Meet Sima....

Sima Sorensen was born and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel. The oldest of six children, Sima left home at the age of 11 to live in a kibbutz, a collective community where she could live and help out on the farm to relieve some of the financial strain off of her family. At 16 she left the kibbutz to finish high school, and at 18 she joined the Israeli Army as a fitness sergeant. Two years later in 1991 she moved to Los Angeles and immediately fell in love with the health and fitness industry. A year later she was a certified personal trainer and instructor, teaching classes such as aerobics, kickboxing, step aerobics and tae-bo. She has worked at some of the top gyms in the U.S. including Bally and L.A. Fitness. Sima has competed in numerous fitness competitions around the country and has won many titles including, Ms.Venice Beach and Ms .Fitness Palm Springs. It is her goal to assist her clients in achieving a more balanced life through fitness, nutrition and overall healthy living. She has worked with people who have had cancer, eating disorders, depression and alcoholism. Sima takes great passion in helping the people she works with. She is not only a dedicated trainer, food and life coach, but a loving mother and community volunteer. Sima is currently living happily in Sherman Oaks, CA. She stays busy training clients at her Sherman Oaks studio and all over southern California, raising her daughter and building her GPS (Get Phit w/ Sima) Approach empire.

The Workouts

Sima likes to kick my butt, and today she did. I thought I was going to pass out. She combines a mixture of cardio, yoga and strength training. The yoga is probably my favorite part- but she doesn't make it easy- its the kind of yoga that makes you sweat. When I'm not training with Sima at her studio, its easy to get my workout in at home- all I need is my 5lb. weights, yoga requires no equipment, and cardio (speed walking or biking)- no excuses!

Another yummy, healthy LA restaurant....

The other day I found Natura on third street- pan Mediterranean food- organic, fresh and preservative free!! I had the hummus salad- check out the full menu at http://naturaeats.com

La Grande Orange Santa Monica

I stopped into La Grande Orange for breakfast the other day before hitting the beach, and was happy to find I could eat there and still stick to my new healthy regimen. I had the "Venice Beach Burrito"- whole wheat tortilla, egg whites, spinach, corn, tofu "chorizo" w/ fire roasted salsa on the side- super yum! It was quite large, so I only had half. La Grande Orange is located on the corner of Main and Bicknell in Santa Monica. http://lagrandeorangesm.com.

Dinner

Have a small dinner composed of protein and veggies, like a grilled chicken salad....

Afternoon Snack

Choose something healthy, such as an apple- Sima says this is the best choice!

Lunch- The Biggest Meal of the Day!

Lunch is to be the largest meal of the day- composed of carbs and protein. I love Tacos- Filled with chicken beans, salsa- cheese on the side.

Early Snack

Sima says to choose a healthy snack about 2 to 3 hours after breakfast, such as
mixed nuts- 10 almonds or cashews or both. Raw or unsalted.

Breakfast Options

My fave- Up to 4 egg whites, scrambled or omelet w/ veggies. 1 slice of whole wheat bread or 1/2 bagel w/ real butter or small amount of cream cheese.

The Food Plan

Sima doesn't believe in dieting. This is great because either do I. Before she customized a nutrition plan for she had me keep track of everything I was eating for a week. It wasn't pretty- hot dogs, pizza and tacos were regulars. I used to make an attempt at eating healthy, but somewhere along the way I gave up. Sima was honest and told me my eating habits were horrible. I knew it, and was ready for a change. She then had me make a list of my favorite and least favorite foods. I'm not a picky eater, so my favorites list was considerably longer than my leasts. Sima managed to fit all my faves (with the exception of bacon) into my food plan. I was amazed at how many options she gave me- and I'm even allowed one cheat meal a week! That meal will most likely contain bacon :)
In the next few posts I will lay out the options she provided me for each meal. I'm to eat 3 meals a day with 2 snacks in between. Read on for inspiration for your own daily food plan....

The Journal

One of the first assignments Sima gave me was to go purchase a nice journal- something I would cherish. I was to record everything I ate for the next week, as well as write down what I wanted to change about myself and my short term goals. More about that later... for now I have to show you the lovely leather journal I found at Barnes & Noble. Its the Puntini Mocha Italian Leather w/ wrap tie- $39.95 in store or at Barnesandnoble.com. It was one of the priciest- but I figured it was worth the splurge sice I would be recording my transformation within its pages...

And so we begin....

I have recently decided to start working with personal trainer/nutritionist/life coach Sima Sorensen- and document my journey in this blog. I feel blessed to have met Sima- she has come into my life at a time when I most need her. At 31 I am about 15 lbs overweight, and my eating habits are a mess. Sima is conviced she can help me- lets see what she can do!