A Personal Trainer's Week

Fortunately my work keeps me fit, but I also need to keep fit for my work. However, I actually enjoy doing my own workouts and other activities to stay active and have been for as long as I can remember.  Here’s what I got up to in the past week:

• Monday – ran 2 km with clients; weights workout in the gym
• Tuesday – weights workout in the gym followed by swim at the beach
• Wednesday – bodyboarding
• Thursday – ran 5 km with clients; core workout in the gym followed by swim at the beach
• Friday – ran 3 km with clients; weights workout in the gym
• Saturday – ran 7 km with clients
• Sunday – kayaking

While you may not want to be as ‘crazy’ or extreme as me, the key to being active is enjoyment and variety.  I enjoy what I do and also I try not to do the same thing everyday.

If you want to become more active, then you will need to find activities that you will enjoy doing to minimise the boredom factor.  We live in the ‘lucky country’ so there are hundreds of activities that you can choose from, including:

• walking (http://www.walkingcoastalsydney.com.au/);
• run around, play backyard cricket or throw a frisbee with your kids;
• indoor rock climbing;
• buy yourself a table tennis table and challenge your family and friends;
• go snorkeling (it’s amazing what you can find at many of our beautiful beaches)
• cycling (http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/usingroads/bicycle/cycling-in-sydney.html);
• playing sport (soccer, tennis, golf, netball);
• sailing (crews occasionally will look for an extra pair of hands, even without any experience);
• 10-pin bowling;
• gardening; and
• yes, shopping (you’ll be surprised how far you can walk when you shop, especially if you don’t take the escalators or lifts).

Ask your friends and family what they got up to on the weekend or in their holidays and there may be something that will interest you.

By Andrew Ho, the owner and principal trainer of Health Jigsaw.

Think Outside The Square

About five months ago I was chatting to someone (let’s say her name was “Lisa”), who told me that she was concerned about her housemate’s (let’s call her “Maggie”) weight and health but did not know how to approach her without hurting her feelings.

Lisa also told me that Maggie wanted to go on a holiday with her family, which will involve five days of trekking in Tasmania.

I suggested that rather than focussing on Maggie’s weight, Lisa could try approaching her concerns from another angle. Since Maggie wanted to go trekking, Lisa could suggest to Maggie that they go walking together in the mornings to get Maggie ready for the trek. The following was what I suggested to Lisa.

 

With Lisa as her support, Maggie set herself some major goals and then broke them down into smaller or minor goals. As Maggie had been sedentary for a number of years and was fairly overweight, she needed to start slowly to minimise the risk of picking up repetitive injuries. Her first major goal was be able to walk 60 minutes without stopping, three times a week, to be achieved within three months. Breaking this major goal down, Maggie’s first minor goal was to walk for 12 minutes in week 1, three times. At the start of week 2, she increased the duration by 3 minutes and continued this increase each week until week 4, when she walked for 21 minutes. For weeks 5 to 8, the increments were 4 minutes each week. And finally for weeks 9 to 12, the increments were 5 minutes. At the end of week 12, Maggie and Lisa were walking for 60 minutes – her first major goal achieved. And to add a bit of variety, Maggie and Lisa started two out the three walks each week from home, with the third walk (on the weekend) either starting at one of the many beaches in Sydney or in a national park.

I’m pleased to report that five months down the track, Maggie and Lisa are still walking in the morning twice a week for 60 minutes each. However, the walk they do on weekends are now up to 2 hours.

In the meantime, Maggie has more energy, feels great, started cooking healthy meals at home instead of getting takeaways and walking is now part of her normal routine. In fact, Maggie now also walks by herself for 20 minutes after dinner on most nights. She now feels confident that she will be able to handle the five-day trek in Tasmaina next month and will be able to enjoy the holiday with her family.

Maggie and Lisa have become really close friends and as an added bonus, Maggie has come down two dress sizes. Maggie has made amazing changes to her lifestyle thanks to her housemate. Lisa was able to use Maggie’s family holiday and in particular, the five-day trek, as a motivating factor to get Maggie walking. She did not mention anything about Maggie’s weight.

 

The moral of the story: Some people may be a bit sensitive about their weight or size and so it can be a touchy subject to bring up. Think outisde the square and see if there are other motivating factors to help get them be more active. And finally…set achievable goals.

Quick Nutrition Questionnaire

How do you rate with your nutrition?

1. How often do you eat breakfast?

A. Every day     B. About 50% of the time     C. Rarely or never

2. How much water do you drink each day?

A. More than 2 litres     B. 0.5 to 1.5 litres     C. less than 0.5 litres

3. How many cups of coffee/tea do you drink each day?

A. 2 or less cups     B. 3 to 4 cups     C. 5 or more cups

4. How many meals/snacks do you eat each day?

A. 4 to 6     B. 3     C. 2 or less

5. How many serves of fruit do you eat each day?

A. 2 or more serves     B.  1 serve     C. None

6. How many serves of veggies do you eat each day?

A. 5 or more serves     B.  3 to 4 serves     C. 0 to 2 serves

7. How many times a week do you eat fish?

A.  3 or more times     B.  1 to 2 times     C. Rarely or never

8. How would you describe your fat intake?

A. Eat plenty of good fats (olive oil, fish, nuts, avocado, etc) and limit bad fats (saturated or trans fats)     B. Avoid all fats (good and bad)     C. Not concerned about it

9. How many takeaway meals do you eat each week?

A. Rarely     B. 1 to 3 times     C. 4 or more times

10. How many alcoholic drinks do you have each week?

A. 0 to 3     B. 4 to 5     C. 6 or more

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Scoring: A = 10     B = 5     C = 0

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Your Score:

100 = PERFECT!!

70-95 = Good

35-65 = Needs improvement

0-30 = POOR!! We need to talk.

Banana & Berries Smoothie

If you’re short of time, a smoothie is a good healthy alternative for breakfast. It can also be a great snack in summer.

Ingredients

A ripe banana
Mixed berries – fresh or frozen (1/2 cup)
Low fat/skim milk  (1 cup)
Low fat yoghurt (4 tablespoons)

Cooking Instructions

Place all the ingredients in a blender and process for about 30 seconds (or until smooth). Enjoy.

Shoes for Planet Earth

Shoes for Planet Earth is a non-profit organisation started in 2009 by people who love to run and want to give something back.

Working together with local and international communities and companies Shoes for Planet Earth provide recycled running shoes to those in need around the world.

Soul Journey

Their ‘soul journey’ is to help mankind by improving his well-being whilst minimizing his consumption of non-renewable earth resources. Shoes for Planet Earth aim to encourage exercising and a healthy lifestyle, to improve hygiene and disease control and facilitate the ‘feel good’ intangible benefits of giving and receiving.

For more information about Shoes for Planet Earth or the locations where you can drop off your old shoes, please visit their website at www.shoesforplanetearth.com.