LIFESTYLE MANAGEMENT

Live Better! Live Healthier! Live Happier!
A healthy lifestyle generally includes living your life in a way that keeps you physically and mentally healthy, no matter your stage of life. Planning to get healthy and stay healthy is a wise way to manage your life and give yourself the best possible chance to achieve your physical, social, career and educational goals. As you manage your day-to-day activities, include strategies to manage your weight, physical activity and stress levels.

Lifestyle is defined as the typical way of living. It reflects the attitudes, preferences, and culture in a person or group. Different types of lifestyles include a business lifestyle, homemaker, parent, rich, poor, faithful, and more.

On the other hand, management is defined as the process of managing. It is to take charge of and supervising things. Typically, management brings up the idea of someone overseeing the operations of a job site, but in fact people manage things like time, budgets, stress, and organization in both their professional and personal lives every day.

Lifestyle management is the key to be followed! It helps individuals to take care of managing specific tasks so that the more pleasurable tasks and events can truly be enjoyed. It is easy to get bogged down in "have-to-do" so that the "want-to-do" gets pushed aside.

Women in early pregnancy and those attempting conception are often concerned with altering their lifestyles to achieve and maintain a healthy pregnancy. Patients often ask for recommendations about caffeine intake, exercise, alcohol consumption, and use of artificial sweeteners. In addition to quantity, the question of timing arises: When is the appropriate time for a woman to alter her lifestyle—before conception or after pregnancy is established?

Experiencing Stress! Releasing it for the Best!

We all experience stress. And, just as stress comes from many areas of life, effective stress management comes from combating stress on many different fronts.

Part of a comprehensive stress relief plan involves finding ways to calm down quickly so you can more effectively manage stress as it comes, while avoiding the negative effects of chronic stress. Another important way to relieve stress is to maintain healthy lifestyle habits.

The article in the Sydney Morning Herald "Mums stress impacts unborn babies brain" certainly gives all pregnant women or those hoping to become pregnant something to think about. Researchers have isolated a marker that alerts the fetus that its mother has experienced stress. This happens in the first trimester of pregnancy. Stress transmits to the placenta to alter protein levels which can adversely affect the brain development in the fetus.

Making women are aware of the potential issues that stress can create, gives them food for thought to consider how they could modify their lifestyle. Switching activities might help.

Dietary changes for obese women while pregnant can make them feel better about themselves and reduce anxiety about her health and that of her baby.

Except for women who experience severe morning sickness, women are well. As a society, we undervalue the role of motherhood and need a wake-up call about the importance of who mothers. Mothers are carrying our next generation, some of whom will make significant contributions to mankind and the planet.

The point now is that we need to encourage women to better look after themselves, perhaps even alert the work place to the early pregnancy so that modifications or adjustments can be made. Research suggests if women feel supported and cared for they can be productive without the stress attached.

Many corporations recognize this need and provide facilities or opportunities for stress management so it's probably more about enhancing what may be offered.

Similarly, women need to take responsibility for them but may need guidance and information as to what is available. An opportunity exists to develop a lifestyle course for pregnant women in the first trimester inclusive of diet, exercise, stress management, perhaps financial planning, and general baby preparation including, of course, breastfeeding.

Maternity Makeover: For a Healthy Lifestyle

Be quick to quit
If you've never had a strong motivation to drop bad habits, let the bun in the oven be your wake-up call. Cigarette-smoking can have frightening effects, including an increased likelihood of miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy; hence, avoid these habits and feed your baby with whatever that is pure and healthy.

Studies have shown that consuming even one alcoholic drink per week during pregnancy can have an adverse effect on a developing baby, and heavier drinking can lead to fetal alcohol syndrome, the only preventable cause of mental retardation.

Caffeine consumption during pregnancy is often debated, but one study by the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology found that women who consumed 200 mg or more of caffeine per day (equal to two cups of coffee or five cans of caffeinated soft drinks) had twice the miscarriage risk of women who didn't consume caffeine.

Eat right

Now is not the time to try to lose weight, nor is it a good time to give in to unhealthy cravings or binge eating. Research indicates that a pregnancy diet of three servings of dairy, three servings of protein, three servings of fruit, four servings of vegetables, and nine servings of whole grain products each day is really healthy to follow.

Many women suffer from anemia during pregnancy, so maintain an iron-rich diet to keep up your red blood cell count. Prenatal vitamins often include iron, but it can also be found in lean red meat, poultry, salmon, tofu, beans, nuts and green vegetables. Check with your doctor for a complete list of dos and don'ts.

Breathe easy

Pregnancy can be a stressful time, both physically and mentally. Try yoga, meditation, deep breathing, walking, massage or acupuncture to lighten the load. Reducing stress will help you sleep better, maintain a stronger relationship with your partner, and better manage pregnancy symptoms. Communication can also ease mental anxiety. Express your thoughts, worries and excitement to your partner and talk with your doctor—early on and throughout your pregnancy. This can alleviate concerns about your physical development. And remember to stay happy and maintain a smile on your face!