No compromise!

I am a girlie girl. Not a high maintenance one! Just a girl. I own one pair of jeans and a hundred dresses. There is no PJ in my wardrobe; I wear nighties....just because I am a girl. I wear high heels, makeup and pink headbands. I like good guys. And flowers, lots of them. I talk to my dogs a lot, to my plants and trees. Cause I am a girl....and a dreamer. But things change when I go to the gym. Even there, I still wear my makeup and my headbands. I am still a girl.... but I lift heavy weights with rough guys. I am not gonna change for them; they have to change if they want me around. It is quite weird how they never swear or speak dirty in front of me. This is probably because they know I am a girlie girl. Let's be straight here: I am not an angel, but, for those of you who don't know this already, I am immortal. Yes, I am. I will always be around, me or somebody like me!

I train garls and guys and I enjoy my life. I also manufacture organic products. I believe in organic, in pure materials. It is amazing how oils and water mix together into white moisturizers. I wish you can all see that! Maria is my business associate for years and I see her not more that 10 times a year. The business still goes well without us waisting time on planing it. However, when we meet, just to discuss production or sales, we forget about everything and we talk about children and veggie gardens. Two blondies in business, how weird! A few months back, we turned down a huge contract, the winning ticket to our retirement really. So, here we are, blue eyed Maria and I, both wearing pink dresses,  in the huge conference room of a huge company and these guys, very arrogant by the way, offer to buy hundreds of thousands of products from us if we change our products' formula a little bit here and there. We have chosen carefully our suppliers and buy from them only certified organic ingredients and these guys ask us to go with the flow, be modern and make cheap skin care. I don't compromise on quality. Maria doesn't either. So they keep talking their talks and at one stage I turned to Maria and asked "Do you want wealth or just happiness?". And then we both  left that fancy conference room. We never heard back from the guys and this is a good thing really because I know that they haven't understood that we are just two girlies, two blondies who will never change just because we live in the 21st Century. The wild 21st one. 

I don't compromise in any aspect of my life. Neither should you.  It's all or nothing. This is my life and I am living it  my way. If you want to be part of it or just train with me, you have to understand that I will always be a girlie girl, who wears make up and high heels and dresses and headbands....and I don't compromise! :)

My peeps

I may not be Alice and I may not live in Wonderland, but my world is mine only and there is no hate, violence, discrimination, judgement in it. It's just Brigitte's world and it is full of good people. My peeps may be full of tattoos or piercing, may seem weirdos to others, but they make sense to me...and I make sense to them. My peeps are all sorts of colors and nationalities, men, women and children, young, old... My peeps are my peeps and nobody has the right to judge them! We see each other in gyms, we sweat together and there are so many belly laughings when they are around

There is that gorgeous girl, client of mine, young, beautiful soul, always perfectly dressed. Only my peeps know that she, the girlie, has so many tattoos that it would be impossible to really count them. They know it because they see her outside of the corporate world she lives in. They see her in the gym, where she is just an average girl with a young beautiful soul. Alice, sweetie, this is for you! :)

Then there is that old guy who could probably be my grandfather's age (if I would have any). I met him when I first arrived to New Zealand and I just signed my first contract with a huge gym. I used to talk with him a lot mostly  because I totally adored his 5 years old grandson. People were afraid of him and I never understood why nobody trains close to him.  I was told then that he was a gang member long time ago and he was lucky enough to escape. Actually, I wasn't told that! People only told me a name of a gang and I though "How cool! He is a former rocker", because I didn't know, and still don't know, anything about gangs. As I've already said, there is no such a thing in my world. Anyway, I still talk with that guy when I see him occasionally at the supermarket. Still with his grandson around. Just a few minutes ago, I've seen him in one of the local shops and he told me" You know blondie that you are the only one talking to me?". And, to be honest, I am quite proud of that! Bill, buddy, this is for you! :)

And there is John, the guy I used to train for more than a year, every Saturday at 2:00pm. Hard working athlete! I knew well his wife, great lady, his kids, amazing guys! One Saturday he was late for the session and I asked one of the ladies at the reception if she's seen John walking in the gym. I was quite shocked when she asked me "John, the black guy?". Nah, just John. But then, ten minutes later, when John finally arrived, I realized that John actually is a black guy from Jamaica. I never seen that. For me he was just a great athlete I trained. Again, because there is no skin color in my world! John, you taught me so much, thanks! :)

And then there is that Chinese guy, another amazing athlete I trained and prepared  for a comp. He didn't understand my accent, I didn't understood his. For the sake of the training, we both learned Chenglish. I don't remember him having too many friends around because he was different. Nobody knew that, because he had to provide for his kids, he had three jobs and he took over the fourth one only to be able to afford paying me. Jay, keep going, buddy! :)

There also is the amazing Gail. She is a client I see once a week. Super lady, hard worker, great mother, busy as, but she still finds the time to train and get to results that others can only dream about! She just got engaged and I was the first to know. What an honor really! Me, the blondie with an accent, who created a brand new world where all these people can fit in. These are my peeps, they and many others. Guys, it's never too late to live in a world like mine...no hate, no tantrums, no arguments, no fights. Just love really. I will always keep the door open, but once in, there is no escape. Just because I am a keeper! :)

Nonethical ethic

We were born in a world ruled by all sorts of beliefs and practices, where rituals, not morals though, are sacred. Nobody questions, everybody follows. If you are something like me, you would definitely try to cross boundaries so, you dreamers, see you on the other side! 

I was taught that a woman always stays on the man's left and for years I wondered what's wrong with his right. Then, I realized that, growing up in a country once part of the Roman Empire, we had to follow Roman's rules. Apparently, they were wearing their swords on the right side so nicely placed their consorts on the other side. That may be true, but I don't remember men wearing swords anymore...maybe their mobile phones, but I don't think that would be so dangerous for any woman. Also the story about opening the door to a woman except when it is about the restaurant's door, where the man would always open the door for himself (!!!) and step in first. Apparently, this comes from the times when, entering in a pub in Far West all one could expect was a bullet.  How many fire guns have you heard lately in a cafe or dinner? Then the whole story behind black cats. Good or bad luck? Just depending the nation you grow up in. 

But if you really want to see rituals taken to extremes, just hop to the gym. I love gyms, always did, always will. I grew up in gyms, I loved, cried, shared, worked in gyms. They are everything I am. And just because I love them so much, I will never follow their unwritten rituals, but I will always watch them with a smile on my face. Just look at the big guy in the centre, full of muscle and arrogance. He always breaths in loudly three times (no kidding, 3 is the magical number) before pushing almost nothing on a chest press machine. Then there is that huge noise when he finally gets the weight way up (remember that even a teenager could lift as much as him). And then everybody watches him with so much admiration; is like he invented the square hula hoop. But probably the most followed behavior in any gym I have ever stepped in is "throwing the dumbbells". Every guy does it; every chick is impressed! So, get the dumbbells, as heavy as possible, then perform a biceps curl and then very majestic throw them on the floor. As bigger the noise, as more fans! 

And then there is the ladies corner. If you want to hear a secret that nobody knows (except the whole gym!), you must go there. There you will find out about every partner, what food they like and what not, where they work and how much they earn, but mostly how lazy they are. And all this comparing their partner's bad behavior with the exceptional one of their exes. 

Cross the lines, people. Go to gyms to have a workout! Once again, I will be on the other side waiting for you! :)

One day at a time

I can't stand horror movies. Never did. Why should I pay money to be scared? They are so many twisted things in this world that would freak one out...for free. And I don't like surprises. Neither nice, nor bad! I believe in a world where what you see is what you get. Maybe this is the reason why I work in fitness. Scales, measurements, assessments don't lie. People can, but fitness testing is accurate!

I met so many people who wander around without knowing where they go. Especially in gyms; people who have some kind of goals and they believe that achieving them would be a result of running like crazy on treadmills, punching boxing bags for hours or doing supersets. It doesn't work like that. They haven't invented the law of cause-effect and neither did I. Don't get me wrong: I do believe in muscle confusion and I use it with all of my weight loss clients, but this is something a trainer can apply when ever is needed. Not a regular gym junkie. 

Take one day at a time and, when in gym, slow down. I know you've seen all the biggest ever loser TV shows, but there are shows only; not real life. How can you believe that a trainer has the right...and lung capacity to yell like a maniac while pushing those poor people to do a hundred sets of push ups? Is that the trainer you would hire? I really don't think so. 

The easiest task for a trainer is a weight loss client. A breeze really! The hard stuff starts when a client wants to put on weight. That's when a trainer gets the hard work and has to use all the knowledge in the world. Pick the trainer you feel comfortable with, but remember that pushing you to success doesn't mean yelling at you or swearing. Nothing like that.  I am a strong believer in the Law of Attraction. never had a client I didn't like. If I felt that we cannot have a connection, I referred him or her to one of my colleagues. Just because I knew that no sparkle, no results....and, at the end of the day, no pay cheque. 

Open your eyes wide when you hire a trainer and, if you cannot afford one, remember that advices are always free. And once again don't rush it: one pound at a time would do it just fine!

The last Abraham

So, finally, after being lazy for too long, I got back to my maiden name: Abraham. And if the web is still confused and cannot identify who's the new Brigitte Abraham, you guys, my clients, should know better. It is still the Brigitte you know, but much happier! With my miss missy name on my brand new driving license. 

The name on my book? Haha. Ask the editors. It will take a while until the author's name will change. It is like somebody has to reinvent the hole in the macaroni. But, once again, still me, the last Abraham in my long line of great Abrahams! :)

Always yours, :)
Brigitte Abraham

With the power invested in me....

So you want to lose some weight? Best thought ever; not just that you would look better, but just think about how your self confidence would increase. All good once the decision is taken. 

Let's just go together through your options. You could sign up at the local gym, spend there ridiculous amount of time, use the machines how you think they have to be used. You could even attend randomly fitness classes. And then wait for the results. You cannot imagine how many people I've seen, during the years as a Personal Trainer, working out hard with no results. Because of the disappointment, some of them ended on anti depressants, others in broken relationships. I am not saying here that people break up based on weight issues. I haven't. I am just saying that I've seen many people in their first day in the gym...and then one year later, noting changed. 

If exercise is not enough, you have another option: try a kind of diet you believe is the best in your case. You can even look it up on the Internet. There are so many there and, if you think that picking one that has a sophisticated name would help you, go ahead. More than welcome to try it out. You could even swallow some diet pills, fat burners or fat mobilizes or appetite suppressants, A year later, however, you could be back at the starting point; no weight shifted, no success celebration, lots of money flushed in the toilet. 

I always believed that when people are tricked into DIY fitness projects, they don't really know what they are jumping into. It is like taking some thousands from your account and throwing them in the rubbish. Same result really! On top of that, some painful injuries...and broken dreams.

People think they know how to lose weight. They also believe that what can it be so hard to lose some pounds here and there when you have a gym membership card in your wallet, plus you attend many fitness classes and cut a little bit on carbs and bubbly. Now, let me say it as it is: I don't chop my hair, I go to Jo, she's the best, she knows what I want, she has the experience and knowledge to make me look pretty....or prettier. I don't rub all sorts on my face pretending this is  a facial treatment. I go to Maria. She's the best in what she does and she will look after me. I don't chose what medication is right for me when I burn with fever. I go to Ingemar. He's my doc, he knows me.   Why on Earth I would go to the gym without using a trainer?

We, Personal Trainers, as I've said it so many times, sell you a dream and make it reality. Your reality. We are there for you at 5am and accommodate your workouts late nights or in the weekends, when others relax. We design an individual program just for you and show you what diet works for you best. We don't have an universal nutrition program, nor a fitness program that's good for everybody, woman, man, child. We can tell you how long it would take to achieve your goals and we are almost never wrong.I am a Personal Trainer;  I do the same. And, one day, not later than I decided with you that we will be working together, you would hear me saying "With the power invested in me, I pronounce you....slim and lean!". And then, I'll see you for coffees and chats! :)

Think kittens.....or puppies

What on earth can be harder than abs exercises? Nobody likes them, but everybody wants the six, or lately eight, pack. They are exhausting, boring and more than likely horrible!

When I was just a little girl, my coach taught me something I carried with me forever. He used to say that when life gets hard and you have no hope, it's better to visualize what you love more. Back in time, for me there were...kittens. When I was like a gladiator watched by the whole world and training got hard, when I was injured and nobody cared, kittens always saved me. Life around me just turned off and all I've seen were kittens, all sort of fluffy, curly, colorful kittens. 

My former coach, bless him, would be so proud knowing that I passed his advise to my clients and sometimes, during hard workouts, they make me laugh. When training gets taught, I just hear my clients saying "Think kittens"...and it seems that it works for them as well as it worked for me. 

People change and I've transformed a lot as well. Lately, kittens are not enough, so, puppies give me a better result. It comes with age, I guess, or maybe with wisdom! However, no matter what you visualize, that would take you out of the reality and push you harder. Please believe me when I say that it also works outside of fitness. When life make you crunch and taught times are the only ones you know, think kittens...or puppies