After the initial session I was hooked and my body felt like it had had the best workout ever – after only half an hour!!!! The sessions were intense and hard work but Heike encouraged me without it feeling like I had a task master whipping me into shape. Having someone there with you means you try that little bit harder as it is all to easy to stop too soon when working out alone.

If I could keep going to Heike forever – I would do. The sessions are professional and focussed but she somehow also manages to find ways to get you chatting and relaxed so that they fly by and you don’t realise quite how hard you have been working out – until the next day when you try walking up the stairs! She showed me where I had been going wrong in my own workouts and introduced me to such a variety of exercises that there is no way I will get bored again.

By my Wedding day I was toned, fitter than I have ever been, confident and very happy. Thank you Heike for the last 12 weeks and I’ll be knocking on your door as soon as I have my first lot of baby weight to shift!

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/175705.php

Heike

just to let you know, that from today on until the end of March 2010, when anyone books the 12 sessions offer they actually get 12 sessions for the price of 10! So, for a limited time there is a total of 17% discount..! (offer has to be prepaid by end of March 2010 but you can have your sessions whenever you like)

Hope you will like this offer and I will see you soon,

Heike

just a quick message to wish everyone a Happy New Year 2010!

My new year resolution is “to have none”! Hope you are all well and are kicking off with your exercises again.

I myself have done nothing for about 3 weeks and this week I finally started again, and my body is thanking me for it.

All this bad weather here in Cheshire, as well as everywhere else in the country, has not helped that much either to get me doing my workouts. Going outside for a jog or walk is treacherous these days and I don’t want to end up in A & E soon. So, I have been using my indoor bike instead. Hope to see you all soon to get everyone “huffing and puffing” again.

love,

Heike

Heike

I recently came back from Spain, and I thought I share these rare pictures with you, of me doing exercises on Marbella’s promenade. I couldn’t believe it when I saw those exercise machines and I had to get busy with them. (at first sight I thought it was a children’s play area)

This is me on a squat machine. Appropriately dressed with mini dress and flip flops.

This is my sister on a cross trainer. Poor thing, I pushed her to the limit of a whole 1 minute.

This is good for my shoulder joints.

And finally, I had to work my waist line.

Apart from this, I am sorry to say that I did not do any workout. My diet consisted of two/three ice creams per day, a couple of very nice BBQs, plenty of water and the lovely San Miguel. After all, I am only human.

I remember very clearly whilst I was in grammar school (24 years ago) that certain class members of mine (mainly female) all of a sudden started eating organic fruit and vegetables (not many, maybe two or three girls). They told me, We should only eat this, because we have to save our planet. I am from a family of five, and although my dad had a very good income, my mother certainly did not give into this “mode de jour” as she called it and we ate fruits and vegetables that were normally farmed, consequently not saving our planet earth.

24 years later I can honestly say that I have not eaten much organically produced food, mainly because of the price tag that comes with it. I would, however, consider eating more organic food if I would ever be pregnant, just because of the fact that it is produced without using chemicals. However, according to the Food Standards Agency’s review, despite this fact, there are no important differences in the nutrition content, or any additional health benefits, of organic food when compared with conventionally produced food (see website above).

In my opinion, the survey does not really represent what we, the public, would be interested in. They took old surveys, scanned through the material, and came out with the comment the analysis turned up no significant statistical differences between organic and non organic food. Now, in my opinion, or as far as I understand it, it actually shows differences in nutrients (i.e. Magnesium, proteins, beta carotene % in organic food). However, what I would have liked to know is this: Would I be healthier in the long-term if I eat organic foods rather than non-organic foods? For instance, if I would compare myself with someone who consistently ate only organic food, would that person be medically and biologically healthier than myself? This question is not answered by the study. The review only tells me that, for now, it is safe to eat non-organic foods.

This is good news for people with lower budgets, for I am sure that these people over the years thought we are going to die earlier than all other people. When I did my nutrition course (7 years ago), I was told by a qualified doctor of nutrition, that organic produced food is not necessarily healthier. In fact, you are more likely to take in more nutrients through canned / frozen fruits and vegetables than the fresh variety. This is because the former are not handled for long once they have been harvested and also don’t lie around in light for days on supermarket shelves/ or in sheds from organic farmers.

Unfortunately, I feel the whole debate about non organic/ organic and what other diets we should or should not follow doesn’t really address a very important issue. Over the last 20 years our society has become more and more unhealthy, even though our food produce has become healthier (for instance, less fat, less sugar, less salt and extra foods for diabetics etc.).

In my opinion balance is the word. Eat organic and/or non organic in healthy portion sizes and keep active.

Apparently, Madonna is working out 4 hours per day, six days per week. Of course, she is in a fortunate enough position to be able to do so. i.e. has cleaners and cooks to take care of her day to day household chores, whilst we mere mortals have to do it ourselves, doesn’t have a job from 9 to 5, etc..

I just would like to stress, so that us “normal people” don’t feel bad about ourselves, that her routine is coming very close to that of a full time athlete.

To be healthy and stay fit, it is enough to do 30 minutes of walking per day (you don’t even have to do a power walk uphill) and to do 2-3 times per week muscular strength/endurance training, which can be different things. For instance, pilates, yoga, fitball, free weights, weight machines in the gym, resistance band training etc…

All of the above will also provide you, combined with a healthy balanced diet, a body that is in very good shape.

Heike was really friendly and immediately made us feel relaxed. She assessed our fitness levels, and started us on a gentle programme of walking and core stability exercises as well as helping us address our diets with sensible nutritional information.

As our fitness levels improved we looked for a goal which we could work towards and decided on the completion of a five mile run. Having never run before we started a short programme which quickly had us running for around 30 minutes within only 8 weeks. We completed the Alsager 5 road race in around 1 hour, a huge achievement for us both.

Heike was a fantastic support, motivating us to keep training with regular phone calls and emails when we couldn’t meet up. She has worked hard to find a programme which we can fit into our lives and which is enjoyable. It has been amazing to see how quickly our fitness levels have developed, as well as seeing increases to our energy levels and general health.