I am super excited to be able to announce my cooperation with Teresa Waite, who will be joining Fit and Happy Outdoors.

To start with, Teresa will be offering a long awaited Nordic Workout Walk on Saturday mornings 8am in Brockwell Park, starting Saturday 23 May. And those of you who struggle to do a Learn to Nordic Walk class during the week, we now have a Learn to course starting on Sundays – 9 am in Brockwell Park – starting Sunday 31 May.

So let me introduce Teresa to you. Teresa is a Personal Trainer and Nordic Walking instructor, specialised in helping the 45’s get fitter and healthier. She was born in Chicago, but has now been a proud South-Londoner for over 20 years.

Like me, Teresa wasn’t always super sporty. In school, she preferred books to PE, struggled with coordination and was often picked last. She even broke a finger doing dodgeball– no wonder she tried to forge notes to get out of PE!

But being outdoors was always important and those books were usually devoured somewhere outside in nature. And by the time she was a student, she persuaded some fellow students to come on a hike in the Grand Canyon and later persuaded her husband to spend part of their honeymoon hiking in Yosemite National Park.

Teresa worked as an editor and writer, moved to London, then back to New York, worked in Singapore for a while, before deciding London was the place she wanted to stay.

“So what happened?” I asked her. “How did this bookish career woman, who couldn’t swim until she was 20, end up making a living of being a personal trainer and Nordic Walking instructor?”

“It was a combination of two important changes that started it”, Teresa says. The arrival of her two children really brought home how unfit she was, and that she needed to get fitter to be able to lift them and run around with –and after- them, especially after the long hours she was still working in the office. And when her mom died at only 40, she decided she needed to get fit and healthy, so she could be around for the children for many more years.

So she started running in Dulwich Park – trying to stay away from the crowds, not wanting people to see how slow and unfit she felt she was. Then she signed up for the Race for life and when the new Fitness equipment came in the park, she signed up for a volunteer training to show people how to use them…. And found out how much she loved helping other people get stronger and fitter, and how she loved helping them getting more confident.

The more time she could spend outdoors and the more active she became, the more she loved it. At first it helped her cope with the stress of running a family as well as a highly demanding job with constant deadline pressures.

4 Years ago Teresa decided to take the plunge. She trained as a Personal Trainer and looking at her CV, she never stopped learning. Not only is she an advanced Personal Trainer and certified Nordic Walking instructor, she is also trained in adapting exercise for Older Adults, she is a trained exercise referral instructor and holds a level 3 award for Outdoor Exercise- and that is just part of all the qualifications she has.

At the moment, Teresa is training clients in the Central YMCA and in the Lido in Brockwell Park.

Did I already tell you how excited I am she will now also be joining us at Fit and Happy Outdoors? I hope you will have a chance to meet Teresa soon. Why not RSVP on Meetup and join one of her Saturday morning workout walks in Brockwell Park?

Make sure you bring your 10 Session card along, as she will stamp it with her own green happy steps stamp. But be warned – If you don’t bring a card, Teresa will not know you have paid and will have to charge the regular single session fee of £10. Need poles for your session? Please text Teresa in advance – her number is 079 7990 0818.