Starting off your with a healthy well balanced diet is the best thing you do for yourself and your baby. This way, you’ll only need to make a few adjustments during your pregnancy.

Your first trimester

If you find it tough to maintain a balanced diet during your first trimester, you can rest assured that your not alone. Due to queasiness, some women will eat all of the time and gain a lot of weight in the process. Other women have trouble getting food down and subsequently lose weight.

Preventing malnutrition and dehydration are your most important factors during first trimester.

Calories

When you are pregnant, you need to consume around 300 calories more than usual every day. The best way to go about doing this is listening to your body when you are hungry. You should try to eat as many foods as possible from the bottom of the food pyramid.

If you gain weight too slow, try eating small meals and slightly increase the fat in your diet. You should always eat when you are hungry, as you are now eating for 2 instead of one.

Calcium

By the second trimester, you’ll need around 1,500 milligrams of calcium each day for your bones and your baby’, which is more than a quart of milk. Calcium is something that’s missing from many diets. Along with milk, other great sources for calcium include dairy products, calcium fortified juices, and even calcium tablets.

Fiber

Fiber can help to prevent constipation, which is a common pregnancy problem. You can find fiber in whole grains, fruits, and even vegetables. Fiber supplements such as Metamucil and Citrucel are safe to take during pregnancy.

Protein

Unless you happen to be a strict vegetarian, your protein intake is not normally a problem for women who eat a healthy diet.

Iron

A lot of women will start their pregnancy off with a bit of iron deficiency. Good sources of iron include dark leafy green vegetables and meats. Iron supplements should be avoided, as they can cause internal symptoms such as cramping, constipation, or diarrhea.

Vitamins

Seeing as how you get a majority of the vitamins you need in your diet, you may want to discuss prenatal vitamins with your doctor. Folate is one of the most important, and if you are getting enough of it, you may be able to avoid vitamins all together – just ask your doctor to make sure.

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The “old spare tire”, “beer belly”, “flabby tummy” or “expanding midsection” are all nice ways of saying you’re getting fat. If you have a gut that is bigger than you like, then there is no reason why you should have to put up with it. With a bit of determination, and a commitment to working up a sweat, you can have flat abs in 30 days or less.

The main thing to keep in mind about an abdominal exercise regimen is that you need to work out all of the ab muscles. You need to aim for doing the exercises that follow at least four times each week, and do that for four weeks. One of the good things about each of the exercises is that they don’t require any kind of special equipment, so you will be able to do them virtually anywhere.

Flat Abs in 30 Days Exercise #1: Belly Rolls – Sit straight up on the floor with your knees bent, and feet flat. Then put your arms straight out in front of you. As you exhale, slowly roll back until the lower back reaches the floor. Inhale as you roll up. Try to do 30 of these, switching your breathing pattern after the first 15. This exercise works the vertical abdominal muscles.

Flat Abs in 30 Days Exercise #2: Tummy Curls – Lie down on your back with knees bent. Elevate your feet so they are a bit higher than the knees. Raise your buttocks and roll back until your shoulder blades touch the ground. Then roll back to your tailbone, but don’t let your rear end touch the ground. Do this 20 times. This exercise is effective on toning the horizontal ab muscles.

Flat Abs in 30 Days Exercise #3: Cross Crunches – This is a great exercise for shaping your waist. You will need a filled one-liter bottle for this one. Lying on the floor, bend your knees at a right angle to the floor. Put your right hand behind your head, and hold the bottle in your left hand. Lift your head until your shoulders come up off the floor and reach the bottle across to the outside of your right knee. Do this 20 times, then reverse hand positions and do 20 more.

Flat Abs in 30 Days Exercise #4: Inverted Crunches – Lie on the floor on your stomach with your arms outstretched in front of (imagine Superman flying). Lift your left arm and right leg as high as you can while exhaling. Inhale as you lower your limbs. Do 20 of these, then switch sides and do 20 more. This is an excellent ab exercise that targets the lower back.

Don’t kid yourself, this is going to be a tough workout. But you still need to do it at least four times per week for 30 days. It may be hard, especially at first, but you’ll be glad you stuck with it once you see your flat abs when looking in the mirror.

Tags: Abdominal Exercise, Abdominal Muscles, Beer Belly, Breathing Pattern, Curls, Exercise 1, Exercise 2, Exercise 3, Exercise Regimen, Flat Abs, Hand Positions, Least Four Times, Lying On The Floor, Midsection, Rear End, Right Angle, Shoulder Blades, Spare Tire, Tailbone, Working Up A Sweat —

Exercise And Healthy Eating To Lose Weight The Easy Way

Obesity is at record levels, and people are dying because of it! Hopefully that got your attention. It seems as though we are constantly being told just how bad the problem of people being overweight is, and the trend seems to be going up. At the same time, there are people who are interested in exercise and healthy eating to lose weight. Unfortunately, far too many of them don’t lose any weight, and some end up weighing more than when they started. What follows are some ways to keep this from happening to you.

The basic formula for calories is that 3,500 calories equals one pound of body weight. In other words, if you take in that many calories, you will gain a pound; if you burn off that many calories you will lose a pound. There are some slight variations based on the foods you eat and what activities you do, but this simple formula is good to know.

Now, looking at the math, we can see that 3,500 divided by the 7 days in a week works out to 500 calories per day. Therefore, if you can get rid of an extra 500 calories each day, you will lose a pound. You can do this through any combination of taking in fewer or burning more calories. For example, if you would take in 300 fewer calories and burn 200 more calories, then that would add up to 500, or a loss of one pound per week.

Eating healthy so you can lose weight means eating the right kinds of foods and choosing foods that are lower in calories. If you are exercising as part of your effort to lose weight, then you will actually be able to eat a bit more so you can fuel your body for its workout. However, don’t use exercise as an excuse to eat whatever you want. You still need to watch what you eat if you want to get rid of those extra pounds. But burning more calories through exercise will allow you to eat more than if you were sedentary.

Exercise and healthy eating to lose weight go hand-in-hand in another way. How? Well, exercise has been shown to increase metabolism. First, it will increase it while you are working out, and for a short while after you’re done. Second, muscle burns more calories than fat, so the more muscle you have, the more calories you’ll burn, even when you are at rest. Having your metabolism boosted means you will be burning the calories you eat at a faster pace. If you have any high-calorie items on your diet menu, then eating them close to your workout will help your body burn it off more quickly.

Not all exercise is created equal when it comes to losing weight though. Resistance exercises, such as weight lifting, are better at building metabolism boosting muscle tissue. The reason is that muscle needs to constantly receive fuel, even when you are resting, but fatty tissue does not. So, as you can see, exercise and healthy eating to lose weight is about attacking the problem from two angles, and making the right choices.

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Bad cholesterol or a bad diet is something we all experience at some point in time. It’s impossible to eat healthy our whole lives, even though we may try hard to do it. Eating healthy for your heart is something everyone should try to do, especially when it comes to restoring health and reducing heart attacks.

Your heart and food

We know these things for sure – a diet high in saturated fats will help raise your cholesterol, which is a risk factor for heart disease. People that are obese are more prone to heart disease. A diet high in sodium may elevate your blood pressure, leading to inflammation and even heart disease.

To help prevent heart disease and improve your health, put the tips below to good use.

Eat plenty of fish

Herring, sardines, and salmon are all excellent sources of Omega 3 essential fatty acids. Other fish are great to, although Omega 3 may help to get your cholesterol
down to a healthier level.

Choosing healthy fats and oils

Saturated fat will increase the risk of heart disease. It’s found in meat, butter, and even coconut oil. You should avoid them until your cholesterol levels are down and you are at a healthy weight. Even those that love red meats can enjoy seafood and nuts for their main sources of protein.

Monounsaturated fats such as olive oils will help you to protect your heart. Olive oil is an ideal choice for cooking, dressing, or even as a dipping sauce.

Plenty of fiber

Fiber can help you control your cholesterol. You can find fiber in whole grain roducts to help control sugar absorption as well, which will help you keep your digestive system healthy.

Choosing carbohydrates

Eating for your heart involves staying away from sugary foods such as candy, cookies, cakes, and pastries. Eating a lot of sugar isn’t good for your heart disease at all. Healthy carbohydrates involve whole grain breads, whole grain pasta, brown rice, and a lot of vegetables. You should make fruits and vegetables the main aspect of your diet.

Healthy cooking methods

Stir frying and sauteing with olive oil or canola oil are both great methods, as you shouldn’t dip your food in batter and fry it anymore. If you cook chicken, remove the skin and bake it in the oven in foil.

Instead of frying your fish you should always bake it. Steaming your vegetables can help maintain the most nutrients. You should use cream sauces or lots of butter anymore either. When you eat vegetables, try squeezing lemon juice on them or using your favorite seasonings.

As you make the proper changes to your diet, keep in mind that it takes time for them to become habits. Eating healthy is always great for your body and your lifestyle, especially when it comes to your heart and the prevention of heart disease.

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