With spring here and that summer sunshine well and truly now within reach, all our minds begin to return, after what felt like an endless winter huddled under opaques, long sleeves and bulky jackets, to health and fitness. Singlet tops, swimmers and a long party season full of skimpy frocks is on the horizon yet again and we all naturally start thinking about how to go about toning up and trimming down. This month, Studio Verve was featured in The Sunday Telegraph’s Body and Soul magazine as part of a fitness and eating plan undertaken by journalist and Studio Verve student, Victoria Hannaford.
So, this got us considering ‘diets’ and thinking about snacks and ‘sweating it out’ long term with a plan that everyone can implement not just for the sake of bikini season, but for good!
The pressure to look a certain way has filtered down from Hollywood and the media for as long as most of us can remember and being thin is just as much a focus nowadays as looking youthful. But not all of the routes for getting to our goal weight are always the safest and they are often as faddish and fashionable as the celebs that pioneer them. From the Zone’s carb-friendly, protein rich system to the almost comical baby food diet (I promise, I'm not making that one up), just thinking about what is best for us should be considered a workout in itself! And when many of these diets having seriously dangerous health side-effects ranging from iron deficiency to osteoporosis, you’d be forgiven for thinking ‘stuff it all’ and reaching for the Maltesers. I mean, seriously – some lemon juice and cayenne pepper does NOT a meal make.
More than ever, our busy lives have become about searching for simplicity. We simplify the way we work, the way we shop and even the way we communicate – clicking the ‘LIKE’ button has replaced going for a coffee and a chat. But thinking simply about how we take care of ourselves doesn’t seem to be quite as popular.
Personally, I'm from the school of eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re full, eat your fruit and veg, drink plenty of water and treat yourself once an hour every so often. And when it comes to working out, incidental is key and if it feels like a chore, don’t do it – life’s too short to be bored in your free time! Sometimes though, this ‘lifestyle plan’ can take some willpower and it doesn’t take into account a bad day at work, a break up or ‘that time of the month’. So for those of us who need a tad more structure, the eating plan devised for Victoria by nutritionist Lisa Guy seems pretty well-balanced and adaptable for the vegos, vegans and pescaterians among us.
And in terms of physical activity, well, anyone who knows me knows that before 2007 whenever I got the urge to exercise, I sat down until it passed. Then I found my beloved Studio Verve and, like so many other women (and men!) I became addicted to how fun it was without even realising how much my body had changed. After losing 20kgs from PoleFit® classes alone, I'm living proof of how it can change your body and your life.
So, with all this in mind, we’re now looking for expressions of interest from students willing to undertake a 6-week fitness plan incorporating classes at Studio Verve. If you’ve been vowing to lose weight or get fit, why not start now in time for summer? Victoria lost inches; what could this mean for you?! It’s first in, best dressed and there’s more info to come, but I can tell you that the SV instructors will be along for the ride and there’s an awesome prize at the end for one very lucky student! If you’re keen to get involved, email us a bookings@studioverve.com.au.
