Posts belonging to Category 'Exercise'

Personal Training in Perth, A Diary: Part Two!

Ze lovely Sarah Devlin!

A little over a month ago I started on my journey to fitness once and for all, by enlisting the help of the lovely Sarah to help me navigate the jungle known as “Doing More Exercise Than Just Walking to the Bus Stop Each Day“.

It was an unknown world to me, full of strange creatures such as the wild lunge squat, the dreaded tricep dip, which tend to travel in packs of ten…(at this stage, I hear they get more prevalent the further into the jungle we go), the gentle plie (plee-yay) and the common press up. There are also some ultra rare beasts known as ‘rest periods’, but we haven’t seen too many of those during our travels.

Dreaded tricep dip, for reference!

So what have I learned so far on my trip? Here are a few of my discoveries.

I am capable of so, so, SO much more than I ever thought possible. Despite being in the early stages of training, I had very low expectations of how much exercise my body could cope with. The great thing about this style of training is that we work on so many different areas (eg. not just cardio, although there is some) that most muscle groups are nicely exhausted by the end of the session.

I was scared at first. In the past I’ve heard of trainers who make you work out until you can’t see / throw up / emotionally break down. My training sessions are not like this! By no means will Sarah let me slack off, but she’s not there to make me cry or be sick.

My bum, thighs & tummy are getting tighter and stronger all the time. How do I know this? Well first up it’s the aches and pains that come the day / two days after training!! This has got to be the worst part, but I’m told it will get better in time. It just means I’m working muscles that have been taking it easy for WAY too long!!

Secondly, I can visibly see / feel that these areas are getting firmer and it’s such a great feeling. As a reminder, I’m pretty small already and not trying to lose weight, but I’m very happy to be getting firmer and more toned as that was my goal 🙂

A pic of me at the beach after some workouts… oh wait. Maybe one day?

Better posture – as you can imagine, running a website requires a fair bit of computer time. My ‘real job’ also involves a hefty amount of staring at screens also, so partially rounded shoulders tend to come with the territory.

We’ve been working on my posture, strengthening up the back / shoulder / chest muscles and even the work on the core helps too! I’ve definitely noticed an improvement which makes me super happy! My spine is beginning to ♥ me again.

So overall starting personal training is definitely one of the best things I’ve ever done for my health & wellbeing and I’m only just beginning to see the results.

I can’t wait to see what happens as I continue with it!

If you want to find out more about Sarah see her website!

Tell me your personal training stories of joy / woe!

Be well,

Annette

xoxo

Personal Training in Perth, A Diary: Part One!

Personal Training Diary, Day 1.

I have to be honest with you, I’m a little scared about what I’ve gotten myself into. See, despite running a website dedicated to health & beauty and being a keen yoga goer, my cardio and strength generally resemble that of a sea cucumber.

I found Sarah Devlin on a random trawl through Gumtree, I think I was looking for a cute vintage bike. I clicked through to her website and was greeted by an ultra lovely looking page stating the following:

♥ I want to create long, lean muscles for you, boost your energy levels and make you look and feel fantastic.

♥ I am friendly, personable and motivating and I don’t think a personal trainer has to be shouty or intimidating.

♥ I want you to have fun and be comfortable with me while you are working as hard as you possibly can.

I was won over, so we teed up a time to have my first-ever personal training sesh (eek!).

My strength & cardio capacity resemble that of my good friend here.

We met up at a local lake / park / generally beautiful area, which I surmised would make the pain a little more bearable. There were swans and lots of puppy dogs, so I ended up focusing on them to help get me through!

Sarah listened to my concerns about a high cardio workout, so we mainly worked on strength, with heaps of exercise variations (but still working each area of the body to its limit). I didn’t escape cardio altogether though, damn, but I’m told it’s for the best!

She has a very encouraging training style and is very much focused on making sure you have correct posture / alignment, which is great for a complete novice like me who has little idea of how to hold my body correctly in the exercises.

Another thing I love is the mix of pilates and dance moves in the session, I really feel like Sarah understands women’s bodies and knows how to bring out the best in me, even if I feel like complaining.

Hello new found body part!

Post first workout I make an interesting discovery – I have triceps???! Yes, they’re calling my name for the first time I can probably ever remember and they’re not pleased with me after happily lying dormant for all these years!

The next day I felt surprisingly good, however as the day wore on my muscles grew increasingly weary and the day after that they were rebelling to the point that it was a big effort to move myself around!

No pain no gain right?

Stay tuned for Part Two of my adventures in Perth Personal Training next week! x

Web: Sarah Devlin
E-mail: sarah@sarahdevlin.com
Phone: 0431 365 342

Prices start from $70, depending on session frequency and distance to travel, contact Sarah for more info

Have any questions? If you’re currently seeing or thinking about seeing a Personal Trainer I’d love to hear from you!

Be well,

Annette

xoxo

Beauty & Wellbeing Routine: Adriane Daff, Actress.

Welcome to our BRAND NEW segment, where we will uncover for you all the secret tips & tricks that well-known and upcoming “Perthonalities” employ to keep them looking and feeling on top of the world (or Kings Park)!

If you have any suggestions for Perth based darlings you’d like us to interview, send through an e-mail and we’ll try and get them to shed some light on their health and beauty routines.

First up is Adriane Daff, actress and local pretty Perthie, she has worked in films, television and most recently two plays that received rave reviews, including “The Pride“.

Read on to see how she keeps looking great…

Tell us about your daily beauty routine!

Trying to remember to cleanse, tone and moisturize. Trying to remember to put on sunscreen. Trying not to touch my face throughout the day. Trying to do at least some sort of exercise. Trying to drink as much water as I can. Trying to get at least 7 hours of sleep. Trying to eat apples. I would describe the whole routine as ‘trying’.

Whats the one beauty treatment you can’t live without? And your favourite place to have it done?

IPL at The Beauty Gallery is pretty damn amazing. Mircrodermabrasion at the same place is also really good. And I like facials.

The best facials I’ve ever had in my life were at a place in the West Village in New York that I went to regularly up until about a year ago when I left America. My therapist was a very stern Eastern European lady (called something like Olga) and told me if I just drank more water and slept more it would make a huge difference. I wish I could go to her regularly. She was so matronly and matter of fact. I miss her.

Who do you trust with your hair in Perth, and why?

I trust anyone and everyone. I’m not too prescious about my hair (and maybe not too kind) but I feel like it’s the one thing that no matter what you do to it, it’ll always grow back. So you should dye it, cut it, do whatever you like to it because it’s only temporary. In saying that though nine times out of ten when I say to someone I love your hair they tell me they got it done at Head Studio.

Favourite budget / at home beauty treatment?

Visine eye drops. Eight dollars!

Juicy Tubes!

Your three, absolutely cannot live without, favourite products?

Lancome juicy tubes, Aesop sunscreen, Dior Diorshow mascara.

Do you have any secret tips you use to keep looking / feeling great?

Sleep and water drinking! Just like Olga said! Boring. But it works, I think.

What beauty treatment/ wellbeing activity would you love to try but haven’t yet? (Due to time, money, scared etc!)

One day I would like to go to a really intense day spa that lasts for maybe a week and is in a really remote part of the world and you do things like immerse yourself in snow/steam in a sauna/roll around in honey/get blasted with a high pressure hose and eat only rice two times a day. Something really harsh, just to see if it works.

Describe a typical day of eating for you?

I’m not so good with routine, I find it really hard to get into good habits. Food both bores me and overwhelms me. I try to eat things that I know are good for me but more often than not I don’t care enough. I’m working on it.

Describe your fitness routine.

Again I’m really bad with routine so I go through phases of exercise but things I always find myself going back to are walking (because it doesn’t feel like you are exercising) swimming and yoga. I recently started Bikram Yoga which I like because its mental and physical. And very challenging.

Do you take part in any alternative therapies or take supplements? If so, discuss.

Not really, I’m pretty cynical and ignorant when it comes to alternative therapies (I’m sorry to say). I try to remember to take calcium tablets but that’s about it!

Thanks Adriane!

Do you like our new section?

Who would you most like to have reveal their beauty / health secrets?

Any questions for our actress friend?

Be well,

xoxo

Product Review: Carmen Electra Fit to Strip Vol.2 DVD

Carmen Electra – Fit to Strip

Carmen Electra: Fit to Strip Vol. 2 – for those who are unsure from the title, this is a workout DVD(not porn!) that claims it’ll give me a dancers body and spice up the bedroom.

My bedroom is currently about as spicy as vanilla yoghurt so I’m welcoming Carmen’s projections on that one. Keen for the dancers body too!

The great thing about this DVD is that when we watched it later in the afternoon while eating leftover vegetarian pizza (me) & a triple ham sandwich with mustard, plastic cheese and a beer (housemate), we were amazed by how sweet and friendly Carmen Electra actually seems.

And the ‘celebrity fitness instructor’ Michael Carson who leads us through the routine is nice as well, another great aspect is seeing Ms. Electra struggle a little with the workouts, human after all!

Volume 2 doesn’t seem to have any actual stripping moves, but focuses on cardio and getting toned up, apparently the other DVD’s in the series look more at the art of taking ones clothes off in order to excite.

We did some of the exercises whilst indulging in previously mentioned treats and let me tell you, I am really feeling it in my thighs and ‘buns’ (as Carmen is fond of describing my rear) today. Wonderful news for my impending fitness!

I really like what I’ve seen so far from Fit to Strip 2, it’s definitely not something I would have picked up had I not received it as a gift, but it’s really enjoyable and I’m already noticing the effects from it the day after first using it, so I’m keen to continue on and see some results!

LOVES IT!

PS. Author does not condone eating leftover pizza, beer & ham sandwiches on the quest for optimal health and wellbeing, HOWEVER, if you’re going to do it, might as well be before you get your body movin’ so you can burn some of it off!

Be well,

Annette
xoxo

Birthday Wellness!

A big sleep-in started my birthday with a snoozy bang. I did wake up at 7am to rush into my housemates room and sleepily jibber about birthdays and she made it worthwhile by presenting me with two wonderful prizes!

Carmen Electra: Fit to Strip Vol. 2 (review coming very, I love it!) and STOTT PILATES: Sunrise Workout (also coming soon!). Yay! We’d both been meaning to get some workout DVD’s happening, so now we’ll be busting moves and stretching it out in the comfort of our own home!

After my gift receiving I fell back into bed til 11am and then made my favourite healthy breakfast: Honey porridge with sliced banana!

This stuff is really good for you too as it keeps blood sugar levels even throughout the day, so it’s a perfect brekky.

Backtracking a little… the night before I went to dinner at Galileo Buona Cucina, Shenton Park. Totally in love with this place now!

Bruschetta for starters (possibly the best I’ve ever had), pear nectar (!!!) and one of their signature dishes, artichoke ravioli for mains… such a fantastic birthday dinner!

Urban Spoon rating: Galileo Buona Cucina on Urbanspoon

My parents gave me something dorky I’d been wanting for a while, A WATER JUG! I’m going to use this to make my special Iced Green Tea – I make a big batch of this up and drink it throughout the week, I’ve found it really helps with glowing skin so I’m really excited to get back into this!

Back to my day though! I met up with my Mum and had a HUGE salad and detox juice (beetroot, carrot, apple, celery) from Edens Salad Bar in Subiaco, they were both delicious and the juice was enormous! I recommend.

Urban Spoon rating: Eden's Salad Bar on Urbanspoon

As my birthday treat to myself, I bought the latest Good Health magazine and some of the new Lindt Blueberry Intense chocolate – OH MY DELISH! As well as the blueberries, it also has little slivers of almonds, yum.

Another lovely gift I received, from Conor @ Hold the Beef was some Oxfam Unwrapped seeds, I found it really thoughtful and it made me smileeeeeee that my birthday inspired Conor to want to help someone else 😀

Throughout the day I slurped on green tea & rosehip tea to up the wellness quotient, and when it came time to get ready for my party, I used some Akin & Al’chemy prods to “gussy up”.

My locks were treated to [Al’chemy] Rice Aminos & Wheat Protein Intensive Moisture Shampoo and Avocado & Calendula Re-Moisturising Conditioner. These hair heroes are SLS free (a very good thing) and are devoid of many other nasties as well, so are great when you want to give your strands a break from the chemical torture they’re usually subjected to!

Post-shower I spritzed some ‘Cellular Brightening Mist’ on my face, I –LOVE- this stuff! It smells like lavender and feels cool & sparkly on the skin. I haven’t done any comparitive analysis pre and post spritzing but it makes me FEEL like my skin is brighter, so I’m sticking with it!

Seeing all my favourite people in one place that night ended my birthday on a high note, friends are critical to wellbeing and I was so happy that all my besties made it out to celebrate with me.

Love you all. Thanks for reading. Here’s to the next wellness filled year, hope you stick along for the ride!

Be well,

Annette

xoxo