Latest Research Findings:

3 in 4 Pregnant Women are NOT doing enough exercise.

Most women do not exercise enough during pregnancy to meet expert recommendations, according to research published in the March issue of Preventive Medicine.

International guidelines set by the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists now recommend that pregnant women should aim to do 30mins or more of moderate exercise on most, if not all days of the week.

A study from the University of North Carolina in the US looked at data collected on over 1200 pregnant women from 1999 to 2006. The authors found that only 22.8% of pregnant women engaged in a level of activity that met these guidelines.

Colleen Burns, a physiotherapist (and mother to 2month old Matilda) said most pregnant women can exercise safely.

“There is now plenty of evidence to prove that moderate exercise is not dangerous” Colleen said.

Don’t let the holidays spoil your weight-loss plan.  Celebrity personal trainers shared their sneaky tips with In Style magazine to help you survive the silly season.

David Kirsch – Heidi Klum & Anne Hathaway
You can still enjoy the holidays and all its treats, but you need to be sensible about what you eat and drink. Stay away from the sugar-laced cocktails and stick to spirits with sparkling water or red wine, but make sure you drink water in between.

Jackie Keller – Reese Witherspoon & Angelina Jolie
Keep your hands occupied with a glass of water or red wine to stop them from picking at the canapés and finger food at parties. As soon as you need to put your glass down, this action automatically makes your brain think about what you’re doing and prompts you to make a healthy food choice.

Mike Alexander – Jessica & Ashlee Simpson
Another way of being smart about your food choices at dinner parties is to choose white meat instead of dark because it generally has less fat.

Carrie Latt Wiatt – Salma Hayek & Matt Damon
Adding fresh products and ingredients to your traditional meals not only helps increase its nutritional value, it also breathes new life into old favorites. And if you simply have to indulge in the festive cookies, the Meringue, gingerbread and molasses ones are safest because they have the least amount of calories compared to other cookies.

Jeanette Jenkins – Christina Applegate & Jordana Brewster
Stay away from the bread. But if you can’t get away from it completely when cooking, use whole wheat or multi-grain bread crumbs – it’s lower in sugar and higher in fibre.

As a personal trainer, the one question people always ask me is “How do I lose weight?”  My own family is no exception – my sister struggles with weight loss because she has three kids to worry about before thinking of exercising. It’s often hard to find the time to do a good workout when you have to keep the kids entertained at the same time.

In situations like these, the best way to lose weight is to play with your children and do exactly what they do – crawl, hop, skip, jump, giggle.  By exercising with kids, you are ultimately:

·    Achieving your daily quota of exercise
·    Having Fun
·    Releasing Human Growth Hormone (HGH) which helps with weight loss and anti-ageing
·    Using the 3 natural planes of movement, which stimulates brain function and overall wellness
·    Burning calories
·    Toning Muscle
·    Increasing your metabolism
·    Instilling positive health and exercise values in your kids

Whether they’re your kids or someone else’s, exercising like a 2-year-old is fun. Try to incorporate 45 minutes of exercise by doing exactly what your child does. I do this with my nephew and niece because I never have dedicated exercise time when I go to visit them.

Exercising as a kid means that if they swing on the swing, you swing on the swing. If they decide to run around the yard with the dog, you need to run around the yard with the dog. If you are doing this with more than one child, try a multi-task workout - do lifts with one while pushing the other on a swing.

If you are looking for something a little less impulsive, why not try all of the following exercises to give you a full body workout while still playing with the kids.

Spring Clean Your Fitness Workouts and Eating Plan

 
With these tips and tricks from The Rancan Sisters

 
With the onset of Spring and the warmer weather, now is a great time to get your body back into shape. The Rancan Sisters have suggested a few tips to help shift those extra winter kilos.
 
Work it out, work it off!

Exercise is the best way to keep the weight off. Kilos lost through exercise stay off!

• Time efficient workouts are easy to add into your weekly routine. Try FiTViBE*, accelerated training on the vibrating plate. It helps smooth out cellulite whilst toning your body, increasing your strength and can be done in your lunch break!
• Add an extra workout session to your fitness schedule. One extra session can burn 350 – 500 calories in the week
• Get outdoors! We have a few more weeks before daylight savings changes over. It’s light and bright all morning. Start the day with a before work walk or jog 
• Pedometers are also great for measuring steps. Make a goal to walk EVERY day for 10,000 steps – the weight will drop off!
• Make sure your cardio workouts are actually burning fat. A good way to do this is by using a heart rate monitor. Find out your optimum heart rate and make sure you’re working to that level
• After being all covered up during winter, you are about to expose your body to the world again. Give yourself a pedicure, get a wax or apply fake tan to make yourself feel fabulous

Spring clean your diet

Lindsay Price’s Rigorous Workout

If you're struggling to lose fat and get a better figure, you're definitely not alone. However, amongst the herds of people trying to lose weight by doing endless cardio workouts, did you know that most of them are doing it the wrong way?

Ok, lets step back a second. They're not doing it the wrong way, but it's definitely not the most efficient way. The fact is that steady state cardio fitness is not the most efficient way to burn fat! Sure, you'll burn calories, but it's not as effective as other means of training.

If you're looking to lose weight and become leaner and more musclular, you simply have to start doing short bursts of high intensity

Jennifer Love Hewitt may look fantastic in this bikini photo shoot for Shape Magazine, but she has the same insecurities as every woman.

Here is what she had to say to Shape Magazine about her body issues and how she deals with them.

"I'm a girl, after all!" says the 30-year-old actress. "For the most part, yeah, I'm happy with my body, but there are days when I'm like, 'Ugh! Really? Why is it so hard to fit into my jeans?' That's when I say to myself, 'I look this way because I'm supposed to. If we all looked the same, we'd be boring.'"

Here, she reveals her stay-healthy-and-happy strategies as well as her work out that she uses to stay slim and confident.

Put your fridge on a diet

To keep her food choices healthy and fresh, Jennifer hits the super-market every two days. "Instead of piling up food in my fridge that says 'Come eat me!' I keep enough for only a couple of days. And I rarely have treats around that might tempt me late at night, which is when I usually crave something really fattening. What am I going to do? Drive out at 11 at night just to satisfy a craving? No, that's crazy."

Always eat lunch

It's no secret that over the last few years, young actresses have become fixated on being super thin, a trend Jennifer finds really disturbing. "Hollywood used to revolve around women with curves, like Liz Taylor and Marilyn Monroe," she says. "But now it's so different. Not that long ago, I went to this celebrity luncheon, and I was the only person in the room eating. The other girls looked at me like I hadn't gotten the memo, but I was hungry! All of these girls were afraid that if someone saw them eating, it would be a disaster. It makes no sense at all."

Maintaining healthy habits is just as important as the business priorities behind the decisions for business travel.

Regardless if you’re travelling for business or pleasure, the best exercise tips say that it’s important to find time to squeeze in at least 20 minutes of exercise three times a week.

Lisa Hamlin, director of international and media relations for the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA), explains:
Business travellers should ensure that their exercise program is well-balanced and includes cardio-respiratory, muscular strength and endurance and flexibility training. The best way is for business travellers to make sure they use the hotel fitness centres.  In addition, Hamlin suggests the following fitness tips:

Stay at home? Work from home? Don't let being at home keep you from getting in shape.

How often do you find yourself watching an infomercial on television for a fitness product while you're grabbing a quick snack? You stop, you watch, and you reminisce about when you looked that fit. You catch yourself saying things like, "My body looked that good before the kids, before the career, before..." Your next thought is, "If only it were that simple. If only I had the energy or the time?" Most of us are not as fit as we would like to be. If you struggle with finding the time to get to the gym, why not simply bring the gym to you?
Keeping fit is about more than just looking good.

When we make exercise part of our daily rituals, our minds become sharper, our bodies are healthier, and we have more energy. Who among us could not benefit from having a little more energy and a sharper mind?

Working out at home is easier than you think.  

You simply need to design and decorate for a hard body.

Gym Design

    * My favourite spot to stretch is in the upstairs hallway in front of the mirrored doors on my linen closet. The light is great up there and the atmosphere peaceful.
    * Mirrors are a good addition to a workout area – we need to keep an eye on our progress. Disguise a workout mirror as a lovely framed wall mirror.
    * My husband enjoys 20 minutes on the exercise bike before work in the morning. The bike sits in the kitchen looking out onto the River Valley.
    * In the summer, move a stationary bike out onto the patio (cover it with a barbecue cover when not in use).
    * There are also many "fold away" gyms on the market today. These beautiful armoires open to reveal a treadmill or bike inside and can look great in a bedroom or a dining room.

Motivating Extras

Think Colour

Don't Forget Scents

Cheap, Convenient & Private

Many experts recommend working out with friends to increase motivation, but it can backfire.

"People end up talking more than exercising or slowing their speeds or [lowering] intensity levels to chat," says Stacey Rosenfeld, Ph.D., a psychologist at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City. Plus, walking or running with friends can