This, along with the lack of necessity for costly gym memberships in austere times, is why home exercise programs and customised work-out routines are on the up. However, while we may have all the motivation in the world – proudly standing in our tight lycras and sparkly running shoes with a pulse-reader stuck to our arm – knowing how to exercise can get us a bit stumped and stop us in our tracks quite quickly.

So what exercise solution is simple, quick to grasp, and suitable for everyone to use, while still providing the exhilarating and efficient workout we’re hoping for? This may sound like the type of exercise solution described in the entire populations’ New Year’s resolutions, but there actually is a form of exercise that fits these hopeful criteria, while also offering the added benefit of LOTS of FUN.

This solution comes in the form of a trampoline.

Trampoline exercise, also called rebounding, is almost 70 percent more effective in fitness training than jogging on a track for the same amount of time according to a 2006 NASA research report published in the journal ‘Aviation, Space and Environmental Medicine’. Even the most intense trampoline exercise inflicts lower bone and joint impact than running. The best trampoline exercises burn calories, build heart and lung fitness and improve your balance.

As with any exercise program you must be sure to seek the advice of your doctor or physician, but here are the most effective trampoline exercises that will have you in incredible shape in no time.

A round trampoline is most suitable for exercise as the bounce keeps the user in the centre of the mat where they can expend the most energy.

1. Basic Contact Bouncing

Remember to have the trampoline safely secured. Now take the centre of the mat and stand with your feet a shoulder width apart and crouch slightly down with a straight back.

Begin bouncing up and down and slightly lift your feet off the trampoline. Set a relaxed pace and take your time for 30 repetitions. You’re now ready to get into the good stuff!

2. Arm Flaps

When children bounce on trampolines they flap their arms in order to achieve a higher bounce. Adding this motion and a slight bounce to the basic contact bounce will increase your heart rate and burn more calories leading to a greater weight loss. It will also add tone to your upper body.

3. Standing Knee Raises

Begin the contact bounce but as your feet leave the trampoline mat, raise your right knee to a comfortable 90 degree angle. Alternate between knees with each bounce and this will add tone to your legs as well as burning a greater quantity of calories.

Try to organise theses variation into groups of 30.

4. Stopping

The fun can’t continue forever! When you’re ready to stop, bend your knees into the bounce and absorb the bounce with your lower body as you come back up.

Organising your workout

Because of the intensity of this program, 10-15 minutes of this type of exercise 5 days a week, along with a proper diet will see you lose a notable amount of weight over a 6-8 week period. This will save a lot of valuable time as you can do your session before or after work/school in the comfort of your own surroundings.

While you’re having fun bouncing around, your body is going through very complex processes. While you are in mid-air, during that split second before you come back down, your body experiences zero gravity and every single cell is suspended. When you come back down and land on the trampoline, your body weighs three to four times its usual weight due to the extreme pressure, and your body is working incredibly hard to withstand this weight difference – making sure that you don’t crumple on impact!

This quick transformation between no pressure and intense pressure during every single bounce, forces the muscles to quickly build and tone, and particularly focuses on the body’s core – making it a wonderful tool for staying strong for people of any age, keeping backs, abdomens and the entire core strong and healthy. (Isn’t the body amazing?!)

As the initial impact is absorbed by the trampoline bed, trampoline exercise is very soft on the joints, making sure that the muscles develop significantly without causing damage to the joints. This makes it a wonderful exercise activity for older generations as well as younger ones, helping people of all ages stay fit and healthy while also very much enjoying themselves!

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is the most widely found dietary source of DHA. Cold water oily fish are rich in DHA and studies show that it has many health benefits and its importance for the developing foetus being a primary structural component of the brain.

In the UK, we have 750,000 births per annum of which 50,000 are pre term births. In in the USA, there are 3.9 million births per year with 500,000 premature. We must do everything we can to reduce these statistics of early births.

I recommend fish as a great food choice because of the fat profile. Fish contains high quality protein and other essential nutrients too. Warnings against eating oily fish are sometimes issued due to potential heavy metal content – whatever fish we eat will always contain tiny amounts of mercury derived from the sea. However I believe the benefits of fish far outweigh a tiny risk.

Grilled salmon and mackerel once a week is not harmful. Processed foods packed with chemicals or alcohol, smoking and even self tanning represent a much greater risk to a pregnant woman.

I have seen endless weekly meal plans which typically show zero Omega-3 fatty acids because they are (wrongly) thought to be fattening. They are not fattening at all!

Omega-3s are essential for health since the body can’t make them – they can only be derived from food sources. I only promote natural foods rather than supplements (our bodies will absorb Omega-3 better from food than from supplements). Here are my top 3 oily fishes high in DHA:

Best oily fish sources of Omega-3 (DHA)

Salmon

Mackerel

Sardines

Reference: Reuters Health Information, Omega-3 DHA May Prevent Earliest Preemies, Mar 12 2013
Source: http://bit.ly/XkQxmJ, Am J Clin Nutr 2013
Photo credit: iStockphoto.com

There is no mystery exercise or diet to get you back in shape or make you lose your tummy fat after baby is born. By eating a healthy, nutritious meal plan and training your muscles for a considerable amount of time before pregnancy, they become stronger with greater endurance because you simply create more muscle tissue – this is known as “muscle memory”.

It’s basic physiology – the more tone a muscle has, the stronger it becomes. So it makes sense to strengthen our muscles to increase tone. Hence even reduced training in pregnancy will help you bounce back to your pre-pregnancy body much faster after baby is born.

I believe women have difficulties in childbirth and recovery because too often they are lacking whole body strength going into pregnancy. Delaying your focus on your whole body strength and fitness until only the prenatal and post natal stages makes recovery twice as tough. It’s just too late.

When planning a family, we fail to realise that for at least 6 months of the pregnancy we will carry an extra 5kg or more with us 24/7 everywhere we go – that’s 5 x 1 litre bottles of water! How to prepare? We need more strength and endurance to help the body cope.

Many women even suffer incontinence so performing strength training before pregnancy will help keep these muscles strong in preparation for pregnancy and beyond.

Few can afford a personal trainer or gym membership so I want to give every woman access to my Pre-Pregnancy Workouts free of charge that can be performed in the comfort of the home any time of the day. All women need this information to have the best start in preparing for childbirth.

I hope that I can help women to implement simple lifestyle changes, which will offer the optimum journey for mother and baby and assure improved health and fitness long term.

Get my free Pre-Pregnancy Workouts
and free Fat Loss Meals

Reference:
CONTINENCE IN EXERCISE Incontinence During Pregnancy: A Safe, Easy Treatment
Bret Stetka, MD, Ariana L. Smith, MD Disclosures Dec 21, 2012

There are so many Omega-3 benefits and here are just a few:

• Important role in growth & development of the infant.
• Supply the growing foetus with important nutrients.
• Important role in the functioning of the brain and heart.
• Vital for normal metabolism.
• Protection of baby against allergies.
• Babies have been shown to have fewer learning difficulties.

A deficiency contributes to the onset of maternal depression.

I have seen endless weekly meal plans that typically show zero Omega-3 fatty acids because they are wrongly thought to be fattening. They are not! Omega-3s are essential for health but the body can’t make them – they can only be derived from food products.

There are different types of Omega-3s in the diet. The Omega-3 fat, (ALA) (DHA) and (EPA) are possibly the most important fats for health after birth / lactation as they are transferred through breast milk. Pregnant and breastfeeding women with higher intakes of Omega-3 transfer more Omega-3s to baby.

I always recommend fish as a great food choice because of its fat profile. Fish also contains high quality protein and other essential nutrients.

Warnings against eating oily fish are sometimes issued related to the potential presence of heavy metals. However, I believe the benefits of fish far outweigh any potential risks. Grilled salmon once a week is not harmful. Processed foods packed with chemicals, alcohol, smoking and self tanning represent much more risk to a pregnant woman.

If you simply don’t like fish then seeds and oils are just as good for making sure you still get all the Omega-3s you and baby need to be healthy.

Top 8 foods high in Omega-3 fatty acids for you and baby

Salmon	Walnuts	Flaxseeds
Mackerel	Hemp seed oil	Chia seeds
Flaxseed oil	Sardines

Whole body strength is important – it generates “muscle memory” which dramatically speeds up the process of getting back into shape after childbirth.

Strength and endurance will help the body cope with an extra 5kg of weight you have to carry in pregnancy 24/7 (that’s 5 x 1 litre bottles of water). You certainly need more strength and endurance to cope with this weight plus handling a potentially long labour to cap it all!

I want to share my prenatal gym workout with you to help all women achieve a stronger and healthier body.

Over the years I have seen pregnant women attempting many odd and curious exercises in the gym. I believe women are sometimes even afraid to exercise because of anxiety over performing a wrong action which might even harm baby.

I offer women the confidence and knowledge needed to stay active throughout pregnancy. The exercises strengthen the whole body – while safe and easy to do.

This workout suits absolutely anyone whether 2 weeks pregnant or at term. The woman in the photos is Tracey who appears at 32 weeks of her pregnancy.

Click the link below to read and download the Prenatal Strength Endurance Gym Workout PDF file:

Prenatal Strength & Endurance Gym Workout

So many women have approached me for help in shedding post baby weight after they have tried doing lots of abdominal exercises thinking that these would get them right back to their pre-pregnancy body. Newsflash – it won’t. There is no such thing as a quick fix!

The reason for this is that abdominal exercises alone simply do not burn enough calories. These exercises can even make the separation of the abdominal muscles worse.

The abdominals work functionally with the body moving in an athletic way so “spot reduction” does not work. The problem rests with a lack of tone in the abdominals together with excess body fat – so the best way to get fit is to perform activities that burn the most calories.

See my top tips here for getting back to pre-pregnancy body and beyond – you can actually look your best ever after baby!

• The best way to trim thighs – Perform 300 Squats 3 x a week – This will definitely trim the thighs and is best done first thing in the morning. (Do the squats anyway you choose, i.e. 25 at a time, 50 at a time until you have done 300)
• Perform boxing for 10-15 minutes 3 x a week – Punching when done correctly involves all the muscles of the body but in particular the shoulders and the back of the arms (banish the flab!). Try working with pads, a punch bag or shadow boxing.
• Turn fat burning up a gear by performing 2 minutes of high intensity cardio between your strength training exercises. Intermittent high intensity exercise is the most efficient way of increasing the metabolism and burning calories.
• Up your daily walking using a pedometer – as most of you have heard, walking 5 miles a day is a great way to get weight off and keep it off. Anyone who burns calories consistently on a daily basis loses weight and most importantly keeps it off long term.
• Short burst or “wind” sprints activate your metabolism and greatly improve fitness levels. Perform 15 minutes of wind sprints 3 x a week by doing as many 50 yard sprints. This is an excellent way to increase your metabolism for fat loss as well as getting great tone in the legs and glutes (bottom).
• Use a full body basic strength program. You can’t argue with basic physiology, which is that the more strength a muscle has, it has more tone. Therefore it makes sense to strengthen the muscle to increase the tone.
• Plan your exercise time a full week in advance by putting it into your appointments calendar – or setting an alarm on your phone! Planning ahead by making time for exercise and planning to eat only nutritious food will achieve the very best results – when you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
• Perform a competitive sport to burn those extra calories by choosing a sport of your choice such as tennis, cycling or racquet-ball. These help you to try a bit harder and for longer, and will certainly help you to burst through your fat burning plateau!
• Performing “the vacuum” for 5 minutes a day achieves the ultimate flat stomach. The muscle that flattens the abdomen is called the Transversus Abdominus and to exercise this muscle you simply pull in the abs as hard as you can. Make sure you never hold your breath, and do not perform this right after a meal.
• Make snacking work for you, not against you. When you’re caring for a baby, exercising and working- you need nutritious calories. Instead of reaching for the cookie jar, prepare snacks in advance such as nuts, dried fruits, yogurt, raw veggies, hummus, tahini on celery or rice crackers and cottage cheese either with berries or as a topping for rice cakes.

Our day started with a very hearty breakfast in the hotel we were staying at in the Snowdon area. Afterwards, we met our guide who had kindly come to collect us to drive us to the starting area for our chosen route – Crib Goch.

You will see from the images how the weather conditions kept changing and ranged from a mixture of extremely hard going to warm sunshine!

Georgia and me at the start point before climbing

Climbing over the gate on the Crib Goch track

The weather was pretty bad with 30 mile an hour winds. It made our guide make the decision to turn us around off the Crib Goch track and to start again on the Pyg track.

Georgia on the Pyg

Georgia and me after a few hours climbing with Snowdon peak in the distance

This is 5 minutes from reaching the peak of Snowdon – we were very excited!

WE DID IT!

Georgia and me on the very peak of Snowdon taking Tommy’s to new heights – AMAZING!

Georgia and me after lunch still at the top of Snowdon preparing to descend back down the mountain

Looking back on Snowdon 30 minutes before the end of our challenge

Georgia and me at the very end of our Snowdon challenge feeling tired, hungry but so proud of what we had both achieved

So we did it – my 12-year old and I conquered Mount Snowdon! It was hard going, but we had a really amazing and wonderful day.

The preparation and training paid off. Georgia was truly amazing – she almost flew up the mountain!

This short clip shows us during the challenge making our way up Crib Goch on Mount Snowdon. We are very proud of our mother & daughter achievement in climbing Mount Snowdon and for the fantastic cause which is Tommy’s Charity.

Georgia and I would like to say a HUGE, GREAT BIG THANK YOU for all your support in helping us to raise funds for Tommy’s to support brilliant and much needed research in order to one day help find out why miscarriages, stillbirths and premature babies occur.

Thank you so very much! x

UPDATE

Here’s the certificate I received showing the amount we raised for Tommy’s:

In times where childhood obesity is soaring worldwide, missing breakfast is not helping the problem. Kids who eat breakfast are less likely to be overweight as they will be much less likely to snack on junk foods.

Making sure your kids eat a daily breakfast will give their bodies the nutrients they need, fewer weight problems and a greater start to good long term healthy living. What more could a parent ask for?

My mother taught me the importance of eating my breakfast and I am so glad she did so – I do exactly the same with my 12year old daughter.

What happens when you skip breakfast?

• You gain weight
• you snack on junk food
• you have low energy & lack concentration
• you can suffer mood swings
• you cause your Metabolic rate to drop

I have put together 5 days worth of nutritious breakfasts that my 12-year old, Georgia, eats before school – they are quick, easy and exactly what kids need to set them up for the day.

Monday:

Porridge with natural yogurt, 1 chopped kiwi and a hand full of blackberries

Tuesday:

Weetabix with milk and 1 chopped banana

Wednesday:

2 slices of toasted brown bread with butter, 2 poached eggs and ketchup

Thursday:

Weetabix with yogurt and raspberries on top

Friday:

2 slices of toast on brown bread, with butter and 1 sliced banana on top

After 7 weeks of summer holidays, our kids’ eating may not have followed a regular routine so now it’s time to get back on track with healthy nutritious school lunch plans.

My 12-year old, Georgia, will not eat the school dinners offered to her as she feels they are not healthy enough! Instead she chooses a packed lunch daily.

Here I have put together Georgia’s first week of school lunches. I hope they help to inspire more healthy lunch option ideas for your kids!

Monday:

White rice with bean salad and salami, piece of cucumber, banana, crisps, mixed nuts and water.

Tuesday:

Salmon and cucumber sandwiches on brown bread, health bar, tub of mixed nuts (brazil, cashew and almonds), slice of water melon and water.

Wednesday:

Brown rice with salami and yellow pepper, snack bar, apple, mixed nuts and water.

Thursday:

Cheese and tomato sandwiches on brown bread, piece of cucumber, snack bar, apple, mixed nuts and water.

Friday:

Brown rice with tuna and avocado, snack bar, apple, mixed nuts and water.

Mayor Bloomberg’s infant formula plan aimed at promoting breast-feeding in NYC hospitals

Breast feeding is good for babies in reducing the risk of infection and increasing natural immunity, but surely it is just as important to feed growing children more healthy food and drinks later on too. Perhaps we should lock away the bad fattening foods and not just the baby formula?

Let’s not dictate to women. Breast feeding alone will not save kids from illness if they eat poor food later on.

(Photo credit: istockphoto)