Diet Tips For Busy Women

<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; text-align: left;">By </span><b style="font-family: georgia; text-align: left;">Deden Sura Agung</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: georgia; text-align: left;"><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Staying on your diet can be a challenge for anyone, but for a busy working mom the challenges can be especially tough. A busy lifestyle can make it impossible to get to the gym for a daily workout, prepare your meals ahead of time, or even to remember to pack your lunch for work each day. Being in a rush can make it difficult to stick to your diet when it's so easy to grab something at the drivethrough. Here's a collection of hints and tips from other busy women that will help you stay on your diet despite all the temptations.<br /> <br /> Don't try to 'save time' by eating on the run, or snacking at your desk while you work. No matter how rushed you are, take the time to eat like a civilized human being, to quote my mother. Set the table, put your food on a plate and have a meal. You'll eat less and feel fuller - and not feel the urge to snack because you 'haven't eaten anything all day'.<br /> <br /> Cook just what will be eaten. Ignore all those homemaker articles that suggest that you 'cook for tomorrow' to save time. Cook one portion per person at each meal. That way you'll avoid the temptation to finish off the leftover - and teach your family healthy eating habits.<br /> <br /> Get up early enough to eat breakfast at home. The morning rush to get ready may make it tempting to grab something on the way to work, or skip breakfast entirely. Don't do it. You'll end up eating up all that saved time - and a lot more calories - with midmorning trips to the snack machine, or fight off the blahs all morning long. Stock up on easy breakfast foods. A piece of fruit, a container of yogurt and a slice of toast are a healthy, balanced start for your day.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /> Most diets suggest that you drink at least eight 8 ounce glasses of water a day. If the thought of drinking a half gallon of water makes you queasy, there are ways to make it more appealing. Stock up on flavored bottled water in the fridge at work and keep one icy cold on your desk. At home, float mint sprigs or lemon slices in a crystal pitcher. There's no added calories, but oh what a difference in presentation and flavor!<br /> <br /> Trying to lose baby weight can be frustrating. You want to take it off as quickly as possible - but your body may not be cooperative. Keep in mind that your body is designed to nourish a child for up to a year after you give birth. Putting it on a starvation diet will kick it into survival gear, making it even harder to lose the extra weight. Instead of fighting your body's natural tendency to store up nutrition for the baby, eat healthy portions and increase your activity level. And if you're breastfeeding, remember that your body needs up to 1000 more calories a day than usual. Don't skimp - you'll just convince your body that it's starving.<br /> <br /> Employ the buddy system for moral support. Making a pact with a friend to exercise together makes it easier to stick to your resolution. Instead of meeting with friends for lunch, challenge friends to a tennis game, or take a brisk walk in the park together.<br /> <br /> Remember that a healthy, active lifestyle and a nutritious diet are the true keys to losing weight permanently. By choosing a diet that makes sense for your lifestyle, you'll make it easier on yourself to lose weight, and keep it off for good.<br /> </div>

By  Deden Sura Agung Staying on your diet can be a challenge for anyone, but for a busy working mom the challenges can be especially tough. ...

Healthy Pregnancy Tip: Supplements To Avoid

<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; text-align: left;">By </span><b style="font-family: georgia; text-align: left;">Deden Sura Agung</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: georgia; text-align: left;"><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Prenatal vitamins are an important source of folate and other vital nutrients during pregnancy. And many women, with the popularity of herbal medicine, take other herbs during pregnancy. Some of these herbs they may have been taking before, for an existing condition. Others, they may take to help cope with some of the physical difficulties that go with pregnancy. The following supplements and food additives should be avoided during pregnancy to avoid potential problems with the health of the baby.</div><ol style="text-align: justify;"><li>Quinine: Quinine is found in many drinks like tonic water, and these are popular as a result of their slightly bitter taste. But it was found that one woman who drunk more than 1 liter of tonic water a day whilst she was pregnant had a baby that was suffering withdrawal symptoms when it was born. It had nervous tremors within a day of being born, which disappeared two months later. Germany's BfR (Federal Institute for Risk Assessment) recommends that pregnant women treat quinine drinks, no matter how small the amount of quinine in them, as a medicinal product, and avoid them as a precaution during pregnancy.</li> <li>Ginseng: One of the more than 20 active constituents of ginseng was found by researchers at the Chinese University of the Hong Kong Prince of Wales Hospital to be a possible cause for concern for pregnant women. These researchers were measuring the effect of this active principle on fetal development in rats. And they found that, relating to the dose, rat embryonic development was affected. Higher doses meant a higher level of abnormalities, according to the markers of development their study used.</li> <li>Now, this study was one done on rat embryos, and so may not translate into similar effects on humans. And it only studied the effects of one of ginseng's active constituents, which was a ginsenoside called Rb1. Ginseng actually has over 20 ginsenosides, and other studies have found that these each have different actions. One of the difficulties with studying active constituents in herbal medicine is that the whole herbal extract may have a very different overall effect than a single constituent. This is because of the way active principles both work together and counteract each other. These two aspects, the fact that the study was not done on humans, and does not measure the overall effect of the whole ginseng extract, mean that its results should be treated cautiously. As a safety precaution, at this time it is best to at least avoid ginseng supplements during the first trimester, as the authors of the study suggest, and probably for the whole of the pregnancy. But ginseng should certainly not be branded dangerous as a result of this research as it is only a very preliminary finding in the overall picture, and more points the way as to where further research needs to be done.</li> <li>Ginkgo Biloba: Ginkgo biloba is another supplement that is best avoided whilst pregnant. Researchers at Wayne State University in Detroit found one of the constituents of ginkgo biloba in the placenta of women who had taken ginkgo supplements. This particular constituent, an alkaloid called colchicine, can be fatal in high doses, though medicinally, it has great anti-inflammatory effects. Other research has found that cochicine can harm a growing fetus. The potential problem with taking ginkgo supplements regularly whilst pregnant is that colchicine can build up in the womb, like caffeine when taken in excess of the recommended maximum amounts. The researchers did stress that there was no link established in the study between ginkgo and complications in the pregnancy, the study only looked at levels of colchicine in the womb. </li> </ol>

By  Deden Sura Agung Prenatal vitamins are an important source of folate and other vital nutrients during pregnancy. And many women, with th...

Tips For Curing Acid Reflux

<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; text-align: left;">By </span><b style="font-family: georgia; text-align: left;">Deden Sura Agung</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: georgia; text-align: left;"><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">You have just enjoyed a heavy, delicious meal and are looking forward to relaxing. Suddenly, you encounter a painful and burning sensation in your throat. This is called acid reflux. If you experience this frequently, you will be unable to enjoy your meals. Persistent acid reflux (or heartburn) can also lead to permanent damage of your esophagus. When this problem occurs more than twice a week, you should consider it serious. If you are suffering from this problem, do not worry. Here are some tips to cure this problem.<br /> <br /> What is acid reflux?<br /> Acid reflux disease occurs when the acid from your stomach enters your esophagus repeatedly. This is due to the weakness and relaxation of the sphincter muscles that lie between the esophagus and stomach. Since the acid does not encounter any barrier, it returns again and again to the esophagus.<br /> <br /> What causes acid reflux disease?<br /> High fat foods are the culprits that give rise to this problem. They weaken the muscle temporarily.<br /> <br /> How do I treat the acid reflux problem?<br /> <br /> There are some simple methods to treat this problem.</div><ol><li>Since high fat foods are the primary cause, control your intake of such foods.</li> <li>Change the position of your bed. Sometimes, you might get immediate relief by raising the head of the bed. Keep 4 to 6 inch blocks below the bed bedposts. This keeps the acid away from the esophagus due to force of gravity. But it does not work in all the cases.</li> <li>Use antacids. But use this as a short-term method or if you suffer from the problem rarely. If you use antacids for a long time, the acid in your stomach decreases, giving rise to other problems.</li> <li>Change your lifestyle habits. Quit smoking if you are a smoker. Reduce or quit drinking. Include more fiber in your foods. Eat small and more frequent meals to ensure that your stomach does not get totally full. Eat more complex carbohydrates like fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Cut down on your intake of fatty and fried foods. Include herbs like ginger in your meals. This is the best, healthiest and a long-term solution.</li> </ol><div style="text-align: justify;">If you are having acid reflux problem for a long-time then it is advised to consult a physician. </div>

By  Deden Sura Agung You have just enjoyed a heavy, delicious meal and are looking forward to relaxing. Suddenly, you encounter a painful a...