Personal Training in Bahrain

Riyadh; bringing the world closer together!

My Royal adventure is almost over! So, I am making the most of seeing the sights of Riyadh because I doubt I will be returning (I shouldn't say that as when I left Bahrain 10 years ago I said exactly the same thing and here I am moving back over there; so never say never!).

And what with my previous limited Saudi outings I am pleased to say that I did manage to get out last night for a friend's birthday meal. We went for dinner at a very well known landmark in Riyadh; so well known that it stands as a landmark of Saudi Arabia as does the Burj al Arab in Dubai and the financial center in Bahrain.

The meal at Spazio on the 77th floor of the 300metre tall skyscraper by the name of Burj al Mamlaka allows you to see a panoramic view of the city. Great view in the day, I am sure, and although very  impressive going up in the lift to the 99th floor to the sky bridge; not a lot to see apart from lights!

What I wanted to say, relating to my title, was how international our seven diners were. We had;

• Me - A Brit
• Birthday gal - an Australian
• Maltese
• Norwegian
• Saudi
• French
• Moroccan

Common language was English (although, the Moroccan had to translate to the non English speaking French lady!) And you will be pleased to know, fellow English men/women, that I did my bit and spoke another language, albeit my rusty Spanish, but managed to have a good conversation with the Moroccan!

Now this multicultural gathering may not mean a lot to some, but many of you who know me, know that I get very excited about "international togetherness". In all the present world conflicts, where politics, world domination and corrupt media have created a world of hatred, secularism and war, it was a great feeling to connect with other nationalities and share common interests.

When was the last time you spent time learning about another culture, made contact with someone of a different religion, or smiled at a stranger from a different country?

Saudi; the most misinterpreted country in the World

For those of you who have lived in Saudi, many of you will have fond memories and continue to proclaim (when anyone will listen) that it is not as bad as people make out. Yes, it is frustrating that women can't drive and Yes it gets bl**dy hot in the summer, but something valuable I have learned from my time here is how hospitable the Saudi families are, that children are cherished and how much respect their children show for their parents. (something that seems to be disappearing in the West).

Hopefully, this short post will let fellow expats and world travellers take a step back, appreciate the culture that they are living in (or visiting) and not let ignorance get in the way of experiencing different ways and wonders of our precious world.   

Discounts from 30-45%, hurry offer runs out 31st DEC 2007

Yes, it is that time of year again when we look at the year that has passed and start setting goals for 2008. How has 2007 been? Did you achieve all your goals you set out in the beginning of the year?

My year has been one of the most productive and non productive years of my life!! I have advanced so far with regards to my business, personal life, health and location; yet I have become more sedentary than I have ever been before and care to admit. (As you know a female living in KSA does have its draw backs when it comes to action packed activities!)

One thing I do know is that my quest for healing has paid off and this last year I have overcome health challenges that I never thought possible. Yes, my IBS has 90% gone and I have more importantly learned what foods and lifestyle behaviors to avoid if I wish to remain tummy trouble free.
I have also learned over the last year that healthy living is a choice and one that does not take over night to master. We have picked up so many bad habits throughout our lives that a lot of the healthy living coaching is about un learning old habits and re introducing new ones.

More importantly, I have experienced the true value of diagnostic testing and following a course of superior quality nutrients that have supported my healing process. (I know that I cannot source organic foods in this part of the world and as a consequence will continue to take a maintenance pack.

In the last year I have overcome adrenal fatigue, 2 parasites, a digestive fungal overgrowth, a leaky gut and am at present balancing out my hormones and supporting my liver! WOW, who would have thought I would have all these ailments being a health professional!!

No doubt you too strive to lead a healthy existence and are confused as to the bombarding literature that claims to have the answer to optimizing health!!

Well unless you live by a beach in tropical Grenada eating baby coconuts and fresh organic seasonal vegetables every day! (Hey Lea, that's you!) And you are not in the overworked, under paid category and  do not have busy work/life commitments then you more than likely have a whole host of ailments similar to mine.

Here is a guide if this could be you;

• You need a coffee to wake yourself up
• You find yourself getting irritated at the most minor things
• Your stomach gives you grief most days
• You crave sweet foods
• You need an alcoholic drink to relax and unwind after a hard day at work
• You have put weight on in the last couple of years yet you have not changed your eating habits
• You diet regularly and find it really hard to stick to a diet
• You feel tired most afternoons
• You find you are tired in the day, yet wide awake at night
• You have chronic PMS symptoms and feel like a witch 2 weeks prior to menstruation

Does this sound like you?

My progams work!!! (I have first hand experience) Whilst they are not short term fixes and healing may take up to a year, I have to say that the healing has worked!

If you would like to get serious about fixing your health and promoting a life free of disease and discomfort then take a look at these exciting discounts that I am offering:

DISCOUNTS if purchased before 31st December 2007

1. Core 1 - (1 month starter pack) - normally GBP299 - Your price  GBP209 - 30% Discount
2. Core 3 - (4 month programme) - normally GBP425 - Your price GBP276 - 35% Discount
3. Core 6 - (7 month programme) - normally GBP599 - Your price GBP359 - 40% Discount
4. Core 12 -(13 month programme) - normally GBP950 - Your price GBP522 - 45% Discount

**Lab tests and Supplements are extra and can range from GBP200 - 1500 depending on the severity of your symptoms and length of treatment.
**You don't need to start your programme until next year! purchase now and start in 2008!

WATCH THIS SPACE FOR DISCOUNTS FOR THE NEW YEAR!!

Book now to avoid disappointment, only 6 WEEKS left to take advantage of these exceptional offers!

Sign up for your 15 minute consultation TODAY!

3 weeks and 3 days left!!!!

Bloggers block, bloggers block, bloggers block!! Here I go again finding it hard to keep my blog up to date. Ok! I know only 8 days ago I wrote my last blog, but I had tried to get into the habit of writing everyday!
Well things are difficult at the moment as I am in transition with many things. Rest assured come January the start of my permanent base in Bahrain will be filled of fun, exciting Expat living in the Sun stories!

Don't get me wrong plenty of exciting things are happening but they are all in the middle of finalising so before I can spill the beans I have to remain slightly secretive.

Things I can share with you is that I am slowly building up my client base for Personal Training in Bahrain and have even started a FACEBOOK group dedicated to all the fitness junkies in Bahrain. Things I will be posting include;

1. Times and days of my group fitness classes
2. Walking club details
3. Personal Training offers (look out for January sales!)
4. Personal stories from my clients, both before and after pictures

Check it out and join if you would like to follow along - group name PERSONAL TRAINING IN BAHRAIN
I also have some negotiations going ahead with some corporate clients in Bahrain which should also be an exciting opportunity for the employees and of course Core-PTS!!

On a personal note, I am drawing a close to my time here in Riyadh, I've really enjoyed working with the family and I will be sad to leave in 3 weeks 3 days time. Although, we have to get back to reality and what a fantastic reality I have to look forward to; building my Health Coaching business in the little ole island of Bahrain.
I also have my wonderful wedding to look forward to and I can't wait to see my fiance Rob and our two cats; Gin and Tonic! (OH and a G&T, wouldn't go down a miss either!!! How long is it..... 3 weeks to go!)

Hey and lastly what with everything going on I got a 92% in my first Masters in Holistic Nutrition module!! Yeay for the law of attraction and PMA!

Listing 11 reasons to work out in the morning | Listing 11

Link: Listing 11 reasons to work out in the morning | Listing 11.

This made me chuckle!!!

Listing 11 reasons to work out in the morning

1. To trick yourself!!
2. It doesn’t mess up your  eating schedule like working out at lunch or in the evening can.
3. Not very many good TV shows on in the early morning. Except Saved by the Bell which, coincidentally, is a fantastic program to watch while you work out!
4. Getting up sucks.   Going to the gym sucks.  Combine them and you’ve cut down the  suckiness in your life automatically!
5. Very few conflicting obligations at 5:30am on weekdays. Has your kid ever had a soccer practice at that hour? Ever been invited to a cocktail party at that hour? Not likely.
6. In the summer it’s actually  bearable in the early hours.  (This applies only if you live somewhere  hot.)
7. Meanwhile, in the winter, the gym is WAY less crowded before work than at the dreaded after-work hours. Especially in January
8. Not much time to make excuses  for why you can’t go to the gym between waking up at 5:15 and arriving  at the gym at 5:30.
9. Less showering!   Once per day takes care of everything!  (Less on days you don’t  work out!)
10. Fewer stereotypical gym folks in the early morning. (‘girl who wears lots of makeup and shows cleavage,’ ‘Grunt man,’ and the twenty-eight very sweet, but locker-room-dominating, senior citizens don’t make it to the gym until later.)
11. Working out in the  evening sucks.

What! I can't work as a Nutritionist??

So there I was, planning my future for the next 5 or so years, settled in Bahrain, and practicing Nutrition and Lifestyle Coaching to Bahrain residents. I had a wonderful plan and was busy negotiating with a number of leading Spas in Bahrain so that I could offer Functional Medicine for the first time in the Middle East!
After talking to a number of people and speaking to the Ministry of Health, it appears that I have to show them my certification in Nutrition in order to register as a Nutritionist. Don't get me wrong, that is fantastic news that there are strict regulations in place, but what is preventing me is that I have yet to complete my Masters!!

The fact that I have been successfully helping clients worldwide, worked for royalty and have extensive qualifications in my field does not count for nada!!

So, after this hurdle, I am now offering my services as a Personal trainer which I can easily operate without the regulatory red tape. I'm happy to do this as this was my line of work whilst here in Saudi and back in the UK.
Fortunately, I can still run my practice 'on line' as the business is based in cyber world and not Bahrain, so for my existing phone based clients, there will be no change.
As for clients in Bahrain, I look forward to helping you with your fitness goals and just so you know that there will be a lot of extra tips and advice relating to healthy lifestyles ;-) ;-)

Check here for my Personal Training page!

I'll also be teaching freelance fitness classes so watch here for times and locations!

Day 56- Ups and Downs!

Cor blimey! Have I had enough of Saudi! The weather is glorious outside, the temperature is in the 80's and I am cooped up in my appartment. Don't get me wrong I am living in luxury but I have so many things happening that the last thing I want to be doing is staying indoors and following a structured plan.

I'm too excited, nervous, anxious, delirious about my immediate future- Have a look below at what's going on that is making me crazy and slightly stressed! (note to self, must re introduce my calming meditation cds) AAAAAAAAAAArrrggh I'm too excited for all that!

1. I'm leaving Saudi in 4 weeks and 5 days! Exciting!
2. I'm surrounded in boxes with the ominous task of packing! Stressful!
3. I am going to be living with my beloved Fiance. V.Exciting!
4. We are going to have to get back into the swing of living together again! no comment ;-)
5. My mum is coming to Bahrain for Christmas all the way from Florida!  V. exciting!
6. We are going for a weekend to Dubai and on a Hot Air balloon ride over the city! V. V. Exciting!
7. I have my first Masters module due at the end of the month! Stressful!
8. I am getting married in 4 months V. V. Exciting!
9. I have to plan the day! V. stressful
10. I have friends and family coming over from the UK for the event. V. Exciting and V. Stressful!
11. I don't think my Fiance's family can make the 6 hour flight, due to health constraints. V. sad!
12. I am leaving my position as a Royal health coach. V. sad
13. I am leaving my financial security to start up on my own again. V. stressful
14. I can't promote my services as a Nutritionist in Bahrain due to red tape issues. V.stressful!
15. I am promoting my services as a Personal trainer to the residents of Bahrain. exciting!
16. I am anxious about making a success of it. (normal self doubt, note to self; I can do it, I do have the knowledge and expertise, I've trained the royal family for goodness sake!!)
17. I want to look amazing in my already amazing looking wedding dress.

Now doctors say it's good to be fat - Independent Online Edition > Health

Link: Now doctors say it's good to be fat - Independent Online Edition > Health.

The report "definitely won't be the last word", said Dr Michael Thun of the American Cancer Society, who pointed out, in a report released last week by the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research, that staying slim was the main recommendation for avoiding cancer.

Well isn't this good news!!!! hahahahah The best news I have heard all day!! Whilst being obese can cause disease and mortality and health professionals should continue to fight the increasing numbers of obese people; I do feel, and so do a lot of emerging alternative health professionals, that we are placing too much emphasis on achieving an unhealthy size 4/8 (UK). Rather than aiming to look like an emaciated runway model (Have you seen them recently???) we should be concerned about the quality of the food we eat and the environment we live in.
Hey, BTW for all you skinny people out there...... did you know that you are healthier to carry a bit of fat, as this article suggests, as the toxins that are in the environment (and these are rising in an alarming rate!!!!) get stored in our body fat. And if you don't have a bit of body fat, then the toxins store in your organs!!! I know which one I would prefer.
Life is about enjoyment! Hey we are only here once, so stop restricting yourself from calories, start investing time in eating good quality whole foods and 'live a little'. I am a healthy size 14 (UK), yes I want to slim down for my wedding to a size 12 (UK), but I know that I am healing my body from within and make sure that I eat good, plentiful, whole foods 85% of the time. I take supplements to ensure that I am getting all the necessary nutrients, I exercise regularly and I enjoy a drink and letting my hair down once and a while. I'm not perfect and I hope no one is, as life would be so boring.
So in essence, I say, bring it on lets unite and maintain our healthy lives from within and stop worrying about those extra few pounds!! Anyway, as men say, it's more sexy to have some curves on a woman! more to grab a hold of!!!

Let's see more articles like this!!!!!!!!!!!!