No one has EVER come to me and said “I’d really like to lose 5kg, and then in 2 months time I’ll be happy to put it back on”

And I’m pretty sure no one ever will. But this is what happens time and time again when people have an ‘all or nothing’ attitude. So, you get all enthused, set big goals, and give your weight loss journey absolutely everything you’ve got. Your diet gets extreme, you work out every day, and you put everything else on hold while you’re focused on dropping the kgs. Initially it’s fantastic, everyone loves seeing their body change for the better, but the problem is we often can’t maintain the changes we’ve made to our lifestyle. And therefore, any weight that has been lost usually creeps right back on. And for me, that’d make me really miserable. To be getting somewhere, and then go backwards, I would not love that!

To lose weight or become fitter, you don’t have to make extreme lifestyle changes. You don’t have to detox or pop pills, you just need to get started on a nutrient-rich and balanced food plan, and you need to commit to exercising regularly – I usually say 3-4 per week is a great routine. And unlike what we see on shows like The Biggest Loser, you don’t have to be vomiting or passing out at the end of every session for it to be effective. You really, really don’t have to be extreme with your exercise, or your diet. If you truly want to maintain any weight lost or fitness gained, then you have to be honest with yourself and work out a plan that works, and suits your life.

Yes sometimes it sucks that you even have to do your 3-4 sessions per week, some days you just can’t be bothered, but 3-4 workouts a week is NOT extreme, and once you do it for long enough, you’ve created a wonderful habit that will keep you fit and healthy long-term. Same goes for your food, you don’t have to starve or eat nothing but spinach and lettuce, but you may have to work on giving up some old eating habits that are slowing or stopping your progress. But again, that is not extreme.

If you’re wanting to lose some fat or become fitter and stronger, just remember your whole life does not need to be turned upside down to make it happen. And if you DO make extreme changes, remember that there’s a good chance that you might struggle to continue with them. And again, for me, the ‘lose fat – put it back on’ cycle would do my head in.

This message is really summed up with one word, and that is CONSISTENCY!! Don’t go crazy, but don’t do nothing, find your maintainable balance somewhere in between.

Have a great sunny day,

Paula

When I noticed it was a bit rainy this morning, my first thought was ‘oh well that will probably make for a pretty small group session today’ – actually that was 2nd thought, my first thought was ‘come on Melbourne, summer’s nearly over let’s see some sun.’

But my 2nd thought was that the drizzle would probably mean a few people will not turn up to training today.

Then I got to thinking about how some goals are more serious than others. Most of us probably have some sort of weight loss or fitness or health goal – some people might really WANT to reach their goal, but they may not be 100% serious about it. And that’s fine! I’m sure there are things in life that I really want, but am not prepared to put in the effort required to achieve them.

If you’re fully committed to losing 5kgs, and I mean fully, you will not let a little rain stop you training, you will not let a little muscle soreness stop you training, you will not eat a block of chocolate or down a bottle of wine because you had a bad day at work – and so on. But that’s only if you’re completely and utterly committed to getting to where you want to be.

If that chocolate or wine DOES make you feel better after a shitty day at work – then go for it – but you’ll need to realise that for now those treats are more important to you than reaching your goals. And again, that’s fine!

Once the mind shift changes and you FULLY commit, you’ll train in the rain, you’ll skip the wine and chocolate and find other ways to de-stress. You won’t find it hard to drag your bum to training, you’ll happily skip cake at the next office birthday – you’ll be completely focused and on a mission.

I’m not putting anyone down for not being 100% – it’s not for everyone or you may not be ready – I’m just saying your particular goal may not be on the top of your priority list.

You’ll know when you’re ready – because you’ll let nothing stop you!! Excuse-free is a great place to be!!

Have a great day,

Paula

It’s frustrating that I still find myself caring about what other people think of me. I badly wish I didn’t care, but I do. However, I care MUCH less than I used to, so that’s good progress. And I’ll never stop working on it. I think partly we are born quite empathetic (or not), so in a way it comes with the territory. Even if you’re quite strong willed or opinionated, being human and caring about others can leave you open to getting hurt. I know plenty of people who don’t give a s*#t about what anyone thinks, it’s not really in my nature not to care but I do think it’d be nice sometimes!

If you’ve been hurt by the comments or opinion of others – you have two ways you can deal with that. You can let it consume you and zap you of your confidence, OR, you can gain strength from not letting it stop you. We need to try and not let hate from others stop us from loving ourselves. We can’t let it stop us from making our way in the world or achieving whatever goals we are setting out to achieve. I do love the saying “what others think of you is none of your business” …. Very wise words.

Depending on your personality though, it can take years to learn to brush off what others think of you. But never stop working on it, because people will always judge, or make assumptions, or try to put us down. We need to be strong enough to just let it go.

Here’s a few things to think about if you’re ready to rise above others’ negativity:

• People who say negative or horrible things about us probably don’t think much of themselves.
• Always remember that it’s your own opinion that really counts.
• Learn to truly love yourself, and the opinion of others will be irrelevant.
• Be at complete peace with yourself, this will make you stronger than anyone else’s negative comments or thoughts.

And like everything else, we all have the choice to stop any negative talk going on in our heads. Wake up in the morning with only positivity and happiness in your world. Remind yourself that life is short and you don’t have time for negativity or hate. Remind yourself of how wonderful you are, and do this all day long if you have to. Do this over and over and you’ll start to really believe it. Which is great, cos it’s true!

We can choose to let the hateful energy of others replay in our heads over and over, or we can chose to stop it in its tracks and replace it with peaceful and positive thoughts and be thankful for all the good we have.

Life is tough sometimes, and sometimes we need to make amends, or apologise, or improve ourselves in some way. But we’re only human, and you don’t have to hate yourself while you’re apologising, or working to improve little aspects in your life. Absolutely no one is perfect, we all stuff up, but never feel bad for being human.

Be a good friend to yourself, surround yourself with wonderful positive people who help build you up, not tear you down. Remember, life’s too short for anything less!

Have a wonderful day!

Paula

So being a personal trainer, I often hear people say “I’ve been too busy to exercise” or “I don’t have time to prepare and eat healthy meals” or “I only had time to get take-away” and so on.

I hear it heaps, and I’ve always found it frustrating and if I’m honest, my anger levels rise slightly every time I hear it. It’s a pet hate I guess!! But lately, probably as time goes by and I see just how important it is to look after ourselves while we can, I actually feel quite sad when I hear people say this stuff to me. I feel sad that their health and fitness isn’t the priority that it should be. I feel sad when I see people (mostly older, but some still quite young) who appear to struggle to walk or manage a set of stairs. This can be due to being incredibly overweight, or just that their bodies are falling apart or not functioning well through years of neglect. I sometimes wonder if they wish they’d maintained a level of fitness so their current day-to-day stuff wasn’t such a battle.

Depending on your age, you could be sitting back reading this thinking it’s massive over-kill and doesn’t effect you. I can understand that, when I was in my 20’s I just wanted to look good, I didn’t care about my health, as long as I was happy with how I looked. So I completely understand that when you’re quite young, your future health isn’t a huge priority. But it’s an “I’ll be right” attitude and can be really dangerous when it comes back to bite you on the butt. And chances are it will.

What I wish for everyone is to NOT look back and wish you’d taken better care of yourself. Health is something that probably most of us take for granted when we have it. I still do to a point, but I’m becoming so much more aware of its importance. And really, it’s everything. You can have all the money in the world, or the biggest house, flashiest car, but if you don’t have your health, none of that really matters. People are living longer these days, which is great, but not so great if you’re too big to move well or function easily. Or too unconditioned to get around the supermarket or play with your kids or grandkids.

So make time now, while you can, and give yourself every chance to have a fit and healthy rest of your life!

Have a great day!

Paula

If I hear someone say they are going to see a trainer, or join a gym, I guess I usually assume that they are on a mission to lose some weight. Or maybe build some muscle, become stronger, or improve their fitness.

But there’s one very special reason why many people make sure that exercise (and healthy food choices) is factored into their lifestyle, and it’s not always obvious.

It’s a big part of why I work out on a regular basis, and that is for my mental health and wellbeing. With the stresses of day to day stuff, children constantly testing boundaries and pushing our buttons, busy jobs, excessive time spent on social media, hectic schedules causing us to rush around – many, many people are not feeling as well as they could mentally. Of course there are many different degrees of being mentally unwell, and there are obviously some that will not be fixed with exercise alone. It won’t hurt, of course, but it’s not a cure-all.

However, sometimes we just have days when we might feel sad or down or stressed and get ourselves into a bit of a rut. One days like these we need to remember that exercise is incredibly powerful, and an important part of improving our state of mind. It’s not only the ‘happy’ hormones that are released during a workout which are a huge bonus, when your body becomes stronger and fitter, our confidence and self-worth grows and so does our feeling of empowerment. And that’s got to be good for us mentally. There’s also the wonderful social aspect about working out with others – hanging out with like-minded people trying to achieve their health and fitness goals!

However, when you’re feeling down and out, exercise is probably one of the last things you feel like doing, and I completely understand that. But try REALLY hard to remember that if you do force yourself to have a workout, or even just a walk around the block, it’s almost always going to help you to feel better, even if in a small way.

So exercise makes us feel brilliant mentally, but so can healthy eating. And again, if you’re feeling blue or wound-up and stressed, chances are you’re craving some sort of comfort food. But this short-term solution can leave you feeling worse, and obviously isn’t good for our physical state either. Go for something packed with nutrients, and feed your body well. Don’t get caught in a cycle of eating crap, then feeling even worse, and so on.

So remember this!! If you’re wanting to lift your spirits, don’t sit on the couch eating rubbish, even though this may be what you ‘think’ you need. Get your body moving and feed it with some great food – trust me, it will help!!

Have a great day!

Paula

It’s new year resolution time!!

It’s the time that many people join gyms, or hire trainers, and start on a diet or weight loss plan. I don’t know the stats, but I do know from experience that MOST people do not keep going for long and it’s another resolution down the toilet.

But we start off keen – often we buy heaps of new workout gear, tell the world (and Facebook) that we’ve joined a gym, drastically change eating habits, maybe lose a kg or two, and things are looking up!! But if you go too extreme at the start of your journey, chances are you’ll end up quitting and end up back at square one. With all the crazy ‘quick fix’ diets and supplements going around, often people will choose these extreme measures which are hard (and usually unhealthy) to maintain. And again, most end up quitting not long after starting. There’s also those who work out every single day, for a while, burn out, and you guessed it – quit. Once you’ve realised it’s a lifestyle that you’ll struggle to maintain, there’s every chance you won’t keep it up and throw in the towel.

One way around this is to introduce one change at time. Remember, if you want to keep these changes for life, which you should, then they need to be realistic and maintainable. Even if you write yourself out a food diary for a week, then sit down and have a look through it. Common sense will hopefully tell you what’s helping you and what’s not, so pick one habit (for starters) that is slowing your progress and remove or substitute it. You might be surprised how small changes can make a big difference.

And don’t kid yourself that you’ll maintain working out 7 days a week – start with 2-3, get your mind and body used to that routine, and add extra days later if you feel you can.

Don’t try to turn your whole life upside down all at once. This method might work for some, but most of us won’t maintain too many drastic changes at once.

Yo-yo weight-loss attempts are really frustrating, and will knock your confidence.

It’s important to know that to lose weight or become fit and healthy, you don’t NEED to do anything extreme. It’s not rocket science and it’s not overly difficult.

Slow and steady – and you’ll get there!! And remember patience, the fat didn’t creep on overnight – so it doesn’t leave you overnight either.

Have a great day,

Paula

Going out for a meal doesn’t mean you have to undo a great week of eating. It just means you have to make a few changes to how you approach things to stay on track no matter where you are eating. You don’t have quite as much control as you do when preparing meals at home, but you CAN eat out without messing with your routine.

It’s about making the best of every situation, every time.

1. Choose wisely.
If you can, try to always chose where you eat! You won’t always have that power, but take it whenever you can. Some good choices are:
Steakhouses – get yourself a good quality piece of steak/protein with lots of cooked vegetables on the side.
Seafood – there’s many great options at seafood restaurants, go for grilled, lots of salad or veg, and skip the chips!
Pub/bistro – here you’ll be faced with some terrible options for dinner, but also some great ones – stir fries, steak/chicken with veg, grilled fish/salmon options, salad varieties.

2. Check the menu first!
I ALWAYS try to check out the menu before I arrive at a restaurant – most places have menus online these days so there’s no excuse! If you turn up with your fantastic decision already made, it’ll remove the need for any willpower once your friends start ordering their meals. You may also be a sucker for the smell of hot chips (for example) so pre-planning can help here too. It’s also a good idea to order first before your fellow diners, so you don’t change your mind when they order themselves a pizza. And as a bonus, you could even influence your friends to make better choices!!?

3. Ask for what you want!
You may find a meal that’s close to what you want, but not quite there. So, ask your waiter if you can make a few changes so you get what you’re after. Most places will be flexible, their goal is to make you happy, so don’t be afraid to ask. If you want a chicken and veg meal, just ask, no harm done! Ask for no chips, more salad, stuff like that!

4. Skip dessert
It’s always a shame to order a fantastic meal, to then end up ordering dessert just out of peer pressure or lack of will power. If everyone else is going there and you don’t want to feel left out, just order yourself a coffee.

5. Water all the way!
As always, be very careful not to drink your calories. Adding up calories from a few drinks can easily be worth an extra meal – ouch!

Hopefully these tips will help you stay on track next time you’re eating out. This time of year can make for many social outings which usually revolve around food – so stay strong and keep your eye on the prize!

Have a great day

Paula

I will always push and encourage exercise – ALWAYS!!

Exercise makes you feel better, look better, it makes you stronger and fitter, provides you with some ‘me’ time, makes you feel empowered, and obviously makes you awesome 🙂

But I’m still hearing from people who aren’t reaching weight loss goals, and trying to fix it with more exercise. You could do a hundred sessions a week, but if your food is not right, apart from being fitter and stronger, you will struggle to lose your fat. We have to stop believing in the ‘burn it off’ theory. You can raise your metabolism by having more muscle on your body, but this still won’t balance out a terrible diet or excessive portion sizes.

Here’s a story of mine – a few years ago I wanted to shift a few extra kgs. I decided that I didn’t want to change my food as I was enjoying what I was eating, so I believed the only other way to lose the fat was to do more exercise. So I added more on top of what I was already doing (which was already ample). I busted my butt with long cardio sessions, but nothing changed. My fitness probably increased a little, but my shape, my weight and my body fat didn’t change. If anything, I was just feeling frustrated that I was working harder with no results. Then over the years, as I got wiser, I knew the exercise didn’t have to change at all – in fact I’ve been able to decrease my exercise and still lose weight. And that was all done through my diet.

So don’t go round and round and round eating too much and then trying to work it off the next day. Fix your food first!! I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it as it upsets me to see clients run themselves to the ground at training, without getting the results they are after – all due to a poor diet.

The food plan that I suggest is NOT a diet, it can be maintained for as long as you like, and is nutritionally balanced. It’s also something your entire family can eat – no cooking different meals every day! I have nutriton sessions available – if you’re keen to finally get your eating in order – let me know and we can organise a time to sit down and get your food sorted.

Once you’re eating right, you can then see exercise as less of a punishment and therefore much more enjoyable!!

Trust me – once you start seeing the changes your diet can make, you’ll never look back 🙂

Paula

If you’re currently trying to achieve a weight loss goal, or just trying to eat healthier and keep a check on your portion sizes – it’s probably safe to say that at some point you’ve over eaten, made poor food choices, and fallen right off the wagon. Even now, I can still find it really hard to be disciplined with my food ALL of the time. Most days it’s really good, but some days (probably days when I might be home nearly all day and confusing boredom with hunger) I can really struggle and I have to work hard to create distractions, keep busy, and keep out of the kitchen.

In a perfect world, we’d all be on track all of the time, but unfortunately life’s not like that, and there WILL be days when we’re not so disciplined (I’m NOT encouraging it – but I am human and I know that it happens!!).

Often, after a bad day, we can get down on ourselves, which can then lead to more comfort eating, more sadness, etc. You may have gone from feeling great, and proud of yourself for your super choices, to feeling like you’ve failed and have no self control. Goals can go out the window and then more sadness and feeling negative.

The good news is, you can break the sadness/comfort-eating cycle by fixing things – straight away. Make a mental note of how it’s made you feel, and move on. Don’t waste time feeling bad or beating yourself up, clearly that will not help anyone. If I mess up, I actually get excited about fixing it up and how great I’ll feel when I’m back on track.

When you’re down and out about the choices you’ve made, breathe, maybe go for a long walk, get some fresh air, remind yourself you’re only human, and start planning how you’re going to turn things around. That might mean planning your great meals for the rest of the week, locking in when you’ll exercise, and re-focusing on your goals and how you want to feel or look. This is obviously much more enjoyable and helpful than being a sad-sack, feeling yuck, and possibly heading back to the kitchen to try and make yourself feel better.

LIfe’s not perfect, far from it, and neither are we. Of course I’m a big supporter of making great choices, and eating a nutritious and balanced diet as often as you can, but when you stray off track, which is likely to happen over the next few weeks, feeling bad about it is a huge waste of energy and you deserve better.

Move on – there’s nothing that can’t be fixed!! Sure your progress might have slowed, but again, life’s not perfect and these things happen. Look forward to being back to your best and feeling like a super-star again!!

Have a great day,

Paula

It’s around this time of year that I start hearing people ‘plan’ to put weight on over the Christmas period, saying there are so many social functions to attend, too much tempting food, no time to exercise, and so on. And it just seems inevitable that they’ll put weight on.

Our weekends usually get busier than usual, and at many of these functions we tend to over do it with the food and booze. It’s a busy and social time of year, and there are definitely more temptations around us.

BUT (you knew there was a BUT coming!)…….. I’m fairly sure that you won’t actually have extra food or alcohol forced down your throat. Christmas or not, your choices are still YOUR choices. Don’t plan to just go with the flow and eat and drink whatever you can get your hands on purely because it’s Christmas, or because that’s what everyone else is doing. Let them do whatever they want, that’s their choice, but you make your own choices. Start preparing yourself to not write the whole silly season off and undo months of good work. Start preparing to feel great when January rolls around, and be proud that you didn’t completely fall off the wagon.

Saying all that, with all the extra temptation around I’m sure some of us will not be quite as disciplined as normal over Christmas, so here’s a few tips to help get you through!!

• Stick to your current food plan as closely as you can – which means being organised, like always, having everything you need in your pantry and fridge.
• Remember that Christmas Day is 25th December – that’s only ONE day!!
• If you’re out, make sure you’ve got your emergency snacks with you to avoid temptation (fruit, nuts, etc)
• Plan to have some ‘naughty’ treats to make you feel like you’re not missing out – here’s one idea (and great for kids) https://www.thehealthychef.com/2012/11/gluten-free-gingerbread-men/
• Keep up your water! Especially if you do have some extra alcohol – you need to keep your fluids up!
• Maybe keep a measuring tape in view, even if you don’t use it to measure your waist over the Christmas period, just having it there might help keep you under control!
• Lastly, remind yourself how you will feel if you let yourself go too much over Christmas, all that hard work you’ve undone, and all the hard work you need to do come January!!

Remember, what you do is always your choice – and if you want to live a healthy and fit lifestyle, you’re better off trying to maintain these habits all year round.

No, I probably won’t be perfect over this coming silly season – but I won’t be straying too far off track, and I’ll definitely hold myself accountable for any damage done!

Have a great day

Paula