Travel & Hotspots

MARIE-CLAIRE IN MALIBU

It was about 20 weeks ago that we arrived here in Malibu and I was amazed and wrote about the beautiful sporty people who walk around here. I thought I would be inspired to adopt the healthier lifestyle that everyone here seems to have. That was 20 weeks ago. In 20 weeks, I could have had a beachproof bikini body. Tight buttocks and legs and a six-pack.

Unfortunately. Instead, I have consumed 20 bars of chocolate with hazelnuts, 20 bottles of ginger ale, 20 bottles of champagne, 20 pieces of cheese, and 20 delicious but oh so lazy weeks behind me. Enjoying life is of course super important and getting back in shape shouldn't become an obsession. But it really is time for the switch now. So I let myself be persuaded to go to a spinning class. The super hip Soulcycle here.

In short; cycling to hard music in the dark. I had the teacher set the bike to a good height for me and he clicked my shoes onto the pedals. The music started, the lights went out, and off we went. Like at a fair, he encouraged us through a microphone. I gave everything I had in the first half of the class, resulting in me hanging over the handlebars, drenched in sweat, exhausted after 30 minutes. I cycled and bounced along at half strength, but really wanted to get off and leave. Outside. To bed. Something like that. It's just that I couldn't get those damn shoes off the pedals, otherwise I would have slipped away long ago. Not for me.

I spoke with a personal trainer whom I desperately asked for advice. What is wise? Which sport should I do? Where do I start? And what should I eat? Due to the proliferation of well-meaning healthy eating and living books, I sometimes can't see the forest for the trees. She had a few good tips that really got me excited to start. I’d like to share them with you. Move at least an hour every day. On one day you do that with low intensity, like walking or cycling, on the other day you do it with high intensity, like SoulCycle (not going to be for me) or running or swimming. On the third day, you do muscle-strengthening exercises, either hanging on the machines at the gym or doing the exercises at home on a yoga mat like I do.

She also advised me to eat more protein. I hardly eat any meat, but I need to get enough protein. And the best tip she gave me was the app ‘MyFitnessPal’. It's a free app where you enter your weight loss goal. It then calculates how much you need to eat per day to reach your goal over time. You enter everything you eat and the app tells you exactly which nutrients you have consumed. I am happy with this and I can work with it. In twenty weeks it will be October 3rd. I'll let you know how it went. Let’s go!