Hi, my name is Desiree Winkel, owner and founder of Fitness Coaching. I’ve been working for years now with Martijn Steffens, a manual therapist who runs his office in the same studio as mine. We work with clients, who are in pain, need to exercise and want to get healthy.
Can you believe this?! 2017 is just around the corner. Did the year go fast? Oh yeah! I’m not the only one who thinks so. Most of my clients do too. It’s as if it were just yesterday that we made ourselves a promise: “This year I will eat better and will train every day for sure.” Yes, it was you who said that.
Starting a healthier lifestyle can be done at any age: 20, 30, 40, 50 and, yes, also 60 or even 70! When we’re in our 20s, we do not realize most of the time that our perfect, young skin will ever show signs of aging. Our butt is still up, legs and arms are tight and we have enough energy for 10. Oh how I remember my 20s! The 30s are also okay; we are still tight in most places, arms are not flabby and the belly most of the time is still okay – maybe a little bigger than you want it to be, but hey! You have a child or you may be too busy to take care of YOUR life. Or if you are a man reading this article, you are not as active anymore as when you were younger.
I’ve heard the “when I was younger, I was ripped” stories” so it’s not that I don’t believe you. Maybe when you come home tired from work, you have to watch the kids instead of playing with your buddies or playing a game of soccer or baseball. You have to work on the house or meet your buddies in the pub to share all the important stuff that is going on in your life or at work. Don’t worry! I do understand, but I also hear the excuses people make.
Your 40s are even worse if you did not make time in your younger days to train: graffiti takes place, wrinkles are showing in places you would NEVER expect to have them and the flexibility of your skin is GONE! Don’t start to panic now; you can do something about it. Remember, I started to train and compete when I was 38! Most bodybuilders and fitness competitors retire at that age. But believe me; I never regret that day in my life that I made that decision. It was basically the best decision I ever made in my life. It made me so much stronger in mind AND body!
Let’s forget about the aging process now and focus on our goal – NO MATTER WHAT AGE YOU ARE! In my fitness studio, I literally have every age group. It’s incredible when you look at somebody train and realize that that person is 60 and trains like a young athlete. Most Sint Maarteners know this person and wonder why this gentleman is so fit and full of energy. Respect! Speak of setting goals, this gentleman one day decided to get fitter and healthier – and that’s what he did. He signed up for training twice a week and is now training three times a week and feels great. He sets his goals a little higher every time and is definitely not reaching for the impossible. Although he had a back issue; this did not hold him back but encouraged him to start working out.
I am so proud of so many of my clients. The older I myself get, the more I see clients who are in my age group or older signing up for my trainings. They have the feeling that I do “understand” their body. So as the year ends, we all are setting new goals for the new year. Even though I have retired from fitness competitions, I still set my fitness goals. Because I sell fitness, I have to look like a fitness instructor and on top of that, I LOVE my lifestyle. It makes me happy, and feeling healthy is much better then feeling drained and uncomfortable in my own skin. You cannot believe how healthy you will feel if you just make some little changes in your lifestyle. I told myself that I HAVE to train at least three times a week. My goal if I feel like it is to train a little more, but more cardio related. Between 45 and 55 minutes of weight- and/or cardio-training three times a week is enough for my body. When my clients ask me if it’s enough, I mostly answer YES. Why? Because it’s the way you train. People who spend hours and hours in the gym want to reach what goal? Remember to train smart. If you don’t know how, get a trainer. Change the way you live little by little training- and food-wise, and you can reach your goal. You can lose inches off your waist. You can even tone and sculpt your body even though you are over 50. I do it and I have seen so many others doing it. It makes no sense to diet and not train. You will get flabby all over.
Don’t spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on “special supplements” – crazy machines that take water out of your body, help you to reduce fat and cellulite or eat less than 1,500 calories a day. Those methods only bring you further away from your goal. Your trainer can help you with these goals. He or she should know what to do in order to help you reach your goal. Don’t go for fast; it’s a quick fix and thus not forever. Fitness and a good healthy lifestyle go hand-in-hand. Remember one can of coca cola contains 22 bags of sugar. Do I need to say more?
Fitness Coaching has a lot of new classes for 2017! We reopen on January 2, 2017, and will be open six days a week. See our Fitness Coaching Facebook page for all the information. Thank you for your interest in reading my articles over the last year. Have a wonderful Christmas and a great and HEALTHY New Year.
Let me help you! If you have questions or need more information about Fitness Training, call me, Desiree Winkel, at 524-7700. We are located on Welfare Road, next to Tendal Real Estate and North Eastern Insurance, Sexy Fruits, on the first level of the building.
