One of the hardest things that women face during pregnancy is maintaining good physical fitness. Most of the time, pregnant women find it almost impossible to do; however it can still be quite easy. Below are some of the most helpful tips that can help those who seek to maintain physical fitness while pregnant; however, there is still a need for you to consult your doctor about the healthiest and most suitable method for exercising for they remain to be the experts in this case.

Go Easy

Try to go light and easy especially when it comes to exercising. Activities such as light swimming or yoga can help your body get slowly used to physical activities – eventually making you feel more confident to take more exercises given that it’s safe and is under your doctor’s supervision.

Maintain a Comfortable Pace

Knowing that your body is at a delicate and fragile state, it is highly important for you not to push yourself beyond your limit. Prenatal exercises are designed to help women exert effort at a pace that is steady, slow, and completely safe for them and their baby. The level of exertion will differ from one woman to another, and it usually depends on how their physical fitness before them being pregnant. What’s important is to follow the prenatal advice to avoid harmful effects.

Take Breaks if You Have To

When exercising, you might feel the need to take a break between reps – you should allow yourself to have some rest. If you make the mistake of pushing yourself too hard, you might be putting yourself and your baby at stake, and this is something that you should always avoid.

Keep Yourself Hydrated

Typically, when exerting too much physical effort, one should always keep themselves hydrated. This fact should be more emphasized especially when you’re pregnant. Pregnant women should always avoid being dehydrated; to do this, they must replace the loss of fluids by drinking a sufficient and generous amount of water.

Maintain Proper Diet and Nutrition

Aside from keeping yourself well-hydrated, it is equally important to keep yourself well-fed with the proper nutrition that you need for you and your baby. Pregnant women should maintain a well-balanced diet, with appropriate amounts of calories and carbs, and less on food that is too rich or unhealthy.

Keep it Simple

While pregnant, it is more advisable to be consistent doing easy and simple exercises. This way, you won’t be putting yourself at stake while also keeping yourself physically active and healthy. This is also to make sure that you are not exerting too much effort, causing you to harm your baby potentially.

Choose Your Environment

When exercising, make sure that the indoor or outdoor environment that’s not dangerous for your health. Places that are too hot or too cold can sabotage your whole fitness progress or worse, and it can put your well-being in danger.

Make a Plan and Work with a Professional

Instead of winging your exercise out, it is better and advisable if your plan it beforehand. This way, you will have the foresight of keeping things safe and well-organized. Aside from that, it might also be better if you get the best help from a professional. This way, you will also be able to have the safest and best results knowing that you are being assisted and supervised by an expert.

Seek Consultation from a Physician

What you should always make sure, especially during pregnancy, is to make safety a priority. It can’t be stressed more for a pregnant woman to have a frequent consultation and check-ups from a physician, and you should also do this especially when you’re on a light workout program. This way, you can make sure that your health and your baby is at its optimum state.

Trail running is one of the sports you should definitely try. It offers a lot of benefits that’s good for your muscles and can help you build sport-specific strength. Trail running can also improve your balance as you may encounter different types of terrain during your run. An improved balance can make you a better runner, as you no longer have to work hard to keep your balance on the road, which means the lesser the energy expended the more efficient you’ll run.

While trail running, you’ll notice that it uses different muscles on your body compared to road running. This is a good thing since it can help balance out areas of imbalance on your body that can also prevent overuse injuries. Here are 10 trail running tips you should know:

1. Lift it Higher

• Feet movement is different in trail running. In road running, you shuffle your feet closer to the ground in each step. But if you do this in trail running, it may result to tripping and falling to the ground as you might get caught up on some rocks or roots while running. So in trail running, always lift your foot higher than usual with every step to avoid obstacles that you might run through.

2. Time Over Distance

• Trail running isn’t as easy as you think. Compared to roads, you’ll find different kinds of terrain and hills during your run. In this case, your body uses more energy as it needs to exert much more effort compared to road running. To keep you motivated throughout the run, shift your run goal from miles to time. ( 50 minutes instead of 5 miles )

3. Keep an Eye of the Trail

• When trail running, always stay alert and maintain your focus throughout your run. If you don’t, you might trip on rocks or something in your way. Feeling tired? You can stop for a moment and admire the view around you. This can help you stay on focus and maintain your footing on the process.

4. Keep Yourself Hydrated

• Water fountains are nowhere to be found during trail running. While on the run, you may never notice that you’re running out of energy. To keep you hydrated, always carry around a bottle of water to drink in times of need. Having a running backpack is advisable as it can carry a larger volume of water compared to regular backpacks.

5. You Will Be Sore

• Trail running can be tiring compared to road running. Even if you follow the time vs distance method as we’ve mentioned earlier, you’re likely to be sore than usual. Trail running uses a lot of muscles in your body which is a good thing but that also means it also uses your muscles that you aren’t used to regularly. After your run, do some stretching, foam rolling and other exercises to recover those sore muscles.

6. Follow the Rules

• Following trail etiquettes is a must if you’re a trail runner. There are important rules to know about trails and following these rules can help trails available to everyone. Some of the most basic ones are as follows:
• Yield to horses and mountain bikes.
• Yield to uphill runners when going downhill.
• Stay on marked trails. This includes running through puddles and mud in the marked trail.
• Do not litter.

7. Reach to the Hills

• Hills are everywhere especially in trail running. From steady grades that last for miles or even short steep hills that are found on mountain bike trails. Take it easy when you approach these kind of hills as you would do on the road. Slow your pace, shorten your stride, look up, and push forward. It’s also advisable to walk uphill if ever you’ll encounter a steep hill or hills that are covered in slippery leaves.

8. Adjust your Pacing

• Trail running requires a lot of work compared to your usual road running. In that case, you might want to adjust your pacing. Listen to your breathing, adjust your pace down to match your effort. This may result to a slower training pace but that’s perfectly fine.

9. Always Keep Safe

• Trails is not just your ordinary road to run on, they are mostly located on secluded areas that only a few people may know. Always keep safety your top priority during trail running. Tell a friend if you’re going for a run and keep them updated when you’ll come back. Bring your cellphone but also keep in mind that some trails don’t have service connections depending on the location. You can also bring your friend if you go for a run for added safety and support.

10. Sign up for a Trail Race

• Now that you’re good to go for trail running. It’s time to join a trail race to test those trail running skills. There are a lot of trail running races on the internet. Try searching for your city and add “trail running race” to find available races near you. Just like road running, you can find different varieties of trail races of all distances.

Running is one of the most preferred physical activities by many. It’s good for both body and soul and can also help increase your heart rate, burn those calories, and loosen fat. Below are the top 5 running tips to help you maximize weight loss.

1. Kick up the intensity.

• The more you do, the more you burn calories. But what if your schedule is so tight that you don’t have enough time for your daily fitness needs? Increasing your intensity can help sort this out. But first, take things slow. No need to rush things right away, picking up the pace slightly can help you burn more calories. Got a limited time to run? Try running faster than your usual speed to run even further.

2. Don’t forget about intervals.

• Ever heard of HIIT? High-Intensity Interval Training is one of the most popular running techniques mostly followed by athletes or novice fitness enthusiast alike. In this type of training, runners go full turbo of high-intensity sprints and alternating short intervals between runs. To try this out, try running in a moderate speed for 5 minutes, followed by a short 1-minute sprint and then slowly lower the pace as you continue to run. Repeat this during the duration of your run.

3. Unto the hills.

• There’s always a time to try something new. Rather than running on your usual treadmill or on the road, try hill running to add some intensity to your everyday runs. Hill running can help you improve your pace, it can also burn more fat and calories as it uses more muscles compared to road running.

4. Careful with carbs.

• Your calorie intake plays a big part on how well your body will perform during an activity and how much you’ll burn from it. Don’t each too much when you’re planning for a run. Consume less fatty and greasy foods before you put on your running shoes. You can take a small amount of protein and healthy carbs instead. It’s also advisable to run while empty sometimes. Studies show that running with an empty stomach usually before breakfast can help you burn more fat. But if you want to try this, it’s better to start in a shorter distance first.

5. Spice it up.

• Doing the same thing over and over again can be tiring. This also applies to physical activities such as running. You might get tired of the same old running routine every day that your body is going into a “plateau” mode. Once our bodies hit this stage, chances that we may stop running for a while which can be frustrating. Try to spice things up by changing your running routine. Explore new running routes, run on hills or try running to longer distances. This can help you break out of the plateau and can also help you burn more calories.

Almost everyone wants to change themselves for the better, and improving one’s physical self is usually among the most common things that people want to work on. Excessive food intake, alcohol, unhealthy habits, hormonal imbalance, and stress are just some of the factors that can affect and contribute to weight loss.

Today, many products in the market offer the promise of weight loss, but most of them are not necessarily healthy or safe for you. Some of these items have synthetic components that could be potentially harmful to your health; thus, opting for natural means and methods might be best for you to achieve a better way of losing weight.

Efficient Natural Weight Loss Tips

The key to losing weight is to have balance. If you can’t follow a well-maintained diet, you will most likely gain weight, not to mention imbalances in hormones. Imbalanced hormones can also cause your body to gain unnecessary weight; this is because your body may secrete more insulin, causing fat build-up. Aside from that, not having exercise can exacerbate these factors as well. Keeping the habit of exercising regularly can positively counter the risks of gaining extra weight.

While a lot of advertisements and articles equate calories in to calories out, it can be untrue for it does not always work for everyone. Cutting out calories does not necessarily mean that you are already losing weight for nutritional quotient is not tantamount to the amount of fat build-up that you can have.

To balance things for your health’s sake, you should be able to consider the things that you consume. When it comes to food, you should choose to have more fruits and vegetables, and less on processed meals and foods that are high in carbohydrates. Meat can also be good for your body, but not excessively. Keeping your body well-fed while meeting the recommended nutrients, vitamins and minerals would be the most fundamental rule when it comes to eating responsibly and healthily.

Maintaining a proper and well-balanced diet also bears a huge factor in keeping yourself healthy; however, it is not enough to help you achieve your weight loss goal. Always seek time to exercise even for a short period. Go out for a walk, jog around your local park, or at least perform undemanding home workouts. Aside from that, stay away from dietary supplements that are potentially harmful to your health for it can also sabotage your whole plan on achieving that desired weight.

It’s not easy to do a vegan lifestyle especially for college students. Once we think about vegetables, our mind and stomach will have a hard time to agree with each other as there are plenty of meat alternatives out there. But with just a few tips and tricks, you might be able to achieve that vegan diet you’ve been wanting for so long. Here are 8 tips to keep you motivated on a vegan diet.

1. Do some Research

Being vegan isn’t as easy as you think. You need to make sure that all the necessary facts on how to be vegan is with you all the time.

First, many may wonder why you started on a vegan diet in the first place. So it’s best to have these facts with you to back up your choice. You never know, you might convince and inspire these people to join your vegan decision too.

Second, it’s better to talk to your GP when you go on a vegan diet. Doing so will give you the specific nutrients that you need for your diet. We all know that not all foods contain all the essential nutrients. You may want to avoid getting fatigued and lower your performance because of low energy levels. These are some of the essential nutrients you need for that healthy vegan diet:

• Omega 3. Good for your heart and can be found in soya or hemp seeds.
• Vitamin C. Can help for iron absorption in your body. Found in fruits such as oranges and berries.
• Vital for energy production, oxygen transfer and body immunity. Found in some vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, peas, prunes and others.
• Vitamin B12. Important for brain functionality. Often found in animal products, but can also be found in some soy products if you want a meat alternative.
• Good for the bones, nerves, and muscles. Usually found in beans, sesame seeds, and broccoli.

2. Get Inspired

Having a vegan lifestyle is hard, especially when you’re in college, where there’ll be a lot of temptations just lying around. Being motivated is the key to help you stay in this lifestyle. Don’t just stick in one place, try to explore different ways to enjoy your vegan meals. You can find many different sites online to help you inspire and motivated on your vegan diet.

3. Vegan Recipe Collection

Having a collection of DIY vegan recipes can help you in your vegan diet. Gone are the days where we think that vegan meals are boring and dull. With the right combination and ingredients for your DIY vegan meal, you’ll surely love how healthy and delicious the results will turn out. Start writing your own recipes and explore different kinds of methods and combinations depending on your liking.

4. Connect with Each Other

Never take a direction alone. Always find someone that can join you in your journey. This also applies when you start to indulge in your vegan world. Connecting with one another especially with other vegans can help you be inspired and motivated in the long run. Don’t worry if you can’t a vegan buddy around campus, you can find a lot especially in social media sites. You can connect, inspire each other, and even share your own DIY recipes online.

5. Always Have a Plan

Finding the right vegan meal is hard especially when you’re around campus. The cafeteria might not offer some foods that’s suitable for your vegan diet. Even at home or when you visit your friend’s house where they might be preparing something else rather than veggies. Therefore, having a plan with you is very important in times like this. Having a plan is essential as it can make you stay true to the path you’ve taken and can also help you stay organized with your time and finances.

6. Snack Pack

Out with the old, in to the new. Say no more to those unhealthy snacks you’ve been having for years. Time to eat something healthy and new especially if you go vegan. Might get hungry at school? Always carry around your carrot sticks, fruits, seeds, energy bars, and among others. These kinds of snacks can help you keep your energy and sugar level balanced throughout the day.

7. Smoothies

Making smoothies is one way to enjoy your favorite fruits and veggies. Off course, dairy is not an option when you go vegan. But there are plenty of alternatives that you can use in your smoothies such as spinach, okra, seitan, tempeh, kale, chard, quinoa, and more. These veggies are full of nutrients that’s vital for our body and can also improve our brain health and function.

8. Time to Get a Mini Fridge

Now that you’re a full blown vegan, it’s time to get a mini fridge to store all those fresh fruits and veggies you have. Having your own mini fridge is essential especially if you’re a student. Sharing with your roommate is not advisable since maybe the both of you will fight for the space of the fridge.

Verdict

Now you’re ready to go on your vegan journey by following these 8 tips we have prepared for you. Being vegan is actually pretty easy, staying true and motivated to your choice is the hard part. Start living a healthier lifestyle now!

The feeling of freedom of moving to an apartment or a dorm is pretty exciting especially for a upperclassmen. But there are a lot of changes that they’ll have to deal with. Bathroom cleaning will become a regular chore, a table once filled with different kinds of meals will be replaced with a kitchen filled with ramen noodles, and a can of tuna. Being tight on budget, how will you survive on your own without spending too much?

Using healthy ingredients is the key to good cooking. Stacey Zawacki, a Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, and the clinical assistant professor of nutrition and director of BU Sargent Choice Nutrition Center will take us on a guided tour on how to shop wisely for fresh produce and protein-rich foods. With some proper care and planning, a single visit to the grocery can last enough for a week without worrying about spoilage, she says. More of her tips are listed below:

Fruits and Vegetables

• A good serving of fruit and veggies a day is essential for your body. Two servings of fruits and a three for vegetables every day will help you get those nutrients you need.
• A combination of ripe and unripe produce is good enough for a week. Broccoli can last more than lettuce. Green bananas will turn yellow over time and will be good enough to eat.
• Making sure picking the right produce is a must. Once you go grocery shopping, always ask the produce manager to make sure the ones you put on your basket are ripe.
• Always buy fresh produce during a season as it ensures you the best quality. But don’t worry if there’s no fresh produce to buy at the moment, frozen fruits and veggies is a great alternative in times like these. Cauliflower and blueberries are picked and flash-frozen and can be served anytime.

Protein-rich Foods

• If you’re looking for the leanest cuts of meat, skinless chicken and turkey breast is the way to go. If you don’t want to spend much on buying meat, “select” meats with the likes of sirloin and round is a good choice for your wallet, and they’re much healthier too.
• A salmon twice a week can give you that special benefits of omega-3 fatty acids that’s good for the heart.
• Eating fresh fish from the day you bought it is the best way to consume them. Frozen and canned varieties are far more affordable and convenient.
• No need to be a vegetarian if you want to enjoy the health benefits of such plant proteins like nuts, beans, hummus and tofu. Try to be a flexitarian. It’s okay to eat meat occasionally as it’s good for both the environment and your wallet.

Plan a Healthy Shopping list

• Always make sure you choose the right items when you go grocery shopping. Make a shopping list, jot down the ones you need and not the ones you don’t. And make sure that it’s easy for your wallet.