My Life, Dieting, and healing from Metabolic Damage.
For those who want to know a little more about me, my story and how I came across Pro-Metabolic Nutrition, I share with you the following.
About Me
I am a mother of two wonderful young adults (a daughter and son), I live in Brisbane but I love to travel and see the world from the eyes of others. It seems like decades ago now, but when I finished school I completed a Social Work degree, joined the police force, left the police force, worked for 15 years as a Child Protection Worker, then I decided it was time to pursue my passion and my greatest love and I bought a gym – Pure Energy Training in Mt Gravatt.
I have always been an athlete, as a young adult I was a pole-vaulter and sprinter, I then competed in 12hr and 24hr Adventure racers (mountain bike riding, kayaking and trail running) and back in the 90’s I was even on the hit TV series Gladiators.
I love to paint (though I don’t get my paints and brushes out enough), I love to read, dance (even though I'm a terrible dancer) and of course spend time with my much-loved family. I love to serve those who I work with and am absolutely passionate about the life-changing benefits of Pro-Metabolic Nutrition and the research of Dr. Ray Peat, Broda Barnes, Danny Roddy, even Josh and Jeanine from East-West Healing.
It was from my desire to spend more time researching, learning and teaching this nutritional and lifestyle framework that in 1995 I decided to sell my gym and focus entirely on coaching, writing and helping as many people as I could gain control of their lives again.
After 15 years of coaching and dieting (more like depriving and starving), I discovered all the amazing benefits of Pro-Metabolic Nutrition and learnt to slow down, reduce stress, value rest, nurture my body, and listen to what it was telling me. I finally found the way to lose body fat and feel fantastic without destroying metabolism, feeling exhausted, eating a restrictive low-calorie diet or wreaking havoc with hormonal balance.
I really wanted to help people experience the amazing benefits I did from Pro-Metabolic nutrition, to help people lose weight who were feeling depressed and miserable because of stubborn body fat, to feel better about themselves, let go of restrictive eating habits, to realise you can look great and eat MORE food, MORE delicious food, MORE balanced food and still get lean. I wanted the good folk who try so hard but have metabolic or hormonal issues to learn that it doesn't have to be hard. That there is an answer, an easier, healthier way.
This approach bought joy back to my life and gave me the balance and energy I had been missing for over a decade.
I have been competing for 17 years. I have placed in the top three at many world and universe titles. I won the WFF Ms. Universe in 2014 and was awarded my PRO card. I have since competed as a figure athlete in four international PRO division competitions.
METABOLIC DAMAGE
and my life prior to Pro-Metabolic Nutrition
I was feeling depressed, miserable, and had lost my libido and stopped menstruating.
My hair started to thin, I had trouble sleeping, concentrating, and I was always cold.
I was moody, irritable and all I could think about was food. I fell off the wagon and binged more times than I will ever admit.
Exhausted, hungry, deprived, bloating, depressed... I could not continue living a life like this.
I realised this was not a way to live life... so I began the search for a better way.
Until I discovered a Pro-Metabolic nutrition approach and changed my way of eating, to get lean or even stay in shape I would have to cut my calories ridiculously low and do 1 - 2 hours of cardio every single day. Sure, I would look great, but that came at a huge cost - I was depleted, malnourished and exhausted. My metabolism slowed down (as does everyone who diets hard or cuts carbs) and as a result of a slow metabolism, I would experience the dreaded rebound weight gain post comp. Year after year, it left me depressed, puffy, bloated, fatigued and feeling awful about myself. For the first time, I even started to get cellulite, despite strict weight training and nutrition regime.
Over the years my restrictive eating regimes became stricter and stricter, I cut out all fruit, never drank pure orange juice, never ate honey or yoghurts, and of course cheese, quality chocolate or natural icecream was a sin. My diet and my desperation to stay lean was destroying my life. I began searching for a better way, not only for me but for all the competition athletes and clients I coached.
I saw the same dreaded thing over and over and over again. Men and women who because they worked so hard, downregulated their metabolism and then experienced rebound weight gain, and hormonal issues.
I was convinced there was a healthier, easier way to diet. I tried low carb and ketosis - it always worked for a while but then my metabolism would slow down more and it was impossible to sustain. I tried paleo and Atkins but to be honest I never felt vibrant or as energetic as I know I can. I tried 5:2 and other forms of intermittent fasting but I would end up bingeing or rewarding myself with food for fasting. I juiced - but I never felt satisfied or full.
DR. RAY PEAT
During my research I discovered the work of Dr. Raymond Peat.
Dr. Peat has a doctorate in biology with a specialisation in physiology and endocrinology. Most of his research and work centres around hormones, metabolism, thyroid and nutrition. He has dedicated his life to studying hormonal balance, metabolism, anti-aging, and inflammation.
As an endocrinologist his work is based around hormones and how to use nutrition and lifestyle factors to balance them.
The pituitary gland produces thyroid hormone and is responsible for the rate your cells respire (metabolism). The heart of this approach, very simply, is that by increasing cellular respiration, it will help increase metabolic rate, fat burning and overall health. The take-home is eating a unique combination of nutrients that upregulate thyroid will increase metabolism, which will lead to a healthy body that loses weight effortlessly.
I've learnt so much for this researchers and scientists in this field, and science is constantly evolving so we are all constantly learning. Our entire body is connected. To upregulate thyroid hormone conversion we need to decrease inflammation, balance estrogen and progesterone, keep insulin balanced, and reduce excess cortisol. When metabolic rate is increased, fat burning is increased. Fat loss favours a fast metabolism.
This research and theory sounded good on paper, but actually changing my entire “fitness industry nutritional mold” to a 'Peatarian' style of eating was a huge challenge for me. It opposed so much of what the fitness industry had led me to believe was true. I was about to embark on my biggest competition year yet with three international shows (a world championship and a Universe PRO show) and I needed to be in outstanding condition. But you see, I was also desperate not to repeat my previous exhausting, depleting, debilitating, unhealthy, time-consuming dieting phases of my previous competition preps.
PRO-METABOLIC APPROACH
How it changed my life!
What happened when I changed to a Pro-Metabolic Approach?
Well… as it turned out, the results I achieved were even greater than I had ever imagined possible. Instead of cutting calories in order to get leaner, I was eating Pro-Thyroid food, nourishing my body, so my metabolism increased and I found I had to actually ADD calories (and kept getting leaner) - Yup you read that right.
For the first time in 13 years, I dieted for a competition by eating more each week AND I did this with zero cardio - not even five minutes of cardio. I would not have believed it myself if I had not experienced it. I was eating 800-1000 Calories a day MORE than I ever have eaten when dieting before.
And… I felt amazing, full of energy, I was happier, I was enjoying delicious food and right up until comp day I was eating honey, fruit, cheese, potatoes and butter. Consequently, as I wasn't depleted and as I had more carbs, I trained with more intensity and I put on more muscle and looked the best I ever looked, was the healthiest I had ever been, and felt the greatest I had ever felt. Win win win!
The season I dieted with Pro-Metabolic Nutrition, I won the overall figure champion at the Southern Hemispheres, then went on to place a close third at the NABBA World Championships in Malta and second at the WFF Universe PRO show in France. Offseason, for the first time in 13 years, I didn’t experience rebound weight gain, cravings or have to do cardio to maintain my weight. This approach works better than any nutritional strategy I have tried or used throughout my entire career (and believe me, I've done them all).
I started to use Pro-Metabolic Nutrition with my one on one nutrition clients and my competition athletes and I soon learnt the exact unique combinations of food, along with the necessary lifestyle strategies to apply so that soon everyone was experiencing the same spectacular results I did whilst feeling fabulous. Happy days!
PROMETABOLIC LIFE
Meal Plans
I realised that this nutritional strategy could improve the lives of so many more people than just competition athletes. This strategy was a game-changer for most people who struggled with weight loss, low energy, sleep issues, boating, cellulite, metabolic, thyroid or hormonal issues. I was passionate to share my ongoing research with a wider audience. Feeling great, having energy, looking great really does not need to be hard.
I created the Pro-Metabolic Meal Plan programs so that more people could have access to the knowledge and experience I have gained from coaching, studying, researching, living and teaching this approach.
The meal plan programs are the exact plans that I use to diet and achieve an incredibly lean and shredded body. They are also the plans my world-class figure, bikini and sports model athletes use. I am passionate to teach this to everyone so that you too can learn the nutritional and lifestyle fundamentals that will have the greatest impact upon your metabolism, energy, health, well-being, hormonal balance, mood and of course body composition.
I encourage everyone to do what I did and let go of any preconceptions you may have about food rules and what I now call food cults. You will find this approach liberating and life-changing. www.Raypeat.com has a tonne of scientific articles that are well researched if you want to read more in-depth science.
This really is about…
MORE Food. MORE Balance. MORE Energy. MORE Life. MORE Fat Loss.
Scroll through my blogs. Read the success stories. I hope that you will find this information liberating. I did.
Once I gave myself permission to eat more balanced food and more sugars my metabolism fired along with my energy and my passion for life again.
*Disclaimer:
I just want to remind you that I write to SHARE what I have learnt and studied and to provide suggestions that may help improve your health and wellbeing. This is to EDUCATE. Nothing I write is a prescription. Not once should my writings be taken in place of medical advice, nor has anything I've written be meant to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any illnesses or conditions. Medical advice can only be obtained from a medical practitioner. Medical conditions or hormonal imbalances must be treated by a medical practitioner. I am not a doctor, endocrinologist or certified nutritionist and the statements I have made have not been evaluated by a medical professional. For the past 7 years, this approach has worked exceptionally well for my metabolism, and health, delivering spectacular results not only for me but for the people I work with.
