BEAUTY AND LIFESTYLE

Yep! Yep! Yep! Girls just wanna have funds! Ladies, do you concur? I mean, don’t we all wanna stash some cash?!

As a young woman, you’ve got to learn to put your money and education before your emotions. You’ve got to learn to build financial independence. You’ve got to learn to prioritize your wealth and happiness. You’ve got to learn to focus on your own goals.

Chasing love will leave you unfocused and broke. It will put you in a whirlwind of emotions. It will slow your growth when you start making babies. It will leave you uninspired and overly dependent on someone else.

Ever heard the saying, ‘Girls just wanna have fun?!’ Well, miss me on the fun, girl, bring me the funds, I can have all the fun with money!

You see when a girl has funds, she can

• Pay for basic expenses such as groceries, clothing, electricity, water and rent.

• Build her life in the direction of her dreams.

• Fund her health needs and other emergencies.

• Provide a better future for her children in terms of education and leisure.

• Support herself and her family.

• Make important decisions and choices for her career.

• Navigate her life back to normalcy in the event of a divorce.

• Earn respect from her husband, family members and neighbours.

• Stand up for herself in crimes of injustice, abuse and atrocities.

Girls just wanna have funds because funds boosts a girl’s self-confidence and makes her secure in herself. Research has it that women live much longer than men and are less exposed to financial literacy, so they will need more money to survive and have a good life.

There were several myths I heard and read about pregnancy while I was pregnant. Nothing worried me like the absurdity of the myth or the fact that these myths had been passed on from generation to generation and had now become accepted as culture.

These myths were not myths to the people who adhered to them. They were beliefs, norms and standard practice, yet they had no cultural backing or scientific evidence. It was surprising to know that these myths were so ingrained in people that going contrary to them meant you were not experienced in the whole pregnancy/childbirth process.

Some of them are outlined below;
1. Swollen feet mean the baby is a boy or that you will deliver twins. I never had swollen feet throughout my entire pregnancy. Yet I gave birth to a boy.

2. Carrying heavy objects will lead to a miscarriage. I did a lot of hardwork during my pregnancy which included carrying heavy objects. The day before I was scheduled for induction, I handwashed a few cloths and carried several buckets of water. But I still had my baby.

3. Heartburns mean your baby is hairy. I had a lot of heartburn but certainly didn’t have a hairy baby. Heartburn is due to the growth of the baby and the womb pushing up against the chest.

4. Putting a thread on your baby’s head stops hiccups. Contrary to popular beliefs, putting a thread on your baby’s head does not stop hiccups. Hiccups in babies is not a cause for concern. The hiccup reflex mostly occurs due to excess air in the stomach, and actually forces the air out. It may also occur when baby overfeeds or eats too quickly.

5. Constipation means you will have difficulty in labour. This is entirely false. Constipation in pregnancy is as a result of the changes in your body and diet. Fruits and fibre rich foods can ease the pain associated with constipation.

6. Hot water must be used to shape baby’s head. It is not true that a baby’s head may deform if you don’t use hot water to shape. Quite the contrary, this action causes damage to the brain.

7. Baby’s movements, also known as quickening means there is gas moving in your belly. There is a huge difference between gas in your belly and baby movements. Make sure you are able to differentiate the two.

8. Bathing a baby only once a day will cause his body to smell bad when he grows. This is not true. Babies don’t sweat or get dirty in the same way as older people, and their skin is much more sensitive than that of adults. In fact, bathing a baby more than once a day can dry out their skin and worsen skin conditions.

9. First milk from mother right after delivery, usually called colostrum, is bad for baby. On the contrary, colostrum is very nutritious and contains high levels of antibodies, which are proteins that fight infections and bacteria.

10. Eating eggs during pregnancy will make your child a thief. I don’t know where this is from but I certainly ate eggs during pregnancy, and I haven’t sighted my son stealing anything. This is just an absurdity because eggs are a good source of protein for pregnant women and actually help in bone formation.

11. The lanugo, the thin hair found on a newborn’s skin is a sign of premature birth and is the reason why most adults have strong body smell. In fact, the lanugo disappears from the skin within a few weeks after childbirth and is seen on infants that are born full term. The lanugo serves as an anchor, protecting the newborns delicate skin from being damaged by amniotic fluid.

12. Pregnancy is exactly nine months. In reality, when you are counting one month out of the nine months to be 4 weeks, then pregnancy will last 10 months.

13. A pregnant woman must eat for two. Contrary to popular belief, overeating can be harmful to both you and your baby. You only need to consume 300 more calories per day when pregnant.

14. Dying your hair during pregnancy is harmful to the baby. Most hair dyes are organic and safe to use during pregnancy.

15. Morning sickness only happens in the morning. This is the biggest lie of the century. Nausea or morning sickness can happen at any time of the day due to hormonal changes.

16. Exercise during pregnancy is harmful to the baby. This is not true. A moderate amount of exercise is safe and effective during pregnancy. It is also a great mood booster.

17. Eating oranges makes your baby fairer. This myth is quite absurd because the complexion of a child is dependent on the Gene’s of both parents and not the food you eat.

18. Pregnant women are expected to stay home and rest throughout the 9 months. Experts believe that being active helps relieve the pain of pregnancy.

19. If you carry high it’s a girl, when it’s low, it’s a boy! Carrying high or low has little to do with the gender but rather the abdominal muscles. Taller women tend to carry low while shorter women carry high.

20. You shouldn’t have sex during pregnancy. Contrary to popular belief, sex doesn’t induce labour or cause miscarriage during pregnancy. Your doctor may however advise against it if you have placenta praevia, a dilated cervix, cervical insufficiency, ruptured membranes, abnormal discharge, or if you are at the risk of premature labour.

Losing post-partum weight is one of the most difficult things to do after childbirth. While some have it relatively easier, for others, it remains a constant struggle.

I was always caught in this web of struggle. After having my baby through a C-section, I was advised to take in more fluids to restore my system back to its original state. Since my breastmilk wasn’t flowing for a few weeks, it gave me ample time to control what I eat.

The moment my breastmilk began to flow, the story changed. I began to eat excessively, because I was always hungry and emotionally drained. I wasn’t used to the whole breastfeeding thing, and I had bad eating habits.

Days and weeks of inactivity magnified the issue, and I soon began to get worn out and tired from hearing all those “hey, you’re so much bigger” or “you’ve become fat” comments.

Here are a few tips I would like to share, hopefully this works.

1. Good diet and exercise – You’ve probably heard this a million times. While it is true, there are a few steps you can take to make dieting and exercising easier for you. The first is to clear out unhealthy stuff either already stocked in the fridge or to avoid buying them completely. That way you are less tempted to eat all those junk food, because you don’t see it. With exercise, I found that getting a good gym wear and gym partner made all the difference. It helped to get me motivated on days I wasn’t up for the task. The downside of exercise though, is when you stop. When I stopped going to the gym and moving around due to this whole Corona virus pandemic, I gained twice as much as I weighed. The key here is consistency.

2. Don’t skip breakfast– If you are breastfeeding, you require more calories than normal. Eating breakfast rich in protein and all the required nutrients in the morning can help you to produce sufficient milk for the baby and leave you feeling less hungry throughout the day. You can regulate how much you eat by taking in smaller meals throughout the day.

3. Get enough rest– Lack of sleep makes you retain more weight after pregnancy. Sleep deprivation builds up body fat in your system and causes you to feel more restless during the day. This may have adverse effects on you like overeating, and this will lead to bloating and excessive weight gain. Even though breastfeeding and being up till late attending to the baby can make it difficult to get time to sleep, it is important to make up for that lost time in order to maintain your wellbeing.

4. Drink lots of water– There probably isn’t much fat in your system, just loose skin that have built up due to inactivity. Research has it that drinking water helped overweight women to lose extra pounds, since it reduced their appetite and calorie intake. It is even more important for breastfeeding mothers to stay hydrated in order to replace fluids lost through milk production.

5. Ask for help– Being depressed and overwhelmed with a lot of work can take away your ability to even eat healthy or exercise well. In such situations, don’t be afraid to reach out for help from family and friends to allow you to rest or get some exercise. If you need more help, your doctor, dietitian, family nurse or a psychologist can offer you support. Remember, you’ve got this!

So in 2021, you were a bit relaxed, taking things easy, waiting to get a job, waiting for that answered prayer, well it’s time to take the bull by the horn and be the answer to your own prayer in 2022.

Maybe you’ve prioritized everyone above yourself. Not a bad thing if you ask me, we live for others, but truly, can you be of help to someone when you haven’t learnt to love yourself? If you don’t embrace yourself, how do you embrace others?

Or just maybe, you were sulking over the fact that you lost a lot of friendships. Could it be that these friends were too immature and naive to realise how much their actions hurt you?

These 10 things I leave with you in 2022.
1. Prioritize yourself. You come first.

2. Go the extra mile with everything you do. Things are not handed to people easily these days. The forceful and determined one always wins.

3. Give second chances. Your friends are human too.

4. Have a positive mindset. Never take no for an answer! The doors were closed but the walls are coming down!

5. Eat healthy. What you eat affects your mood, your confidence and your personality. People see through you when you’re not happy with your body.

6. Get over things quickly. BP is real.

7. Save more often. Don’t use all your money on food and transport. You will still need food in 2023, and your fuel will not last till 2024. Your goals will still be there unattended to, so as often as possible, do some worthwhile investment, like giving your business a facelift or giving your home a new look.

8. Look out for mentors. People have their hands full these days, but you can learn a thing or two from your mentor’s social media. Before anyone can mentor you, they need to have a connection with you, so start by liking and commenting on their pictures. Mentors bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be.

9. Don’t make excuses for bad character. If people show you who they really are, believe them.

10. Hold on to God like no other. Talk to Him when brushing your teeth, when you see something funny in His world or when you see that mad man from across the street. He would be so happy to know that He’s a part of your life, on the good days as much as the bad ones.

I say this all the time, you are hurting yourself if you are working hours on end for a company that leaves you with little or no time to enjoy the sweet things in life!

What are the sweet things in life, you say? Well they are the APR- Achievements, Possessions and Relationships, and you need them to truly be fulfilled.

Achievements, like earning that Masters degree, starting that business, getting that promotion, securing that job, can make life so worth living! Even talking about it can make you happy, how much more achieving it! Imagine that!

Then there are Possessions. I always pray that I will possess my possessions. As written in Scripture in Obadiah 1:17, “…the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.” Having assets makes the world easier and enjoyable. That house gives you roof over your head and protection from rain. That car gives you access to places and makes movement easier, and that phone, laptop or tablet can make human connections bearable.

And then there are Relationships. Relationships make the world go round. Without people to accept us for who we are and show genuine interest in our life and wellbeing, our lives become miserable. Whether its friends turned family, colleagues at work, close associates, acquaintances at church and neighbourhood relations, we need human interaction to make life easier.

So by all means, enjoy the APR! Indulge yourself! And remember, when you get the Achievements, you can get the rest. When you obtain that Masters or PhD degree, secure that job or start that business, you will be able to afford all the possessions you wish to have and oh, since success has many friends, you get to keep relationships too.