What better way to kick off my second year than how I started, with a new post on Thanksgiving and being mindful of how much you eat– How Not to be as Stuffed as the Turkey! Enjoy and remember live life, live healthy!

Oh I digress. I really started thinking about my immune system and what I have not been doing over the last month to keep it strong. I got food poisoning one week, then the next week I got the cold. What luck, right? I didn’t understand it because I eat healthy, drink 10-12 glasses of water a day and I work out 6 days a week. I thought I was doing everything to keep myself healthy. Then I realized, I haven’t taken a multivitamin since April. Not good. Especially not good since I have cut out a lot of carbs over the last 4 months, including some whole grains which provide us with iron and magnesium. I didn’t think about it until it was too late and I found myself standing in the middle of my kitchen popping Golden Seal Echinacea two at a time, Vitamin E, C AND my multivitamin. A sad attempt to give my immune system a majorly overdue boost!

Here is a major tip: when you are making some heavy changes in your diet, even if it is for the good, supplement your eating habits with a multivitamin as well. So often we may be eating extremely healthy and still don’t get all of the necessary nutrients needed on a daily basis. For example, when you remove carbohydrates from your diet, this often means wheat bread, brown rice, pita bread, crackers and other grains which are critical to the adult diet. Sure we want to be cautious about overindulging in these foods, but we have to remember that they provide us with iron, magnesium, and folate. For women, each of these is extremely important to our diet. Folate (folic acid) prevents neural tube defects in the fetus during pregnancy and iron is used to carry oxygen in the blood (many women in their childbearing years have iron-deficiency anemia). That is why at the very least taking a multivitamin, which has folic acid, B vitamins and many others vitamins, will supplement those foods we may have decided to give up and the nutrients we may not be getting enough of. 

You may be asking yourself, how do I know which multivitamin is right for me? As you search for the multivitamin that works for your body, find one that is:

A great place to start is GNC, they have a new multi-pack for various types of women — menopausal women, active women, etc. . . Good luck in your search!

Understanding all of these challenges, I am a firm believer that women who are pregnant should try their very best to get some physical activity on most days. Exercising while pregnant has several health benefits: keeping your weight to the maximum you should gain, reducing your risk of getting gestational diabetes, and strengthening your bones. A few women also told me that working out did help with the nausea, it helped them lose the pregnancy weight much faster and it helped a little bit with the labor. It also helped them bounce back faster, energy-wise, after the baby was born. There is definitely something to be said for exercise, but you still need to be very careful in the type of exercise you do while you are pregnant. Keep the following things (from the March of Dimes) in mind as you begin thinking how you can incorporate exercise into your next nine months:

*Before you go out and run a marathon, talk with your health care provider. Not all pregnant women should exercise, especially if they are at risk of preterm labor or suffer from a serious ailment, such as heart or lung disease.

*Think about the type of exercise you want to do. Know that it’s okay to try several things. You can do brisk walking for 30 minutes or more, and you don’t need to join a health club or buy any special equipment. You can also swim, which is really good for pregnant women. The water supports the weight of your growing body and provides resistance that helps bring your heart rate up.

*You can also look for classes that are specifically designed for you such as prenatal yoga or aerobic classes for pregnant women.

*Avoid any activities that put you at high risk for injury, such as horseback riding or downhill skiing. Stay away from sports in which you could get hit in the belly, such as ice hockey, kickboxing or soccer. Especially after the third month, avoid exercises that require you to lie flat on your back. Lying on your back can restrict the flow of blood to the uterus and endanger your baby. Finally, never scuba dive. This sport may lead to dangerous gas bubbles in the baby’s circulatory system.

*Most importantly, pay attention to your body and how you are feeling during and after exercise. Don’t overdo it—try to build up your level of fitness gradually. If you have any serious problems, such as vaginal bleeding, dizziness, headaches, chest pain, decreased fetal movement or contractions, stop exercising and contact your health care provider immediately.

Enjoy these nine months as best you can and help your body adjust by adding a bit of exercise to your new lifestyle on a regular basis. 

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