Just a little pain!

I don’t sleep too much. I found it a waste of time. I could do so many things, I mean important ones, instead of sleeping. And because I get excited easily, I keep people awake. It’s usually Tricia, my dear friend, I try to convince to give up some rest time…only to chat with me. Tricia is my bestest ever and my editor as well. She absolutely hates the fact my blogs go live full of misspellings. I wouldn’t care less…She already decided that bestest is not a word, so I will keep using it just to bother her a little bit. What about bester, Tricia? Anyway, usually at 11pm, we Voxer or text and, believe me, you wouldn’t want to know what we chat about. An hour later, she gives up. I keep going for another hour. I come alive after midnight. The real reason is that, after so many classes lately, I am sore. Actually I made myself sore. It is a different soreness than the one I used to feel when I played tennis. Back then I had fewer injuries; now I quite battle with a few. Last year, I ruptured two ligaments in my right knee (remenber that this is my good knee!) and dislocated my left shoulder. I still suffer and it’s fair according to what Bryce, my physio said. Nothing much really, except that the heeling process is around 18 months. Give me a break, Bryce, this is not a grieving process! So, I’m sore, but the good news is that my clients are in much more pain than I am. …and they keep come back for more!

Last Sunday I went crazy. Sculpt Pump class at 9:00am and I was so very tired before the class started. My clients learnt that the classes are super intense when I am tired. Just because I cannot think clearly and I push too much. So, the class started and while my peeps warmed up I thought I’ll make an announcement. “460 squads today, sweeties. Load the weights”. So, I’m sore…and they are as well. But they all came back for the Body Sculpt class on Wednesday. Deanna and Jas, just wait to see what I planed for next Sunday class! You’ll hate me as much as you’ll love me! 

Why do I keep going like that? Simple as: just because I love it and I got so used to the pain. I couldn’t live without it. :) 

My life with Well

I don’t own a watch. Never had one.  As an athlete, I knew that my training started when it started and finished when I was finished. No watch required. As a trainer, I know that a session finishes when the next client arrives. So I wake up every morning at 4am (yes, I still need an alarm!) and my clients record my time…not a watch. Just because I don’t have one!

Anyway, at 4am I always turn my laptop on. Things have names in my world. I called my laptop Well, because he (yes, he is a he) and I always start our convos with “well,….”  He (we already decided on that!) talks back to me, so the first thing I heard early in the morning today was “you have 86 emails”. Thanks for that. Easy day! As he always does, Well started reading my emails. Today is my lucky day: I have an email from Gabriella. Do you know her? I don’t either, but apparently she knows me or at least she knows my email address. Gabriella is a kind of fortune-teller. She emails me once a week, from where ever she is, just to remind me that my day started good, but very soon, I mean very, very soon, my life will change forever. Depending on her mood, horrible or just amazing things would happen to me. Very, very soon. She can help, she says. All I have to do is handle in my credit card details and she would then turn my luck around….or upside down. She changes the amount she asks for her services depending on her mood…again. Now, Gabriella, who ever you may be, don’t bother, please. I don’t want to know my future, let it just amaze me! I don’t have a watch; I don’t count hours, or months. 

Next email is from Google. Now, this is the real Google. The fake one rang a few times last week. The fake one has employees. Many of them, apparently all based in Napier. It’s quite weird how all these Napier guys have Indian accents. The good news is that they don’t want my credit card. They just want my website login…to sort me out…forever! I may be blonde, but not so blonde as you may think! 

I am just lucky today that the rest of my emails are from clients. 84 clients asking for advice. That’s what I want for a great day. So, I start dictating my replies. Well got used to my accent. Almost. He types crap sometimes, but that’s just fine. I would do it anyway myself. 

Have a great day, guys! :)

Who am I?

Hendrix is my 5 months old puppy. Ridgeback- Lab cross; great dog. He is mine only. I share Max with my daughter. Max is an 11 years old Lab- Mastiff cross. But, as I've said, Hendrix is just mine. He is absolutely crazy; probably this is why I love him so much.  Hendrix escapes every day and there is no fence to stop him. Actually, he used to until a builder fixed my fence. However, Hendrix wears a name tag with my phone number. Just in case.

So, there is that guy who rang two weeks ago. He said that Hendrix is in Manly village, running like crazy. As he does. It was my turn to run now. I found him playing with an old lady. No guy around. Next day, same story....and then the fence got fixed. Last Saturday, the guy called again to tell me that Hendrix was in the village...again. I looked around. Hendrix was next to me, chewing my book. Sunday he called again. This time he asked for my name. Just in case. Again I looked around and here he was, the crazy Hendrix,  just eating my pink high heels. Seriously? So I just told the guy that he can keep Hendrix next time he sees him in the village. Because there won't be a next. 

So, let's just have a toast for an idiot! I don't want to go so far as Kanye West would, but this is exactly what I'm thinking. Do you want to know who I am? Try harder!

Who am I? That's one secret I'll never tell! :) 

I am here to stay!

I really like rainbows. I haven't seen so many as a child because they weren't many in the country I grew up. As a child, I mostly heard or read about them. I've seen so many though in my new country New Zealand and I started taking lots and lots of photos. Some were double rainbows. Those are my favorites. I haven't seen many toys as a little girl and I thought that dolls are something that are only in movies. At five, my only toy was my racket and I had to make the most of it. The court was my playground. No slides, just clay. A baby girls' palm is pink and beautiful. Mine was full of blisters. And my feet too. At the time when little girls dream about castles and princes, I played. You wouldn't know that clay sticks on your skin and makes you look so much different than a princess? You would definitely wouldn't know that. I had a good childhood thought, except that I was a ping pong ball and my parents were the best table tennis players. So I thought. Kids wouldn't have to feel that. But I made the most out of it. I blanked the whole world out and played the best I could. That's all I knew back then. I am smarter now. I know now that I have choices and that there is nothing I really have to do. I do things because I want to, not because I have to. As a child, I never collected things. I had no stamps or coins collection, nor any kind of stickers one. Now I collect people. I surround myself with good ones and I just hope they feel the same about me. 

I have the best clients ever. My job is that part of my life I never failed. Probably the only one. I put so much effort in it because I want to live at my clients' expectations. Not because I have to; nobody pushed me; I pushed myself. I wanted that.  My clients are my pride and I don't just say that. Every day I learn something from them. They taught me the language, the habits, the culture. They actually were what my parents were not. Like every human, I had some tragedies in my life and, when I was down, I ended up with so much baking these girlies have made for me just to show their love and compassion. In the moments when I wasn't able to cook because life was too taught, my clients came with lunches and dinners. They put their precious time in for me. We celebrated Christmases together. And Easters. We blew the candles on my birthdays cakes together. They caught Hendrix, my puppy, any time he escaped. They love my kids and jump for them in fire if they have to. They took me to their churches and I've been in so many so far. Some installed my gate and helped me with my veggie garden. Others worked for me in the house when I moved in. Others put a new bathroom in for me. All these while I was making money training people. My studio is always full and I may be the only trainer that has bookings up to December. But my house is full as well. Same loving, caring, exceptional people.  

I am in a business with and for people. A people's business. I've been in for so many years. My whole life really and I intend to stay here for ever. I am in it to the end! :)

Keep your light shinning

There is a consequence for everything in life. I learned that many years ago. Karma? I don’t know about that; what I know is that there were repercussions for every action I made. And if I continue making mistakes , that just proves that I am human. And sometimes too blonde.  My dad used to say that we all have a light that we carry with us the whole life. He said that this light is ours only and it’s not to be given away. He was right. I’ve met so many people who shine.

Kim’s light shined more than others. I met her three years ago. Actually she phoned me because she wanted to hire me for a short period of time. She said something about a month or two, just enough to get fitter and when I asked her if there is any weight loss involved, she said that she doesn’t want to lose any. So I booked her for an assessment on Monday first thing in the morning. Now, here she is in my studio the funny, bubbly Kim. When I first saw her, I thought she may be in denial: short, very short, something like 1.52cm, carrying 157kg. Huge really. So I started talking about losing some weight, but Kim was really sure she doesn’t want to do that. She said that she likes the way she is and her husband doesn’t mind that she is heavy. My client, my master. After a few sessions, I was still wondering if I lost my mind or she doesn’t see herself as she really was. Anyway, one day she told me that her hubby is going to pick her up after the session. By then, I started liking Kim very much and she became one of my favs clients. She was, and still is, so honest, careful, amazing lady, willing to give more than she gets. So, at the end of that particular session I will never forget, her man was by my studio's door waiting for Kim. Boy, oh boy, what a man! Absolutely gorgeous, like 10 years younger than Kim,  lean as, just an awesome guy deeply in love with his wife. For days, I was wondering what has he really found in her and how on heck was she able to get him. But then I realised that Kim’s light shined in the darkest nights. She was, and, as I’ve said, still is, an amazing human being, decided to make him happier than any supermodel would. 

I am stubborn and I wanted more for Kim. She trained with me for almost two years and I made her skinny and gorgeous. Not for her actually. It was my present to her husband. We stayed friends and I still see Kim outside of my work. We go out for coffees and chit chat a lot. I’ve been in her home several times, enough to realise that nothing changed in her man’s attitude. I don’t think he even noticed how beautiful she looks now. For him, she was always the same girl with a shinny light inside. 

Now, there is a thing that Kim made me learn and I will share this with you. Girlies, there is no awesome guy left! Don't search too much! There are all gone! None left!  Kim took the best. :)

Vaya con Dios worries!

Anytime life treats me bad, I cry on my best buddy’s shoulder. Not quite. My bestie lives in Australia and is married to a super great lady, good friend as well. He understands everything and, after some tears, he always says “You'll be fine! Let’s talk philosophy”. So we go, for hours, from Socrates and Plato to Hegel, Kant and Schopenhauer.  We both have one of our degrees in Philosophy, so, we enjoy the talk. And then we ask each other what would these great guys’ answer to my problem be. Childish, naïve, minor? Who knows? None of them is alive anymore. For me though my problems are…problems. Just imagine: just last week I scared a guy and I am sure that he still runs somewhere in the hoods to be as far as possible from me. Not a problem? Not for you, it's not, but for me... Anyway, if my best buddy doesn’t have an answer and none of the great thinkers either, then a girl has to do what a girl has to do! Spa and Motown music. 

I create my own problems, I know that. Normally, after work, I should drop everything I heard that day and start back my personal life, but that’s not me. A few days back, a dear client of mine had a breast cancer scare. I haven’t slept the whole night. All clear now for her, but I so feel my sleepless night's effects. Then five of my clients, who attend my Yoga for pregnancy classes, will have their babies very soon.  I am freaking out for them. On top of that, I have to assess another trainer and I know that I have to fail him. How can I do that? I have his workbook, it’s not good at all, but the guy has three small daughters and his wife just left him. He needs his fitness rego to work and provide for his girlies. I don’t even know how to help him. Then a client of mine, whom I trained for the last three years, lost his wife, another one her son. There are so many tragedies I carry with me in my time off and, to be perfectly honest, none of them are mine. But in a way there are. I am a trainer, I am in this industry for decades and I will always care for my clients. They are my extended family. I spend more time with them than I spend with my own family. I work seven days a week and I love what I do….not just the work, mostly the people!  :)

There is always a first

I don’t break rules or…hearts. Never did. I’m 50% proper and 50% a dreamer. However, yesterday I officially became wild and suddenly all my clients see me in a different light. Because just yesterday, for the first ever time in my life I got a speeding ticket. Apparently I was exceeding the speed with 5km/h at the location AN0051 (figure that out!). Seriously? 5km/h? Me, the most relaxed driver? I drove for so many years in Europe, then here in New Zealand and never got a ticket. I will totally frame it! My disappointment is that there are no demerit points involved, because that would be a first as well! 

I never broke any rule with my clients. They are my clients and some of them good friends. Nothing else, no matter what. Ten years ago, I was the only woman trainer in New Zealand working only with men. I trained  men only for almost two years. Don’t ask me how hot they were, because I wouldn’t know. I know how much they had to lose or what competitions I trained them for. That’s all I knew back then and all I remember now. I got into training ladies as well because all these guys brought me their wives, girlfriends, sisters, and neighbors.  Otherwise, I would still train men only, because it is so easy to work with them. 

I never broke any fair play rule in my sport. I loved tennis. I still do. I played by the rule and that’s my advise to every athlete.  One can win a game and be happy, but it's worth nothing if it is based on somebody else’s injury. Or unhapiness! Be aware, you, cheaters, the same rule apply to you!

Anyway, there must be a first and, voila, my seeding ticket proves it.  So, I was wild for a second in my life. Never again! :)

Thanks, guys!

 So I love my Apple gadgets. No big deal here. Do you think that just because I am blonde I should be…just blonde? I would spend hours on my IPad, but I don’t have the time. However, last night, in my 10 minutes I allowed myself to be bored, I decided to check my blog’s analytics. Is there anybody out there reading my blog? This is quite a stupid question because I get so many emails from you, guys, asking for help with your training routines. 

So, 40,000 constant readers. Not bad. How on earth do they found out about me? I am average really. Google is the answer. Let’s just see what they searched for. 

“Shorty trainer in Auckland”. Haha. I am not quite short. I am 1,68, thank you very much!

“Cutie blogger”. Wrong again. That’s not me. 

“Fit and toned blondie” Me or not me? I have no clue; there would be so many others.

“Show me some abs”. Come to my abs classes then!

However, no matter what you wanted to find, you stopped on my page and stayed with me for at least the last months. Let’s cut this short! Thanks New Zealand, US, Australia, Canada, UK and Ireland for reading my thoughts. Also France,  Germany, Portugal, Italy, Japan and Spain. Feel free to ask questions as long as you understand that I am not shorty or cutie or just blondie and I won’t be definitely showing you my abs!  I love you, guys! :)

My mistake, really!

I was always amazed by athletes. I was one of them and I know how much work has to be put in for just an hour comp. I worked with many athletes during the years and I hope I made a difference in their training, technique, strategy, and especially that I touched their lives with my way of being. 

Amy was one of them. I trained her 4 years ago and this girl still is my inspiration. Amy hired me for the Senior Full Contact World Championship  and she aimed to be in the first 10. I wanted her on the podium. She was back then a 16 years old junior willing to fight agains much older women.

We started the sessions in August and we had only 5 months of intensive training. Not enough. I broke those 5 months in off season, pre season and on season and then once again in hypertrophy, strength and advanced strength and I realized that this was my first client I had to push harder than I was able to push myself years back in my training. I don’t think it was easy at all for Amy, because this girl had to work before school and sometimes after school. On top of that, she trained with me and had sport specific training sessions with her coach as well. 

Two months before the comp, Amy was covered in bruises. Actually her body became purple everywhere. She had the most horrible bruises even on her chest. I was sorry for her, but I signed the contract, I knew what I am getting into and it was my head in the smasher more than hers. This girl had the mentality of a winner, perfect focus and determination, and I knew that she was able to climb to the top. A month before the comp, she was in her best shape, lost weight and had the muscle strength I wanted for her. She was so ready. 

She went to the World Championship and she came back no. 2 in the world. A 16 years old girl from New Zealand! She may have won the gold, but her opponent noticed her bruises and started kicking her only in the most bruised areas. No pain threshold can be so high…I realized a week after the competition that I made a mistake. I should have told Amy to cover her bruises with foundation. Or maybe spray tan. A simple mistake really that probably costed her so much. Even now, I still wonder whether it was me or her. Was she actually able to bring home the title? She probably was! :)

In memoriam Bill

I was told that I smile even when I sleep. Why shouldn’t I? I have everything I need. One piece is missing though, but, you know me, I will find it and make it fit in my puzzle. So, I smile probably more than others. And I laugh a lot because I am happy. I have all these beautiful people around me, the pure white house I always wanted. And then my job. I love everything I do, my clients, my studio, my classes, my choreography.  

Bill made me smile more than others. He was 85 when I met him, very overweight, obese really, with so many medical issues, barely able to walk a few meters without puffing. I met him 3 years ago and I worked with him for a full year. He knew he had to lose weight and wanted so much to move easier. We developed such an amazing friendship and he taught me so many things. We talked about places we both seen. It is weird how I remembered only the airports, while Bill talked about streets, buildings, cultures. I wished I have met Bill 40 years ago, but then I was just a little girl.  

Bill hired me for a year and I’ve done exactly what I promised. He lost some weight, was able to walk a little bit and he was so proud of himself. I was as well. But something wasn’t quite right and I begged him to have some medical tests. He got admitted in the hospital 2 years ago, on 11th June, and he phoned me right after he arrived there. He said that doctors were talking about some sort of surgery the next day. And he seemed happier than I knew him. But he hasn’t made it. He died later the evening. 

Bill was a dreamer. Like me. He wanted to get fitter and he wanted his body back. He died exactly as he wanted. Two years later, I’m still a mess when I remember him. Rest in peace, friend!

The little people in my life

I love little people. I mean kids. I just adore them. I have them around at bootcamps, classes, and sessions. Sometimes, there are 10 clients in a bootcamp and 30 kids around.  I would have them all in my house as well, but they wouldn’t fit there! The little people around me don't lie. They believe in magic and miracles. So do I. They don't make false promises. Adults do, so I rather surround myself with my little people who are like crystals...clear and shinny. 

I madly adore Sammie. She is 7 and she is the daughter of one of my clients and dear, dear friend. Sammie is special, very special. She comes to every training session, class,  indoor or outdoor bootcamp her mom attends. I know everything about Sammie and she knows everything about me (almost!).  I was sad when she broke up with her boyfriend, a 7 years old boy, and happy when they got back together. Sammie is not like other little girls; she is, as I’ve said, super special…and she wears the funkiest skirts.  She believes that I am related to the Queen, or maybe that I should be. I like that! Sammie makes me the bestest gifts; stickers when I am good, wind chimes, drawings. I kept them all. And one day, when she will have kids, they can see them. Sammie is my cupcake really, sweet and funky and funny.   

Aisnley just turned 8 yesterday. She comes with her mom to indoor and outdoor bootccamps. Now, there is something very special about Aisnley’s mother, Karissa. She is like the sister I never had. Ainsley is a little copy of Karissa's. How could I not love her? She actually does the workouts better than many adults. Really. She is beautifull and very smart and challenges me a lot. Not as much as Jayden. Now, he is personality plus. 5 years old, a charmer really. Jayden loves hand sanitizers, so I make sure I always have one for him. Jayden likes to stay under my massage table, playing games on his mom’s IPhone. I always hide mine. God knows what he can see there! He is my little DJ. He changes the music on my IPod and, weirdly enough, he always picks my fav songs. 

Then there is Jordan. He is 4 and he is autistic and his father says that he has speaking problems. I never noticed that. I understand him well. The funny thing is that his parents write down words Jordan said during the week and I translate them. Doctors think that Jordan is autistic. For me, he is just perfect!. But that’s just me. I don’t see anything wrong in people around me. Jordan hugs me and tells me stories while I train his father.  A sweetheart really!

Have I told you about Milla? She is 8 months old and she likes dynabands. Only the purple ones. My bands come in 50 yards rolls (I still haven't figured out what's that in meters), I cut exercise ones and smaller pieces for Milla only.

As I’ve said, I just love kids . They will be my clients 10 years from now. Therefore, anytime I see a child on the beach, I ask myself “Will this be a client of mine? Now, or just a little bit later.” :)

Think before you wish

I have a very special relationship with my knees. A hate one really, because they put me through so much pain during the years. I call my left knee Arrogance, just because I broke it to pieces the last day I was arrogant. I was just a teenager playing tennis. I was good at it. I could have been better. A night before an important game, my coach, a very, very old and wise guy, started talking about strategy, but my mind was blocked at the documentary I just seen on tele: Michael Jordan, the player, the guy with an intriguing personality. I wanted to be exactly like him, but I haven't realized that arrogance would be part of it. So, I looked at my coach and said "I'll play tomorrow only if I can wear red tennis shoes with my name on them". He made it happen and the next day, just before the game, I got my beautiful shoes and my name was on them. I lost. Badly. Not because I wasn't good enough. Because I broke my knee, made it small pieces. An hour later, still in pain, I was told that the guy who stayed awake the whole night to make my shoes should have been somewhere else. His wife was dying of cancer in the hospital. That was the last day I have ever been arrogant and unfortunately I will always remember that I've been between a poor guy and his dying wife. 

I never wished for success. Nor money. Cause I am not arrogant anymore. I don't want prizes and medals anymore. Just yesterday, I got an email from an oversees magazine. Apparently, some clients of mine nominated me for something like the best of the best, watch her, kind of Personal Trainer. All I had to do is to agree and my nomination would have been in. I don't want it, I don't want my name on a title. With or without Just because I am not arrogant anymore. :)

No compromise!

I am a girlie girl. Not a high maintenance one! Just a girl. I own one pair of jeans and a hundred dresses. There is no PJ in my wardrobe; I wear nighties....just because I am a girl. I wear high heels, makeup and pink headbands. I like good guys. And flowers, lots of them. I talk to my dogs a lot, to my plants and trees. Cause I am a girl....and a dreamer. But things change when I go to the gym. Even there, I still wear my makeup and my headbands. I am still a girl.... but I lift heavy weights with rough guys. I am not gonna change for them; they have to change if they want me around. It is quite weird how they never swear or speak dirty in front of me. This is probably because they know I am a girlie girl. Let's be straight here: I am not an angel, but, for those of you who don't know this already, I am immortal. Yes, I am. I will always be around, me or somebody like me!

I train garls and guys and I enjoy my life. I also manufacture organic products. I believe in organic, in pure materials. It is amazing how oils and water mix together into white moisturizers. I wish you can all see that! Maria is my business associate for years and I see her not more that 10 times a year. The business still goes well without us waisting time on planing it. However, when we meet, just to discuss production or sales, we forget about everything and we talk about children and veggie gardens. Two blondies in business, how weird! A few months back, we turned down a huge contract, the winning ticket to our retirement really. So, here we are, blue eyed Maria and I, both wearing pink dresses,  in the huge conference room of a huge company and these guys, very arrogant by the way, offer to buy hundreds of thousands of products from us if we change our products' formula a little bit here and there. We have chosen carefully our suppliers and buy from them only certified organic ingredients and these guys ask us to go with the flow, be modern and make cheap skin care. I don't compromise on quality. Maria doesn't either. So they keep talking their talks and at one stage I turned to Maria and asked "Do you want wealth or just happiness?". And then we both  left that fancy conference room. We never heard back from the guys and this is a good thing really because I know that they haven't understood that we are just two girlies, two blondies who will never change just because we live in the 21st Century. The wild 21st one. 

I don't compromise in any aspect of my life. Neither should you.  It's all or nothing. This is my life and I am living it  my way. If you want to be part of it or just train with me, you have to understand that I will always be a girlie girl, who wears make up and high heels and dresses and headbands....and I don't compromise! :)

My peeps

I may not be Alice and I may not live in Wonderland, but my world is mine only and there is no hate, violence, discrimination, judgement in it. It's just Brigitte's world and it is full of good people. My peeps may be full of tattoos or piercing, may seem weirdos to others, but they make sense to me...and I make sense to them. My peeps are all sorts of colors and nationalities, men, women and children, young, old... My peeps are my peeps and nobody has the right to judge them! We see each other in gyms, we sweat together and there are so many belly laughings when they are around

There is that gorgeous girl, client of mine, young, beautiful soul, always perfectly dressed. Only my peeps know that she, the girlie, has so many tattoos that it would be impossible to really count them. They know it because they see her outside of the corporate world she lives in. They see her in the gym, where she is just an average girl with a young beautiful soul. Alice, sweetie, this is for you! :)

Then there is that old guy who could probably be my grandfather's age (if I would have any). I met him when I first arrived to New Zealand and I just signed my first contract with a huge gym. I used to talk with him a lot mostly  because I totally adored his 5 years old grandson. People were afraid of him and I never understood why nobody trains close to him.  I was told then that he was a gang member long time ago and he was lucky enough to escape. Actually, I wasn't told that! People only told me a name of a gang and I though "How cool! He is a former rocker", because I didn't know, and still don't know, anything about gangs. As I've already said, there is no such a thing in my world. Anyway, I still talk with that guy when I see him occasionally at the supermarket. Still with his grandson around. Just a few minutes ago, I've seen him in one of the local shops and he told me" You know blondie that you are the only one talking to me?". And, to be honest, I am quite proud of that! Bill, buddy, this is for you! :)

And there is John, the guy I used to train for more than a year, every Saturday at 2:00pm. Hard working athlete! I knew well his wife, great lady, his kids, amazing guys! One Saturday he was late for the session and I asked one of the ladies at the reception if she's seen John walking in the gym. I was quite shocked when she asked me "John, the black guy?". Nah, just John. But then, ten minutes later, when John finally arrived, I realized that John actually is a black guy from Jamaica. I never seen that. For me he was just a great athlete I trained. Again, because there is no skin color in my world! John, you taught me so much, thanks! :)

And then there is that Chinese guy, another amazing athlete I trained and prepared  for a comp. He didn't understand my accent, I didn't understood his. For the sake of the training, we both learned Chenglish. I don't remember him having too many friends around because he was different. Nobody knew that, because he had to provide for his kids, he had three jobs and he took over the fourth one only to be able to afford paying me. Jay, keep going, buddy! :)

There also is the amazing Gail. She is a client I see once a week. Super lady, hard worker, great mother, busy as, but she still finds the time to train and get to results that others can only dream about! She just got engaged and I was the first to know. What an honor really! Me, the blondie with an accent, who created a brand new world where all these people can fit in. These are my peeps, they and many others. Guys, it's never too late to live in a world like mine...no hate, no tantrums, no arguments, no fights. Just love really. I will always keep the door open, but once in, there is no escape. Just because I am a keeper! :)

Nonethical ethic

We were born in a world ruled by all sorts of beliefs and practices, where rituals, not morals though, are sacred. Nobody questions, everybody follows. If you are something like me, you would definitely try to cross boundaries so, you dreamers, see you on the other side! 

I was taught that a woman always stays on the man's left and for years I wondered what's wrong with his right. Then, I realized that, growing up in a country once part of the Roman Empire, we had to follow Roman's rules. Apparently, they were wearing their swords on the right side so nicely placed their consorts on the other side. That may be true, but I don't remember men wearing swords anymore...maybe their mobile phones, but I don't think that would be so dangerous for any woman. Also the story about opening the door to a woman except when it is about the restaurant's door, where the man would always open the door for himself (!!!) and step in first. Apparently, this comes from the times when, entering in a pub in Far West all one could expect was a bullet.  How many fire guns have you heard lately in a cafe or dinner? Then the whole story behind black cats. Good or bad luck? Just depending the nation you grow up in. 

But if you really want to see rituals taken to extremes, just hop to the gym. I love gyms, always did, always will. I grew up in gyms, I loved, cried, shared, worked in gyms. They are everything I am. And just because I love them so much, I will never follow their unwritten rituals, but I will always watch them with a smile on my face. Just look at the big guy in the centre, full of muscle and arrogance. He always breaths in loudly three times (no kidding, 3 is the magical number) before pushing almost nothing on a chest press machine. Then there is that huge noise when he finally gets the weight way up (remember that even a teenager could lift as much as him). And then everybody watches him with so much admiration; is like he invented the square hula hoop. But probably the most followed behavior in any gym I have ever stepped in is "throwing the dumbbells". Every guy does it; every chick is impressed! So, get the dumbbells, as heavy as possible, then perform a biceps curl and then very majestic throw them on the floor. As bigger the noise, as more fans! 

And then there is the ladies corner. If you want to hear a secret that nobody knows (except the whole gym!), you must go there. There you will find out about every partner, what food they like and what not, where they work and how much they earn, but mostly how lazy they are. And all this comparing their partner's bad behavior with the exceptional one of their exes. 

Cross the lines, people. Go to gyms to have a workout! Once again, I will be on the other side waiting for you! :)

One day at a time

I can't stand horror movies. Never did. Why should I pay money to be scared? They are so many twisted things in this world that would freak one out...for free. And I don't like surprises. Neither nice, nor bad! I believe in a world where what you see is what you get. Maybe this is the reason why I work in fitness. Scales, measurements, assessments don't lie. People can, but fitness testing is accurate!

I met so many people who wander around without knowing where they go. Especially in gyms; people who have some kind of goals and they believe that achieving them would be a result of running like crazy on treadmills, punching boxing bags for hours or doing supersets. It doesn't work like that. They haven't invented the law of cause-effect and neither did I. Don't get me wrong: I do believe in muscle confusion and I use it with all of my weight loss clients, but this is something a trainer can apply when ever is needed. Not a regular gym junkie. 

Take one day at a time and, when in gym, slow down. I know you've seen all the biggest ever loser TV shows, but there are shows only; not real life. How can you believe that a trainer has the right...and lung capacity to yell like a maniac while pushing those poor people to do a hundred sets of push ups? Is that the trainer you would hire? I really don't think so. 

The easiest task for a trainer is a weight loss client. A breeze really! The hard stuff starts when a client wants to put on weight. That's when a trainer gets the hard work and has to use all the knowledge in the world. Pick the trainer you feel comfortable with, but remember that pushing you to success doesn't mean yelling at you or swearing. Nothing like that.  I am a strong believer in the Law of Attraction. never had a client I didn't like. If I felt that we cannot have a connection, I referred him or her to one of my colleagues. Just because I knew that no sparkle, no results....and, at the end of the day, no pay cheque. 

Open your eyes wide when you hire a trainer and, if you cannot afford one, remember that advices are always free. And once again don't rush it: one pound at a time would do it just fine!

The last Abraham

So, finally, after being lazy for too long, I got back to my maiden name: Abraham. And if the web is still confused and cannot identify who's the new Brigitte Abraham, you guys, my clients, should know better. It is still the Brigitte you know, but much happier! With my miss missy name on my brand new driving license. 

The name on my book? Haha. Ask the editors. It will take a while until the author's name will change. It is like somebody has to reinvent the hole in the macaroni. But, once again, still me, the last Abraham in my long line of great Abrahams! :)

Always yours, :)
Brigitte Abraham

With the power invested in me....

So you want to lose some weight? Best thought ever; not just that you would look better, but just think about how your self confidence would increase. All good once the decision is taken. 

Let's just go together through your options. You could sign up at the local gym, spend there ridiculous amount of time, use the machines how you think they have to be used. You could even attend randomly fitness classes. And then wait for the results. You cannot imagine how many people I've seen, during the years as a Personal Trainer, working out hard with no results. Because of the disappointment, some of them ended on anti depressants, others in broken relationships. I am not saying here that people break up based on weight issues. I haven't. I am just saying that I've seen many people in their first day in the gym...and then one year later, noting changed. 

If exercise is not enough, you have another option: try a kind of diet you believe is the best in your case. You can even look it up on the Internet. There are so many there and, if you think that picking one that has a sophisticated name would help you, go ahead. More than welcome to try it out. You could even swallow some diet pills, fat burners or fat mobilizes or appetite suppressants, A year later, however, you could be back at the starting point; no weight shifted, no success celebration, lots of money flushed in the toilet. 

I always believed that when people are tricked into DIY fitness projects, they don't really know what they are jumping into. It is like taking some thousands from your account and throwing them in the rubbish. Same result really! On top of that, some painful injuries...and broken dreams.

People think they know how to lose weight. They also believe that what can it be so hard to lose some pounds here and there when you have a gym membership card in your wallet, plus you attend many fitness classes and cut a little bit on carbs and bubbly. Now, let me say it as it is: I don't chop my hair, I go to Jo, she's the best, she knows what I want, she has the experience and knowledge to make me look pretty....or prettier. I don't rub all sorts on my face pretending this is  a facial treatment. I go to Maria. She's the best in what she does and she will look after me. I don't chose what medication is right for me when I burn with fever. I go to Ingemar. He's my doc, he knows me.   Why on Earth I would go to the gym without using a trainer?

We, Personal Trainers, as I've said it so many times, sell you a dream and make it reality. Your reality. We are there for you at 5am and accommodate your workouts late nights or in the weekends, when others relax. We design an individual program just for you and show you what diet works for you best. We don't have an universal nutrition program, nor a fitness program that's good for everybody, woman, man, child. We can tell you how long it would take to achieve your goals and we are almost never wrong.I am a Personal Trainer;  I do the same. And, one day, not later than I decided with you that we will be working together, you would hear me saying "With the power invested in me, I pronounce you....slim and lean!". And then, I'll see you for coffees and chats! :)

Think kittens.....or puppies

What on earth can be harder than abs exercises? Nobody likes them, but everybody wants the six, or lately eight, pack. They are exhausting, boring and more than likely horrible!

When I was just a little girl, my coach taught me something I carried with me forever. He used to say that when life gets hard and you have no hope, it's better to visualize what you love more. Back in time, for me there were...kittens. When I was like a gladiator watched by the whole world and training got hard, when I was injured and nobody cared, kittens always saved me. Life around me just turned off and all I've seen were kittens, all sort of fluffy, curly, colorful kittens. 

My former coach, bless him, would be so proud knowing that I passed his advise to my clients and sometimes, during hard workouts, they make me laugh. When training gets taught, I just hear my clients saying "Think kittens"...and it seems that it works for them as well as it worked for me. 

People change and I've transformed a lot as well. Lately, kittens are not enough, so, puppies give me a better result. It comes with age, I guess, or maybe with wisdom! However, no matter what you visualize, that would take you out of the reality and push you harder. Please believe me when I say that it also works outside of fitness. When life make you crunch and taught times are the only ones you know, think kittens...or puppies

Cheating weekend

Our clients believe that us, Personal Trainers, are perfect; we exercise like crazy and eat right all the time. Just remember that we are human as well. It's true that we may exercise more than others. It's also right that we watch what we eat. At the end of the day, there are so many classes some of us teach and we have to be in shape to make them happen for you, our clients. 

I was an athlete. I used to train for fun...and for living as well, but that was such a while back. I had to be in shape then for the sake of the game and I have to be in shape now because I want it. There is no such a thing as perfection and who aims to be perfect would get badly disappointed. I never ask my clients to reach perfection, because this means living in an imaginary world. One can live in a virtual world for a while, but the fall is huge when reality kicks back. I ask my client for excellence; I truly want them to be as excellent as Apple or Adidas or Roger Federer are. I push them to live the socratic advise, to know themselves! 

As a trainer, I want excellence. As a former athlete and as an average human I want normality. Many of my clients constantly ask me where are the boundaries in fitness and how can they reach goals in a normal, 21st Century life. The truth is that cheating is part of normality and I don't mean cheating in a relationship. I believe that honesty, integrity an morality  in human rapports is sacred. Therefore, where are the boundaries? It is even simpler than you believe. Be 100% during the week, workout hard and eat right and allow yourself a cheat day in the weekend. Don't go crazy; give the body a rest time and indulge in something you craved during the week. Our bodies function as a perfect mechanism. They know when we starve them, so giving the body a little bit of junk would make it think "well, all good, he/she doesn't starve me anymore, so, yep, I am feeling just fine". Always remember that even Zeiss clocks need some grease from time to time. Not laird, just a little bit of fatty stuff. 

It's long weekend here in New Zealand. Have a little bit of fun, indulge a little bit of crazy craved food and back to the real life on Monday. See you all in the gym. Remember that you are doing it for yourself only!