As my first post under my new category “The land of moms” I talk about a topic some of us seems to never escape.  The mommy wars.  A term thrown around to show how different camps of moms fight about their differences instead of learning to understand them.  I find these wars are most often started by extreme groups who attack and often verbally abuse other groups for doing things in a different way.  My first thought when I think of this is why so many of us believe we have come so far yet we continue to engage in behavior and hurtful communication that has fueled many oppressive movements. The facts are we all do really have the right to express our differences but I question the point of harshly critiquing our fellow mothers . It actually fails to make a point. It only shows individuals as insecure on their own position.

The inspiration to write this came on the heels of the most recent “debate” on baby wearing I read.  Terms like “crotch danglers” and “irresponsible” and “uneducated” were thrown around to assert the inward only carrying camps position of superiority.  It was simply put : Sad.

I will be the first to support the baby wearing community but I will then take that a step further to support individual mothers choices and give them respect, support and trust to do whats right for their family. I will also not ridicule them when they make mistakes or back track .  I have done this in the past and realize with age it only serves to breakdown communication. I will continue to challenge myself to be my own safe place for being honest about the challenges and failures I see in myself. This will create a safe place for other mothers in my world.  Without this safe place mothers will isolate, become depressed and lose instead of gain confidence.

What I have learned about absolutes in mothering after working with over 20,000 new and expecting mothers.

1. Your only right until your own knowledge proves you wrong.

2. No one can argue with science until its disproven ( which it quite often is)

3. North American mothers have for the most part have not been groomed for motherhood. This creates a level of insecurity in parenting not seen in other cultures.  We can choose to  support one another and learn to be positive and encouraging and respect choices .  Its a choice that starts with inward reflection and outward action.

4. Information is for sharing not for shoving.  You want to be heard then learn to come from a compassionate place.  This is not easy since we have been conditioned to react and control.

Things I have done to challenge myself around the above areas.

1.Check in with my emotional reaction to someones choices before “weighing in” . If it is a strong reaction it probably is loaded with a lot of your own personal anxieties.

2.Acknowledge your own biases as you recognize them – When sharing with women information about childbirth ( another heated debate ) I also talk about my own good and bad experiences that have skewed my opinions.

3. Redefined my community outside of my comfort zone.  It is super easy to have a circle of moms that agree with everything I say. It a whole other ball game of personal accountability when I surround myself with wonderful women and choose to love them for where they are  at.

xo

Andrea

Connection

FITMOM Crunch and kiss

Are you concerned about abdominal separation? Do you know how to address it?

During pregnancy, most woman separate down the middle of their rectus abdominus (the six pack) a small amount. A small amount of separation is normal but pregnant women should take a preventative approach to prevent further separation that can lead to complete separation.

At Fitmom, we recommend having your abdominals checked by a trained expert or caregiver one time in the first trimester, twice in the second, and three times in the third. By doing so, you and a trained expert can decide how to approach abdominals throughout pregnancy. Postpartum women should have their abdominals checked to assess the remaining separation to determine how to best rehabilitate or close the opening.

For an example of an abdominal separation check that you can ask your caregiver to provide, click here.

Stay tuned for my upcoming posts on the MUST DOS and DO NOT exercises during pregnancy to stabilize your core and protect it from severe separation. I will also provide the most important things to focus on for postpartum abdominal separation recovery.

Cheers,
Andrea Page

1. Abdominal separation checks by trimester:

2. Talk Test : Remember you can huff but you must still talk. The whole 140 -150 BPM that you may find still lurking the web in its outdated form is inaccurate. It dismisses the stage of pregnancy, level of fitness and age of the participant. The TALK TEST while not rocket science does keep the mom to be in a place of personal power to accurately assess safe cardiovascular activities.  Simply put if you have oxygen remaining to activate vocally you are in a good place . You are not compromising oxygen to the baby. Even better it is shown that regular cardiovascular activity improves in utero babies ability to utilize oxygen.  The placenta of exercising moms is not healthier which really from a scientific standpoint is no surprise!

3. Stabilizing the hips.  Spreading out in the hip area is not something women are fond of during pregnancy. As I will expand on below effect of relaxing joints and ligaments means needing more stability training. The reality is expecting moms have to be open. Baby needs space to be born on B- Day. Unfortunately this can lead to other challenges like pubic symphysis, knee issues and other bio-mechanical issues. 
4. Combine Strength, flexibility and endurance training.  Your body is going through so many changes it is a mistake to address just one of them. Your joints are less stable so need to be stabilized by  strength training all the supporting muscle groups.

5. EFAS . There is has been so much debate on the usefullness of Essential Fatty Acids in pregnancy and postpartum. Why I really am not sure? When good fat is a large portion of the nutrient composition of breast milk and helps build the brain and fine tissues of the developing baby I know for me it was and is an essential part of my diet.

 Wishing an exceptionally FITMOM pregnancy!

Andrea

Remember, these workouts are designed to be used with FIT NEW MOM 101 and the FIT TO BIRTH 101. Exercise Guide and Journal……

THIS WEEK WE  HELP YOU BECOME CORE CORRECT WITH THE  BEST SYSTEM^(TM)

A VERY FOCUSED CORE WORKOUT ONCE WEEKLY IN ADDITION TO YOUR OTHER WORKOUTS THAT ALSO INCLUDES CORE CAN HELP YOU IMPROVE FORM AND PREVENT INJURY.

Check this out for a workout.  Use the FITMOM TM Best System  ( Apart of the Ob/Gyn recognized FITMOM Method)
Start with exercises 1 and 2 then return to the beginning and repeat 1, 2 and 3 and then return to beginning again and repeat previous exercises, adding the next exercise each time until you get all the way through all 10 exercises. Always begin your exercise session with a brief warm-up, such as stair climbing, walking or squatting and dynamic stretching.

POSTNATAL FITMOM

If you are unsure if you have diastasis recti consult your caregiver for assessment. Women with diastasis will need to proceed with diastasis rehabilitation protocol. Again check out New Yorks Julie Tupler RN and her book Lose Your Mummy Tummy for clear and up to date information as well as her support belts

1  Bicycle Abs
2  Side Lying Obliques
3 ABC ABDOMINALS
4 Tripod
5 Standing Obliques
6 Belly Breathing ( know you are not pregnant but no other exercise can engage your transverse abdominal quite like this one IMHO)

Follow your ab workout with hill training. Thats right find a hill and  brisk walk or run  it…..10-20 minutes documenting results…eg 10 hill in 15 minutes then work towards improvement!

PRENATAL FITMOM

Do you have Diastasis Recti? This is an abdominal separation that can occur during pregnancy and persist postpartum.  There is much controversy on how to approach Diastasis care. I highly recommend Julie Tuplers Maternal Fitness for accurate and researched Diastasis prevention and management.

1 WALL SIT WITH PELVIC TILT * TIP try this with low toning described in the PARTNERS GUIDE TO LABOUR
2 Standing Obliques
3 Standing Bent Legged Belly Lifts
4 Ball Crunches ( click here for Ball options)
5 Side Lying Obliques
6 Belly Breathing

8 Child’s Pose with kegels ( 100 a day keeps the doctor away!)

Follow by 20 minute brisk walk for beginners,include hills for intermediate and advanced. With doctors permission many woman can continue running during pregnancy.

Don’t forget to look at FIT TO BIRTH  for detailed descriptions of these exercises, their benefits and modifications.

 

 

 

Mabey not everyones aspiration but all can aim for better health!

So being my area of expertise I could likely give you 200 but let me share with you the TOP TEN geared towards busy moms ( meaning all of us! )

1. Create a plan (not a novel ) in your daytimer, blackberry ,outlook or whatever you use of when and where you will do what to get fit. Make it realistic. Daily regular shorter bouts of exercise are better for habit forming behaviour. For example. 1O minute tune-ups .

2 Get a buddy. Women are much more likely to stick with a program where there is a social incenctive. Classes are great too!

3. Don’t waste time not knowing what your doing. Anyone who spends hours working out without results will likely quit because who want to do something for nothing. Get a trainer, read, search online for programs. Learn what type of exercise is most effective so your time is well spent.

4. Get to bed earlier. Being sleep deprived causes your body to store fat and your workouts will suck because you nothing to offer them. Cut out your nighttime TV which wastes your time and disrupts your sleep.

5. Cook lean and mean. Create a meal plan based on facts. Cut out nightime complex carbs and get protein in EVERY meal.

6. Choose activities you love. Dance, running , swimming. Alone these do not provide all the components of exercise but loving exercise is the foundation for motivation to getting in the harder work like strength training. Video game fitness is definately growing more popular. Check www.easportsactive.com

7. Make a goal. Review it weekly and monthly. Revise your goal every 3 months minimum.

8. Make fitness a family affair. Get outside and play run and jump with your kids. Do gym dates with hubby. It can be great way to light a spark!

9. Strength train at least 2 times weekly. Lean muscle mass increases your metabolism and strength training is the best way to get more.

10. Get honest with yourself. Most of us have a long list of excuses about why we dont take care of ourselves. It really can be done anytime anywhere. You can do stairs in your home or office building. You can pull kids on a sleigh for strength and cardio, you can find a good exercise DVD, you can create stations around you home, you can involve your kids.

Thanks to twitter moms for posting a great contest that helps every get all the tips they needs to get on track!

http://www.twittermoms.com/forum/topics/share-10-ways-to-get-fit-after ]]> http://andreapageonline.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=83 0 http://andreapageonline.com/blog/?p=74 http://andreapageonline.com/blog/?p=74#comments Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:01:16 +0000 Andrea http://andreapageonline.com/blog/?p=74

Can't lose the inches?

This is a very common FITMOM question . Moms get amazing results at FITMOM but for some getting stuck creeps up and rears its ugly head. To the question why can’t I lost the last 10 pounds here are some for you to ask yourself?

Am I still breastfeeding?  If the answer is yes then your probably thinking well should it all have not melted off then?  Think again. While weight-loss is natural in the early stages and months of breastfeeding some women will hang on to 5-10 pounds until done.  Breastfeeding moms tend to sleep a bit less in the night. Also breastfeeding moms must make sure their food intake including protein is adequate.  Answer: Breastfeeding is helping your little baby grow. Now is the time to still focus on extra rest, and proper nutrition otherwise your body might get confused and act with a stress response.

Am I sleeping enough(lol)?  Again breastfeeding or not sleep is crucial. Sleep deprived individuals are more likely to store fat as increased cortisol ( a stress response ) put your body in defence mode.  We also have a higher level of cortisol receptors in our abdominal region so guess what…fat is more likely to hang out there

Am I eating healthy? I ask moms this all the time and very often they good, not to bad. When I get the honest journal back I see many culprits. To little food, too much food, to much of the wrong food, not enough of the right food. Consider my six rules for a six pack when  eating.  Every 2- 3 hours off a snack size plate, protein at every meal, cut evening complex carbs, replace sugar with stevia, replace salt with a no salt replacement, drink 8 8 oz glasses of water

Am I getting enough exercise?  If you need to lose fat you can’t just run on the treadmill. A combination of strength and endurance training 4-5 times a week at 40 minutes each is key. Some people don’t have to work as hard as others but the truth is understanding what to do is KEY.

I am doing all the above but still not losing it . Why ? Have you done all the above and not a thing has changed?  It may be time to take a trip to your health care practitioner. Symptoms of  Hypothyroidism can be similar to postpartum depression. If inches and weight are not  moving, and your feeling extremely fatigued and down check with your caregiver immediately!

MOMMY BUSINESS BLISS AND BLUES

While the mommy business land is a lifetime advantage of freedoms and flexibility it is not necessarily the walk in the park some mom business owners make it.

Do you ever find yourself tensing up inside at the list of things ahead of you. Feel like you are literally going to pull your hair out if you do one more thing? This happens to many of us moms, myself included. In fact I have so many people relying on me for one thing or another I often dream of Never Never Land. You know the place where I NEVER have to do any of it.   When I catch myself saying I cant get enough sleep or I cant find the time for me I know its time to reframe the blame. I need to consider what gets accomplished from pushing myself to the brink?   Not one person benefits. Not me, my children, my partner ,my business not anyone. It is time to HALT.  Hurryup And Let Time …pass, be present to it,heal,slow down and pay attention to that little voice inside not just your head but you heart. Step back and see why you feel the way you feel. Are you frightened ?  Have are you tired? Are you hungry? Do you need silence? Do you need to be held? Life is very simple yet we complicate it. I’m pretty sure its in our nature. Here are two things to consider when creating space for yourself and step back from being the YES MOM to everyone and everything. 

Tell people (partners , kids and others ) the times you will be needing for yourself.  If this is new for you people will gripe. Acknowledge their feeling  then do it anyway.

Evaluate your schedule and categorize things into have to’s, want to’s and mabey’s. ( Get rid of all the mabey’s. Especially if they are in the way of any of the have to’s. ) No one can do it all. People succeed do only the important stuff.  A part of success I am learning is knowing what you need to show up being your best.