Keeping up with Amsterdam: Making it personal
Living in Amsterdam has its many perks. For expats and internationals that have moved to this vibrant city to work, study, or explore, Amsterdam has something for everyone. It’s extremely multicultural, open, welcoming, and cosy — a place where “live and let live” is the mantra. It’s also home to some of the world’s best-known start-ups and exciting international brands, offering great career opportunities and exciting new possibilities.
But apart from the elements that make life as an Amsterdammer unique, appealing, and exciting, there will always be times when changing routines, or sometimes even losing them will become a very common feature of setting up a new life. And as we carry on working and adapting, the conscious realisation of having to keep well and maintain a good nutritional balance at the same time will remain issues we shouldn’t dismiss.
Amsterdam, famous for its small-scale attributes, bicycles, and canals, will surely inspire you to be fit. And so, how can expats and internationals weave health and wellness into their already demanding lifestyles? For someone who has lived in Amsterdam for fifteen or so years, I can attest that in this field, life in the city is a beautiful mesh of many trials and errors.
If you’re thinking about getting in shape, there are a lot of gyms in and around the city that offer the best prices, promise unprecedented training guidance, and offer the coolest equipment and sessions one could only dream of. Many advocates of positivity and mindfulness also roam around the city, promoting nature (yes, the Dutch parks that are hyper-packed once the temperature reaches 20 degrees Celsius) as the ultimate enabler of health and balance.
There are also high-end wellness centres that practice a more collective approach — activating a sense of belonging to a special group of people that want the same thing. And then there’s boot camp, I don’t even want to start about boot camp.
But….there’s a big BUT!
If you read my blog about my weight-loss journey and the painstaking struggles I’ve had to face, you’d understand that my problem was a deep-seated issue of imbalance and inconsistency when it came to managing my own health and wellbeing. In fact, I find it rather confronting to realise only at 31, how important health, wellness, and nutrition are as fuels of life.
And so I’d like to share what I’ve experienced about keeping well and why I can, 100%, attest to its value and life-changing qualities.
Looking the problem in the eye
For many years, I was an active member of many prominent gyms that were eye-candy at the time. I did go to classes, sometimes three times a week and I’d keep at it for two, maybe three weeks straight, and then stop. I skipped going to the gym for a month or two, then back again with eagerness that I’d follow through this time. I always had the excuse that I was too busy — and I was.

Other reasons I found myself skip training were class schedules that didn’t always fit with mine. Often the sessions I enjoyed most were either too early or too late, or are only offered on weekdays. And for expats just working out their new work life balance, making class, sometimes in a language they’ve yet to master, is-not-an-easy-thing-to-do.
So I ask myself, how can I, and others like me that are either new to or well versed in what the city has to offer, find a health and wellness routine that works for me, and fits around my priorities?
Let’s get physical — and personal
A personal touch really goes a long way. And when it comes to serving your needs as an individual, personal guidance on maintaining a healthy body and lifestyle is essential. This is why I stopped going to the gym altogether, and sought out help that’s tailor-made for me, and for me only.
Looking for a personal trainer in Amsterdam wasn’t that easy. Many of them are equally as cool as the other, and have credentials and abbreviations after their names that blew me away. After some time, I finally found one, which I thought could help me make the change; and I started that same week.
PTA (Personal Training Agency) at the NDSM in Amsterdam Noord is probably the most down to earth, flexible, and approachable private gym I could find, and it is! Founded and managed by long-time personal trainer Robert Schoot, it’s a neat and clean private gym where one could train to whatever level is required. The open space is inspiring, and the personal trainers at work are just like you and me; they’re not superheroes, they’re just people who want to make the most, if not the best, out of life and their bodies.
I enjoy training at PTA for the very reason that I get to see myself improve each time and feel as if every set and reps are not as disheartening as most say — its’ actually fun! Honestly, it’s more than just swiping in and out at a gym, I now get to reap the benefits of mental coaching and increase in confidence as well. As time passed by and as I became fitter week after week, I realised what a shame it is that personal training is never even mentioned in the books and blogs on “how to get by in Amsterdam”.

I’m an international but I’m in control
While it’s true personal training can be more expensive than any other local gym, one can only see and understand the difference once tried and experienced. With my own personal training programme, I was, and am in control. I worked together with my personal trainer to find a training programme that suited my schedule and my needs, and truly all about me and not about forty other people in the room!
I learned a lot about conditioning, toning, and nutrition since his expertise and know-how were there for the taking. Clear communication is definitely a perk. I trained on times that suit me the most and plan it around my life, and not the other way around. Since I started, I have someone waiting for me at the gym that is committed to me and I to them, someone who makes me want to keep up my routine and encourage me forward, especially on days I don’t feel like grinding.
My lifestyle, regardless of how hectic it is, changed dramatically in a way that I get to abide by what I should do or eat based on my body type, objectives, and nutritional plan. Someone is watching me, not in a Big Brother kind of way, but in a motivational and supportive manner. There is room for me to slack or slow down but I am always encouraged back. I make my own choices and this freedom has kept me disciplined for a long time now; there was no need for me to rebel against strict systems.
My life in the city is a jigsaw puzzle, which I have to complete anew everyday; with many pieces scattered in many different places. But I get by. You know the feeling right? But I’ve also never felt more fit, stronger, and more able to be whomever and whatever I want to be. Amsterdam is so vibrant, it’s truly a place where everyone has room to blossom and grow. You just have to find your balance, or find your beach as I always say, and improving on health and wellness are surely good starting points to consider.
