All posts by Anne Younger

Anne is a 30-something full-time SAHM mom of 5 ranging from 3 to 17 and grandma of 1 who resides in Ashwaubenon (Green Bay) Wisconsin. She started blogging in 2008 as a way to regain her sanity. She enjoys coffee, chocolate, cheeseburgers and vodka along with spending time with her husband and kids.

Health

Should I be at a Certain Weight for a Mommy Makeover?

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From Britney to Beyonce, starting a family has never been more celebrated. What could be more beautiful than bringing another life into the world? But having a baby doesn’t only change your life; it changes your body as well.

What is a Mommy Makeover?

Over last several years, Mommy Makeovers have become mainstream. This catchall phrase describes a select set of cosmetic procedures, which are specifically designed to restore the appearance of a woman’s body after childbirth.

After having a baby, many women notice changes in their breasts, buttocks and abdomen. Breasts that were once firm can lose their perkiness and sit lower then they did before. And no matter how many planks or crunches you do, your tummy just isn’t as flat as it was before giving birth. In fact, you might even notice that there is a split in your abdominal musculature, which doesn’t respond to diet and exercise.

Typically, a mommy makeover is performed as a single procedure that targets these trouble zones. Depending on the areas of concern, different cosmetic procedures are performed during a mommy makeover, which includes:

Breast augmentation
Abdominoplasty (tummy tuck)
Buttocks lift
Liposuction

Mommy Makeover Consultation

During your consultation, your surgeon will take a detailed medical history. He or she will ask which areas you would like to improve, what your expectations are and what type of lifestyle you live.

In addition to a complete physical exam, be prepared to discuss the following:

Your desired outcome of surgery
Drug allergies, past surgeries and any medical conditions
Current medications, vitamins and herbal supplements you are taking

Your surgeon will also examine and measure the areas of proposed surgery including your breasts, abdomen and buttocks. Keep in mind that mommy makeovers aren’t limited to only these three areas. You may find that your arms and thighs aren’t as tone as they were before getting pregnant. Mommy makeovers are individualized, so make sure you address any areas of concern during your initial consultation.

Am I a Suitable Candidate?

Mommy makeovers are highly personalized procedures. You should only do it for yourself and not because you or your significant other has an ideal image. The goal of a mommy makeover is for you to correct laxity that often accompanies childbirth.

The best candidates for the procedure are ones who:

You live a healthy lifestyle
You exercise regularly
You don’t abuse alcohol or smoke
You are at an ideal weight
You have a positive outlook and have realistic expectations about the procedures

What is the Recovery Period?

Your recovery time will depend on the number of procedures you have performed during your mommy makeover. If you have breast augmentation, you will wear a support bra and elastic bandage to support your breasts and minimize swelling. If you choose to have a tummy tuck and liposuction, you’ll need to wear a compression bandage to control the swelling in these areas as well.

You will also be given specific instructions on self-care, which may include:

Proper care of the surgical sites
Proper application techniques of topical medication and proper dosing of oral pain medication
Warning signs of an infection
When to follow up with your surgeon
When you can return to regular activity

Questions You Should Ask Before the Procedure

After you’ve been deemed a good candidate and decided which procedures are best for you, write a list of questions to ask your surgeon before your surgery, Many times, patients forget to ask basic questions, which can lead to unnecessary stress after their procedure.

Be sure to ask your surgeon specific questions and what to expect while you are recovering, such as:

How often should I change my dressings?
What are the signs of infection?
When is it safe to shower?
What type of diet should I follow?
Are there any physical restrictions?
When can I return to work?

Preparing for Your Mommy Makeover

In preparation for your mommy makeover, your surgeon may recommend some or all of the following:

Smoking cessation
Avoid alcohol
Stop taking aspirin or other types of blood thinners
Have blood work drawn

Depending on the procedures you choose, your mommy makeover may be performed in an ambulatory setting under general anesthesia or in an outpatient center under local sedation.

It’s important that you understand all the aspects of a mommy makeover. Be sure you ask your surgeon any questions you may have. And even with all your excitement and anticipation about your new look, it’s normal to have some anxiety about the procedure.

Don’t be afraid to discuss your feeling or concerns with your surgeon. Making sure you feel as beautiful and confident on the inside as you are on the outside is what we do best.

If you’re interested in a mommy makeover, contact Doctors Plastic Surgery for a consultation. They have offices in New York and Chicago, and they employ an expert team of doctors, including Dr. Lin, Dr. Everett, Dr. Blaine, Dr. Ghersi, and Dr. Altman.

Pregnancy

Will Pregnancy Affect my Breast Augmentation Results?

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Pregnancy does indeed raise some concern when one is considering breast augmentation. This is facilitated by the fact that pregnancy has some considerable effects on a woman’s body. Besides hormonal changes, soon-to-be moms do go through many physiological changes as well. One of the significant anatomical changes happens in the breasts; the size and shape of the breasts change. Can this affect breast augmentation results?

How Breast Augmentation Works

Breast augmentation is a surgical procedure whose goal is to add fullness to your breasts and enhance their shape. At Madison, Dr Tornambe our specialist cosmetic surgeon gives priority to technique and paying attention to the details of every individual patient’s needs so as to not only realize their desired results but to also ensure their safety.

Typically, breast augmentation is recommended for pre-pregnancy. The surgery involves inserting breast implants either under the chest muscles or behind the patient’s breast tissue. During the post-surgery period, you will be undergoing recovery, and you might need to avoid specific activities. After that, you shall meet Dr Tornambe on a regular basis so he can see to it that the recovery process is going smoothly.

How does Pregnancy Affect Your Implants?

On ordinary occasions, your breast implants should stay in the desired perky position for years after the surgery. Your chest will retain the fullness and shape which you decided on during the consultation for your breast augmentation procedure. Ideally, this is the situation for most Madison patients who get this surgery to alter their breasts. However, if you do get pregnant, you can expect some changes which include:

Increased Volume

Your breasts will typically increase in volume during pregnancy and at times by a couple of cup sizes. For some breast augmentation patients, this might be more than what they bargained for, while for others, the increased breast size could be a welcome enhancement. Nonetheless, this increased volume is usually temporary, and the breasts should resume their normal size after weaning. If this is the case, some ladies usually opt to change their implants for a bigger size after they have gotten used to their new pregnancy breasts.

Sagging

Pregnancy and nursing usually cause the breasts to become swollen, and thus the skin will tend to stretch out. After nursing, the breasts return to their normal volume but may adopt a certain degree of sagging, also known as ptosis due to skin expansion. While ptosis does not necessarily move the implants from their position, it will change your breasts’ position. This is especially seen in cases of submuscular placement whereby the breasts tend to sag off the implant. To alleviate the degree of drooping post-pregnancy, your surgeon can decide on whether to perform a breast lift or to swap your implant for a bigger size.

Change in Shape

As females grow older and go through the characteristic weight fluctuations of pregnancy, their breasts typically become less rounded. Ladies who have round implants can choose to switch these implants for teardrop shaped ones that are better suited to accommodate the natural shape of their breasts. Nevertheless, if you are a rounder, and you still desire the high profile shape, the surgeon may perform a breast-lift to help you maintain a youthful bust-line.

To minimize the above effects, you need to work towards maintaining a healthy weight during the course of the pregnancy according to your physician’s recommendations. Work, eat well and exercise so you can avoid excessive weight gain according to your doctor’s orders. This will help restrict the amount by which your breasts stretch which will directly reduce ptosis.

What if you get pregnant immediately after surgery?

In typical situations, your surgeon shall advise you to postpone a breast augmentation procedure if you intend to become pregnant in the immediate future. Yet, some pregnancies do show up as a surprise, and you could be recovering from your breast augmentation surgery when you see the little pink line. In this case, you will have to reach out to your cosmetic surgeon as well as your doctor to deliberate on your concerns as well as knowing which precautions you might need to take to ensure your recovery proceeds smoothly. However, pregnancy after breast augmentation procedure still allows for a happy and healthy mum and baby.

Breastfeeding after breast augmentation

Generally, females should still be able to nurse their baby and feel the sensation after undergoing breast augmentation. There are no recorded cases regarding breast augmentation causing safety issues while breastfeeding. A lot of women who have had breast implant surgery have gone ahead to breastfeed their bundles of joy successfully.

Once you begin breastfeeding after the augmentation procedure, you might want to put an eye on your milk supply to see to it that your baby is getting enough nourishment. Ladies who have issues with breastfeeding often find it is a problem related to milk supply, such as passing milk with a lot of difficulties, low supply, or reduced letdown response. Note that letdown disorders and underproduction of milk face most breastfeeding mothers at some point regardless of whether they have had implants or not.

Ensure that you discuss your desire to breastfeed with your surgeon so that they may choose the best incision location that will facilitate successful nursing.

Is a breast implant revision surgery necessary?

Like most ladies, if you are expectant, you are most probably already plotting on how to get your pre-baby body back after your child is born. Well, the breast tissue does enlarge to accommodate the engorged breast gland. These changes are typically temporary, and most women who had implants pre-pregnancy do not need revision surgery post-pregnancy. However, a simple breast lift procedure is sufficient to alleviate ptosis (sagging) from the pregnancy.

Many of Dr Tornambe’s patients have gone ahead to have children after their breast augmentation surgery without any significant changes to their breasts’ appearance. Contact him for a consultation. Lastly, congratulations;a baby is a blessing!

Business Resources

What Are The Differences Between LLCs And Corporations?

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When starting a business, it is important to establish the entity of that business. There are four major business entities in the United States including Sole Proprietorships, Partnerships, Limited Liability Companies and Corporations. For the purposes of this article, we will focus on the similarities and differences between Limited Liability Companies, often referred to as LLC’s, and Corporations.

Taxes: The method of taxation is a major difference between an LLC and Corporation. Corporations are taxed as entities before their shareholders are taxed as individuals. This is called double taxation. Meanwhile, LLC’s avoid double taxation because LLC’s are not taxed as entities. Instead, each shareholder will report their own profits and losses for individual tax purposes. This is called pass through taxation. In general, the pass through method of taxation is considered more favorable over double taxation simply because this means that less money is spent in taxes.

Structure: Corporations are known for a rigid governing structure that involves board members, officers, employees, and shareholders. Meanwhile, an LLC is known for structural flexibility. While you’ll still need organization for any company, you are better off going the LLC route if you prefer to keep your options open.

Liability: When it comes to liability, LLC’s and Corporations have the advantage of shareholder protection via limited liability. This means that if someone sues your company, or if the company incurs debt, you cannot be held personally liable. The limited liability clause ensures the safety of personal assets of each shareholder within the LLC or corporation.

Once you figure out which business entity best suits your business, you will need to file the appropriate paperwork. Whether you are starting a corporation or filing your llc forms, the easiest way to get your paperwork in is to work with a reliable site such as Gov Doc Filing.

Exercise, Fitness, Weightloss

Yoga for Weight Loss: Reshaping the Body Through Mindfulness

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Does yoga for weight loss work? Many wonder at this question as this seemingly peaceful practice is extremely different from the fat-burning aerobics. However, it turns out that yoga, especially combined with mindfulness practices, can produce amazing results in reshaping and strengthening both your body and mind.

How Effective Yoga for Weight Loss Truly Is?

Before delving into the details of how many calories you can burn in a yoga class you need to understand one very important thing. It has been proven beyond any doubt that exercise alone has no significant effect on weight loss. The reason for that is that in order to burn off a significant number of calories through a workout, you’ll have to exercise extremely hard and long. This energy expenditure will make you hungry and no appetite suppressing drugs will help you. In fact, if you don’t get a hearty meal after a strenuous session in a gym, you’ll damage your health. The intensity of the workout itself will also be extreme and therefore damaging.

When you consider this, your perspective on the benefits of yoga for weight loss changes. It’s true that you’ll lose only about half the calories in a minute of yoga practice (3-6) than you do through an intense cardio session (12-13). However, this means that you only need to have an hour of peaceful yoga instead of a 30-minute (recommended length) aerobics session to achieve the same results.

You also need to remember that not all types of yoga are about peaceful flows and gentle stretches. There are very dynamic practices, like vinyasa and kundalini. They can have as much of a fat-burning effect as a cardio workout. You’ll only need to complement those practices with a well-balanced weight loss diet and extra aids such as foods or supplements that produce the effect of appetite suppression. This will create an amazing weight loss program that can be much more effective and fulfilling than regular workouts in the gym.

What Is It with Yoga for Weight Loss and Mindfulness?

Mindfulness, the practice of focusing on the present moment and refocusing every time your attention slips, is an essential part of yoga. The latest studies indicate that it’s this particular mental exercise that’s responsible for many of the benefits associated with the ancient practice.

The most important of them are:

Reduction of anxiety and stress levels
Depression treatment and prevention
Neurodegenerative disorders prevention
Enhanced cognitive ability

When it comes to yoga for weight loss, mindfulness becomes your most important ally as it can produce amazing results on its own. A study by the North Carolina State University, vividly described in Daily Mail proves that adding the practice of mindfulness to a weight loss program helps people lose up to 7 times more weight.

You also need to know that mindfulness is a great psychological practice that helps increase one’s satisfaction with their life and body. Therefore, the final result of adding mindfulness to your weight loss program becomes even more satisfying.

Yoga and mindfulness are a perfect combination, especially the slow-flow variations, like yin. Combining the two practices enhances them as you get more focus on your pose, which means you’ll more likely benefit from it. At the meantime, focusing on the body helps you to ‘stay in the moment’ which is the essence of mindfulness practice.

Whether you add mindfulness to the practice itself or have a 10-minute meditation after completing it, the positive effect on your health will be noticeable. When used as a part of a well-balanced weight loss plan, you’ll definitely get to see changes quite soon. The increased level of body awareness that you will develop from these sessions will also be a great help in achieving your body shape goals and setting realistic expectations for your programs.

Travel, travel ideas, travel tips

Top 10 Places to Visit in Santiago

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A trip to Santiago is bound to be unforgettable because this city is fantastic. But to make the most out of your experience, you need to take in all the best sights. So, plan your itinerary to include visits to the most amazing places this magnificent city has to offer.

10 Best Places to Visit in Santiago

1. Cerro San Cristobal

Any journey of discovery through Santiago should start with Cerro San Cristobal. This is the number one of all tourist sights in the city, and it definitely deserves its title. The panoramic view of the city that opens from this hill is spectacular. Like there are many ways to see the San Fran skyline, there are many places in Santiago that offer a great view. However, none of them compare to this iconic hill.

When you’re done being amazed by the view, be sure to take a walk through city’s biggest and one of the most beautiful parks, the Santiago Metropolitan Park. It’s located on the hill and offers many attractions, including two public pools. At the foot of the hill, you’ll find the Chilean National Zoo. It’s a part of the park complex and houses 158 species of animals from all over the world.

2. Plaza de Armas

Plaza de Armas is another of the top tourist attractions. Free walking tours in Santiago will usually take you there as it’s the historical center of the city. The square houses the Metropolitan Cathedral, one of the most magnificent architectural monuments in the city. The Royal Court Palace and Central Post Office aren’t far behind in terms of beauty and are located there as well.

Plaza de Armas is also the place you should go to if you want to buy the works of talented Chilean artists. They sell their paintings right there and you can enjoy looking at the fruits of local talents while nursing a cup of delightful Chilean coffee.

3. Los Dominicos Village

Shop for souvenirs at the Los Dominicos Village, the biggest Santiago crafts and artisans market. Here you can find a variety of beautiful handmade pieces that will make perfect mementos of the trip. You can also use this opportunity to learn more about the native Chilean crafts and traditions.

The ‘village’ is located at the end of a beautiful park and houses over 200 stores. Some of those are cafes where you can taste local delicacies.

4. La Chascona

Any list of places to visit in Santiago must include La Chascona, the home of one of the most prominent figures in the history of modern Chile. The house currently serves as a museum of its owner, Pablo Neruda. He was a diplomat, a poet, and the Nobel Prize for Literature winner in 1971.

La Chascona is the home made by Neruda for his secret lover Matilde Urrita. It’s one of the most original and romantic buildings in all of Santiago.

5. Museo de la Memoria

One of the most original of Santiago’s museums, the Museum of Memory and Human Rights is dedicated to the memories of Pinochet’s dictatorship victims. The entry is free, and you definitely should visit this place as it shows the tremendous spirit of the Chilean people, who managed to overcome this horrible period in their history and come out stronger for it.

6. Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino

This is one of the most interesting places to visit in Santiago as this museum provides insight into the people, who inhabited this land centuries ago. The Chilean Museum of Pre-Colombian Art houses 10,000 years of history in the artifacts collected all over the South and Central America.

7. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo

The number one among the places to visit in Santiago if you are an art-lover. The Museum of Contemporary Art has the permanent collection of 3,000 magnificent pieces, and it often houses exhibits from a variety of artists. Be sure to check its website when planning your trip as the museum often organizes interesting events.

8. Palacio de la Moneda

The Presidential Palace is a vision of luxury and architectural beauty. When visiting it, pay attention to the amazing sculptures in the garden, which are made by Chilean artists. You can also enjoy the Changing of the Guards ceremony, much like you would in London.

9. Parque Quinta Normal

Despite its unassuming name, the Quinta Normal Park is one of the main reasons why you should use every trick to find more opportunities to travel and visit Santiago. It’s an urban park that houses numerous museums and offers you a chance to enjoy a barbecue and traversing a lake on paddleboats.

10. Cementerio General de Santiago

The cemetery is one of the stranger places to visit in Santiago, but this adventure will make your trip more memorable. This cemetery is the final resting place of almost all Chilean presidents. Each of their tombs is 2-3 stories high and is a unique monument to the person buried there and the mark they left on the country.