Why I use coaches and mentors

Don't be afraid to use coaches and mentors, they can and will help you become better / do more / see things differently. Believe me we can't be an expert in everything, so why not use their services to shortcut your own personal and professional development. Let me give you an example of one group of mine:

I know I go on and on and on about my personal battles with diet, exercise and weight loss, but I am NOT a dietician nor am I a personal trainer - though I do use the services of both, plus a few other people and organisations as well who can help me.

My personal trainer is also a dietician - though I am not that strict with her eating plans as I should be. Her name is Hilary Reid, she is 56 and an all Australian Body Sculpting Champion and she is competing this weekend in Melbourne. Believe me when I say this, if she can help me she can help anyone. For those who would like more information - she can be contacted via the website http://www.efit121.com.au - of course she can only train those who can get to her studio, but it's well worth it if you can. For those who can't, there is a mass of information on the site which may help you. But a good tip here, find someone like Hils who you trust to help you as well as someone who will push you. My first session a while back she said "right, we'll start with 7kilo dumbbells and see how you go ... hmmm that's too easy - here's the 9's ...)

I also have a "normal" gym membership with Get Fit For Life East Perth ... these do group training sessions every day. I'd give you their website, but it is rather awful (sorry Ryan if you are reading this) ... They are doing a sign up thingummy at the moment, if 3 of you reading this sign up - mention my name - there's a TV on offer, we can give it to a charity or an organisation who needs a new one ... we'll decide on who when "we" win.

So my normal training routine each week is as follows:

• I do 1 personal training session each week with Hils
• I like to do at least 2 group training sessions (preferably 4) each week, these are all weights, though some of the group sessions are cardio and fitness - depends which sessions I can get to.
• I also like to do several hours of cardio on top of that each week, plus stretching and core body work.

My diet is predominantly based on a lifetime of trial and error, but what seems to work for me is a low carb diet. When I eat too many carbs I do stack the weight on :-( since January 1st 2011 I have lost 10 kilos but more importantly 3 dress sizes, and will keep on pushing it until I lose my tummy. But the weight loss came about by removing most of the refined carbs in my diet... and working my butt off in the gym and elsewhere.

With that in mind, let me say this:

• What works for me, may not work for you
• Get advice
• Your mentors and coaches will change as you change and grow (or shrink as the case may be)
• Start slowly if you haven't exercised in a while
• Be willing to push yourself even if you don't want to do it. It's winter here in Australia, it's damp, it's cold and I didn't want to go. So I got up anyway and did it. It wasn't my best effort, but I went, and yes I do feel better for it... even more so when I put on a size smaller dress and it fitted :-)
• Don't just use the scale as the only measure of success