Staying Hydrated

Part of having a healthy body is to stay hydrated.  Your body needs fluids in order to work. 

While exercising, make sure you stay hydrated.  You lose fluids to sweating and your body is using fluids to help your joints, muscles, blood flow, etc while you are moving. 

Fluids also help in weight loss.  If you are trying to lose weight, make sure you continue to drink plenty of water.  It also helps fill your stomach which hopefully takes off the edge of being really hungry.

Dehydration During Breastfeeding

My baby is only 4 months and 3 weeks old and I've been dehydrated twice during these past weeks.  The first time happened about a month ago when I decided to fast which meant no food and no liquids.  Needless to say, since I am breastfeeding, it was a pretty poor idea.  However, no one told me to be careful with fasting while breastfeeding.  I learned the hard way. 

My body became completely dehydrated and it took me a few days to get back to normal.  It must have affected my milk supply because the couple of days following the fast, my baby was quite grumpy at feeding times.  She would push and yank and it was not fun. 

Well, somehow, a few days ago I became dehydrated again.  I've been living by the rule, If I'm not thirsty, I don't need to drink.  I probably don't have to tell you, but it's the completely wrong way to live.  Feeling thirsty means you're already dehydrated and I've been slightly dehydrated for quite a while.  The past couple of days have been spent drinking a glass of water, running to the bathroom 15 minutes later, downing another glass of water ... and it just goes on and on.  Trying to rehydrate is a lot harder than just staying hydrated in the first place.

Apparently not every breastfeeding woman goes through the need to drink more water than usual, but it makes sense that you might need to drink more.  To make the milk, your body needs fluids.  In fact, most of breast milk is actually water so it's really important to keep yourself hydrated.

When your body becomes dehydrated and you need to feed your baby, the milk supply does decrease.  If it is just a slight dehydration, more than likely, your milk supply is okay.  The problem comes when your body goes into a more severe dehydration.  But your baby will usually let you know if the milk supply has decreased. 

If you are dehydrated and it is affecting your milk supply, drink plenty of fluids and pump (or let the baby suck for pacifying or longer than needed).  I personally like to pump right after the baby eats so that it signals to my body that I need to make more milk, but I don't necessarily pump out lots of milk.

Stress and Eating

So after writing the last post, I watched "Killer At Large," a documentary about obesity.  It mentioned that "eating healthy and exercising" was easier said than done and I thought that was a really good point.  For a lot of people, stress makes them want to eat.  Usually the opposite happens to me - I get so sick with stress that I have no desire to eat.  To be honest, neither are good for you.

I have no recommendations as to how best combat eating and stress but I will suggest striving to keep stress levels low.  One thing I have learned lately is that sometimes I really just can't control things I would like to - I can't control how late I am for something when I'm stuck in rush hour-construction traffic.  There's no way to get where I'm going any faster than I'm already going.  I can't change the fact that I slept through my alarm again.  I can't go back in time and fix that lame thing I said to someone.  And when I'm asked to speak in front of a group and I've committed to being there, I can't back down.  In all these situations, I can't necessarily control the event or outcome, but I can control my stress levels.  For me, a good, long drive or talking it out with someone usually takes care of my stress.

My suggestion to you if you have a problem with eating while stressed is to use something other than food to calm yourself down.  Some people run, some people nap, and some people let their minds get involved in a good movie.  Whatever it is, use it to your advantage to help your body and your brain stay healthy.

HCG Diet

Over the past many months, I have known and heard of many people who are on the HCG diet.  It's hard for me to listen to their dieting plans because I don't believe in diets other than using the food pyramid as a guide to healthy eating and exercising.  Really, healthy eating and exercising is all you need to maintain a healthy body.

HCG, however, has become the new craze because it shows results.  Here's the reasons why it shows results:

• you only get to eat 500 calories a day
• your body is only intaking 500 calories a day
• you are eating healthy, but only intaking 500 calories a day

Currently, my suggested intake is about 1800 calories while 2000 calories is about average.  I am a small girl who is not currently exercising too much so my intake is less than average.  However, keep in mind, it is still 1800 calories.

I wanted to make sure I wasn't just getting huffy about nothing so I checked out a few websites that explained this HCG diet.  I was highly unamused.  Not only did the 500 calories a day bother me, but one website mentioned that there was no need to exercise and if one did choose to exercise, 20 minutes was more than enough.  Just so we're clear, 20 minutes is usually the suggested minimum amount of exercise.

Really, I could go on and on about the problems I have found with this diet but the bottom line is simple:  Yes, it works, but people who are on it are starving themselves and that's why it works.  I understand that this diet is supposed to be changing lifestyles so once you no longer are on the diet, you should still be eating healthy, and I see where they are going with this, however, only eating 500 calories a day is just simply not good for a body.

So my advice is to not do this diet.  Your body actually wants more than 500 calories.  If you are really interested in losing weight, I would suggest eating healthy - look to the food pyramid for guidance.  Remember to eat a "normal" portion.  As much as I could go to my local burger shop and eat 5 burgers, I eat one.  I try to eat until my brain says, "Yep, your stomach just hit a good level of fullness," and then I stop.  There's no point in eating until I feel like I can't move and I need a nap because I've just eaten so much.  It's just not good for the body.  And remember to exercise.  I recently had a new addition to my family, a little baby, and I do plenty of baby lifts, plenty of walking around the house showing her all the pictures and things, and plenty of laughing (which is really one of the best ways for a longer, happier life).  I make exercise work for my lifestyle and I think everyone can, you've just got to put forth the effort and find what works best for you.

Exercise & Pregnancy

I started this blog a while ago in hopes to relay all of my applicable knowledge on exercise and nutrition, however, I found myself in quite a pickle when I found out I was pregnant.  This being the first time, it was quite a shock (seeing as we weren't planning on becoming pregnant) and because my whole life seemed to change.

In the beginning, I felt sick constantly and had very strong food aversions.  I could eat fruits, potatoes, breads, and crackers.  Anything more normally made me feel pretty sick afterwards.  I also didn't move much.  Exercising was too strenuous and walking for too long made me feel very nauseous.  So I thought, how can I keep this blog up when I can't even eat and exercise properly?

However, I've learned some important things since then.  The most important is to remember to do as what you can.  Luckily, many grocery stores sell prenatal vitamins that can help insure that you get the vitamins that you need so if all you want is bread and peanut butter, you can eat all you want of that and take your prenatal vitamins.  Once you start to come out of the first trimester and are able to eat normally again, then is the time to start worrying about making sure you are eating a well-rounded diet, as well as intaking a prenatal vitamin.

Second, exercise when you can.  There's no point in trying to work out if you don't feel well.  It is miserable and only makes you not want to do it the next time.  For me, during that first trimester, I made sure I parked far away from a store so I had to take a walk to the front doors.  Once inside, if I had time, I'd stroll around the store.  It was a nice break from lying on the couch most of the day.  Then, if I had to, I would find somewhere to sit and just relax for a while before continuing on.  When my energy levels started improving as I worked my way into the second trimester, I would gradually try to increase the amount and intensity that I would walk.  But keep in mind, don't do more than you feel like you can.

The last main thing to remember is to not start new physical activities.  For example, I love to play tennis.  I have played for the past 12 years and the winter and lack of indoor tennis courts is the only thing that stops me from playing.  Since tennis is not a new thing to my life, if I choose, I can continue playing tennis.  However, soccer is something I've never really picked up.  Therefore, soccer isn't something I should start playing until the pregnancy is over.  There is a risk for serious injury to you and the baby by starting something brand new.

To go along with this, make sure you talk to your doctor about a fitness program.  It is very important to exercise during pregnancy, however, if you were not an avid work out person before becoming pregnant, it is necessary to talk to the doctor about what you can do now.  They will help provide some simple but effective exercises to help make sure you stay healthy, as well as keeping your baby healthy while it is still growing and developing.

The 6 PM Rule

I was recently asked about the 6 pm rule ... the rule that states that you shouldn't eat after 6 pm.

The myth: not eating after 6 pm will help you lose weight.

The concept: by stopping your food intake at an earlier time like 6 pm, it will help you at least maintain a more stable weight because the likelihood of you moving around a lot in the evening is not very likely. Because of this, by ceasing food consumption at an earlier time, you will burn more of the calories you eat throughout the day.

The truth: the most important part of a healthy lifestyle is balancing exercise with eating. If you have ever been to Europe, it is very clear that they have a very small percentage of overweight people. If you haven't been to Europe but have been to a nice restaurant, the same concepts apply to those who live in Europe: eat the correct portion size and move.

It doesn't seem like a hard concept, right? Except for us Americans, it is very hard. We are all about getting what we have paid for - the small portion sizes of the fancy restaurants aren't filling and we want to be full when we leave a restaurant.

Also, for most Americans, there are a million things to do in a day and not enough time to do it. Traveling by cars is fastest and we want to park as close to the building we need to get to in order to arrive there fast. There just isn't enough time in our daily schedule to exercise ... or is there?

One of the most important things to remember about exercise is that you need time to do it - setting aside time in your schedule to exercise is just as important as setting aside time to eat. Make exercising a part of your daily routine. And don't stop there. Park far away from where you need to go, take the stairs instead of the elevator, and if you live close to many stores and restaurants like I do, walk there instead of driving for 2 minutes to where you want to go.

So the 6 pm rule has a great take-home concept: make sure you burn the calories that you're eating. It's okay to eat at 11 pm but just remember that those calories still need to be burned.

Girls and Their Cramps

My sister-in-law left a comment about exercising and cramps which made me decide that it is another great exercise topic. I remember when I first got cramps and the last thing I was ever told to do was to exercise. Yet that’s exactly what the doctor should prescribe. Maybe this will help bring about some more understanding about girls and what to do about their cramps:

Exercise releases endorphins. Endorphins are a hormone that is released in response to stress or pain; they are natural pain killers. The secretion of endorphins gives a feeling of euphoria. Have you ever just felt really good about things after a good, long run? Or have you ever felt much better by punching a pillow? If so, that’s because endorphins were released.

This is the same for cramps. It is suggested that a regular exercise routine is maintained before, during, and after cramps. If exercise is only a solution during cramps, you may get more muscle pain from exercising than just the regular cramps. Not only that, but by exercising regularly, more endorphins will be released each time you engage in physical activity. Along with that, at least 30 minutes of physical activity is suggested in order to receive the benefits of exercise.

I understand that cramps are different from woman to woman which is why it is so important for you to decide how much exercise you need and what the intensity of it should be. For some, getting out and walking slowly for 30 minutes is all that they can do. However, even that little bit helps. For others, their motto is “no pain, no gain” which isn’t really a great outlook on exercise, but if they can work at a high intensity for a long duration, good for them! And then if you’re like me, playing some intense tennis for an hour is perfect. I love it because I get to move, I get to hit the tennis ball as hard as I can (right at my opponent if I’m really upset that day), and I get to yell at the ball or myself all I want and no one stops me because it’s all a part of my game.

So the bottom line is EXERCISE! It releases endorphins, makes you feel good, and helps relieve some of those nasty girl cramps.

On a side note, apparently chocolate releases endorphins too. So if you're really not up for exercise, perhaps try some chocolate and let me know if it works. I'm guessing it does. Who is sad and in pain after they eat chocolate (unless you're like me and it makes you sick)?