Month: June 2017

You were pregnant and you gained a little extra weight along with the baby weight. (Or maybe a little more than a little). Then you gave birth to your precious baby and now you’re ready for all of that extra weight to come off. So when the heck is that going to happen??

Unfortunately, the weight that you gain while you’re pregnant doesn’t instantly evaporate (no matter how much you wish it would). But the good news is that it will eventually come off! It just takes a little time.
Are you worried that it’s not coming off fast enough? It may not be—and there are certain things that you may be doing that are keeping the numbers on the scale from budging.
Here are the five most common reasons that women don’t lose baby weight quickly.

You’re too stressed.

Stress can not only make you feel crazy…it can also make you eat more. When you’re stressed, your body goes into emergency mode and experiences fight-or-flight syndrome. Your heart rate increases, your metabolism goes nuts, and your body produces a hormone known as cortisol in order to deal with it.

Unfortunately, this hormone can do a number on your body. It causes your insulin to spike, which can cause your blood sugar to drop, which in turn makes you crave carbs and sugary items. Studies have also shown that when you gain weight due to increased cortisol levels, the fat deposits right to your midsection (the area most of us are trying to tone).

Try to keep your mental health in check by implementing some stress management tools such as meditation, breathing exercises, or even some light walking or cardio.

You’re not sleeping enough.

Sleep deprivation can not only make you tired, but it can also make you hungry. When you don’t sleep enough, the hormones that affect your appetite become unbalanced and make you want to eat.

A study presented at the American Heart Association’s scientific sessions in 2011 found that people who slept for only four hours ate more calories the following day (as opposed to when they had gotten a full eight hours).
When you’re sleep deprived, your body overproduces a hormone known as ghrelin and underproduces the hormone leptin. Ghrelin’s job is to increase hunger, and leptin’s role is decreasing hunger. As you can see, this can be a recipe for a disaster when it comes to weight loss.
In order to combat this hormone imbalance, try to nap whenever possible (like when your baby’s napping), avoid caffeine and adult beverages (which are known to disrupt sleep habits), and put off late-night chores so you can get to bed earlier.

You’re hitting the gym too hard.

Cardio and weight training are great at helping you burn calories and tone the muscles that have gone a bit flabby, but if you overdo it at the gym you may find yourself in a catch-22.

You see, if you exercise too hard, your body turns to emergency sugar stores (not fat stores) for energy. These sugar stores need to be replaced and your body responds with lower blood sugar levels.
Lower blood sugar levels can cause you to eat too much of the wrong foods (which make you gain back the calories that you just burned off). So you can never catch up, much less get ahead.

The best way to exercise for weight loss is to do moderate weight training with moderate cardiovascular exercise. The “talk test” works well to make sure that you’re burning fat not sugar. You can test yourself by talking to someone else (or yourself) while you exercise. If you’re out of breath and you can’t carry on a conversation, you’re working too hard. If you can talk (with a couple of intermittent breathy words), you’re in the right zone!

You’re not eating enough.

When caring for a baby, a mom’s schedule is often erratic. Crazy schedules can cause you to forget to eat or eat at irregular intervals. Unfortunately, when it comes to weight loss, your body loves to be on a regular schedule.

When you’re consistent with your meal times, your body’s metabolism is kicking, your blood sugar levels are stable, and you’re not craving unhealthy, sugary items. If you’re not remembering to eat, all hell can break loose, making it nearly impossible to lose weight effectively.
Keep your body running efficiently by eating small, well-balanced, unprocessed meals every 3 to 4 hours. And don’t forget to keep your body hydrated as well! Often dehydration can mask itself as hunger and cause you to eat when you’re really just thirsty.

You have a thyroid issue.

Shockingly, studies have found that up to 30 percent of postpartum women have thyroid dysfunction due to an iodine deficiency as a result of pregnancy.

During pregnancy, your baby takes iron from you, which can cause hypothyroidism (this is when the thyroid gland doesn’t make enough thyroid hormone).
If this happens, your body processes slow down and you can feel symptoms such as fatigue, depression, and even weight gain. Ask your doctor to run a thyroid panel to see if you may be experiencing any thyroid issues.

Think you can’t moonlight at a great job while fulfilling your rewarding full-time job of being a parent? Think again!

Fortunately the 21st-century workplace has made great strides in offering good job opportunities while still respecting the roles of parents (cue the celestial music). There are some employers that are overachievers in this area, and the company Great Place to Work has found them.
They surveyed 122,482 employees around the nation to find the workplaces that offer the best environment for parents—offering perks like fully paid parental leave, on-site daycare, and child care reimbursement.
The employees were asked about their day-to-day work environments, including questions about quality of benefits, fairness of opportunities, support for work–life balance, and their overall assessment of the companies that they work for.

Excited to find out where to apply? Let’s dive into the best companies of 2017.

1. PricewaterhouseCoopers

A multinational professional services network headquartered in London. Ranked as the most prestigious accounting firm in the world for seven consecutive years (Vault Accounting 50).

2. Edward Jones

Financial services firm headquartered in Des Peres, Missouri, with over 14,000 locations in the U.S. and Canada and more than 7 million clients. The firm focuses on individual investors and small businesses.
Awesome Perks: 120 fully paid business days for maternity leave, 14 fully paid days for paternity leave, child care cost reimbursement for work travel or working late
Hiring For: financial advisor

3. Ultimate Software

American technology company based out of Weston, Florida, that develops and sells UltiPro, a cloud-based human capital management solution for businesses. As of April 2017, total revenues reportedly exceed $781 million.

Awesome Perks: 50 fully paid business days for maternity leave and 20 days of parental leave after child adoption
Hiring For: office manager, finance administrator, strategic accounts associate, customer support manager

4. VMware

Based in Palo Alto, California, a subsidiary of Dell Technologies that provides cloud and virtualization software and services.
Awesome Perks: 90 fully paid business days for maternity leave, paternity leave, and parental leave after child adoption
Hiring For: staff engineer, security strategist, systems engineer, NSX java spring developer internship, intern, senior finance manager

5. Alston & Bird

International global law firm with more than 800 lawyers in 11 offices throughout the world. Advises major companies including Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Starbucks, Toyota, UPS, and Amazon.

Awesome Perks: 90 fully paid business days for maternity leave, on-site child care center at headquarters, 20 fully paid business days for paternity leave
Hiring For: payroll manager, temporary project attorney, billing coordinator, data steward, HR manager, sales coordinator, branch manager

6. Cooley

International law firm headquartered in Palo Alto, California, with offices nationwide and in the U.K. and China. Recognized as a leader for its technology practice and widely regarded as one of Silicon Valley’s go-to law firms.
Awesome Perks: 100 business days of maternity leave, 60 days of paternity leave, 100 days of parental leave after child adoption
Hiring For: legal secretary, accounts payable coordinator, pricing analyst, project manager, trademark paralegal

7. Kimley-Horn

One of America’s premier design consulting firms and the nation’s leading engineering firm for multi-family residential and retail properties, with offices across the U.S.

Awesome Perks: 60 business days of paternity leave and 60 days of parental leave after child adoption
Hiring For: project manager, project engineer, transit engineer, transportation engineer, marketing coordinator

8. Quicken Loans

Mortgage lending company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. The second largest overall retail lender in the U.S. and the largest online retail mortgage lender.
Awesome Perks: On-site child care center at the Detroit headquarters, 90 business days of maternity leave and 90 days of parental leave after child adoption
Hiring For: data architect, human resources report writer, space planner, facilities service coordinator, software engineer

9. Comcast

American global telecommunications company that services U.S. residential and commercial customers in 40 states. The largest broadcasting and cable television monopoly in the world by revenue.

Awesome Perks: Comcast keeps their benefits confidential, but a trusted source (i.e., Glassdoor) says that they offer, “Maternity management, adoption assistance, child and elder care resources, help buying a car/home, going back to school, fitting wellness into your lifestyle.”
Hiring For: communication technician, ad sales account executive, supervisor, enterprise account executive, installer, retail sales consultant 

10. Deloitte

A U.K.-incorporated multinational professional services firm with headquarters in NYC. The largest professional services firm in the world and one of the “Big Four” accounting firms in the world. Provides financial services and has more than 244,000 employees worldwide.

Awesome Perks: 120 fully paid business days for maternity leave, 80 fully paid business days for paternity leave and parental leave, and child care reimbursement for work travel or working late
Hiring For: receptionist, manager, solution engineer, technical implementation specialist, consultant, tax manager, digital and print designer
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Can your baby feel your emotions during pregnancy?

A study published in the journal Psychological Science makes the case that fetuses do respond to their mothers’ emotions—and that the effect continues after the child is born.

In a sense, it’s not surprising research. For years, scientists have understood that when people feel intense emotions, their bodies react by releasing chemical signals. Cortisol, often referred to as the “stress hormone,” is one such example. It stands to reason that these chemicals could influence a fetus in the womb.

However, the extent of the effect is mostly unknown. The new study, led by Curt A. Sandman and colleagues at the University of California-Irvine, evaluated mothers for depression, then studied the development of their children.

They found that babies developed normally when conditions were consistent before and after birth. In other words, if a mother wasn’t depressed and remained that way after giving birth, her baby typically developed normally. And the reverse was true for mothers who showed signs of depression both before and after giving birth.

In contrast, if a mother’s mental state changed after birth, the baby’s development progress was more likely to slow. As the study only looked at children for a short period after birth, it did not determine the extent of the effect.

“We must admit, the strength of this finding surprised us,” said Sandman.

He also noted that in the long term, babies with depressed mothers were more likely to show signs of psychological disorders, including depression, and their brain structures could actually be affected by their parent’s illness.

As such, the clear implication is that depressed mothers should seek help for their condition—even though, from a very basic interpretation, getting such help may have some sort of detrimental effect on the baby’s early development.

That conclusion is backed up by other research. Another study also published in Psychological Science followed 319 mothers and their children over a two-year period and showed that parental competence deteriorates as symptoms of depression increase.

According to lead researcher Theodore Dix of the University of Texas at Austin, this is somewhat unsurprising given the rigorous requirements of parenthood even in the best of circumstances.

“Children can often be demanding, needy, unpredictable, uncooperative, and highly active,” said Dix. “The task of parenting, particularly with children who are emotionally reactive, is especially difficult for mothers experiencing symptoms of depression because they are continually attempting to regulate their distress and discomfort.”

In other words, depressed parents must focus on treating the symptoms of their depression—often neglecting the underlying causes of the condition—instead of raising their kids.

“Attempting to minimize immediate distress or discomfort may sometimes prompt mothers to avoid conflict with their children, leading to unresponsive and lax parenting,” said Dix. “At other times, it may lead them to accelerate that conflict to address their child’s aversive behavior, leading to over-reactive parenting.”

When parents are depressed, children respond—both before and after birth. This is why mental health treatment is essential for mothers, especially when symptoms of psychological disorders are present.

Mention the word “childbirth” in a room filled with moms and you’ll be inundated with a whole host of advice, personal experience, and a heap ton of warnings of what to do, what not to do, what to be wary of, and what’s the worst thing ever.

Everyone’s got their own story about childbirth and something to say about vaginal deliveries, epidurals, C-sections, breech births, natural births, doctors, midwives, etc.
An exaggerated story makes for more interesting conversation, and an overly enthusiastic warning forces someone to wake up and pay attention. Unfortunately labor and childbirth tales aren’t spared this drama—even when they’re told by the most well-intended souls. It’s no wonder that pregnant women (or those considering becoming pregnant one day) feel freaked out and confused.

So what’s the truth? In reality, no one delivery is the same. Every body is different, and different women handle different aspects of delivery, well, differently.
Let us help put your mind at ease and shed some light on the most common myths about labor and delivery—that you can ignore.

Natural childbirth is through the vagina only.

The whole idea of labeling a delivery “natural” or not natural is so odd! Were the terms initially coined to make mothers feel like failures—as if their deliveries weren’t intended and were fake? What exactly is considered a natural birth? Much of society defines a natural delivery as being any type of delivery that doesn’t involve a C-section.

This doesn’t exactly make sense because 1. The delivering of a baby (whatever method) is a natural event—a baby is coming out of a mother’s body (probably the most natural event that Mother Nature ever made). 2. So-called “natural deliveries” are sometimes anything but. What about a typical vaginal birth is natural? The forceps used to aid getting the baby out? The breaking of the water in the hospital? The medications, epidurals, or monitoring of vitals by high-tech machinery?

You have a low threshold for pain if you have an epidural.

Going into labor and having a baby doesn’t exactly tickle…it’s going to hurt. For some people it hurts a lot for a short amount of time, and for others it hurts a little for a longer period of time—and there are variations to those themes as well.

How can you tell what your pain is going to be like? Some studies have found that delivery pain levels and tolerance are genetic; so it may help to ask your mom or grandmom how her pain was during childbirth.
Other studies have found that support (or lack of) affects your pain, as does your preconceived perception of the labor process—if you believe that it’s going to be painful, then that’s how your body will perceive it. The choice to have an epidural or not is a personal one.

The decision is often made after taking the following into consideration: the amount of pain the mother is in, the duration of pain, and how pain is affecting a mother’s vital stats, such as blood pressure. It’s also important to consider that the actual administration of an epidural is no walk in the park, and getting one is no indication that you have a low threshold for pain.

You have a higher chance of C-section if you have an epidural.

Studies have shown that with epidurals, the time that a woman is in labor increases. Researchers have also found that having an epidural can make women push for a longer period and increase something known as “ineffective pushing” (pushing without the baby coming out).

On the other hand, doctors sometimes are a little eager to push a woman into a C-section if they’ve been waiting around a longer time for a woman to deliver (i.e., they don’t feel like standing around anymore and waiting for the baby to come).
However, if your baby’s not in distress (and there’s no medical risk), and you want to have a vaginal delivery, then there’s no reason not to try.

C-sections are the easy way out.

Many people think that a C-section is an easier form of delivery than a vaginal birth. They assert that the woman gets spared the pain of going through the contractions of labor, she doesn’t suffer the common issues of a vaginal delivery, and she just schedules the surgery for the most convenient time.

This is not true, and anyone who has ever had a C-section (or any other major abdominal surgery) will agree that having your abdomen opened is absolutely not the easy way out. Sure, you don’t have to push, don’t end up with hemorrhoids and minor tears, and don’t experience the pain of pushing…. But recovering from major surgery is a pretty big deal. Initially, you have to worry about things like excessive blood loss, blood clots, and infections, and that’s just for starters.

Standing, walking around, carrying the baby, and breastfeeding are all made much more complicated by abdominal surgery. Whether someone chooses to have the C-section or not, it absolutely is not the easier route, and each childbirth option comes with its own set of issues.

It’s that yucky little feeling that you can’t shake. Nothing’s really wrong, but nothing seems to be right either. Something is off.
You should be excited and bursting with joy—because how could you not be? You just gave birth to the most precious, darling perfect little gift, and yet…you not only don’t feel elated, you can hardly muster up the energy to get out of bed.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 11 to 20 percent of women who give birth suffer from postpartum depression (PPD) symptoms. With 4 million women in the U.S. giving birth every year, this works out to about 600,000 who are affected. Unfortunately, these numbers may be a bit optimistic as they only reflect the reported cases of PPD.
Many women are unaccounted for because they suffer silently due to feelings of shame and guilt. Previously not much was known about PPD, and support was hard to find, but in the 21st century there are many more options available for women who are dealing with PPD.

Increased awareness of the condition—along with medication, therapy, and support are doing wonders to help those who suffer. Think you may have postpartum depression? Here are some of the surprising symptoms that you may be missing.

Brain Fog

Remember when you were pregnant and you couldn’t remember anything—and everyone told you that you had “pregnancy brain” from all of the hormones circulating around your body? Have you given birth and found that instead of these symptoms going away they’ve gotten worse?

Do you feel like you have trouble processing information that’s relayed to you? Do you often forget your train of thought? Do you miss appointments? Lose your keys? Neglect to return phone calls?
Studies have found that both your working memory and your short-term memory can be affected by PPD. Working memory is the part of your brain that helps you process information, and short-term memory is what helps you remember where you put your bag. If you’ve been suffering from memory issues, you may have PPD.

Scary Thoughts

Intrusive thoughts are unwanted feelings and thoughts that come into your head that conflict with how you normally feel or behave. They can make you feel frightened, guilty, or scared.

For example, have you ever had the feeling of wanting to harm your baby if she’s been crying for too long? Ever feel like you impulsively want to pick up and leave your family behind? Intrusive thoughts—although scary—are very rarely acted upon. They are, however, not uncommon among women who experience postpartum depression.
It’s worth noting that intrusive thoughts are not that uncommon overall. One study found that across six continents, about 94 percent of people reported at least one intrusive thought in a three-month period. But an increase in these thoughts can signal that you’re experiencing PPD.

Anger

Have you noticed that you’ve gotten angry more often lately? Are you lashing out at people unnecessarily? Is your fuse abnormally short with your partner, your baby, or your family members? Does everyone and everything seem to irritate you?

Anger is often a surprising symptom of postpartum depression, because the typical depressed person is often thought of as quiet and withdrawn. But depression can bring about feelings of irritability, making you want to throw things and yell at anyone that so much as sighs wrong. It can also bring on a sudden bout of anger known as an anger attack.
These can manifest themselves physically as a pounding heart, sweating, and a feeling of tightness in your chest. Are you worried about how your anger is affecting your relationships with your friends and family? Are you worried about the well-being of your child? PPD may be to blame.

Numbness

You’re not feeling sad, not feeling misery, and you’re not crying…the problem is you’re not feeling anything.

Do you feel empty? Are you often just going through the motions almost like a robot? Does it feel like you’re disconnected to the people you used to be close to or the things that you used to love to do? Do you no longer get inspired by the things that once brought you joy and excitement?

Feeling numb or the inability to find joy and happiness day to day are often symptoms of PPD. Do you also feel unable to to bond with your baby? This is a symptom of PPD too. Unfortunately, most women feel very guilty over the lack of warmth they feel for their newborn, which serves to compound the issue.

Insomnia

You would think that as exhausted as a new mother becomes from caring for her child that she would welcome the opportunity for a bit of rest and fall blissfully to sleep when an opportunity presented itself.

Unfortunately, many women who suffer from postpartum depression experience trouble with sleep habits. In instances of PPD, many women can have problems falling asleep or conversely can end up sleeping too much.
Irregular sleep patterns are normal for a new mother trying to get accustomed to a changing schedule, but if you’re finding that you’re often having trouble falling asleep when the opportunity arises, you may be experiencing postpartum depression.

Want your children to live the longest and healthiest life possible? Move to Japan! A study reported in The Lancet shows that children born in Japan today enjoy the highest life expectancy in the world.

According to the study, Japanese boys and girls can expect to live to age 73 without any major illness or disability, with an overall life expectancy well into the 80s. The U.S. pales in comparison (and doesn’t even reach the top 10 globally), with kids in 2013 forecasted to be healthy until age 65 and live until they’re 76.

How do the Japanese do it? Naomi Moriyama and her husband, William Doyle, who are parents and the authors of Secrets of the World’s Healthiest Children: Why Japanese Children Have the Longest, Healthiest Lives—And How Yours Can Too, studied families and kids in Japanese society and found that good nutrition, sensible schedules, healthy habits, and moderate exercise are the keys to a lifetime of good health.

But how does a family accomplish these things day to day? Read on to learn how the Japanese do it and how you can put some of their healthy-habit skills to work in your home.

1. Be the boss over your kid’s health and wellness.

As parents, we sometimes tiptoe around sensitive subjects out of fear that we’ll push too hard or that our kids will rebel. Moriyama found that eating nutritious, delicious foods at home as a family was a strong predictor of children developing healthy eating habits later in life.

What does this mean? The more you introduce your kids to healthy foods and have fun doing it, the more your kids will want to do it on their own. The key is to make it an engaging family activity. Studies have shown that forcing children to eat only particular things and finish everything on their plates is counterproductive, because they will end up associating mealtime with discomfort and fear.

Psychologists have found that when parents are working toward establishing healthy habits for their children (and other good habits as well) an approach that’s known as authoritative parenting works the best. This concept was pioneered in the 1960s and is characterized by a parent establishing guidelines and rules that are expected to be followed.

But they listen and respond to kids questions and concerns and are nurturing and strategic in their approach to discipline. Parents are assertive but not restrictive. They apply firm control, but it’s justified by rational explanation.

As it applies to a healthy lifestyle, nothing is forbidden or off limits, and choices abound—along with the reasoning behind them. In Japanese culture, parents model healthy eating and don’t overreact when a kid doesn’t want to eat a new food, prefers something else, or isn’t interested in finishing their entire meal.

2. Encourage your child to explore new foods.

Kids can be fickle, yet they also can be daring. Additionally, their likes and dislikes will change over time. The earlier a child is exposed to a variety of food choices, the more likely they will be receptive to different foods that they’re introduced to.

Experts agree that the more diverse a child’s palate, the healthier their overall health will be. Studies have shown that when a child relies only on a limited number of food choices, they
aren’t exposed to a variety of healthy nutrients, and allergies and intolerances can also develop.

The best way to try to get your kids to eat new foods is to make it fun and do it without pressure. Try offering a new item every week and keep an open mind. It may even be helpful to let them search the internet and choose new foods or recipes that they’d like to try.

3. Rebalance your plate the Japanese way.

Super Size Me was not just a popular movie about obesity in the U.S., but it also depicted how the average serving size of meals has grown over the past 20 years. Japanese families control their family’s meal portion sizes by using smaller plates.

The Family Eating Laboratory at the Temple University Center for Obesity Research and Education discovered that children don’t normally serve themselves huge portions when left on their own—and they chose even smaller portion sizes when the size of the plate was smaller.

4. Choose foods that are high in nutrition, lower in calories, and more satisfying.

When you think about the typical Japanese-style meal, it frequently consists of a small bowl of rice, a bowl of miso soup, and three small side dishes. These are usually fish, meat or tofu, and two vegetables.

All meals are minimally processed, naturally derived, and well balanced. They are made from high quality ingredients and are both filling and tasty. You don’t have to feed your kids sushi and edamame for them to be healthy, but choosing more plant-based meals and “cleaner” foods will keep them satisfied, fuller longer, and healthier overall.

One option may be to include more of that Japanese staple, rice. The Japanese rely on this minimally processed carbohydrate to balance out their meals in a healthy way. Rice is offered instead of the U.S. staple—wheat, which tends to be less filling and less nutritious.

Nothing is taboo at the Japanese table, but you don’t often see highly processed foods, deep fried foods, or trans fat–laden options.

5. Make lunch a big deal.

Moriyama explains that Japanese school lunch programs are well thought out and planned in order to offer the most nutritious meals possible. Starting young, all children are served a lunch that is made from locally grown foods and is prepared daily in the cafeteria.

Unhealthy options aren’t offered, and this helps children learn the type of food that is nutritious and appropriate for them. Kids also help plan, prepare, and serve the lunches. They study nutrition, visit local farms, receive cooking instruction, and learn about table manners.

This combination teaches them how to choose wisely for themselves and gives them the knowledge they need to be in charge of their bodies and health. Even though most schools in the U.S. don’t have these types of programs for students’ lunch, the school program can help to guide American parents in choosing the right breakfasts and dinners for their kids.

6. Get your child moving more.

In Japan, physical activity is built into the lives of children from a very early age—98.3 percent of children walk or bike to and from school, which helps them to get the recommended 60 minutes a day of moderate to vigorous physical activity.

Moriyama explains that this practice sets up a lifelong habit of regul
ar exercise. In Japan, it’s just assumed that you get up and start walking; traveling by car is typically not an option.

The World Health Organization reports that daily physical activity for kids not only keeps their weight at a healthy number, but it also makes the entire body healthier by supporting the development of strong bones and muscles, improving the cardiovascular system, helping memory and concentration, and developing the skills to deal with mental health issues such as fear, anxiety, and depression.

Even if your kids don’t have the option of walking to school, the take-away message of Japanese society is to try to make daily physical activity a habit. Whether it’s an after-school basketball game or an after-dinner walk, exercise habits established early on will stay with your kids into adulthood.