Live Natural: Leeann Lok - Personal Trainer

My husband has finally decided that he wants to do something about his fitness level and he has asked me to help him. He had a health check as usual firstly and then what he wasn't aware of was that I was going to take him through a process called Self Myofacial Release. This is a process involving using a foam roller to smooth out adhesions in the muscles, which helps to improve flexibility and range of movement, basically its like giving yourself a deep tissue massage. But if your muscles are tight it can hurt like hell. It's always interesting to see people's reactions when they first do this. My husband was screaming like a baby, I had to laugh, and then he was complaining that it was boring. It wasn't until he was about 3/4's of the way through it that he he started to actaully enjoy it and start to feel the benifts of the process and by the time he had finished he said that he felt really good. I was pleasantly supprised and very happy that he had such a positive exeperience at such an early stage in his training.

 

Personal Training is not all about going like crazy.  It's about all round health in both body and mind and  over all well being. If I can make someone feel better physically and mentally I am a happy trainer. 

Iv'e been up to my eyes in the last two weeks in fitness education. Went to the brilliant Fitness First Personal Trainers conterence at Loughborough Univiersity, Where the likes of Fitness guru Paul Chek and Michol Dalcour were speaking, these guys are like gods in the fitness world and we got to listen to them and be trained by them for free. Both are both very much into functional training and seem to know everything about the moving body. Paul chek is very inspiring and his holistic approach to the health and fitness of the body is something that I am very interested in myself.

 

Following the conference I spent the last two long weekends on an Exercise to music course, which was great fun and very tiring I must say. I met some lovely girls including the tutor from Future Fit who was excellent. So this means that once I qualify, as yes I do have to take a practical exam I will be able to teach aerobic class's and this will lead to a whole realm of other things that I can teach. So I am back in study mode again doing lots of written work and jumping around alot to music which I can't get out of my head. I find myself counting the beat in my sleep which is driving me mad but I am afraid will be the case for the next month while I practise like crazy for my exam.

5 a day isn't really alot to try and fit in when you hink that it means a combination of 5 fruit and veg not five of each.

 

Start with Breakfast choose a healthy high fibre cereal and include 1 or two portions of fruit chopped up with it. It will make breakfast much more appeitising and you won't need any sugar.

 

Choose a healthy snack for your mid morning snack. You can have chooped raw vegetables, fruit, dried fruit, small handful of mixed unsalted nuts and seeds, a low fat real fruit yogurt, smooothie, fresh juice.

 

Lunch always make sure that you have salad if you are having a sandwich. If you don't eat bread there are wraps, also pasta salads, coucous or rice, all can be made with raw or roasted vegetables and pulses also count towards your 5 a day but only one portion will count you can't make up your requirement with 5 different varieties of pulse and the same goes for dried fruit and nuts.

 

Again mid afternoon snack applies the same as morning.

 

Evening meal, even if you have a pizza don't forget the tomatoe sauce that goes on your pizza counts towards your intake, and depending how much and what topping you have this will still count, if you make your own try not to go overboard with the cheese. So for your evening meal try to include 2-3 different vegetables in your meal. If you want food and you want it fast why not put on some pasta take a handful of frozen peas and sweetcorn and broccoli blanch the lot 2 minutes before the pasta is done drizzle with olive oil, vingear, salt and pepper and throw in some tuna, there you go a healthy balanced meal that only took 10-15mins to make and you have 3 of your five in one meal.

Well this is the second day that I have been snowed in now. I live in a private road and my car is in a car port at the bottom of the hill. There is so much snow and no where to put it and even if I get my car out of my space the whole of the road needs to be cleared for me to venture out. So that got me thinking there must be lots of you frustrated gym users are home with the kids dying to get out and exercise. It's simple get out and walk, walking in the snow is so much harder that you burn so much more calories and if you set yourself a challenge of going up hill even better. The next thing you can you do is get your shovel out and clear your pathways. When the snow is this deep it will definately got your heart racing but remember to bend your knees use your legs so that you don't injure your back. And if you haven't already done so get out there with the kids and have a snow ball fight and build a snow man all that running around will do you all some good and relief some of the stress from being couped up in the house. I'm off now gonna take the kids out for a walk to the local shop have a few snow ball fights on the way.