“To be a star, you must shine your own light, follow your own path, and don’t worry about the darkness for that is when stars shine the brightest.”

Usually I wake up on a Monday morning pumped to start my week, I can’t wait to train, I can’t wait to train my clients, I can’t wait for the week to begin. This past Monday though I woke with a very different feeling, almost a feeling of sadness, the first thought that came into my head this past Monday morning was that this week is Hava’s last week training with me.

Meet my client Hava Nind.

Hava and I had met each other years ago through mutual friends. In August of last year, after almost  four years of not having seen or spoken to each other, I received a friendship request from Hava on Facebook (oh the joys of Facebook!). We began talking, asking each other about how our lives had changed since we had last seen each other. Hava started telling me how she had just started exercising and eating healthy. She  wanted to get fit and toned, in her words “fitter and more toned than what most girls would want.” Within a week Hava came into Shredded and started training with me, and so her fitness journey at Shredded began!!

For one tiny little pocket rocket of a woman, Hava has the heart of a lion. She came to me at over 25% body fat and last week was measured at a healthy and beautiful 18%. More impressive than the changes that she has made aesthetically, Hava’s strength has more than doubled. When Hava started with me she could barely walking lunge holding 3kg dumbbells, last week she was lunging with 9kg dumbbells !! Hava can split squat with 12.5kgs dumbbells, climb to the top of the rope, do unassisted neutral grip pull ups and chin ups, this little woman and her determination has absolutely blown me out of the water.  

Saturday Leg session with Hava Nind

B1. Unilateral Leg Press 10 - 12 reps

B2. Romanian Deadlift 10 - 12 reps

B3. Prowler - FAST !!

In terms of her commitment to training, Hava is an absolute dream to train. Any single exercise that I have asked her to do she would give a shot, in all of our time training together there were never any “I can’t’s”. Perhaps if there was one thing in particular that we could improve on it would be perfecting her nutrition . . . Am I right Hava? :-)

Sadly for me this week was Hava’s last week training at Shredded, Hava is moving east to Sydney to start her new life.

I want to say a big THANK YOU to Hava for being such an incredible client, your sessions really have been one of the favourite parts of my week. I am going to miss you woman - I am going to miss how hard you work, and I am going to miss how much you make me laugh! I am going to miss your big smile, the fluorescent singlets that you train in and your pigtails!! You can’t help but look at Hava and smile, she is an absolute star, a joy to be around, her light shines so SO brightly.

I know that Hava can achieve ANYTHING that she puts her mind to, I can’t wait to see her go out into the world and strive every day to achieve her goals. Hava I am so excited for you !!

Goodluck Hav! I will miss you! Every time that you are back in Perth you better come back and visit me at Shredded so I can kick your little butt !! Keep training hard because I will be checking up on you !!

Your Coach,

Bek

"Work, Earn and Deserve."

If you love me you won't buy me chocolate for Easter!

I love chocolate!! Like most girls I know, if there was just one food in this world that we could eat unlimited quantities of forever and ever, and never get fat, chocolate would be it! Unfortunately though this magic zero calorie, unlimited quantity food just does not exist. Boo! That is unless you have a deep passion and love for celery, then you  are in luck and can gorge away!!

With my own fitness plans for 2012 and some pretty serious goals laid down to be achieved, I do not see any room in my nutritional plan this year for chocolate - EVER !!

I have put a ZERO TOLERANCE ban on any and all chocolate eating.

 I would love to be able to plan once every week to look forward to eating a small chocolate treat with my boyfriend, a little reward for a week of being disciplined and sticking to my nutritional plan. Something to look forward to, and then to reset and start going again from the meal following. This being chocolate though is just not conducive to my personality. I have always been a very all or nothing person, my best friends and my family like to call me extreme (but I'd rather like to think of me as extremely passionate!!). So if I have one square of chocolate, I'll undoubtedly want the whole block! Blocks of chocolate sadly will not build me the strong, fit, muscular and beautiful body that I am working towards achieving.

Last week  while I was spending the morning with my Mum she decided to start doing her Easter egg shopping. She asked me what I would like for Easter. Saying nothing to my Mum somehow did not get the message across, as she spent the next five minutes holding up about twenty different Easter eggs to see if I would change my mind. "How about just a small one?" - No. "A dark chocolate one?" - No. "Well what about some chocolate from the health food store??" . . . "Mum! NO !! IF YOU LOVE ME YOU WON'T BUY ME CHOCOLATE FOR EASTER !!!!" She looked at me, stormed off, muttered something under her breathe about me being ungrateful, then went and bought me a lipgloss as my Easter gift instead and we were back to being best friends about five minutes later!

So I'm pretty sure I got the message across, and this Easter my family knows that any chocolate given to me as a gift is not going to be received well!!

My point of all of this is that if you have a goal to be achieved, do not let this long weekend set you back. Keep the ball rolling, keep taking forward steps. If chocolate is your weakness then don't eat it! Pick something else to be your one meal of the week where you can divert from your nutritional plan. Every Sunday after the Shredded group class my boyfriend and I go to the Wild Fig in Scarborough. That is my treat meal for the week. I still pick a healthy meal, but I look forward to it, and I enjoy it. I also don't feel guilty after eating it!!  Its low carb, gluten free, sugar free and its keeping me on track. I am still moving forward towards my goal.

Make sure you have your own nutritional plans already set in place for this long weekend - before its started!! Remembering that a goal without a plan is just a dream. We can fail to plan, but a good plan never fails .

Happy Easter, eat well and enjoy your long weekend!

Your Coach,

Bek

"Work, Earn and Deserve."

Successful people don’t need to be told what to do because they know where they’re going.

I am currently spending part of my spare time making myself my own vision board. Its purpose is to depict in illustration my desired future. A visualisation tool that represents everything that I want to have, everything I want to be and everything that I want to do in my life. My vision board is going to remind me every day that I know what I want and I know where I am going.


Most days I wake up ready to take on the universe, but as I said in my last blog there are always a few days where I can wake up feeling like it might be easier to stay in bed rather than to take on reality.

So up directly above my bed head is going my vision board.

I strongly believe in positive reinforcement as an effective tool for altering behaviour. Positive reinforcement involves anything that follows a behavior that makes it more likely that the behavior will occur again in the future.

For my vision board I’ve thought about what exactly makes me tick. What quotes do I continually repeat to myself, what photos do I post on facebook, what motivational videos have I watched on repeat so much so that I know them word for word. These are all the elements that are going to make up my vision board.


My Work . . .

My Training . . .

Achieving Success . . .

My Aesthetic Goals . . .

My June 2012 Photo Shoot . . .

My Mantra . . . 

My belief that no power is greater then love. Love for my family, love for my partner, love for my friends, love for my work and love for myself . . .

Consciousness can shape reality. Empower yourself to create and live the life that you want. If you have your own personal goals that you want to reach, maybe you should think about making your own vision board. Visualise achieving those personal goals and living the life that you are going to create for yourself.


Your Coach,


Bek


"Work, Earn and Deserve."

I want to be the greatest of me.

The brain is your most powerful organ.

For me it is the reason for my every success, my every achievement. So powerful it is the driving force behind my every motivation, my strength, my purpose to wake up and go each day. On the other hand it is also my biggest weakness, it can stop my burning desire to achieve greatness dead in it tracks, it can put my forward  moving momentum to a grinding halt. For days at a time I can be stuck.

It is for this very reason that I weight train. It reminds me daily that the power of the mind is incredible. That after one awesome training session I can go from being completely stuck to being back into the swing of full forward momentum.

Despite what some may believe, it is not actually an aesthetic thing. From an outsiders perspective it is easy to take a narrow minded view, to believe that the only reason a person would train is to look good. I have heard before that “there’s more to life than being good looking and having a nice body.” If this is what you think then you have missed the point entirely. In my books it cannot actually be something to be proud of to be considered “attractive.” What is considered to me to be a pride is to be determined, to be mentally tough, to push forward in times of struggle, to try harder when it would be easier to give up.

I have said it in a post before, do not just train for the purpose of aesthetics. This is only one of its many benefits. Train because it teaches you mental focus and discipline, skills that you can go on and apply to all aspects of your life. Achieving success in the weight room will give you the confidence to go out and achieve your own personal success in the world.

The brain is your most powerful organ. It is more powerful and faster than any computer. It is thought that creates, and that thought precedes action. What we think about regularly, that reality is created for us. Change your thinking, and you have the ability to change your life. 

“If constructive thoughts are planted positive outcomes will be the result. Plant the seeds of failure and failure will follow.” - Sidney Madwed

I want to be the greatest of me, do everything in your power to become the greatest of you.

Your Coach,

Bek

“Work, Earn and Deserve.”

Get FIT, Lose FAT, Be Healthy INDEFINITELY. Make Fish Oil Your Supplement MUST HAVE.

With summer only just around the corner it’s time to stop saying “I’ll start tomorrow.” All too often I hear by way too many people “I’ll start eating healthy as of tomorrow,” “I’ll start exercising tomorrow,” “I’ll join the gym tomorrow,” “I’ll book in a session with a personal trainer tomorrow” . . . you catch my drift. The more you say that you’ll do it tomorrow, I find the less likely it becomes that you will actually do it. So forget about tomorrow, the time to get up off your butt and actually do something is NOW.

When it comes to achieving your summer body, there is no big secret. There is no magic cure, no super food, no magic diet, and there is definitely no magical pill that will help you get the summer body of your dreams. There’s no quick fix to sporting and lean and fit body. There is something that can be done though, and that’s HARD WORK. Hard work, commitment, persistence and dedication. That along with a healthy nutritional plan, a structured training regime and a tailored supplement protocol, and your results WILL COME.

 So there’s no magic pills, and I’m sure if there was one we would all be taking it. Which makes me wonder WHY IS EVERYONE NOT TAKING FISH OIL ??

It’s not world breaking news that fish oil is good for you, but maybe we do not all understand to what extent how good fish oil is for you.

Here is my top ten as to why I think EVERYONE SHOULD TAKE FISH OIL -

1.       LOSE body fat.

2.       Maximise your training efforts.

3.       Reduce the risk of disease.

4.       Reduce Inflammation.

5.       Increases serotonin levels, acts as a natural anti-depressant.

6.       Decreases Blood Pressure.

7.       Improves Neurological Health.

8.       Improves Cardiovascular Health.

9.       Improves Skin and Eye Health.

10.   Increases energy levels and improves quality of sleep.

The list could go on and on !! For further reading on how you can benefit from adding fish oil to your supplement protocol I have pasted the below links –

http://www.charlespoliquin.com/Blog/tabid/130/EntryId/118/Why-Fish-Oils-Are-The-Most-Important-Supplement.aspx

http://www.fitnessforever.com.au/2010/09/3-simple-ways-to-reduce-glycemic-index-and-insulin-response-during-meals/

http://www.rusticgirls.com/health/8-foods-to-lower-blood-sugar.html

So what are you waiting for ?! Do not wait for tomorrow, because tomorrow will never come. The time is NOW !! Get fit, lose fat, and be healthy – INDEFINITELY !! If you haven’t already I suggest investing in a good quality fish oil, and making it your supplement MUST HAVE !!

Your Coach,

Bek

“Work, Earn and Deserve.”

Sweat To Make a Stand Against Bullying

“Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; but define yourself.” Harvey S. Firestone (American Industrialist).


This coming Monday 18^th July I will be running a charity event to raise money and awareness for anti bullying.

Monday night I will be offering six x 45 minute 1:1 personal training sessions at the small cost of $15 per person. All monies raised will be donated to Kids Helpline.

For your $15 you will get the opportunity to be trained by myself (an internationally qualified strength coach), in Australia’s premier strength institute, and you support a worthy cause!!

Time Slots are

3:30 pm

4:15 pm

5:00 pm

5:45 pm

6:30 pm

7:15 pm

Get in fast as this will work on a first in first served basis. Please PM me directly to book in.

This is my own way to give back to the community and to stand up for something that I so strongly believe in.

The world has so much beauty in it; no one deserves to be treated cruelly. We should appreciate each and every person for their differences; everyone has something beautiful that they can offer this world. Always remember that when you point a finger at someone, there are always three fingers pointing back at you.

“Work, Earn and Deserve.”

Bek :)

Ellen DeGeneres makes her stand against bullying

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B-hVWQnjjM

Justin Beiber celebrates his Australian school boy hero - A bully victim.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_rZn8YKEzU

Goal Setting

What does goal setting mean to you, and what role does it play in your life?



It seemed a bit of a contradiction for my second blog to be about goal setting. The truth is that I had set myself a goal to achieve by May 17^th this year, and I did not achieve it.



In fact I got back from a holiday to Bali at the beginning of June, and I was further away from achieving any of my fitness goals then what I had ever been before.
Well that was four weeks ago and a hell of a lot can change in four weeks.

So why didn’t I achieve my goal of May 17^th?? It all comes down to MINDSET. Mentally I was not switched on to achieve it. I was lost, and hopeful, and I thought that somehow just by saying I had a goal, that all other things would fall into place, somehow that would make me switch on.  It’s the difference between saying “I’d like to look good in a bikini this summer”, and saying “I AM going to look un-freaking-believable in a bikini this summer.”  Saying that you would “like” to is wishful thinking, telling yourself that you are going to, and believing yourself when you say it, now that sounds a bit more like an action plan!!



Since my rude awakening following my return from Bali, I have had four solid weeks of good clean nutrition and hard training. I am happy to say that the calliper results are reflecting the work and effort I am putting in. I feel that now more than ever in my life that my fitness goals are achievable, and that they and within arms reach. I’m not even half way there yet; but I can still feel it within my grasp, eight more weeks of hard, consistent and unfailing work away.



Here are six steps that I believe will help flick your motivated switch to ON :

1.    SET yourself a clear goal.

2.    DEVELOP habits and strategies that will support the achievement of this clear goal.  

3.    Seek ADVICE from people who can assist you to reach your goals - get yourself a coach. I could not do it without mine.

4.    Make yourself ACCOUNTABLE – plan when you are going to exercise, prepare your meals a day in advance and keep a personal food diary to ensure that you stay on track.

5.    VISUALISE and positive REINFORCEMENT –Envisage yourself achieving your goal and continually reinforce to yourself that you ARE going to achieve that goal.  

6.   Continually REASSESS – take measurements and keep a record so that you can track your progress. For the past four weeks I have been doing a fifteen minute Biosignature with my coach at the same time every week to monitor my progress. This ensures that I am staying on track, and that each week I am that bit closer to achieving my goal (for more information on what Biosignature is please feel free to email me).

7.    Apply SELF-DISCIPLINE – You can surround yourself with positive, encouraging and supportive people who all want to see you achieve your goals, but ultimately the final responsibility rests with YOU. You need to consistently organise yourself and work with determination and commitment if you are to achieve the success you truly deserve.

For some mid week reading here are two of my favourite articles written about goal setting:

      1. http://www.goalmaker.com/whyset.html

      2. http://www.sportscoachingbrain.com/the-psychology-of-winning-how-to-develop-a-winning-attitude-in-high-performance-sport/



At the end of the day, when I look back and reflect on my life I don’t want to think of all the dreams I had. I don’t want to think about what could have, what might have, what should have been. Rather when I reflect on my life I want to be able to look back and think of everything I have accomplished – everything I did, everything I have done. Knowing that instead of hoping and wishing for dreams to come true, I was ambitious. I acted with purpose, I planned and I executed – I achieved my goals.



So what are you waiting for? Go set some goals people!!