Few days ago I was interview for polish Energy Magazine. We talk about my blog and my two passions - Norway and fitness.
With pleasure I share a link to this interview with you and put and enslish version of it above.
Polish version: http://magazynenergy.pl/od-joggingu-pod-torunskim-lasem-do-norweskiego-fitnessu-wywiad-z-maja-rogalska/
English version:
From jogging in Torun's forest to nordic fitness - an interview with Maja Rogalska
I present Maja Rogalska - a young girl, who has been interested in Norway for years. While
living in Poland, many times she was traveling to this country, and
consequently steered her life that now lives, works and continues to
explore her favorite country piece by piece. In an interview we talks about how it is to fulfill your dreams, enjoy them and make new plans. Maja is writing her blog for serveral months http://www.nordicfitnesss.
Katarzyna Pawłowska: Maju, I allow myself to you to speak in that way, because you're the daughter of my friend from work. I remember when you were a little girl, and now you are a grown woman who is doing well in the country which culture, history and people were a point of your interests for many years ...
Maja Rogalska: Exactly. Norway has always been my passion. Even after graduating from high school I knew I had to do something, to learn about this country as much as possible. I studied International Relations with a scandinavian specialization, learned Norwegian in a private languages schools and traveling there every year. I was amazed by Norwegian nature, peace and way of life. Despite the fact that my marketing career was developing in Toruń, along with my boyfriend we decided to leave the country and travel to the land of the fjords. We did that not only for better earnings, we wanted to start there new life, together. It was a very good move, since I live in Oslo lfor about a a year and I do not regret the decision we made.
KP: I have to admit that I was surprised that fitness has become your dominant passion and, as it turns out, the profession now?
MR: My story is probably an example that dreams can come true at any stage of life, even when it seems that they are a complete fantasy! For several years I have been interested in fitness, first visiting local fitness clubs, later switched to at-home-workouts, and began to build a little gym at my garage. In Torun, living near the forest, I began my first adventure with jogging. In the meantime, I managed also to learn a lot about healthy eating and cooking, which slowly became my passion. Totally amateur, learning from my mistakes, I started to understand the idea of healthy lifestyle. This was nicer to see that, in contrast to Poland, Norwegians are taking care of their health, doing sports and cooking light which is something ordinary and everyday, not just seasonal.
I found my first job in Norway in a fitness club. Although I was looking for engagement in other places, the owner of a large fitness club Sports og Mosjon was most interested in my candidacy. Initially, I was responsible for marketing and reception only, with time, and after proper training, I also started to work as an instructor. Firstly there were only spinn classes, but later also aerobics, step and strength training. Working as a fitness instructor turned out to be THIS~! I found a job that gives me so much pleasure, that it's hard to call it work!
KP: In Poland you were taking a fitness course. What exact specialty. Can you tell us something about that?
Q: Two days ago I finished an intensive course of physical recreation instructor with a specialty fitness / aerobics, organized by the Polsih Fitness Academy. Despite the basic training in Norway, I decided to get a licensed instructor to be able to do this job anywhere (my certificate is valid throughout Europe). But most importantly, I wanted to increase my competence. Of course, I could take a similar course in Oslo, but it was a lot easier for me to learn the basics of fitness training and theory in my native language first, and later in Norwegian. In addition, Norwegian prices are really high in comparision to polish ones, in addition, I can meet up with the whole family. During the course facility also managed to get a certification to trainin Total Muscle Training. TMT is a training system consisting of a combination of performing simple exercises with gradual increase of their difficulty and pace. This is a typical interval training and during the one-hour class can burn around 600 calories! From what I know so far I am the only authorized person in Norway to teach this class, so I can not wait to introduce these classes at my gym!
Q: There were many clients asking my typical questions after my classes - why did they not lose weight despite exercising, how to lose fat from hips, what to eat, etc. In addition, I was inspired by fitness oriented Norwegian women who are having similar blogs. I came across this blogs by looking at their recipes for low-calorie dishes and effective workouts. I needed some time to get used to the idea of such a - kind of - online exhibitionism and the possibility of starting my own blog. However, after a few months, I finally decided to do this. At nordicfitnesss.blogspot.no I share my experiences about workouts, diet and insights on the life of polish girls in Norway. I hope that by doing this I could gain trust of my current and potential clients. I would like to continue my education and eventually work as a personal trainer . I'm 'new' in Norway so I want to show other that fitness is not only the way I am earning money but a way of life. I know how hard it is sometimes to fight your own weaknesses and chronic lack of time. If I can share my experiences, findings and ideas with others - I'd be happy if any will use them. Nordic fitnesss is an English-language blog, because I wanted to make it both for Norwegians and Poles.
KP: Do you have time to travel round Norway in your spare time? What corners of the country did you visit so far?
MR: I was lucky that I managed to see Norway from south to north before I moved here permanently. The first time I came to the land of the fjords I was at the age of 16 and since then I managed to be in almost every corner of this beautiful country - from the south to the North Cape itself. In addition, on weekends, we try to explore areas round Oslo and when we have a little more time, we take a car and drive to the fjords. Two hours drive from Oslo and move to a different, magical land. There are still places where you want to go (Trolltunga), there are also those where we have to return, such as Kjerag.
KP: We have already written on our website ENERGY about Norway, where you can bike around all the country. What type of travelling in this country can you recommend?
Q: The car, a tent and a full tank of petrol. In Norway, you can camp almost everywhere, the car also gives you the freedom of movement, not necessarily on typical tourists routes. Car take us to the place we want to visit, and later with a backpack on your back we can go to the mountains. If we get bored of winding road, we can take a ferry. Not necessarily expensive tourist ferry, sometimes having water tram ride from island to island can provide mass experience!
MR: My favorite is the town Flåm - it is like Norway in a nutshell - fjords, mountains, beautiful nature and climate cottages. There you can kayak through the fjord, take a bike or climb to the top of the surrounding mountains. It is located on the Aurlandsfjord, branch of the largest Norwegian fjord Sognefjord. Undoubtedly, an important tourist point of Norway is Preikestolen, also known as Pulpit Rock. I would recommend, however, climb up to Kjerag and Kjeragbolten, the so-called 'ball'. But I must warn fans of mountain walks - is a proposal only for the brave ones. Mountain range is situated high above the sea level and roads and tunnels leading to it are closed for the winter until the snow melts. The route to the summit is challenging and long (3 hours up, 3 hours back). All, however, compensates by the views and incredible rock ball suspended between two rocks. Kjerag is an unusual place for me because I tried to get there four times, but each time something came on my way - buried tunnel, closed road, bad weather, inadequate preparation for the tour ... It was only the fifth time, after 3 years trying, I managed to get in there! The satisfaction of overcoming so many obstcles and realize my dream was amazing!
KP: Your fitnness blog is also partly a culinary blog, isn't it? What about typical Norwegian food? What do you recommend to our readers?
MR: As I said, cooking is my passion. Willy-nilly, on my blog there are many rules and pictures of dishes. That's what separates Norway from the Poland, is no variety of products in stores. I was used to the fact that in Polish shop I find everything - the mass of dairy products, fresh meats, vegetables and cheap meat. Of course, I find the same products in Norway, with the only difference being that everything is more expensive and less varied. There are two manufacturers of yogurt and all meat is already packed and portioned. Norwegian market is very poor in this aspect, what is why I was forced to modify my cooking habits. If I had to choose one dish with to recommend, I'd choose what Norwegians have the best - fish. Grilled fresh salmon need only a little salt and basil, wrap in foil and roasting for a few minutes in the oven or on the grill. Interesting to taste the fish is also atlanitc trout - I prepare it like salmon and serve with broccoli and sweet potatoes, which have recently conquered my heart.
Norwegians also have a great picnic food, such as potato-spell pancakes called 'lomper' - it's like a small pancakes, which can be served as a base for the dessert when you decorate them with cottage cheese with fruits or lunch when you put a ham and cheese with lettuceinside. Wrap it and fast&healthy snack is done! Lomper can be found in every Norwegian store, but I'll try to put on the blog a recipe for homemade lomper.
KP: What are your plans for the future?
Q: I would like to continue working as a fitness instructor, leading classes in a couple of clubs and start working as a personal trainer. I care about the development of the blog and would love to multitude the number of readers. I am also open to establish new contacts with the sport clothing manufactures and health supplements. I want to help other women understand their bodies and help them work on them. And most of all I want to continue to enjoy life and explore Norway. And there are so many places which I still haven't been!
KP: I support your plans, good luck!
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