NIFS Healthy Living Blog

As the seasons shift and fall settles in, it’s the perfect time to take advantage of the bountiful seasonal produce that boosts your nutrition and supports an active lifestyle. The cooler weather and fresh produce available at this time of year provide not only a delicious variety but also essential nutrients that help you stay energized, strong, and healthy. Whether you’re training for a race, hitting the gym, or simply maintaining your fitness routine, embracing fall produce can give your body the fuel it needs.

Power Your Workouts with Root Vegetables

Fall brings with it an abundance of root vegetables like sweet potatoes, carrots, and beets, which are excellent sources of complex carbohydrates. These carbs provide slow-releasing energy, perfect for fueling your workouts and helping you power through longer sessions without the dreaded energy crash. Sweet potatoes, for instance, are packed with vitamin A, fiber, and potassium—ideal for supporting muscle function and recovery.

Roasted root vegetables can be a simple yet satisfying addition to any meal, offering both nutrition and comfort as the weather cools. Try incorporating them into your pre-workout meals to ensure you have the energy reserves needed for optimal performance.

Fiber-Rich Apples and Pears to Keep You on Track

Apples and pears are at their peak in the fall and are not only tasty but also rich in fiber. Fiber is crucial for keeping your digestive system running smoothly, especially as you increase your nutrient intake to fuel an active lifestyle. The natural sugars in apples and pears can provide a quick energy boost, making them great snack options before or after a workout.

For an easy, on-the-go snack, pair sliced apples or pears with a source of protein like nut butter. This combination will help you stay full longer while giving you the fuel you need to support muscle repair.

Pumpkin for Immune-Boosting Benefits

Pumpkin is a quintessential fall vegetable that offers more than flavor for your lattes. It’s packed with beta-carotene, which your body converts to vitamin A, supporting immune health, vision, and skin integrity. As cold and flu season approaches, adding pumpkin to your diet can give your immune system the extra support it needs. Additionally, pumpkin is rich in vitamin C, another key nutrient that boosts immunity and helps reduce inflammation after intense physical activity.

Add pumpkin puree to soups, stews, or even smoothies to easily increase your intake of this seasonal powerhouse.

By embracing fall’s rich selection of fruits and vegetables, you can not only enjoy the flavors of the season but also fuel your body with the nutrients it needs to maintain an active lifestyle. Whether it’s the sustained energy from root vegetables, the digestive support from apples and pears, or the immune boost from pumpkin, fall produce offers an array of benefits to keep you healthy, strong, and ready for anything.

Looking to optimize your nutrition this season? Connect with a nutritionist at the National Institute for Fitness and Sport (NIFS) to develop a personalized fall meal plan that fuels your fitness goals. Our experts can help you maximize the benefits of seasonal produce while ensuring you get the right nutrients for your active lifestyle. Schedule your consultation today and start fueling your body for success!

With the holidays coming up, it can be easy to get caught up in the busyness of it all. From Thanksgiving to Christmas, we are bombarded with festive meals, holiday parties, sweet treats, and family gatherings that simply interrupt our normal routine. The holiday season is one of the most difficult times to stay motivated to be healthy. Not to mention the fact that it is several degrees cooler and I would rather hibernate than go out to the gym. Plus, many of us travel to visit family and friends and we are just not close to our gym.

I know that I personally struggle with all of these things, especially because the food around the holiday time is absolutely my favorite. To really get myself into the right mindset, I follow these five tips to make sure I can keep my health and fitness at the level I want it to be at.

1. Maintain the right mindset.

Staying motivated won’t be possible unless you start out with the right mindset. Go into the holiday season determined and dedicated. Do not make excuses when it comes to working out. Make sure that it is really a priority for you and something that is attainable.

2. Make a schedule.

Making a plan and workout schedule ahead of time will make it a lot more difficult to make excuses when the time comes. If you are prepared, you are more likely to get it done. Take a look at your schedule and write down the times that you will be able to get in your workout session.

3. Make it a family activity.

If you are struggling to find the time to balance working out and also spending time with your family, make getting exercise a family activity. For example, my family goes out and walks together, takes fun exercise classes together, and even runs fun holiday-themed 5Ks together. Not only are we working out, but we are making memories as well.

4. Switch up your normal workout.

You can add new exercises to keep it new and exciting. You are less likely to get bored with something that you are working on improving. You can also include more HIIT workouts that will help you achieve a lot in a short amount of time.

5. Know that you don’t always need a gym.

During the holidays, you are more than likely going to be traveling a lot and may not be by a gym. Doing body-weight exercises or using at-home items to lift can be a useful temporary solution when you are away. Try some of these exercises and workouts.

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Even though it's the season of giving, be sure to not give yourself a hard time. Some days a workout just won’t happen, and you may find yourself consuming more calories. We have to remember to be gracious to our minds and our bodies. Being too strict on yourself can cause you to burn out and even create unhealthy habits. Make sure you understand your balance so that you can live your best life.

Happy Holidays and Happy Fitness!

This blog was written by Emily Lesich, NIFS Health Fitness Specialist. To learn more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.

Whether you are sitting, standing, walking, running, or exercising, having good posture plays an immense role in not only how you physically present yourself, but how your body develops over time. Just like most habits, posture has both good and bad sides, each with distinct effects on your body. Focusing on ways to get the most out of your posture can ultimately give you not only a better workout, but also improved health for many years to come.

Benefits of Good Posture

When we talk about the benefits of improved posture, you might first think about how you look in a mirror or in front of a camera (which is also important). But there are many other physical attributes that can be affected which might not come to mind at first. This includes immediate impact areas such as low back pain relief and less tension in the shoulders and upper back. Further, long exposure issues such as joint wear and tear and poor blood circulation can be linked to bad posture. Other than physical effects, there are quite a few emotional health issues that come to light and are associated with bad posture, including self image and depression as well as relaxation and rest.

An Easy Posture Test

Getting back to the fitness aspect of good posture, I can present a simple demonstration. First I would like for you to sit in a chair, slouching as if no one was watching. Now, sit up tall with good posture. Obviously it takes more effort to sit with good posture, including core muscles. If you apply this concept to your exercises, you might find that not only will your form improve (along with your overall safety), but you will be recruiting more muscle (and albeit small and more calorie burning).

Develop Your Posture

There are things you can do in your day-to-day life that will help you develop better posture habits. Personal habits such as sitting taller, standing taller, and exercising with good form make having good posture much easier. Other things to consider include talking to an ergonomic specialist who can help you set up your workstation to better suit your body’s needs, and talking to a fitness specialist to help with exercise form and technique.

Even though it’s a lot easier to be lazy and not care about your posture, like other aspects of your physical wellness, caring for yourself and developing good posture habits will have long-lasting benefits for your body at a very low cost, so just do it! You will be making your grandma happy in the process.

If you feel as though your posture is getting in the way of your goals and possibly worse, your health, please take time to address the issue today. Talk to a fitness professional about safer, more effective exercises at the gym focusing on form and posture. At work, you can contact your HR rep to see whether an ergonomic specialist is available to help set up your workstation. You are not alone. Let NIFS help you.

Until next time, muscleheads rejoice and evolve!

This blog was written by Thomas Livengood, NIFS Health Fitness Instructor and Personal Trainer. To learn more about the NIFS bloggers, click here.