I trained in nutrition. Now I mostly tell women to eat enough and go and lift something heavy.

 

When a friend tells me I look tired and asks whether I've tried a particular supplement, or seen someone's Instagram, or thought about cutting out dairy — I try very hard not to roll my eyes.

 

I studied nutrition for three years and then worked as a nutritional therapist for eight, seeing clients one to one in a private clinic. I know brilliant nutritional therapists doing brilliant work and there definitely is a place for it. The one I saw in my twenties changed my life, and she's the entire reason I retrained in the first place.

 

But I also saw the industry up close. A lot of our education after graduating came from supplement companies, which tells you something. Trends arrived, took people's money, and left. And the work itself was heavy going — almost everyone walked in worried, hyper focussing on all the things that may be going wrong in their body. 

 

I did what I learned to do... I tested, I removed, I recommended cleaner foods, exercise and listened to many sad stories and helped people see a way forward.  I often wish I also had a degree in psychology alongside it. 

 

Anyway... 

 

Then I had two children, stopped working entirely for a few years, and came back to all of it with rather different eyes.

 

What I do now is much simpler, and I think it's far more useful.

 

I retrained — already enjoying being a Zumba instructor as my hobby job, I did my level 2 Exercise to Music, then Gym Instructor, then level 3 Personal Trainer — and now I coach women to get strong. Not to shrink. Not to chase abs. Not to be frightened of bread. To get stronger, sleep better, have more energy, and stop running on empty.

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And that's the real difference I think.  Nutrition - the way I was taught it - started with everything that might be going wrong.  Exercise starts with what you can do, and you feel better the same day, before anything has actually changed yet.  It's just positive. So that's where I start now.

 

I still use a lot of what I learned about nutrition. I just use it very differently. With a lot of my clients, food often doesn't come up at all for the first few weeks — not until training has become a habit and there's a bit of headspace for it. When it does, it's small sensible changes that fit the way you already eat. No meal plan you'll abandon by Thursday (unless you are meal plan minded). No supplements you don't need. Usually it comes down to "are you eating enough, and is there enough protein in it?" — which is deeply unglamorous, and works.

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​Who I'm for

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A lot of women know they should be building muscle but don't really know where to start. The gym feels intimidating. Work and family are relentless. Somewhere along the way they stopped putting themselves anywhere near the top of the list, and they'd like to find their spark again — it just doesn't feel straightforward.

 

That's who I coach. I'm almost 50, I've got two children who I had quite late in life, I’m going through peri-menopause myself so I understand how it feels sometimes.

 

I work face to face at Oriam in Edinburgh, and online with women anywhere.

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If you've been meaning to start for a while and keep not starting, come and have a chat.  Half an hour, free, no obligation to anything.  I'll ask you a lot of questions and tell you honestly whether I can help.