Safe Pregnancy Exercise – How to Warm Up and Cool Down

Safe pregnancy exercise of any kind - cardiovascular or strength training - require extra circulation of blood throughout your body.

As you move, your muscles require more oxygen and nutrients to keep them going. Your blood carries these essentials throughout the entire body. As your muscles begin to work harder, your heart needs to pump faster to keep up.

If you jump right into a workout with out warming up, your heart is not pumping fast enough to the oxygen and nutrients around in an efficient manner. This is especially important for expectant mothers because you need blood not only for your hard working muscles, but for your baby as well.

A good warm up ensures that your body is prepared well enough for both in advance, keeping you and your baby safe during your exercise session.

So, before you do anything - even before you stretch - get a light sweat going with 5-10 minutes of light to moderate activity. Walking, jogging, rowing and biking are just a few examples of activities that will start you off on the right foot.

At the other end of the workout, cooling down is just as important as warming up.

Your body required extra circulation in order to keep up with the demands of your workout, so you'll want to give yourself some time to return to normal before going back to your daily routine.

Using the same light activities as your warm up, take 10 minutes after your workout to let your heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature drop before sitting in your car to head home, hopping in the shower, etc.

Complete your safe pregnancy exercise session with these simple tips - your body and your baby will thank you!

The Best Pregnancy Diet

“What’s the best pregnancy diet?”

This is one of the most important questions every woman who is pregnant or trying to become pregnant should be asking. It is so important because they are solely responsible for feeding and nourishing their growing baby.

The best pregnancy diet is one that will supply all the nutrients needed to support optimal fetal development (such as brain, nervous and skeletal system) while also giving the mother’s body its needed nutrients. It’s also the one that will curb food cravings and prevent an unhealthy weight gain, which could put both the baby and mother at risk for many health complications.

Specifically, it will consist of the foods listed below:

High quality protein (grass-fed meats, eggs from cage free grass-fed chickens)
High quality dairy (raw grass-fed: cheese, cream, milk and butter)
Soaked grains and nuts
Stocks (bone broths)
Organic or locally grown fruits and veggies
High quality fat
Lacto-fermented foods
High potency fish oil
Filtered water

Eating the foods above will provide all the necessary nutrients a mother and developing baby needs such as:

B vitamins
Calcium
Iron
Zinc
Copper
Magnesium
Vitamin D
Healthy omega 3 to omega 6 ratio
Conjugated Linolenic Acid
Vitamin A
Vitamin C
Folate
Cholesterol

This means that you will gain a healthy weight and have less to lose after pregnancy.

Why?

Because by giving your body and baby what is needed, you won’t be tempted to overeat or be a victim to food cravings! And that’s just another reason why it is the best pregnancy diet.

Top Nine Tips for Morning Sickness Relief

Many of my pregnant friends would say that it really shouldn’t be called “Morning sickness.” They said that a more accurate term would be “Day sickness.” I was lucky and only had the morning version in a mild form, but it still wasn’t fun.

Unfortunately, there is no “one size fits all” approach to dealing with the common pregnancy experience of morning sickness. It’s more of a trial and error to find what works for you. Here are a few things to try:

· Munch on dry crackers by Late July or Newman’s Own graham cracker cookies (or look for brands that use butter, palm oil/fruit)-especially first thing in the morning

· Keep hydrated by sipping on water or warmed stock

· Drink raw real milk (read more on this in FHP guide)

· Munch or suck on whole wheat pretzels

· Try some ginger in the form of tea (can make it iced tea), crystalline, gingersnaps (Mi-Del is a good brand name)

· Eat small mini meals every three hours (this also helps reduce food cravings)

· Please be sure to see your OB/GYN if you are not able to eat, hold down food/fluids, not gaining or losing weight

· Avoid spicy or heavy foods

· Vitamin B6 may be of help which is found in these foods:

raw full fat dairy, raw egg yolk from cage free pastured chicken (heat destroys B6), sprouted grains, onions, sweet potato, lacto- fermented foods (these foods increase the bacteria in your gut which produce vitamin B6-more on this in the FHP guide)

Try any of these to see if they provide you some relief from your morning sickness. If one doesn’t work, maybe another one will. The main idea is not to let your belly be empty and to keep fluids coming in. But, also to trust your instinct and seek medical advice if you are not able to keep fluids or foods down-if in doubt at least ask your OB/GYN.

Stretching Part II - Top Ten Tips for Stretching Success

Stretching is essential to any pregnancy exercise program. But, most people don't realize HOW to stretch.

Just going through the motions can be more dangerous than not doing it at all. Follow these ten tips to round out your workout.

Warm up with 5-8 minutes of cardiovascular exercise - that is, an activity like jogging, biking or walking that will get your heart rate up and your blood pumping. Then begin your stretching routine.

Stretch only those muscles that are tight. (to decide which stretches to do, visit http://www.fitandhealthypregnancy.com/)

Don't stretch muscles that are already loose - if you don't "feel the stretch", you may not need to do it.

Avoid over-stretching. During pregnancy your joints are especially loose and prone to injury.

Stretching should NOT hurt. Stretching a tight muscle should feel good, back off if there is any pain.

Hold stretches for 20-30 seconds each.

Never bounce while you stretch.

Stay relaxed and breathe deeply to help lengthen your muscles.

Do not lock out your joints, keep elbows and knees slightly bent to reduce stress on them.

Stretch after your exercise session too, to help your body cool down and prevent injury.

There you have it, the basics of stretching! Follow these simple guidelines and reap the benefits of stretching during pregnancy.

For more details on the importance of an individualized stretching program and exactly which stretches are right for you, check out our Fit and Healthy Pregnancy Guide at http://www.fitandhealthypregnancy.com/.