Are you a cat? Do you stretch in bed before you get up in the morning?

We know that waking up fresh in the morning is the best way of achieving our goals.  We exercise, study, work, etc., much better in the morning than other times in the day. But many of us have a hard time getting up in the morning, and really don’t feel like achieving any our life goals.
Here are some tips on how we make (as the Swedish saying goes) “morning time gold worth”. Start with the night before, during the night, and as you wake up to make you mornings something to look forward to.

Night before

·          Avoid red wine and coffee.

    Coffee and red wine have been scientifically shown to disturb your

    sleep more than any other food. Try not to have them to close to your bedtime.

·          Don’t go to bed upset.

     If you have an argument with your partner, children or friend, try to solve it. If you can't talk to the person, write down what has upset you and leave that on the paper.

·          Do a short relaxing and stretching routine before bedtime.

·          Don’t eat dinner too close to bedtime.

·          Plan your breakfast

During the night

·          Sleep with the window open

·          Try to keep your environment quiet

In the morning

·          The ideal is to wake up before the alarm, but that can be hard

·          Take a few seconds to stretch and appreciate the coming day.

·          Have a hot cup of lemon water and do your exercises.

·          Rather rise earlier than start your day with stressing to get ready.

I practices most of these points myself and the great thing is that the more of them you put into place the better you will feel.

Yours in Health & Fitness,
Birgitta

www.newfitness.com.au

How do you balance healthy weight and good exercise with not too much exercise and not enough food?

As a personal trainer I constantly encourage people to exercise more and eat less, but sometimes I have to step over to the other side and tell people to do less exercise and eat more – it’s a hard balance.

Eating a banana is good for you but eating 15 bananas per day is not good for you.

We all know that exercise is good for us but how much exercise should you do?

There is no certain amount of exercise that will automatically be too much for everyone. You need to keep you training on a sensible level and listen to your body. In general, 60-90 minutes of exercises on most days of the week is good and healthy for most people as long as you recognize the need for recovery time. The right amount of exercise for you may be different from your friends and family, you should take into account you fitness level, current health, lifestyle, work situation and home situation.

Could you be overtraining? Listen to the warning signs:

•              Weight loss, muscles injuries and extreme fatigue
•              Headaches, loss of appetite and insomnia

A doctor may first suspect a problem if a woman stops menstruating due to drop in body fat, which affects estrogen levels, but if can be virtually undetectable in men whose body fat levels are often much lower without creating any health problems.

 

Too much exercise can be bad for your health, but that’s no excuse not to do anything.  You need to keep your exercise on a sensible level and listen to your body.

If you suspect that you are overtraining, see you doctor to make sure nothing else is going on, adjust you training accordingly and make sure you eat well and enough of healthy, good nutrition food.

Yours in Health & Fitness,
Birgitta

www.newfitness.com.au

 

The holiday season is over and the hectic life is back, with the increased stress levels and the weather being hot and cold every other day your immune system may be lowered making you more susceptible to colds and flu.

But sometimes, even though you do everything according to the book to avoid the cold, uh oh, you know the symptoms! You’ve got a cold.

Most of us will either retreat and just let the cold work its way, or prop our self full of panadol, but next time you feel the sore throat try this little natural medicine, I can’t promise anything but it works fantastic for me.

Flu cure;

Squeeze one lemon in a cup (it good to use the pips too) add a tsp of honey and about 1/3 tsp freshly grated ginger, add hot water and enjoy two to three times though out the day.

Continue a few days even though you will probably feel better all ready the next day.

The best thing is; it taste good and it is pure goodness in there!

Yours in Health & Fitness,
Birgitta

www.newfitness.com.au

 

With the New Year people always write down their resolutions for the New Year and most of the time it has something to with making ourselves better.

So do we actually walk around year after year being such terrible, unfit and not so perfect people? 

Or…. Have the media and the modern society made us unhappy and not able to appreciate what we have. Being fit and healthy is of course important to all of us, but to what level? Do we really have to have a body like a 20-year old when we are 50, and do we have to measure our fitness in how many Marathon we do each year?

I’m a Personal Trainer and Wellness Coach so of course I’m going to encourage everyone to be physical active and eat healthy, but we have to remember our own beauty.

If we start thinking healthy instead of perfect, some of the unhealthy stress in our life can be addressed.

We might have to work on some bad habits, but I do believe we have to take a good look at ourselves and appreciate the good things about ourselves and aim for a healthy body.

Yours in Health & Fitness,
Birgitta

www.newfitness.com.au

 

 

Wellness trends for 2013

I have been in the health and fitness industry for quite a few years now, many years actually, and over the years I can see how trends changes and new recommendation about how we should look after our bodies develops. I think the only thing that stays the same is that we should eat well (yeah!) and exercise on a daily bases (off course!).  

If we have a look at 2013 trends I think we are getting back to basics and a nature’s way of looking at what’s best for our bodies:

·    We will eat more green and fresh food, getting off the processed food

·   Think more about the stress we’re putting on our bodies, doing yoga,pilates and meditation

·    Exercise will be a more balanced type of exercises– cardio, strength, flexibility

·   Functional fitness with their natural movements, squat, lunge, push, pull and rotate, to improve joint stability and mobility.

·   Small group exercise

·   Exercising for health and not for losing weight as only goal

·    More home base training for convenience, with the support of qualified fitness specialist

As you can see it is not that much different from what we have seen previous year, it is just that we now tend to go back nature and basics.

Discover what 2013 wellness and fitness has installed for you by follow my blog, and we will have a fit, healthy and fun fitness year!

Yours in Health & Fitness,
Birgitta

www.newfitness.com.au

 

Christmas Around the corner

Christmas is the time of the year that in theory is supposed to bring peace, joy and love.

I have always loved Christmas, as a little kid I could start “planning” Christmas and the presents to everyone way before the shops started to decorate for Christmas.

If you think this is silly, just think for a moment about when the shops start thinking about Christmas now.

Anyway, Christmas turned out pretty much as all Christmas do, school holiday, family together, lots of presents, great food and sometimes winter sports.

I’m not the little kid anymore planning Christmas like the little elves, but I still do love Christmas. But suddenly I can see Christmas turning into the most stressful time of the year for most people.

Isn’t it sad!

Being in the health and fitness industry I can see the stress on people in so many different ways. We stress about the presents, the long time we have to spend with all the family, and we stress about the food and if we will put on weight.

How can we enjoy Christmas and let it bring peace, joy and love under those circumstances?

Because we can’t really ignore (and shouldn’t) Christmas let’s think about some “tools” we can use to make it that magic stress free season it should be, and be able to really enjoy Christmas and the festivity season.

Try these “tools” for a magic festivity season:

1.    Don’t wait

Start all ready now with a positive attitude towards Christmas. Even if Christmas is not your favorite time of the year, find 5 things you do like about the season and treasure them and the rest will look much better.

2.    Stop

When you start feeling overwhelmed with it all; (1) Stop, have a break from it all (2) Do something not involving preparations, read a book, watch a movie, listen to music or exercise. 

3.    Think about something that you DON’T have to do

We do have a lot “must” we it comes to Christmas; my list is as long as Santa’s list, but what would happened if we didn’t do everything? It will still be Christmas and I’m sure everyone that celebrates Christmas with you would be as happy as last year. Maybe you can use the extra time for something “Christmassy” that you would LIKE to put more time on. 

4.    Food and exercise

So we have managed to keep presents and expectations on a reasonable level, but around the corner is the next stressful event. All that lovely food and all the entertaining which makes it harder to keep your normal eating habits and maybe means less time for your normal exercises.

Instead of feeling that you have to avoid food during Christmas, think add food, which mean try to add your healthy food as new exacting dishes on the Christmas table. If you have started to eat and add a lovely salad to all your meals, you will definitive enjoy that with your Christmas and festive season food too.

Make it as a routine to go for a walk either before or after your meals. Most of us are on holiday during this time of the year, so we DO have the time for a walk or two every day.

      5. Enjoy NOW 

Whatever stressful events the holidays have in store for you, there is joy in the moment if you look for it. Sometimes, it’s hiding, but it is there.

 

Merry Christmas and A Happy Fit New Year!!!

Yours in Health & Fitness,
Birgitta

www.newfitness.com.au