Healthy Habit Changes - Just one at a time.

Sometimes we beat ourselves up because we had a bad day/weekend/week. And we say: 'Starting tomorrow, I'm cutting all sugar, wheat, alcohol and I'm going to exercise 6 days this week.'

Ok maybe not all of that - but you get the point,

There's so much information out there right now about what you should be eating; what's bad for you, what omegas you're not getting, and so on and so on. It seems to change A LOT and it can be frustrating to keep up.

If you're stressed about what you 'should be' eating, don't be.

Make one change. Choose an apple instead of chocolate covered granola bar. Go for a walk instead of turning on the tv. Make a meal instead of hitting the Mcdonalds drive thru. Get your kids to eat a new vegetable. Become aware of the labels on your food.

We don't have to all go gluten free, dairy free, PALEO, KETO or whatever the current trend may be. Do what works for you, and don't try to do it all today.

What if...instead of going ALL IN, you just changed one thing.

Just one.

And instead of taking something unhealthy away, you ADD something positive.

Here are some examples:

This week, I'm going to drink a glass of lemon water when I wake up.

Or this week, I'm going to drink tea at night.

Or this week, I'm going to try to get an hour extra sleep.

Or this week, I'm going to add more vegetables at lunch.

Or this week, I'm going to add more protein in the morning.

Or this week, I'm going to take the stairs to the office.

Or this week, I'm going to meditate for 5 minutes every day.

Or this week, I will take a smaller portion of dinner.

Or this week, I will walk every day for 15 minutes.

Walking is a great way to move your body, clear your head, and/or connect with your kids.

You will be more likely to stick with that ONE change for the whole week, rather than doing a whole bunch of changes for 7 days. It's too hard to try to do it all once. You're more likely to just give up cause it's too damn hard.

Forget about what your friends, neighbours and relatives are doing.

Do what works for you. And do it slowly. One thing at a time.

And for more ideas on small habit changes, check out the wonderful community over at Healthy Habits Happy Moms .

Complimenting our daughters. Time to change it up.

When my children were younger, I read an article about how we talk to girls. We tend to comment on their shoes, their hair, their clothes. And I became very aware of how I talked to my daughter and her friends. And yes, there were a LOT of comments on the curls in their hair, their adorable little shoes and their beautiful long eyelashes. And then I took a look at what I was saying to my son and his friends. And it was definitely different. Certainly not intentional but there were a lot more questions about sports, games and dinosaurs.  

Why is that? Probably because girls clothes are so freakin adorable and they are soooo cute.... but it definitely made me think about it and it challenged me to change the way I talked to the girls in my life.

Think about it.

If we are constantly telling little girls that their appearance is the first thing we notice about them, what are we teaching them?

Yes, of course, compliments are nice. And we feel good when we receive them, but how can we make an effort to compliment on something other than their appearance?

Things I starting asking my daughter's friends...

"What books do you like to read?"

"Do you like soccer/swimming/gymnastics?"

"What's your favourite subject in school?"

Things I started saying to my daughter...

"You are so strong".

"You are such a good friend."

"I love how honest you are."

"Your determination is inspiring."

"You are so brave."

"I love your sense of humour.'

"You are so helpful."

"I love how generous you are."

It was... hard. It still is. Yes, I tell my daughter she is beautiful and I compliment her on her appearance and her clothing choices. But that's not the only thing she gets compliments on.

Every night I ask her what's the most beautiful thing about her.

She puts her hand over her chest and says "My heart".

This is my daughter standing on the peak of mountain. She was the one who pushed our family to get up there. She wanted SO BADLY to stand on top of a mountain. And her determination and strength got her up there.

Let's bring up strong, confident, brave, curious girls.  

Cause you know what?  They will figure out what is important.  And as they grow up and start complimenting others, they will focus on something other than the clothes, hair and eyelashes.

This was a note I found on my pillow one night, from my daughter, written when she was 6.

"Mom, I love you and you are so strong."

Perhaps if we start changing the conversation when they are little, the conversation won't need to be changed when they're older.

Let's be the change for our daughters.

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”

— Mahatma Ghandi

Prenatal Fitness - What should you do?

Safe, suitable and regular physical activity throughout your pregnancy helps keep you and your baby healthy. 

But it's so confusing. What can I do? Should I continue with this activity? Will this hurt the baby? Can I keep doing what I was doing? Will this exercise hurt my body?  

So many questions!  

And the answer?

Well, that depends.

I think you can count on the general rule that if you were exercising at a moderate to high intensity before pregnancy, you can continue (if there's no health concerns.)

If you were not exercising before pregnancy, this is not the time to rev things up.  It's ok to exercise at a low to moderate intensity. And you CAN start exercising during pregnancy even if you weren’t very active before.

However, every body; every fitness level; every pregnancy makes it difficult to prescribe a one size fits all exercise plan.

There are so many benefits of exercising during pregnancy.

The Benefits of Prenatal Fitness

1. Boosts your energy

2. Helps you sleep better

3. Reduces pregnancy discomfort

4. Helps you prepare for childbirth

5. Reduces stress and lifts your spirits

6. Improves your self-image and confidence

7. Increases rate of postnatal recovery

8. Prevents excessive weight gain

9. Decreases risk of high blood pressure and gestational diabetes

10. Decreases severity of low back pain

With all these benefits, why wouldn't you exercise?

Well you have to ask yourself. How do you feel? Does the exercise make you feel good? Are you feeling any pain? If so, you need to stop and re-assess. Can you change the exercise? Can you lower the weight? Can you modify your position?

Does it make you want to stay in bed for 2 days afterwards being totally wiped out? Perhaps you need to lower the intensity. Rest is very important during pregnancy and you should honour that as well. You are building a human life and that takes its toll with nausea and exhaustion. Resting is important!

Should you continue to do all the things that you were doing before?  

Well, that depends.

Are you doing activities that involve contact? (hockey, basketball, soccer) 

Are you doing activities that could involve falling? (skiing, rock climbing, mountain biking)

Think about the risk vs the reward.  What is the risk to you and your baby?  What is the reward?  Is the risk worth the reward?

When I was pregnant, I stopped skiing.  Not because I thought it would hurt my body - I could ski runs confidently with no problem.  I stopped because I was terrified of being hit by another person on the ski hill.  That was my decision.  Even though I love skiing, I determined the risk wasn't worth the reward.

Should you continue running? Think about the risk versus the reward.

What about running?  The risk of contact or falling is pretty minimal. However, you need to consider the risk to YOUR body.  Your pelvic floor is already supporting the weight of the baby and all the extra fluids. You need to think about the extra pressure that you're putting on it with the impact. It could affect your pelvic floor recovery. 

There are some very safe and effective activities that will keep you and your baby safe.  For example: walking, stationary cycling, swimming, prenatal yoga and strength training.

Strength training is amazing for your pregnant body as you train for life with your new baby.

Lifting your baby in and out of the crib. Moving the car seat to and from the car. Lifting the stroller in and out of the SUV. Carrying your screaming toddler out of the grocery store.

Strength training during pregnancy can help you with these activities postpartum and help train you for life as a mom.

If you start to feel extra pains with certain movements, it doesn't always mean you need to stop completely. It means that you need to reassess the movement and perhaps change the breathing strategy or your alignment with that movement. Try different positions. Try exhaling at different parts of the movement. Try different strategies.

Now is the time start thinking about the core and pelvic floor. Strengthening AND learning to relax the core and pelvic floor muscles will help you during labour and postpartum. Learning diaphragmatic breathing will also help you recover postpartum...read more about that here.   And seeing a pelvic floor physiotherapist while pregnant will be a wonderful addition to your birth experience and a great start to your postpartum recovery. 

Pregnancy might seem like the perfect time to sit back and relax. You likely feel more tired than usual, and you might feel some new aches and pains from the miracle that is growing inside of you. It's ok to take some time to rest.

Pregnancy is also a great time to be active. Just remember to cue into your body, be safe and have fun with it!