Mommy Ginger
Let's talk about Business, Beauty and Babies!

Ready for Baby #2?

I attended the What to Know before giving birth workshop last Saturday and it reminded me of the preparations that we did before we had Zeeka. Preparing for a baby was so much fun! After having this adorable little girl, I’m so excited to have baby number 2, BUT I have things to fix first this year. We might try for baby number 2 next year when things go as planned.

Unilab, Mommy Treats and St. Patrick! Brands we trust and love! With Dra. Pat Kho our Speaker

Unilab, Mommy Treats and St. Patrick! Brands we trust and love! With Dra. Pat Kho our Speaker

Cute giveaways from StemCord Philippines

Cute giveaways from StemCord Philippines

Beginnings Baby

Beginnings Baby

Sebamed products!

Palmer's --- super love this!

Palmer’s — super love this!

The things that I prepared before having Zeeka were:

1) My own health: I know that a lot of people think that preparing for a baby need not to be super thought of nor worried about. You’ll just pop the baby out and end of story. For me, I took care of my health, not because I’m a panicky person or super praning, but because I wanted me and the baby to be safe and also to prevent negative things from happening. They always say that prevention is better than cure, and I believe so, too, so i did what i could to keep us both safe from harm.

2) Finances: I really did my research and went to the hospital to ask for a cost estimate for delivery. This is advise that you may want to do. Just go to the hospital and ask if they can give you a rough estimate. For those giving birth at Asian Hospital, you can leave a comment below and i will email you the costs of my labor and delivery.

3) Insurance: I got the services of Stemcord for Cord Blood banking. Again, nothing is certain in this world so just to have a backup plan, i am storing Zeeka’s cord blood with them that we may use for (knock on wood) any untoward incident that may happen in the future.

4) Nursery room and baby’s things: Yes, you should prepare for this because this is one of the fun things that you can do as a couple! Plus, shopping is such a relaxing activity! (Maybe more relaxing for moms than for the dads… Hehe).

I’ve been receiving a lot of inquiries about labor costs and pregnancy costs in this blog. It seems that there are a lot if expecting moms and dads. So exciting for you, guys! This will be one of the best moments of your life so enjoy each and every moment.

With that, Manila Workshops (my other baby) and its sponsors for the What to Know Before giving Birth (the rerun) would like to make things even more special for you, expecting parents. We are giving away Prizes from Unilab, St. Patrick, Sebamed, and Palmer’s. We will have two winners. All you have to do is follow the steps in the rafflecopter widget below and two weeks (June 10) from now, we will choose two lucky winners.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Prizes are to be picked up at the Medela house on June 28, 2014 during the ‘Making Memories and Party Planning’ workshop so please make sure that you can come to the venue. The winners are also entitled to a 10% discount if you want to attend the Making Memoriea and Party Planning Workshop.

So join now! 🙂

Eats Right: Motivation Meetups for Fit and Fab Femmes

As for those who know me, ever since I was a teenager, I was really into fitness. Some people would even previously call me GYMger instead of Ginger since I would spend most of my time in the gym. I think I worked out more than I studied. I am thankful that I have been blessed with fantastic endurance when I was younger (probably not anymore). I would stay at the gym from 7am until 10pm. I would carry at least 5 changes of gym outfits every day.

I have an athletic body. I have huge thighs and huge arms. I was telling some of my Steps Project teammates that my ‘extremities’ are my problem. I have no problem with my tummy (I’m blessed that it doesn’t protrude that much), but what gets to me is that I look fat in pictures because my arms are huge.

I also have body image issues. I always think I’m fat. It got better when I got married, probably because I didn’t care that much anymore. I wrote about my problem in this article: A Woman’s Struggle

Now that I am more in touch with my body (yoga helped!), I want to help other ladies feel grateful and happy on who they are and with the body that they have. I want to help them achieve their fitness and health goals this year. I know that it’s hard to try to achieve fitness goals, especially when you’re alone in this quest to be healthy (when everyone is digging into a bag of chips and when all choices presented to you contain fat and preservatives).

I have always wanted to start this kind of support group. I have been longing to provide an avenue for ladies that would help them achieve their health and fitness goals. That is why I am very excited to launch the Eats Right! Program.

Join the Eats Right meet-ups!

Join the Eats Right meet-ups!

The Eats Right! Program is composed of pep talks and motivational meet ups that are for fit and fab femmes (single, married or married with children, etc.) who want to have a support group in achieving their health and fitness goals this year. The Eats Right Pep Talks will be a series of 5 meet-ups where the ladies will get to do different activities and will learn about different aspects of health, nutrition and fitness.

I am doing this with fit and fab ladies Martine de Luna of MakeitBlissful.com and Michelle Padrelanan of BeyondSilverandGold.com. This plan only took two weeks of preparation, since we really wanted to launch it before the end of May. That is how excited we were!

Also, let me thank our sponsors who readily believed in the Eats Right movement. We would like to thank Ian of Without Limits, Lourdes of Nanay Lunches with Love, Farah of Train Station, Aisa of Yoga Plus (love yah, cuz!), Cindy and Liezel from Curves Eastwood and my new friend, Vanessa of Go Steady (love yah, too, girl!).

Okay, the details are in the poster above so if you want to sign up, please use this form:

Please email the deposit slip or payment confirmation to ginger@manilaworkshops.com with the subject EATSRIGHT1. We will then send a confirmation email if you have made it to the group of 20 for this first batch! Sign up now to secure a slot! 🙂

For those who can’t make it for this run, please leave your deets here:

We plan to take this to other cities, so please do let us know if you’re interested in joining the Eats Right! Meet-ups.

Please do share this information since we would really love to meet up with you, ladies! Spread the word and use #eatsright and #eatsrightmovement 🙂

Let’s support one another! See you all!

What to Know Before Giving Birth (the Rerun) on May 24, 2014

Have you already signed up for this workshop, pregnant couples?

First Time Parents: What to Know Before giving Birth

First Time Parents: What to Know Before giving Birth

This workshop is quite a hit among those who are expecting babies since it’s a workshop that’s packed with information — information that you will indeed be thankful for once you give birth and deliver that little precious baby. This run of the What To Know Before Giving Birth Workshop will be on May 24, 2014, 9:00 AM – 12:00 NN at the Medela House, #29 1st Street, New Manila, Quezon City. This workshop is co-presented by StemCord Philippines, Inc. and Unilab.

Topics to be Discussed
What to Expect During your OB check-ups and visits
Pain Management
Pregnancy Nutrition
Cord Blood Banking

The Speakers

Dra. Patricia Malay Kho studied Medicine and underwent Residency Training in UP College of Medicine-Philippine General Hospital. She is an Obstetrician Gynecologist with Subspecialty Training in OB Gyne Infectious Diseases. She is also an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant. She is affiliated with Makati Medical Center and St Luke’s Global. She has two children, and both were breastfed.

Ms. Cecile Bayaga is a registered nutritionist-dietitian and a full-time faculty at the College of Home Economics, University of the Philippines-Diliman. She has been teaching Principles of Nutrition, Nutrition for the Lifecycle, and Medical Nutrition Therapy for the past 12 years. She has published scientific articles on glycemic index, essential fatty acids for brain development, and clinical nutrition. In 2005, the Nutritionists-Dietitians’ Association of the Philippines awarded her as The Most Promising Nutritionist-Dietitian. She is happily married for the 9 years and a mother to their son, Gabby.

To register, please fill out the form below.

See you there!

Mommy Meditation: A Step Back from My Reality

I will have no yaya for three weeks since she left to take a vacation to go to Bacolod. With this, we will be staying at our in-laws place in Quezon City, quite far from where I normally conduct my business meetings which is either Makati or BGC. And since I don’t know how to drive, I had to cancel most of my meetings to just stay home to watch over Zeeka.

I should be frazzled (initially I was, I have to admit), but instead, I am now taking this opportunity and turning it into a meditation vacation — Mommy Meditation. I will take a step back from MY reality to re-assess my life (my businesses, my financials, my plans). Lately, I have been second guessing myself on some of the plans that I have for my businesses. Also, I think I need to create better processes for both my household and businesses.

Most of the time, we, moms are so busy that we forget that we need to take time out to see the bigger picture of how things are working out for us. We then, after sometime, feel tired and feel like we’re not getting anywhere in terms of our plans. So what we need to have is some Mommy Meditation time.

My Mommy Meditation time started today. It just started today since I had to do a lot of things after our STEPS PROJECT Active Lifestyle Fair last Sunday (BTW, thank you to all those who came). As for my meditation and reassessment of my life, these are the things that I need to think about:

FAMILY FINANCES and PROCESSES
1. Budget checking
2. A new contract for our helpers since some leave after a few months (I usually spend for their fare coming from the province so my husband and I feel like we’re just being used so that they get the chance to come to Manila from the province)
3. Organizing the files in our house and to have a better system for it (especially for paying bills)

HEALTHY HABITS
I’m actually glad that even with all of these stuff going on around and so many changes in our plans (some things don’t turn out the way we expected it to be), my family is very healthy and for me, health is really our priority. Health is wealth, indeed! It’s a good thing that I’m participating in a body fat challenge with my friends. It forces me to cut down on fatty food and stick to healthier alternatives. It’s so funny cause my husband seems to be losing weight, too. But aside from that, i’d like to stress the importance of proper nutrition and vitamins. There are things that we are taking now that keeps us healthier. If you want me to send you the list of supplements that we are taking, just email me at ginger@mommyginger.com.

One of the things that I love taking now, especially with this heat, is my own concoction of a healthy milkshake.

2 scoops of Vanilla Nutrimeal (low glycemic / Gluten Free / Soy Milk) – This is a meal replacement formula so it keeps you full. A pack can last for approximately 15 days.

USANA Nutrimeal Vanilla

USANA Nutrimeal Vanilla

Mix it with two table spoons of Athena. Athena is High in Calcium (which we need) and low in fat. It is also a good source of Vitamins A, E and Zinc.

Athena

Add 400 – 500mL of water and add ice, then blend! Viola! This is my own version of a healthy milkshake!

I actually started shifting to all things healthy and natural even before this mommy meditation spree. I already feel the difference in my body. I weigh less now, have more muscles and I feel more energetic.

BUSINESS PROCESSES AND FINANCES
It’s time to review all of the business processes that I have. I think after I move back to our own home again, when yaya arrives, I might call for a team meeting for Manila Workshops. It has been a while since we have had our team meeting. I’m actually going to review my PNL report for this year as early as now. I need to make some adjustments and I need to make it fast.

How about you? Have you had any time for mommy meditations? What did you realize after meditating? I can’t wait to get started on all of these things that I plan to do for these next 3 weeks.

How Do You Fight?

My husband and I, we’re only human. We may come across as a mellow and fun couple, but we do fight. Both of us are very vocal and so when we fight, you can just imagine how it is. Ratatatataaa, like guns being fired from both sides.

Although, we’ve never really stayed mad at each other for long. And even if we have an argument in the evening, we make it a point not to go to sleep mad at each other. That’s one of the things that we have learned during our Discovery Weekend (pre-cana seminar). I just think that if you don’t resolve the problem right away, it tends to grow bigger. I have the tendency to flee from ‘war’ and just hide in one corner until the problem’s gone, so i’m really thankful that my husband is the type that says ‘let’s talk this over please’ before I really get the chance to run and hide.

I run and hide because i’m the type that hates talking if it’s an argument. I’m just good at talking if it’s about other stuff.

What I normally do is let off steam by running on the treadmill first before talking to my husband. What I have noticed is that I’m not that aggitated anymore after running. And, when it comes to speaking, i’ve learned to listen and speak in a low tone. I wasn’t like this before. I would oftentimes raise my voice, but I have realized that speaking louder doesn’t  make your argument stronger and correct.

In fighting, you need to place respect above anything else. Don’t let your emotions get the better part of you. Don’t just blurt out things just because you’re mad. Don’t end up saying things that you would regret. Remember that your partner is also human, with feelings that can easily get hurt. This goes for us women especially, who think that men can handle any type of emotional pressure. They can’t. Again, they are only human.

Another tip that I learned is to try holding each other’s hand when you argue. It reminds each of you that you love each other and this is just a phase in your lives that you have to go through. Also, learn to listen during an argument. Don’t just talk and talk. Remember that the end goal is to resolve this issue and see that what you are fighting about never happens again.

Try to work on a compromise. Swallow your pride. In a marriage, love comes first and not pride.

So, how about you? How do you fight?