My approach to Nutrition
As a Personal Trainer I understand the importance of both physical exercise and healthy eating choices in my client reaching their physical goals. Whether the goal is reducing body fat, increasing muscle mass or quite simply the ultimate preparation for an ironman event, taking a structured approach to ones nutrition has huge results alongside physical exercise.
I am very practical and down to earth in the way that I do nutritional consultations. My focus is always on understanding where my client is coming from (getting know why they eat as well as what) and then choosing the best strategies that are really going to work in with them and their lifestyle. No one likes being told never to eat their favourite food again and this is something I never do. My goal is for all of my clients to make healthy eating a natural part of their lifestyle. This means that they have lots of great nutritious food every day and at the same time enjoy all the treats they want. At the end of the day life is for living and we can’t all survive on celery sticks 24/7!
A key philosophy I love to teach is that “no food is bad food – just everything in moderation”. Often the reasons people find themselves wanting or needing to reduce body fat relate back to eating for emotional reasons and then feeling guilty about it. The more we can let go of the guilt factor and just enjoy food the better. I am certainly happy to admit that I enjoy chocolate and chips for example and eat them from time to time. To keep things in balance I ensure that most of my meals and snacks have lots of colourful natural foods – fruit and vegetables and other “not so processed” foods so that I know my body is getting what it needs.
In a nutritional consultation I always aim to teach the basics of nutrition in everyday English so you can understand how your metabolism works and how the foods you eat can affect it. I love uncovering some of the many myths out there about eating and nutrition so you can know what works and what doesn’t and why! To get the best results for you as an individual I discuss what sorts of things you’re currently eating and why this is and then work alongside you to identify some simple practical strategies that you can put in place straight away that will make the biggest difference.
I never prescribe set diets or tell you what you can and cannot eat. That’s all up to you! As I said above its important to look at things from a long term perspective and make healthy choices we can stick to for life. If you love pizza, beer and chips then there is no point aiming to cut these out for the rest of your life is there! How realistic is that! What I do provide is a full written explanation of the recommendations we’ve agreed and why they’ll work (in line with your goals) and provide you with lots of educational information and meal and snack ideas in full colour brochures.
