Take Care of Yourself!!!

Hi Friends,  Life as a mommy can be overwhelming!!!  There is always more to do, dishes to clean, laundry to wash, fold, & put away, floors to sweep, doggies to feed & walk, hubbies to love, and on and on.  During the early years of life your babies are completely dependent upon you!  Taking care of yourself is more important now than it will be when they are grown.  You need every ounce of energy you can find!!!  Below are a series of exercises designed to do in bed before you ever get up!  These can be fun for your little ones too!  Ha! Encourage your partner to do them with you, it can become a family affair!  You will feel better, be more flexible, improve your balance, have more energy and protect yourself from injury!   Have fun!!!!  JUDY

Exercises for Strength and Flexibility

Do these exercises in bed before your feet hit the floor each morning!!!                                       (I am not kidding! Do these in bed!)

This is a set of exercises anyone can and should do before getting out of bed each morning. The purpose of these simple exercises is to stretch and strengthen our muscles safely and consistently rather than reinforce already existing “hitches in their giddyups,” i.e. those nagging aches and pains that virtually all of us have. This set of exercises should take a person no more than 12 minutes to perform. So let’s get started.

Lying on your back in bed, visualize a beautiful day for yourself:

(1) Raise your arms over your head back to the mattress while inhaling then back to your side while exhaling. Repeat this sequence 5X.

(2) With both your legs extended, bend your right leg to 90 degrees and grasp your knee with both hands, (a) rotate your right ankle 5x to the right and 5 x to the left (b) still holding your leg rotate your hip joint to the right 5x and 5x to the left (c) hug your bent right leg to your chest and then extend it straight up 5x (d) lower right leg back to the mattress. (e) Repeat the same exercises with your left leg. (f) bring both knees to your chest in order to release your lower back.

(3) Rotate your head to the right, try to touch your right ear to the bed or to the pillow, then rotate your head to the left with the same goal, touching your left ear to the bed or pillow. (a) release tension in your neck and jaw by opening your mouth as wide as possible, make some deep guttural noises, e.g. scary Halloween moans. (b) grasp the back of your head with both hands and lift it up feeling a stretch n your neck, lower back to mattress. Do this 5x.

(4) Take a looped belt and place it around the instep of your right foot. Keep your leg straight and use your arms to lift your leg up towards the ceiling. If your hands are sore or achy use your wrists to “hold” the looped belt. Repeat this 5x  (a) Next grasp the belt with your right hand and lower your straight right leg out to your right side, then return it to straight up then to the left. Repeat this “windshield wiper” movement slowly, one side to the other 5x. (b) repeat the same 5 step process with your left leg. (c) once you have completed the process 5x finish by hugging both knees to your chest.

(5) Bend both knees so your feet are flat on the bed, take your right ankle and place it over your left leg above the left knee in a figure 4 position. Gently press your right thigh out 5x feeling a gentle stretch in your hip. (a) repeat the process with your left leg

(6) Roll over and come to “all fours”, i.e. kneeling on your bed. Lower your hips towards your feet in a “child’s pose”. If you experience any strain, place a pillow on top of your calves and lower yourself back onto it. Hold for 20 seconds.

(7) Lay flat on your stomach on the bed and systematically lift your right arm off the bed, straight overhead from the shoulder, then bring it back to your side, then your left arm, right leg, left leg and, if you are able all four limbs at the same time. Repeat 5x

(8) Get up off the bed and bend at the waist, placing your hands on your mattress or bedstead. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and slowly rotate your hour hips so as to release any remaining tension. Rotate 10x in each direction.

If you follow this routine daily you’ll soon see increased energy, added flexibility and heightened positive attitude.

Healthy Snacks!!! Yum!! Yum!!

During your pregnancy you planned to eat well and only consume the best, for you and baby, right??? You weren’t going to eat anything that did not offer the best nutrition for you both!  How did that work out for you?  Ha!  Ha!  “The best laid plans of mice and men.” (great synopsis of planning from Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath)  So, now that baby is here, how can you get control of providing the very best nutrition for you both?  And the rest of your family for that matter?

The practical key for good nutrition is planning ahead.  There are chips and fries on nearly every corner in your neighborhood.  If you leave your food choices to the moment you are all starving you have already lost the battle.  No one eats perfectly all the time.  I just read an article on Carrie Underwood.  She exercises like a crazy person and eats vegetarian most of the time.  But even she admits, at Super Bowl parties or her mother-in-laws house she enjoys what is offered.  That is just fine.  Your general diet has far more to do with your heath than the times you vier off it for treats!  Cut yourself some slack.

Starting a healthy diet with your toddler will imprint good eating habits into his life.  Later on he will vier towards the good stuff rather than the high fat starchy things.  I promise!!! More and more research is showing that the early habits of eating, sleeping, and water consumption we develop in our children last through out their lives!

Dr. Lori DeBold, our pediatrician, would tell my kids, “You are building the body you will have for the rest of your lives.”  That is profound.  And so true.  Teaching your little ones to enjoy carrots and celery instead of chips will impact their go-to choices later.  What, you don’t enjoy these healthy snacks?????  Then, I guess, this is where you need to get started. Filling your refrigerator with fresh fruit, cut up ready-to-eat veggies, and water bottles puts you in the posiiton where the thing you reach for first is the best.  I am not saying cut out all the unhealthy stuff, just teach yourself to go for the healthy items most of the time.  You will be surprised how quickly they become your favorites!!!

My adult kids and I swear by Sprouts Markets.  Do you know them?  They are similar to Mother’s Market but half the price.  At Sprouts you can fill up your cart with all colors of bell peppers, green apples (my favorite), citrus choices, bananas, avocados, and on and on. Their veggie and fruit choices seem endless.  They also have nuts, beans, and cereals in those old timey bins so you can purchase in any amount you choose. Anyway, you can find all kinds of interesting, various, and numerous selections.  They even have more healthy chip options!!  Rah!! You will not find Coke there.  Check it out and see how you like it!!

Expand your nutrition horizons.  Below find some practical suggestions:

1.  Your local Sprouts Markets
2.  Weekly Farmers Markets in your area. Check online for times and locations.  Local  growers bring organic fruits and vegetables to be sold for a hour or two once a week.  Talk to your friends about these, they can help you find them.
3.  Costco has many ready to eat individual salads, nut & cracker portions, cut up  apples, and other produce, in the event you are not able to prepare them yourself.
4.  On-line recipe options for healthy food:
5.    https://www.pinterest.com
6.    Pioneer Woman Recipes

7.    www.foodnetwork.com › Recipes & How-Tos

8.    allrecipes.com/recipe/98390

Certainly you have suggestions of your own.  Please pass them on so I can share!  Thank you!!!  Thank you!!!  JUDY