I'll never capitalize cancer

I have alot going on in my life, more than just cancer and chemo. Sure it's a big part of my life right now, but it's not the most important part of my life. You will never see me spell it with a capital "c".

I'm a Wife and Mom. I love my Family. I have good Friends. We do fun stuff and dumb stuff and sometimes we argue and then we laugh again. We go to work and to the grocery store and we go swimming and have birthday parties and get ready for the first day of school.

I keep saying that I don't want ovarian cancer to define me, but sometimes I just can't help it.

A good friend put it this way for me "cancer may be defining your life for the moment, but it is not your entire life. You seem to just make time for it." That made me feel better.

If you want to see it from the beginning, my cancer story begins in March.

The rest of my story is happening now.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Excellent Nutrition for Expecting and Nursing Moms

I can see that it has been a while since I have posted. I have been getting ready for Commit2Fit. I knew it would take some time, but getting everything prepared for the Kick Off meeting has become more of a project than I had expected.

I will get back to that in a later post. Right now, I have to address something that is so very important to me, even more so since becoming a Mom.

I think I hit on it a bit when I was writing about the importance of Omegas in your diet. The overall good nutrition that is so important for expecting and nursing Moms. This week I heard "Gestational Diabetes" come out of 2 separate conversations with pregnant women who are slim (except for the bump) and look otherwise fit. That really suprises me, so I am looing into the symptoms and causes so that I can understand better.

But this brings up again how important it is for Women to be sure to stay fit and get good nutrition even if they are just thinking about becoming pregnant. The first several weeks of pregnancy are very important, and we may not even be aware that we are pregnant until we are about 2 months along.

I wish I had known about Advocare when I was pregnant. It would have made things alot easier. I did not suffer with Morning sickness, but I did have incredible Heartburn. And really there is nothing that is safe to take to relieve the Heartburn. Advocare DigestEase is a wonderful product that contains ginger root and papaya and it is safe to take during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

I think that I mentioned in an earlier post that OmegaPlex is an excellent source for the Omegas that are so important for developing babies. Flax seed is not an efficient source for omegas, fish oil is best. It is especially important for a pregnant and breastfeeding woman to consume DHA (one of the omega-3s in fish oil) because the developing baby is dependent on Mom! DHA is an essential fat—we must get it from diet or supplements, because our bodies don’t make it—and consuming enough DHA is critical for normal and healthy development of infant brain, eyes, and nervous system. Inadequate consumption of DHA during pregnancy has been linked to shortened gestational periods and premature delivery. It is recommended that women consume 300–600 mg of DHA daily while pregnant and breastfeeding.

Protein is also important, especially for brain development. A good, easy to follow diet is Dr. Brewer's pregnancy diet. Let me tell you though, it's tough to get your daily 100 grams of protein in you. And if you have Morning sickness or gas, it's even tougher. Meal Replacement Shakes have 24 grams of easily digestible protein, that's a meat serving! They have half your RDA of Calcium which is important to me because I found out that I was osteopenia, most likely due to breastfeeding which depletes your Calcium.

Calcium Plus is a Calcium supplment with the necessary vitamin D and Magnesium, Zinc and Manganese.

Muscle Gain is another great protein source and excellent snack. As are the Nutrition bars.


ReHydrate electrolyte replcement drink is what Gatorade wishes it was - sugar free, less salt, way better. Doctors prefer it to Pedialyte. Great for babies, children & Mommies when we are sick and it is running out either end! Also while breast feeding when we need alot of fluid, and during Menopause due to hot flashes and night sweats. Every woman should drink Rehydrate before bed, we lose alot of water and don't realize it.

Catalyst contains branch chain amino acids that feed your muscles, keeping you strong and lean, great for back support and all over fitness and strength and totally safe for pregnant and nursing Moms.

CorePlex with Iron multi vitamin is a great Pre Natal, lots of folic acid and Iron. My daughter loves the sugar free CorePlex Chewables.

Probiotic Restore has active cultures that aid in digestion and will help in keeping you regular. Each capsule is like eating 1000 yogurts.

Here is the age, pregnancy and nursing indications for the Advocare products that I have mentioned.

Advocare products have excellent science behind them. One of the members of Advocare's Sci/Med board Dr Carl Keen has written an article about the necessary Nutrition for Expecting Moms.


Remember that I am not a Doctor. I am just passing along information that I have learned through my own personal experiences. If you have a medical issue or are pregnant or breastfeeding, check with your Doctor to be sure to do what is right for you.

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