Everybody, men and women alike, would like mommy to get back to her good looking shape as soon as possible after giving birth. But is that realistic? And what are the steps to take to lose all the extra pounds? It is good to know what to expect, because otherwise you might grow very disappointed and frustrated. No, you won’t be back in your pre-natal shape when you step out of the hospital. The good news is that you can get back there in 6 to 8 months. Just be realistic, patient and perseverant. First of all, consider that it took nine months to put on those pounds and it is unrealistic to expect to get rid of them overnight. You should give yourself just at least about the same time for the process to be reversed. Don’t pack clothes that you wore before being pregnant to wear when coming home from the hospital. Even after giving birth, there are still lots of extra fluids in your body and it will take about 2 or 3 weeks to eliminate them. Then, consider that it takes about 4 weeks for the uterus to contract back to its normal size. (more...)

The symptoms of pregnancy vary from woman to woman. Some experience a variety of symptoms and others experience none of the signs of pregnancy. Missing a period is the most obvious indication, but there are others which you may, or may not, experience. The early signs of pregnancy include: 1. A missed period, or a rather scanty one. A missed period is usually one of the first indicators of pregnancy for women. However, some women experience spotting or a light menstrual-like flow, when implantation occurs (about 10 days after conception). The bleeding that occurs when the developing embryo becomes implanted into the uterine wall is lighter and shorter in duration than is menstrual bleeding. (more...)

To increase female libido, means feeding the body right nutrients and the herbs enclosed have been used for centuries in such countries as China, to increase libido and improve overall health - let's take a look at them... Before we look at the herbs, let's take a look at some common causes of low libido. Two chemicals needed for a strong libido are testosterone and estrogen; if levels of either chemical are low, sexual desire falls and satisfaction from sex will be diminished. Poor blood circulation is another major cause of low libido, as a strong libido is built on an increased flow of blood being delivered to the sex organs. The organs must fill with an increased amount of blood for satisfying sex. (more...)

For many years, millions of women entering menopause in America were prescribed Premarin or Prempro without much question. Premarin, a mixture of estrogens derived from the urine of a pregnant horse, and Prempro, a combination of horse estrogens and synthetic progesterone, served to replace the human sex hormones that naturally taper off in perimenopausal and menopausal women — primarily estrogen and progesterone. The rationale for taking synthetic hormones was not only to quell women’s menopausal symptoms, but for their perceived ability to protect women against heart disease, build stronger bones, maintain youthful skin, and support healthy brain function. But when data from the Women’s Health Initiative study were first made public in 2002, both healthcare providers and their female patients were shocked to learn that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was not as protective — or as safe — as they had once assumed. (more...)

Watching Natalie Morales crack jokes with Matt Lauer or sprint across the Today show set in her pencil skirt and high heels, you'd never guess that the fresh-faced TV host (and mom of a newborn and a 5-year-old) has a 4:30 a.m. wake-up call and is lucky to grab three hours of uninterrupted sleep at a time. Sure, caffeine helps. But it takes a whole bag of sneaky tricks to look this flawless when you're running on empty. Read on for her foolproof beauty routine. Eat a healthy breakfast "I feel better all day if I start off by eating healthy. Breakfast is simple: multigrain toast with natural peanut butter, oatmeal, yogurt, fruit, or healthy cereal. I avoid refined sugar—can't risk the crash—and stick to honey and agave. During the show I nibble on fruits and veggies; I may have a doughnut, too, but I try to avoid them. That and a good dose of Al Roker's humor and I'm jazzed for hours." (more...)

Talking with your partner about your libido Communicating is especially important if you have been not been intimate with one another for longer than what’s normal for you. Here’s some good news: the myth that a fulfilling sex life is over at menopause is just plain wrong. Your sex life might change, and you might try other ways of loving each other physically that don’t include intercourse, but I know so many women who feel sexy and desirable during and long after menopause. But again, there are no guarantees, so you can let your partner know ahead of time that any of the following could influence how you feel about having sex: * Difficulty with sexual arousal * Inability to have an orgasm, or decreased orgasmic sensations * Vaginal dryness and thinning of the vaginal walls, causing pain during intercourse * Hot flashes * Mood swings * Decreased sense of sexual attractiveness Again, when you provide your body with the support it needs, these symptoms should pass in time — and there are plenty of women who don’t experience them. In fact, there are some women who find their libido and enjoyment of sex increase in menopause, particularly since once periods end, the concern about becoming pregnant is gone. (more...)

We’re all familiar with stress — it’s a constant element in women’s busy lives. But what we aren’t so familiar with is the body’s response to stress and the ways in which the stress we face today goes far beyond the kind of stress we faced as we evolved — and ends up depleting our energy and health. When faced with a stressful situation, our bodies rely on the adrenal glands sitting atop our kidneys to monitor our “fight or flight” response. For the most part, our stress response evolved from short-term events — crises that came and went. If we had to run from a predator, for example, our healthy adrenal glands responded by releasing adrenaline, which makes us more alert and focused, and cortisol, which converts protein to energy and releases our stored sugar, glycogen, so our bodies have the fuel needed to respond quickly. In concert, the adrenal response rapidly increases our heart and respiratory rates and blood pressure while releasing energy, tensing our muscles, sharpening our senses, and slowing our digestion so we are primed to escape or fight back, whichever is needed. When the threat is gone, the body returns to normal — quickly with respect to adrenaline levels, less quickly with respect to cortisol. (more...)

Choosing the best multivitamin Understanding the essential nutrients your body needs There’s a danger to you in the way nutritional supplements are marketed. Most of those marketers would have you believe there’s a different product for every problem — the antioxidant vitamin, the vitamin B-complex, mood boosters, energy vitamins, herbal nutritional supplements — the list of vitamins and herbs goes on and on. Maybe each one of those supplements does have its own role. But too many women come to us taking dozens of supplements and herbs, sometimes in extreme doses, and that concerns us. The interaction of so many supplements is unknown. And this approach ignores the basic wisdom of your body: your body will naturally seek to balance itself if you give it the right foundation of nutritional support. That’s why we make sure every patient at our practice is on a sound foundation of a pharmaceutical-grade multivitamin, multi-mineral, and essential fatty acids (EFA’s). (more...)

The metabolism’s first priority is to feed the brain. The brain needs a steady stream of glucose to perform, and when that stream is disrupted the body responds with a multitude of coping mechanisms, like flooding the pathways with cortisol and adrenaline. Designed to satiate the brain during short periods of stress, these emergency measures were never intended to stay switched on. Unfortunately, that is exactly what’s happening in many women — leading to chronic depletion in certain areas, food addiction, depression, and weight gain. (more...)

Without a doubt, eating well and having optimal nutrition is the number-one strategy for creating lifelong health, regardless of your starting point. You may be highly conscientious and diligent about your diet, or you may be in despair about your nutrition and miles from reaching your goal. Or, you may be “good” one day then wobble or fall down the next. Whatever the case, this section of our site is all about how to make nutrition and eating well the cornerstone to your health foundation. As much as my patients know they should eat well, the concern that looms largest for them is their weight. Whatever their age and station, most women care deeply about what they look like. It is unfortunate, but in the minds of many, their figure is not their friend! As a consequence, women “do battle” with their weight, adopting any number of extreme and unhealthy patterns over the course of their lifetime to keep things “in check.” (more...)