One of the most important nutrients that you can consume for the development of your baby during pregnancy and breastfeeding is the omega-3 fatty acid called Cocosahexaenoic Acid or DHA. Studies have shown an improvement in a babies visual acuity and attention span. It’s also been shown to have an impact on kids and adults with ADHD and depression.

How Much DHA Do I Need?

According to the ISSFAL (International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids) the recommended amount of DHA for pregnant or lactating women is 300 mg/day.  Unfortunately, the average consumption was between 45 mg and 115 mg per day for the women in the study.

Where Do I Find DHA?

DHA is most often found in fish oils.  That means you’ll find it in most oily fish including salmon, anchovies, and sardines.  It’s still present in most other fish, just not in the same concentrations.

How Much Fish Should I Eat?

Most experts agree, if you eat some sort of fish at least 2 times a week, you will have no problem meeting the recommended amount of DHA to insure your baby is getting what he or she needs.

What Type of Fish is Best?

When choosing a fish, make sure you select one high in DHA but low in mercury. This includes fresh or canned wild salmon, sardines and herring. Chunk light tuna also contains DHA with a low amount of mercury. Removing the skin when eating fresh fish reduces your exposure to Polychlorinated biphenyls or PCB’s.

What If You Hate Seafood?

If you don’t eat fish, it is going to be virtually impossible to get a sufficient amount of DHA into your system.  If this is the case for you, consider consulting and expert about taking supplements.  Fish oil capsules vary in potency, so make sure you talk to someone who knows their stuff.

Exercising in a fasted state results in a greater proportion of fat being used as exercise fuel compared to doing the same workload after a carb-containing meal or snack. However, it is possible that you could have a better and longer workout if you were to eat a small snack 2 hours before your workout in the form of carbohydrates.

It Depends on Your Goals:

To make a decision about whether to eat before or after your workout, take a look at your personal goals.

• Gain Performance - Eat a small meal 1-2 hours before working out.
• Lose Weight - Save your meal until after the workout session.

When to have a full meal

As a general rule you should eat a full meal 3-4 hours before working out and a snack 1-2 hours.

Fat usage, for energy, during exercise is very sensitive to the amount of time between eating carbohydrates and starting exercise. Eating a meal high is carbohydrates stimulates your pancreas to produce insulin which inhibits the breakdown of fat. This forces your body to rely more heavily on carbohydrates you just ate, as a fuel. In other words, to increase the amount of stored fat used for fuel during your workout, delay the consumption of carbohydrates if at all possible for an hour or two.

Pre-workout choices:

If you need the carbs for energy during a longer workout, have something light. Make it something that’s fairly easy to digest so it doesn’t feel heavy in the stomach. All you need before exercise is 100-200 calories, mostly carbohydrates with a little protein and fat, such as fruit or yogurt. That should be enough to get you through a workout that lasts up to an hour.

Post-workout choices:

After exercising, have the breakfast bar with fruit filling or some fresh fruit. If your morning workout is vigorous, you may also want something more substantial like a bowl of oatmeal and fruit. Listen to your body. It will let you know what you need. Just don’t over do it.

Helpful Tip

There are secrets to rapid fat loss which are never talked about in most circles.  Magazines never mention because they can’t make money off them.  Find out what is possible with these fat loss secrets that work.

When your six week recovery time is up and your doctor gives you the go ahead, it’s not only time to plan your new workout routines, its also just as important to keep in mind the quality of ones diet as well. There is one natural herb that can be used to insure your body is producing enough milk to feed your baby without popping pills.

What is it?

Known in medieval times as “Indian Saffron” because of its potent hue, turmeric comes from the root of Curcuma Longa, a member of the ginger family. The ancient herb, most popular in Southern and Southeastern Asia, has been used as a dye, in medicine and for flavoring.

How to store?

Dried Turmeric is best stored in an airtight container away from direct light. The color and flavor tend to fade if stored too long.

Nutritional breakdown

One teaspoon = 5 calories, 0 g of fat, 0 g of protein, 1 g carbs. It also contains calcium, phosphorus, iron, thiamine, niacin and carotene.

How to use

Turmeric is abundantly used in Indian and Asian cuisine. It can be used to flavor rice, fish, vegetables or whatever suits your fancy.

Health benefits?

This spice has a long history as a remedy, dating back to ancient times. In Ayurvedic medicine, turmeric has been prescribed for poor vision, rheumatic complaints and to increase breast milk production. Because it aids in the digestion of proteins and the absorption of nutrients, as well as stimulating the flow of bile, turmeric is used as a treatment for certain stomach ailments, diarrhea, and flatulence. Due to its antiseptic qualities, it has been used to treat bronchial asthma and coughs. It’s also a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. It can lower cholesterol levels and protect against certain cancers and heart disease. Through studies, it has been found to protect against Alzheimer’s. As a beauty aid, eating this colorful herb has been said to give your skin a natural glow.

You may have been told that fasting is not a safe or healthy thing to do. I have been told the same thing and it scared me away from ever trying a fast. However, there have been studies showing, if done properly, a fast can work to your advantage in more ways than one to help and improve your diet and workout routines.

Studies show fasting

• helps you lift more weight
• makes your muscles look more cut and defined
• helps with chronic fatigue syndrome and hypoglycemia

Mary’s story

The study was done on a woman (I’ll call her Mary) who wanted to lose some fat. So her trainer put her on a fasting program that consisted of only vegetable juice. During the first week of her program she lost muscle, but after two more weeks of eating and working out, her muscles came back more cut than before.

After a week of fasting on only juice, she switched to a diet that consisted of raw vegetable and fruits. Within only about 3 weeks after the fast she was lifting two times more what she was lifting before she started her fast. She was able to maintain this weight for at least a year.

When I first read this article, I thought these people were crazy! Seriously? This goes completely against everything I ever heard. Wasn’t Mary depleting herself of vital nutrients when she fasted? How could this make her stronger? Isn’t it the protein in the food she eats that helps her build muscle when combined with a weight training program? This really raised a lot of questions for me. But I kept reading, because I wanted to know what happened with her.

Definition of fasting :

Abstinence from all food and drink except water for a prescribed period of time.

Doctors that have supervised fasters at a health resort and spa have stated that during a fast, your body will seek to conserve energy by slowing it’s metabolism. (exactly what I have heard) and your body will then become more efficient on less food. So your body is primed to gain weight if you resume your unhealthy eating habits after the fast.

If you fast, then binge, you can gain all the fat back. But if you fast and move onto a healthy diet, you can keep the weight off. During a 10 to 14 day period, Doctors at a university found this out when working with 900 obese patients. When the patients lost their weight, they kept their weight off, and continued to lose even more weight by staying on a low calorie diet, exercising more and fasting for a day whenever necessary.

The doctors did say, I’m happy to hear, if you are prone to eating disorders this was not the way to go. So you should not fast unless in a supervised facility if you have any food addiction problems.

Back to Mary’s story

After Mary ended her fast she went on a healthy eating plan and was able to keep the weight off. She said, since being on her fast, it not only helped her body look better but it also made it easier to drop all unhealthy foods. She no longer had the cravings for salty and sugary foods since the fasting helped to clear her taste buds.

Fasting Facts

• Fasting helps to cure the temptation to eat some unhealthy foods
• Since fasting can help to clear your taste buds, it also can help you to kick the smoking and drinking habits
• Fasting helps expel toxins that can make us sick
• Doctors have seen cysts and tumors dissolve after fasts

Signs you might benefit from a fast:

• Thick coating on your tongue
• Constipation
• Bloating and bad breath
• Waking up feeling foggy and sluggish
• Unable to concentrate or remember things you used to remember
• You’re congested and wiped out

If you fast, you free up your body to discharge longstanding toxins through normal sweat and urine. Experts say to take a 36-hour water fast to nip them in the bud, and save you from colds, sinus congestion, joint pains, and headaches.

Mary said she suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome for about 2 years. She tried herbs and chiropractic care and while they did help, she still had to take naps in the afternoon and sleep for 12 to 14 hours a night. Mary said fasting helped her tremendously by getting over the fatigue and finally being able to get by with the normal 8 hours of sleep a night.

This was an interesting article and it convinced me enough to give it a try. I can’t wait to see if it helps me in the way it helped Mary.

Mary ended her article with these tips:

To start your fast:

1. Day 1 Drop the protein from your normal diet.
2. day 2 Drop the oils (such as nuts).
3. day 3 Eat only fruit and nonstarchy vegetables
4. day 4 Launch your fast

To break your fast:

1. Day 1 Eat fruits and nonstarchy vegetables
2. Day 2 Add whole grains, potatoes, legumes and other starches
3. Day 3 Tack on oils (like butter and nuts)
4. Day 4 Include your beans, cheese and other proteins.

Consult your doctor before you fast and when breaking a fast

One of the secrets to keeping your weight off is to raise your metabolism. The aisles of your local drug store or stocked full of artificial ways to raise your metabolism, but these aren’t true lifestyle changes that last.

If you look at the list of 10 ways to raise your metabolism, you’ll see most of these are very simple. They’re things you can do right now to positively impact your life as you continue with your post natal exercise routine.

1. Make sure you eat enough calories: Just the act of digesting your food, allows your body to burn more calories

2. Do some kind of aerobic activity 4 to 5 times a week: By adding aerobic activity to your post par-tum exercise routine you will give your body the fire it needs to burn even more calories, even when watching tv.

3. Add strength training By replacing 10 pounds of fat with 10 pounds of muscle you allow your body to burn an extra 100 calories a day.

4. Drink green tea: Green tea has been studied and proven to help you burn more calories.

5. Spice up your food: By adding hot and spicy foods to your diet, you are allowing your bodies metabolism to rev up and burn more calories. Cayenne pepper can be used in a lot of recipes.

6. Increase your workout intensity: Your body burns more calories when you are active then when sitting at your desk.

7. Eat 6 small meals a day instead of 3: Your body burns more calories digesting food. Eating 6 smaller meal will keep your body from going into starvation mode, and stop you from binge eating.

8. Get enough sleep each day: Your body can not metabolize carbs properly with out enough sleep.

9. Drink plenty of water: Drinking cold water makes your body work harder to raise your body temperature. Studies show that if you drink 8 to 10 glasses of water a day you could lose up to10 pounds in a year.

10. Include clean protein to your diet: Your body burns more calories burning protein than sugar or carbs. Protein also helps your body to build more muscle, giving you the ability to burn even more calories.

Between diet and exercise you can raise your metabolism so you can burn lots of calories all day long, even at rest!

Guest Article about post natal exercise that you will enjoy.

The Perfect Time to Begin your Fat Loss Program

By Holly Rigsby, CPT
www.FitYummyMummy.com

“I’ll Begin When….”
Sound familiar? Waiting for the right time to begin your fat loss program?
I’m wondering something….

What is the magic in waiting?
What do you expect will suddenly be different one week, two weeks, a month from now?

As Busy Moms - there will always be too much to do. And guess what….there is no “perfect time” - except the time that you can take RIGHT NOW - to make a firm decision to begin something that is Overflowing with benefits into your life and the lives of your family.

If I told you that you could…

~ Have more energy
~ Eliminate cravings
~ Dramatically reduce stress
~ Drop a Jean Size
~ Feel good about yourself again

Would you smile, look me in the eye and say….”No thanks, not right now, the time just isn’t right” Huh…?

If not now -to Look and Feel great…. then when? And when that time arrives….what is to prevent you from making the exact same statement? Then you look up to find another year has passed!

So what are you hoping to accomplish by putting off what you deserve to have right now?

It is quite unfortunate that during the holiday season, on the cusp of the New Year where “resolutioners” come out of their sedentary lifestyles for a brief moment as they promise…”This time I will lose weight” - only to find themselves defeated yet again as they quickly revert back to old habits.

It’s pretty obvious that this approach just does not work. Taking the easy route, the route that allows us to stay with unsupportive, familiar habits is giving us nothing in return - in fact it is draining and taking away your 3 sources power … your valuable time, money and energy.

Super Busy Mom, Sarah Z. came to an amazing realization…

“One of the things that has been holding me back was needing to feel like everything was ‘in place’ (more or less) before I took the time to exercise.

I felt like I had to ‘have time’ to exercise.

Nope, I’ve got to make time, I know…but now I know what that really means.

It means making time to do it REGARDLESS OF THE CHAOS around me. I am now starting to visualize a messy house (not too hard a stack of piles waiting for me — and me exercising anyway — and then tacking all that stuff AFTER I’ve exercised.”

This is a brilliant realization and one you need to take to heart, moms.

“Your actions express your priorities”

What statement are you making about what matters most to you if you put it on the back burner?

Moms - It’s Time! Time to make your health and fitness, your ability to reclaim your pre-baby body, your ability to look in the mirror and feel good about what you see a Priority starting today. Fit Yummy Mummy is your solution to putting your priorities into action.

Holly Rigsby, CPT, MAT America’s #1 Fat Loss Expert for Busy Moms and the author of www.FitYummyMummy.com. Holly has worked with over 300 Mom’s to help them lose the stubborn baby fat, get their pre-baby body back and reclaim their yummy-ness. Don’t miss her Free Report: Top 5 Busy Mom Metabolism Boosters.

Any post natal exercise program isn’t complete without looking closely at your eating habits. Following a strict diet is no way to lose weight. Sure you will probably lose the weight you were hoping to lose, but you’l have a problem keeping the weight off.

The best and only way to lose weight and keep it off is to change your eating habits and make it a life long change. You can make little changes through out the day with your food choices that will make all the difference. Here are a few tips to try:

1. Don’t eliminate food you love! Find a low fat substitute for those high fat foods you all love. Example: substitute fried chicken with baked chicken and low-fat dressing.
2. Choose baked, grilled, or steamed food over fried: grilled shrimp with steamed veggies beats out fried shrimp with vegetable tempura.
3. Choose non-fat or low-fat items whenever possible. Low-fat granola bars have less oil and all the taste of regular granola bars.
4. Dress you salad with less. Always ask for dressing on the side and apply sparingly.
5. Drink more fluids. If you’re bored with water, try decaffeinated tea or low-calorie flavored water.

Are you still trying to lose those last 10 pounds you vowed to lose last summer? Bikini season is almost here again, so don’t give up now. You can say farewell to that baby fat with a post natal exercise plan that actually boosts your metabolism. The best part is, losing 10 pounds is easier than you think. Here’s how a few small changes will help you achieve your fitness goals.

Calorie Count

Losing weight is simple math. You need to have a deficit of 3,500 calories to lose one pound. To lose ten pounds in six weeks, you must take in 5,250 few calories each week. Sound like alot? It is if you eat the wrong foods Wednesday - Sunday and try to diet only on Monday &Tuesday, it’s just not going to work. If you think of the way you eat as a life change and not a diet, things will be a lot easier, and the weight you take off will stay off.

Easier than you think!

You need roughly 750 fewer calories per day. If you hit the trail and run or bike, you will burn about 350 calories. Then all you have to do is eat 300 fewer calories per day. A change as small as that, is only choosing half of the bagel in the morning with cream cheese instead of a whole one to make up the difference.

Choose Your Cardio

When choosing your form of exercise, make sure you pick something you really enjoy. Here are some examples of some exercises you may want to try:

To Burn 350 calories you would have to:

• Walk briskly for 70 minutes
• Roller blade for 50 minutes
• Run (8 mph) for 40 minutes
• Stair-climb for 40 minutes
• Weight- train for 116 min
• Kick-box for 35 min
• High-impact aerobics for 50 minutes

By cutting back the calories in your diet and finding something to do aerobically every day, you will shed those last 10 pounds just in time for summer, and you can wear that bikini you’ve had your eye on.

Question- I’ve just started my post natal exercise routine. I’m wondering about how to maximize my weight loss. Am I better off running lots of slow miles, or fewer faster miles?

Answer- The simple answer to your question is -  running at any speed will improve your over-all level of physical fitness while expending approximately 100 calories per mile.

Running a seven- minute mile will burn a few more calories than running a 10-minute mile because of the added effort. But most people can’t run the extra distance at a faster pace without becoming overly fatigued or injured. So you are likely to run further -and burn more calories-over the course of a week by running at a slower pace.

To lose weight, your energy expenditure (moving and exercising) must exceed your energy intake(eating and drinking). You can do this by eating less and exercising more, or a combination of both. Plenty of slower miles can help create a steady calorie deficit that will lead to weight loss.

Protein is a very important part of any post natal exercise program. Without the right amount of protein, you body will never achieve optimal weight loss. But, what’s the right amount and when should you consume it?

What’s good for the goose is not always good for the gander

After a workout, it’s important for men to consume some protein to help provide his body the building blocks needed to repair damaged muscle. But, this isn’t always the case for women. It depends on what your goals are in your program. Men are different then women (and that’s a good thing).

Men have a greater amount of muscle mass and they break down a greater amount during a typical workout. This means they need more protein to fix all those muscle fibers. If your workout consists of heavy weights and you’re trying to build muscle mass (don’t worry, you’ll never look like a man if you don’t take steriods) you’ll want to replenish with a small amount of protein. A regular serving of yogurt can accomplish this goal.

Because we’re busy moms, our workouts will often occur in the evenings when things have slowed down a bit. This would be the worst time to bump up your protein. You’ll be heading to bed shortly and you don’t need that many calories at this time in the day.