My Biggest Nutritional Mistake

You might not know this about me, but before I became a Personal Trainer, I worked as an Account Manager for 2 technology companies in London.

That’s right - straight out of university I was desperate to get on the career ladder (read, not move back home…sorry Mum!) and 3 weeks after graduation, started my first ‘real’ job at Verizon. This was pre-covid, so it was your classic office-based 9 to 5. 

I’d get home every day feeling physically and mentally exhausted, and I found it impossible to motivate myself to get to the gym. This lack of movement began to impact my nutritional habits, and looking back at my former life, I realise now why I could never balance work with nutritional goals. 

As I lost structure in my workouts, I lost structure in my nutrition. 

I began to just opt for whatever felt “healthy” and I’d consume that food in inconsistent quantities. Without training, I felt I didn’t need as much food, and got into a spiral of thinking ‘less must be better’. On my lunch break I’d always opt for the option with the lowest calories, thinking that I didn’t deserve more without exercise. Inevitably I’d end each meal hungry and unsatisfied. 

This is such a common mindset I find in all my clients of all ages and genders!

What does that mindset lead to? 

An inevitable post-lunch graze where you grab anything you can because you’ve starved yourself earlier in the day. I’d say to myself ‘just wait until you get home, then you can eat’. Upon return to my flat at 5:45pm I was absolutely ravenous - I couldn’t wait to prepare myself a meal, I needed to eat NOW.

So I’d go for the highly processed, highly addictive, readily-prepared options - granola straight out the box, chocolate mousse out of the fridge (with the fridge door still open!), crisps in sharing bags. When I finally emerged from the trance, I was so full I felt sick, but worse of all was the shame.

I told myself that was the last time, but of course I needed to make amens for all this overeating! I couldn’t possibly eat again until I was really hungry.

And so the cycle would continue - for months and months and months. 

The biggest change came when I learnt that the binge wouldn’t exist without the restrict. 

One morning I forced myself to eat a breakfast and lunch with a quality balance of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Immediately my energy felt consistent throughout the day for the first time in months, and when I got home, I found I didn’t actually want to graze on those foods. 

I wrote myself a food plan focussing on whole foods, ensuring that I was eating at least 4 times during the day, and worked on reducing my fear of carbohydrates that had crept in insidiously over the years. Writing this loose plan on a Sunday night made it so much easier for me to release my obsessive thinking about food. This was all the more important in a hectic corporate schedule where I felt chained to my desk 80% of the time! 

Most of my clients are so surprised when I programme them to EAT MORE in order to achieve their results. We need food to fuel our workouts, fuel our brains, and fuel our metabolisms to make sure it's all working to help us achieve the results we want!

If any of this resonated with you, please know you’re not alone. 

These behaviours are more common than you’d think, and I am here if you’ve got any questions or need support. 

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