What you do today for yourself both mentally, physically and physiologically has a huge impact on your life tomorrow.

In the wise words of Zac Efron from his new series, Down to Earth he says; “We don’t like to think we are growing older even though we are constantly doing it”. When we are in our twenties and even thirties, we often feel a little too invincible to the real world and the happenings within us. We often neglect to remind ourselves of the importance of healthy aging which begins while we are young. Although our metabolisms are in it’s prime and we may not pick up weight as quickly or feel the effects of what we put into our body immediately, it is important to remember what we put into our body today will have an impact on it tomorrow. 

This is a topic that resonates with me and has been on my mind for a while now, too often I see friends or people I know of neglecting their health for which I can assume 4 reasons; 1. They are unaware of the importance in healthy eating and living 2. They are somewhat too lazy to try and make an effort on doing so 3. They think just one more won’t hurt (200 times over) 4. They don’t really believe the impact it will have on their life in a few years time.

In just over three months, I will officially be a qualified Sport Scientist and with that comes all the amazing knowledge I’ve learned over the years about health and wellness, the importance of exercise, eating well and the disadvantages of doing the opposite. Although it would be nice, we youngsters unfortunately don’t have a free diet pass, a healthy diet is so crucial at every age and if there was one thing I want this post to do, it is to to urge you to be mindful of the food you put into your body and maybe think twice before you have to decide between a cheesy pizza or a chicken salad! Living a disease free life is what the goal should be and this is how its done..

Your future self will thank you for it

This is probably the most important point I want to get across to you. We all know the saying  ‘prevention is better than cure’, If you are mindful of being healthy both mentally and physically now, you’ll be putting your body at less risk for health problems and diseases later on. Working out and eating healthy is more than just losing weight and ‘looking’ a certain way, if you are purposefully introducing healthier habits into your life your body will be able to function at it’s best and in turn, it will feel so much better in the long run. 

Eat right to have more energy

I am sure somewhere along the road you have heard of the term ‘brain food’. The brain is an organ that uses energy and takes about 20% of the body’s calories in order to function, that’s why it is so essential to ensure you are fueling it with the necessary foods. It also needs good whole foods to remain healthy, just like the rest of our body. 

Consuming foods that are full of nutrients, vitamins and minerals is vital in ensuring health whether it be brain health, gut health, heart health – it is all relevant and they are all interdependent, meaning they influence one another. Eating the right kinds of carbohydrates, fats and proteins will provide you with more energy throughout the day, you will be able to function for longer periods of time before feeling fatigued and your overall mental health will improve too.

You’ll feel better about yourself and attract healthier habits and people

It is no doubt that when you eat healthy, you feel healthy. When you are putting the right nutrients into your body and working out a bit more often than usual, you will begin to notice that your body will be able to perform efficiently and function a bit more adequately then usual.

Another part of your body that will thank you for it is your skin, remember what you put inside your body will show on the outside. If you are eating wholefoods and saying no to extra greasy and cheesy foods, your skin will start to relish. You will glow and in a few years time, your skin will reflect the healthy habits you began when you were younger.

Stretching

I don’t want to limit looking after yourself to just the foods you consume, simple things such as moisturising after the shower or doing 5 minutes of stretching every morning will all have a huge impact on you in the years to come.

Stretching has a wide variety of benefits for both the younger generations and older populations. Stretching when you are young can help prevent many injuries from occurring as you get older, and is also known to help prevent or minimise the risk of certain diseases such as arthritis. It helps maintain mobility and balance which are crucial the older you get, as it’ll prevent you from falling.

So as you can see, there are so many important reasons as to why you should look after yourself from a young age. Don’t do it for me, or your friends, you should do it for you because you love your body and you want to look after it so it can look after you the older you get.

Friday the 13th of December seemed like the perfect day to get behind the wheel of some beautiful cars and learn a thing or two about road safety!

Many other influencers and bloggers (including myself) were given the opportunity to partake in their Driving Skills for Life programme which included an array of different activities and talks from the people who know what they’re doing – as much fun as the day was, it was an eye opening experience on how necessary it is to help bring awareness to road safety especially during the festive season! 

With that said, LET’S GET STARTED!

To start the day we were welcomed by the very enthusiastic Ford team, there was fresh coffee available thanks to Barmotion and BlendaVenda showed us how we could blend our own smoothie while cycling (Crazy right!?) needless to say, that made all of us giggle and was very entertaining to watch. Never have I seen people blend their smoothies so intently! OH! And let me not forget the snazzy Ford cap we were given to protect us from getting blinded from the event being too lit (ok, I admit that was cringe but I couldn’t help myself)

Once everyone had fuelled themselves with some good coffee and had some fun with the BlendaVenda team, we got down to business. We were formally welcomed and given a presentation from a very interesting and well knowledgeable representative of Master Drive SA. The event was essentially aimed to highlight road safety during the silly season and because I was one of the lucky ones to experience the day in the front seat, I feel it is also my responsibility to bring awareness to the issues that lie at hand.

Did you know that the Driving Skills for Life Programme hosted by ford is not only free but is also an international programme? These people clearly mean business! 

There were so many important points I took away from that presentation, so many interesting facts and some that kind of had me going “you can’t be serious!?” like how eating your fries in your car is actually illegal according to the law. I know right, that made everyone in the room give out a little laugh. 

Here are some pointers that caught my attention;

Seatbelts

It’s common knowledge for the driver and the passenger to wear their seat belts but if your passengers don’t wear their seatbelts is it their responsibility or theirs if they don’t wear their seatbelt? As the driver it’s yours. 

Your car, your responsibility. The lives of those in your car are now in your hands and as scary as that sounds, it is the truth. Those people are trusting you to get them safely to the next destination so it is your duty to ensure that they are strapped in. 

Many people don’t wear their seatbelts at the back of the car because they think they’re protected by the front seats but that’s not true. Did you know that when an individual gets into an accident their body mass and their bone becomes 30x more than what it normally is. That means 30x more weight and pressure being added onto whoever is in front of you or even onto the windshield. So next time you have passengers, front and back – make sure they have their seatbelts on before setting off to wherever it is you are heading to!  

Want to know how to save fuel?

Let’s start off with this fun fact: Did you know that every 3 minutes you spend idling your car it is known to be the equivalent to driving 1km at 50km/h. WHAT!? You might say but it’s true! That’s why if you are expecting to stop and idle for more than 20 seconds whether it be during traffic or at a red robot, it’s better to switch off a warm engine. (And before those tech junkies come at me, no switching your car on and off does not damage the starter switch or decrease it’s life; it’s there for a reason. Technology is amazing)  

We were also taught to save fuel, you need to change gears between 1500-2500 rpm (you can thank me later when your road trip bill is less than usual) as well as keeping your car as light as possible, the heavier it is the more fuel used. 

They did a study where the Ford members drove from the ford dealership in JHB to a set destination for a week driving at the speed limit and maintaining the correct distance (which is 6 seconds behind the car when you have poor visibility and 3 seconds behind a car when you have clear visibility) and you know what, they only lost 1 minute and 12 secs. 

Now I want to ask you, do you think it’s worth risking your lives and the lives of others on the road to get to your destination a minute or so earlier? I think not. Drive safely and responsibly!

Mirrors

This may seem like a boring one but it’s always the boring points that are most important. 

First of all, if you get into your car and you cannot see the road out of your review or side mirrors, you need to fix that, like yesterday already! 

It is important to always check your mirrors and make sure they are positioned so you have the best view of the road and cars behind you, there is a reason they are there people! Use them! 

We were taught a little trick: For your review mirror, you should be able to see the top of your left ear and with the side mirrors you should be able to see the handle of your back doors and if you are in a 3 door car, then just the sides of your car.

Texting and Driving

Did you know more collisions are happeninnot because of drinking and driving but because of texting and driving?

All too often I see people on Social Media filming themselves driving or of the beautiful sunset that they’re driving past and honestly, there is nothing that is so important that you should feel the need to take your attention off the road to take a cute video of the sunset and if you feel a bit offended reading that, you are part of the issue! It’s not worth risking your life and the lives of those around you. 

Ignorance is NOT bliss and Knowledge is Power. 

After the very impressive and interesting presentation hosted by Derek, we moved onto the 5 activities that Ford had set up for us which i’m not going to lie, some of them made me nervous but they pushed me out of my comfort zone and forced me to learn and do things I wouldn’t normally do! 

Sleep Suit Activity

This was the first activity I participated in that took place inside. 

Initially I had no idea what to expect with this activity. I thought we were going to get put into some suit and I would fall asleep immediately but logically, that would teach us nothing so I had a bit of a ‘Jeanna moment’.

First off, each individual got the chance to try on the weighted suit and weights attached to one of their arms and the opposite leg to that, then the individual would walk out a mapped out area responding to the trainer who had a Stop or Go sign to tell them when to move. Then they repeated the activity using some goggles to distract them that would allow them to see and then all of a sudden not see. I found it really interesting how when the goggles blacked out, some individuals continued walking (guilty) which is the equivalent to someone continuing to drive once they have fallen asleep! 

The objective of this activity was to highlight the importance of getting enough sleep before heading out on a long trip, or even just in general. Many people fall asleep behind the wheel due to lack of rest and they may just be travelling short distances. On that note, If you are planning to go away with some friends or family, it is important to take breaks often, have a rotation system of drivers so everyone gets a sufficient amount of rest and if you feel like you need to sleep and you are behind the wheel, pull over and sleep! 

Reaction Board – Drunk / Drug Driving Activity

This one was probably one of my most favorite of the day. It was so simple, yet so effective and surprised almost everyone! 

How it worked: Each individual would engage in a thirty second attempt to hit a lit button that would randomly light up, the goal is to hit as many lit buttons as possible first time round and see how close you could get to it the second time but the second time there was a twist! 

The second time round individuals did the same thing but wearing goggles that simulate being drunk or under the influence of some sort by blurring your vision intensely! When participants were wearing these ‘drunk goggles’ their scores were typically half (or less) of what they had scored previously in the first round. Quite often the individuals would be confident in knowing where their buttons were but then when moving in the direction toward the button, they would completely miss it. Showing us how driving under the influence impairs one’s ability to react to situations adequately! 

In the first round I scored 33 and the second round I scored a WHOPPING 8. So moral of the story, don’t drink and drive! Your reaction time isn’t nearly as good as you think it is.

SkidPan Activity

I’ll be honest with you, I was very distracted by the beauty of the Mustang that I initially didn’t hear what we had to do but once I was snapped back out of dreamland we got onto our next activity. 

How it worked: There were two Ford Vehicles, a Ford Mustang (drool) and a Ford Kuga ST (also super gorgeous in your soccer mom car kind of way) which raced against each other in what is the slowest race you’ll ever watch, through a course of cones set out for each car. Each driver was asked a question before ‘racing’ off and at the end of the course had to park in either parking A or parking B depending on their answer to the question. 

The objective of this activity was to reinforce the safety tips we were taught during the presentation at the beginning of the day while having the pressure of racing to the correct answer and trying to focus on what you are doing so you don’t crash into any of the cones. This was so show how distractions could have an affect on your driving abilities! 

Gravel Braking Activity

Honestly, I was most nervous to do this one out of all the activities but I mean to the point where I put it off and put it off until I was the last one and had no choice but to go but once I did it, I wanted to do it again! Strange how the mind works isn’t it? 

How it worked: A series of barricades were set up to portray that of a ‘road’ and at the end of the barricading, cones were set up to illustrate that of a ‘bus’ which was in front of us. The individuals had two different attempts to do this. Driving the effortless Ford Everest, the first time we drove as fast as possible towards the bus (aka the cones) and when the instructor signalled, we had to slam on the brakes and swerve the wheel to the right to avoid hitting the ‘bus’. Once we passed it, straightened out the wheel and continued on driving, going back to the start. The second attempt was a bit more daunting, we did the same thing as the first but this time we weren’t allowed to touch the brakes, demonstrating the Ford Everest’s ESC (Electronic Stability Control)

The objective of this activity was to highlight was to teach us how to handle a vehicle on loose ground during an emergency maneuver. 

4 X 4 Off road activity

As our last activity, we had the opportunity to experience the driving capabilities of the Ford Raptor by maneuvering over hills, holes in the ground and driving almost on the side. This is definitely not something I was expecting to enjoy! 

As you can tell, we all had an incredible day out with the Ford team – learning and driving some beautiful cars. As our day was coming to a close, we arrived back to be treated to some delicious food supplied by Rocky’s BBQ and the ever so delicious gelato thanks to Barmotion as dessert. 

I hope this post has opened your eyes about road safety and the importance of being aware of your surroundings while driving as much as it did for me! Please share with your family and friends, you could save someone’s life.

Very big thank you to Ford and their members for showcasing such an important yet fun day, bringing awareness to road safety. 

Ford hosts their Driving Skills for Life Programme all over the country, so if you are interested in learning more, check out their website and get in contact with them. I would 10/10 recommend!

I am both shocked and appalled by how quickly these last six months have gone! I feel as though January was just the other day and now I am writing my first blog post for December! Holiday Season is just about in full swing for almost everyone (and if it’s not for you, let’s pretend it is cause lets be real, you deserve the break too!) and what a better way to start it then by kicking it off with some healthy habits!? 

I’m a firm believer that you determine how your day is going to be from the minute you wake up, the thoughts in your mind and how you allow yourself to feel about the day ahead. Let’s be honest, we all know of someone that wakes up 10 minutes before they have to leave the house causing them to be rushed, late and a little damn frazzled – I wouldn’t say it’s the best way to start the day and sometimes we just need to be exposed to new ways on how to do something. Here are 3 things I do to start my day off;

Wake up early

Now, I know what you are thinking “I am on holiday, the last thing I feel like doing is waking up early” and thats completely fair. Allow yourself a week to recharge, sleep in, mosey around the house and do things that will give your body the break it deserves and when you feel it is right – you can implement this step into your routine. I have never been the type of person to wake up late, even if I tried! So if you are like me, this step may be a bit easier but if you love your sleep and you aren’t so much a morning person then inevitably it will be a little more difficult. However, once you get into the habit of it – it is a game changer! Waking up early allows you to have time to wake up, breathe and think about what you want to achieve for the day and the things you need to do – if you know that you often rush and don’t have time to have breakfast because you wake up late and just jump out of bed, chuck on some clothes so you can get to your next destination on time – maybe it’s time to re-evaluate and try something new! 

I always find that your morning determines how the rest of your day is going to be. I’ve gotten into the habit of waking up earlier then I need to and I find that it really helps set up a productive day for myself. We all love to sleep, but we also love not feeling rushed. Sometimes compromises have to be made, even if that means waking up 15 minutes earlier then what your alarm is set – it’ll make a world of difference. 

Drink warm lemon water

Whenever my body is feeling a bit run down and in need of a good boost, I often turn to warm lemon water. I usually make it 20 minutes before I eat which will help kick start your metabolism and digestive system. Lemon water also has so many other health benefits such as keeping your immune system strong, ridding the body of toxins and luckily for us, it doesn’t taste half bad either! 

Read and take time for yourself

When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is get up, make myself some herbal tea and breakfast and sit down and read my book – I enjoy reading self development books, especially before the day has started. I find that it is a motivational and encouraging way to start the day. You don’t even have to read a book, I know many people don’t enjoy reading but luckily we live in an age where we can easily have access to audio books or even podcasts, you find what works for you and do that. Another thing is that you could go out onto the balcony or garden and have a cup of tea or coffee. Just something to give time to yourself, focus on you and be mindful of the present, away from your phone and chaos of the day ahead.

As you can see, it is the small changes in your routine that will make the biggest difference. Often people thing that you have to make the most drastic changed in order to be productive but in fact, it is quite the opposite actually. Do one small thing each day and it will lead to big results!

You may be wondering, ‘Jeanna, why are you making a post about how to be active on a rest day, isn’t that contradicting the purpose of a rest day?’ – no, it’s not. 

A rest day does not mean sitting on the couch, binge watching your favourite series with unlimited amounts of treats scattered around you, a rest day means giving yourself a break from your usual workout routines and allowing your body to recover accordingly. It is essential in giving your body the break it needs, inability to do so will increase the chance and eventually lead to injuries, fatigued muscles and can hinder your progress. 

Walking

Walking is a great way to release some endorphins and get the body going on an ‘off’ day. Grab you mum, pup and a cup of coffee and take a stroll along the beachfront. It’s also a great way to get the blood flowing and helps get rid of built up lactic acid from the hardcore week in the gym. 

Hiking

OBVIOUSLY I would put hiking in this blog post. Who doesn’t love a good old hike along the mountain? Name one person! It’s a great way to get the heart rate up, look at the views of your city and spend some quality time with family and friends. I definitely don’t do enough hikes but when I get the chance, I absolutely adore it and what’s so great about this is that hiking has other benefits besides just physical one’s, if you go with a small crowd out of peak time, it is a really great way to be mindful and take in your surroundings, reflect on the week just passed and what’s to come for the week ahead. 

Doing new and exciting activities

Planning and organizing activities that  you wouldn’t normally such as going SUPing, Kayaking, heck even paragliding! It’s a great way to get up and out the door and something a little different from the normal everyday routine – even if it’s to get out and play a game of tennis and catch up with an old friend.

Markets

I’m a sucker for a good Saturday or Sunday morning market. The local music, authentic food, homemade projects – there are so many things to look at that by the end of the market you’ve probably been walking around and browsing for a good few hours, much deserving of a good glass of wine to end off the day!

HAPPY MARCH!!

During second year sport science, Fitness is a compulsory sport that we partake in – both theory and practical classes which excites me (as we all know, very well) because of my love for both health and fitness. This subject is currently helping me expand my knowledge on the topic drastically which can help me inform you better regarding my fitness related posts!

With that said, what’s a better way to bless the new month off other than with a good old top 4 favourite booty exercises? I know, I couldn’t think of any either!

Hip thrusts

There are many variations of this exercise to tone it up or down, my favourite at the moment is just adding a resistance band whilst my upper back is on the floor. This exercise is great as an activation exercise to wake up those glutes but also to target those hammy’s, lower back and even your core!

Leg press

This is one of my most beloved exercises to incorporate into my workouts. I’ve been using this for years and years now and still don’t get tired of it! The primary muscle targeted here is your quads but it does still work the overall muscles within the leg. Adding a resistance band is a good progression method to spice things up!

Resistance band clam shells

This is a a newly found fav of mine which is almost always supersetted with the hip thrust. OH. MY. GOSH. Will they make you gasp for air? Probably!! I’ve been incorporating in the beginning of my workouts to really activate the muscles of the targeted area. This is great at targeting those hip abductors and your glute medius!

Barbell Squats

This may seem like an obvious one but I haven’t been able to do these for the past few months due to an injured knee so you bet that i’m going to do these when I can, now that i’ve recovered!! This is a great exercise to target those glutes, hamstrings and your lower back. Just make sure you look up, keep your back straight and that those knees stay in line with your toes. (You can add a resistance band if you want more of a push or add extra weight!)

One thing many people forget to do during exercising is breathe, Breathing is so important to the execution of an exercise. My brother once told me that ‘your legs know what to do, focus on your breathing’ and after all these years, it’s still something I practice and preach to people who ask for advice or our HIITFIT members.

I am a little obsessed with using a resistance band when training booty, one I would really recommend is the GraceFitUK extra heavy – https://gracefitguide.com/products, but of course choose according to your fitness level and you can increase the difficulty of band when necessary for that extra challenge!

If you enjoy blog posts like that, please leave a comment and I will be happy to do similar one’s!

Disclaimer: The images in this blog post are not my own, I found them on google. Click on the images and you’ll be directed to the page where the images originate from.

Second year Sports Science, here we go!

For those who know me and are yet to know me, there is one thing that i’m pretty good at (if I say so myself) and that’s organizing, whether it’s my wardrobe or my uni books you can bet it’s colour coded and in alphabetical order.

I know things can get a little crazy, very quickly as university starts but there are a few things I do to help minimise the chaos. Although this may just work for me, maybe it’ll spark some ideas on how to keep you on par with the happenings of work, notes, tests and yourself! So with university just being a few weeks away; here are some things that help me stay on track of my work and help me stay a little sane too!

First, let’s start with the exciting stuff: Stationary.

I am a sucker for a good stationary shop, It’s got to be one of my most exciting things to do before going back to uni (I know i’m not the only one). Last year I had a way of organizing all my uni work that worked for me so that’s what i’m doing this year, if it’s not broken why fix it right!? So here are my stationary essentials for 2019;

Black files; I only have two of these – one for each semester. Although I have quite a few more subjects this year, I like to have one space where everything is. There is honestly nothing worse then scrounging around in a hurry trying to find something just because you can’t remember where you last placed it! I find that having one for each semester just makes the whole process easier and much more convenient!

If I do run out of space, I would separate my files into terms rather then semesters. That way all the necessary subjects and modules for that specific term is in one place.

Pastel coloured highlighters, dividers and side stickers.

I’m the type of person that feels organized once everything is colour coded, so I always make sure that my highlighters, dividers and stickers all have similar colours so that each subject has its own colour. I use the highlighters to help me focus on the important information rather than the lump sum and the dividers do what their name implies, divide my subjects from one another. I use the side stickers for each chapter that Ive made notes for and it also makes it easier to see whats what when the file is shut. Im honestly a sucker for this stuff!

This may be an obvious one but definitely a necessary one. A diary. I find that this is the most important thing to help me stay organised and on track for the year. I use it for everything from birthdays, exam dates to blog posts and ideas – it doesn’t leave my side. Sometimes things make more sense when they are written down rather then typed into notes on your phone, well for me in any case!

Because self-care is my number one priority in 2019, what’s uni essentials without some beauty essentials, am I right? Here are a few things that help me stay relaxed during the most stressful times at uni.

A face mask, its no news that if you want to feel like you remotely have everything together you should just put on a face mask, right? Well truth be told, there were been many times where thats exactly what I did to help me feel a little bit more put together then what I actually was!

I love this L’oreal face mask because it’s quick, only 10 minutes and it leaves my skin feeling so smooth and much brighter. I know it only said up to 7-10 face masks but I’ve honestly used it way more than 10 times and I still have a way to go – you don’t need to have a thick layer of it on, even the smallest amount makes the biggest difference!

I am a firm believer that your productivity is determined by your routine. From eating, gymming, even showering etc thats why when I give myself some ‘me time’, I make sure it is with products that I love. For Christmas, I got this gorgeous smelling body wash by iwori, Beauty of Africa – Ive honestly never smelt something so good before and so I have especially saved it for when I go back to uni.

This may seem like a bit of an odd one to some but if i’m having a bit of a stressed day or just need to relax for a second or two, I light some candles and switch on my himalayan salt lamp – it instantly relaxes the air and I instantly feel better. I love the aura these two things combined, project. 10/10 recommend both! This candle is a bit of a 2 in 1. It’s the royal botanicals Ditch Iris soy massage candle, first of all it smells like what dreams are made of and secondly, once it has been lit for a while – once you’ve blown it out and the wax has cooled, you can use it and massage it into your skin – amazing.

I would love to hear what your uni essential are? I have plenty space on my ever growing list 😉