The will to change

If you’re a fitness fanatic like me, you’re always on the lookout for new ways to structure your training or nutrition for better results. In my quest to improve my own fitness levels I’ve been implementing some new moves and nutrition tips from the very pages you’re reading. Without a doubt the biggest and most successful change I’ve made was simply moving my training time slot. Previously I was one of those devout afternoon trainers. However, my workouts started to suffer from too many responsibilities at work, often coupled with insufficient nutrition throughout the day to power a training session. What was an excuse a few afternoons in a row became a few weeks, and before I could get a handle on things I was well into skipping most of my workouts. And the hardest thing is to play catch up when you can’t even remember where you left off (this might ring true if you’ve let the past Easter holidays play havoc with your routine).
These days it’s different though. Now I know what 5:30am looks like! Yip, I’ve become an ‘early bird’, making a change in my schedule and getting my training done first thing, which is the best thing I’ve tried in years. I burn more calories training in the morning, I’m energised throughout the day and I pay closer attention to my nutrition.
Another thing that’s worked for me is ensuring I’m adequately inspired before I train. Simple things help, like reading up on some fitness news or health info the night before I go to sleep. I’m a big believer in stimulating your subconscious mind for better results. Coupled with this, I visualise my entire routine beforehand. Don’t worry – it really only takes a few minutes to think through every movement.
And that’s it, that’s all it took for me to turn things around. Its not really that much if you apply yourself to it. I know everyone’s different and people always say “you have to find what works for you”, but you have to keep in mind that what worked for you a while back might not work so well anymore. It comes down to being realistic and honest with yourself. I never believed I could have a successful training session within an hour of waking up, but here I am, a month down the line wishing I thought of it sooner.
So with my new found fitness mojo, this issue of fitness magazine was undoubtably the most exciting magazine to put together to date. The one physique and personality out there I admire most is now featured on our cover! With her bubbly personality and insanely toned and lean figure, who can escape the magic that is Jamie Eason? Check out page 48 for our interview with this fitness superstar, where she gives her tips on keeping motivated, training and maintaining a fitness lifestyle.
I hope the pages that follow inspire and motivate you, so that you can affect the changes you want in your life or just kick things up a notch.

Happy reading!

Tanja

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The big medical aid debate – when is too early and when is too late

With healthcare reform adopted in the U.S. following the landmark bill past in the senate, the issue of healthcare is firmly in the spotlight. For us as South Africans healthcare reform is still some way off, but the topic of medical aid is still a very pertinent one, especially amongst us females. We have another guest blogger this week, in Katy Caldis, CEO of Fedhealth, who puts forward some very valid points when it comes to the implications of joining medical aid schemes to late.

Hopefully this article gets you thinking a bit about your best course of action when it comes to deciding on a medical aid scheme, as you can never take your health for granted.
- Tanja

One of the toughest challenges facing the medical aid industry today is the task of convincing the young and healthy that they should join a medical aid at an age when they believe they are invincible.
Young women usually only realise the importance of medical cover when it is too late, for example when they unexpectedly fall pregnant or are diagnosed with a serious illness.
Besides the cost of the actual treatment and hospitalisation, there are other issues which they need to be made aware of in order to make an informed decision. One of the most important factors is underwriting. When joining a medical aid for the first time, especially after the medical event which served as a wake up call, schemes can apply a general waiting period of three months, as well as a pre-existing condition waiting period of up to 12 months, leaving the member exposed to these expenses.
Pregnancy is a prime example: On average Fedhealth receives over 100 membership enquiries per month from women who find themselves pregnant without cover. Although pregnancy is a Prescribed Minimum Benefit (PMB), which is a list of conditions that all schemes have to cover, the prospective pregnant member can still be underwritten if she has had no cover before or, if she has had cover but has more than a 90 day break in cover since leaving her previous medical aid. This means that her pregnancy can be excluded by the scheme.
These measures are all that medical schemes have at their disposal to protect themselves from bad risk, as well as anti-selection. We have found that many young women for example only join a scheme when they want to get pregnant and need to obtain the benefits of private hospitalisation. They leave the scheme as soon as the baby has been born and is given a clean bill of health.
Penalties are also not only for the young however. Waiting to join a medical aid can also result in your monthly contribution being loaded with a Late Joiner Penalty. This penalty can range from 5% – 75% of your risk contribution and is calculated according to the number of years that you were not a member of a medical scheme since the age of 35.
When calculating the Late Joiner Penalty, any previous years of membership of a medical aid (creditable coverage) are taken into account. The Late Joiner Penalty offers the scheme some protection from members joining later in life when their health status starts to deteriorate.
The point that we need to emphasise is that we should advise our children and young dependants to be responsible and to consider all the implications of their decision not to join a medical aid because they may not feel they need it at that particular stage of their lives. The reality is one should never wait until you need it because so much works against you: waiting periods without any cover, condition specific waiting periods, as well as contribution loadings of between 5 and 75% for life.

For more advice and information on medical aids visit www.fedhealth.co.za.

By: Katy Caldis, CEO of Fedhealth

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Keeping those New Year’s resolutions on track

As we come to the end of the sixth week of 2010 hopefully your New Year’s resolutions are still on track to make this your best year ever. If you have faltered or you have stumbled a bit, don’t fear. Our guest blogger this week gives you a few pointers to get you back on track…

Tanja

With the festive season now a distant memory and New Year’s resolutions still hopefully intact the question is how many women will stick to their guns as the rest of 2010 unfolds?

According to a recent British survey*, figures show that an alarming 87% of women are unable to kick bad habits and give up too easily before January is even through, blaming lack of time as the main contributing factor.

When trying to achieve too many resolutions at once, one’s focus and energies are spread too thin. It’s much less effective to kick many habits simultaneously. With only a certain amount of motivation and focus, women need to set themselves realistic goals so they don’t run out of steam. Resolutions are also often too vague, for example ‘I am going to save money’. With no concrete plans and details put in place, women immediately set themselves up for failure.

When questioned about resolutions, the top three answers came as no surprise. Losing that festive season flab came in first with 55% of women wanting to stick to a diet, 40% of women claimed to want to save money in 2010 and the usual suspect, joining a gym resonated with 25% of women.

Of the 87% of those who said they never stick to their resolutions, a quarter said it generally took up to a month to quit, 17% gave up within two weeks, 13% threw in the towel after a week and 8% only managed to stick to their resolutions for 24 hours.

However, despite these challenges sticking to New Year’s resolutions is not an unobtainable goal and can be made simple and stress free.

My advice on how women can stick to their New Year’s resolutions:
Pick six habits you’d like to change for 2010.
Pick one of the six habits to start with.
Commit as publicly as possible to creating this new habit in two months.
Break the habit into eight baby steps, starting with one ridiculously easy step. Example: if wanting to get out of debt, the first step is to write up your debts on a piece of paper and stick them on the fridge and look at them daily.
Choose a trigger for your habit – something already in your routine that will immediately precede the habit and spark off a spending spree. For example window shopping in your lunch hour.
Do the first, baby step for one week (looking at your debts), right after the trigger. And as the debt is paid off, no matter how small the installments, post the progress publicly.
Each week, move on to a slightly harder step. You’ll want to progress faster, but don’t. You’re building a new habit. Repeat this until you’ve done eight weeks.
* Handbag.com Nation Survey 2009

By: Robyn Farrell, managing director at 1st for Women

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Accountability

In our never ending quest to get more motivation and dedication into our fitness routines, many overlook the fact of accountability. I’ve never really overheard anyone use this term in the fitness industry… yet so many people in business use this term as a key driving factor to reach success.

Accountability is real simple… it means that you shall be held “accountable” for your actions. This means that if you make a commitment to do something, you should be answering to someone or something. That’s saying that you’re not alone in this.

Take for instance the last few days. I have a new photo shoot coming up with Cindy Ellis, by this I mean places are swapped for a day, Cindy behind the lens and me in front. Not only is Cindy one of Fitness’ leading photographers, she’s also a fitness girl with a list of accomplishments on the physique circuit. So, I’ve made a commitment to her that I’m going to be in much better shape when she sees me next week. And she’s gonna hold me accountable to it for sure! I’m even keeping her updated with my daily progress.

I can even go one step further and make myself accountable to all YOU fitness girls. (so check back for some more posts btw)

Make a commitment to not only yourself, but to someone else who can be the driving force you need to get your butt out there. If you have a spouse or best friend with similar goals in mind, it will make it a lot easier.

Thanks for keeping me honest Cindy

Tanja

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Counting guilt calories on that muffin

Counting guilt calories on that muffin

This morning I was back at my desk, ready to face everything that 2010 was going to bring,… and the dreaded muffin was sitting right in front of me.

I knew that the first day back at work would be filled with a bunch of catching up on what everyone did over the holiday season, so I took the liberty of buying the muffins. A few minutes into getting our editorial sorted out for your next issue of Fitness, it hit me. I’m sitting here, the muffin is sitting there, and I have not even had breakfast!

I’m sure 90% (probably more like 99%) of you made new years resolutions, the usual getting back on track and refocussing on diet. It might even be planning on incorporating a different fitness regime and stepping it up a notch. I know I did. And it was going pretty well until this morning.

The goals I have set for myself are more along the lines of making time for ME. This means not eating my oats at my desk, but rather at home. It means waking up 30 minutes earlier so that I wouldn’t feel rushed anymore, leaving me with time to jump on my bike and even prepare my lunch for the day. My goal is ME, getting my stuff done.

Bill Phillips, Author & Creator of Body-for-life said “failing to plan, is planning to fail”, and this morning was a perfect example. In all my enthusiasm to get back to the Fitness Team, the plan went out the window, along with my oats and cardio for the morning.

If you want to ensure you’re successful at something, you have to plan for it. And in order for it to be real, you have to be realistic. For me, 30minutes less snooze time and cooking at home is pretty basic… now it’s just getting to it.

Remember why you’re doing this, why you set goals initially. Don’t expect to change your lifestyle overnight, because you’re setting yourself up for failure. Break it down into more manageable steps, and you’ll see the results coming soon enough.

If you’re wondering about that muffin. I knew it would be completely guilt filled, not because of my diet, but because I let myself down in the “planning’ department. So I got up and made oats instead

Have fun with your fitness,… here’s to YOUR great 2010 ahead!
Tanja

Did you know: An average sized banana muffin contains around 160 calories.

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Reader Inspiration

It’s been a busy few weeks with everything that’s been happening in the industry, as well as getting the next Fitness ready for sale. The next issue is going to bring some exciting stuff, I know you girls are gonna love it. It also features our new USN Face of Fitness cover model winner, Odette van der Merwe.
Now that the next Fitness is in print, we’re also working on our next installment of Fitness Digital – your free issue of Fitness Mag. In addition we’re working on bringing you Fitness TV. Soon you will be able to see all our cover model finalist interviews along with great workout videos and clips from previous fitness shows. Keep a close eye on the media for the launch.
We’re busy pulling concepts together for our Summer issue, November / December – and I want to call on you all to mail us with ideas on features you would like to see in the magazine.
One of the things I love about my job is that I get to help and inspire people, so I want to thank you all for being loyal to the mag and making it such a pleasure to come into the office. I get phenomenal letters from our readers, and when times are tough and stress is running a little high – it’s your support that helps me and the team to pull the next issue together.
Here’s a letter I’d like to share with you all… Making a change in one persons life means the world to me.
Thanks Ladies!
Train hard, live good and love your fitness!

Readers letter: >>

I started buying and reading Fitness Magazine about a year ago, It changed my life.
I was on a downward spiral at that time of my life,and being body conscious all my life, I’ve tried every diet on the market and seeing no result on any of those diets I did the easiest and oldest trick in the book, Yes you guessed right, I became bulimic. That was so easy I could eat what I felt like and not gain any weight.
But I started to notice that my body was loosing muscle at a fast rate, I was skinny but flabby and I hated it.
Every time I saw myself in the mirror I would get upset and eat chocolates and cookies and afterwards I will start to feel guilty and stick my finger down my throat. I almost ruined my relationship with my boyfriend.
Then I read in Fitness mag about the importance of proteins, carbs and fats and the important role it plays.
Well to make a long story short, I followed one of your healthy eating plans and workout plan and I began to feel like a human being and best of all, I could see my body changing and my muscles tightening.

I cant wait for the newest edition every 2nd month.
Thank you, you are a lifesaver.

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On my way to Cape Town

It’s been a whirlwind couple of weeks, and I can’t believe we’re almost through winter. It’s middle of August and spring is just around the corner. The team has been working hard on your next issue of Fitness, our Spring Bikini edition. I’m sure you’re gonna love it and get loads of tips for getting back into shape in time to hit the beach.
As I’m typing this I’m on my way down to Cape Town to judge the Mr & Miss Fitness pageant… It’s seems like it’s going to be a good show this year.  Looking forward to see on of the fitness models I recently did a shoot with, Cindy Ellis, competing on stage.
There are loads of things I love about my job, but it’s made easier when you deal with great people. The shoot we did with Cindy recently is for a new feature to Fitness, all about focussed training. A couple of days before we also shot Audrey Dippenaar, another rising fitness star and awesome lady to work with. Girls like them make my job easier, and they are inspiring! I’ve been getting so caught up in work myself that I’ve found I’ve put on a little ‘winter weight’, and getting some shoot time in with these fitness models puts things back into perspective and makes you wanna hit the gym and eat as many cans of tuna as you can!

But – your time and my time is now. It’s never too late to start, and you don’t always have to wait for a Monday. Recently I’ve found myself just not being happy with the girl that looks back at me in the mirror, I remember a time when she was a little leaner and ready for summer. So – I want THAT girl back and I am going to work at getting it. Audrey says “Nothing tastes as good as thin feels” and – she’s right. It all comes down to you being happy with yourself, not anyone else.

So, right now I have this Fitness pageant on my plate and I have to wrap up my article with the interview with our absolutely fabulous USN face of Fitness cover model winner.

Have fun!

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Success is in the preparation

If you have not figured it out by now, the secret to success lies in your preparation. In everything that you do… your success comes down to how well you prepare for it.
It doesn’t only apply to your diet and training, it applies to everything, from your career to your personal life.

If you want to turn your lifestyle around and aim for the goals you’ve set for yourself, then prepare for it.

Last week I set out to start my new diet and training routine. It all started off wonderful, cardio first thing Monday morning, eating clean…. but around Wednesday things started going pear shaped. Why? Because I didn’t plan correctly. I had a social event Wednesday night, and instead of “planning ahead” by having dinner before I get out the house, I let my rushed lifestyle dictate to me what I will be having for dinner. That led to the whole week going downhill. In general I eat clean, but it just made me lose the motivation to keep up an even cleaner eating plan all week long.

Due to me not even doing proper shopping for my ‘dietary needs’ led to me not being prepared – and how can you expect to stick to something if you don’t even know what you need to do to get to your goal.

Even the best intentions go south when you don’t prepare. My advice – map out a plan of what you want. Document your steps, that way you’re more likely to stick to it. And be prepared. Take that extra 20 minutes in the morning to pack food for the day, spend that extra few minutes on getting what you want. It’s all about you. A few minutes each day will make a huge difference in a few months. It’s time you’re investing in yourself!

Follow me through every day that I am trying to live by my own words – I’ll be blogging daily about how my real world mixes with training and, ultimately, achieving my goals.

Have fun ladies!

“Half of getting what you want is knowing what you have to give up to get it!”

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The blogging begins…

Hello all you fitness girls! Today Fitness mag issue 25 went on sale with our top 32 cover model selected entries. It’s been amazing to see the response from this year. So many ladies entered, and the condition, tone and quality of photography is so much higher than what we’ve had before. It really is amazing and inspiring to see so many entries.

I hope, like me, all our readers will find inspiration in these girls. It’s not easy balancing your life with a fitness routine. I’m going through the same thing… Even amidst all the fitness lifestyle I am surrounded with, I too get “sucked into” a fast paced lifestyle where work and life just doesn’t stop. I hardly find time for myself, let alone my training and fitness routine. I might not have kids, but I manage a business and have other people depending on me. The team works hard, and, well – Fitness Mag isn’t our only mag we publish. So, work is like “my kids”… and it takes a lot of my time. And that’s just part of the bigger picture. Girls like to be in control of everything, and I’m no exception. Home life is important, and I’m sure you all know the responsibilities that comes with ‘running a household’. The shopping… cooking… all the frilly bits that girls do. And of course… your other half. That’s an important part – while working hard at every other aspect of your life, you can never neglect your man

So – in a nutshell, I’m where some of you might be now. I have taken my eye off the prize for a moment while I attend to my life. And it’s not just about that I have fallen behind with my fitness routine, it’s about life. We give so much of ourselves selflessly, and… well, we never focus on ourselves enough.

So I am taking it back! I’m putting myself 1st and hitting the gym. I’ve formed a bad habit of extending my work hours and blaming a back injury for not getting back into my normal routine. It all started today, and for the first time I’m really excited to jump head 1st into a new make-over! Get my fitness levels back, drop those nasty few kg’s and get energised!

Check out my progress, what / how I’m training, what my nutrition comprises of and…. what happens in the day to day life of a fitness editor! More fitness – More fun!

See you soon!
Tanja

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