What Exercises Pregnant Women Can Do?
In my earlier article, I researched more about nutrition for pregnant women. In this little series, here are some exercise do's and dont's:
Benefits of exercising while pregnant:
Like my wife, I think most pregnant women go into this resting phase where they fell they should not be doing anything. But I keep telling her that exercising while pregnant is important, lagi-lagi if she does not want to gain too much weight.
- Better sleep.
- Relieves stress.
- Body is stronger and therefore better prepared for birth.
- Reduces constipation.
- Strengthens lower back - reduces backache.
What exercises to do?
There are some exercises that are particularly good for pregnant women.
Walking and swimming are some of the best exercises for anyone, and the pregnant woman is no exception.
Yoga has a long standing reputation for relieving stress and pressure on your body. Most forms of yoga will be safe for you and your baby, as long as they are not excessively rigorous.
Some yoga instructors offer special classes for pregnant women. Avoid lying flat on your back for extended periods of time and try not to overstretch.
Running is ok but you have not been running much before your pregnancy, you may need to consult your physician first.
Biking is great as well. Especially since it supports your weight ... but be careful, you don't want to fall off while pregnant!
General rule: Keep exercise at a moderate level and can include both cardio and strength exercises. Listen to your body. Pay attention to your heart rate which is usually higher for pregnant women. Keep yourself hydrated especially when living in hot temperatures and humidity like here in Malaysia.
What exercises NOT to do?
General rule is to avoid exercise with excessive movements and jolts. Also avoid exercises or activities where you have a higher risk of falling.
Corporate Wellness Program: Fitness Boot Camp Saves Money And Increases Productivity
This article was written by Lt. Col. Bob Weinstein, USAR-Ret.
Make fitness boot camp a part of your corporate culture and you will build strong teams, increase productivity and change the lives of your employees. Successfully organize and conduct your own fitness boot camp program. Implementation of a corporate fitness boot camp program costs almost nothing and results in increased productivity, less sick days, cohesive teams and lower health care costs.
For Whom Is Fitness Boot Camp?
Fitness boot camp is designed for all ages, all sizes and shapes, as well as all fitness levels. It is great for beginners and those who have never exercised before as well as for the regular exerciser. Fitness boot camp will enhance existing wellness and fitness programs or completely replace them.
Perfect For Busy Schedules
You will learn how – with little or no cost – to organize your very own fitness boot camp cells/teams. I call this the busy person’s workout, because it covers the strength, cardio and flexibility all wrapped into one workout session. Consult with your physician before beginning this or any other fitness activity.
What You Get With Fitness Boot Camp
- Variety.
- Fun.
- Energizing.
- Builds strong teams.
- Incorporates company, family and life core values.
- Complete-body, encompassing strength, muscle endurance, flexibility and cardio.
- Can be started anytime.
- No strict workout regimen.
- Dynamic, always focused on progress.
- Can be done indoors and/or outdoors.
- For men, women, teens and children.
- For pre-beginners, beginners, intermediates and advanced.
- For young and old.
This workout is for the company looking for a creative way of getting its employees in shape while strengthening team spirit, increasing productivity and reducing absenteeism.
The purpose of implementing fitness boot camp cells/teams is to actively take on the role of getting employees, club members, family members and friends in shape and build strong, cohesive teams.
Workplace Benefits of Fitness Boot Camp
- Little to no cost.
- Use existing employee and management structure to organize.
- Enhancement of corporate culture.
- Healthier and happier employees.
- Enhanced team spirit.
- Reduced illnesses.
- Reduced loss of work time.
- Reduced injuries.
- Increased productivity and performance.
- Weight-loss and weight management.
- Nutritional guidance.
- Stress relief and stress management.
- Enhanced communication.
Appoint Team Leaders
Appoint team leaders for each cell, which will be made up of approximately six to twenty employees. This is a company-wide approach, from senior management all the way down to front-line employees. Any member of management can simply step in and join the workout with any of the teams to promote their relationships with employees while working on their own fitness and demonstrating, by example, how important this is. Management participation is a non-threatening way for senior- and mid-level management to join in on what is offered as serious fun with special emphasis on fun and teambuilding.
Decide on how best to organize your initial team cells and appoint team leaders or coordinators (one for each cell). Then, assign one individual to support all team coordinators of all the cells and to track the programs. That individual could be the wellness coordinator, supervisor, manager or some other employee. That individual should already possess a heightened level of enthusiasm for fitness and have a desire to help others.
Different Fitness Levels Train Together
All fitness levels train together. Have all employees sign a waiver for the program. If any members have medical issues, those employees would then only perform those exercises that are permissible by their physician; for example, walking but no jogging, no abs work, no squats or lunges due to knee injury. Often a simple modification of an exercise is possible. Those with medical restrictions would then perform their alternative exercises during the time the rest of the team is performing their (unmodified) exercise; or they will simply modify the team’s exercise to a safe range of motion suitable to their medical limitation.
Organize Fitness Cells
Those employees who work together on a regular basis should be organized as a part of the same fitness cell. You can organize the cells by department or cross-departmental. Have managers or peers come together; mix various management levels. Rearrange the mix of employees every six months, if you desire. Whether your business is customer service, sales, banking, law office staff, fire and rescue, hospital staff, law enforcement, school, college or university, or small business with a handful of employees, boot camp fitness cells are right for you.
Indoors or Outdoors
Another exciting aspect of fitness boot camp is these workouts can be done anywhere, whether indoors or outdoors. Keep it interesting by changing workout location, where feasible, and look for opportunities to incorporate your environment into your workout. For example, park benches are great for performing dips, and the entire team can wrap their resistance bands – also called exercise tubes – around a tree for a group upper-body exercise.
Flexible
You choose a time to fit your schedule. Whether it is 10, 20, 30 or 60 minutes for fitness boot camp, it all adds up to an accumulative health benefit. I strongly recommend at least twice a week, once a week at a minimum, as a part of a corporate program with emphasis that the employees work out four to six times per week all told. If you cannot schedule fitness boot camp twice a week, schedule the frequency that will work. Make it a part of your corporate culture and your employees will take this into their private fitness routines. There is a clear connection between fitness and workplace performance.
Anyone can do it! The training is easy, and the exercises are very basic and easy to perform. The mix of exercises follows the principles of simplicity and fun. Technically, this is called functional training. Functional training focuses on training the body how it is used in activities of daily life.
Train the Trainers
Once you have identified your trainers, they need to be trained. To implement this program the trainers will only need a few basic exercises. Start with these basics and, with time, gradually introduce new exercises. The trainers are not just watching. They are performing the exercises with their team members as they guide and encourage them through the workout.
Three Basic Principles
- Warm-up. Perform toe raisers to warm up the body.
- Stretch. Stretch each body part briefly right after exercising it.
- Strength and cardio. Alternate between upper and lower body exercises.
Fun
The fun factor cannot be emphasized enough. The workouts are all performed in a light, upbeat and positive atmosphere with an emphasis on mutual respect and concern for all team members. Humor is an important element, as long as it is not demeaning, inappropriate in language, or content. No foul language is to be used by any team member. Treat the workout like a game and have a blast.
Start your fitness boot camp corporate wellness program today. Contact Kevin today to get your corporate wellness program on the road. More detail here.
First Pregnancy Q&A
Since this is the first baby for both my wife and I, we both have a lot of learning to do ... and I of course need to know as much as possible about how to jaga my beautiful wife and our baby (rafa?). Following are some of the questions I had and what I found out:
How much to eat?
Hahah since I am in health and fitness, thats the first question I had. So based on what I read here, she needs some 200-300 extra calories per day but most importantly these should NOT come from junk food. A balanced diet is always the way to go. She would normally need some 1700 calories per day so now its roughly around 2000 calories per day.
What to eat? A balanced diet. We are aiming for a 55:30:15 ratio of carbs, protein and fats. For supplements it is recommended to look up the following: Folic acid , iron, zinc and calcium.
What to drink?
They say stick to water, milk, juices, vegetable juice. Chocolate milk is ok as well.
Avoid drinking alcohol, soft drinks, sport drinks, herbal teas and go easy on caffeine.
What foods to avoid when you are pregnant?
Ok I am new to this as well but this is what I found out to AVOID
- Large Fish: Swordfish, shark etc due to higher levels of methylymercury, a metal detrimental to a growing child's brain and nervous system.
- Fish caught in rivers: Something to do with recreational anglers may hook fish contaminated with bacteria or chemicals.
- Raw or undercooked meat, poultry, seafood and eggs: Due to possible bacteria etc
- Hot dogs and luncheon meats: also coz of some bacterias
- Alcohol: well obviously as it robs developing cells of oxygen, making normal development impossible.
What about exercise?
My dad said to avoid excessive movements around her pelvic as the embryo needs time to properly position and stabilize during the first trimester. But generally stretching and walking are good and encouraged but we ought to consult our gynie terlebih dahulu.
What she can and cannot do?
Its commonsense for smoking and other vices. Hmm what else?
What about sex? According to this article, yeah sex is ok as long as there are no complications of course. Most sexual positions are OK. But by the third trimester, weight gain, back pain etc "may dampen your enthusiasm for sex".
How much does a pregnancy cost?
Couldn't find much about actual costs in Malaysia and I sure it depends on the kind of treatments, hospitals, gynie that you choose. Based on some estimates, probably around RM10,000 - RM15,000 or more depending on complications if any.
...in the US, the costs of raising a baby to age 18 costs between $125,000-$250,000 and that's not including college tuition!...
Can we still travel?
According to this website, it is generally ok to travel but best during the 2nd trimester.
Thats it for now kot! :)
First Pregnancy Q&A
Since this is the first baby for both my wife and I, we both have a lot of learning to do ... and I of course need to know as much as possible about how to jaga my beautiful wife and our baby (rafa?). Following are some of the questions I had and what I found out:
How much to eat?
Hahah since I am in health and fitness, thats the first question I had. So based on what I read here, she needs some 200-300 extra calories per day but most importantly these should NOT come from junk food. A balanced diet is always the way to go. She would normally need some 1700 calories per day so now its roughly around 2000 calories per day.
What to eat? A balanced diet. We are aiming for a 55:30:15 ratio of carbs, protein and fats. For supplements it is recommended to look up the following: Folic acid , iron, zinc and calcium.
What to drink?
They say stick to water, milk, juices, vegetable juice. Chocolate milk is ok as well.
Avoid drinking alcohol, soft drinks, sport drinks, herbal teas and go easy on caffeine.
What foods to avoid when you are pregnant?
Ok I am new to this as well but this is what I found out to AVOID
- Large Fish: Swordfish, shark etc due to higher levels of methylymercury, a metal detrimental to a growing child's brain and nervous system.
- Fish caught in rivers: Something to do with recreational anglers may hook fish contaminated with bacteria or chemicals.
- Raw or undercooked meat, poultry, seafood and eggs: Due to possible bacteria etc
- Hot dogs and luncheon meats: also coz of some bacterias
- Alcohol: well obviously as it robs developing cells of oxygen, making normal development impossible.
What about exercise?
My dad said to avoid excessive movements around her pelvic as the embryo needs time to properly position and stabilize during the first trimester. But generally stretching and walking are good and encouraged but we ought to consult our gynie terlebih dahulu.
What she can and cannot do?
Its commonsense for smoking and other vices. Hmm what else?
What about sex? According to this article, yeah sex is ok as long as there are no complications of course. Most sexual positions are OK. But by the third trimester, weight gain, back pain etc "may dampen your enthusiasm for sex".
How much does a pregnancy cost?
Couldn't find much about actual costs in Malaysia and I sure it depends on the kind of treatments, hospitals, gynie that you choose. Based on some estimates, probably around RM10,000 - RM15,000 or more depending on complications if any.
...in the US, the costs of raising a baby to age 18 costs between $125,000-$250,000 and that's not including college tuition!...
Can we still travel?
According to this website, it is generally ok to travel but best during the 2nd trimester.
Thats it for now kot! :)
A Baby Is On The Way .... Insyallah
I am very excited to tell everyone that my wife and I are expecting a baby :).
Well we have not been to the gynecologist yet but we took a couple pregnancy tests and both turned out "hamil".
We got an appointment for next week and hopefully everything will go well. My wife and I are super excited!
Akad Nikah at Masjid Taman Tar Ampang
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETwtpeKMRHw
This post is about three weeks overdue but as most of you know, my wife and I were away on our super romantic and fun honeymoon (details soon).
So here it is, the beginning of my new journey, my akad nikah on the morning of the 3rd April 2010 at Masjid Taman Tun Abdul Razak, Ampang, Selangor.
The night before
Wow. I definitely couldn't sleep. My mind of occupied with bucketload of emotions. Super exited to marry the girl of my dreams but also nervous, anxious, worried hahah and everything else. I spent the night reading up on "rukun2 islam, iman, sembahyang etc" .... hahah coz you never know what they may ask.
oh and yeah ... not to forget the lazaf nikah that I kept repeating over and over in my head
Akad Nikah at Masid Taman Tar
The morning on my wedding day was not all that bad. Surprisingly, I wasn't that nervous .... until we got the "GO" from the masjid that our rombongan to move in ... hahahaha .... dup dap dup dap ... When we arrived, we didn't really salam with everyone, didn't my my wife-to-be ... I was very focused on where I was supposed to sit etc but alamak!!!!!! ..... I sat on the cushion terbalik ... this obviously caused some reaction from the crowd but oh well.
So, it started with an opening from the imam masjid, followed by doa and a pre-wedding khutbah where I fought hard to sit up straight, keep my composure and focused on my lazaf which I kept repeating in my head hahaha "Aku terima ....
After our cool imam cracked a few jokes here and there, he tricked my father-in-law to be the kadi nikah (is that the right word) ... hahah. I was relieved that there was no soal-jawap. By now, the lafaz was coming up .... my heart definitely jumped. I pretty much blocked out everything else, including what was said to me .... I was waiting for my cue to say ....
... Aku terima nikah Rio Elani binto Rio Kamal Yuyha dengan mas kahwinnya sebanyak tiga ratus ringgit ... tunaaaaaaai ...
Kadi, imam and saksi's looked at each other for a couple seconds and wham baam I was married! Hahaha single lazaf is what the wife wanted and that's what I errrrrr brought hahaha. Things got a lil emotional after that but pictures speak louder than words ;)
To be continued ....
My Wedding SlideShows - Part 1
Following are 2 slideshows from my wedding last Sunday.
Kevin and Rio - The Beginning
This is a slideshow that I made myself showing how we met, our beginning and leading up to the wedding
[youtube width="600" height="486"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMkvSFfNNag[/youtube]
Kevin and Rio - Pre-Wed Pictures and Nikah
This slideshow was done by PrettyPeektures
[youtube width="600" height="486"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETwtpeKMRHw[/youtube]
I am getting married ... tomorrow!
New baju melayu? Slideshows? Well will be done tomorrow..Hantaran pun is ready .... Everything is ready... The day has finally come ... wow! Can't quite believe that I am taking the plunge tomorrow after some 31 years!
How do I feel? Obviously super excited but like anyone else I have to admit that I am feeling rather anxious, nervous and all kinds of feelings. Tomorrow is a big day. A day where a 31year old chapter will close and another opens.
Am I ready? Yeah! Definitely ready to commit myself and share everything ... no more "you" and "me" ... just "us" and "we". Took me a while to get to this point ... I remember in my mid 20s, marriage was the furthest on my mind .... but slowly as I hit my late 20s, the idea of starting a family didn't seem so bad after all ... being a husband and a father is something I can see myself doing .... and I wanna do it well!
Lets hope tomorrow goes well and that it marks the beginning of my family life with the women of my dreams :) ... insyallah
More updates tomorrow.
Health Talk with Skin Nutrition and AMEX (Maybank)
Just came back from a great event at Darby Park organized by Emma Lizs (Skin Nutrition Malaysia) and AMEX (Maybank). Following are some photos from the event.
Topic Everything about FATS.
Duration: 30min
More info?: View my various health talks here.
Skin Nutrition - Pre and Post Workout Shake
Through my collaboration with Skin Nutrition Malaysia, I would like to introduce a shake that I have been using as an in-between mean and also as a pre- and post-workout meal.
Skin Nutrition's Omega 3 shake
Skin Nutrition's Omega 3 shake is a whole food meal supplement designed to optimally support cellular nutrition to promote beautiful skin, hair, and nails as well as a beautiful lean body. Most meal supplement shakes on the market are nothing more than 'junk food'. Skin Nutrition's Omega Shake is rich in Omega 3 essential fats, fiber, protein, vitamins & minerals, anti-oxidants, and skin enhancing ingredients. It is also contains whole grain complex carbohydrates for sustained energy, is low glycemic so it will not spike your blood sugar, which causes inflammation, and contains 100% natural flavours and no sugar or artificial sweeteners . Best of all, it's absolutely delicious!
Get RM50 Store Credit When You Register Online
For everyone that registers online at Skin Nutrition Malaysia website, you will automatically get RM50 FREE that you can use for any order that you place on the website. Oh ya, you will also get FREE express shipping throughout Malaysia.
You buy the Skin Nutrition's Omega 3 shake online for RM380 here
New laptop, Gmail, Google Docs & Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is supposed to be the in-thing for 2010. Well it has been around for a while but surely will replace conventional desktop applications in the near future. I have made the switch and have never been happier.
What is cloud computing? For me it simply means having all my files, emails, pictures and other stuff online via web based applications that make them accessible globally at any time from any PC or Laptop.
I always found it difficult to move away from the traditional office apps like Microsoft office (especially outlook) ... until I got my new Dell laptop (finally after a long wait).
Goodbye Microsoft Outlook - Hello Gmail!
This was the hardest decision for me but proved to be golden. For years I have been archiving emails in Outlook which was really handy but working with gigabyte of emails/archives became a pain. Not really sure why I keep all these old messages anyhow! .... I had been using my Gmail account for a while but never made use of its POP3 account features and I was stuck on Outlook.
I gave Thunderbird a try but still dreamed about having all my emails online which would keep them safe (I hope) and does not burden my laptop resources. So finally I GMail another shot but this time I took the time to import all the emails, setup the POP accounts, created filters, label and etc .... so far it has been 3-4days and I am in love with GMail! It is so simple and very user-friendly. With GBuzz I will never look back. Goodbye Microsft Outlook.
so far it has been 3-4days and I am in love with GMail! It is so simple and very user-friendly. With GBuzz I will never look back. Goodbye Microsft Outlook.
Office2010 No More - Hello Google Docs
When I got my new laptop ... I did come with Microsoft 2007 trial and got my hands on tha upcoming Office2010 trial CD but damn .... I had been using Google Docs for a while but not that extensively. By comparison, of course Office2007 has a lot more features but I never really use any of them .... I use Excel for simple tables, use Word for simple docs and yeah PowerPoint for rather simplistic slideshows. All this can be done at Google Docs with ease.
I have been fulltime on Google Docs every since. It does everything I need it to do and helps me keep my docs accessible wherever I am. I'm lovin it!
How to Lose 5kg In 5 Weeks eBook
This will be the title of my upcoming eBook which I target to release in May 2010. Basically it will be a step-by-step guide.
The ebook will guide you based on the following:
- Step 1: Understand what 5kg actually is
- Step 2: How many calories do you need to lose per day?
- Step 3: What and how much do you need to eat?
- Step 4: 5 Week Exercise Plan
- Step 5: Review, Supplements and quick tips
Stay tuned for the eBook release this May. For early bird announcements and discounts, join me on twitter or facebook.
If you have any other title suggestions, do let me know. BTW, I am also looking to do a Malay version after that.
24 Questions eBook
If you are looking for a guide right now, check out my "24 Questions" eBook for only RM20 which addresses the 24 most commonly asked questions on health, weight loss, dietings, exercise, supplements and more.