by Maureen | Sep 5, 2012 | Health, Indonesia, Motherhood, Scoops of Joy, World Motherhood
For almost 5 months, I’ve been changing my life in a way that I never thought possible before. First, I joined a gym and was working with a personal trainer 3 to 4 times a week. Then, I revamped the way I eat.
My son became used to “Mommy, are you going to the gym?”, when I kissed him in the morning if he woke up before I left for my 6 am session.
He’s getting used to it.
My weight has been an issue that I battled for years. As an emotional eater, my weight went up and down like crazy over the last couple of years. I tried many things, from crash diets to those magic ‘drinks’ that are supposed to make you lose weight. None of them worked, they were only temporary fixes.
I didn’t sit and plan that I was going to start changing my life. Actually, it was a spur of the moment kind of thing. (more…)
by Elizabeth Atalay | Aug 28, 2012 | Food, Health, Humanity, Inspirational, International, Nutrition, Philanthropy, Social Good, World Voice
Navyn in the Plumpy’nut training room where the moms are educated about how and why this product is used.
“As I stood in the malnutrition ward of a regional hospital, my chest tightened, and I had to work hard to keep my composure. There were no welcoming smiles, only blank, empty stares. My camera, normally always at the ready, dropped down to my side. I couldn’t bring myself to snap images of so many children and mothers in despair.
To my left, a little girl lay on a bed, emaciated, listless, and very alone. I didn’t know her story. “Where is her mother?” I asked myself. All I could do was watch her chest rise and fall – as I did with my own newborn girls – and I clung to the possibility that, in this place, because of the nutritional peanut-paste we make, her life would continue.” -Navyn Salem, Executive Director, Edesia Global Nutriton Solutions.
Navyn Salem was shocked when she first heard the drastic statistics on global child malnutrition, and she was amazed that she had not heard about it sooner. As a mother herself she could not imagine a parent having to lose a child to something as easy to resolve as malnutrition, so the former stay-at-home mother of four, took it upon herself to do something about it.
With over 23 million children suffering from malnutrition in some form, and the cause of about one third of all child deaths globally, she realized there was not enough attention on the issue, and yet it seemed the simplest to tackle. Her father was born in Tanzania, and as an area that she had a connection to, she knew that she wanted to give back to that part of the world.
Five years ago the seeds for Edesia were planted. She began by speaking with experts, with a goal to increase access to products already out there, by expanding research and studying best practices until she developed a plan. (more…)
Elizabeth Atalay is a Digital Media Producer, Managing Editor at World Moms Network, and a Social Media Manager. She was a 2015 United Nations Foundation Social Good Fellow, and traveled to Ethiopia as an International Reporting Project New Media Fellow to report on newborn health in 2014. On her personal blog, Documama.org, she uses digital media as a new medium for her background as a documentarian. After having worked on Feature Films and Television series for FOX, NBC, MGM, Columbia Pictures, Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, and Castle Rock Pictures, she studied documentary filmmaking and anthropology earning a Masters degree in Media Studies from The New School in New York. Since becoming a Digital Media Producer she has worked on social media campaigns for non-profits such as Save The Children, WaterAid, ONE.org, UNICEF, United Nations Foundation, Edesia, World Pulse, American Heart Association, and The Gates Foundation. Her writing has also been featured on ONE.org, Johnson & Johnson’s BabyCenter.com, EnoughProject.org, GaviAlliance.org, and Worldmomsnetwork.com. Elizabeth has traveled to 70 countries around the world, most recently to Haiti with Artisan Business Network to visit artisans in partnership with Macy’s Heart of Haiti line, which provides sustainable income to Haitian artisans. Elizabeth lives in New England with her husband and four children.
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by Angela Y (USA) | May 17, 2012 | Body Image, Exercise, Health, Me-Time, USA, World Motherhood
When I step onto my mat, there is nothing else that matters. There are no toys to be picked up, dishes to be cleaned, or clothes to be folded. I am no longer mom. I am me. There is just myself, my mat and my yoga practice.
As I take the first downward dog of the day, I can feel my whole body open up. My spine gets longer, my hamstrings and calf muscles stretch out, and my sinuses clear. For the next 30, 45, 60, or 90 minutes, all I have to do is listen and breathe and move.
Inhale. Exhale.
Over the years, I have taken many yoga classes. Some mediocre, many (thankfully!) not. While on my mat, I often get more out of my practice that just stretching my muscles. I often get a life lesson. Sometimes it is a psychology class about my ego. Other times, it is like therapy. Yoga calms my mind. It reduces my stress level both physically and mentally. It makes me a better mother. (more…)
Angela Y. is in her mid-thirties and attempting to raise her two daughters (big girl, R, 3 years; little girl, M, 1 year) with her husband in San Francisco, CA. After spending ten years climbing the corporate ladder, she traded it all in to be a stay-at-home mom! Her perspective of raising a child in the city is definitely different from those who have been city dwellers all their lives, as she grew up in rural Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA) surrounded by her extended family.
Angela Y. and her husband are on their own on the west coast of the United States — the only family help they receive is when someone comes for a visit. But, the lifestyle in San Francisco is like no other for them, so there, they stay! This exercise conscious mom is easily recognized, especially when she is riding around her husband-built bike with two seats on the back. And, when she’s not hanging out with the girls, you can find Angela Y. in the kitchen. She loves to cook for her family, especially dessert, and then eats some herself when no one is looking! Sneaky, mom!
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by Carol (Canada) | May 10, 2012 | Breastfeeding, Canada, Health, Motherhood, World Motherhood
I want you to meet three women I know.
Mother A is a business woman, well into her thirties, who was bottle fed as a baby. She is a health nut who definitely wants her baby to get breastmilk, but doesn’t want to be tied down by the breast, so she hopes to do be able to do as much pumping as possible and to deliver the milk via bottle much of the time.
Mother B is an older woman who has finally conceived a long-awaited child with the help of a lot of scientific intervention. She has dreamed of being a mother for a long time, and wants to overcome her difficult childhood by showing her child the kind of unconditional love and care that she never received (more…)
Carol from If By Yes has lived in four different Canadian provinces as well as the Caribbean. Now she lives in Vancouver, working a full time job at a vet clinic, training dogs on the side, and raising her son and daughter to be good citizens of the world.
Carol is known for wearing inside-out underwear, microwaving yoghurt, killing house plants, over-thinking the mundane, and pointing out grammatical errors in "Twilight". When not trying to wrestle her son down for a nap, Carol loves to read and write.
Carol can also be found on her blog, If By Yes, and on Twitter @IfByYesTweets
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by Mamasgotwanderlust (China) | May 9, 2012 | Babies, Birthing, Canada, China, Culture, Health, International, Kids, Living Abroad, Maternal Health, Motherhood, Multicultural, Pregnancy, World Motherhood
Just before a Chinese colleague was due to give birth to her first child, we sat down and compared pregnancy and childbirth practices in Canada and China. I was very excited to have the opportunity to do so, as since arriving in China last year I have been very curious about local customs regarding babies.
Ding (who has since given birth to a beautiful little girl) was happy to share her experience so far. She told me about how she had managed to find a doctor who would reveal the sex of her baby (pretty uncommon in China, due to the favouring of boys under the one-child policy), how she kept her diet pretty bland while pregnant to help promote the health of her baby, and how she was not even considering pain medication during labour: “Chinese women are strong; we can handle the pain” she explained. (more…)
You could say that Taryn has travel in her blood: a South African-born Canadian, Taryn has lived in Toronto, Vancouver, and Indiana, and has travelled extensively to Iceland, Israel, Italy, India, and a few places that don't begin with the letter I. After a brief stint as a
travel guide writer, where she realized that her dream job was actually a lot of work for not much pay, she gave in to the lure of a steady job (and pay cheque) and settled in Canada's beautiful capital, Ottawa.
In 2010, she embarked on her biggest adventure when her daughter Charlotte was born. A few months later, her hubby J. accepted a work assignment in Russia, and the family moved to Moscow. In 2011, Taryn accepted a work assignment of her own in Beijing, China where she currently lives. While excited about the opportunity to live in the world's biggest up-and-coming country (and to practice herMandarin skills), moving to China has meant leaving J. behind in Russia while he finishes up his work assignment before moving to Beijing this summer.
In the meantime, Taryn juggles career-dom, living in a foreign culture, and being a temporary single-mom to a spunky toddler. Taryn is also the blogger behind Mama's Got Wanderlust, where she writes about her adventures in travelling, parenting, and living abroad.
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by Carol (Canada) | May 4, 2012 | Breastfeeding, Canada, Health, Motherhood, World Motherhood
A while ago I wrote a post about Breastfeeding, and I asked a question that a researcher had asked me. Today I want to tell you the answer I gave.
The researcher I spoke to, who is also an OB/GYN, wanted to talk to me about infant feeding and my experiences and she wanted my opinion on how doctors can help depressed and anxious women to breastfeed more.
I’m not surprised that they’re asking. The medical profession in Canada is VERY big on breastfeeding.
You have to understand that in a socialized health care setting, it is very much in the government’s interest to push preventive medicine.
Every diagnosis of heart disease or cancer, every gall bladder surgery and hip replacement, gets billed to the government. Obviously, to save themselves – er, I mean taxpayers – money, they want to prevent diseases and surgeries in the first place. So you can understand why they’re so big on pushing breastfeeding.
I don’t need to elaborate on the many and varied health benefits of breastfeeding. I think every mother (more…)
Carol from If By Yes has lived in four different Canadian provinces as well as the Caribbean. Now she lives in Vancouver, working a full time job at a vet clinic, training dogs on the side, and raising her son and daughter to be good citizens of the world.
Carol is known for wearing inside-out underwear, microwaving yoghurt, killing house plants, over-thinking the mundane, and pointing out grammatical errors in "Twilight". When not trying to wrestle her son down for a nap, Carol loves to read and write.
Carol can also be found on her blog, If By Yes, and on Twitter @IfByYesTweets
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