She first started Pilates, just once a week, in June 2010 because she had a hip injury which was giving her a lot of pain. After 12 weeks, her hip pain had decreased significantly and after another 12 weeks had gone away. So at the start of 2011 Helen made the decision to lose weight and started researching nutrition and started a food diary.

She also started walking, initially just 10 minutes a day and never missed her once a week Pilates session. She has really been committed to her initial decision and her plan

During the last 12 months Helen has consistently lost weight and HAS NOW LOST AN INCREDIBLE 20KGS!

As well as her trophy, Helen will receive 6 spin classes, valued

at $198 as part of her prize……CONGRATULATIONS HELEN!

When Pat started Pilates, her goals were to find out what Pilates was about and to improve her flexibility, which in turn would help her running. One area of flexibility Pat struggled with was being able to sit on the floor with her legs crossed.Whilst not everybody wants to run a marathon, I know many people could relate to that!

I’m happy to say that Pat was able to sit on the floor during a visit to  her grandsons school recently. She has been consistant with her attendance and work effort during her sessions and has stayed injury free during her marathon preparation..

Pat receives as part of her prize the Forty + Fitness program.

Look Great and Feel Awesome At Any Age!

Are you 30+ and want to reach middle age looking and feeling awesome?

Are you 40+ and want a great quality of life and have a fit, healthy good looking body?

Our Outdoor Fitness Programs can give you all that and more!

The Pilates Plus Difference

OK, so you’re not as young as you used to be…we understand that you might not feel comfortable running or jumping! Our programs take that into consideration. Our clients range in age from 30+ to 60+.

Read what they have to say about our programs by clicking here.

Each program runs for 4 weeks and you will train 3 times a week.

There is a new program each month so you will need to click on each link below to get more info and register.

We are passionate about our outdoor fitness program and would love to see you in the great outdoors in 2012!

Jump Start Your Body In January 2012…

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO AND TO REGISTER

Fat Blast Your Body In February 2012

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO AND TO REGISTER

Muscle Up Your Body In March 2012

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO AND TO REGISTER

Tuna Macaroni bake

This is a quick healthy meal using a can of tuna and vegies. Kids will love the crunchy cheesy topping and the creamy sauce.

Ingredients

• 2 cups macaroni pasta (around 250g)
• 300g broccoli, cut into florets
• 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 3 cups warm skim milk
• 3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
• 185g can tuna in spring water, drained
• small handful basil, roughly chopped
• ¼ cup breadcrumbs

Instructions

Step 1  Cook the macaroni in a large pan of boiling salted water according to packet instructions, until al dente. Add the broccoli for the last 1 minute of cooking time. Drain and tip back into the pan.

Step 2  Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Gradually add the milk, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens. Bring to the boil and simmer for 1 minute, then remove the pan from the heat. Season, then add half the cheese and stir to melt.

Step 3  Preheat the grill. Toss the sauce through the drained pasta mixture with the tuna and basil. Tip into a shallow ovenproof dish and scatter over the breadcrumbs and remaining cheese. Grill for 5 minutes, or until golden and hot through.

The beef in this recipe is cooked slowly on a low heat – tenderising and flavouring the meat perfectly.

Ingredients

• olive oil spray
• 600g blade steak, fat trimmed, cut in 3cm cubes
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon red curry paste
• 400g can chopped tomatoes, no added salt
• 1 cup water
• 750g kumara, cut in 3cm cubes
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 4 1/2 cups steamed rice, to serve
• 3 cups steamed green beans or broccoli, to serve

Instructions

Step 1 Preheat oven to 160°C. Heat a large flameproof ovenproof pan over a high heat, spray with oil. Add beef in batches. Cook until browned. Remove and set aside.

Step 2 Return pan to a medium-high heat. Spray with oil. Add onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add garlic and curry paste. Cook for 1 minute. Return beef to pan. Add tomatoes and water. Stir to combine and bring to the boil. Cover and place in oven for 1 hour.

Step 3 Add kumara, stir, and return to oven for 30 minutes. Remove and stir through sugar.

Step 4 Serve with rice and vegetables.

Nutrition Information

Lost weight, developed muscle tone and strength, reduced the size of my – waistline, hips, chest and upper back.

There are many subtle advantages to Pilates Plus programs and I have really enjoyed the “brain training” that comes as part of the package – from remembering routines to counting repetitions, the brain learns that it needs to get on board or it will get left behind. J

The Pilates Plus work “in the park” helped me identify a lack of aerobic fitness and as a result I have commenced some work to address that need.

In addition to general health and wellbeing improvement, what Pilates Plus has meant for me is that I:

• Am less concerned with the physical niggles of aging
• Can be as active with my grandchildren as they need me to be
• Am looking forward to the enjoyment of new things that my body is learning to do
• Achieve more in the garden and around the house in a given period of time
• Am at least suspending becoming a grumpy old man for a few years yet  

If people were to be contemplating what Pilates Plus studio and outdoor programs might do for them, I would have no hesitation in saying that there is a package of benefits to be gained that I have enjoyed including:

• Weight loss
• Body shape improvement
• General strength improvement
• Overcoming some long term injuries
• General wellbeing
• Developing a more systematic approach to health and wellbeing starting with knowledge and attitude, and including stretching and exercise.
• Developing familiarity with muscles and muscle groups to allow isolation and stress reduction in particular body areas
• Posture – awareness of it and desire to improve it by better use of muscles, joints and spine.

Many thanks Loretta and the Pilates Plus team for putting me on a productive life path and helping me stay there.

Need to make dinner in a jiffy? Taking only 15 minutes to prepare, this recipe combines fresh vegetables with a can of salmon to make one delicious, high-protein, low-fat meal. Serves 4

Ingredients

• 400g penne pasta
• 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed, thinly sliced diagonally
• 3 large roma tomatoes, finely diced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons baby salted capers, rinsed, chopped
• 2 tablespoons finely cut basil, plus extra to garnish
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 210g can salmon, drained, bones and skin removed, flaked

Instructions

Step 1 Cook penne following packet instructions until al dente. Add asparagus for the last 30 seconds of cooking. Drain well, return to saucepan.

Step 2 Place tomato, capers, basil, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice into a bowl. Season with a pinch of sugar and freshly ground black pepper.

Step 3 Add tomato mixture and salmon to hot pasta and toss to combine. Divide between serving bowls, garnish with extra shredded basil if desired.

Nutrition Information

HFG Tip

This pasta dish is great with any type of fish or seafood. You could replace salmon with canned tuna or even crab. You can also replace asparagus with other vegetables – such as zucchini or broccoli.

Iren is receiving our award this month because of the consistant   effort she puts into her training. She is one of our strongest female spinners and has the drive and motivation to always be striving to improve her performance and the results she gets.

She has a busy life with work and kids but fronts up for her 6.30am spin classes ready to give it her all!

Iren has also managed to do this while dealing with a chronic lower back issue. She has been doing Pilates for a number of years now and although her back issue won’t be cured by Pilates, it has had a major impact on her ability to live her life without constant pain.

Congratulations Iren!

When is the best time of day to do your exercise? The answer is any time! But…. if you want to get the maximum benefits possible from every minute you invest in your workouts, then you should consider getting up early and doing exercise before you eat your first meal – even if you’re not a “morning person.” Early morning exercise has three major advantages over exercising later in the day:
Early morning before you eat, your levels of muscle and liver glycogen (stored carbohydrate) are low. If you eat dinner at 7 p.m and you eat breakfast at 7 a.m., that’s 12 hours without food. During this 12-hour overnight fast, your levels of glycogen slowly decline to provide glucose for various bodily functions that go on even while you sleep. As a result, you wake up in the morning with depleted glycogen and lower blood sugar – the optimum environment for burning fat instead of carbohydrate. How much more fat you’ll burn is uncertain, but some studies have suggested that up to 300% more fat is burned when cardio is done in a fasted, glycogen-depleted state.

Morning Exercise Benefit #1

So how exactly does this work? It’s quite simple, really. Carbohydrate (glycogen) is your body’s primary and preferred energy source. When your primary fuel source is in short supply, this forces your body to tap into its secondary or reserve energy source; body fat. If you do cardio immediately after eating a meal, you’ll still burn fat, but you’ll burn less of it because you’ll be burning off the carbohydrates you ate first. You always burn a combination of fat and carbohydrate for fuel, but depending on when you exercise, you can burn a greater proportion of fat relative to carbohydrate.

Morning Cardio Benefit #2

The second benefit you’ll get from early morning exercise sessions is what I call the “afterburn” effect. When you do a cardio session in the morning, you not only burn fat during the session, but you also continue to burn fat at an accelerated rate after the workout. Why? Because an intense session of cardiovascular exercise can keep your metabolism elevated for hours after the session is over. If you do exercise at night, you will still burn fat during the session, so you definitely benefit from it. However, nighttime exercise fails to take advantage of the “afterburn” effect because your metabolism drops like a ton of bricks as soon as you go to sleep. While you sleep, your metabolic rate is slower than any other time of the day.

Morning Cardio Benefit #3

Burning more fat isn’t the only reason you should do morning exercise. The third benefit of morning exercise is the “rush” and feeling of accomplishment that stays with you all day long after an invigorating workout. Exercise can become a pleasant and enjoyable experience, but the more difficult or challenging it is for you, the more important it is to get it out of the way early. When you put off any task you consider unpleasant, it hangs over you all day long, leaving you with a feeling of guilt, stress and incompleteness (not to mention that you are more likely to “blow off” an evening workout if you are tired from a long day at work or if your friends try to persuade you to join them at the pub for happy hour.)

You might find it hard to wake up early in the morning and get motivated to workout. But think back for a moment to a time in your life when you tackled a difficult task and you finished it. Didn’t you feel great afterwards? Completing any task, especially a physically challenging one, gives you a “buzz.” When the task is exercise, the buzz is physiological and psychological. Physiologically, exercise releases endorphins in your body. Endorphins are opiate-like hormones hundreds of times more powerful than the strongest morphine. Endorphins create a natural “high” that makes you feel positively euphoric! Endorphins reduce stress, improve your mood, increase circulation and relieve pain. The “high” is partly psychological too. Getting up early and successfully achieving a small goal kick starts your day and gives you feelings of completion, satisfaction and accomplishment. For the rest of the day you feel happy and you feel less stress knowing that the most difficult part of the day is behind you.

So, you say you’re not a morning person? Sure it’s a challenge at first, but you know what? After a few short weeks, It’s no longer a chore and you are “in the groove” . Just try it. Make a commitment to yourself to do it for just 21 days. Once those 21 days have gone by, you’ll already be leaner and you’ll be on your way to making morning workouts a habit that’s as natural as brushing your teeth or taking a shower. Once you start getting used to feeling that buzz, you’ll become “positively addicted” to it. The more you do it, the more you’ll want to do it. Before you know it, early morning workout will be your new habit; you’ll be leaner, your metabolism will be faster and you’ll feel fantastic all day long!