My Fitness Journey.
Working long sedentary hours as a junior lawyer and also working in the fashion industry as a model, I have always been very aware of the need to keep in the best shape possible. Now as a personal trainer and health coach, I derive so much happiness and satisfaction from being in a position to help others make healthier choices in their everyday lives.
I was lucky enough to be raised on the West Coast of Ireland, it was the kind of rare childhood that most people will never experience. When I think back it was where my health and fitness journey began and I believe this is where my no nonsense approach to nutrition and fitness originates.
Life was good, I had eight siblings and being one of the younger ones we played outdoors from dawn until dusk, ate our vegetables fresh from mum’s well stocked organic garden, fish straight from the Atlantic and milk from our pet goats - long before it was fashionable to do so!
I didn’t fully avoid challenges however, and suffered from minor anorexia and full blown bulimia for about a decade on and off from when I was 17 years old. I followed every “diet’ out there - Atkins, Keto, juice diet - you name it. None of them worked and I’d always return to my binge eating ways in a vicious cycle.
It wasn’t until I really began to love myself for who I am, went to therapy, and returned to the sensible eating I learnt as a child that I overcame bulimia. I think to be perfectly honest though learning to workout in a gym was a huge catalyst for a healthier approach to how I fuelled my body.
In my late twenties I was a keen gym-goer and began working with a personal trainer. There is something so uplifting and empowering about working one on one with someone who can support you on your fitness journey and this continues to be my inspiration as I work with my fitness clients today.
As a professional model I have come under a lot of pressure over the years to keep slim which was a catalyst for me to make physical fitness a focus in my life, but in 2016 I decided to use my experience and knowledge to help others make fitness a way of life and I qualified as a personal trainer. More recently I have trained as a Health Coach and this has brought my understanding of health to a whole new level.
I now prioritise a healthy and fit body over squeezing into a certain size dress; which is unfortunately a continual pressure in the fashion industry. More worrying these days is the influence of people who present a very unrealistic and unhealthy “perfect body’ shape to young impressionable teens within the ever growing social media space.
I believe we need to keep things real and I have found exercise and good nutrition to be the most important mental and physical saviours in maintaining balance in every aspect of my life and I want to share that with as many people as possible.
