With summer almost upon us, I’m back this week talking all about how to get the most out of your body in collaboration with Alive! Multivitamins. I really hope you enjoy my video and the tips below – and it helps you to feel at your best!
P.S I filmed this video before my pregnancy bump was showing!! Now that I am pregnant I take a pregnancy specific multivitamin.
- Tip 1 – Eat a well-balanced diet
Making sure that your diet is healthy and balanced is essential to getting the most out of your body, and when it comes to meal times, this means including vegetables or salad, carbohydrates and protein.
This combination will give you a good balance of fibre which is essential for our gut and heart health, as well as energy and essential nutrients. You can accessorise with healthy fats such as olive oil, feta cheese or pumpkin seeds for extra taste and texture as well as enhanced vitamin absorption.
- Tip 2 – Consider a nutritional supplement
With almost three quarters of adults not eating enough fruits and vegetables, and many others not having enough of the key minerals magnesium, potassium and selenium, considering a dietary ‘top-up’ may be beneficial.
I personally take a multivitamin and mineral on a daily basis and these new Alive! Ultras contain higher levels of nutrients based on the deficiencies reported in the National Diet and Nutrition Survey. They also contain added botanicals and a unique dried blend of 26 whole fruits and vegetables.
- Tip 3 – Make sure you’re hitting your 5-a-day
The National Diet and Nutrition Survey suggests that when it comes to fruit and vegetables only a quarter of men and women in the UK are eating their 5 a day. This is much less than the World Health Organisation’s recommendation of 5 to 9 portions a day, and Australia’s recommendation to eat 5 portions of vegetables and 2 portions of fruit daily.
Eating fruit and vegetables as snacks throughout the day is just one way that you can increase your consumption and my top tip is to cut them up and keep them in see-through containers at eye level in the fridge. You could try carrots with hummus, cucumber with tzatziki, apple with cheese, or berries with yoghurt to keep things interesting!
- Tip 4 – Get moving
Moving your body on a daily basis is crucial as it helps to increase blood flow, build or maintain muscle strength and rejuvenate the mind. And if you’re thinking that you simply don’t have the time to exercise then think again; exercise ‘snacking’, which involves breaking up exercise into multiple small ‘snacks’ through the day could be for you.
For example in just 10 minutes you can walk a thousand steps which is 10% of our daily target, or you could do some squats or lunges whilst the kettle is boiling!
Image by Fields Photography London.
- Tip 5 – Make sure you’re getting enough sleep
The majority of adults require 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night, but how many of us actually achieve this? Getting enough quality sleep is vital for us to have the energy to workout and keep going throughout the day. This includes having the motivation to cook something healthy and delicious in the evening.
Are you a lark or an owl? This is known as your chronotype and it can help you work out if you function better in the morning or at night. Once you know this you can figure out when you should be going to bed – do you benefit from getting up early or from sleeping in a little later?
Work backwards by 8 hours from when you want to get up in the morning to establish what your bed time should be.
Thank you so much for reading and watching guys and I really hope that you find these tips useful.
Do let me know in the comments or on social media (I’m @nicsnutrition) which tips you do already or which you want to work on and I’ll see you soon!
*This video was filmed in collaboration with Alive!. All words are my own. Please read my disclaimer page for more information on brand collaborations. Now that I am pregnant I take a pregnancy specific multivitamin which provides 400mg folic acid, iodine, vitamin C and vitamin D. The Alive! Ultras are not targeted at pregnant women.
