Tag Archives: pregnancy

Kim Kardashian Using Atkins 40 to Drop Baby Weight Again

Kim KardashianKim Kardashian recently gave birth to a baby boy and has resumed her role as Atkins ambassador to lose the 40 pounds she gained during her pregnancy. Kim followed the controversial diet after her first pregnancy, and said she had such great results, she’s doing it again.

We spoke with Colette Heimowitz, vice president of nutrition and education at Atkins Nutritionals, Inc. who is working with Kim directly to shed the baby weight this time around.

Heimowitz told DietinReview.com Kim will be following the Atkins 40 program, an extension of Atkins 20, which is the same high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet, but gives people more flexibility in the foods they eat and a few more grams of carbs to work with while still promoting weight loss.

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3 Most Important Hormones for a Woman’s Good Health

women

It’s a popular punchline in movies and TV sitcoms when a woman is acting irrational — “It’s her hormones.” As it turns out, there’s more than a kernel of truth in this stereotype. While wonky hormone levels can’t be blamed for every strange thing a woman says or does, they can be the culprit in a variety of areas. Shape Magazine’s talking about the 20 most important hormones for our health (yes, 20!). We’re looking at the ones most key for women.

3 Important Hormones for Women’s General Health

Estrogens

This household-name hormone is produced in the ovaries and helps control sexual development (puberty, menstrual cycle, pregnancy) and also maintain bone strength. When levels are too high, it can cause increased risk of breast cancer, dementia and even uterine cancer.

Progestogens

As the uterus prepares for fertilization, these levels rise after ovulation, maintaining the uterine lining in preparation for implantation and throughout gestation. If pregnancy doesn’t occur, levels drop, causing menstruation to start. (more…)

Dawn Bonavita Lost 93 Pounds After Painful Struggle with Fertility

Dawn Bonavita collage

This Sunday, when Dawn Bonavita celebrates Mother’s Day, she will likely open homemade cards made by sticky hands and hug each child as they bound in to tell her good morning. In the decade and a half it took to have her three daughters, Dawn struggled with infertility, pregnancy loss, and weight that fluctuated wildly due to stress and bouts of depression.

After losing 93 pounds, Dawn feels blessed that she’s now the mom who can play with her kids without feeling winded, lift up her two year old with ease, and be an example of healthy living.

Just say no to cookies – This was the humiliating advice given to Dawn by a pediatrician when she was just a young girl. Heavy most of her childhood, Dawn became very active in high school and sprouted to five foot ten, which kept her trim for a few years but soon, the process of starting a family would take its toll on her waistline once again.

“My late twenties and all of my thirties were consumed with fertility issues,” Dawn explained. “We used fertility treatments to get pregnant with our first child and it worked within three months.” Unfortunately, Dawn’s second pregnancy would not be as easy. During the four years it took to conceive her second child, Dawn endured four rounds of IVF treatments and lost five pregnancies.

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Alicia Silverstone’s Clueless, Anecdotal Pregnancy Advice Leaves us Saying ‘As If!’

The Kind Mama - alicia silverstoneAlicia Silverstone is known for many things, like being an actress, star of Aerosmith videos, vegan, and champion for the environment. She is not, however, a licensed physician or even a wise shaman, though in her new book, The Kind Mama, she’s giving advice that has our experts seeing red and shouting, “As if!”

A few eyebrow-raising comments from the book include, “Bananas are a naughty food for a baby,” “Dairy leaves toxic sludge in your baby house (uterus),” “The diaper industry is fueled by corporate-backed pseudoscience,” and also, pretty much everything she talks about in the book is “yummy.”

We’ve been HERE before

This is not the first time the Clueless star has been in the news for her nontraditional parenting style. Wait, I didn’t mean to call her clueless, I meant she was in the 90s cult classic movie, Clueless. Actually, come to think of it, either way that sentence works. Anyway, there was that time she chewed up her toddler’s food and fed him from her own mouth, baby bird style. Then, she admitted to eating her own placenta after his birth. She didn’t just reach down, grab it and munch on it. It was in pill form, so it’s totally not weird.

Did she really just go there about infertility? Yep, she did.

I believe Alicia had good intentions when she wrote this book, but she has to know that some of her claims will be challenged. It’s widely known that our managing editor, Brandi Koskie, had infertility issues before giving birth to her daughter, so when she read Alicia’s one-size-fits-all fertility rule about simply “cleaning up your baby house,” “having lots of yummy sex,” and avoiding fertility drugs, she had a swift response:

“Doesn’t that just sound delightful and peachy keen? Well, I’m here to tell you that Alicia is delusional. (more…)

The Only 9-Month Guide for Pregnancy Running Any Mom Needs

By Jessica Green

As a running coach, I work with a lot of runners up until they get pregnant and then post-pregnancy. What happens to the runner during pregnancy? One year ago I was able to learn on my own what it actually means to “run through your pregnancy.” It’s not as simple as one might think. I found that creating goals and constantly adjusting to my changing body allowed me to enjoy both working out and being pregnant at the same time.

running pregnancy

When I found out I was pregnant, I knew I wanted to continue running through my pregnancy and enjoy it. So, I wrote down my goals and established guidelines for the next nine months, which turned into the following:

  1. Run at least three times a week as long as it continued to feel good
  2. Conversation pace—always
  3. Limit runs to ninety minutes—if I need refueling, chances are the fetus does too
  4. Any cramping means it’s time to walk
  5. Throw pace out the window
  6. Do one non-running cross training session per week with a prenatal body specialist

I recommend every woman who plans to run through her pregnancy do this. Your guidelines don’t have to be the same as mine, but make sure you go into your pregnancy running adventure with your eyes open and your mind wrapped around realistic and healthy goals and guidelines. Otherwise, you’re either going to be fighting the non-pregnant runner instinct in you every step of the way or you’re going to have to stop running sooner than you want. (more…)

Expecting More Workout by Sara Haley Prepares You for Rigors of Pregnancy

This pregnancy workout, designed by pre and postnatal exercise specialist, Sara Haley, alternates between cardio and sculpting moves to provide a total body toning session for the mommy-to-be. The exercises are a preview to Synergy, one of the six workouts on Sara Haley’s Daily Sweat Pregnancy Program called “Expecting More.” Perform these five moves—that help prepare you for life with baby—in a circuit (one after another).  Rest and repeat two to three times through, depending on your time and energy level.

View Expecting More Pregnancy Workout by Sara Haley Slideshow

Sara Haley is a certified ACE and AFAA international fitness expert who has traveled the globe teaching master classes and educating other fitness instructors and trainers. She has an impressive celebrity client list, is a Teacher Trainer for the Willpower Method and worked for seven years as a Reebok Global Master Trainer. Sara helped develop programs for JUKARI, the branded workout series between Reebok and Cirque du Soleil, and created and starred in numerous Reebok DVD programs. Armed with over 20 years of fitness and dance training, Sara currently teaches for the prestigious Equinox health clubs, trains high profile clients, consults for numerous international publications, and continues to develop her own workout program, The Daily Sweat.

Also Read:

SweatBox Workout: Sneak Peek of Sara Haley’s Sweat Unlimited DVD 

Top 10 Cardio Exercises 

Fizzy Jalapeno Cherry Limeades

Pregnant Kim Kardashian Craves Sushi and Diet Coke, Works Out with Tracy Anderson

The second most-watched baby bump (after Kate Middleton) is the queen of reality TV, Kim Kardashian. Since the announcement of her pregnancy with Kanye West, Kim has been asked about her cravings in every interview.

During an interview with E News, Kim said she is craving “sushi, but I know I can’t really have it, so I’m eating a lot of carrots and celery with lots of ranch.”

According to AmericanPregnancy.org, the highest mercury-level fish (shark, swordfish, ahi tuna) should be avoided during pregnancy, while mothers can have three, six-ounce servings of high mercury fish (white albacore tuna, sea bass, grouper) in a month.

Kim, like a lot of expectant mothers, thought she could get away with eating anything, but she realized it wasn’t a good idea. OpposingViews Entertainment reported Kim as saying, “I used to always say I can’t wait to get pregnant because I will just eat whatever I want, but it’s completely different, I’m like, OK, I want to eat as healthy as possible.”

“You won’t need to lose baby weight if you don’t gain it,” Jillian Michaels has told us. “It takes about 55,000 calories to make a baby.  This breaks down to about 200-300 extra calories a day.” (more…)

Jessica Simpson Claims Her Own Naked Body as Motivation For Weight Loss

Hollywood’s most talked about celebrity mom is making headlines again for her ever-fluctuating figure. Singer and clothing designer Jessica Simpson has dropped at least 60 pounds since giving birth to daughter Maxwell Drew in early May. Now the star is claiming her weight loss is attributed to one dirty little secret: Staring at her own body nude. 

Simpson, 32, gained a reported 70 pounds during her pregnancy due to a bit of overindulgence in the diet department. The star loves southern comfort foods like fried chicken and mac and cheese and said that she treated herself while carrying Maxwell as she wanted to fully enjoy the pregnancy experience while it lasted.

According to a story by Star Pulse, however, Simpson recently came to the realization that she needed to lose more weight after taking an honest assessment of her naked body in the mirror. She also admitted that she didn’t realize just how difficult it would be to shed the post-baby weight.

Simpson’s weight is one that is closely followed by the media due in large part to the $3 million contract she signed with Weight Watchers in 2024 agreeing to lose the weight after giving birth. (more…)

Obesity Prevention Begins in the Womb: Mom’s Blood Sugar Affects Baby’s Development

By Emily Wade Adams, CNC for Natal-Nutrition.com

Nearly 10 percent of infants in the U.S. are overweight. As they get older, this percentage grows along with them: almost 70 percent of U.S. adults are overweight or obese. But weight gain is largely preventable – and prevention begins in the womb.

Mama-to-be? Keeping your blood sugar steady can prevent your baby from having an excessive birth weight. It can also help your baby stay lean throughout his life. High maternal blood sugar prompts the fetus to develop more fat cells, which can make it easier to become fat later in life.

Not only can your blood sugar levels affect your baby’s development, but they can also affect your comfort levels during pregnancy. Low blood sugar is associated with morning sickness, and high blood sugar may lead to pre-eclampsia or gestational diabetes (Hudson, 2024). Gestational diabetes, in turn, predisposes your baby to obesity, insulin resistance, and diabetes later in life.

Keeping your blood sugar stable is easier than it sounds – but it requires a little advance planning. Here are some tips to help you maintain a steady blood sugar level in order to protect you and your baby: (more…)

4 Healthier Ways to Satisfy Nagging Pregnancy Cravings

By Emily Wade Adams, CNC for Natal-Nutrition.com

Chips, crackers, doughnuts, bagels, candy … these easy-to-grab comfort foods are a quick way to relieve pregnancy’s hunger pangs. But caving to your cravings isn’t necessarily healthy for your baby. Processed foods in particular are some of the most unhealthy and potentially dangerous options for moms-to-be, because they make your baby more likely to have health problems. According to Dr. Weston A. Price, your baby is at risk for health problems even if you ate processed foods before conception, even if it wasn’t you but the baby’s father who ate them, and even if you ate well but the foods you consumed were grown in depleted soil (Singer, 2004).

What are processed foods, and why are they so bad for you? They’re food products that have been manipulated, refined, enriched and/or preserved – in short, almost anything that has been changed from its natural state. Most packaged foods are processed. If you read a label and don’t recognize the ingredients, it’s likely that food has been processed. Items in the center of the grocery store tend to be processed. Generally, foods are processed to lengthen their shelf life and are packaged in a way that’s convenient for us to grab on the go. (more…)

HealthBuzz August 31: 30 Minutes of Exercise Better Than 1 Hour, Tracy Anderson Attacked in Media, and Breakfast Recipes for Labor Day Weekend

The best part about this weekend is the fact that Labor Day is Monday and many Americans will enjoy their day off observing the holiday. But before the weekend can officially commence, it’s time to wrap up the week with some healthy news. This week’s HealthBuzz includes several stories, including why you should consider ditching soda, how exercising for 30 minutes is better for weight loss than one hour, and breakfast recipes for a healthy four-day weekend.

30 Minutes of Exercise May Yield More Weight Loss Than 1 Hour

Researchers from the University of Copenhagen followed 60 overweight Danish men for 13 weeks. One-third of the group performed 30 minutes of intense aerobic exercise, another one-third of the group exercised for 60 minutes, and the last group was ordered to remain inactive. The study found that 30 minutes of physical activity helps produce more weight loss than one hour.

How Much Sleep Do You Really Need? New Research Points to a Magic Number

It seems people are never getting enough sleep in today’s fast pace society. According to a new study, eight hours of sleep isn’t the magic number for sleep anymore. Find out what the new magic number is!

Celebrity Trainer Tracy Anderson Attacked in Media

Tracy Anderson is known for providing her fitness and diet expertise to stars like Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Lopez and Gwyneth Paltrow. This week, she came under fire for some statement she made in DuJour Magazine regarding woman and their post-baby bodies. Tracy appeared on Good Morning America to defend her comments. What was her controversial quote? (more…)