Strollerderby : pregnancy weight

Melissa Joan Hart Drops the Ball on Being a Role Model

JeanneSager — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:26:00 GMT

So Melissa Joan Hart packed on the pounds during her pregnancy. That makes her different from any other pregnant woman in America, how?

The former Sabrina the Teenage Witch star showed off her bikini-worthy bod in People last week, but it was her words that cut deep into the psyches of moms everywhere.

A picture of her post-partum at one hundred fifty-five pounds, snapped on the beach, was "horrifying," Hart told People. That's why she lost weight. Not because she felt physically bad at her weight. Because she cared what everyone else thought of her.

Wow, how, SHALLOW of her. Yeah, yeah, I know, she lives in Hollywood - she's supposed to care what the public thinks about her. She points out that living in Hollywood puts huge pressure on you, and I'd bet it would. But if you're going to use that as your excuse, you can just as easily use it as your soapbox. Because Hart is one of those women who can make a statement to the world that sets the world afire and lets other women know it is OK to walk outside of their houses with their heads held high in the days after they give birth.

But where she had the chance to be a wonderful anti-dote to the thousands of celebrity women who practically prance out of the hospital with their twiggy forms back and make the rest of us feel even worse about ourselves, Hart chose the wrong route. Showing off her hard fourteen months of work was a great example to women that you can do it, maybe. But the words "horrifying" about her post-partum body undid much of that positive message.

What happened to being honest about what happens to a woman's body during pregnancy? To facing up to the fact that the weeks after having a baby are hardly the time to focus on weight loss/gain because you're focused on a new life?

Image: People

Kelly Ripa Beats Obamas for Your Family Vacation

Post Partum Hilarity in Book Form

You Are What Your Mother Didn't Eat

JeanneSager — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:34:00 GMT

My mother always told me I was made of spinach - because that's what she ate during her pregnancy. Constantly. To the point where my father threatened not to come home for dinner again, lest he be presented with yet another plate of green stuff coated in cream sauce or sauted in olive oil.

It turns out, I'm only partially right. A new study says the genes of a fetus can mutate in the womb, based on what a mother ISN'T eating.

We all knew pregorexia was bad for baby, but this study points out that it's more than a lack of development that's being caused but actual development in the wrong direction.

The study at the University of Utah looked at pregnant rats to find how a lack of certain nutrients in the womb can create risk factors for certain diseases down the line. A mother rat whose fetus did not get proper nutrition was born smaller than his counterparts but also primed for heart disease, diabetes and other diseases. The researchers hope that this study could hold the key to helping develop a regimen for mothers to prevent health problems down the road for their babies.

Some of this is pretty common sense - you have to pack in the nutrition when you're pregnant (and when you're breastfeeding, natch). But knowing which nutrients are most important could be a lifesaver for moms like me - the moms who threw up for seven months. Did you eat differently when you were pregnant?

Image: CafePress

Biggest Loser's Having a Baby, Gaining Weight

JeanneSager — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 19:02:00 GMT

They're one of two couples to lose a lot of weight on the Biggest Loser but gain a spouse. Now Marty Wolff and wife Amy Hildreth Wolff are having a baby. Is it any wonder she's a little worried about her weight?

The Wolffs met on season three of the NBC show, and they opted to leave their old jobs behind to run a weight loss and "self-improvement" program to capitalize on their fame and keep themselves accountable (to help keep off the weight). They lost a combined weight of two hundred fifty-two pounds, but now Amy will have to start gaining weight to help their little one form.

The question is - does this kind of past make it easier or harder on her? On any of us? Studies have shown women who have past struggles with weight are more likely to have big gains during pregnancy. Hello, we're finally being given keys to the kitchen cabinets, and there's an army of people around us reminding us "you're eating for two dear." Being big is suddenly cute.

But Hildreth and those who have won the weight gain challenge (on TV or off) are more aware than anyone of what it means to be fat. "So many friends have had to battle weight gain during pregnancy," she told People Magazine. "They all have told me to watch out, it happens so quickly, and I'm like, 'I know!' I am cautious. I haven't gained any weight yet. I feel like the luckiest pregnant girl ever."

Does weight loss success make it easier for moms? Or is the same old slippery slope?

Image: People

AAP: Delayed Vaccines Too Risky for Kids

They Say: Schools Near Fast Food Makes Fat Kids

Why They Shouldn't Eat the Snow

Man Says Drinking Breastmilk Cured His Cancer

They Say: Antacids During Pregnancy Up Risk for Child's Asthma

Mom Sells Newborn Twins to Fund Liposuction

JeanneSager — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:32:00 GMT

Here's one way to get rid of the post-pregnancy pounds: you can sell your newborn twins to the tune of nine thousand pounds (about $13,450 US) and splurge on liposuction. Personally I'd go for eating less and working out more, but I'm just old-fashioned that way.

A Belgian mother of seven (including the twins) has been brought up on charges in an alleged rent-a-womb scheme that conned several Dutch couples out of money they thought was paying for Sonia Ringoir to carry their baby. More women have said Ringoir invited them over for "insemination parties," where she gave them a syringe full of her (now estranged) husband's sperm to use to inseminate themselves.

In case all of that isn't strange enough for you - Ringoir eventually gave birth and opted to "give" the twins to a friend. She can't be charged for giving away her babies, but she is facing fraud charges for taking money from the Dutch couples and not providing them with a baby. The Belgian government is also charging Ringoir with treating her babies in a "degrading," manner. She faces up to five years in jail if convicted.

Then there's that liposuction thing. Her new boyfriend says she was being pressured by her ex to have her body rebuilt. The ex has come out saying liposuction was at the heart of the scam.

How about just not getting pregnant again? Or, hey, here's an idea: accepting the extra junk in your trunk and turning your entrepreunerial eye toward a way to make life better for your other five kids.

There I go again, being an old-fashioned parent.

Image: Daily Mail

Strollerderby : pregnancy weight

Melissa Joan Hart Drops the Ball on Being a Role Model

Disney Princesses Get Nasty

Kelly Ripa Beats Obamas for Your Family Vacation

Post Partum Hilarity in Book Form

You Are What Your Mother Didn't Eat

When Your Kid's Report Card Says They're Fat

It's NOT Baby Fat

They Say: Pool Water's Toxic for Baby

Biggest Loser's Having a Baby, Gaining Weight

How About Some Placenta in that IV Drip?

AAP: Delayed Vaccines Too Risky for Kids

They Say: Schools Near Fast Food Makes Fat Kids

Why They Shouldn't Eat the Snow

Man Says Drinking Breastmilk Cured His Cancer

They Say: Antacids During Pregnancy Up Risk for Child's Asthma

Mom Sells Newborn Twins to Fund Liposuction

Kids: The World's Best Form of Birth Control

One in Five Teens Having Tech Sex

They Say: Pregnant Women Can Eat Nuts

A Girl's Take: Announce Your New Edition With Panties

Teen Girl's Mom Throws Prostitution Party

Booty Caller Texts When You're Ovulating