Urinary Tract infections

Urinary Tract Infections are no fun. Believe me I have had my fair share. But if you do get one, you can take simple steps to help relieve any pain you are feeling.
The best thing you can do is to drink and drink water. Not just a glass here or there. Lots of water. The more the better. Water flushes the bacteria out of your system, and this will help you get rid of the infection faster.
You should up your vitamin C intake as well. The vitamin C works great at getting rid of Urinary Tract Infections. Either take a vitamin C tablet or increase your orange juice content.
Also, go to the restroom a lot when you feel the urge. This way you are not letting urine sit in the bladder for long periods of time, attracting more bacteria.
Drink cranberry juice. Look for 100 percent cranberry juice. This will really stave off any infections and if your drink it daily you may just stave off infections for good.

February is American Heart Month

Heart disease is a leading cause of death among women. February is American Heart Month, and The American Heart Association’s has some recent guidelines, which now focus on reducing a woman’s lifetime risk of heart disease.
These guidelines include:

Exercise for at least 30 minutes a day. If you are trying or need to lose weight, increase that time to 60-90 minutes.

Watch your weight and control your blood pressure. Regular exercise, drinking less alcohol, watching the sodium in your diet, and eating more fruits and veggies will help you achieve better weight and keep the blood pressure under control.

Increase your Omega -3 fatty acids in your diet. Salmon, albacore tuna, mackerel, sardines, herring, and lake trout provide excellent sources of these healthy fats. Women with known heart disease may also wish to take omega-3 supplements.

Quit Smoking.

Lower your daily intake of saturated fat. You should try to keep the saturfated fats in your daily diet to 7% of your total daily calories.
To figure out the percentage of fat calories, 1) multiply the grams of saturated fat by 9 to get total calories from fat; 2) divide total calories from fat by the total calories in the serving; and 3) multiply total calories by 100 to get the percentage.

Heathy Skin

Anyone can have healthy skin. It is easy as 1-2-3.
First of all you need to find a cleanser for your face. It should be one that suits your skin type, such as oily, normal, dry, or combination. You need a cleanser that dissolves dirt and oil and rinses clean from your face so it will not clog your pores.
You need to find a toner as well. Toners are often called astringents. Look for ones that go with your skin type and that do not contain alcohol. At first using a toner may sting. If it does continue to sting, you may want to discontinue use.
You should also moisturize the skin. Several people do not moisturize if their skin is oily, but you can moisturize with aloe vera gel. This gel does not add any extra oil to your skin, but rather gives it just enough moisture that every skin needs.
Follow these steps and you will have awesome looking skin.

Birth Control

I have been on birth control for several years now and I think it is wonderful. It has helped me by clearing up my skin. My skin has never been clearer. Plus my periods only last about 3 days versus the 7 from before. My flow is very light as well and the cramps are hardly noticeable. Plus I can control what day I want my period to start by picking what day I will start the pack (as long as I am consistent with it).

Cranberry Juice

Did you know that cranberry juice is really good for you? If you have a bladder infection, it is wonderful to drink. Do not get the cranberry juice cocktail, look for 100 percent cranberry juice. I actually like it. At first I did not because it had such a tart taste. Now I really like the taste.
If you don’t care for cranberry juice, try white cranberry. Or I have even mixed cranberry juice with 7-up and made a spritzer out of it. This is pretty tasty as well. Try drinking a small amount of cranberry juice a day and it will help keep bladder infections at bay.

Breastfeeding and alcohol

First of all, if you are pregnant, you should absolutely not be drinking. There is a rumor going around that says a pregnant woman can have a glass of wine per day. I highly doubt this is true since everything you consume as a pregnant woman passes the placenta of the baby. Don’t risk it. Is your child’s health worth it? No.

However, a breastfeeding woman can have (some) alcohol if she does so in a conservative manner. First and foremost, if you DO have a glass of wine or a beer, do so directly after a feeding, not before. The “unwritten” rule is to wait two hours to feed after having an alcoholic drink.

There is an oldwive’s tale that tells breastfeeding women that a glass of wine or a bottle of beer a day will increase your milk supply. I used to think this was a bunch of crap. UNTIL I read on a medical website (like WebMD or something) that drinking dark ale DOES produce more milk. Who knew?

I don’t like beer anyway, nor do I have lactation problems, but I guess if you do choose to drink (two hours or more before a feeding), then consider dark ale. Oh and red wine is filled with antioxidents!!

Nursing an aching back

I’m a student, which means I sit all day in classes, listening to lectures. Then I drive home, sitting. I come home, sit some more and type up 30 pg. papers for school. All this sitting really aches my back! I’m going to share some tips with you that have helped relieve some of the pain in my back on those long days of sitting around.

1. IcyHot patch. Wow this feels really good. This patch works fast and relieves the pain wherever you put the patch. The downfall? It’s so little! Many times my back pain isn’t centralized so this has to be put on the worst spot. However, I get tension in my shoulders, too, so I need more than a small patch.

2. StopPain. It’s a spray that is like IcyHot. I think its really cool because it reaches a larger area and goes to work immediately. You can really feel it penetrating. However, it doesn’t eliminate the pain entirely and the tiny beads of spray linger in the air, which you can taste. I hate that! Also, it ends up feeling really cold on your skin after awhile.

3. Excedrin Back and Body. This works ok. It’s like taking an Ibuprofen, really. After I finish this bottle, I don’t think I’d buy it again. It’s not worth the extra money when it does the same as other pain relievers.

Memory foam mattress pad an affortable alternative to new bed

For those of you having trouble sleeping: have you ever though it might be your bed? For along time, the thought never crossed my mind that my mattress was simply worn out. Many lost nights of sleep before I started really thinking about solutions. Well, of course the obvious solution is a new bed. Unfortunately, the average costs of a decent new mattress and box springs exceeds $400. At this time, I can’t even spare that much. So I decided to look at cheaper alternatives. I came across mattress pads. There seem to be a few different options among pads that range anywhere from $15-100. I certainly didn’t want to buy the cheapest which was nothing more than bumpy foam, so I went with “Memory” foam. I got the 1.5 inch and it does great. I got mine for $30 at the local Big Lots. In my opinion, an affortable alternative to better rest!

Varicose veins

Varicose veins are bluish, itchy, achy veins that are usually occurs in legs. It is hereditary. Some pregnant women usually have this during pregnancy period. Long standing is one of its causes. If you are pregnant, gaining weight and prolong walking will make your veins noticeable. There’s no way in preventing varicose veins. But making it minimal can reduce the soreness and preventing it from becoming worse. Wearing support hose that can be both in department store can help. Exercise regularly can help in blood circulation around our body especially in our legs. Avoid sitting with legs crossed. When sitting, elevate your legs to relax the vein. Avoid long period of sitting and standing. Through this recommendation you will notice a difference experience by having a varicose veins in your legs.

Review: Hair Milk

Carol’s Daughter sells some awesome hair products for African American hair. I’ve been hearing quite a buzz from the ladies at Cafe Mom so I decided to give it a try. I’m pretty satisfied. First of all, the scent is strong, but I like it. I like the all natural ingredients and I like how it leaves my baby’s hair still feeling natural. If you’ve ever tried other products, most are oily and the pink stuff is bad for hair as it strips it of moisture. So I reccommend trying this product.
Find them at carolsdaughter.com

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