2. Find meaningful motivation
If the main purpose of your diet is cosmetic–i.e., to look amazing in your bikini–you’re unlikely to stick with it for the long haul. The solution: Arm yourself with additional motivators. Take note of migraines, heartburn, acne, energy levels and sleep quality in addition to body measurements and the number on the scale.
• Discovering that your new diet improves the quality of your life and health is powerful motivation

3. Move on after a mistake
K, you overindulged. What’s the next step? “Forget about it,” says James Newman, a nutritionist from Oklahoma, who followed his own advice to shed 150kgs. “One meal doesn’t define your diet, so don’t assume that you’ve failed or fallen off the wagon,” he says. Institute a simple rule:
• Follow any “cheat” meal with at least five healthy meals and snacks. That ensures that you’ll be eating right more than 80 percent of the time.

4. Roll out of bed and into the kitchen
Sure, you’ve heard this advice before. But consider that if you sleep for six to eight hours and then skip breakfast, your body is essentially running on empty by the time you get to work. And that sends you desperately seeking sugar, which is usually pretty easy to find. The most convenient foods are typically packed with sugar (doughnuts, muffins) or other quickly digested carbohydrates (biscuits, pastries, chocolate).
• Eat a good breakfast!!

5. Restock your shelves
How many times have you driven to the store in the middle of the night to satisfy a craving? Probably not nearly as often as you’ve raided the fridge. You’re more likely to give in to a craving when the object you desire is close at hand. So make sure it’s not: Toss the junk food and restock your cupboard and fridge with almonds and other nuts, cheese, fruit and vegetables, and canned tuna, chicken, and salmon. And do the same at work.
“By eliminating snacks that don’t match your diet and providing plenty that do, you’re far less likely to find yourself bingeing on high fat, high sugar snacks and drinks for energy.

6. Choose Protein
Protein increases your sense of satiety. Too often we consume high levels of carbohydrates at every meal or every snack which has a dramatic effect on your blood sugar levels…eg. Toast for breakfast, muffin for morning tea, sandwich at lunch, muesli bar and banana at afternoon tea and pasta or rice for dinner. Carbohydrates are converted to sugar, when unused are stored as fat. So rather than grabbing a muesli bar or a muffin for our snacks reach for a handful of almonds or cashews, carrot/celery and hommus, natural yoghurt with honey or a hard boiled egg, instead of 2 pieces of toast for breakfast how about 1 piece of toast and a scrambled egg or fruit salad with a handful of muesli and for lunch and dinner always ensure you have plenty of protein such as chicken breast, fish, pork, nuts, leafy greens, chick peas, legumes, kidney beans.
• Never let yourself starve… the key is to eat regularly, keep yourself satisfied and add protein whenever you can

Reference: Womens Health

When we think of freedom we tend to think primarily of…. Financial Freedom? Work as hard as you can to earn the ability to buy whatever you like and live in the most exclusive of post codes.  Or Social Freedom? To be deemed important by your peers and have the ability to socialise on an albeit global scale – cue facebook.  Or perhaps we think in terms of Cognitive Freedom? The ability to create, invent, master a range of concepts, often resulting in financial gain – the opportunities are endless.  Finally, you may be leaning towards the Political side of the fence? To be free from war and violence and equal rights for all citizens.  Although, do these concepts secure your spot in the lines of happiness and life expectancy and then the obvious question “do they give you the freedom to choose?”

Where does your health and fitness sit on your scale of importance? Does it come after financial freedom but before your morning coffee or the other way around? Take Steve Jobs for example.  The most sort after creative mind of the 20^th Century, creating ipods, iphone, i-everything.  He had cognitive freedom since he was able to walk and talk and financial freedom then followed suit – although this was at the cost of his health, sparing little time to enjoy all the things he worked so hard to obtain, dying at the ripe old age of 56.  Patrick Swayzee – Star of the most popular movie of all time “Dirty Dancing.”  He did ‘have the time of his life’ just to quote an exerpt from the movie itself but did he? Again at the cost of one all important factor – his health.  Michael Jackson, Heath Ledger, Anna Nicole Smith, Whitney Houston… the list goes on.  They had the social freedom to rub shoulders with some of Hollywoods finest and they all had the financial freedom to boot.  Can you see a common trend?

The moral of the story here is that health and fitness are at the roots of every facet of our lives.  Like it or not, the big office, the 6000 facebook friends, the fancy car, carbon tax or not – These things are meaningless and obsolete if we don’t have the level of health required to enjoy them.  Nothing tastes as good, nothing smells, feels, sounds anywhere near as good when we don’t have our health and unfortunately we cant just do extra hours in the office or send an apology letter when our health has been taken away.  You only get one body, one heart “Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it…it’s the greatest instrument you will ever own.” The above quote is from the song “Everyone’s Free to Wear sunscreen,” a really inspirational song based off of a graduation speech and I think it resonates very nicely to the tune of this article.

When we are fit and healthy we have the freedom to do whatever we want…. There is nothing holding you back in any facet of your life.  Exercise has been proven to increase your cognitive function, make you more alert and more productive.  Energy levels are increased, risk of illness is decreased, better sleep patterns, decreased risk of heart disease, blood pressure, obesity, most cancers…. The benefits of whole grains (just one (1) simple example of how to improve your diet and ultimately health) most documented by repeated studies include decreased risk of stroke, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, asthma, colorectal cancer, gum disease and tooth loss….The benefits are limitless! Now ask yourself one question…. If I were to tell you that I had a pill that would guarantee all of those things mentioned above, it is almost safe to say 99% of the population would be typing “where do I buy it and how fast can I get it’ into their google search engine.  The answer is that it is free and you can get it as fast as you are willing to work for it.  If you can place your health and fitness at the top of your list of things to do, you will have freedom and everything else will just be a bonus.    Kate Barbat

• All new mothers will receive x 3 sessions FREE of charge!
• Introduce a Mother to training and you will receive x 3 sessions FREE of charge!

Do you find it hard to make time for yourself?

Always putting the kids first?

Are you struggling to get motivated to exercise?

Can’t seem to lose those post baby extra’s?

Why not come down to Coastal Curves Fitness where you can train for FREE in a safe, fun and supportive environment. You don’t even have to pay!

We offer a wide variety of classes with experienced and dedicated trainers. All our trainers are professional qualified. So don’t put your health in the hands of an 8 week so called “Master Trainer”. Come see a professional for quick easy results!

• Non-impact cycle classes
• Outdoor Bootcamp
• Indoor group classes
• Yoga

Conditions apply see in store for details

Yes that’s right, FREE Icycle classes. If you do more then x 2 cycle classes the x 3 is FREE!

This offer starts Monday 11^th April 2011 and will continue until the end of April. There are 6 classes to pick from throughout the week.

Conditions: The x 3 session must fall within 7 days of the first session, so you don’t have to start on Monday, as long as the 3 sessions are within a 7 day period.

Weekly Classes available;

Monday 6.15pm Enduracycle – Kris

Tuesday 9.30am icycle – Petra

Wednesday 7pm cyclestrength – Petra

Thursday 6.00am Enduracycle – Kris

Thursday 9.30am Introcycle – Ray

Saturday 7.00am Fatburner – Kris

NEW Wednesday night 7pm class

Due to the popularity of the Monday night Enduracycle, we have decided to start a new class on Wednesday nights at 7pm instructed by Petra.  The class will be a series of sprints,

Climbs and challenging gear changes! Yes the class is a little later then usual, so get the kids off to bed and come down and beat the Winter gloom by shredding a few Kg’s!

P.S We have had a few people ask about starting a casual bike ride outside. I am more then happy to get a crew together once a month or more frequent if required. The bike ride would start from Icycle on a Sunday morning from 7am and complete a designated course where we all meet at the end for a bit of breakfast. Let me know who is keen and I will get the wheels in motion. Friends and family are welcome, there is no cost to the session and you don’t have to be a member to come along.

No longer will professional and amateur sporting organization do their own in house training, though utilize exercise professionals at private institutions such as the EFT Sports Performance Center. It’s important to train specificity in sports though we are starting to see a combination of various techniques from various sporting codes come together and birth a hybrid athlete capable of  unthinkable proportions. Why can’t an NRL player learn to jump like and AFL player under the high ball. Why can’t a surfer learn to spin and twist their body in the air like a gymnast! It’s the future!

Click on the link above and see for yourself!

The classes are for all levels of fitness, so don’t worry, if you haven’t tried Yoga before this class will begin your Yoga journey! If you are a seasoned Yogie, Julie can also tailor a more experienced program to challenge you.

Why Yoga??

Yoga is not a religion; It is based on the idea that ‘a healthy mind is a healthy body’.

Research shows that yoga helps manage or control anxiety, arthritis, asthma, back pain, blood pressure, carpal tunnel syndrome, chronic fatigue, depression, diabetes, epilepsy, headaches, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, stress and other conditions and diseases.

Yoga in a Nutshell……

Yoga helps promote a balanced development of the physical, mental and spiritual being.

It is the attainment of perfect equilibrium and harmony

• Improves muscle tone, flexibility, strength and stamina
• Reduces stress and tension
• Boosts self esteem
• Improves concentration and creativity
• Lowers fat
• Improves circulation
• Stimulates the immune system
• Creates sense of well being and calm.
• Promotes self- healing.
• Removes negative blocks from the mind and toxins from the body
• Increases self-awareness

You will feel rejuvenated and energized.  You have nothing to lose and everything to gain……