Christmas Fitness

Eating out, drinking and overindulging are usually on the the agenda for most of us over Christmas. It's the time when we wind down after a busy year to recoupe our energy for a fresh start in January. And most of us give barely a thought to impoving our general fitness. But don't  throw it all by the wayside and lose what you've worked so hard to achieve. The key focus over Christmas should be....Maintenance.

Here's YOUTOPIA's guide to a maintaining a healthy balance this Christmas

Portion Distortion

For Youtopians focussed on weight loss, this is an important point. With office parties, family gatherings, nights out and nights in ... it's hard to avoid the odd (or frequent) 3 course dinner over Christmas. Take some time to consider the benefits of choosing just the one or two courses. Or, if it simply HAS to be the full 3, take extra special care of your portion size

An extremely effective way of reducing your portion size is to use a smaller plate ... simple but it works!!

• Choose light entrees like vegetable soups or salads.
• Go with your traditional turkey or seafood for main courses - these are packed with protein and low in fat!!
• Desserts?? If you absolutely have to, choose a fresh fruit based dessert (the more colourful - the more nutrients).

Alcohol

Tis the season to be jolly and it wouldn't be the holidays without a tipple right? But be wary that alcohol is very high in calories and sugar, which  increases your appetite. So it's always best to drink alcohol as an accompaniment your meals.

• Try to limit your wine and beer intake as these are the most calorific. Better options would be spirits and sugar free mixers.
• A classic vodka, fresh lime and soda is a perfect refreshing accompaniment to any Aussie summer Christmas party

Rest and Relax

Take some time for R&R and don't be too hard on yourself for doing so. Rest is one of the best things you can do to recharge your batteries ready for a positive start to 2012. 'But what about exercising' I hear you shout!! Well, it's surprising how much incidental exercise you'll will do over the next few weeks. Running around, christmas shopping, stocking up our groceries, dancing the night away at Christmas parties, heading out to the beach to enjoy the sun and the surf.

There is plenty going on to keep us busy. So sit back, relax and enjoy the festivities!

Healthy Leftovers

Try this great recipe to make good use of your Christmas leftovers. Seasonal, Vitamin C rich asparagus and protein packed turkey makes a perfectly healthy lunch idea.

Ingredients

2 wholemeal tortilla wraps

4 slices turkey

4 thin slices jarlsberg cheese
2 bunches asparagus, ends trimmed, blanched
and ½ cup (125ml) light cream
and ½ cup (50g) grated cheddar

Prepare

Preheat oven grill on medium. Place tortillas on a flat surface and top each with turkey, Jarlsberg cheese and asparagus.Roll to enclose. Place in a heatproof serving dish, pour over cream and sprinkle with grated cheddar. 

A fresh new look for YOUTOPIA

YOUTOPIA Studio has undergone some fantastic changes recently. With a couple of new arrivals and a brand new website, we're ready to keep you inspired as the weather warms up and the beach beckons.


A NEW SITE...

Our website now has a fresh new look and layout making it even easier to navigate. You can keep up to date with our Blog, find out what's new and check out our trainer profiles.

What's more, you can now Shop YOUTOPIA! Check out our online store for Gift Certificates and other great gift ideas for the fitness fanatics and health conscious alike.

Go to youtopiastudio.com.au and see whats new.


A NEW FACE...

YOUTOPIA welcomes a new team member, personal trainer Aaron. A a keen rugby and cricket player, Aaron played representative rugby in the UK and holds a degree in Sports Education but gains his greatest rewards helping his clients achieve their fitness goals and realize their potential.

We're excited to welcome him and hope you will too!

A NEW WAY TO REACH YOUR GOALS...

The long awaited CrossCore 180, a.k.a 'THE WAR MACHINE' is finally here and qualified War Machine instructors Stacy and Wesley are ready to take it on with their army of Youtopians!

Don't let the name scare you. The War Machine is perfect for people of ALL fitness levels. Being a versatile, rotational, full body training tool using your own body weight as resistance, it's very easy to use and adjust to personalise your workout.

With incredibly functional exercises for the whole body, especially the Core, (remember it's all about the CORE, guys!!) the War Machine will train your body, correct your posture and strengthen your core like never before.

The jury is IN on this one... and the verdict?

Try it!! Feel it!! Love It!!

A NEW WAY TO KICK START YOUR DAY...

Fire starting your metabolism in the morning is essential to give you long lasting energy for the day ahead. We all know the importance of a good breakfast, but amazingly people still skip breakfast without a second thought ... but no time is no excuse!

Find the ingredients for this great shake here

Checkout this dead easy, 2 minute breakfast boost. It's packed full of energy, anti-oxidents, and most importantly - protein. Protein fills you up and releases its energy slowly throught the morning .. and it won't spike your blood sugar like some cereals, toast or juice.

Blueberry Cacao Protein Shake

• 1 Scoop Vanilla Protein Powder - we recommend IsoWhey Complete, a high quality protein isolate with no artificial flavors colours or sweeteners (found in most health food stores and GNC).
• 1 tbspn Organic Cacao Powder - (pronounced ka-kow) it's the Amazonian superfood and the natural source of all chocolate and cocoa products (without the fat and sugar). Raw Cacao products are a source of beta-carotene, amino acids, Omega-3, calcium, zinc, iron, copper, sulphur, potassium, and one of the best food sources of muscle relaxing, stress relieving magnesium.
• 1 tsp Chia Seeds - saturated with nutrients,vitamins A & B12, fibre and 8 times more omega 3 than salmon
• 1 cup Fresh or Frozen Blueberries - exploding with Antioxidants and Vitamin C
• 1/2 tsp Stevia - a natural sugar substitute, made from the Stevia plant, it's extremely low in calories and contains no nasty chemicals like aspartame (found in most sweet substitutes). It's available in most health food stores and supermarkets.
• 200mls Water
• Blend ingredients together and enjoy. Or, if you have an ice cream machine, freeze the mix for a healthy after dinner snack as the weather warms up.

So here's to exciting months ahead! We'll be sure to keep you up to date on all YOUTOPIA News.

Wes - Your Youtopia Personal Trainer and Blogger

YOUTOPIA// Personal Fitness & Wellbeing

2/50 Bayswater Rd, Rushcutters Bay

www.youtopiastudio.com.au

http://youtopiastudio.blogspot.com/

Top 5 Tips to Spring into Action

SPRING INTO SHAPE WITH OUR TOP TIPS FOR GETTING YOUR FITNESS ON TRACK

In winter we want to cozy up at home, take extra long snoozes in the mornings and race home on rainy evenings to a nice hearty dinner – not to mention a fab, full bodied red!  With all of that on offer, it’s hard to find the motivation to leave the house and head to the gym.

But at YOUTOPIA, the level of determination and commitment to training this winter was phenomenal. Consistency and hard work is the key to achieving your health and fitness goals and our clients had it in spades! Well done fellow YOUTOPIANS on your hard work … Good Job!!

Spring has sprung and there’s no better time to come out of hibernation and get your health and fitness kick started for the summer!! Get a fresh boost of motivation from our SPRING FITNESS TIPS (below) and you’ll be feeling fresher and more energized in no time!!

GET BACK ON TRACK:

1. Go Walkabout – The weather is getting warmer and the sun is shining longer, so get out and enjoy it. So throw on your sunnies and take a walk. 30 minutes a day will boost your energy, elevate your mood, give yourself a good dose of Vitamin D and you’ll burn upwards of 100 calories in the process.

2. Eat what’s Local & In Season - Local, seasonal food is fresher, higher quality and more nutritious than foods shipped half way around the world. Our local farmers markets are the best places to shop. Choose the brightest most striking colors you can find.  Think red, yellow, purple, orange – packed full of nutrients and antioxidants, choose the best fuel you can put into your body and put them together in our fresh seasonal recipe below.

3. Hydrate -  As the weather warms up, it’s more important to stay hydrated. Water assists with so many bodily processes and becoming dehydrated can make us feel tired, low on energy and even cause cramps and exhaustion during exercise. Stay hydrated with water during

training. And at home try another great source of hydration, Green Tea - it’s low on caffeine and rich in antioxidants.

4. Set New Goals – Spring is great time to reassess your fitness goals. Without goals we can become complacent and unmotivated. Your YOUTOPIA trainers are on hand to help you stay motivated. Try picking an activity or an event that you haven’t done before and start preparing for it.

5. Stay Consistent – Consistency is one of the most important factors in achieving and maintaining your health & fitness goals. You may not perform your best every single day or at every training session, sometimes you’ll perish the thought of any exercise at all … but consistently trying your best is the way to sustainable fitness & health.

GET CREATIVE IN THE KITCHEN:

Give this Gorgeous easy to make Spring salad a try, made with fresh seasonal ingredients it’s packed full with nutrients and flavor (add some Chicken or Salmon for an extra protein boost)

Beetroot & Chickpea Salad

SALAD:

· 1 beetroot (roast in oven for 1 hr 200°C to cook and loosen the skin and dice into cubes once cooled)
· 80g baby English spinach leaves
· 400g can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
· 1 small red onion, cut into thin wedge
· 100g reduced fat fetta

Combine all of the above into a large bowl and add the following dressing


DRESSING:

· 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
· 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
· 1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
· 1 garlic clove, peeled and halved

Combine into a screw-top jar and shake

GET INVOLVED:

As you may know, the Coles Sports for Schools Campaign is up and running again for 2011. It’s a great way for all of us to help our local schools keep kids fit and enthusiastic about sport. For every $10 spent at Coles supermarkets, 1 voucher is earned. The vouchers are donated to schools, which then exchange them for much needed sports equipment.

A fellow Youtopian just so happens to be the Head Teacher at one of our local schools (The Emanuel School in Randwick) and we want to do our part to help support them and provide some updated sports supplies.

So if you shop at Coles, bring your vouchers into YOUTOPIA and your trainer will collect them to pass on. The initiative is running right now and through to October 18th, plenty of time to collect heaps of these little blue tickets for a great cause.

Wes - Your Youtopian Personal Trainer & Blogger

YOUTOPIA// Personal Fitness & Wellbeing

2/50 Bayswater Rd, Rushcutters Bay

www.youtopiastudio.com.au

http://youtopiastudio.blogspot.com/

City 2 Surf 2011

Bondi Beach was the palce to be this weekend. the worlds biggest race, The Sydney City 2 Surf , took 85000 runners from Hyde Park all the way to the shore line at Bondi Beach.

Amongst this immense crowd stood 9 very proud Youtopians! Bearing our bib numbers and snugly fitting T- shirts, we descended on the start line without so much as a shudder to the adverse weather conditions at the start of the race. At 8am the first gun was fired to start the dash from City to Surf  followed by wave after wave of eager runners out to compete in this amazing race!

Having such a diverse range of abilities at Youtopia, every wave of this race saw a Youtopian slog it out to the finish line. From the Orange bibs at the back of the pack right through to the Elite red bib holders at the front, the race was ran superbly by all involved. Heartbreak Hill was as arduous as always but not one of our Youtopia Crowd let it get the better of them , ploughing through to reach the top and then it was literally all down hill from there in a sprint for the finish line!

The sprint finishes were fuelled by the huge crowd of supporters at Bondi Beach as the finish line came into full view. And the proof that all the hard work and training paid off ?......

It's right here in the times below!!

Paige Shelbourne              Sonia Himowicz              John Shelbourne

1:39:47                             1:31:04                             1:00:59

    Jack Bedwani                    Mark Buckley                       Gemma Lang

   1:14:05                                  1:14:20                                  1:34:36

    

 Katy Anderson                 Wesley Almond

1:12:44                                   1:06:57

Anne Hastings

1:44:08

Together with the crowds and great atmosphere the Sydney City 2 Surf was a great success for Youtopia clients and trainers alike and a superb day had by all.

A Huge Congratulations to all that took part and lets hope to have some even better times next year.

Wes - Your Youtopian Personal Trainer & Blogger

YOUTOPIA// Personal Fitness & Wellbeing

2/50 Bayswater Rd, Rushcutters Bay

www.youtopiastudio.com.au

http://youtopiastudio.blogspot.com/

Weigh To Go YOUTOPIA!!

A new addition has just arrived at YOUTOPIA!

The WiFi Body Scale from Withings is an incredible piece of kit bringing weight management right up to date with its state of the art technology and design.

The hi-tech WiFi Body Scale doesn’t just measure your weight, it measures your full body composition, including the percentages of both fat and lean (muscle) mass of your body, as well as calculating your Body Mass Index (BMI). Much better than a regular weighing scale, you can actually see and monitor where those extra kilos are being lost or gained as a result of your training efforts and nutritional patterns.

It’s well documented that people who monitor their training and nutrition on a regular basis gain faster and more effective results. The WiFi Body Scale keeps an extremely precise record of your progress over time. Using clear and easy to understand graphics it allows you see the evolution of your fitness, giving you even more confidence and motivation to charge towards your health and fitness goals.

Check out the Wifi Body Scale app 

Another great feature of the WiFi Body Scale is that you can make your results mobile. Apps for the iPhone and Androids are downloadable for free, so you can sync up your data and take it with you, giving you access to your records anytime anywhere.

Both trainers and clients at YOUTOPIA are 'all over' this new addition and are already enjoying their new challenges and refreshed motivation. Trainers Stacy and Wes can introduce you to its features, set up your own personal (confidential) account and away you go, you’re ready to start a new fitness chapter.

At YOUTOPIA you can purchase your own Wifi Body Scale for use at home for just $295.00 

Training at YOUTOPIA has never been better and the addition of the WiFi Body Scale has just injected a whole new dynamic into an already unique training environment!  We’ll be sure to keep you up to date with further news and updates at YOUTOPIA in the near future.

Wes – your Youtopia Personal Trainer and Blogger!!

YOUTOPIA// Personal Fitness & Wellbeing

2/50 Bayswater Rd, Rushcutters Bay

www.youtopiastudio.com.au

http://youtopiastudio.blogspot.com/

Be In It To Win It

YOUTOPIA is in the running and you could win big too!

The team from YOUTOPIA Personal Fitness & Wellbeing has been nominated in the City of Sydney Business Awards.  And if you help us over line with your vote, you could win a $1500 cash prize!!

With a big push from both trainers and clients at YOUTOPIA, voting is well under way. But with the last votes to be counted on Friday 22^nd July, there is less than a week to go!! All SMS and online voters go in the running to take home $1500. So if you haven’t voted already – here’s what you need to know.

To vote online, click on the link below and fill in your details.

http://www.sydneybusinessawards.com.au/sba/vote/(id)/1107

Or, simply SMS YOUTOP to 0447 447 070 (standard text charges apply).

Since 2008, these awards have helped businesses all over Sydney reach out to the community and put themselves on the map.  Plus, it’s a great way for the Sydney peeps to give businesses a pat on the back for a job well done.

So why do we want you to share the love?

At YOUTOPIA, we strive to stay at the forefront of the fitness industry, providing the best service and most cutting edge fitness practices to our clients. We’re proud of how far we’ve come and these awards help you tell others that we’re getting it right!

Taking out a prize would raise our profile to even greater heights and help us to continue to improve our service for present Youtopians and future Youtopians to come!!

A BIG THANK YOU to everyone for your support so far. We’ll be sure to keep you up to date with the awards and all the ‘goings on’ here at YOUTOPIA.

… from Wes your Youtopian Personal Trainer and blogger.

YOUTOPIA// Personal Fitness & Wellbeing

Rushcutters Bay’s Premier Boutique Personal Training and Fitness Studio

http://youtopiastudio.blogspot.com/

www.youtopiastudio.com.au

12 Months at Youtopia

                                              

Welcome to YOUTOPIA's first ever blog!

Here's a little bit about what we've all been up to...

YOUTOPIA Studio opened its doors to the eager fitness beavers of Rushcutters Bay on in March 2010. Master Trainer Stacy Raddatz brought years of experience and her winning philosophy to our expertly designed studio and quickly established YOUTOPIA as THE place to workout and keep fit in Rushcutters Bay (and neighboring hoods from Bondi to Paddington and Surry Hills). With the addition of another Master Trainer; Wesley Almond in August that same year creating an extra dynamic to the studio, it has been an exciting year at YOUTOPIA Studio!

With additional trainers came additional clients, bringing with them a hugely varied outlook on fitness and fitness goals. Mark Buckley and Melissa Lee joined the fun in 2010 with a wedding to plan for April this year. M&M came together to get in shape for their big day. Working with Wesley they had a blast and worked extremely hard during their sessions. When their big day arrived they had lost a combined 10kgs! Elegant bride Melissa looked AMAZING all in white and Mark was the definition of dapper as groom. Congratulations guys from all of us!

The months of December and January brought about a couple of special events. The NSW Mud Run and the Warrior Dash were introduced to Wesley by his client, Sonia. Both took part, together with fellow Youtopians; Paige and John. They battled through treacherous but exhilarating treks covering 10kms of rivers, mud pits, and cross country terrain. Arduous and incredibly fun is the best way to describe these events but we think the pictures speak for themselves. YOUTOPIA trainers and clients will be competing in these events again this year ... the more the merrier!

Our client’s goals are as diverse as they are. Some join for general fitness and others for more sports-specific training. Katy (an experienced marathon runner) came on board to add some resistance training into her already busy marathon training schedule. Training tremendously hard, Katy completed the Six Foot Trail Blue Mountains Marathon in under 5hrs 30mins - an exhausting course and an amazing time and testament to her dedication and hard work. Well done Katy!

Since completing this event, Katy now has her sights set on competing in her first Half Ironman competition before the end of 2011.

Both Wesley and Katy took part in the Sydney Half Marathon in May this year, and are now in training for the Sydney Marathon in September.

A Youtopian crowd of 10 will descend on the start line of the Sun-Herald City to Surf event in August this year. There's lots of training focusing on this event at YOUTOPIA at the moment and all involved are looking forward to the experience.

There’s heaps more going on at YOUTOPIA Studio in 2011, including a little thing called The War Machine (more info on that later), so keep your eyes peeled for further blogs and newsletters from Wes your Youtopian Personal Trainer and blogger.

YOUTOPIA Studio // Personal Fitness & Wellbeing, Rushcutters Bay.