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Category: Health Tips

Easy Exercises in Pregnancy

Hi. 🙂
Today I would like to share this video I came across which focuses on easy exercises in pregnancy. These are a few moves pregnant women can do to hopefully ease labour, InshaAllah.
Being pregnant does not mean that you should stay away from moving your body (well unless your healthcare provider advises you against it). And yes, please get advice from your doctor before doing any of these moves. 🙂

In a nutshell, these are the moves we can try to do at home:
1. Walk daily
2. Sitting – a great way to get pelvis forward is sitting on an exercise ball/gym ball/pregnancy ball/birthing ball, whatever you want to call it. Hehe.
3. Leaning – this movement uses the same forward momentum, we can lean on a ball, chair etc.
4. Pelvic rocks – get on all fours, arch back and come back to neutral position.
5. Butterflies – put soles together, rock knees and thighs up and down
6. Forward Leaning Inversion – using a bed or couch, keep knees on them, walk hands down, stay on elbow (like we’re planking), stick butt high up. We can do this once a day for not more than 30 seconds
7. Squatting

I have to be honest that I have only tried numbers 1, 2 & 7. Hehe. But I shall try the rest soon. Hee.

Happy moving everybody !

xoxo

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The Battle of Head Lice and Khayla’s New Hairdo

4 weeks ago, I decided to chop Khayla’s hair off after her nursery teacher told me that she had head lice (again !).

Allow me to shed some light on our experience with head lice.

The first time we discovered Khayla had lice was after we got back from our Borneo Tour. What’s worse my head was infected too ! I noticed that she was scratching her head while we were in Karambunai, but I thought it was due to the chicken pox. I was also scratching my head, and I thought it was because I was using the hotel’s shampoo instead of my usual Prosante Shampoo. How blur can one be ? Isk isk.
When we found out from her nursery teacher that she had lice, then it all made sense. Haha.

Managed to settle that episode with lots of head lice shampoo, Basic H and lots of combing. Note: Never use those plastic combs which come with the lice shampoo. They’re useless !

And the Khayla came home with lice again two weeks after that. I guess she got it from her friends who got it from her. Isk isk. This time I decided that drastic times call for drastic measures !

I sought help from the Lice Ninja.
Lice Ninja was a saviour.
Both Khayla and I went for a treatment in their outlet in Subang and within 30 minutes all the lice and nits were gone !

Khayla's New Hairdo
Lice Ninja personnel applying lice cream on Khayla’s hair.

head lice

🙂

I felt like a new person.
Haha.

Anyway that was it and when I thought our lice nightmare was gone, her nursery teacher dropped the bomb on us again. Drama, much ?

But this time around it was not as bad as the first and second episodes so it didn’t take a lot of combing to get the lice & nits out.

So while I was combing her hair with the lice comb (you would not believe that this happened the same morning Daddy was warded), I asked her whether I could cut her hair. At first she said no because she wanted long hair like Elsa’s. The problem with her keeping her hair long is she doesn’t like it being tied up, so it always looks messy. And with the head lice issue, long hair makes it a bit of a challenge to comb.

After I personally attempted to cut her hair, I realized that it was not as easy as I thought and I am so cut out to be a hairdresser. One side of her hair was shorter than the other but since we were rushing to go to the hospital, I let my daughter run free with the ugly hair cut I gave her. Isk isk.

A week after that, I brought her to a hair saloon to get her hair fixed. Hehe.

head lice
Khayla’s first hair cut at a saloon ! Hehe.
head lice
Alhamdulillah she was well behaved through the whole process. 🙂

Check out Khayla’s new hairdo ! Hehe.

Head lice

From now onwards, I am planning to apply the lice cream on Khayla’s hair 2-3 times a week. Better to be safe than sorry, kan ?

xoxo

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Workouts I Love

So I’ve decided to write on workouts I love simply because I wanted to share the FUN workouts I do to help me lose/maintain weight, get toned and stay healthy !

Not everyone likes to exercise, am I right ? But exercise IS important !
Engaging in regular physical activity not only helps us lose or maintain a healthy weight, it also helps prevent a wide range of health problems, improves our mood and it gives that boost of energy we need everyday.
“If I exercise regularly, won’t I be exhausted ?”
NO !
In fact it’s the total opposite. I am speaking from my own experience. I feel fresher on the mornings I workout. 🙂
Exercise and physical activity deliver oxygen and nutrients to your tissues and help your cardiovascular system work more efficiently. And when your heart and lungs work more efficiently, you have more energy to go about your daily chores. (Source)

Ok back to the subject, I started exercising when I was in high school.
My preference has always been aerobics/dance workouts, although I have jogged and went to the gym a couple of times. But I am not exactly the outdoors kinda person. Haha.

I was obsessed with Paula Abdul’s Get Up and Dance CD during that period. It’s a 1-hour aerobic dance workout led by, well, Paula Abdul.
PaulaAbdul

This DVD came out in 1995, so you can imagine how the dancers were dressed. Hehe. The workout is broken down into 6 sections, an Introduction and set of Instructions, Warm up, 3 sections of 3 dance steps each, a YMCA section and a cool down. What made this workout fun to me was that the dancers behind were in all shapes, sizes and age so it felt like we were all ‘regular people’ dancing together. You get what I mean ?

After I entered university, I bought the Pump It Up: The Ultimate Beach Body Workout DVD.
PumpItUpBeach

There are four main sections in this DVD – the Warm Up, The Main (cardio), Bums and Tums (works our hips and abs), and Warm Down section. A total of 1 hour of workout set to Ministry Of Sound dance music. The routines in The Main section are quite easy to follow, and they won’t really leave you aching for days, but the Bums and Tums will definitely make your bums and tums sore !

I used to love this DVD so much that I would sometimes do it for 1 hour, and then repeat !
And, I even bought another Pump It Up DVD, the Pump It Up-Burn It Lose It.
PumpItUp

The DVD starts with 8 minutes of warm up and all the other segments are 15 minutes. There is the Aeroburn section (pure cardio that will leave you breathless, hehe), BPM (cardio with really cool dance moves), Beatbox (cardio and toning – something similar to kickboxing) and Below the Belt (the toning section which includes lunges, planking, sit-ups etc).

What’s cool about this DVD is that you can make up your own routine, pick and choose which sections you want to do. Best kan ?

Then I was introduced to Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred which went on to be my No. 2 FAVOURITE workout of all (used to be number one, but I have found my ultimate favourite workout, details later).
30DayShred
I know, I know it’s NOT a dance workout but I could really feel and see the difference after only 20 minutes a day, in less than 30 days ! What more could a girl ask for ?
Seriously, this DVD really, really works ! It features three levels of 20-minute workouts, each of which features short bursts of strength, cardio, and abs (interval training), and a cool-down. All you need is a set of dumbbells and an exercise mat (for the abs section).

I used this DVD diligently before my wedding and even my wedding dress tailor noticed the difference in how I fit into my dress during the last fitting session. 🙂

I love Jillian Michaels !

So, which workout has managed to knock down Jillian Michaels from her number one spot in all of my favourite workouts ?

ZUMBA !!

Haha.
I was introduced to Zumba last year, and bought the Zumba Exhilarate and Rush DVDs and instantly got hooked !
And then I was fortunate enough to come across the Zumba Exhilarate Body Shaping System DVD set sold on Groupon, and I didn’t have to think twice about getting it.

ZumbaExhilarateThe set comes with 7 DVDs, a pair of toning sticks, and a program guide.
ZumbaToningSticksDVDs:

1. Step-by-Step – This DVD breaks down the basic Zumba rhythms and moves (1 hour)
2. Activate- a 45-minute Zumba class for beginners which applies all the moves learned in the previous Step By Step DVD.
3. Ripped –  is a 60-minute workout broken up into a toning section, using the 1-pound toning sticks, and a Sentao section, which uses a chair and your own body weight.
4. Exhilarate –  a full 60-minute Zumba class filled with really fun dance routines.
5. Rush- perfect when you’re short of time, this is a high-energy, 20-minute Zumba workout.
6. Mix- this is the coolest DVD, which features African, Latin, Indian, hip-hop, Asian fusion, and Flamenco dances from a variety of instructors. There is also a breakdown section which teaches you the routines which is really helpful.
7. Fitness Concert – this my favourite ! It’s a 60-minute live concert using the same moves and songs from the Exhilarate DVD.

I have been quite consistent with Zumba, doing it at least 3 to 6 times a week, even in Ramadhan. And I have seen amazing results. Results which I never expected to see with a dance workout.
My legs, abs and arms are more toned, not ripped, but more toned and I have definitely lost a few inches from my waist and hips !
What’s great is that I have an awesome time with Zumba !
Every time I put on any of the DVDs, I sort of get transported into another world and I don’t even notice that 60 minutes have gone by.

How can Zumba be so awesomely (?) addictive yet delivers amazing results ? Beats me.
All I know is that I can’t wait for my next Zumba session ! Hehe.

All the workouts I have mentioned are (in my opinion) good workouts which will definitely get your heart rate up and help you stay fit and healthy.

However you need to try them for yourselves because not everyone loves the same thing, kan?

Happy working out people !

xoxo

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