Search Results for: pregnancy

July 22, 2016 By Geetika Patni 1 Comment

Excercises: Pre-Pregnancy: A good start is half done!

Planning to start a family is a crucial decision, in fact a life changing one and preparing yourself well for the most important time of your life, will ensure a healthier you and a healthier baby.If you have made up your mind for the next big move, this blog will give you an insight on exercise part of this beginning.

A workout routine developed before getting pregnant will help you stay in the healthier BMI range, will help you beat stress through release of the feel good hormone-endorphins and will help you sleep better through the night, thus will create an optimal environment for natural conception. Additionally, will help you sustain a healthy pregnancy and develop your stamina for the rigors of childbirth and recovery, and finally it will assist you in getting back in shape and to your pre pregnancy fitness levels!

A good deal eh? So lets learn how you can plan your exercise regime:

A) If you are a beginner: take it easy and gradually. 20 -30 minutes minimum three times a week will be good to go.

1) Start with a low impact aerobic exercise-walking, dancing, cycling. Will race up your heart and exercise your lungs.

2) Another good one is –Swimming- will make you feel lighter and workout whole body without straining your joints.

3) Relaxing workouts include within which right postures will help in toning your reproductive organs too.

4) Pilates workout under guidance will help strengthen your core and pelvic muscles.

5) Weight training under supervision will work up your muscles to prepare them for infant care. Use lighter weights and learn correct training technique but remember weight training is to be avoided during pregnancy.

6) Practice exercises for pregnancy and active labor- will include squatting, lunges, pelvic floor exercises and breathing exercises. Starting to do them now will make it easier to continue after the big news.

B) If you are a pro: you are doing one of the best job for yourself and your fertility. But like with every other good thing, too much of it can still be doing harm than good, when you are trying to conceive. This is so because exercises are considered as stress to system and body shuts its reproductive functions in stressful events. Moreover workouts are linked to changes in a lady’s hormonal system that may interfere with implantation of a fertilized egg. Then is it fine for a man to exercise intensely during pre conception phase? No actually not. Male partner must also re evaluate his workouts and dial down the intensity of his routine so as to avoid risk of decreasing his sperm counts (which happens due to excessive heat generation during exercises).

Now the question is when do you draw the line?

Well it will depend on your BMI

#If you fall in overweight BMI range (>27), there is no reason to tone down your exercises, since obesity impairs fertility more than excessive exercising.

#If you fall in normal weight BMI range, bring down your workout intensity from vigorous to moderate. Like-If you are running start jogging and avoid vigorous gymnastics, aerobics, cycling and even swimming. Make them more leisurely so that you are not devoting more than 5 hours a week to these workouts.

#If you fall in underweight BMI range (<18), check your workout intensity and make it to a lighter tone yet again, so that along with good nutrition, you can soon move up to healthy weight range for early conception.

Now A word of caution for Female Athletes – if your form of exercise (including power yoga) is above moderate and leaves you extremely weak, winded and gasping for breath or alters your menstrual cycles, then it’s time to tone down the frequency, pace and duration of your workouts. This surely doesn’t mean you can’t run/cycle or must leave your weight lifting career, for making a baby, but then, of course this won’t be the ideal time to prepare for a marathon/triathlon or for buffing up for an upcoming championship.

Furthermore certain contact Sports like Judo, Karate, Football etc which may cause sudden jolts/falls and abdominal punching may become unsuitable when you eventually fall pregnant. So trying now to hone your skills in them or for that matter in activities like downhill skiing, horseback riding, scuba diving, mountain biking etc may not be useful. Save them for your post pregnancy to do list!

Lastly a well-rounded preparation consists of other factors too. So a Wholesome DIET, Folate SUPPLEMENTS, Sound SLEEP, No to ALCOHOL/SMOKING, Avoiding CAFFEINE and Reducing STRESS will form crucial foundation of your pre natal preparation along with,as I mentioned above, EXERCISING regularly.

Hope you find this article useful and answering all your questions regarding exercises before your Big Fat Positive. Take care and I’ll see you in the next chapter of Pregnancy!

March 2, 2016 By Apurwa Agrawal 3 Comments

Antenatal Exercises for a good pregnancy

One of the most beautiful experiences that a woman can have is that of being pregnant. But, first-time pregnancy brings with it lots of uncertainty and hesitancy. To ease this pressure I decided to let me write a blog where I can share my experience of pregnancy and how I overcame the uncertainties and other issues.

Ideally, a woman should enjoy her pregnancy. She should indulge herself and not be obsessed with the weighing scale. I agree on the fact that body undergoes several changes which create stress on a woman mentally and physically. There are also hormonal changes in the body.One of the major hormone called RELAXIN during this period makes the joint hypermobile, increase the ligament laxity which causes pain and inflammation.

How do we balance this situation with “recommendations for pregnancy?

Just two words – Prenatal Exercises

Yes, you heard it right!

A sensible workout plan and will power during pregnancy has been the key for me, being open to maintaining self-control and moderation with indulging truly made all the difference.

It is recommended that women who have normal healthy pregnancy should get 30minutes of exercise most days of the week.(minimum 5)

Let’s have a look how these exercises help during pregnancy:

Reduces aches during pregnancy.
Improves stamina gives you more energy to cope with growing demands of pregnancy.
Improves posture and sleeping pattern
More controlled weight gain
Increases the chance of normal delivery
Enhanced psychological well-being
Increases circulation hence reduces swelling and edema.
Reduces the risk of gestational diabetes and pregnancy-induced hypertension.

Keep few tips in mind while exercising:

Always warm up before exercising, and cool down afterwards
Avoid any strenuous exercise in hot weather
Drink plenty of water and other fluids
If you go to exercise classes, make sure your teacher is properly qualified and knows that you’re pregnant as well as how many weeks pregnant you are
You can also opt for swimming as it is a good cardio exercise and the water will support your increased weight. But it should be done under the supervision of the professional trainer.

If you’ve never worked out start super slow, listen to your body and go accordingly. There is no point in doing things in a hurry and injuring yourself. Also, there are certain situations in which you should terminate the exercise right there. Listed below are the situations in which you should stop exercising-

Excessive shortness of breath
Chest pain or palpitations
Pre-syncope or dizziness
Painful uterine contractions or preterm labour
Leakage of amniotic fluid
Vaginal bleeding
Excessive fatigue
Abdominal pain, particularly in back or pubic area
Reduced fetal movement.

I hope this blog will compel you to increase your fitness level during pregnancy.I will be adding my workout routine in my next blog for you to use as a reference or adopt if you feel so inclined, so till then stay tuned and feel free to comment if you have any queries.

February 9, 2015 By Amrozia Sayyed 4 Comments

Preparing the body for pregnancy

Every couple desires to have a baby someday and all of them wish that from pregnancy to child-birth all goes well. Planning well is the key. Like as the saying goes-“The most important step of all is the first step” And therefore why not start the very first that is conception be on a healthy note!

Why do we only focus on women when she is pregnant why not when she is preparing to get pregnant. So that her pregnancy is smooth.

Here are the five importants things that should be looked upon to start with a healthy pregnancy and getting ready for a beautiful change in your life….

1 2 3…I wanna be fat free:

Before pregnancy, it is important to have a body weight close to your ideal body weight. During pregnancy on an average women gain 10-12 kg of weight which is required. While you are pregnant no doctor or health care professional will ask you to diet or follow a fat loss programme or low carb diet, etc. So better to start the best moments of your life with the best body.

Low body weight of women at reproductive age is mainly because of under supply of nutrients such as Vitamin A, E, C, Zinc seleniun, iron and folic acid, essential fatty acid etc which play an important role in fertility.

In overweight and obese women there is high fat storage which leads to hormonal imbalance one of the common reasons for infertility. Fat cell release estrogen (hormone) which delays ovulation and disturbs menstrual cycle and act as a natural birth control. Other condition associated with obese women and pregnancy is gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia.

But, ladies all these can be managed with simplest remedy that is exercise and eating right…

So wanna be mummy get into those sports gear and start with your exercise…Your baby would love to see a healthy mom at his/her first glance.

Tip: Better to start with pregnancy with a healthy weight to give birth to a healthy baby and minimize the health risk too. Try to exercise at-least 3 days in a week.

Most wanted- Folic acid and iron:

Folic acid supplements before pregnancy is must. The neural tube formation that is crucial for brain development happens in the first four weeks of pregnancy. This is the stage where in most mothers are unaware that they are pregnant especially when it is an unplanned pregnancy. Hence, it is very much important for all women of reproductive age to replinish their folic acid daily.

To lower down the risk of neural tube defects one must take folic acid for at least three months before pregnancy and continue during pregnancy. Also along with supplements include food that are high in folate every day such as dark green leafy vegetable, beans, lentils, oranges etc.

Likewise iron is very much important to support the healthy development of the foetus. Due to increase blood volume during pregnancy it also increases the demand for iron in our body due to growing foetus. The better iron stores before pregnancy the better absorption of iron during pregnancy. Iron rich food includes whole grains, beans, red meat (but has saturated fats too), eggs and poultry etc.

Small tip: Better to have iron rich food with a Vitamin C source such as lemon water or amla which will aid in iron absorption. Also avoid caffeinated beverages.

Healthy omegas:

We live in a world where we are constantly surrounded by options in food which are fat rich junk and sugar filled caloric meals. Both ultimately contributes to fat storage in our body. Food such as meat, dairy products and many other processed food available in the market are high in saturated fat. It’s our choice or selection to get the good fat in our diet. Fatty acids rich in oily fish, nuts and oilseed are rich in essential fat that is omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. These essential fats are required for proper functioning of hormones in the body. And a slight disturbance in hormones has a great impact which in turn will affect the menstrual cycle causing infertility. It is always good to opt for lean fat which is present in white meat rather than red meat which is again high in saturated fat. The processed meat is even worse because it comes with combination of high sodium contents along with preservative.

Tip: Make a mixture of sunflower seeds, flax seeds, almonds, pumpkin seed and sesame seeds and use it a our garnish for sprinkling over the salads. It has good amount of essential fat.

Get that dose of Antioxidants daily:

Antioxidant act like a defense system in our body to de-activate the free radical species and hence preventbody from damaging. These antioxidant protects the reproductive organs (ovum, eggs, etc) of a woman from damage by these radicals and ensure their normal functioning. The DNA is also protected from antioxidant which forms as a base to the child’s development.

Make sure the mother preparing for pregnancy makes a special note to count antioxidant rich food in their diet such as fresh colourful fruits and vegetables, nuts, etc

Keep away from stress :

It is the most important aspect which is mostly overlooked . High stress level can affect fertility too. Women who have delayed ovulation have high cortisol level which is a reason for infertility. Brain sends signals via hypothalamus to release hormones which will trigger ovulation. In women with high stress levels these signals are altered and thereby disturbed menstrual cycle and fertility.

Tip: At-least devote 5 min of your day to meditation, indulge in your hobbies, best to de-stress. Also first thing in the morning is to thinks how will you tackle your day, get a plan and then get in to action.

November 14, 2021 By Priyanka Mangla Leave a Comment

The Early Signs & Symptoms of Diabetes

Diabetes has slowly become one of the most common lifestyle disorders affecting both, urban and rural areas alike. You can attribute this to overeating, obesity, stressful, busy and sedentary lifestyles which lead to the early symptoms of diabetes. This also includes lack of proper nutrition which leads to disturbed glucose metabolism. Heredity is also a major factor in the development of the disease. It is usually misunderstood that eating only refined sugar in excess will lead to diabetes but that’s not the case. Excess intake of proteins and fats also leads to development of diabetes because ultimately they are also metabolized and converted to glucose.

Diabetes is characterized by the elevated levels of glucose in the blood and urine. It is of 2 types:

Type 1: is present since birth due to complete absence of insulin
Type 2: Develops later in life due to the deficiency of insulin

There are other variants too like gestational diabetes which occur during pregnancy. Read more about it here: https://goqii.com/blog/what-gestational-diabetes-can-do-to-you-your-unborn-child/

Since untreated or uncontrolled diabetes gradually starts affecting the functioning of major organs of the body, like the heart, kidneys, brain, nervous system, eyes, etc. it is important to diagnose and treat the disease as early as possible.

How Can You Diagnose It?

It is diagnosed by a blood test, in which the blood glucose in the fasting state (normal values range between 80-120 mg/100 ml of blood) and 2 hours after having the meal (normal values, 140 mg/100 ml of blood) are measured. Now, even before getting your blood glucose tested, there are certain signs and symptoms which our body shows which indicate the development of diabetes.

Early Signs and Symptoms of Diabetes

3P’s: Polyphagia (increased hunger), polydipsia (increased thirst), polyuria (increased urination). Remember these 3 P’s and look out if you are experiencing these.
Loss of weight: In spite of increased hunger, there will be a very sharp loss of weight, which again is a warning symptom. This is happening because the glucose is getting lost in the urine, also due to insufficient insulin, the available glucose is not getting utilized to provide energy and to function, the body has started utilizing the glucose which is stored in the muscles and organs.
Getting tired: Loss of weight due to this condition leads to early tiredness. The person gets tired easily both mentally and physically.
Dry mouth: Despite drinking more water, there will be dryness in the mouth.
Paleness: appears because of anemia.
Frequent infections and delayed healing of wounds: happens due to excess of glucose in the blood.
Loss of libido.

In its early stages, we can easily prevent it from progressing further to a full blown Diabetes Mellitus with:

Regular exercise: for a minimum of 30 minutes to maintain optimum weight. Engage yourself in light games.
Proper diet: Which includes salads with meals (this slows down digestion and prevents an immediate spike in blood sugar levels) and excluding refined sugar, alcohol, smoking and high fat foods.
Yoga & meditation: take care of the stress levels and curb the disease from getting any worse. Pranayama and certain yoga asanas like bhujangasana, sarvangasana and various others help in stimulating the pancreas to produce insulin .

There are certain home remedies which can be used as a supportive measure. I want to discuss here the two most important ones.

Bitter gourd (Karela): is highly beneficial in the treatment of diabetes. It contains an insulin-like principle, known as plant-insulin which has been found effective in lowering the blood and urine sugar levels.
Jambul fruit (Jamun): The seeds contain a glycoside ‘jamboline’ which has the power to check the pathological conversion of starch into sugar in cases of increased production of glucose. In the Homoeopathic system of medicine, we have a very effective medicine prepared from this fruit to treat diabetes.

We hope this article helps you manage Diabetes and helps you spot the early signs and symptoms. Do leave your thoughts in the comments below! For more on Diabetes, check out Healthy Reads or reach out to a GOQii Coach by subscribing for personalized coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

#BeTheForce Against Diabetes!