reports, “A 2003 study in the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics found that daily lycopene supplements reduced the incidence of preeclampsia by 50 percent. Test subjects were given 4 milligrams of lycopene; a single serving of watermelon can have triple that amount.”
Every Wednesday will be a new article in my “Fruits and Vegetable” series. Each week will feature a different fruit or vegetable. It will discuss the health benefits and offer simple tips to help you achieve your healthy living goals.Thanks to this site.
Everyone agrees that having a baby changes one's life forever in a number of different ways. One way is that the mother is now putting the baby's needs in front of her own, especially when it comes to sleep, feeding, and time. Most new moms want to get back to their pre-pregnancy weight, but may not have the time or energy to devote to an exercise program like they did before they got pregnant. Be sure to get physician's clearance to exercise (often time is 6 weeks post-partum, longer if there was a C-section).
Below are some simple, practical, yet effective tips to help new moms lose the pregnancy weight:
- Strength train 2-3x/wk. It only has to be 10-15 minutes with full body moves. Squats, push-ups, standing lunges, crunches, shoulder press, tricep dips are exercises that can be done at home with minimal or no equipment.
- Get outside! Get the stroller or baby jogger and start with 10-15 minutes of walking or easy walk/jog intervals (i.e. warm up, 5x2 min jog alternate with 2 min walk, cool down) Cardio can be done 3-5 times a week.
- Look into mom-baby exercise classes, such as StrollerFit, Moxie Moms, and post-partum classes at the nearest fitness facility.
- Nutrition. It may seem easier to just grab for the first thing in the pantry for quick energy, but try to focus eating healthy, unprocessed food. Eating a sound nutritional diet (including not skipping breakfast) will increase energy and help with weight loss.
The key is setting a small goal each day, for example, today may be 10 minutes of strength training, tomorrow is a walk, the next day is drinking enough water, etc. Remember that even 10 minutes a day is better than nothing!
Happy Training!
BIRTH Lounge launches the first ever antenatal workshop for pregnant women in Kerala on July 5 at the Harbour View Residency. The problem of being overweight or underweight during pregnancy is one that affects many expectant mothers.
Research proves that what the mother eats in the nine months can impact the baby’s health, as well as her own, for decades to come. Priyanka Idicula, Lamaze certified international child birth educator, brings nutrition strategies to life by showing how a mother can avoid excessive calories but eat well and take in all the required nutrients necessary for the growth of the child.Relaxation and confidence are essential for a positive pregnancy and birthing experience.
The participation and encouragement of a partner also helps to ease discomfort and aids smooth labour and delivery. Partners who take an active role during pregnancy will also cultivate a deeper connection with the child. In this holistic workshop, expectant mothers will learn how to stay in shape during pregnancy, as well as stay on top of the changes in their bodies.Tips on how one should prepare and achieve normal birth will be discussed. Many old wives’ tales/myths / horror stories will be cleared. Expectant couples get to meet other couples, and many go on to form play groups and lifelong friendships with those they meet. Whether it’s a healthier pregnancy, increased knowledge, reduced anxiety, or a greater closeness with the labour partner, this birthing class is one that will surely leave one confident and relaxed. For further registrations, contact birth lounge at 989528319.
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Methodist Hospital PsychoTherapist Mary Jo Rapini says kids tend to have less structure and supervision in the summertime and more time on their hands. She also says girls who feel alone this summer, isolated or who don't feel close to their parents are more likely to get pregnant.
Rapini says a simple way to keep your child from becoming a parent before they are ready is to get and stay involved in their lives. She says parents who share their lives with their children and who show interest in their kids lives are less likely to have a teen who becomes a parent.
Rapini encourages parents to have open dialogue about sex and the consequences that come with it.
Texas has the fifth highest teen pregnancy rate in the country. Rapini has many more tips on her website www.maryjorapini.com . Including 70 things you can do instead of having sex in a committed relationship.
Rapini is the co-author of "Start Talking: A Girl's Guide For You & Your Mom About Sex, Health or Whatever."
Rapini encourages parents to use things like books, articles or TV reports to launch conversations with their kids on a daily basis.
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During pregnancy it's completely natural to worry about your baby and your body. In fact, there's probably not much else on your mind!
You'll experience a range of emotions including excitement, impatience and sometimes nerves and anxiety. Getting stressed out isn't good for you, so we've got experts to answer your most common questions throughout the whole of your pregnancy - so if you're at the early stages remember to come back later.
Rumor has it, Nicole Richie has decided on a name for the baby boy she is carrying. According to sources close to the expectant celebrity socialite and her partner Joel
"When she heard Donald
Nicole
Earlier this month, there were reports saying the celebrity couple is expecting a son after their friends allegedly claimed to have seen them buying blue-colored baby gear. When asked to verify the story during "Larry King Live" on Thursday, May 28, Nicole said, "We want the surprise ..... I'll get the clothes after."
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New parents often have many questions when it comes to Mom and baby's nutrition. How will Mom cope with "morning" sickness? Will you choose breast milk or formula for baby? Here are some key steps for keeping your family happy and healthy during these new and exciting times.
Morning sickness: Nausea and vomiting can occur at any time of day during pregnancy, and for some, well past the first trimester. What's going on? A surge and change in hormones are suspected. To reduce symptoms of "morning" sickness eat small, frequent meals (including snacks) throughout the day. Stay clear of strong flavors and odors - and follow a low-fat (not fat-free!) meal plan. Before getting out of bed in the morning, eat. Keep a snack-size pouch of pretzels or crackers on your bedside table to nibble on before leaving your bed. Eating a bedtime snack rich in protein and heart-healthy fats such as plain yogurt mixed with granola may also reduce symptoms as well.
Save money while eating on the fly: Personal schedules often pick up pace closer to baby's due date. Family budgets can suddenly become of utmost importance, too - especially if taking leave from work. Save money and build healthy meals at home. Plan weekly menus based upon schedules and meal plan needs. On the days you cook, keep it simple. Create colorful, heart-healthy meals with whole grains, vegetables and lean meats.
Breast milk or formula? Breast milk is the best nutritional choice for most babies. It allows mom to pass along precious immune defense compounds, as well as essential nutrients tailored directly to each stage of a baby's development. That said, strictly breast feeding for the first six months of life and supplementation with infant-appropriate solid foods between 6 to 12 months is nutritionally preferred. If breastfeeding isn't an option, choose a formula that's convenient and similar in composition to mom's milk.
Solids - which ones? After baby's first month or so of eating solids, you may notice they're ready to move past rice cereal. Regardless whether you plan on preparing baby's food from scratch or not, commercially prepared options deserve consideration. They allow flexibility with schedules, travel, out-of-home care and family visits. When choosing a line of baby food, focus on brands offering all-natural, single foods and "mixed" meals without preservatives, artificial colors, added sodium and sugars.
To juice or not to juice? This is a common topic of debate for parents. Do children need juice? No. Whole fruits can provide one's daily servings of fruit. Can juice help meet daily servings of fruit? Yes, if it's 100 percent juice. If offering juice, keep these in mind: Don't offer juice before 6 months of age; only offer it in a cup, never in a bottle; and keep daily serving sizes to no more than 4 to 6 ounces for children ages 1 to 6.
By arming yourself with nutritional strategies early on, you'll be ready to tackle anything that comes your way - keeping Mom and baby healthy for optimal growth and development. Carrie Taylor is a registered dietitian and licensed dietitian nutritionist with Big Y. If you have a nutrition question, e-mail her at askcarrie@bigy .com or write Ask Carrie, 2145 Roosevelt Ave, P.O. Box 7840, Springfield, MA 01102.
According to Meriden's housing statistics for 2008, there are 4914 single-parent households. That's a lot of people that are trying to make ends meet on their own. It's difficult for a married couple to hold down two jobs, be able to afford their mortgage and keep up with all the household work that needs to be done. On top of that add children into the mix. Now take one of the partners out of the picture and you have us. That's right, the single parent who's doing it all: bath time, making dinner, cleaning, providing the roof over their cute little heads. How we have done it up to now we don’t know. We just plod along, cut corners and somehow make it work.
Even if you don’t keep up with the news, you’d have to have been living in a cave this past year to not be aware of the spiraling economy. It’s impacted everyone and everything. Groceries have gone up, gas is more expensive and our salaries (if you’re lucky enough to have not been laid off by now) are still the same. So how can you make it work when it was barely working before? It’s not easy, but we just have to cut more corners and be smarter with our money. It’s a very challenging time for everyone, but even more so for single-parents trying to raise and support their children on their own. The bottom line is a very basic economic rule, either make more or spend less.
Spending less can seem impossible at first. It takes some practice and maybe some creativity, but it can be done. If you go out for lunch, start buying and making your lunch at home. A medium coffee from a coffee shop can cost you about $2.00 - that’s $10.00 a week if you buy one every day. All those things add up quickly. It’s more cost effective to buy a thermos and make coffee at home. Start clipping coupons and buy only those items that are on sale. If you don’t know where to start, keep a journal of everything you buy and what it costs for at least a week. At the end, analyze the amount of your income that goes to frivolous purchases and then stop buying them. Some good ways to decrease your bills are to cut down on the little extras. For example, do you have the gold star phone plan on your home phone and cell phone? Why? Most cell phone basic plans include caller id, call waiting and free long distance. Cut your home phone plan down to the bare minimum and save $10-$20 per month. The same goes for your cable, do you really need 75 movie channels? The answer is, “No, you do not!” Get rid of the expensive package and get basic cable. You can rent unlimited movies from NetFlix for as little at $9.00 a month with no late fees.
If you’re not a good saver, you’re going to need to earn more money. As single-parents, we hardly have the luxury of picking up overtime because that would probably warrant child care…or your sanity if you’re already working full time. One option is a home-based business. There are a lot of home-business opportunities out there, but you have to wary of those that claim to make you $1000 per week for making a couple of phone calls. Those with a hefty start-up cost are not attractive either. Ideally you want something that you like to do and has the potential to make you some extra cash. Some valid home-based businesses that I have been involved with are sales/consulting business such as Usborne Books & More. They won’t make you rich overnight, but you can do most of the work while your kids are asleep. The best part is that you make your own hours and can work as little or as much as you want.
There are ways to keep your head above water during the coming months, just dig deep and set your mind to it.
There is something fascinating about twins and many women long for a twin pregnancy. In recent years, the number of women having a twin pregnancy or even higher types of multiple pregnancies such as sextuplets has increased. This is due to a large number of reasons. Many women simply want to have a twin pregnancy so that they do not need to have another pregnancy to produce a sibling for an only child. The trauma of birth is often something that many women feel that they only want to go through once and having twins would be the perfect answer.
Twins do hold a particular fascination for a lot of people and a lot of research has been done into how a woman can increase the chances of her having a twin pregnancy. Some of the results are fairly unusual. For instance, the mother's diet may influence whether she has a higher chance of a twin pregnancy. There are more twins in certain cultures and one of these is a tribe where they eat a lot of yams. So, there is a theory that it is a certain chemical in the yams that helps the women in this culture have a twin pregnancy. Obviously, the mother needs to eat re than just yams to have a healthy pregnancy but it is an interesting theory that she may want to consider if she wants a twin pregnancy.
If a woman is breastfeeding when she conceives then she is more likely to have a twin pregnancy than women who were not breastfeeding. The breastfeeding causes a reduction in the amount of calcium in the woman's system and this has an effect on the egg during conception and ovulation can increase the chances of her having a twin pregnancy.
Older women are more likely to have a twin pregnancy. There is an increased ovulation of multiple eggs in older women and this can lead to a higher chance of the woman having a twin pregnancy. Fertility treatments can also lead to an increased chance of multiple pregnancies. It is also evident that women from African backgrounds are more likely to have pregnancies that are twins or more.
There used to be a theory that twins actually skipped a generation but now it is widely believed that a twin is more likely to have a twin pregnancy themselves. Obviously, this is genetic, but it is another point to consider if you are a twin and want to become pregnant. Similarly, if your family history or that of your partner's has a lot of twins then there is an increased chance that you will have a twin pregnancy too.
There are various types of pregnancy due date calculator that health professionals can use to determine the due date of a baby. In the very early stages of a pregnancy the most frequently used types of pregnancy due date calculator involve using the date that a woman had her last menstrual cycle and the usual length of her period. This type of pregnancy due date calculator is only a rough estimator of when a baby is actually due. A number of factors make this type of pregnancy due date calculator being less than accurate. The most important factor is using this form of pregnancy due date calculator is that a woman needs to know the date of her last period. If she has missed more than one menstrual cycle before she thinks that she may be pregnant then her accurate recollection of the date of her last menstrual cycle is not very reliable. A woman may not have a period or may suffer from irregular menstrual cycles and this makes the date of her last period even less accurate for the pregnancy due date calculator.
The pregnancy due date calculator not only works with the inaccurate information provided about the date of a woman's last menstrual cycle but also assumes that every woman has a menstrual cycle of 28 days. This means that in the early stages of pregnancy a pregnancy due date calculator can only used to produce an estimated due date for the baby. Of course, your health professional will use this type of pregnancy due date calculator in the initial stages of your pregnancy to give a general timeline for the pregnancy but it is important to remember that the estimated due date given can be extremely inaccurate.
After approximately ten weeks a woman is usually given a scan to help more accurately assess the length of the pregnancy. The size of the growing foetus can be used from these ultrasound scans to provide various measurements which are used in a pregnancy due date calculator to determine the estimated due date more accurately. For example, the length of the foetus and the size of its head at various stages throughout the pregnancy are measured and these provide more accurate figures for a pregnancy due date calculator to be able to predict the date of birth. This is because a foetus grows at a predicted rate and it is by using these measurements that a pregnancy due date calculator can give the woman the best estimate as to when her baby is due.
Blood tests that measure that amount of hCG in a woman's blood can also be used by a pregnancy due date calculator. Blood and ultrasound results are the best sources of data for a pregnancy due date calculator and are likely to provide a much more accurate due date compared to any type of pregnancy due date calculator based solely on a woman's previous menstrual period.
