Fit, Fab and Almost 40!

Post Pregnancy Fitness Goals

9 years ago I celebrated my 30^th birthday and had just qualified for the ‘World Triathlon Championships’ Queenstown 2003. This time 9 years ago I was 3 months out from the biggest race in my life. A training session mid-week would be a 40km TT bike followed by a 16km hilly run.  Now many years later and 5 months out from turning 40 I can just about manage a 20min run. I used to be able to run a 19min 5km off a 20km Bike and complete a Half Ironman!

Now wait a minute Lorraine are you complaining? No, I’m definitely not. My body has gone through 4 pregnancies and 3 births in just four and a half years. The time I had to train back then is now time spent with my kids and on my business, my priorities have definitely changed.  Triathlon training was once my number 1 priority.

You can’t be too hard on yourself post pregnancy. Sometimes we find it all too easy to forget what our bodies have been through and that we are still recovering.  It takes 2 years alone to recover from sleep deprivation never mind your pregnancy.

Many of us should and need to set fitness goals, achieving a goal gives a huge sense of personal achievement and can also make the journey of losing post baby weight and getting your pre baby shape back a little easier. It is also something and maybe the only thing you do for yourself!

My original goals were to have my children at school and get back into triathlon before I turned 40, that’s not going to happen but I don’t mind. The goal I am now setting myself however is to be able to run 10km and feel strong for my birthday now that should be achievable.

 

It’s best to set a main goal then to set several targets. By setting yourself small stepping stones you achieve things along the way helping to increase motivation.  Goals must be achievable if they are not then you will only set yourself up for failure and that does no one any good. It is also better for you if the goal is not centered around weight and body shape. I know as a mum I don't feel happy if I have a 'muffin top' but I try not to focus on losing weight , instead I focus on fitness and healthy eating and in turn I get rid of the 'muffin top'. Set goals such as running a 5km, Cycling for 60 minutes, perform 20 full press ups etc. Take the focus away from weight loss and you are much more likely to reach your goal and be happy with your shape.

The path to your fitness goal(s) is now not as straight forward as it was prior to you becoming a mum. The journey will be full of ups and downs; you now have to take in to account breast-feeding, sleepless nights, sick children and fluctuating hormones. All this can affect your training routine and how your body recovers and adapts to exercise.  Some weeks are better than others; I have learnt to let things go and ‘go with the flow’. This can be very difficult especially so for first time mums as they may think that things will never get any better/easier and that they won’t be able to exercise ever again! Now you may not be able to exercise like you once did but you will eventually find the time, you will get there.

Set yourself a goal, write it down, tell people about it and program several steps along the way, be patient and positive you will get there. Now go and plan your exercise for the week!

Post Pregnancy Hair Loss

As I write this I am experiencing this for the third time and sorry this is not an article telling you how to stop it. If you do find an answer let me know although I’m not planning on having any more children and going through this again.

This instead is an article to let you know that what you may find quite shocking and worrying losing your hair post pregnancy is absolutely normal. I have included  in this blog the things I have done this time to try to reduce post pregnancy hair loss.

Even though I had seen it happen to my clients I was horrified the first time I noticed I had bald spots 5 months post the birth of my first daughter and that I had receded- argh!  I can’t actually remember losing it first time but second time around I was prepared although it was still up-setting all the same.
Yes I know I have gorgeous children and I'm truly grateful but losing your hair can be really hard to deal with.

4 months post the birth of my second daughter Brooke the big fall out started, my brush was full of hair, my partner was complaining there was hair everywhere, and when I would blow- dry it you could see it falling out. I once caught my hair in a bag strap, I lifted my hair out from under the strap and half of it came out and was left on my jumper! Seems strange too I mean genetically and from a safety point of view why would this happen as your baby becomes littered with hair.

I searched on –line for answers but I knew there was no way to stop it. Can you imagine, most of the articles said try not to stress? Try not to stress, what when you can see yourself going bald erm yes that’s a tough one!

It can take around 2-3 years for your hair to recover from the post pregnancy hair loss. You lose minimum if any hair loss during a pregnancy hence why your hair looks so dam good. Then post pregnancy you lose it. For those very lucky women with thick hair they may not even notice or be glad of the natural thinning but for those of us with thin hair it can look absolutely awful and it takes time getting used to. My base-ball hat becomes my friend and I change the side of my parting.

Pregnancy hormones are to blame and you lose your hair regardless  if you breast-feed or not. Hair loss normally happens around 4-6 months post although everyone is different. So if you start seeing mounds of your hair falling out this is what I have tried third time around to try to reduce and help healthy hair grow back. I have found the extreme loss continues for approx 3-5 weeks.

• Avoid washing your hair regularly- the weight of the water pulls more out
• Avoid brushing too much and use a wide tooth comb when you do
• Get a cut around the 3 month mark as medium length hair has less chance of getting caught in bag straps and under clothes.
• Tie your hair up loosely at night to avoid it being pulled on the pillow
• I have used a caffeine hair serum this time to stimulate new growth. I have yet to see if this really works.
• Finally try not to worry, it is normal. Part your hair on the other side if it covers loss and by the time your baby is 2 your hair will be back to normal!

If you have any other tips to share on this subject please comment and help other readers going through this one downside for me anyway to pregnancy.
 

Pregnancy Care at Home

Many of the women, in their pregnancy stage will find it highly beneficial to know about the tips and facts related to pregnancy care at home. Apart from meeting a doctor, you also need to care yourself and your baby at home, who is still in your womb. The several facts associated with home pregnancy care will help you become a responsible parent and you will have a healthy baby. Often, women face several complexities during her pregnancy, due to some negligence on their health part or may be due to unawareness related to pregnancy complexities.

Some of the tips that will help you to take care of you and your unborn baby are as follows:

Exercises that strengthen your muscles: A mother carries additional weight at the time of pregnancy and so it is necessary to strengthen the muscles involved in such physical conditions. Exercises will help you to maintain the strength and elasticity of the connective tissues. First of all, one of the best cardiovascular exercises to keep your muscles strong is walking. It will help you avoid jarring of your ankles and knees. It will be highly beneficial to walk about 20 minutes daily at the time of pregnancy.

Know how to sit and stand: During pregnancy, try to maintain a proper posture, when you are sitting or standing, in order to maintain proper equilibrium that would not put an extra burden on your bones and muscles. It is common to experience an extra arch at the back, due to heavier portion of the stomach. Make sure you do not sit with your legs hanging in the air and try to give proper support to your legs.

Take healthy diet: Healthy diet is very important during pregnancy as you need to maintain a healthy body that would be beneficial for you and your unborn baby. Eat foods that are healthy in protein, carbohydrates and minerals. Avoid junk and oily food, because that may have an adverse effect on your and the health of your baby as well. Include variety of foods rich in fiber and protein, and consume at least 300 extra calories per day for your baby, as compared to the diet you used to take before getting pregnant.

Doing exercise and taking healthy diet will help you and your unborn baby to remain healthy. The pregnancy care tips at home will help you avoid the complexities that you might face during this beautiful stage.

How to Activate Transverse Abdominal

Every women needs to activate her T.V.A-Transverse abdominal muscle and pelvic floor muscles after giving birth. This is the exercise you need to do during the first 1-10 days post birth. If you have had a ‘C’ section it is better to wait for 5-14 days before you start.

Why is it Important? 

It is important to start activating your TVA along with your pelvic floor muscles as this is the first part in your rehabilitation from your pregnancy, labour and birth.  These muscles have been severely stretched and severed (after a ‘C’ section) during your pregnancy and you have lost or have minimal neural connection to them.

If you have strong TVA and pelvic floor muscles you can hold good posture whilst you are breastfeeding, carrying and lifting your baby. It will decrease the risk of back and hip pain and reduces possible post pregnancy incontinence.

Exercising the muscles sooner rather than later will help to start to correct a diastasis recti (post pregnancy abdominal separation) ultimately leading to a flatter stomach and if you want to eventually get back into a regular exercise routine activating these muscles daily is a must to prevent injury.

Where are these Important Muscles?

• The transverse abs run from our sides (lateral) to the front (anterior), its fibers running horizontally (transverse).
• The muscle runs transverse and is the deepest of the major abdominal muscles (the others being the rectus abdominis, and the internal and external obliques).
• It ends (the muscle insertion) by joining with the large vertical abdominal muscle in the middle (the linea alba), where the fibers begin to curve downward and upward depending on what direction it has to go to meet the linea alba, and below the sternum it combines with next most superficial muscle (the internal oblique). This insertion runs down by the belly button where it passes over the thick abdomen muscle (the "6/8-pack") and all the ab muscle fibers join together.

The transversus abdominis (TVA) helps to compress the ribs and viscera, providing torso and pelvic stability. The transversus abdominis also helps pregnant women deliver their baby.

Watch my video guide to Activate your TVA's correctly

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Make sure this is the first Exercise you do after Giving Birth and do it sooner rather than later.

You don't have to engage the muscles lying down you can think about engaging your TVA and Pelvic Floor muscles during the day.

Have a look at your stomach when you are standing, sitting and when you are holding your baby and try to activate your T.V.A muscles. Draw your belly button in towards your spine, I think about either trying to zip up a pair of jeans or imagine you have a corset on and it is being pulled tighter. You should see your tummy draw in; if you can see this happening, you are activating the correct muscles. You could use a mirror to help, stand sideways and watch yourself activating these muscles.

From 1-14 days post birth this is the exercise you need to do try to think about activating your tummy muscles regularly when you are lifting, changing and carrying your baby. If you can concentrate on this for a couple of weeks post birth the connections will become stronger, the muscle strength will increase and activating these once weakened muscles will become second nature.

For a full Pre or Post Pregnancy Exercise Program have a look at my website. Pregnancy Exercise Program  and Post Pregnancy Exercise Program

Signs of Pregnancy

It happens in life that a curiosity arouses in your heart to know certain facts related to your life and functioning of your body. One of the most important facts that an every woman or a teen aged girl, will like to know are the signs of pregnancy. The early signs of pregnancy before a missed period will make you alert, to take proper precaution on time or plan your motherhood, beforehand. There are many symptoms that will help you realize that “you are pregnant’ and you just need to observe them carefully. Although a doctor is the best person to confirm your pregnancy, but the changes that occur in the body due to pregnancy can be observed minutely by a female, and thus they can easily confirm their pregnancy by themselves, even before meeting a doctor.

Pregnancy Signs

Let’s have a look at the signs of pregnancy that will help you know, whether you are pregnant. Some of the symptoms of pregnancy are as follows:

Missed Period: It is the most common sign that says that you are pregnant. If you are a sexually active female and you have a regular menstrual cycle, then missing a regular period in a month, is most probably, the obvious sign of pregnancy. If it happens, consult a doctor immediately.

Vomiting and Nausea: Nausea and vomiting, which is also popularly known as morning sickness is one of the symptoms of pregnancy. Often, it continues until the second trimester and it is possible that all women may or may not experience this sign during their pregnancy.

Changes in Breast: There will be few changes in the breast taking place, if you are pregnant such as breast tenderness, change in its size, increase in sensitivity, and darkening of areola.

Feel Urination Frequently: It is also one of the most common pregnancy sign and you might feel frequent urination during pregnancy. If it happens it is possible that you are pregnant.

Feeling Sleepy: Fatigue and sleepiness most often, can also be the sign confirming that you are pregnant.

There are many other signs of pregnancy too, but the few mentioned above are the most common symptoms of pregnancy. A doctor can tell you better after examining and carrying out some tests, whether you are pregnant, but it is possible that you might be pregnant, if you are facing the above pregnancy symptoms.

Know the Best Time to Get Pregnant or Avoid Pregnancy

Sex is something which is very natural among the male and female. All most all the species of the world whether land animals or sea animals, all reproduce by either sexually or asexually. People often try to know that when should they do sex, when there is less possibility of getting pregnant. For knowing the best time to avoid unwanted sex, you will first have to understand the menstrual cycle properly. There is a specific time when egg is not developed properly, and this is the time when you can do sex with your partner without ant fear of getting pregnant. Its normally assumed that seven days before the menstrual cycle starts and seven days after the menstrual cycle ends are the best time for safe sex but one thing should be noted that the menstrual cycle is regular. The other way of avoiding pregnancy is to wash all the sperms from the vagina properly.

When you do sex with your partner then you should leave the bed immediately after ejaculation and wash the vagina properly is one of the old sayings but its better to avoid sex between 15th to 28th of the 28 days menstrual cycle, as it is the most probable time to get pregnant. It has been scientifically proved that the sperm of a boy lives for 12 hours whereas the egg of a girl lives for 72 hours. And, 15th day is the most probable day of getting pregnant if you do sex without any protection. It means sex should be avoided for 72 hours before the 15th day of the 28 days menstrual cycle. Apart from these measures, it is better to use condoms or take pills for avoiding unwanted pregnancy.

Why is Sex Good for Health

A question still goes on in the mind of a person that whether regular sex is good for health or not. They also think that, why is sex good for health. People used to believe earlier that sex done regularly makes weakens a person. But, this is not the truth as per the recent research done by the scientists recently. The results which came out after the recent research differs from what people used to think in the olden days. The scientists have proved through their recent research that sex is very much beneficial for the health of a human being.

It might be amazing to note that sex gives the benefits which are not even possible by using the best medicines. Sex can give you a healthy body with shiny hair and glowing skin. There are lots of benefits of doing sex regularly and these benefits are not known by most of the people. It has been proved that sex combats diseases like asthma and keeps proper blood regulation in your heart.  Apart from these benefits, sex also helps to provide relief in headache, reducing depression, burning extra fats and calories, better metabolic rate, etc. When you do sex your partner, your body releases the hormones which helps your body in fighting with different diseases and keeps your body strong. This is the reason which answers the question why is sex good for health. You can get a healthy body and healthy mind by doing sex regularly. So, maintain a good relation with your partner, enjoy sex with your partner and keep your life happier and healthier.

Sex not only helps you in maintaining good health but also makes the bond stronger between you and your partner. It makes your relationship much better and long lasting. Apart from the physical attachment, it also attaches you emotionally to your partner. It boosts positive energy in you and makes you much stronger spiritually and psychologically which is essential for maintaining good health. This is the answer to the question why sex is good for health. At last it should be also remembered that sex should not be done more than thrice in a week because it may weaken your immune system and your body may not be able to prevent itself from certain infections.