Lemon Water in the Morning

So yesterday I mentioned that I have started drinking a glass of water with half a lemon squeezed in and I thought I'd elaborate a bit more on that! First off, I only drink water purified by Reverse Osmosis (Culligan water refill at the grocery store works!) because the chlorine and flouride in tap water should be avoided if you have thyroid problems (I have Hashimotos). It also tastes better! I also place a strainer over my glass to catch the seeds when I squeeze the lemon.

Some of the benefits of lemon water are:

1. Good for stomach Lemon can help relieve many digestion problems when mixed with hot water. These include nausea, heartburn and parasites. Due to the digestive qualities of lemon juice, symptoms of indigestion such as heartburn, bloating and belching are relieved. By drinking lemon juice regularly, the bowels are aided in eliminating waste more efficiently. Lemon acts as a blood purifier and as a cleansing agent. The intake of lemon juice can cure constipation. It is even known to help relieve hiccups when consumed as a juice. Lemon juice acts as a liver tonic and helps you digest your food by helping your liver produce more bile. It decreases the amount of phlegm produced by your body. It is also thought to help dissolve gallstones.
   
2. Excellent for Skin Care Lemon, being a natural antiseptic medicine, can participate to cure problems related to skin. Lemon is a vitamin C rich citrus fruit that enhances your beauty, by rejuvenating skin from within and thus bringing a glow on your face. Daily consumption of lemon water can make a huge difference in the appearance of your skin. It acts as an anti-aging remedy and can remove wrinkles and blackheads. Lemon water if applied on the areas of burns can fade the scars. As lemon is a cooling agent, it reduces the burning sensation on the skin.
   
3. Aids in Dental Care Lemon water is used in dental care also. If fresh lemon juice is applied on the areas of toothache, it can assist in getting rid of the pain. The massages of lemon juice on gums can stop gum bleeding. It gives relief from bad smell and other problems related to gums.
   
4. Cures Throat Infections Lemon is an excellent fruit that aids in fighting problems related to throat infections, sore throat and tonsillitis as it has an antibacterial property. For sore throat, dilute one-half lemon juice with one-half water and gargle frequently.
   
5. Good for Weight Loss One of the major health benefits of drinking lemon water is that it paves way for losing weight faster, thus acting as a great weight loss remedy. If a person takes lemon juice mixed with lukewarm water and honey, it can reduce the body weight as well.
   
6. Controls High Blood Pressure Lemon water works wonders for people having heart problem, owing to its high potassium content. It controls high blood pressure, dizziness, nausea as well as provides relaxation to mind and body. It also reduces mental stress and depression.
   
7. Assist in curing Respiratory Disorders
   Lemon water assists in curing respiratory problems, along with breathing problems and revives a person suffering from asthma.
   
8. Good for treating Rheumatism Lemon is also a diuretic and hence lemon water can treat rheumatism and arthritis. It helps to flush out bacteria and toxins out of the body.
   
9. Reduces Fever Lemon water can treat a person who is suffering from cold, flu or fever. It helps to break fever by increasing perspiration.
   
10. Acts as a blood purifier
    
    The diseases like cholera or malaria can be treated with lemon water as it can act as a blood purifier.

Read more: http://www.lifemojo.com/lifestyle/top-10-health-benefits-of-lemon-water-1422542#ixzz0uzdlZYfp

I don't think I could ever have the discipline to do the popular master cleanse detox, but drinking a bit of lemon water everyday is a SUPER easy alternative! It's not ever something I have to force down, it's very refreshing, like lemonade without the sicky sweet flavor. Although lemons are acidic, they are very alkalizing in your body.

Start your engine everyday by drinking a glass of room temperature, lukewarm to warm, lemon water first thing every morning! This is a tip from Traditional Chinese Medicine. It's important to start your day with water everyday because of the time lapse inbetween going to bed and arising. Water hydrates your body naturally. Caffeine found in coffee, dehydrates your body. *

To get the most juice out of your lemons, have them at room temperature, then roll them around on the counter to soften them up to help the juices release when you squeeze it into your water. If you don't have lemons on hand or want something handy for when you are on the go, try NTrue Lemon! It's a small packet of dehydrated real lemon juice.

Slim Waistline Fast

Since having my second baby almost 4 months ago (already!!!) I have had a slower recovery than I had expected.  I was hoping to whip myself back into shape ASAP and blog about it more motivation (to keep me accountable) BUT it hasn't really gone that way.  The Pubis Symphisis Seperation (the feeling of having an axe thrown into your pubic bone) did not go away right away.  Just this last week I finally gave the gym a try which felt AMAZING to work out again, just doing a basic interval workout on the elliptical.  5 minutes into my first workout, I had a HUGE smile on my face.  I was in the Cardio Cinema at Golds Gym, watching a CHICKFLICK (I never get to pick those at home) and no whining or crying was to be heard...and I just felt this amazing sense of freedom and enjoyment as I began to break out into a sweat...I started to really feel alive and excited.  Having Pubis Symphisis is awful, I couldn't even walk to check the mail, if I needed groceries but couldn't find a close parking spot, I would just leave and do without.  At night when I had to go wee-wee while pregnant, I would have to hold onto the bed and then the walls because I felt like I could't support my own weight and it was SO painful.  So being able to sweat on the elliptical felt truly amazing after being basically disabled for months. 

SO, between having the baby and now, I've just had to cheat a little to slim down my midsection quickly.  After the baby was born, I wore a  $10 Waist Trimmers to help support my midsection and pull things back together.  I really felt like it helped shrink my uterus down faster than when I had my first child because of the compression.  At first I was totally skeptical about Post Pregnancy Belly Wraps But after asking around a lot, I decided it was worth a shot. 

Wearing a Post Pregnancy Belly Wraps / Waist Trimmers not only helped push things back into place faster, slimming my waistline a lot faster, it gave my back some added support which felt so great and I didn't feel so self-conscious about my deflating water balloon-like post baby pooch, because it gave me a waist that I didn't really have! 

Now that I'm past the stage of needing to wear a waist belt, I am onto following some of my handy tips in my eHow article  How to Slim Your Waist Without Losing Weight in Other Areas.  


Step 3 in the article suggests using Spanx or Lipo in a Box to Slim the Waist Fast.  I recently went to Target and bought an awesome cami that does the job of sucking things in and smoothing me out really well!  It's called Suddenly Skinney and was only around $16.  I love that is is longer than most slimmers so you don't end up with a cut off bulge around your hips...and it also doesn't cut in around your arms and make any back fat stick out either...it's just awesome.  

And I'm not going to try any cleanses while breastfeeding, but I have started drinking a full glass of water with half a lemon squeezed into it first thing every morning, then waiting about 30 minutes before eating.  

Anyways...so those are my cheats for now...wearing a waist trimmer, and now the Suddenly Skinney cami for a quick fix.  I'll keep you posted about how the workouts and getting back in shape are going.  I only worked out 3 times last week and was already starting to have some pain come back which is super annoying, I just need it to be gone so I can do Turbo Jam or Power 90...I haven't decided which to do first!  Probably Turbo Jam though...I LOVE Chalene! 

Excercises with your Baby

I Feel Kind of Cool...

I feel kind of cool watching the new season of Dancing with the Stars. Why? Because Brooke Burke is the new co-host and I actually got to hang out with her fairly recently at a small web event in October 2009. I was in CA for eHow and the CEO Richard Rosenblatt (seems like the coolest CEO and nicest guy) introduced me to his wife Lisa and Brooke who run the website ModernMom together. It was really fun getting to meet them all, although I felt just little okay a LOT out of my league...you know that feeling at a party, everyone is talking about what they do...and when you are a stay at home mom, it can be intimidating. Actually, I recently got a message relating to this in my MOPS e-newsletter, I might as well share because I could totally relate! I mean I was there because I write articles on eHow, but it's not a "real" job, just something I do! And then talking to these 2 super successful women! It was exciting and fun, but definitely intimidating, even though they were super nice. And being that they are both moms, we did have some things in common to talk about.

So What Do You Do?
By Esther Feng

“You wanna go to this cocktail party with me?” my husband asked me.

The first thought that had popped into my head was, It’s two days away! That’s not enough time to find a dress. I could have found a dress if I’d tried. My real reason for avoiding the event was the inevitable question, “So what do you do?”

Without fail, I’ll be standing next to my husband, nodding to the small talk and eating shrimp cocktail (hopefully without getting sauce on myself). And then someone asks me, “So, what do you do?”

I don’t know how to answer. I can’t say “I’m a teacher.” It’s been five years. Saying, “I’m Grace and Sarah’s mom,” isn’t relevant. I don’t want to be holier-than-thou with “I’m doing the most important job of all – mothering.”

It’s not that I can’t schmooze – I’ve just discovered that I don’t connect with people who have “real” jobs. They don’t want to talk about baby poop, breastfeeding, potty training or piano lessons.

I feel insignificant and intimidated by women who make important decisions all day while I decide between grilled cheese and PB&J.

Many days I wish for reading material more stimulating than Goodnight Moon – for the opportunity to create something more meaningful than macaroni glued to a box.

But being a stay-at-home-mom is what God has asked of me in this season of life. Maybe one day I’ll have lots to say when asked, “So what do you do?” But for right now, I’m proud to be a stay-at-home-mom.

God, remind me that I’m already significant in your eyes.
________________________________________________________

PS- if you haven't joined yesterday's McLinky Party "My Mommy Moments" there is still time! Check it out!

Family Fitness

So among all the parenting literature and advice you have read, I'm sure you've come across the statement (as I have numerous times) that it's important to exercise with your kids and to let them see YOU exercising. Well, today my back was killing me and I REALLY needed to do my prenatal yoga DVD to get the blood flowing and loosen up and lighten up before I ran to the hospital begging to be induced running over anyone who might get in my way!. I normally try to do my Prenatal Yoga when my daughter is sleeping...it's just easier that way. But hey, I needed a change of pace ASAP and it's supposed to be so good to exercise with your kids.

As you can see, my little girl (almost 3) was very into doing yoga with me. I kept thinking, "aw this is so adorable! She's actually trying to do it all with me!" and grabbed my camera to snap some pictures....

Well, this is AFTER I didn't have the camera turned on anymore.....

Monkey Swinging from a Tree Pose

After we were all done our circus show yoga, my sweet pea wanted to color so I decided to sit down with her and illustrate what yoga really looks like when you are a mom. These were just 2 of our modified poses.

Child's (Riding on Me) Pose

Trista Sutter's 5 Tips for a Hot Body After 2 Babies!

By Cynthia Wang

Wednesday October 14, 2009 12:55 PM EDT

After Trista Sutter and her husband Ryan welcomed son Max in 2007, the reality TV star found it relatively easy to lose her pregnancy weight. But when daughter Blakesley arrived in April, Sutter was faced with a weight-loss challenge: an extra 43 pounds on her 5'2" frame.

"As I think any woman who has been through multiple pregnancies can attest," Sutter, 36, tells PEOPLE, "your body just knows where the fat goes!" But after six months of hard work, she is back to 107 lbs. How did she do it? Sutter shares 5 tips for moms to lose that weight.

Push that pram!
"Because I had Blakesley via C-section," Sutter says, "I waited for the doctor to give me the go ahead before I got into the groove." But when the doctor gave the go-ahead to begin exercising, Sutter found a good way to start. "My double-stroller plus the two kids is about 70 pounds, so pushing that uphill is pretty hard," she says of her regular 45-minute walks in her Vail, Colo., neighborhood.

Turn your house into your gym
Sutter's trainer Brock Fetch showed her how to do dead-lift exercises with paint cans, and she used crates and other objects to simulate a gym workout. "I would put a ski pole above my head and do lunges across my driveway," she says. "Max would be napping and I would bring Blakesley out and put her in the back of the minivan. It was great for me to not have the stress of packing up the kids and getting to the gym." [See video of Trista's garage workouts on her Twitter page.]

Keep track of calories you consume and burn off
"That's all it comes down to," she says. Sutter uses the Web site mycalorienumber.com. "It gives you menus and you can print out what you need to buy at the grocery store," she says. "It's really helped me because knowing your number and then knowing how much it is to walk, how much you need to strength-train, the number of the calories your burning ... It's so easy."

Get your protein in
Lower your carbs but don't sacrifice taste, Sutter suggests. "My favorite meal of all time, if I had a last-meal request, would be a cheeseburger and fries. But you've got to take out the fries and have the cheeseburgers without the bun. Get rid of the carbs but have a protein in there."

Remember that supplements are just supplements
Although Sutter takes a natural supplement to help her lose weight, she says, "I've always believed there is no quick fix. A lot of people ask about it and say, 'Oh, I've been taking them for a month and it hasn't been doing anything,' and I say, 'Have you been working out?' Because it has to be used in conjunction with working out if you are expending energy."

Stay Healthy and Lose Weight with Grapefruit!

Not only is Grapefruit yummy and refreshing...it also provides many health benefits! Grapefruit is high in Vitamin C, which helps to strengthen your immune system and protect against heart disease, stroke and cancer!

"Grapefruits not only contain high amounts of vitamin C, but they also contain large amounts of potassium, vitamin A, and Fiber. Grapefruit contains pectin which is a soluble fiber that has been shown to lower cholesterol and slow the buildup of plaque on the inside walls of blood vessels. Ruby red grapefruit juice also contains lycopene which helps prevent LDL (bad cholesterol) from damaging artery walls. Drinking the juice will give you all of the vitamins and minerals that the actual fruit does but it doesn't contain the fiber....

Research led by Dr. Ken Fujioka from the Nutrition and Metabolic Research Center at Scripps Clinic in California, has shown that people can lose weight eating grapefruits or drinking its juice. In a 12 week study, 100 participants ate what they normally ate each day and only slightly increased the amount of time they exercised. The participants were divided into three groups: one group drank 6 ounces of grapefruit juice before meals, one group ate half a grapefruit before meals, and one group did not eat or drink grapefruit juice. On average, the participants who ate grapefruit or drank grapefruit juice lost nearly 4 pounds, with many losing more than 10 pounds.

Grapefruits are a great way to improve your health and lose weight. They have been a popular diet food for a long time and research has proven they are effective at helping you lose weight and improve your health..." (Natural News)

So here's to YOU Grapefruit! I'll be adding you to my grocery cart next shopping trip! I thought I just might add that many have heard about grapefruit diets and such, I personally think we should take everything in moderation...even Grapefruit which has many health benefits. Rather than going crazy and overdosing on grapefruit, just add it to increase the benefits a healthy diet.

I am getting so ANTSY to get moving again! The sun and warmth has returned and I'm seeing people out walking and jogging....I wish I could take my toddler for a walk in the stroller, but with the pubic symphysis problem, even that is too much right now! Once I have this second baby, I'm hoping things quickly go back to normal and the ligaments tighten up and I can get active right away!