Tia Mowry Is Pregnant With Her Second Child After Battling Endometriosis
Congratulations are in order for Tia Mowry-Hardrict and her husband Cory Hardrict who are expecting their second child. The couple revealed the pregnancy via Instagram with an adorable photo that includes the couples's 6-year-old son Cree. But The Game star's journey to both pregnancies has been a bit more complicated.
Just a year ago, while at the BET Awards, when asked if she would be adding to her family, she revealed: “I do suffer from endometriosis. So there's a little bit of a challenge there, but I will say this: I am working on my diet. [..]I want to just clean myself out and get rid of inflammation in my body."
In 2006, Tia was diagnosed with endometriosis after she began experiencing extreme pain and complications. Endometriosis occurs when the layer of tissue that usually lines the inside of the uterus begins to grow outside of it. The condition presents itself with severe pelvic pain, heavy periods, and for up to half of women, fertility issues. To address the problem, many women undergo laparoscopic surgery and treat symptoms with a variety of pain killers.
After a second surgery, the 37-year-old actress wasn't seeing the results she so desperately needed, so her doctor suggested that she “clean up her diet." One reason that endometriosis is so difficult to treat is because it is has ties to inflammation. According to several doctors, a cleaner diet that eliminates food that can cause inflammation may help to alleviate many of the symptoms.
The process of giving up her favorite foods—one of which was her signature deep-fried cheese tortellini dish—included eliminating dairy, processed meats, packaged snacks, and refined sugar. Her new diet now includes more leafy greens, fruits, nuts and seeds, fermented foods, and high-quality protein. The change in diet drastically reduced her pain with some added benefits: her migraines went away and her skin cleared up. Can we say win-win!
Tia's success in battling her diagnosis and having a successful pregnancy inspired her to write the book Whole New You earlier this year. She penned the book to help other women with the same experiences change the way they think about food and help them on their journey to a healthier lifestyle.
It looks like she's taken her own advice, and it has actually paid off! With another bundle of joy on the way, her combination of therapies seem to have done the trick. There is nothing like hearing that little heartbeat for the first time, so I'm sure this time around was an extra-special treat for the couple. But Tia is careful to point out that this is what worked for her, and it might not be a one-size-fits-all solution.
She has said in the past that “Although I've had my own powerful healing experience, that does not give me the expertise or credentials to offer specific healing advice to anyone with a serious condition." A healthier and more balanced lifestyle in addition to a combination of therapies, surgery, physical therapy and pain management are some of the ways women can start to see relief from this painful condition.
Thank you for sharing your story, Tia. We're hoping that Cree has a little Sister, Sister on the way (corny pun intended)!
Michelle Schmitz is a writer and editor based in Washington, DC originally from Ft Lauderdale, FL. A self-described ambivert, you can find her figuring out ways to read more than her monthly limit of The New York Times, attending concerts, and being a badass, multi-tasking supermom. She also runs her own blog MichelleSasha.com. Keep up with her latest moves on IG: @michellesashawrites and Twitter: @michellesashas
ItGirl 100 Honors Black Women Who Create Culture & Put On For Their Cities
As they say, create the change you want to see in this world, besties. That’s why xoNecole linked up with Hyundai for the inaugural ItGirl 100 List, a celebration of 100 Genzennial women who aren’t afraid to pull up their own seats to the table. Across regions and industries, these women embody the essence of discovering self-value through purpose, honey! They're fierce, they’re ultra-creative, and we know they make their cities proud.
VIEW THE FULL ITGIRL 100 LIST HERE.
Don’t forget to also check out the ItGirl Directory, featuring 50 Black-woman-owned marketing and branding agencies, photographers and videographers, publicists, and more.
THE ITGIRL MEMO
I. An ItGirl puts on for her city and masters her self-worth through purpose.
II. An ItGirl celebrates all the things that make her unique.
III. An ItGirl empowers others to become the best versions of themselves.
IV. An ItGirl leads by example, inspiring others through her actions and integrity.
V. An ItGirl paves the way for authenticity and diversity in all aspects of life.
VI. An ItGirl uses the power of her voice to advocate for positive change in the world.
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Stress Awareness Month: Sneaky Workplace Triggers Affecting Black Women, And How To Cope
We all know about the major stress triggers of everyday life, from relationship woes to monthly bills to unexpected emergencies, but there are small, subtle triggers that impact Black women in a big way, especially when it comes to work. It’s good to be aware of these sneaky stressors in order to maximize your day and find ways to incorporate solutions into your self-care routines.
Since it’s Stress Awareness Month, we caught up with Keanne Owens, LCSW, founder of Journey To Harmony Therapy Center, to talk about these triggers and what Black women can do to manage and cope.
Owens is an experienced South Florida-based counselor and social worker who offers her services via Grow Therapy, a therapy and medication management platform. She has worked with Black women professionals to unpack issues related to workplace stressors. “One is the pressure to perform–having to meet deadlines and deliverables. And a lot of times, these subtle stressors from performance are put upon ourselves as Black women. We want to make sure we’re doing our best. We don’t want to be critiqued in certain ways.”
Excessive micromanagement leading to fear of overly critical bosses is another subtle trigger that can negatively impact Black women in the workplace.
“Whenever something is done wrong, or we experience some type of injustice and have to report it, it’s the fear of retaliation–[fear that] we won’t be taken seriously or [our words] will be taken out of context because of being deemed as the ‘angry Black woman,’” she said.
Black Women And Workplace Stress Triggers
Her sentiments are backed by research. A recent report by Coqual found that 28% of Black women (compared to 17% of White men) say their supervisor uses “excessive control or attention to detail” when managing them. There’s more: A survey by the National Employment Law Project found that Black workers were “more likely to have concerns (80 percent) and twice as likely as white workers (18 percent) to have unresolved concerns at work, with 39 percent reporting they were “not satisfied with the employer’s response or did not raise concerns for fear of retaliation.”
The survey also found that 14 percent of Black respondents said they “avoided raising concerns to their employer for fear of retaliation—more than twice the average rate of 6 percent for all survey respondents.”
Owens pointed to the fact that these subtle stress triggers can negatively impact our physical health and our career advancement. “A lot of time it’ll affect our productivity,” Owens added. “We start to have negative thoughts of ourselves. The stressors can also cause fatigue. We’re no longer meeting or working up to our desired potential.” Other challenges as a result include insomnia and increased insolation, withdrawal, and lack of motivation to apply for jobs or promotions even when qualified.
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How To Manage Subtle Stress Triggers
While there are systemic issues at play for Black women at work that has less to do with us and more to do with major overhauls that must be addressed by the powers that be, there are steps we can take for the betterment of ourselves and our mental health. Owens offered the following tips:
Tap into a support system, whether it’s a coworker you trust, a family member, an organization, or an outlet like a hobby.
Create a good work-life balance before burnout even starts. “Having certain boundaries [is the goal] such as, for example, if you get off at 5, you get off at 5. If your job description is this, you don’t go above and beyond because that brings you to a lot of burnout,” Owens said.
Prioritize self-care, whatever that means for you. “If you don’t have a routine, create one. Practice mindfulness and even some meditation,” she added.
Create structure in your life outside of work. “Even if you have a family, applying some structure in your routine helps relieve stress,” she said.
Get into grounding techniques. “Do a real quick square breathing exercise, that’s literally 30 seconds, or you can do a grounding technique that’s less than two minutes, right there where you are. You don’t need any other materials. That’s something you can do with just yourself and your body.”
Ask for help. “As Black women, we don’t ask for help enough,” she said. “Find where you need to ask for help. A lot of times, people think that’s indicative of weakness, but we need to rewrite that narrative. It’s okay to ask for help where you see fit. [If] you’re a mom, [it could be] every Wednesday from 5 to 6, your children are with the dad. You have to carve out that time.”
For more information on Grow Therapy, visit their website. You can also find out more about Keanne Owens, LCSW, via BeginYourJourneyToHarmony.com.
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