We build our business based on positive referrals from people just like you, so it’s with your help that Sculptlife Personal Training was awarded New Business of th Year Award at the 2010 Caloundra Chamber of Commerce Awards!

I, Sascha, attended the Caloundra Awards dinner on behalf of Bianca and Sculptlife with our mum, Katherine. (Here are some great pics from the Caloundra Awards night, check them out!)  It was an interesting afternoon that day – I had only discovered on the Wednesday that I would be attending in Bianca’s stead – but since I live in Brisbane I had only sneakers and workout clothes with me!

Last minute find! My outfit for the 2010 Caloundra Awards Night

It was a mad rush to find and buy an outfit in only 1.5 hours after work and Mum had to pick up shoes and make up from Bianca’s place on her way up to the Sunshine Coast. The shoes Bianca lent me had ankle straps to secure them to your feet, one of which got lost in transit! Arghhh – I had only one wearable shoe! Thinking on my feet (no pun intended I promise! ) I cut the coat hanger straps from my new cardigan, (which was black too thankfully! ) and used them as ankle straps instead! Phew – lucky!

By now we were late and rushed to Caloundra, I got car sick trying to read the map and give mum directions to the venue at the same time. Fortunately we didn’t miss anything and were shown in to our seats and started on the entree that had just been served. Prawns with tomato and avocado salsa, mmmm!

It was by now past 7pm- I had started work that day at 5.30am, trained about 15 clients in groups and 1 on 1 sessions, did my own cardio session and weights session and was starting to wear out! If I hadn’t being sticking to my own Sunshine Coast Fitness Trainers program I wouldn’t have lasted past 3pm! Though I must admit, I had to have 3 cans of Coke just to stay awake past the main meal!

Lucky I did or I don’t think I would have been awake to hear Sculptlife announced as the winner! Actually, on second thought – mum’s loud ‘yahoo!” and chair falling backwards on the ground behind her as she jumped up out of her seat should have been enough to wake me! ‘On ya Mum!

Mum Katherine, proud as punch!

Thanks to those cans of Coke I was able to string a few sentences together when I went up on stage to accept the 2010 New Business of The Year Award on behalf of Sculptlife. Next, dessert was served then Mum and I hit the dance floor to bust a few moves before heading home. What a fun night!

It is one thing to be able to be a Sunshine Coast Fitness Trainer and have a job that you are truly passionate about and then another to be recognised for it. So thank you to the Caloundra Chamber of Commerce and all our clients and friends – we couldn’t do it without you!

Yours In Health & Fitness

Sascha Aiono

Sculptlife Personal Training : Lead Trainer
BodyShaping Specialist
BodySculpting Sportsmodel Champion

But! There is one part I dislike about the Sunshine Coast fitness training journey our clients take. And that is the part where they haven’t learnt to say ‘thank you’. Right now, you’re probably wondering what I’m talking about- and also thinking Im a bit rude! – but I promise I’m not!

Have a think about when you last received or gave someone a compliment about their figure. Maybe they/you said – “Hey! You’re looking slim, you look great!”
I bet you didn’t hear; or you didn’t respond “Gee thank you! Yes I’ve been working hard”.
I bet what you heard; or what you responded was:

“Yeah, but I still hate my thighs!”     OR
“Yeah, but my bum is still too big!”        OR
“Yeah, but I’ve still got a long way to go!”      OR
“Yeah, but my tummy is still yuck!”

This is what I’m talking about – see how many “yeah but”s there are in those replies? NO MORE “YEAH BUT”S PEOPLE! Too many people with Sunshine Coast personal training programs are too tough on themselves and don’t say ‘Thank you’ and accept compliments! And it is actually a really important step of your progression to your ideal body.

Accepting and acknowledging compliments makes you feel good about yourself, when you feel good about yourself and the work that you’re doing  you’ll feel more excited and more committed towards getting better results.  And then, rather than feeling like exercising and eating clean is something you should do, it becomes something you want to do….and the positive energy that is a by- product of that ‘feel good’ vibe will attract to you more positive occurrences, more positive results and even more positive compliments!  So you see it’s a never ending cycle!

Even if you have only just started on your Sunshine Coast fitness training program, do something for yourself that makes you feel good about how you look. You deserve a reward for committing to making the lifestyle change.  Buy some nice workout clothes you feel comfortable in, do your hair, get a spray tan, get your nails done – do anything to make you feel better about yourself when u look in the mirror. Lets face it, when we look good, we feel good. So take advantage of that as a little ‘pick me up’ to get yourself started – and then when the results start coming along you’ll feel even better, which means you’ll be even more motivated to stay commited to your goals!

So come on everyone – start saying  Thank you to compliments you receive! Regardless of whether you agree with them or not, the point is to start accepting and acknowledging your hard work! Everyone deserves to feel good about themselves!

Live your Best Life, in your Best Body

Yours in Health & Fitness,

Sascha Aiono

Sculptlife Personal Training

Unfortunately, there can be an unpleasant side to peoples’ comments when embarking on your own health and fitness regime. I’ve often had to tell my clients to be wary of the people around them and how these people respond to their health and fitness regime.

Hopefully most of them will be like your personal cheer squad – the type of people who support you no matter what. They are there praising and encouraging you when things are going well and pick up your spirits and help you back on track when things get tougher. ( Being a Sunshine Coast Personal Trainer means I’m  a 1 person cheer squad too!)

Then there are the people who appear supportive and believe they are being supportive but they may say things or behave in ways that lead you off your track or discourage you.
These people are the unconscious saboteurs of your weight loss journey and are more than likely people close to you, such as your family, friends and colleagues. They don’t intentionally go out of their way to sabotage you but act out of habit or what they think is right.

This happened to me once when I lost quite a bit of weight. I went to a party where there were people I hadn’t seen in a while, I bought a new outfit and I was looking forward to seeing their reactions to the changes I’d made.
The funny thing was I could tell they had noticed I was leaner – they’d look me up and down or out of the corner of their eyes – but no one made a comment what-so ever! It was confusing and a bit discouraging.
It happened again with the same group of people a few times over several months as I kept slimming down. I finally figured out that my success was confronting to them in some way. Instead of letting it get to me, I decided that if these people made no comment about my trimmer figure – I knew that I was looking good!

The people in your life may not be so subtle. Perhaps you know people who are conscious saboteurs – people who intentionally try to stop you from achieving your goals by behaving in certain ways or putting obstacles in your way. They might appear to be supportive but are actually thinking of ways to foil your success. Keep your eye out for these people as they are often those close to you, friends, family, colleagues or acquaintances and can be difficult to spot.

So while you are on your way to a slimmer, healthier, happier you – be aware of the people around you. How many are genuinely happy for you and your progress and how many are confronted or threatened by your success?
At the end of the day, remember that you are your own person and you are working towards your own betterment and personal development.  Don’t let someone else’s issues affect your own journey.

Live the life you want & love the body you’re in!

Yours In Health & Fitness,

Sascha Aiono

Sculptlife Personal Training

I lay there thinking about how much I loved bed, so cosy and comfy, and how nice would it be to stay there all morning, get up at 7.30 and just skip training altogether.
Almost immediately images from the night before popped into my head, I had been to a BodyBuilding contest and seen lots of lean, buffed bods in bikinis and high heels strutting around on stage. It was then that the Sunshine Coast Personal Trainer in me piped up and said “Unfortunately for you being warm and cosy in bed isnt going to get you to your health, figure and fitness goals! Get up!”
(See! Even us trainers are vicitims of our own trainer-to-client encouragement!)

And so reluctantly I got up, reached for some training clothes, devised a way to get dressed that would expose the least amount of bare skin to the cold air outside the bed covers (ie: getting dressed under the covers!!) This took a while, considering I was getting dressed in bed and when it’s cold outside, I usually layer up my workout gear so I’m warm until my heart rate is up, then I can start taking off the layers as I get warmer. Finally I was ready and went for my run.

Forty-five minutes later I was pumped, on an endorphin high and feeling great and I thought about how my day would have started if I hadnt gotten up and trained; it seemed like a sluggish and lethargic way to start the day and I was glad that I hadnt stayed in bed.

Even some of our clients have encountered and overcome this same early morning, inner-monologue debate. One such client bounds up to me in the mornings at 5.30am in the dark, and cheerily says “good morning!” while i’m still mentally waking up! (Even though my body is up and awake – my brain is often half and hour behind my body!) It takes a bit of mental toughness to get up and get going when the rest of the population stays inside in their beds where its warm.

I’d like to know about the times you’ve had to talk yourself out of bed to get to training or the tips and tricks you’ve come up with to make sure you get out there and get working towards your goals. One of our Sunshine Coast Personal Trainers – Sammy, her trick is to set 3 different alarms, while our office administrator Tiani asks her boyfriend to help her out of bed – this ‘help’ he interprets as pulling the covers off her, refusing to give them back then literally kicking her out of bed!   Harsh, but effective none-the-less!

If you’re having a little more trouble than getting out of a warm bed when trying to stay motivated on your fitness journey make sure you check out our article on “refocusing on fitness.”

So lets hear it then! Post your comment below!

Yours In Health & Fitness

Sascha Aiono
Sculptlife Personal Trainer

To make Sunshine Coast Fitness a priority in your life, you need to give yourself as many reasons and as many helpful tools as you can.  Here you’ll find five great tips for making fitness a priority in life, rather than an afterthought.

5 Tips To Make Health And Sunshine Coast Fitness A Life Priority

Clarify your undeniable need for fitness, enlist some help, and pencil—no pen—fitness in to make sure that you live well and live long.

Write it down—what gets done in the course of your day?  The things you’ve made time for.  Exercise should be top of that list because it is what will ensure that you are around to do more and live better.  Schedule time for fitness just as you would for getting dressed, working, and attending important meetings.  Block out your time for fitness in your daily planner first so that you make the time.  Schedule exercise in at a time that makes sense and the rest around it.

Buddy up—get a friend to be your fitness buddy; or, if a friend isn’t interested or available, partner with a like-minded acquaintance at the Sunshine Coast fitness  center and make him or her your friend and fitness buddy.  Having a buddy makes fitness fun and (close to) painless and helps you support each other.  You’ll find that the reasons you give your buddy to go on work for you, too!

Make a list—list all the reasons why you want to get fit and be healthy.  This helps you set fitness goals, motivates you with clear reasoning, and works as a reminder for those times when ambition is waning.  Refer back to your fitness list to see what goals you’ve accomplished, what goals need revamping or replacing, and for general motivation.

Reward yourself—create a reward system as further motivation; with one caveat—your reward cannot be food.  Give yourself something worth working for, something that promotes fitness, and something with lasting motivational power.  A spa treatment, new clothes/wardrobe, a long weekend or vacation, or new recreational or even fitness activity are some good rewards to start with.

Look to the pros—the guidance and support of a good personal trainer is unbeatable as a prioritization strategy for Sunshine Coast fitness.  A personal trainer will help you in innumerable ways by making exercise more enjoyable, more ‘do’-able, providing ongoing information and support, structuring a fitness program tailor-made for you, and being a general source of motivation.  You’ll find that keeping that appointment time and being accountable to someone else helps, too.

You’ll find these five simple tips for prioritizing fitness in your life will go a long way toward your success on the Sunshine Coast fitness trail.  Small changes like these can make a big impact and really help you keep your good health and well being at the forefront of your list of things that need doing.