After an amazing 12 years of Personal Training and integrating Pilates with my PT clients, I’m changing my brand and am now The Swedish Pilates Studio.  

The Swedish Pilates Studio is a boutique Pilates Studio located in beautiful Glen Iris on Glen Iris Rd just opposite from Ferndale Park in Melbourne.

My blog will still provide you with information and motivation for a fit and healthy body and lifestyle. If you live in Melbourne, copy this blog and email it to me with your details and you will receive a free class when you buy your first package!

Yours in health and fitness,
Birgitta

www.theswedishpilatesstudio.com.au

The power of exercise

Life is not always as easy as we would like it to be or turn out how we had planned.  Dealing with these situations can be very hard on the body, and we need to know how to look after ourselves so we don’t end up with a body working less than 100%.

It’s very easy to feel that the problems are so overwhelming and tiring that you just want to curl up in bed and pull the covers up. While that may feel good at the time, in the long run it will actually drain you more.  These times are when we tend to get out of our normal exercise routine and grab fast food instead of sticking to our well established exercise and nutrition habits. But this is when you and your body need your healthy lifestyle more than ever.

Exercise increase resilience; the fitter we are the easier it is to cope with daily life and whatever problems we have.

This is because exercise increases energy levels, improves sleep and distracts us from our worries and increases our sense of control and self-esteem. It plays a very big role in helping us deal with the unpredicted in life.

I have through experience by working as a Personal Trainer for a long time (and also unfortunately in my own experience over the last 1 and a half years) developed five very important strategies to keep life going with the power of feeling good in a not so good life situation.

·         Exercise; when you exercise, your brain releases endorphins, adrenaline, serotonin and dopamine. These chemicals all work together to make you feel good. In addition, after exercising you may feel a sense of accomplishment and your muscles will relax deeper because of the workout – easing tension and strain.

·         Eat well; there’s more and more research indicating that what we eat may influence on our mood.  Healthy eating, meaning  balancing your carbohydrates, getting enough omega-3, cutting back on alcohol and simple sugar, has been linked to an improvement in mood but also boosts your energy levels making it easier to face each day.  The foods we eat influence our brain messengers (neurotransmitters) which control feeling of happiness and sadness. A balanced diet will regulate the response to stress and improve your feeling and reactions towards themselves.               

·         Stay in contact with your friends who give you positive energy; family and friends are very important for a happy life. Being socially engaged leads to more positive emotions, which boost your immune system and reduce stress. It’s also important to feel that you are a good friend, providing others with support and friendship adds to your own happiness.

·         Find something positive in every day; it might be as simple as looking out the window in the morning and enjoying the sun rise or the rain, or enjoying a good laugh with your family or friends. Whatever it is, make sure that you find something positive in everyday.

·         Letting yourself feel sad; if you are going through a tough time in life you need to allow yourself to feel sad. Hiding whatever is bothering you inside will only make it worse, so make time to feel sad but maintain above routine and remember you are one of a kind.

But most of all don’t let a bad situation be even worse by letting good habits fly out the window. If you are not looking after yourself you will soon not just feel bad about the situation but also feel bad about yourself.

The question is not what you look at, but what you see.

 

Yours in health and fitness,
Birgitta

www.newfitness.com.au

 

 

Due to high demand I’m starting up a couple more Pilates classes. Join and discover the amazing workout Pilates can give you, how your body can change and the fantastic feeling of a new body.
Don’t wait, give me a call today!


Yours in health and fitness,
Birgitta

www.newfitness.com.au

Personal Trainer; it’s not about you

Personal Training has exploded over the last 15 years, and I think it’s fantastic (not just because I’m a PT but because I really think we are a great asset to people’s healthy lifestyles). 

It makes me very sad though when I hear people telling me their stories about how some PT’s behave. Our job as a PT is to help people get in shape and stay in shape, and we do this through training and wellness coaching. When we are with our clients we need to focus on them (not texting, facebooking, checking out our own bodies, flirting with other clients, having our coffee- believe me it happens), this is not just due to the fact that they have paid for the session but also and most importantly for safety reasons.

Regardless of what is going on in my personal life, whether I am having a bad day, stressed or haven’t gotten enough sleep the night before I always ensure that I look energetic, well dressed and full of life and happiness, because this is what being a PT is all about.

As a PT we need to read our clients as soon as they walk through the door, to be able to make that particular session just what they need on that day. If they have had a tough day at work or a bad night sleep we might have to adjust the program to suit them for that training session.

We need to know our exercises so well, how it feels to do them and how to execute them, so you can read your clients bodies and see that they are using the right muscles and having the right body aliment.

If they need to talk, we will listen and we will remember the conversation so we can relate back to it later on if your client needs to.

We need to be the best possible role models we can be for our clients, so that they see just how attainable a healthy lifestyle is, helping them on their own journey to health and fitness.

Yours in health and fitness,
Birgitta

www.newfitness.com.au

 

 

 

Another year have past with fun, fitness and challenges, and now we have a new year with all the wonderful opportunities to make a fresh start and make 2015 an amazing year.

May the world be filled with warmth, joy and good cheer, wishing you a Happy New Year!!

Yours in health and fitness,
Birgitta

www.newfitness.com.au

 

Merry Christmas everyone!

Do you think you are going to struggle with keeping fit over the holidays? Don’t worry check in here and I’ll keep you up to date with some fun and great exercises over the lazy season!! See you then :)

Merry Christmas!!!!


Yours in health and fitness,
Birgitta

www.newfitness.com.au

Staying fit over the holiday!

Keeping fit over the holidays may seem very hard, and too difficult to manage. The wonderful food that can be hard to resist, and the lazy days with the family around make it less tempting to get out for a run or attending a class.

But with a few strategies and a helping hand you can keep your holiday fitness right on track and feel good as the New Year begins.

·         Set the goals of simply maintaining your weight; Christmas is not a time of the year when you should to have to “holdback”. Be realistic and enjoy the holiday season, but don’t overdo it.

·         Think about the meals, we don’t need to eat Christmas dinner every day over three weeks. Have same fruit and vegetables before lunch and dinner, which will help you not to be starving for the meals and be realistic about which day is actually Christmas

·         Cut down on some of the “heavy” foods, skip the potatoes and add a fresh salad. Don’t save yourself for the big lunch or dinner. Eat your normal, healthy breakfast and lunch so you don’t overeat by the time the “big” meal comes around.

·         Stay motivated to exercise by giving yourself incentives. Keep an activity chart on the refrigerator and reward yourself with some new exercise gear when you have reached your goals each week.    

So what should you do?

30-45 minutes brisk walk every day

3 times per week add some core exercises to your walk

Have yourself a merry little Christmas!!

 Yours in Health & Fitness,
Birgitta

www.newfitness.com.au

 

Isn’t it great, the kids are playing in the mud with leaves?

I read an article the other day about Bush Kinder in Melbourne. It was great to read about how the kids are out playing in the park in all weathers, but also it made me think and feel sad about the way we live.

Newsworthy that kids’ play with sticks, logs, trees, leaves and mud, when shouldn’t that be something that kids do every day?

The kindergarten is based on evidence that children learn better if they have the opportunity to play outside. Well that’s fantastic, but how about that they might be healthier by spending time  being physical more, active and having to interact with their friends face-to-face not through a computer.

About 70% of adults played outdoors more than indoors when they were young, this compared to only 13% of their children (according to the article), obviously something has gone very wrong. Children need to play outside, they need uneven surface, they need trees and rocks to climb and they need fresh air. I was shocked when I arrived to Australia with my little kids long time ago, and kinder and school had “wet day” timetable. In Sweden we have a saying “There is no bad weather only bad clothing”, which means that if it is raining during recess you had to put your rain clothes on and go out.

I think the bush kinder idea is fantastic, and I wish we had many more of them. To get kids more active outside and make them realize that being active is not about being driven to a sport activity, but actually running around outside in the back yard and in the neighborhood too discover life. 

 

 

 Yours in Health & Fitness,
Birgitta

www.newfitness.com.au

Our core is really our core

 

The last 10 years or so “the core”  has been on every Personal Trainers “need to include”-list. You may know that your core is somewhere in the middle of your body,and that it is pretty important for you to be able to stand up. But many of us see “the core” as the “six-pack”, and don’t realize how many muscles are part of the core and how important they all are in functional movments. The major core muscles also stabilize the thorax and the pelvis during dynamic movements and it also provides internal pressure to expel substances (vomit, feces, carbon-laden air etc.).

Major muscles included are the pelvic floor muscles, which provides support to hold the pelvis and addominal organs in place, transversus abdominis wraps around your torso like a big belt and draws the abdomen in and stabilizes the spine. Retus abdominis are your “six-pack” muscles that runs from your sternum to your pelvlic bone and assists your body in bending back and standing up. Some of your back muscles are considered as part of the core since they support your abs while sitting and bending.

Along the side of your torso you have external and internal obliques, the internal runs from your hips towards your sternum and ribs. The external obliques run from your ribs towards your hips, and they stabilize the abdomen and assist with breathing. They are also important muscles for twisting and bending side to side.

Strong core muscles makes everyday life easier, everything from bending down to tie your shoes, getting a cup from the shelf to walking up the stairs. Weak core muscles leave you more susceptible to injuries, poor posture and back problems.

I hope this gave you a bit more understanding why it is so important to include different ab exercises in your exercise routine and not only do 100 sit-up per day.

 Yours in Health & Fitness,
Birgitta

www.newfitness.com.au

 

No one is perfect but that doesn’t mean we can’t love ourselves!

Perfect is such a strong word with too many expectations connected to it.  The dictionary definition of perfect is “without faults: without errors, flaws, or faults”, and no one will fall into that category but everyone is perfect in their own way.

Our lives are stressful enough without the pressure of having to do everything perfectly; we are suppose to have great career, be a fantastic partner, exercise, eat healthy and look like twenty forever. This need for perfection drives people to extreme measures to get there and this often causes more harm than good.

We work too many hours per week to stay on top of things, we often focus only on those around us forgetting to put ourselves first occasionally, we fall for the latest fad trends in exercising (20 sec training per week, the 30 sec “abtwister”, or even no exercise at all), we have ‘healthy’ precooked meals delivered home and we have Botox, liposuction and all kinds of implants, just to live up to what we believe is expected of ourselves.

Aiming to be perfect is not only unrealistic but also a waste of the person we are, we need to start to appreciate who we are and what we already have. So how did we get to this distorted way of looking at ourselves? A lot of it comes from media that really pushes the way we should live and look. We are the role model for our children and the younger generation and we all know that “kids don’t do what they’re told, they do what they see”. If they see us treating our bodies like something we will constantly replace parts of, instead of seeing us looking after it and treating it like a valuable entity, they will do exactly the same thing to their bodies, and we will have generation after generations harboring bad self-esteem and unhealthy bodies.

Over doing something; over-eating, over consuming alcohol, over exercising even over eating healthy is a sign that the body and mind are out of balance.

We need to bring back appreciation and self love for ourselves and our bodies before we all “hit the wall” not just from over working but from trying to be “over” prefect. It takes courage to admit that you love yourself, but in order to love and care for others we first need to love and care for ourselves. 

 I would love to live until I’m 100, but when that day comes along I would like to be able to say –This is pure me, with my wrinkles and my old look but I’m proud to be fit, healthy and look like the 100 year old lady that I am.

8 ways to become the person you truly love and are proud of (with all its wrinkles, a bit of love handles and even too big ears and too small breasts);

·         Simplify exercise; go for a run, use body weight exercises, use free weight (you don’t have to rush off to a gym or jump on the newest super trendy fitness classes)

·         Leave the car and start walking

·         Cook at home with fresh products

·         Don’t compare yourself with others

·         Say NO, think about yourself and be the one that makes your own decisions

·         Appreciate your wrinkles and your aging body as wisdom from life

·         Don’t take short cuts; fitness and health is lifestyle not a week long diet or quick nip and tuck.

·         Be proud of how YOU, yourself, can change and keep your body healthy

We shouldn’t regret growing old, its privilege a lot of people don’t get.

 Yours in Health & Fitness,
Birgitta

www.newfitness.com.au

You have to try this, a lovely soup and so easy to make. It is getting close to my favorite soup.

Chicken soup with curry

Serves 4

Ingredients

6 dl water

1 chicken stock cube

2 breast chicken fillets

1 garlic clove

1 red capsicum

400 gr coconut milk

100gr mushrooms

2 tsp red curry paste

Juice from 1 lime

Methods

Let the water come to a boil and add the chicken stock. Sear the chicken in a frying pan with the garlic. Slice the chicken into fine slices and add to the water. Simmer for about 3-5 min. Slice the capsicum and mushrooms finely and add to the water and chicken. Add coconut milk, curry paste and lime juice and simmer for another 3-5 min.

Enjoy with a nice piece of bread!

Yours in Health & Fitness,
Birgitta

www.newfitness.com.au

 

Great news, I’m so excited my first blog post at MindBodyGreen has just been published on:    http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-12679/10-rules-i-live-by-for-gorgeous-skin-vibrant-health.html.

Yours in Health & Fitness,
Birgitta

www.newfitness.com.au

What has happened to common sense? Who told us that we shouldn’t walk to the shops, work or school? Who told us that food in a can is better for us that something freshly made? No one!!!! We have changed our lifestyle due to society changing, forcing us to believe that fast food, readymade food, prepared food is what we need because we don’t have time to cook with fresh products. 

We are so good at making excuses not to move, so I think we might end up back in the monkey stage with arms hanging low down in front of us with rounded backs and no bottoms.  

Anyway, back to the food issue. We complain about our weight, love handles, the big belly and yet most of the time you’ll hear – "I do everything right and still don’t lose weight". Well, my believes are that we are too depended on pre-cooked food that we have forgotten how easy it can be to cook healthy food.

By using pre-cooked and processed food you add so many “hidden” calories it can actually be hard keeping or losing weight.

Making a salad and put some fish or chicken on the barbeque will not take more than 10-15 minutes, and then finishing up the meal with fresh fruit and you will have a perfectly balanced meal in not time.

I have done some comparison in regards to price and calories for you to consider, a big Mac meal for four from McDonald includes; 2 big Macs, 1 cheeseburger, 1 6-pack chicken nuggets, 2 medium fries, 2 medium cokes, 2 small cokes, costs $27.90 and will give each person about 900 calories.

A cooked dinner at home with chicken (a fresh whole), potatoes and salad will cost you (including cooking ingredients) $13.78 for four and you will save about 260 calories per meals compared to a McDonald’s meal.

So start planning you meals, shop accordingly, and don’t use pre-cooked and processed food, or the microwave oven, and your body will thank you by keeping and adjusting to a healthy weight.
 Yours in Health & Fitness,
Birgitta

www.newfitness.com.au