Avoid gaining weight over the Christmas

Limiting kilojoule intake

If attending an after-work cocktail party, concentrate on eating well through the day and have a nutritious snack before leaving work such as a low-kilojoule yoghurt or smoothie.

Same rules for Christmas lunch. When ordering lunch or at the buffet, ensure you don’t over order or over fill your plate. Avoid any sauces, they are usually high in kilojoules.

For alcoholic drinks, avoid high-sugar mixers and pre-mixed drinks. Where possible, choose a low-kilojoule mixer – soda water and tonic water are ideal.

Alternate water with each drink, not only is this responsible alcohol consumption but it will limit the kilojoules and increase hydration as well as reduce the need to snack on high-fat items.

Increase the kilojoules you burn

Park further from the office and walk faster from the car park.

If you catch the bus, get off and on further from home.

If you live within walking distance but do not walk, give it a try even a few times a week can make a difference.

Plan your week, if you know you have evening functions that will interfere with gym or personal-training sessions, reschedule them in advance and squeeze in a few morning walks or stair runs so you don’t feel guilty having a few drinks.

For further information, fitness advice or training please contact Bernie on 0408 264 748 or bernie@bodytoburn.com.au.

07/12/2006

Handy tips to get through the Christmas party season (virtually) unscathed

In order to avoid gaining weight over the Christmas season the rule is simple: you must burn more energy than you consume. The simple way to do this is to ensure that if you are consuming more kilojoules you burn more kilojoules. This leaves you with two choices: increase your exercise program or ensure that the Christmas functions you attend do not cause your kilojoule intake to increase. In a perfect world limiting that kilojoule intake is possible but for many of us that is just not going to happen in December, so I have set out a few handy tips to help you to limit your kilojoule consumption at this time of year and to try and increase the energy you burn wherever possible.

Limiting your kilojoule intake

If you are attending a cocktail party straight after work, really concentrate on eating well throughout the day and have a nutritious snack before you leave work such as a low kilojoule yoghurt or smoothie. This will reduce the need to eat every canape that comes your way.

If you are heading off to a Christmas lunch the same rule applies but earlier in the day. When it is time to order your lunch or it is your turn at the buffet ensure you don’t over order or over fill your plate due to hunger. If possible, ask for any sauces accompanying your meal to be ‘on the side’ or do not have them at all – sauces are usually quite high in kilojoules.

Pay extra attention to healthy eating (especially snacking) at times when you don’t have to attend a Christmas function – this will allow you a bit more flexibility during the functions that you attend. If you have 3 healthy low kilojoule meals a day all week, the few extra kilojoules found in a glass of champagne might not hurt so much.

Choose your drinks carefully to keep the kilojoules to a minimum. For alcoholic drinks avoid high sugar mixers and pre mixed drinks. Where possible choose a low kilojoule mixer – soda water and tonic water are ideal.

Alternate water with each drink, not only is this responsible alcohol consumption but it will limit the kilojoules and increase hydration as well as reduce the need to snack on high fat items because you will be less hungry and less likely to crave a high fat/high kilojoule snack.

For non alcoholic drinks the same principle applies and opt for water (flat or sparkling) where possible. This will put you ahead of the game as far as limiting your kilojoule intake.

Increase the kilojoules you burn

December is a busy time of year therefore it will take some planning and discipline to increase the kilojoules you burn however it can be done without too much fuss.

• Park further from the office and walk faster from the car park
• If you catch the bus get off and on further away from home
• If you live within walking distance but do not walk give it a try even a few times a week can make a difference

Plan your week, if you know you have two evening functions that will interfere with gym or personal training sessions reschedule these in advance and squeeze in a few morning walks or stair runs so that you don’t miss out and you don’t feel guilty having a few drinks.

Add some extra exercise where you wouldn’t normally, but make it enjoyable, a walk around the lake before you catch up with friends for brunch or a walk to your favourite coffee shop can all make a difference and contribute to you feeling better over the Christmas season.

For further information, fitness advice or training please contact Bernie on 0408 264 748 or bernie@bodytoburn.com.au.

07/12/2006

The Benefits of Outdoor Training

Outdoor training is easy to fit into your lifestyle because it is dictated only by your schedule. During daylight saving you can train outdoors comfortably with good visibility between 6.00am and 8.30pm, so whether you start work early or finish work late there is time to fit in an outdoor training session each day. Outdoor training is more accessible, all you need is a nice outdoor area close to home or close to work and you can go for it.

You might wonder why the ability to fit in outdoor training is so wonderful. The answer is simple, outdoor training is the training that everyone dreams of – it is effective and it is varied. This means it works and it doesn’t get boring.

The biggest complaint people have with an exercise program is that although it is regular it is no longer providing results. In most cases there is a simple explanation for this, the exercise program is not challenging enough. It is easy to fall into a regular exercise routine and once a routine becomes regular your body becomes used to it. As a consequence you no longer challenge yourself and the results slow down.

The variety of exercises and activities that can be used when training outdoors prevents the boredom that can creep it and damage your motivation.

You can jog at a steady pace and you can sprint, you can run, walk or jump up a set of stairs, and you can run jump and lunge your way up the nearest, steepest hill. Outdoor training is more intensive because you have to think about it, you see the distance you have to travel rather than jog along on a treadmill waiting to reach the 15 minute mark when you can stop running.

Performing resistance exercises is easy and effective outdoors. All you need is a park bench, picnic table or sturdy low wall to perform push ups and tricep dips and you will feel muscles that you haven’t felt in a very long time. Exercises which you have typically performed indoors can be performed outdoors too such as boxing and circuits – this changes the intensity and keeps your routine interesting.

The outdoor training environment will change, even when your exercise routine doesn’t. A jog around the lake on a warmer day will require you to work harder. On a cooler day a jog around the lake might mean you jog faster or you have more energy left to sprint to the finish or run up the stars a few times as you make your way around. You can use the different terrain to add an extra challenge where you feel up to it.

When you exercise outdoors, especially in busy areas such as Lake Burley Griffin there is something new to look at each time you train. There are people running past, groups laughing and groaning their way through Boot Camp, families riding bikes and people walking their dogs. During early morning sessions there are often hot air balloons right above you.

Summer is here and it is fantastic for fitness because it allows many more people to give outdoor training a go and discover the huge benefits. Now that the beautiful warm weather is here – take advantage of it, get outside and enjoy it because before you know it winter will be back and the frost will return.

To book an outdoor Personal Training package contact Bernie Dowling on 0408 264 748 or email bernie@bodytoburn.com.au. For more information go to www.bodytoburn.com.au. Outdoor Personal Training packages start from $99.

03/11/2006

How to achieve your fitness and weight loss goals

The first rule is to commit to an achievable exercise program. Everyone knows that regular exercise is required for health. For weight loss and muscle building this usually needs to be more intensive exercise. Discipline is needed to exercise regularly and intensity will depend on the goals and timeframe you have set. Many people use a trainer to help them train at the right intensity, others merely so that they commit to a training regime.

Body to Burn personal trainers create training plans to suit the lifestyle of each client. If you would like to exercise with a personal trainer for two hours each week, your trainer will provide you with an exercise plan for the other days when you need to train alone to reach your goal. We have a variety of training options to satisfy different levels of commitment. Group training such as Boot Camp is a cost effective way to get intensive but supervised training. Many clients couple this with personal training for an achievable exercise program. Others prefer the personal nature of personal training and train with a trainer between one and five times each week.

The second rule is to monitor and where necessary alter what you eat. For many this is the most difficult aspect of achieving their goal. When you exercise regularly the temptation is to eat more because naturally you are hungry. This is where Body to Burn can assist you by providing nutritional advice and suggesting healthy eating options that you will actually enjoy and that require very little effort.

For more information or to book an appointment contact Bernie Dowling on 0408 264 748 or bernie@bodytoburn.com.au. You can also check out the website at www.bodytoburn.com.au

Ask Bernie about new Beginners Boot Camp starting soon.

05/11/2006

Body to Burn Personal Fitness

Personal Training is a safe and effective way to achieve your fitness, strength and weight loss goals. If you have been out of training for a little (or long) while it provides the guidance required so that you find your confidence again. If you have been training regularly but are just not getting the results you hoped for, some intensive personal training might be just what you need to start seeing these results. You are not training alone and your workout changes every session so training isn’t boring and you always get a workout!

Body to Burn has expanded and now offers more trainers. You may have seen the Body to Burn Personal Trainers walking, jogging, boxing or lunging their way around Lake Burley Griffin with clients from the frosty early hours and into the evening. Your Body to Burn trainers train right beside you so you have an interactive workout.

Now offering four Boot Camp programs at Lake Burley Griffin, you can choose the time that suits you and with daylight saving just around the corner you can take advantage of the balmy evenings for Personal Training and the new 6pm Boot Camp program.

Christmas packages are available from $160 so take the chance to pick up a gift for yourself, a friend or family member. We are also taking bookings for Shape up for Summer Part II – the post Christmas Shape up!

All Body to Burn trainers are fully qualified and insured Personal Trainers with First Aid qualifications and registered with Fitness ACT.

Contact Bernie for further information on 0408 264 748, bernie@bodytoburn.com.au or visit the website www.bodytoburn.com.au.

25/10/2006

Fall in for boot camp and feel the burn

by Kathryn Vukovljak – 02/08/2006

For the uninitiated, a grunt is a tough combination of squatting, kicking and jumping – but you’re encouraged to do as many or as few as you can. That’s the beauty of Bernie Dowling’s Boot Camp.

Part of Bernie’s Body to Burn Personal Fitness service, the thrice-weekly outdoor (rain or shine) classes include running, rolling, relays, crunches and punches.

The challenging class I attended started off with sprinting in the lung-shatteringly cold darkness, before moving on to team games and the dreaded grunts.

Bernie is a great motivator and pays attention to every member of the class. The other Boot Campers were friendly and supportive and there was a great sense of camaraderie.

Not being remotely fit, I appreciated that not only do you go at your own pace, but it’s never obvious that anyone else is running laps round you (though I’m sure they were).

I left feeling full of energy, covered in grass stains and ready to do it all over again.

Body to Burn Personal Fitness also offers a range of services including personal training, pre and post pregnancy training, nutritional analysis and specialised sports programming.

Contact Bernie Dowling at Body to Burn Personal Fitness on 0408 264 748, email: bernie@bodytoburn.com.au or visit www.bodytoburn.com.au

The next Boot Camp starts on August 21 and runs for four weeks; three times a week.

02/08/2006