Unbelievable! I had a new personal training client start last week who was told by a previous personal trainer that you only sweat when you are over-hydrated. One wonders where people get their information. Especially those people who fulfil a role of an educator.

There are so many things that can take our attention that we often feel overwhelmed to the point of distraction. These distractions may include insignificant work tasks, advertising, email, telephone, social media or a multitude of other things. The accumulation of all of these this can only overwhelm us to the point where we do not accomplish anything worthwhile or important.

How often does the ‘little man’ on your shoulder tell you that you can’t do something, or you’re not worthy or not good enough? That ‘little man’ is just the voice of fear and doubt.

I can’t draw! That is a belief that I have had since childhood, one that has been re-enforced repeatedly. I do not however have a strong desire to draw and therefore it does not concern me or impact on my quality of life. I also had a belief that I could not dance. With a change in my interests and desires, this was a belief that no longer served me well and at the age of 30, decided to change that belief. It was not easy but with a strong commitment to change and dedicated practice, my belief in my ability to dance changed and I become a good dancer to the point where I had the opportunity to perform on the Concert stage at the Sydney Opera House. I still have a lot to learn and a heap of improving ahead of me but with continued persistent effort, it will happen.

The last day of the International Fitness Convention ( IHRSA) in San Diego was an inspiring one. Too often in life, I come across people who limit themselves (including myself) because of a lack of belief, whether it be anything from accomplishing a long-held goal to losing weight. On this day however, I experienced two examples of the human spirit attaining amazing accomplishments.

It seems everywhere you look these days there is a personal trainer. Whether it be the local park, at the beach or on the corner across the road from your favourite restaurant. How do you know whether a trainer is best for you? What should you expect? Looks and first impressions can be deceptive. Below is a guide to what to consider when employing a personal trainer.

1.      Purpose.                    Identify what it is that you want to accomplish and the reason for this purpose. Without a clear understanding of what you want, you will not be successful in your endeavours.

Have you considered what truly is important to you? What is it that makes you happy!

At this time of year I come across a lot of people who have set new goals (or resolutions!) for themselves without consideration to whether they truly want to reach their new goal; and even more often no consideration to how they are going to reach there new goal.

Sleep deprivation combined with a busy schedule leads to fatigue which in turn can lead to:

·         Inefficiency and decreased productivity

·         Health concerns

·         Decreased alertness and therefore decreased level of safety, e.g. in your work or home environment, driving a car.

I often hear people say that they don’t have time to exercise, prepare their meals, do whatever it takes to lose weight (when that is one of their desires), or spend time doing what they love most. It makes me think that maybe it’s not quite important enough to them at this point in their life.

Your body has a fabulous mechanism to control its own temperature. If your body is too cold, it will warm itself by shivering.  If your body is too hot the body will send extra blood flow to the skin (carrying the excess heat from the core of the body) which will cause sweating. This in turn will allow cooling of the body via the process of evaporation.

It can be hard to maintain a regular exercise regime with the commitments of work, family and friends. There always seems to be some urgent (but not necessarily that important) job or task that has to be done now! With mobile phones, email, twitter and other social media, it is no wonder that exercise and taking care of your own well-being is often way down the list.

Queenstown, New Zealand – what a beautiful place.

On my recent trip to Queenstown, it was not just the beauty of the place that struck me but the friendly and relaxed nature of the people living and visiting there. It was as though everyone had a similar purpose of just to relax and enjoy. There was little evidence of stress.