Gillian McKeith's Food Bible (45 page)
Read Gillian McKeith's Food Bible Online
Authors: Gillian McKeith
Avoid wearing clothes that are tight around the middle.
Avoid strong smells such as engine oil, cleaning products, perfumes, and strong-smelling foods. Pregnant women have a heightened sense of smell and strong smells can trigger nausea.
Breathe fully. Inhale into the diaphragm and exhale completely.
Acupressure can help. This can be done by wearing a specially designed band that puts pressure on an acupressure point on the underside of your wrist. You can also put pressure on this point yourself. To find the point, measure three finger-widths from your wrist crease line. Press on the hollow between the tendons and you will experience a slight tenderness. Press the point firmly with your thumb as you exhale and release the pressure slightly when you inhale. Continue for a few minutes.
If you haven’t been able to keep anything down for 24 hours, including fluids, you may have a condition called hyperemesis gravidarum. This refers to excessive vomiting in pregnancy. It is vital that you consult your medical specialist if this is the case in order to avoid complications.
Consult your medical specialist if:
You experience severe, chronic vomiting.
The sickness persists past the fourteenth week of pregnancy.
You vomit blood.
You become dehydrated because you can’t keep fluids down.
The labor process itself, lactation, breastfeeding, sleep deprivation, anxiety, fear, worry, malabsorption, and the added daily and hourly demands from the new baby—all these deplete nutrients. Supplements, foods, herbs, botanicals, plants, and herbal teas can correct the most common nutrient deficiencies of the new mother. By spending a bit of time going through my book, you are taking proactive measures so that you may become a healthier, happier, and more nourished mom.
Weight Loss
If you think it’s naturally harder to keep the weight off as you age—that it’s all down to hormones—then I’m afraid I’m going to have to set you straight. Yes, hormones do play a role, but there’s another factor that I contend overrides all that, which is exercise.
I remember one very special visit to my 96-year-old granny. I asked Granny what her secret was—why had she never put on weight? “Riding my stationary bicycle,” she replied. At that moment, she insisted I turn on her favorite record and dance together. I also have a friend, Norman, who is 82 years old and never uses an elevator. He lives on the 22nd floor of a high rise in New York, looks about 55, and is fitter than most 30-year-olds!
The reason it is so hard to stay trim as we leave our 20s is because we let our activity levels slip. But, as Norman and my granny prove, you don’t have to. Just watch a child and you will see perpetual motion in action. They are constantly burning fuel. And of course in school you are required to exercise, albeit some schools encourage it more than others. My eldest daughter attends a high school that does PE four days a week, even double sessions. It’s been so good for her stamina and endurance that she’s become a great runner. However, PE stops at her school for the year 10 students. The rationale is they have too many academic subjects and not enough time to exercise. What a terrible message to teach our children. PE for kids should never stop.
You can live without studying trigonometry but, frankly, you cannot live life if you don’t move your body. The older you get, the more exercise you need to do. Age is not your cue to slow down. When you exercise, it improves digestion and metabolism; you burn fuel more effectively. And of course what you eat is still crucial. Bad food regimes and poor eating habits catch up with you eventually. In your younger years, some of you might get away with shoveling food down your throat and living on junk. But you can’t do it for years on end and stay looking fit.
Why do some people seem more prone to putting on weight?
The number one factor is lack of exercise. The number one excuse? “Gillian, I think there must be something wrong with my thyroid.” Sure, if you really do have an underactive thyroid, it’ll trigger weight gain because the thyroid controls your metabolic rate (the rate at which you burn up calories for energy). But I can count on one hand the number of people I have met who fall into the thyroid-malfunctioning category once tested.
The second most common excuse is blaming genetics, and some studies have certainly shown a hereditary factor to body weight. But I believe it is more nurture than nature, where diet and lifestyle habits are inherited.