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How to Prevent Stretch Marks in a Twin Pregnancy

Twin Pregnancy, Twins · 

I am so excited to share my skincare routine with you as I’m going through my twin pregnancy. I know that there are a few things I need to put out there for everyone to understand when I share this, a disclaimer of sorts. This is what I’m doing, for me, to keep my skin in the best condition possible as it will be pushed to the limits in the next few months of my twin pregnancy.

Stretch marks are hereditary in part when looking at how likely it is you’ll get them. I know that I’ll be very susceptible to them because I got them during a growth spurt between high school and college and am very aware that even with all the preventative stuff I do I could still end up with them. I won’t be upset if I end up with more stretch as it will also be marks of an amazing twin pregnancy.

But I also feel it’s great to do as much as possible to keep your skin happy as it goes through these wild changes. This is just what I’m doing for my skin and it feels great for me. These might not be right for you, but I’m just here to share how I’m doing it and how it’s working so far.

I’m also not promising these will keep you from getting stretch marks as there is no 100% certain way to prevent them. I am, however, currently 28 weeks, measuring 37 weeks and do not have stretch marks yet so I will keep doing what I’m doing and see how it works out for preventing stretch marks after I have the babies! So far, so good!

Hydrating from the outside

I started at first, in the first trimester, using lotions. I quickly found out that they were not enough for me even before my belly started to expand. My skin was just so dry and drinking up anything I put on it. I found with lotions I was applying them 3-4 times a day and that was just too much hassle. I was also drinking a ton of water and would still have dry skin on my arms, legs and bottom of my stomach.

I found a combination of two things really helped. Body butters and body oils used twice throughout the day seem to really keep my skin moisturized and not as itchy. I chose to buy a few and then I also ended up making one of my own. I was really picky about using clean products because my skin felt very sensitive and I have been applying so much of it for so long I wanted the products to be as healthy as possible.

Body Butter

I first switched from a lotion to a super rich hand cream, similar to a body butter, that I know was probably just meant for your hands but it was so thick it worked amazing on my stomach. I only had a small tube of it from the brand 100% Pure so it went so fast that I had to find a full tub of body butter to use later on.

I also wanted to find a few really clean AND organic if possible options to use. When I first started looking at body care products that were meant for a growing baby belly I didn’t find many organic options. Two places I found to have great products are:

100% Pure Cosmetics

The hand butter from 100% Pure is the product I gravitated towards and I really love the orange scent. There are no artificial colors, preservatives, scents or toxins in these products.

It’s also in an easy to handle squeeze tube like regular lotion and is small enough to carry around in my purse. I know they have other scents as well and you can choose which one works for you. I have been loving everything citrus while pregnant so the blood orange hand butter really spoke to me.

Mambino Organics

Mambino Organics is the full line I found that was actually dedicated to pregnancy skin care and post pregnancy skincare. The first product I tried from their line is their “Oh Baby! Anti-Stretch Belly Butter.”

This product comes in a short tub and is actually a solid butter. It, however, melts into an oil-like consistency when you massage it into your skin. It still has a light feel like a lotion when its rubbed into your skin so I have been using it in the morning now. It’s also USDA certified organic so I feel good putting it all over my belly.

Some of the featured ingredients in this butter are shea, mango, and cocoa butter. These all work to strengthen and protect the skin. It also has calendula infused oil which helps regenerate skin tissue that is torn and the rosehip fruit oil helps promote healing the skin.

Body Oils

Mambino Organic Skin Care makes an actual oil as well. This has been my go-to at night. I make sure to wear a loose t-shirt or robe that I don’t mind staining even though it hasn’t been a problem so far.

The “Oh Baby! Anti-stretch Body Oil” is thick and you can really feel it sealing itself into your skin. This oil helps a lot of skin elasticity (think twins growing huge in your belly stretching it) with the tamanu oil and sea buckthorn berries. Plus it incorporates shea butter oil to deeply hydrate and penetrate the skin and the jojoba oil helps to seal in the moisture.

Making your own stretch mark prevention oil

If you want to be cost-effective you can make your own oil. You can find these oils to put into your homemade anti-stretch mark oil.

Stretch Mark Prevention Oil:
1 part jojoba oil
2 parts sweet almond oil with vitamin e
¼ oz of lavender oil

Gently mix all the oils together and store in a dark glass jar to preserve the oil integrity.

I found all of these oils at my local natural grocery store, Sprouts. But these are also widely available on Amazon. Stores like Whole Foods or other natural grocers may carry these locally too if you live by one. For those of you that don’t have access to these stores, or like online ordering better, I have provided an Amazon link to these in the recipe.

The lavender oil I linked is from Rocky Mountain Oils because I believe strongly in their dedication to pure essential oils and the way they process them and their transparency in testing. When using essential oils I think it’s important to always use a trusted brand.

When dousing yourself in oil, and yes I mean dousing because my skin is so dry I feel like I’m dumping it on myself, you need to be conscious of your clothes. This was the biggest reason I chose to use body butter during the day under my dress clothes. Body butter absorbed quickly and didn’t leave a residue to transfer to my clothes.

When using oils at night I’m sure to pick clothing I do not intend to wear out again. I have a pile of 4-5 large t-shirts that I don’t mind if oil gets on them because after this pregnancy I won’t be wearing them. The oil does go into your skin, but there is always a thin barrier still sitting on top. One other great solution is to get a robe, again one that you’re not going to be sad to get oil stains. I wear mine over my oiled up belly for 20-30 minutes until it all soaks in. I found a cheap one for $5 and use that after I oil up.

Hydrating from the inside

Water

The doctor right away told me to hydrate when I got pregnant. I upped my water intake when I realized we were having twins and hydrating for two babies. She told me to hydrate, even more, when the weather hit 100 degrees here.

I started by adding 20 more ounces of water to what I was already doing. Now I’m drinking around 30 more ounces per day. I am using the bathroom around the same amount (I had a tiny bladder before I was pregnant too) and so I’m guessing I’m really using up all the water I’m drinking.

In the beginning, to remind me to drink more water I downloaded a free water app on my phone. The app I use is called “My Water Balance” and it has a free version on the iOS app store. It allowed me to log how much water I was consuming through the day and even sent me reminders to hydrate which I found super helpful.

I can’t stress enough the importance of creating a water habit. I find it’s too easy to just think I’m drinking enough water and then get to the end of the day and realize I’ve barely drunk 30 oz. I have left the water app on my phone and continue to use it. I just log it as I’m filling up my water bottle again throughout the day.

Hydration isn’t just for keeping your skin in the best shape during pregnancy either. I know that my doctor’s recommendation was based on the fact that your growing baby needs the water to stay healthy in the womb and dehydration could lead to premature contractions and other health issues. So the best way to remember to drink water is for your pregnancy health and then for your skin!

Collagen Protein

I was also recommended to eat a ton of protein for the two growing babies. I know that I can easily just log protein in an app and determine how much I’m eating. But more importantly, I find that I am trying to consciously pick protein first in a meal and determine everything else around it.

Collagen protein is a specific type of protein that is known to support skin health. It’s toted to help grow hair and nails. Glowing skin is a plus but what’s more than that is the skin elasticity that it is said to help with.

So I picked up a large tub of Orgain Grassfed Collagen Protein and have been adding it to my meals when possible. I use it in my blueberry flaxseed oats, soups, and even mixed in with my Greek yogurt. It’s heat stable so you can cook with it, and flavorless so you can mix it easily into almost anything. Add a scoop or two for muffins, sauce or other things that while it won’t make a huge difference, you’re still getting a few extra grams of protein here and there.

With your growing belly, it’s important to consider keeping the skin as healthy and elastic as possible in preventing stretch marks. While I’m not sure how quick the collagen kicks in I do know plenty of friends who swear by it as a beauty boost that only took about a month to see a difference. Anecdotal maybe, but I’m all about doing whatever I can to help!

Vitamin C

This is a small part of my routine but I still make sure to include it as I consciously try to keep my vitamin C intake up. I enjoy a glass of lemon water each morning for my liver and digestive support as well as the antioxidant properties. But a little known role of vitamin C is that it helps with collagen synthesis which means it helps your body use and optimize the collagen protein you’re consuming!

So if you like citrus, just one lemon a day is more than enough to help keep your vitamin C levels up.

Hydrating from the inside and outside is my main focus during this pregnancy not only for my health and the health of the twins but also for my skin health and comfort. Even if all this does not totally prevent stretch marks I will say it’s provided a lot more comfort to my skin.

For example, if I get dehydrated any other time or don’t wear chapstick in the sun my lips crack and bleed. It’s cosmetic, yes, but it’s also downright painful and uncomfortable. A little hydration from the inside and protectant product from the outside really helps prevent painful cracking or bleeding of my lips.

I feel the same about my skin right now on my belly. It’s itchy and downright painful sometimes as my twin belly expands so I’m doing all I can to keep it comfortable and hopefully prevent as many stretch marks as possible at the same time.

Did anyone have a twin pregnancy that they didn’t end up with stretch marks after birth? If so what did you do and what did you use to prevent them? And if you did get stretch marks, what were some things you did for your belly to keep it comfortable as it was stretching out?

[video_page_section type=”youtube” position=”default” image=”https://loveleanlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/how-Im-preventing-stretch-marks-in-my-twin-pregnancy.png” btn=”light” heading=”” subheading=”” cta=”” video_width=”1080″ hide_related=”true” hide_logo=”false” hide_controls=”false” hide_title=”false” hide_fullscreen=”false”]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BhJtDXzCn4&feature=youtu.be[/video_page_section]

 

2nd Trimester Twin Pregnancy Update – The Biggest Changes!

Lifestyle, Twin Pregnancy, Twins · 

I wanted to make a pregnancy update for how the second trimester is going for me!

Update at the 27-week mark: The biggest change happening is my growing giant belly. Also, not able to fit into some of my maternity clothes. Because I could go all the way to 38 weeks let’s hope there will be something left for me to wear. 

Uneven twin baby bump

Another big change is how my baby bump looks. In the beginning, it was nice and rounded, very symmetrical. Now it feels like the babies have flipped over each other [update: after our ultrasound, they are both heads down still, just very wiggly]. 

One feels like it is laying across the other. They are always moving and one will pop out on one side or the other one will stick their butt out and the other side of my stomach will stick out. It’s really freaking but kind of cool at the same time. With all the movement my bump will change shape at all hours of the day and look different and even different days of the week. 

Last week my bump was heavier on the right, but this week it is heavier on the top left. At least we know they are moving around!

Back on Solid Foods

The second biggest change from the first trimester is a lot less nausea. I was doing good until about 2 weeks ago when nausea started to hit a little bit again. I had taken a flight home for my baby shower and the last week and a half after that nausea reared back up. I started feeling like I was just going to throw up all the time.

Luckily we are back on track with the not nausea train being 24/7. This means that I am also back to eating a way more balanced diet than I was before. I was basically living on gluten-free cracks, apple sauce, orange juice, and oranges.

Those were mostly the only foods that I could keep down. I was on a mostly non-solid diet when my stomach was really upset. I could occasionally stomach some greek yogurt.

With my stomach feeling better with not much nausea at all, except that one random bout, I have been able to add back in greens, greek yogurt, hummus. These were all things I was craving and wanting to eat. I have also been able to add back in eggs which has been great.

Less Nausea and More Kicks

The third thing that has changed in the second trimester is how I feel overall. Without all of the nausea and constant sickness, I have more energy throughout the day. Don’t get me wrong, I still crash at about 6 or 7 o’clock so I’m still trying to be in bed by 8. I still have been feeling so much better, even if I’m still dog tired at the end of the day. 

I have also have been feeling the twins move! It’s such a big difference from the first trimester where you know the babies are in there, you know there are two in there, but now you can actually feel two babies moving. I can feel them kicking and turning over. 

This has been so special and really fun. So I have really been enjoying that. One of them has an extremely hard kick. Maybe it’s both of them that have given me a kick to my ribs a couple of times. That I haven’t appreciated as much. But I’m still happy they are in there, stretching out and being healthy, happy babies inside of my belly.

It’s cool that during this time we really get to feel them. Towards the end of the pregnancy when they run out of room they may not move a lot so I’m trying to enjoy it while I can and not be mad when they wake me up at 5 in the morning kicking or keeping me awake up till 11 at night with their gymnastics. I’m definitely enjoying this part of pregnancy.

 

Twin Baby Shower and Hospital Bag

The last biggest thing we are doing in the second trimester is preparing. We had our baby shower, we have our crib set up, and narrowing down what we have left to get. 

I have no start packing my hospital bag yet. I know we are getting within 2-3 weeks of when it should be packed. 

If anyone wants to comment below what should be in the hospital bag, any necessities they wouldn’t go without I would appreciate it. I don’t know what to pack!

The only things I can think of right now is a robe and some diapers. I really don’t know what people packed in their twin hospital bag. I am bringing essential oils and a diffuser. I think I will also try to bring the Twin Z Nursing Pillow so they can help me learn to nurse two babies at the same time using it as support. 

I also will bring clothes to go home in and some clothes for the twins to wear home too. But I didn’t know if I should bring my breast pump to the hospital or the bottles. I will be packing the bag in the next few weeks just to be on the safe side.

Nesting and Packing

So I’m just feeling like I’m doing a lot of nesting. I have the new blackout curtains up and everything that doesn’t belong in out. I have an empty dresser in there for all of their clothes to be stored in and the shelves to be put up for their books. 

We are so close to having a totally set up nursery and I cannot wait to share it with you. Once everything is in place we will do a full nursery tour. So that’s all the stuff we have been doing to prepare. We are so close to a setup nursery and just need a packed hospital bag.

Bumpdates and Baby weights

Trimester two has been amazing. It makes me feel like I have fallen in love with this part of being pregnant (not so much the first trimester) but I am really enjoying this. I’m also thankful that I am pretty mobile and doing exercise. I know as the bump grows that may change but right now I am ok. 

I also want to drop in a photo here of my bump. I have been doing bumpdates on Instagram and you can see them in my highlights on @love.lean.life where I’m saving them all together. At our 24 week appointment, I was measuring about 32 weeks [update: at our 27-week appointment I was measuring 36-37 week]. We also have a growth scan soon to see how big the boys are measuring. 

I know in the last trimester I’ll be seeing the doctor almost every week so I’m just trying to enjoy the downtime now with all these feel-good feelings.

I do see how people can fall in love with being pregnancy if this was their experience from trimester 1-3. 

Check back in my next pregnancy update blog where I’ll share our growth check-up and how I’m doing in the 3rd trimester.

[video_page_section type=”youtube” position=”default” image=”https://loveleanlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Second-Semester-Update.png” btn=”light” heading=”” subheading=”” cta=”” video_width=”1080″ hide_related=”true” hide_logo=”false” hide_controls=”false” hide_title=”false” hide_fullscreen=”false”]The second trimester of my twin pregnancy if officially over! And now that I’m in the third trimester I am reflecting on all of the big changes that occurred between the 1st and 2nd trimesters. It’s been amazing keeping a record of this pregnancy and I’m having fun watching this rollercoaster of a ride. They could not have been more different! And I’m very happy about that. See what I ate, felt, and where I traveled in the new video and blog. Plus, peek in on the ultra-cute baby shower I got to share with my cousin! What was your second trimester like? Glowing and happy or the struggle bus?[/video_page_section]

How to Get Better Sleep with A Better Healthy Nighttime Routine 

Education, Lifestyle, Uncategorized · 

Consider this your healthy nighttime checklist. 

Lots of people tell me that they can’t go to bed on time and or that they can’t fall asleep before midnight. If you are one of these people, then chances are it is because of the way you live out your day. What you do daily can have a significant impact on your ability to get to bed early and have a quality night’s sleep. There are so many things that affect the way we sleep that happen throughout the day, but perhaps the biggest influence on your sleep is your routine before bedtime. What you do at night can make or break your quality of sleep, which can then impact your entire day.

Having an amazing bedtime routine will lead to better sleep. This means having a plan before you go to bed and not just jumping into bed when you realize it’s midnight and you should be asleep. Creating a routine is the best way to start fostering healthy sleep habits. If you can’t sleep, it’s because you’ve created habits that don’t allow you to sleep soundly and disrupt your natural sleep pattern. 

Here are some ways you can establish a healthy nighttime routine so you can get a healthy night’s sleep…

Set Two Alarms in the Morning

Use two alarms to get ready for bed and get in bed
Alarms are not just for alerting us it’s time to wake up. They can also be used as a helpful reminder to wind down and get to sleep on time.

The First Alarm

Your first alarm is the “get ready for bed” alarm. This is the first step and will set to remind you to start your nighttime routine. This will ensure that you get through your routine and in bed so you can get enough hours of sleep. I like to give myself 30 to 45 minutes before I want to be in bed. This is usually a good amount of time to get a lot done so you can sleep easy. 

This is the time you use to turn stuff off around the house, tidy up, write your to-do list for the next day and scrub a dub-dub. Do whatever you need to do to get ready for bed. That includes washing your face, brushing your teeth, flossing, moisturizing, changing into your pajamas, and then setting your alarm to wake up in the morning. 

This also means locking up the house, taking your dog out for their last walk, and putting your kids to bed if they’re not already there. If you have more responsibilities, be sure to give yourself a full hour. You don’t want to be rushed.  

If you are on social media, get your last scroll in and begin to close everything down for the night. If you tend to lay awake at night, thinking of all the things you have to get done the next day, write out a to-do list. This is an easy way to put your mind at rest so that you can turn your thinking off and get some sleep. 

It is also a good idea to lay out your clothes for the next day the night before, this way you have more time to get ready in the morning and have one less thing to worry about. 

The Second Alarm

Your second alarm is there to tell you when you need to be in bed. This is why you should give yourself 45 minutes to an hour, so you are not rushing. When this second alarm goes off, it means it is time to physically get into bed and go to sleep. 

Once you are in bed, your television and all electronic devices should be off. If your phone is nearby, set it on airplane mode. When your phone is on airplane mode, your morning alarm will still go off, but you won’t be alerted to any calls, text messages or notifications from social media. If you need to, you can add people to your favorites list, which will allow them to get a hold of you still even when your phone is on airplane mode, just in case of an emergency. 

Also, if someone outside of your emergency contact list needs you, all they have to do is call you three time, and your phone will put them though.  This way you can get a restful night’s sleep without your phone continually alerting you. 

Social Media Detox

Sleep better by silencing social media
Skip scrolling through social media before bed and sleep better.

If you are someone who tends to browse through social media, airplane mode will be best for you, so you are not tempted. 

It has been proven that social media scrolling is addicting and can interrupt your quality of sleep. If you are on social media, set a time for you to log off and put it away at the end of the night. 

Meditating and Reading in Bed

Reading in bed helps calm the mind before falling asleep
Unwind in bed with a good book (or audiobook) before closing your eyes for the night.

Now that you are in bed, there are a few things you can do to continue to wind down to ensure a good night’s sleep. This is especially helpful if you are someone who is restless and overthinks things at night. 

Just because you are now in bed, doesn’t mean your mind is there yet. If you’re still wide awake, you can spend the first five to ten minutes meditating. 

Once in bed, start some deep breathing exercises and begin to calm yourself, breathing in and out. Let the airflow through your lungs and down to your toes. Shut your eyes and focus entirely on your breathing. 

Once you are calm, grab a book and spend some time reading. This is a great way to unwind from your busy day.

If you are not a reader, you can listen to a book on audio. Just lay back, close your eyes, relax, and focus on the words. 

If you are listening to an audiobook, keep the volume low, so it’s not blaring in your headphones. Audiobooks are available for almost any title online, and you can even set a sleep timer for it just in case you fall asleep before turning it off, and you won’t lose your place. If you have a low red light to read by, that’s better than the yellow light that is in most night lights and room lamps. This will help you fall asleep faster as well.

Another good option is to also use a Kindle that has a backlight if you like to read. This will also allow you not to lose your place if you fall asleep. The lighting can be dimmed down really low so that it’s not stimulating your eyes as much and keeping you awake. 

Begin by establishing a routine before you go to bed, and even once you are in bed. If you try this for just a week or two, you’ll find that your nights become less hectic, and you’ll be getting a better quality of sleep every night. Eventually, you will fall asleep faster as you nail down this routine and find what works for you. There are other tips and tricks you can use throughout the day to make sure you’re tired at night, but this is a great starting point to get an excellent nighttime routine together so you can get to bed on time and less stressed out.

 

5 Signs You Could Be Having Twins

Twin Pregnancy, Twins · 

I wanted to do this fun blog about the signs that you’re having twins. I saw a few other bloggers who did their signs that matched up with other twin moms. I thought it was fun and pretty coincidental that they all matched up pretty much the same. 

This is my disclaimer: these signs are not scientifically proven and are just symptoms that can (not will) be more common in a twin pregnancy. The only real way to know you’re having twins for sure is to go to your doctor and for them to confirm it on an ultrasound. These symptoms don’t guarantee you’re having twins. 

I just found it so interesting that the symptoms these other moms had were very similar to mine! I also recognize that some people having just one baby can have these exact symptoms and some twin pregnancies have no symptoms at all. I also only found these signs lined up with other twin pregnancies after we found out we were having twins via ultrasound and I started reading other twin blogs. 

 

Here are 5 signs you could be having twins:

 

Early and Dark Peganacy Test Detection

 

I took an early pregnancy test about five days before I would have missed my period due to starting to feel a little weird. With early detection pregnancy tests, there is about a 50% accuracy due to the low levels of hormones that would be present. And of course, the lines are pretty faint that early but even a faint line means you’re pregnant. 

So I took the pregnancy test and was about to put it down to wait the full 2 minutes for it to develop when within just a few seconds it looked like it was changing. It was less than a minute that the pregnant line was not only visible but it was very dark. I found it very curious that it would appear that fast and be that dark but I did know that you could be off on your days and perhaps I was already past my missed period. 

However now I know my hormone levels were very high at that point because of the two babies and that’s why it was super clear immediately.

 

Extended Implantation Pain

Once I was pregnant we called our doctor to set up our first ultrasound a few weeks later. She had mentioned that I would feel some cramping for a few days. I did feel that I was getting a few days of cramping but it lightened up pretty quickly. However, instead of going away immediately, the cramping continued and even though I was kind of worrying it went away and wasn’t accompanied by any bleeding. I did see with fraternal twins the eggs have a possibility of implanting on two different days. Even though that is rare, the twins are measuring a few days apart in size and have for the entire pregnancy. 

Another cause of the extended cramping is that my uterus was cramping from two different areas and the pain could have been prolonged due to more implantation going on. Other twin moms said their implantation cramping lasted longer with their twins than their singleton pregnancies if they had already had a baby before.

 

Breast Tenderness that Turns to Pain

 

While I knew breast tenderness was something a lot of women experience it was described to me as the type of breast tenderness that happened on your period. The week before my period my chest gets tender and I don’t want to bump it, but this type of tenderness was like nothing I had felt. 

My breasts hurt so bad that I couldn’t even sleep on my side or else the pain would wake me up when I rolled over in bed. I would wake out of deep sleep if I moved too far onto my chest in my sleep. I ended up wearing a sports bra to bed to keep the movement at a minimum. 

It hurt to hug people even lightly and I would almost tear up if I had to go downstairs for the first few weeks. It was like a game of don’t move your own boobs.

 

Extreme Exhaustion

 

I was told that you would feel tired the first trimester of pregnancy. I also saw that many twin moms would experience extreme exhaustion instead of just being tired. When I say exhausted I mean getting 8 full hours of sleep and barely able to get out of bed. I was starting my day feeling so sluggish by week five or six. 

As the weeks went on I had no energy to do workouts and even almost fell asleep in the middle of the workday at my desk. I was getting to bed by 7 pm at one point just instantly falling asleep and waking up at 7 am still exhausted. I felt like I was doing something wrong that I couldn’t get rested. Most of all I felt like I was being a baby and couldn’t hack pregnancy. I found out later that it was common in other twin pregnancies to be that exhausted. 

 

Extreme Morning and All Day Sickness

 

The fifth sign that you might be pregnant with twins is extreme nausea and sickness that lasts all day and starts right away. When carrying two babies your hormone levels can soar a lot higher than when you’re just having one baby and it can happen pretty fast. 

By the 5th week of pregnancy, I was so sick, I could barely look at food. I was dry heaving at the smell of almost all foods and throwing up when I was trying to just keep crackers down. I did have people comment that it seemed very early to be that sick but I couldn’t even keep water down sometimes. 

Even smelling my husband cooking something or warming something for himself to eat was too much and I was dry heave or throw up. Other people who went through a twin pregnancy said they also experience intense nausea, dry heaving and throwing up much earlier than with their other pregnancies of just one baby. 

At first, I just convinced my self that I was just not one of those people who would be having a beautiful, glowing pregnancy and that I wasn’t able to deal with some discomfort. Looking back I realize my hormone levels were just way higher and out of control much earlier with the two babies. 

 

I found reading about other moms twin symptoms after I found I we were having twins was fun and interesting and gave me a place to reference. 

If you’re the person who did not have any of these symptoms with twins I envy you. And if you had these symptoms with twins or just a single pregnancy I am more than sympathetic and feel your pain! You’ll get through it. If things get really bad and you’re not eating enough talk to your doctor as I did so they can help manage the symptoms. 

Thanks for tuning into my twin pregnancy series as I document my journey in all of its ups and downs. What were your twin pregnancy symptoms that match these or that tipped you off that you might be carrying more than one baby?

 

Twin Pregnancy Gender Reveal Fail

Twin Pregnancy, Twins · 

I just wanted to share this little video of our hilarious twin pregnancy reveal fail. 

 

So recently I have been watching so many fun gender reveal parties for babies. It’s always cute and people really love to see what the baby will be. Sometimes these are done early on when they first find out and sometimes they are just done at the baby shower itself. 

 

Either way, I find them fun and exciting. So I wanted to do one with the twins to reveal the genders. We decided to film it because my family is back east and a lot of my friends are living around the country. So I thought a gender reveal video would be the best way to share it with everyone. 

 

Matt and I met on a golf course, got engaged on a golf course and got married on a golf course. I figured, why not do our gender reveal on a golf course! 

 

I had seen people reveal the gender of the baby by hitting an exploding baseball. So I thought, why not an exploding golf ball. I searched Youtube and found that some people had used these and it was such a fun idea. 

 

So we ordered the exploding golf balls in the color of the twins’ genders and once they arrived our friend who does videography for a living set up a camera on the golf course for us to film the reveal. 

 

I only ordered one set of balls because I figured we could practice and we were both regular golfers who could easily just hit the balls and cause a fun explosion. 

 

We drove out to the tee where we were filming and set up everything. I wors sandals and Matt had grabbed m a man driver to us for the shoot. I didn’t think much of it and of course, I was golfing with an extra ten pounds on the front of me.

 

We practiced four times striking regular golf balls and managed to get Matt’s much faster swing lined up with mine so we were hitting the ball at the same time. 

 

Then roll the cameras!!!! Check out how it turned out. Needless to say, I didn’t get back up exploding balls and our friend decided to showcase our reveal in all of its glory instead of editing it to make it look like I pulled it off hahaha and I’m really glad he did.

 

Enjoy!

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Our Twin Conception Story

Twin Pregnancy, Twins · 

I wanted to do a blog about our pregnancy journey from conceiving and finding out we are having twins!

Deciding We Were Ready to Start Trying

So my husband and I had been together for about four years and it’s been amazing. And we’ve both wanted children, so we had talked about trying to have kids this year.

I came off of birth control in the fall, around October, and I had been on it for about 14 years. So the beginning of our pregnancy journey I was waiting to have full menstrual three cycles before trying to conceive, which put us in about December.

So I came off birth control and waited for the cycles just to build like the uterus lining back up. I had already met with my doctor and we were on Prenatal vitamins and folic acid just to make sure everything was alright. I also had my blood levels tested to make every, made sure everything looked good. But in December when we were going to start trying, I actually had two cycles and they were very close together. I want to say that they were only about 14 days apart.

Tracking Ovulation

At that point, I was trying to track my ovulation so that really threw us off. I was like “that doesn’t look right.” I thought I was going to be ovulating at the 14-day mark but I actually got my second period in December and so I was just like, “okay, December’s a wash.”

In January I was traveling a lot. It was also my birthday and I figured that it was probably not going to be the best to really start tracking again. For tracking, I was using an app and I was also using a thermometer for a little while. But the thermometer was obnoxious, so I stopped using that and just use an app. The app just estimated between when your last period was and then when you were going to be ovulating. Around my birthday when I was home, we were just weren’t trying too hard because of how off my cycle was. We were just like once we have a regular period in January, we’ll just track it again and go from there.

Feeling Off

About two weeks later though, maybe less than two weeks later, I started feeling very weird and off and I was bloated. I felt like I was having trouble eating stuff and felt a little more tired than usual. After about three days where I kind of felt like out of my own body, like I was like, “who am I?! This a really odd feeling.” I tracked my cycle so that I knew I was about five days before my missed period. I went and got an early detection pregnancy test but I knew that those could have like a 50/50 chance of being accurate when it’s that far out. I also knew that it can be very faint, but even a faint line means we’re pregnant. So I was like, well at least maybe I’ll know when I’ll take another one in a day or two.

Taking a Pregnancy Test

So when my husband was at work, I uh, took the pregnancy test and within seconds it was bright pink. The second line showed up and it was just like “pregnant.” I took another one afterward cause it was unexpected for January. It happened and I felt like a lot of it happened because we weren’t really trying.

I was like, “wow, like I maybe I was really relaxed.” I thought I was going to be really stressed out. And then I called my doctor and we made an appointment for about when I was eight weeks. It was booked for the Saturday that I turned eight weeks exactly.

My doctor is so amazing and actually has Saturday hours one time a month. It is the best thing ever. So I always scheduled our appointments then. I went the next couple of weeks to my Zumba classes like normal and I was eating really healthy. I was having salad and protein at every meal and eating really balanced.

Early Morning Sickness

So I’m focusing on eating healthy and getting my greens in, and then about two weeks after finding out I’m pregnant I was still able to do this. I did a couple of Zumba classes and a couple of warm yoga classes.

I didn’t do hot yoga cause at that point I knew I wasn’t supposed to be in like really hot situations. They had a warm yoga class to help you loosen up but not raise your body temperature like crazy. The sickness hit me like a brick wall by the end of this week. I want to say about the end of week five. I was really ill. I was having trouble getting out of bed. I felt like walking my dog a half a mile in the morning was just too much, I was exhausted.

I felt exhausted all day. I also was sick all day. I was dry heaving, morning, noon and night. I was having trouble eating foods. The smell of almost anything was making me dry heave. I even walked outside one day and it was cold out and I breathe in really deeply and it made me throw up, it was just that everything was setting me off.

Early Pregnancy Stomach Flu

So it was a rough couple of weeks. Around week seven my husband got the stomach flu. We tried to kind of like stay quarantined from each other, but that’s almost impossible when you live with someone and you have to pass it out at the same doors and going out of the same bathroom and refrigerator.

So I ended up, ended up getting it two or three days before I had our appointment for our first ultrasound. So I, unfortunately, was really sick for about 48 hours. I had a fever and I was in bed for three days. I’m really miserable at this point. And I was just like, “man, this pregnancy is rough.” Pregnancy is no joke. I found out that when people say morning sickness, they can mean all day sickness. I was having a rough time. I just knew that I had to get through a couple more days and I could talk to my Doctor again. When I had talked to her originally, she had said that I might start to feel a little bit tired or low energy.

Extended Implantation Cramping

She also that I would, if I wasn’t already, experience cramping. I kind of thought it was okay as long as it wasn’t really accompanied by anything else. Because it could be implantation cramping. I was cramping and had been like that for over a week. Even though she said a couple of days it lasted almost 10 days for me. Right when I thought it was over, I felt like it started up again like after day four or five.

So I did have a lot of cramping in the beginning. I couldn’t wait to talk to her about my symptoms and just make sure everything was normal. I lost a little bit of weight when I was sick with the stomach flu too.

Twin Paranoia

So on the day that we went to our eight-week ultrasound, we were nervous and we went out to breakfast. I tried to get a little bit of something in me that could stay down.

I had some dry toast and I think some orange juice. I was just basically I was living on apple sauce and saltines and orange juice and oranges at this point.

So we have breakfast and someone else I knew at the time who is pregnant, had been like, “you know, I was so scared at my ultrasound, I kept thinking what if there’s more than one in there.”

And I just asked Matt, “are there twins in your family?”

And he said, “no, are there twins in yours?” I said, no, I don’t think so. We’re good.

I had this weird bout of paranoia on the way. We were so excited to just hear a heartbeat.

Our First Doctors Appointment

So, uh, we, we drive all the way there and I get to my appointment. When we get there I get weighed, my blood pressure taken and wed go into the ultrasound room and she’s asking me about how I’ve been feeling. I just relayed how rapid the symptoms had come on and she’s like, “you know, pregnancy can hit super hard.”

Some people get so sick that they ended up dehydrated in the hospital and then some people have no pregnancy symptoms at all.

For those people, that’s so lucky and amazing. And for anybody who ends up hospitalized from this, I’m so sorry! I can definitely see how that happens. It can get so rough just keeping stuff down. I mean, literally on the way driving to the appointment we had to pull over and I was dry heaving outside of the car. My heart goes out to you if you had it worse.

An Odd Looking Ultrasound

I told her about the symptoms and she told me everybody’s different because I was concerned that they had come on so early. But she assured me it’s just different for everybody.

We go into the ultrasound room and we have a transvaginal ultrasound because the babies were so small and they wanted to make sure they could get a really good picture of them.

My husband turned the light off in the ultrasound room and the doctor had the screen turn towards her and she’s looking and smiling. Then she turns the screen back to us and I see a flash on the screen and it didn’t look like the ultrasound pictures I had seen before. My husband, I could tell, was inquisitive about like what he was looking at. And then the doctor starts giggling.

Finding Two Babies on the Ultrasound

But in my head, I’m asking what could be funny. Like what can be happening in my uterus? Then she looks up and says “this is my third set of twins this week.” And I realize I’m looking at the screen and the flash in the middle of the screen are two lines a line down the center because there’s actually two sacks and two babies in the photo in the ultrasound.

So I was just really, really shocked at that point. I was like, “I’m sorry, what?”

And she’s just calm and says, “there’s two in there.” I Immediately think she’s joking! You know, reasonable right? And she looks at me and says she wouldn’t joke about this. At this point, I start panicking. I started to get up off the table. I’m sitting up, leaning forward, and she’s pushing me back down very gently and just telling me, “you’re okay, you’re okay.”

How I Felt When I Found Out I Am Having Twins

I just start bawling. Like I lose it. I’m overwhelmed with the news, I’m overwhelmed because I’m like something that I never thought that would happen all of a sudden just happened. And my husband’s just like…wow, there’s two. And he’s looking at me and I could tell he was being a rock and I’m just like losing it. So she’s going over to that. They’re measuring great. They each have their own little house. Which is super great because we want them to each other and blood supply and their own amniotic sack and it just brings down the risk. Even though all multiples are considered high risk, when they have our own sack and on the placenta and they’re not sharing anything, the risk goes down a lot. That all that was great news, but I was still like really shocked by the news in general.

Overwhelmed with Twins

I spent most of the rest of the ultrasound just with tears running down my face in totally in shock basically. Once she completed the ultrasound she went out to take a phone call and came back with some other literature for us to take home and read.

A nurse came in after as well and recommended that they up my iron intake. They took about, I swear, like eight vials of blood. I was on the table for so long and usually, I don’t do good with needles, but at this point, I was just like in a daze. It didn’t even matter. Like I was just like, oh, okay, whatever’s happening is happening.

I kept asking my husband, oh my gosh, what are we going to do? And he’s just calm and telling me “we’re going to have twins.” I keep asking him stupid questions like “do we know what we’re doing? Like we don’t even know how to help one baby, like much less two.”

My Husband is Calmer about Twins

Matt just keeps telling me we’re gonna have to figure it out and we will be ok. At this point, I’m just really appreciated that he like kept his calm and cool little time because I was losing it.

When the doctor came back into the room I had a little time to calm down a little. She’s asking me “Are you okay?” I’m like, “yeah, I think so.” She also made me feel better and told me that so many people react this way, it was so normal. Then she recommended that I start reading up on twins to get some information and make myself feel better.

After leaving the doctors office we called all of our family to let them know that not only were we pregnant, but we were also having twins. I felt like I was in a different world. There were a few people who knew we were pregnant at that point who were so excited to go and I’m trying to stay calm and tell them it’s twins but I’m emotional so it was still a very wild moment to have to say it out loud.

Dealing with Finding Out I am Having Twins

For two weeks after that, I would wake up just breathing heavy and sweating and be like, “oh my gosh, I’m having twins every single day.” I would just wake up and be like that just in a daze.

By our 12-week ultrasound, I definitely started making plans and adjustments and reading up on having twins. The first week I watched so many youtube videos, which actually inspired me to make a Youtube video and blog because I watch other people who were bloggers and YouTubers talk about their pregnancy finding out they were pregnant with twins. Their reaction made me feel like, wow, like everybody’s different. But it is a shocking thing and it’s exciting and it’s wild. But you’re just like having a normal reaction.

I felt kind of bad cause I was like so emotionally overwhelmed by it but at the time I was truly grateful as well. It was just such a earth rocking bit of information. Our whole world just doubled.

Finding Support on Youtube from Other Twin Moms

I hope this blog and video helps someone else who’s going through maybe the first couple of weeks after they just found out they’re pregnant with twins. This was the scariest, most exciting time of my life. Since then I’ve watched so many videos, and read so many blogs on what to expect in the second and third trimesters, lots of birthing blogs, and lots of first month’s blogs after twins are born.

It’s really encouraging and amazing to see other people going through this incredible thing. And all pregnancies are so incredible. I was already overwhelmed and like baffled that my body was creating a baby. But now to know that I’m creating two, I’m just like, “Whoa, I’m in a different world.”

So that is how we found out we were having twins!

At our 12-week ultrasound, we came back and the doctor said she was so happy to see me smiling. She said Most people leave crying when they find out twins and they come back happy. She was happy to see I had adjusted.

I definitely felt like I had definitely adjusted a lot. It was thanks to me reading a little more about it, truly understanding what we were about to go through, what we are embarking on and then also watching other people talk about their experience.

I plan on making a couple more videos and blogs in this series. I am creating one of my first trimester symptoms. I’m also going to do a second and third-trimester update and then I’m hoping to do just little videos on like what I’m eating now that I’m finally able to be eating more balanced and not just eating like oranges and toast all day. I’m also planning to create a blog and video for exercises I’m able to.

So excited to take you guys along on this journey. Thanks for stopping by and finding out how we found out we are having twins.

Check out our Youtube Channel to follow our entire journey!

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All Natural Beauty Face Masks – Easy to Make

Education, Lifestyle · 

There are ways to make skin healing face masks right at home. These face masks are pretty cheap to make without having to go to the store and spend a ton of money on popular beauty masks.

In the beauty aisle, I’ve seen single-use masks in department stores range from $5 to $10. I’ve also seen bottles of face masks range from $10 to $50. Instead of going out and buying these expensive masks, I’m going to share some recipes that you can make at home for a lot less.  

A lot of these ingredients can be found already sitting in your pantry, in your refrigerator, or potentially in your bathroom cabinet. The ingredients we are using are not very expensive even if you need to go out and buy some of them. You’ll be getting a lot of masks out of just a few ingredients, and these recipes should last you a long time.

Acne Mask

For anyone troubled with breakouts, this is the mask for you.

Ingredients:

  • Nutmeg
  • Honey
  • Milk
  • Tea Tree oil

You’re going to take nutmeg, honey, and milk, and combine it into a bowl. Mix to create a very thick paste and then drop in three drops of tea tree oil. You’re going to mix this gently and put it on your face and leave on there for 30 minutes.

Do not put this mask too close around your eyes. Don’t get it on your eyelids because the tea tree oil can be very strong and burn your eyes. This mask can also be made without the tea tree oil if you don’t have it. Tea tree oil is a strong acne fighter and is good for people who have problems with breakouts.

If you have this oil on hand in your cupboard, put it into this recipe. After 30 minutes you’re going to use a warm washcloth and wipe off the mask. Then splash cold water on your face to close the pores and pat dry.

Recipes for Homemade All-Natural Face Masks
You can make these natural face masks using ingredients that may already in your pantry. Choose the right mask for your skin type.

Oily Skin Mask

Ingredients:

  • Rolled oats
  • Plain yogurt
  • Turmeric

For this one we’re going to take ¼ cup rolled oats. Crumble them with your hand and then mix them with ⅛ cup yogurt and 1 tbsp turmeric powder. Mix into a paste. After that, you’re going to apply it to your face for 30 minutes. If you have an oily T-Zone, be sure to cake the mask on in that area. After 30 minutes you’re going to wash off with a lukewarm washcloth.

Wrinkle Fighting Mask

This face mask is going to be for people who are fighting wrinkles or wants to be proactive about anti-aging. You can’t start early enough with anti-aging skin care, especially if you love being in the sun or are exposed to pollution regularly.  

Ingredients:

  • Aloe Vera Gel
  • Raw honey
  • Coconut oil

You’re going to start by getting pure Aloe Vera Gel. It’s the same gel you would use for sunburns, so you might already have some on hand. Use about ⅛ cup Aloe Vera and mix that with 1 tbsp honey and 1 tbsp coconut oil.

Mix this all together and apply the mask to your face and throat. You can get this one close to the place where you would have crows feet by your eyes. You can also concentrate on massaging it in where you would have smile lines or worry lines on your forehead.  Leave the mask on for 30 minutes and wipe it off with a warm washcloth.

Dry Skin Mask

This is one of my favorite masks. I have an oily T-Zone, but I also have dry skin everywhere else on my face. This mask is perfect for hydrating your skin as well as effectively balancing your oily patches if you have them.

Ingredients:

  • Banana
  • Raw honey

This mask is very simple, and all you need to do is mash ½ of a banana and 1 tbsp raw honey together. After applying it to your face, you’re going to leave it on for 30 minutes and wash off very gently with warm water.

This mask also makes an amazing snack. ????

Skin Pigmentation Mask

For anyone who struggles with skin pigmentation, this one might seem a little bit odd, but I promise you that this mask is amazing.

Ingredients:

  • Raw potato
  • Raw honey
  • Rolled oats

You’re going to take a raw potato and grate the outside of it on the finest grater that you can find. Let that peel fall into a bowl until you have a ⅛ cup. Then mix 1 tbsp honey and a ⅛ cup of crumbled up oats. Mix into a thick paste. Apply mask to your face for 30 minutes. This one mask has a little bit of a smell to it, and that’s okay. The potato skin does wonders for correcting the color in your face. So if you have acne scarring or sun spots or age spots, this is an excellent mask for that.

What’s your favorite at home mask? Are any of these something you’ve already tried or anything that you are willing to try and do? If you have a mask that’s your secret to beauty and you want to share with our readers, please leave it in the comments! We would love to hear from you.

 

Beets Health Benefits: Health food or hype?

Education, Lifestyle, Recipes, Smoothies, Snack · 

This year there seems to be a stream of never-ending recipe options for roasting, toasting, and mashing beets into your Thanksgiving and Christmas meals. But are beets worth finding their way into your everyday menu?

Everyone is trying to get beets onto the table one way or another because of the health benefits they offer. However, what can you expect to gain by adding beets to your diet and what category do beets fall under anyway? Are they more of a potato? Or, are they closer to a carrot? Let’s explore the health benefits of beets!

Health benefits of beets
This beautiful root vegetable has numerous health benefits. Beets are a worthwhile addition to your diet.

What are Beetroots?  

Beetroots are the taproot portion of the beet plants. They are also referred to as beets, golden beets, garden beets, table beets or red beets in different areas worldwide. Beets are a popularly known root vegetable rich in vitamins, minerals and plant compounds that have medicinal properties. These roots are not only delicious but really boost your health in several ways.

Bonus: Beets are also naturally sweet and so are a great choice when you are craving something healthy and tasty.

Benefits of Healthy Beetroots You Should be Aware of  

Weight Loss

Because beets are good for detoxing due to high levels of antioxidants, they will assist you in losing weight. This is because beets do not have fat and are an excellent producer of dietary fiber, i.e. insoluble and soluble fiber. Both insoluble and soluble fibers assist in eliminating fat in the body by maintaining a suitable bowel function as well as by lowering cholesterol levels.  

Beetroots are also rich in magnesium; a mineral that functions in the body by supporting optimal muscle and nerve performance to keep you moving and well. This indicates that the magnesium from beets could be helpful with weight loss purpose also.  [1]

Lowering Blood Pressure

Beets have a high level of dietary nitrate content and this can help produce heart-healthy benefits. This converts to NO (nitric oxide) in the body and nitric oxide helps relax blood vessels. This can help lower blood pressure and produce heart-healthy effects. [4]

One easy way to get this effect is to take beet juice regularly and juicing is an easy and fast way to include it in a smoothie or broth.

Beets boost health
Roasting beets is just one of many delicious preparations. Consume beets or beet juice for improved health.

Improving Digestion

If you experience poor digestion, it is a good idea to add beetroots to your dietary routine. Beets can excite the nerves in your intestines thereby enhancing the ability of the body to digest food. A glass of beet juice contains approximately 3.5 grams of fiber. That makes beets an excellent source of fiber.

The fiber in beets can bypass digestion and travel down to your colon. It can eventually feed the friendly gut bacteria that are associated with helping correct poor digestion. This also helps to keep you regular which makes going to the bathroom easier and more enjoyable.

Boosting Strength

Beetroot juice is considered an excellent drink for workout enthusiasts. The juice has the capacity of boosting endurance during your workouts and therefore you should drink it prior to hitting the gym. This can help you work out longer without getting tired. [2]

Boosts Brain Power

Drinking beet juice regularly improves blood flow to the frontal lobe of your brain. This additional blood flow increases brain functions that control focus, attention to detail, and organization. This is especially crucial for people as they age and brain function begins to slow down. [3]

Bottom Line   

Beets are a beneficial food to add to your diet if you are looking to lose weight, lower blood pressure, improve your digestion, or gain an edge during your workouts. They have many health benefits and are rich in vitamins and minerals.

Not only are they healthy for you, but they make a tasty addition to any meal. There are so many different ways for you to consume beets that you will never get bored!

Beet smoothie recipe
A simple and tasty way to ensure beets make it into your daily dietary routine is to put them in a smoothie.

Healthy Beet Smoothie

Looking for a tasty way to get beets into your diet on a daily basis? Try a beet smoothie! They are perfect, whether you are looking for a snack, something you can take on the go, or a fun, colorful treat.

Try this sweet treat that will give your day, and your health, a positive boost!

Ingredients:

  • 1 small beet (chopped)
  • ½ cup frozen strawberries
  • ½ cup frozen blueberries
  • ¼ cup frozen pineapple
  • ¼ cup coconut yogurt
  • ½ cup almond milk

Instructions:

Blend together until smooth. Enjoy!

 

 

References:

[1]https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/beetroot-juice-benefits

[2]https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2016/04/18/benefits-beets.aspx

[3]https://www.health.com/nutrition/beets-health-benefits

[4]https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/288229.php

 

6 Ways to Reduce Anxiety and Stress

Education, Lifestyle · 

We are being bombarded by outside influences from our environment that stress us out every day. We’re also internally being stressed out by the foods we eat and the air we breathe. We get stressed emotionally by all the relationships and emotions we harbor. It’s no wonder a lot of people struggle with stress every day.  

But there are ways that you can help yourself by de-stressing and reducing your anxiety just through everyday habits. These habits are easy to instill if you make an effort to improve in a few areas of your life.

Sleep

Starting with sleep is an excellent way to lower and control stress.  Not getting a good night’s sleep will almost guarantee that your day will be full of stress. Your hormone levels determine how much anxiety you can take in and if they’re off balance because your body didn’t get enough sleep, you will be fighting with stress and anxiety throughout the day.

One way to get better sleep is by establishing a nighttime routine. There are a few things that you will want to avoid around bedtime to get quality sleep:

Avoid Alcohol –  A lot of people have a beer or a glass of wine to relax and fall asleep faster, but it will disrupt your sleep throughout the night.

Turn off Your Electronic Devices – The second thing to avoid TV and social media because of the light is given off of the electronic devices. This light tells your body when to be awake and when it is time to sleep. You don’t want to encourage your brain to stay awake.

Don’t Drink Coffee – Keep your coffee consumption to mornings because it takes a while to get through your system and can cause more disrupted sleep.

Turn on the A.C. – Your body can sleep more comfortably when it’s a little cooler. Two to three hours before you go to bed, turn down the thermostat and your household will make your house cool so you can sleep deeper.

Use Essential Oils – Diffusing oils that make you naturally sleepy over taking sleep supplements like ZzzQuil or having a nightcap. Lavender, chamomile and ylang-ylang oils all are proven to lull you to sleep naturally with no “sleep hangover” the next day.

Turn off the Lights – Finally, you want to keep it as dark as possible in your room. Light even from a night light can disturb a deep sleep for the same reasons you want to turn your electronic devices off.

Get Plenty of Sunshine

On the opposite end of the nighttime routine is your daytime routine. Make sure to get 30 minutes of sunlight every single day. Sunlight can trigger the release of Serotonin, a hormone that can help you feel calmer.

When there is reduced sunlight, anxiety and depression and other disorders go up, especially for people who have seasonal depression, which can be attributed to a lack of Vitamin D and sunshine.

Journaling

 

Journal daily to de-stress
Journaling to work through issues you may be struggling with. Begin each day with this de-stressing technique.

Another really great way to start your day and balance your mind is to journal. Before you check your phone or turn on the TV, grab a journal and write. By doing this every day, you will be able to work out emotional and stressful issues in your life.

Writing is the perfect way to deal with something that you may be struggling to work out. It is an excellent outlet for anyone dealing with stress.

If you were to do this one thing, starting with 10 minutes and working your way up to 15 every single day, this would be an excellent way to work on your emotions first thing in the morning. When you start your morning balanced, it will carry throughout the day.

Getting Your Vitamins and Minerals

You want to be sure to eat foods that are rich in vitamin B, B6, vitamins b3 and b12, and zinc and magnesium. These vitamins and minerals help to reduce the symptoms of stress and are found in tons of fruits, vegetables, and healthy protein sources. And if you’re not someone who eats a wide variety of veggies or healthy proteins, these might be harder to come by in your diet.

Many people who eat a good diet can even be deficient in these. It would be a good idea to supplement at least with natural B12 liquid drops and magnesium spray. There are also good superfoods supplements that can help you get a few extra veggies in each day if you don’t eat a wide variety.

Limit Refined Carbs

While you’re focusing on eating more fruits and vegetables, limit your refined and processed foods. This is because refined and processed foods tend to have a lot of refined carbohydrates in them. This can spike your blood sugar, and when that happens, you get a temporary burst of energy.

Unfortunately, this burst of energy doesn’t last as it is followed by a really low drop. This can happen when you come down from blood sugar spike. You can feel anxiety and stress from the drop in blood sugar.

Try to keep your blood sugar levels more stable throughout the day by not indulging in too many processed foods. Instead, eat a good balance of protein and veggies and let carbs come from home-prepared foods like fruit and sweet potatoes.

Declutter Your Space

If you’re coming home to a messy house, it can make you feel more stressed out and anxious. Taking time out of your week to do a deep de-clutter can be really relieving on your anxiety and stress. It is easier to keep up with your house by assigning 10 minutes of your time a day to tidy.

I also liked the rule where if you leave a room and you see something that belongs to the room you’re going to, just take it with you.

Creating habits like this can make decluttering and cleaning your house really simple.  A messy environment can lead to a messy mind. It can be triggering for people who always feel the pressure of having too much to do. So cleaning up the clutter is an excellent way to de-stress and reduce your anxiety.

Take Away Message

While these aren’t the end all, be all, to stress and anxiety they are good places to start. If you are a stressed-out person who just wants simple ways to relieve a little bit of your stress day-to-day, these tips can help. Knowing what’s stressing you out helps as well.

Make small changes each week by adopting one of these habits and evaluate how you feel. You’d be surprised how just packing a more balanced lunch can help with mid-afternoon stress. And cleaning off your counters can lift a weight off your shoulders. These little tricks are meant to help relieve a little stress and help you get through the day a little smoother.

 

Top Benefits of Dry Brushing: Step by step how to do it effectively

Education, Lifestyle · 

I have heard so many people talk about dry brushing for so long, and I thought it was something that only crazy people did… but hear me out. We have loofahs and pumice stones and scrubs. We also use plenty of body exfoliating products that we use in an effort to rid ourselves of dead skin. The way I thought of dry brushing was, that it was just another way for people to get you to buy something to exfoliate your body.

 

However, after talking to the people who actually dry brush on a regular basis, I realized that there are a ton of benefits. It’s not just about exfoliating dead skin, although that’s the number one reason why I started doing it. And when I first felt a dry brush, I realized that the bristles were soft but still enough to replace a pumice stone.

 

Dry Brushing for Clearer Skin

Your skin naturally turns over and gets rid of dead skin, but you can also still get a buildup of dead skin, especially as you get older and this is when you would want to remove this buildup of skin cells so that your skin is more supple and brilliant.

Dry brushing helps unclog your pores to prevent the buildup of dead skin. This typically happens around your elbows, knees and on your heels, which is why you can get hard calluses around these areas. By unclogging your pores, you let your skin breathe and when put products onto your skin, such as oils or lotions, your skin becomes absorbent and is able to take in more nutrients from the product you’re applying.

Dry Brushing for Cellulite

One thing I was particularly interested in was the fact that dry brushing is said to help reduce the appearance of cellulite. While you can’t really just get rid of cellulite by dry brushing (by stimulating and breaking down the cell walls vigorously), you can create a puffiness by moving the cells around and stimulating the blood flow to the area to fill in the pockets of cellulite. I’ve noticed that when I do intensive dry brushing around my legs, that they tend to appear smoother.

This is a great temporary cellulite concealer. For example, if you’re going to go out and you’re feeling self-conscious about cellulite, you can smooth out the appearance by dry brushing. Dry brushing can also incredibly stress relieving because it is, essentially, like getting a mini-massage. This can give you an additional mental boost.

Dry Brushing for Lymphatic System and Stress

When you dry brush, you’re actually stimulating blood flow by moving the brush over all your muscles in a rhythmic way to make the blood flow easier throughout your body This can provide a lot of stress relief for people who are very tense. I sit in a chair all day and I’m maybe not as mobile through the day as I would like to be, so this is really great. Better circulation helps fight inflammation and through this method, you can actually stimulate the lymphatic system as well.

Stimulating your lymphatic system is the biggest benefit of dry brushing that people experience.  Your lymph nodes are all over your body and they contain fluid. When your immune system is down, your lymph nodes can have slower circulation, however, when you stimulate them, you can actually help get fresh, lymphatic fluid to your nodes and increase the circulation of your lymphatic system, which helps push toxins from your body.

Both increased circulation and better lymphatic flow are beneficial side effects for your body, helping it feel awakened.

The health of your lymphatic system is also essential for breast health and dry brushing can help with this. For more information on the role a healthy lymphatic system plays in breast cancer prevention you can check out our in-depth interview with Tina Clemmons who runs De Nuvo Scan. She works with women on non-invasive breast cancer screening and preventative health measures they can take. She was also so kind as to provide a free PDF below on proper dry brushing techniques.

Dry Brushing

Step by Step dry brushing
How to dry brush quickly and easily. Step by step.

How to Choose a Good Dry Brush

When you go to pick out a good dry brush you want to be sure that you choose a brush with a long, sturdy handle so that you don’t have to be craning, or turned around like a contortionist to reach various parts of your body. This will ensure that the act of dry brushing is easy and relaxing for you.

Next, you want to look for natural bristles. Luckily there are cheaper versions on the market! A natural bristle is always better than a synthetic bristle because you never know what the synthetic bristles are made of, such as plastic or if they are BPA free.

How to Dry Brush in the Shower

Step 1: Get into your shower

Once you have your brush, you’re just going to get into the bathtub or the shower. If you want to catch all the dead skin in your first couple sessions, you can also do it outside of the tub on a towel. Once you’re in the tub or shower, do not turn the water on. This is all done dry. You’re going to get completely undressed and grab your dry brush and you’re going to start at the bottom of your feet. Use a long sweeping motion to run the brush upwards towards your heart.

Step 2: Brush in circular motions

As you brush, be sure you run the brush up your legs, your calf, around your knee, up, your thighs, and every area that you can. You’re going to go over several times. Take your time and be careful. Don’t push too hard. You want to stimulate the circulation, but you don’t want to be abrasive to your skin. You’re going to do this all the way up through your stomach. When you get to your stomach, you’re going to want to use a clockwise motion and you’re going to do the same thing on your chest and your back. As a word of caution, your chest and other areas that are sensitive, so don’t again be too rough. You’re going to want to go even lighter on these portions of your body.

Step 3: Brush towards your heart

And that’s how you’re going to brush your entire body. Do not stroke away from your heart as cautioned by dry brush enthusiasts. This is because dry brushing away from your heart can rupture vessels and create varicose veins. I personally don’t want more varicose veins than I already have, so I just try to keep this long sweeping motions going up my body and towards my heart.

Once you’re done dry brushing, you can just shower as normal and apply your natural oils to your body or whatever you use for body care afterward. Your fresh skin will be ready to absorb oils and nutrients. And of course, you will also now have a very energized and drained lymphatic system.

Who Shouldn’t Use a Dry Brush

Dry brushing can be extremely beneficial, but it is not for everyone.

If you have diabetes or any other circulatory issues, you should always consult your doctor before dry brushing because this does stimulate your circulatory system. You always want to consult with your doctor or naturopath if you already have any medical issues.