Name: Sybille Goss

1.  Your profession?

Consulting Manager - Recruitment and HR

2. Where do you work?

Carroll Consulting Group

3. Years in business?

Almost 4 years with CCG and 11 years in total in recruitment

4.  What typically do you deal with in business?

We provide recruitment and HR consulting services at a senior and executive level and I am responsible for the whole end-to-end recruitment process.

5. Do you have long standing clients?

Yes, with most of our clients we have long-term relationships and quite a few of them we have been working with for over a decade.

6.What do people say about you?

They describe me as somebody who is passionate about the job I do and that I am genuinely interested in doing a good job. They would also say that I am a caring and committed person and that my approach is honest, open and ethical.

7.  What does no one know about you?

This information is classified and won’t be released until 75 years after my death.

8. If you weren’t doing what you do now what would you be doing?

Well, either ski instructor or florist or photographer or jewellery designer or magazine editor or running a B&B in Sunshine Coast Hinterland.

9. If you had one key skill, what would it be?

Intuition

10. How long have you been training?

About 2 years with the lab

11.What do you like about training with us?

Alex is very competent and knowledgeable and has a natural and engaging manner. I always feel in good care with him. I also find the session very motivating and I definitely feel a lot healthier and energetic since I have started training with the lab.

12.What made you start with us?

Improve my fitness and be healthier

13.  What has been your biggest training achievement to date?

Simply getting fitter - one specific achievement I am particularly proud of was to run the Bridge to Brisbane Run

14.  What would you say to others to get them moving and start training with the lab?

Just make that first step, get into the routine and that’s it, you will see the results very quickly. Trust me, once you get into it, it’s really good fun to train
15.Do you have any health and fitness objectives?

I simply want to continue regular exercise

16. Any words of wisdom to share with the rest of our clients?

I believe that looking after your physical wellbeing is very important and there is no question that you will live a longer, healthier and happier life if you look after your body and mind.

1) Stress can kill - True or False? Ongoing stress can lead to all sorts of health issues including hypertension, musculoskeletal problems and cancer

2) Exercise Physiology is a new name for Personal Training -True or False? They are quite different. Exercise Physiologists are degree qualified and are part of the allied health system. Please see our article titled Personal Training Vs Exercise Physiology

3) The Lab runs exercise classes - True or False? Climbfit and T-In the park

4) The capital of Holland is Amsterdam - True or False? The Hague!

5) Exercise doesn’t work for weight loss - True or False? Exercise works, if done correctly and in conjunction with behavior modification and a calorie controlled diet.

Life and work doesn’t stop and with the invention of a million time saving gadgets and a multitude of ways to accelerate your output it’s easy to see why so many busy people feel like they are in fast forward.

The problem with fast-forward is there is no end in sight; you are in a continuous loop. Let’s face it, the more you do the more you have to do. Fast-forward will soon start to burn your motor and slow your wheels, information will be lost and problems will inevitably arise.

This is however no sign of weakness, the body was designed to function in a certain way. The body is unquestionably remarkable in that it can react to various stimuli in order to cope. There is nothing wrong with switching into fast forward, to escape a predator, to score in sports, or to get something extraordinary done. The problem comes when all of life requires fast forward, because you simply can’t maintain it.

The secret is to know when to hit the pause button. Hitting pause in life, taking a break, is underrated and is non-negotiable. If you don’t rest, you will be forced to, one way or another at some point in time. Some people start to under perform; some people become irritable, stressed or depressed. Others develop physical symptoms, such as tension, high blood pressure or more serious, sometimes life threatening conditions.

Hitting pause is as simple as scheduling some time with the family, or a short break with a loved one or simply some time out alone. This January sit down with your partner or close ones and work out a schedule for the year. Your schedule for the year is your work rest cycle.

Athletes heavily rely on these training cycles, they carefully plan when they need to be at their best (competition) what training they will be doing when, and importantly, when they will be recovering and resting before going again. This process is a vital component of performance and one that we can all learn from. Scheduling these cycles allows the body to perform at optimum, will help your loved ones understand when you are working and when you will be free, and will help your motivation to have blocks of rest time allocated throughout your year.

Some rules to setting your work rest cycle are as follows

1. Start from January when you plan to return to work after Christmas break
2. Go no more then three months before taking a 4 day weekend
3. After no more than 6 months take at least 7 days off
4. At the end of the year, take an extended break of 14 days +
5. A must when on your breaks, is to have more then 80% of your time with no work phone, no email, no pda, no laptop or pc. (Over 3 days of a 4 day weekend or 5.5 days of a week) Work in the modern era, knows no boundaries so if you don’t set them, you won’t be resting at all
6. Schedule some time with friends and play some sports or plan some social exercise. Active rest will leave you feeling revitalised.
7. Plan ahead, so that on the day you return to work you have time to catch up on, emails, phone calls etc and have a look at the 3 month landscape ahead of you before your next break then GO!

P.S If ever you feel you need a break, take a long weekend immediately, or as soon as possible. Pushing through will only lead to more problems and have you in a state of deficit which will be far harder to get out of and potentially more serious.

By Alex Cox-Taylor

By Barry Rudd BAppSc (HMST) MAAESS AEP

Many of us will wake up on the first of January 2008 with a resolution to lose some weight over the coming year. We all know that diet and exercise are two of the factors related to our weight loss; but what many of us don’t know is that a good nights sleep is integral to a successful weight loss plan. However with work, family, social and sports commitments who has time for a good night sleep. Besides, that extra cup of coffee in the afternoon will keep us going, right? Wrong. The average adult needs 7 - 9 hours sleep per night.

Everyone will tend to put all their energy into changing their diet and exercise regime while neglecting sleep. We tend to lack sleep to attempt to increase our work and social free time without knowing that we are actually sabotaging our weight loss and daily energy levels. It has been shown that people who regularly get less than seven hours of sleep per night have higher body fat percentages than those who get adequate sleep.

Recent studies have shown a shocking link between not getting enough sleep and the levels of different regulatory hormones. Have you ever experienced a night of little or no sleep, followed by a day where no matter what you ate, you never felt full or satisfied? If this is the case, you have experienced the affects of two of the appetite hormones: Ghrelin and Leptin. Ghrelin is found in the digestive tract and its job is to stimulate the appetite. Leptin is produced in fat cells and signals the body when you are full.

Lack of sleep causes Ghrelin levels to rise and Leptin levels to fall; the result of this is and increased craving for food, and not feeling full after eating. This increased hunger has also been seen to include an increased appetite for carbohydrate rich and calorie dense food. Looking at this it is easy to see that this cycle repeated over a long period of time, can easily result in weight gain.

Lack of sleep has also been shown to affect the hormones that regulate carbohydrate metabolism and fat storage. This can result in higher blood glucose levels, excess fat storage and eventual insulin resistance (a significant contributing factor to Type II diabetes).

All these facts are well and good, but they are of no use to us if we can’t fall asleep when the lights go out. Here are some important tips to help improve your quality of sleep.
1. Don’t eat right before you go to bed, but make sure you have a filling dinner so you don’t go to bed hungry.
2. Don’t use your bed for work or watching the TV. Once you get into bed use it for sleeping.
3. From mid-afternoon onwards avoid substances that aren’t conducive to sleep; these include caffeine, chocolate, cigarettes and alcoholic beverages.
4. Develop a pre-sleep routine and stick to it every night. This may include preparing lunch for tomorrow, having a shower, bushing your teeth and reading a book for 10-15 minutes. This will allow your body time to wind down and relax.

So although trying to fit in an extra hour or two of sleep a night may seem like a daunting task, remember: when you wake up you’ll have more energy and feel better, allowing you to accomplish more in your day. In the long run your ability to lose weight and your health are more important than that last check of you emails, or hour of T.V. So brush your teeth, get under the doona and give your weight loss plan the jump start it needs.