Category: Health & Fitness

Has it been 12 months?

On average, once a woman goes 12 months without a period, she’s entering into menopause. The time period of your life, where your childbearing years are ending, can be empowering. Yet, menopause brings with it a host of unwanted side effects.

Hot flashes, or vasomotor symptoms, can come on suddenly, without any warning. One minute you’re enjoying a conversation with your coworkers, when suddenly your chest is on fire.

Luckily, there are a lot of natural solutions to menopause. Are you looking for a holistic cure to hormonal mood swings and restless sweaty nights? Read on to learn 3 tools every woman should have when going through menopause.

1. Nutritional Natural Solutions to Menopause

The foods you consume can impact how you think, move, and feel energy wise. Here are food’s that will help give you the energy and stamina you’re looking for.

• Calcium-rich foods
• Daily fiber
• Fresh fruit
• Green vegetables

Start being picky about items with high sodium or fat contents. If they’re not food items you love to eat, cut them out of the diet.

For example, watch out for food’s that come from can’s, like soups or beans. Oftentimes they have extremely high sodium counts.

Do you normally fry your food? Instead, enjoy the nutritional benefits of meals you can grill. 

2. Keep It Moving

If you don’t love running on a treadmill, find a way to keep your body moving, without going to the gym. You could try going out for nature walks, performing small workouts at home, or joining a nearby beginners level yoga class.

What matters most is that you keep your body moving. Americans are now more sedentary than ever before. Being overweight can be one of the biggest contributing factors to discomfort during menopause.

Give your body a helping hand by incorporating minor exercises into your daily routine. Next, let’s look at how water can cool things down.

3. Hydration Stations

Drinking a lot of water is good for anyone’s body, no matter how old they are. You should be drinking around 11.5 cups of water every day.

Are you waking up in the middle of the night feeling thirsty because of hot flashes? Check out this page to see if you’re suffering from menopausal insomnia.

Explore Your Bliss

One of the best natural solutions to menopause is treating yourself. What are the things you like doing for fun? Without any judgment, make a list of the things that make you feel happy inside.

Do you get excited when it’s time to drink a cup of coffee? If coffee is your thing, try out a new coffee place at least once a month. Or, if retail therapy is your thing, set aside money in the budget to shop online, or at the stores.

Thrifty Momma Ramblings is here to help our readers have fun without going off budget. Do you know what’s better than buying something great online? Getting it for free!

Check out our inside scoop on the latest giveaway and contests for some of the best gift cards out there.

Do your friends all think you’re living the dream?

“You, work from home?”, they exclaim. “That must be amazing!”.

Approximately 8 million Americans work from home, and the numbers are continuing to rise. While working remotely comes with a ton of perks, it also comes with a world of distractions.

Family members, adorable pets, and the internet are always there, waiting to pull you away. In order to be successful, you have to become a master at staying on task.

Unfortunately, in the process of staying in the zone, many health habits go out the window. Do you want to find the perfect healthy balance between work and life?

Read on to learn 5 life-changing tips for working at home, healthy style.

1. Nutritional Health Habits

Does this sound like you? You wake up, don’t feel hungry, and get right to work. Lunch rolls around, and you eat a small snack. Finally by dinner time you’re famished, ready to eat everything in sight?

Prevent overeating by doing a meal prep the night before. Make sure your diet still includes the foods you like to eat. If you love cheese, or other fatty foods, allow yourself to include them in moderation.

2. Posture Yourself

Maintaining proper posture helps prevent your body from any strains or overuse issues. Here are a few tips for how to sit correctly.

• Sit up with a straight back
• Shoulders back
• Buttocks are able to touch the chair’s back

Finally, move your body around in your chair every 30 minutes. Slightly repositions how you’re sitting so you don’t fatigue the muscles.

3. Create Zones

Ever have trouble turning your brain off after a long day of work? How about trouble turning it on? Your mind works best when it has designated zones for certain activities.

The American Sleep Association, or ASA, states you shouldn’t read or eat in bed. Your brain creates associations to the activity of eating, or reading, and decides beds aren’t for sleeping anymore.

If your bedroom is your home office, make sure you’re working somewhere away from the bed. Even if you’re facing away from the bed, it’ll help your brain associate the designated area with work time.

4. Schedule Some You Time

Create a morning routine where you’ll have some you time. Ladies, if you like putting on makeup, take the time to put on the things you like.

Guys, if you enjoy wearing a business casual attire, go ahead and put it on. Just because you’re not going into the office, doesn’t mean you can’t dress the part.

5. Learn to Microbreak

As counterintuitive as it may sound, planned distractions can help you focus. Set an alarm to take a micro break every hour.

The micro break only has to be a couple of minutes long. Create motion, move your body around, and step away from the computer screen. When you return to work you’ll have an enhanced level of focus.

Work-Life Balance

Try to think of some health habits that only pertain to you personally. Do you want to find ways to be happier throughout the day? One of the healthy habits you incorporate could be saying positive affirmations.

Also, make sure you’re investing in your relationships outside of work. If you have a family, find time during the week to do fun things with them. Don’t worry, you won’t have to spend an arm and a leg to have a good time.

Thrifty Momma Ramblings loves to help our readers find the best deals out there. We have coupons, sweepstakes, giveaways, and more!

Feel like treating yourself to something free? Check out our delicious freebie for an entree at Carrabba’s Italian Grill.

Around 40 million Americans live with anxiety. We all get anxious from time to time, especially with our busy lifestyles. Whether you have anxiety or not, learning to slow down and relax is important.

Meditation is often recommended for people looking to manage anxiety or stress. The good news is meditation is easy and affordable. You can often do it effectively in your own home or the office.

Meditation can seem difficult for beginners though. These five inspirational meditation tips will help you get started.

1. Choose a Time and Place

You’re more likely to meditate if you make time for it in your schedule. The good news is you don’t need to make a lot of time to meditate, especially not right at first.

You may build in longer meditation sessions over time, but most meditation tips for beginners suggest short sessions. Most people find three to five minutes is a good length to start.

Your next concern should be where you meditate. Pick a quiet place away from distractions. You don’t need to go far though, as another room or another spot in the office is often a good place.

Make sure you have a comfortable space where you can sit or lie down with ease.

2. Incorporate Other Exercises into Meditation

Many meditation tips suggest using other exercises to get ready to mediate. This could be a physical activity like yoga. It could also be something as simple as a breathing exercise.

If you want a more spiritual or focused practice, you may want to incorporate prayer, mantras, or intentions. You can use a mala to count prayers or breaths as you meditate.

3. Understand Why You’re Meditating

Before you begin to meditate, it’s important to understand why you’re meditating. Understanding what you want to accomplish will affect how to mediate.

Many people think that the point of meditation is to increase focus or not to think at all. The point of most meditation is to be aware and mindful of what’s happening, but also to let it go. Achieving a balance is difficult, even for seasoned practitioners.

For beginners, a good starting place is letting go of judgment. If your mind wanders, allow it to come back to your point of focus without criticism.

4. Meditation Tips for the Gaze

During meditation, you want to direct your “gaze” inward and be aware of yourself. You may want to start with your eyes closed, so you can tune out any outside distractions.

As you practice more, you may want to leave your eyes open in a soft gaze. It’s harder to keep internal focus this way, so even seasoned practitioners close their eyes.

5. Be Gentle with Yourself

Meditation is not a zero-sum game. It’s okay if you don’t do it every day. Sometimes, when we’re distracted or upset, we may not have a very good meditation session.

These things are natural and normal, so don’t be too hard on yourself if you skip a meditation session. What’s more important is that you strive to use meditation when it benefits you.

Take a Moment with Meditation

Meditation is an easy, affordable, and powerful tool to help you achieve more balance in your life. The next time you feel stressed or anxious, reach for these meditation tips.

Looking for more advice on living your best life even when you’re on the go? Check out our blog for plenty of articles for the modern mom entrepreneur.

America spends over $111 billion on the dentist every year. Your individual contribution to that number comes out to an average of nearly $700. 

Depending on the type of dental operation you need, that number can add up quick. 

Don’t have that kind of money? Don’t worry?

Keep reading to learn five dental care tips that’ll help you avoid costly visits to the dentist. 

1. Brush Your Teeth, But Brush Them Right

Brushing your teeth won’t do you much good if you’re doing it the wrong way. 

Make sure you brush your teeth at least twice a day. You should do this soon after you eat, such as after breakfast or dinner. And don’t let your toothbrush get too old. Buy a new one every three to four months. 

When you brush, make sure you get the outside surface of the teeth, the inside surface of the teeth, and the chewing surface of the teeth. Move your brush back and forth over the teeth in gentle strokes, and swipe down from the gums to remove any plaque that gets caught there. 

2. Don’t Be Afraid of Flouride 

You should always brush your teeth with fluoride toothpaste. Fluoride isn’t dangerous unless you ingest a very high amount. Instead, fluoride can benefit your teeth in a number of ways. 

For example, it can help prevent the development of cavities. It can also help with dry mouth conditions and gum disease. 

However, fluoride can be dangerous for young children. So make sure you know how much to give them and when. 

3. Floss Every Day

While you don’t have to floss as often as you brush your teeth, you should do it at least once a day. 

If you skip flossing, you’re leaving pieces of food, plaque, and bacteria between your teeth. This can increase your risk of cavities, gum disease, and bad breath. 

On top of all that, it can also make your teeth look yellower and less healthy, which can lower your self-esteem. 

4. Watch What You Eat

If you want to avoid costly trips to the dentist, you should watch what types of food you eat on a daily basis. Things like sugary candies, carbonated drinks, and citrus can all weaken and damage your teeth. 

That doesn’t mean you can’t ever eat these things. 

But make them special treats instead. And make sure you brush your teeth carefully after you eat them. 

5. Get Professional Teeth Cleaning 

One of the best ways to keep your teeth healthy is to get your teeth professionally cleaned when you can. Try to do this at least twice a year (which most insurances will cover). 

Not sure where to look for these services?

You can start by checking out Affinity Dental Group at https://affinitydental.net/. They provide cleaning and prevention treatments. 

Dental Care Tips That’ll Help You Avoid Costly Operations at the Dentist

If you can’t afford a trip to the dentist any time soon, make sure you follow these dental care tips that’ll save you from costly operations. 

But no matter how careful you are, sometimes there’s no way around dental treatments. 

If that’s you right now, make sure you take a look at this guide to learn how you can save money on a dental implant. 

The average woman will gain up to 35 lbs during pregnancy. Which is why its only natural that your post baby body will look different than your pre-baby body.

This doesn’t mean you can’t learn to love everything that comes with your new mommy body. Here are some of our best tips for being proud of your new physique. 

Give Your Post Baby Body Time

You’ve spent 9 (well, more like 10) months leasing your body out to it’s new “tenant” and now you’re ready to get your body back. However, it may surprise you to find that the day after delivering your baby, you still look at least 7 months pregnant.

First, give yourself some time. Even after giving birth it will still take your uterus weeks to return to its original size, and your body will gradually be releasing water during this time. Have patience

Throw Away the Scale

You may be anxious to get to your “pre-baby weight”, which is a great goal. However, the scale isn’t the greatest way to measure this goal. As we stated, in the beginning, you’ll be retaining lots of water that will be showing up on the scale as well.

Once you are clear to work out, muscle may also play a role in what looks like weight gain or stalled weight loss. To save your sanity, throw away the scale. Instead, take photos and measurements of your body every 1-2 weeks to better track your progress.

Show Your Body Some Gratitude

The best way to gain some new perspective on your post-baby body is by showing it some gratitude. Whether you went through a c-section or vaginal birth, your body has undergone a major feat.

In many countries, women still have a slim likelihood of surviving pregnancy let alone childbirth. Look at your little miracle and show your body some gratitude for getting you through one of the harshest known physical demands.

Ease Back into a Healthy Routine

Sometimes feeling like yourself again can be as simple as taking care of yourself. Once your doctor gives you the go-ahead, start off with a morning walk and ease into workouts.

If you are breastfeeding, it’s not recommended to cut your calories too dramatically as your baby still needs the nutrients. Instead, try to reduce the amount of processed food and your diet and stick to natural and organic choices instead.

Step Away from Social Media

Social media, gossip magazines, and celebrity news are the fastest ways to throw your self-esteem into the trash. It’s hard enough not to compare yourself to other women without being flooded with images of “snap back” moms.

While it’s lovely that a known supermodel was back on the runway weeks after childbirth, it’s important to remember these celebrities also have teams of nutritionist, trainers, and nannies to help them get back in shape in records time. Also, no two bodies are the same so try to avoid the comparison.

Get a Mommy Makeover

Sometimes additional factors, like diastasis recti, can make it virtually impossible to get your body back without some additional help. If you are having difficulty feeling good about your mom-bod, it may be time to turn to the professionals.

A mommy makeover includes plastic surgery methods that focus on the more problematic areas of the “mom bod” such as the breasts and extra stomach skin.

Adjusting to Mommy Life

Learning to love your post baby body is just one of the many ways to adjust and enjoy your new life as a mom. While juggling it all may seem like a handful, the sweet moments with your little one will make it all worthwhile.

For more on living your best mom life, we suggest checking out our blog on Finding Fearless Faith as a Mom.