Interview: Tas Amoutoglou - Personal Trainer at Mill Park Leisure

I was born in Footscray Victoria in August 1961. I grew up in Yarraville, and went to Yarraville Primary School, and later to Footscray High School. I was the Dux of the school at Yarraville Primary School, and participated in all the school sports, and was always in the Firsts. I was very good in most sports I put my mind to. I didn’t really enjoy High School as much as Primary School, mainly due to the fact that I  had an interrupted education, as my folks decided to go back to Greece, when I was in year 10.

I met my beautiful wife Dimmy, in 1982, and it was love at first sight, and got married in 1983. In 1984 my first born (Evie), came along, followed by Sophie in 1989, Erica in 1992, and finally my little Stephanie in 2001.

In the early days of my marriage(1983), I took over my Father’s quilt manufacturing business, which I still run successfully to this day, but wasn’t involved in the Health Industry. It was this business, that has enabled me to bring up my 4 children, and establish myself  and my family. Health and Fitness has been an integral part of my life, since high school days, even though it wasn’t my career to start with, it is now very much so. My quilt business, is now run mostly by wife Dimmy, and most of my time is spent at Mill Park Leisure.

Spending time with my girls and  family and friends is what pleases me the most, and I also look forward to going on holidays. The holidays that I enjoy the most are my holidays to Greece (Samos which is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea), and South Pacific Cruises.

My goal in life, is to help people reach their life’s goals, by educating them about how important it is to live a healthy lifestyle which incorporates a healthy diet and Physical

fitness. A combination of these two will ultimately lead to  a better quality of life, which is something that I believe should be everyone’s priority in life.

1. What do you do?
I help people live quality lives.

2. What is your definition of success?
My definition of success, is when you are doing a job that you enjoy doing, that has a positive impact on people’s lives.

3. What are your thoughts on the parallels between business and sport?
There are many parallels. Both Business and Sport are striving for success. Unexpected, obstacles happen in both business and sport, such as injuries in sport or financial issues in business, and these obstacles are challenging. It’s how we deal with these challenges that determine, how successful we are.

4. I think we can sometimes learn more from the mistakes we make. What are some of the biggest mistakes you’ve made along the way?  And what did you learn from this?
I think that everything that we go through in life happens for a reason. I have made mistakes in the past, but these mistakes, that may have been hard to take at the time, have moulded me into the person I am today. Mistakes build character.

5. What are the 5 top tips you’d give the average person wanting to improve business performance?
1/ Never,  ever,  give up. History shows us that the most successful business people never got to their great achievements the first time round. Most of them had to go backwards and even bankrupt, before they achieved their ultimate success.
2/ Never stop learning, and improving your knowledge.
3/ Very important to have a business structure.
4/ Very important to have a goal, and to write the goal down, and review it regularly.
5/ No goal is impossible if you put mind and effort into it.

6. What do you think has enabled you to achieve success with the health and fitness industry?
I am a work in progress. I don’t think I have achieved my full potential yet, but I am only a few weeks away from achieving my 20-30 sessions.

7. How do you consistently sustain performance in your business/career?
Building a rapport with my clients, and offering them good value for money, and having a genuine concern for each and every one of my clients.

8. Tell me your thoughts about developing a successful team culture.
A successful team culture is very important, because I believe it will make us a stronger team. We all have strengths, and by combining those strengths, it will just make us a better well oiled machine. I think that it is important to edify my colleagues, because it makes them feel better, it builds them up, and also it makes for a better working environment. 

9. And your thoughts on how to turn a mix of different people and personalities into a world class team?
I think by getting everyone on the same page, and heading all in the same direction is a start. I also think that we need to spend more time together outside the gym environment, to become closer. Having a coffee occasionally, or going out to a restaurant, or even doing a course together as a group, might be a good bonding experience.

10. Who has had the greatest influence on your career and what lessons did they teach you?
My father has taught me to never give up, and also taught me about work ethic. He was probably the hardest working person I had ever met. When he first came to Australia he had about 4 jobs going at a time, and he achieved great results.

11. After a great result, how do you celebrate?
I love to go out to a restaurant with my family, or even stay in the city overnight with my wife. We really like the Langham Hotel, and their restaurant, Melbas.

12. What’s the most satisfying thing you’ve ever done and why?
Doing my Certificate 3 and  Cert  4, and doing a job that I enjoy doing.
I am living the dream !

13. What do you do outside of work to relax and wind down?
I am a big Australian Rules fan, and I follow the biggest and best club in the world, the Collingwood Football club. I also really love fishing, but haven’t been able to do much lately.

14. Where do you see opportunity in the health and fitness industry in the next 5 years?
Small Group training, is becoming very popular.

15. What is your one gripe/whinge about the health and fitness industry?
Nothing really spring to my mind. It’s an industry that I really enjoy working in, and want to continue to grow in.

16. Now’s the time for what we call the Turbo 10. Ten quick questions…

• What is your favourite song? Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin 
• Favourite athlete? Dane Swan                                               
• Movie?  Courageous                                                             
• Food?  My wife’s cooking. Everything she puts her mind to is awesome! I am really blessed!           
• Holiday destination? Samos (island of Greece)                        
• Most recently read book?  The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas          
• What really annoys you?  Bad drivers on the road.                  
• If you could do anything you wanted; what would it be?  Bring back the death penalty for bad drivers on the road. Just joking!  Own my own Gym, on the island of Samos overlooking the beach.        
• The one thing you’d like to change in the world right now? World Poverty, and obesity in children who are our future
• Where would you like to be in 5 years time? I would like to be a mentor for young Trainers, and also own my own Boutique Gym.    

Does Fruit Make You Fat?

Recently someone told me not to eat fruit because fructose (the type of sugar in fruit) turns to fat! This is NOT true. Fruit is not the enemy and fructose, like all other sugars, in moderation will not make you fat. In saying that, excess sugar will cause havoc in the body and everyone should avoid processed food with a high sugar content, especially those which contain high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). In the USA HFCS is in everything because it’s cheap, super sweet and they love the taste. Thankfully, here in Australia HFCS is not added to foods, but check your labels because we do import from the USA. 

What exactly is sugar?

Sugar is the common name for a group of sweet flavoured simple carbohydrates. The simple carbohydrates include monosaccharides and disaccharides. The most common monosaccharides include glucose, fructose and galactose (milk sugar). When two monosaccharides combine they form disaccharides, for example when glucose and fructose join together they form sucrose, better know as table sugar. Lactose is another example of a disaccharide, made up of glucose and galactose. Fructose is the sweetest of the monosaccharides and is primary sugar in honey and fruit. Glucose is mildly sweet and galactose has little sweetness compared to fructose and glucose.

Simple vs complex carbohydrates 

All carbohydrates contain carbon, oxygen and hydrogen (think carbon and water C + H₂0). Simple carbohydrates are easy for the body to break down as they only contain one or two molecules. Simple carbs provide a quick energy hit and a sudden rise in blood sugar. Complex carbohydrates, such as starch and fibre, are made up of many monosacchraides (usually glucose) linked together and are called oligosaccharides and polysaccharides. Complex carbs can help regulate blood sugar and can help us to feel fuller for longer. Carbohydrates are essential for optimum health and can help minimize risk for disease, for example fibre can protect against bowel cancer and helps to reduce cholesterol levels.

How do we metabolise and store carbs?

Carbohydrates are broken down and stored in the body as glycogen. Glycogen is a polysaccharide. A third of our glycogen stores are found in the liver and the other two thirds are stored in our muscles. The muscles store most of our glycogen so it can be used as fuel during exercise. When our blood sugar is low, hormones send messages to release glycogen, which is rapidly broken down to glucose and then transported in our blood to organs, tissues and cells.

Carbs are essential for our bodies to function effectively. Importantly, glucose is the preferred fuel for our brain, nerves and developing red blood cells. Protein can be converted to glucose if the body is desperate for glucose, but this requires more energy and can cause muscle breakdown. In addition, protein is required for other purposes in the body, so it is essential to consume enough carbs so proteins can perform their required roles. To spare body protein we need at least 50 to 100 grams (bare minimum) per day, this depends on your activity levels, age and gender.

Carbs and weight management

If you think carbs are “fattening” and have been avoiding them because you are trying lose weight, you should consider a different approach. Of course this type of strategy will help those who have a high intake of simple carbs (sugar) such as soft drinks and sweets, but not for those who eat a balanced diet with a variety of carbs such as vegetables, fruits, legumes and whole grains.

Most people should try to consume 45%-65% of your total calories as carbohydrates. Eating whole foods such as fruit provide not only fructose, but also fibre and plenty of other vitamins and minerals. The Australian dietary recommendation’s urge people to select abundantly from carbohydrate rich foods

Finally, if you are not interested in all the sciencey stuff and just want to know if carbs are good or bad the answer is that carbs are good and absolutely essential for our body to function properly. However, remember that not all carbs are created equal, high sugar processed foods, what I like to call fake food, will not provide the benefits of natural carbohydrate rich foods.

 

Dr Denise Furness, PhD BSc RNut REP
Registered Nutritionist & Personal Trainer with Mill Park Leisure