GymHippie

One of my proudest moments as a coach happened this week

Not because Emma hit a personal best

Not because the scales had gone down

But because, for the first time…

She stayed in the game when life got messy 💚

Maybe you know this pattern…

Life gets busy

Motivation disappears

Nutrition slips

The gym becomes less frequent

Then comes that little voice…

“I’ve ruined it”

“I’ll start again Monday”

That’s exactly where Emma used to be

For two years we’ve worked on improving her relationship with food, fitness and herself

Then life threw everything at her and we had to take a coaching break:

Work stress

Family stress

Money worries

A failed house move

A broken-down car

She was even assaulted in the street

When I saw her again after a couple of months, I was preparing for the worst

Historically, this would’ve meant binge eating

Crash dieting

Feeling completely out of control

Instead…

She smiled 😊

She’d still been eating well

Not perfectly

But consistently

No bingeing

No “sod it”

She’d actually stayed in the game ❤️

That was the moment I knew she’d changed

Not because she’d become perfect

Because she’d become resilient

She’d gone from “all or NOTHING”

To “all or SOMETHING” 🌱

One bad meal no longer became a bad week

A setback no longer meant weeks of spiralling

This is why I care so much about mindset

Most people think they need a better meal plan

Or a tougher workout

In my experience…

What they really need is the ability to navigate real life without abandoning themselves

That’s the difference between losing weight…

And becoming the sort of person who can keep it off 💚

If this resonated, my free ebook Fat Loss That Lasts dives deeper into the psychology behind sustainable fat loss 📖

Inside, I share the mindset shifts that help you build a healthier relationship with food & fitness

Link in bio 👊

I’m not proud of it

Especially considering I was one of his best men 😬

The day before the wedding, he challenged me about the shirt I was wearing

To him, it wasn’t the cowboy shirt he’d been asking us all to wear for months

To me, it was a shirt I knew would fit and wouldn’t trigger my body dysmorphia

I’ve got a long history of finding smart clothes incredibly difficult

Sometimes it’s stopped me going to events altogether

Other times I’ve turned up underdressed because it was simply the best I could manage

This time, I genuinely thought the shirt was close enough

Looking back, I completely understand why he was angry

But in a moment of madness…

I reacted

I said what I said

Adam was furious

And I regretted it immediately 😔

For years, I thought resilience meant never behaving emotionally

I don’t believe that anymore

Resilience isn’t about never getting triggered

It’s about knowing what to do when you are

Instead of becoming defensive, I apologised

Then I got curious

What had actually happened in my head?

Being challenged about clothes in front of other people had touched years of body dysmorphia, embarrassment and insecurity

I felt attacked

Humiliated

Ashamed

I’d put so much effort into trying to show up for him, only to feel like I’d failed

That wasn’t the reality

It was my reality

Once I understood that…

I could explain it to Adam

It wasn’t that I didn’t care about him or his wedding

It was years of hurt that had been accidentally poked

The conversation changed almost instantly ❤️

Not because either of us had “won”

But because we understood each other a little better

24 hours later we had one of the best days of our lives 🍻

It reminded me of one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned…

You can’t change a thought pattern you don’t understand

The better you become at recognising your emotional triggers…

The easier it becomes to respond instead of react

That’s true in relationships…

And in health & fitness too 💚

P.S. If this resonated, my free ebook Fat Loss That Lasts dives deeper into this 📖

Link in bio 👊💚

For years, I had a terrible relationship with the bathroom scales

Maybe you did too

I grew up in the era of Weight Watchers and The Biggest Loser

We were taught

⬇️ Losing weight = success
⬆️ Gaining weight = failure

After enough failed diets, many of us started believing something even worse

That WE were the failure

I hear this all the time from new clients

“I avoid the scales because they’re bad for my mental health”

I get it

I’ve been there

But in my experience, the problem isn’t the scales

It’s that most of us were never taught how to use them properly

Most people think stepping on the scales tells them how much body fat they’ve gained or lost

It doesn’t

It only tells you how heavy you are right now

Your weight naturally fluctuates because of

💧 Hydration
🧂 Salt intake
🍞 Carbs
😴 Sleep
😩 Stress
🌸 Hormones
🥗 Food volume
🚽 Bowel movements

That’s why your weight can easily change by 1-3kg without gaining any body fat

Those daily changes create an emotional rollercoaster

📈 “I’ve ruined everything”
📉 “I’m smashing it”

Usually

Neither is true

To gain 1kg of body fat, you’d need to eat roughly 7,700 calories above maintenance

You almost certainly didn’t do that overnight

Instead, here’s how I recommend using the scales

✅ Weigh every AM after the loo and before eating or drinking

✅ Ignore the daily number

✅ Take a weekly average

Then compare this week’s average to last week’s

That’s where the real story is

If the trend is slowly coming down, you’re in a calorie deficit

If it isn’t

That’s not failure

It’s feedback

Maybe you need to

🥗 Eat slightly fewer calories
🍗 Increase protein
🥦 Eat more fibre
🚶 Move a little more
😴 Improve sleep
🧘 Manage stress

One of my favourite coaching moments is when someone finally says

“Ohhh… that’s why my weight went up after that takeaway”

Suddenly the scales stop being a judge

They become a tool

And tools are what sustainable fat loss is built on

⸻

If you’re considering starting your journey, I’ve just released a free ebook

📖 Fat Loss That Lasts

Link in bio

P.S. Yes, that’s me holding a machine gun in Vegas

No, it has nothing to do with this post 😂

Ever feel like you’re making solid progress...

Like things are finally moving in the right direction 😊

And then life hits you with something completely unexpected 🤦‍♂️

Last week, that was me

For years I’ve battled chronic sciatic nerve pain and lower back issues 😔

I’ve spent thousands of pounds trying to find answers

Physios

Chiropractors

Osteopaths

Consultants

Scans

You name it...

The last 12 weeks had actually been pretty positive 💚

Pilates rehab was helping

I was squatting and deadlifting again

Making progress

Feeling more capable

Less broken

For the first time in a long time, I genuinely felt like I was moving forwards

Then last Wednesday...

One rushed decision in the gym

One moment of not paying attention

💥 9/10 nerve pain

No training since

Barely able to walk for days

The physical pain has been tough

But the mental side has been tougher

The negative chatter

“What if this never gets better?”

“Maybe I’m back to square one”

“Maybe all that progress was for nothing”

-

Perhaps you can relate?

Because I see similar patterns on so many health and fitness journeys

A holiday

A stressful period at work

An injury

A setback nobody saw coming

And suddenly it feels like everything is ruined

Motivation drops off a cliff

Action stops

The towel gets thrown in

Not because progress is impossible...

But because the setback gets mistaken for failure

-

The reminder I’ve needed this week is simple:

Just because one area of my journey isn’t going to plan...

Doesn’t mean I abandon the rest 💚

I can’t train right now

But I can still eat well 🍎

Prioritise sleep 😴

Manage stress 🧘

Take care of myself

Move forwards

That’s resilience

Not pretending everything is okay

Just continuing to do what I can with the situation I’m in

Life will always get messy

The real question is:

How will you respond when it does?

All-or-nothing?

Or imperfect action?

-

If you’re struggling to stay on track when life gets difficult, I’ve just released a free ebook:

📖 Fat Loss That Lasts

A practical guide to building sustainable habits, developing resilience and creating results that actually stick 💚

Free download

Link in bio

3 YEARS LATER... SHE’S 3KG HEAVIER 💚

Most people would look at the scales and assume we’ve gone backwards

📸 Photo one: 67kg

📸 Photo two: 70kg

That’s 3kg heavier

And for a long time, I think she thought exactly the same 😂

Then we compared these photos 👀

Suddenly the story looked very different

✅ Smaller waist

✅ Flatter stomach

✅ Better posture

✅ More muscle

✅ Less body fat

✅ In much better shape, more energy & more confidence at 70kg than she was at 67kg

And that’s the problem with relying on the scales alone

The scales can tell you how heavy you are

But they can’t tell you how much muscle you’ve built, how much fat you’ve lost, how your clothes fit or how confident you feel

Over the last 3 years, this GymHippie has lost fat and built muscle

That’s why she looks and feels better at 70kg than she did at 67kg 💪

But here’s my favourite part...

This wasn’t built through extreme diets

It wasn’t built through endless gym sessions

She’s a busy mum with a career and a full life

So “optimal” was never the goal

Continuity was 🌱

For the last 3 years she’s strength trained once per week

Her nutrition and lifestyle habits have quietly ticked along in the background

No life overhaul

No all-or-nothing thinking

Just small actions repeated consistently for long enough to compound

The thing I’m most proud of isn’t the physical transformation

It’s something she said:

“Old me would have given in much sooner”

That’s the real win 💚

Because sustainable fat loss isn’t about going all-in for a few months

It’s about building a lifestyle that still works 3 years later

-

If you’re tired of the lose-weight-regain-weight cycle, I’ve just released a free ebook: Fat Loss That Lasts

Free download

Link in bio 👊💚

DO YOU KEEP FINDING THE WEIGHT YOU LOST? 😬

Have you ever lost weight...

Only to find it again six months later?

Lose weight
Regain weight
Start again
Repeat?

If so, you’re not alone

It’s one of the most common frustrations I hear

And every time it happens, people don’t just regain weight...

They sometimes lose confidence too

“What’s wrong with me?”

“Why can’t I stick to anything?”

💔

Here’s what I’ve noticed:

Most people know how to lose weight

They just don’t know what to do afterwards

They’ve spent years chasing short-term results without building the habits needed to sustain them

Think about tidying your bedroom

You spend a whole weekend cleaning it

Everything is organised

It looks amazing ✨

But then you stop maintaining it

No tidying
No putting things away

What happens?

The mess slowly returns

Not because cleaning doesn’t work

Because you stopped doing the things that kept it tidy

Fat loss works the same way

Many people become experts at losing weight:

• Slimming World
• Weight Watchers
• Keto
• Juice cleanses
• Meal replacements
• Low-calorie diets

They know how to create results

They’ve never learned how to maintain them

Because maintenance requires something different:

Not more discipline
Not more willpower
Not another diet

It requires habits that fit around your life

Your career
Your family
Your social life
Your holidays
Your stressful and imperfect weeks

That’s why I focus so much on helping clients build sustainable routines

Because the goal isn’t to lose weight once

The goal is to become the sort of person who can maintain those results for years

Without feeling like you’re always “on a diet”
Without obsessing over food
Without starting again every Monday

💚

Anybody can tidy a room

The real skill is keeping it tidy

So ask yourself:

Do I need another diet...

Or do I need a better maintenance strategy?

-

📘 I’ve just released my free ebook: *Fat Loss That Lasts*

A practical guide to sustainable fat loss, better habits, and breaking free from the lose-weight-regain-weight cycle

Free download

Link in bio 👊

That Mirror Hit Me Hard 🪞🫠

On Saturday, Keri and I went to Nirvana Spa for a rare evening together 🧖‍♂️✨

She’s a nurse working long shifts and nights.

I’m a PT up at stupid o’clock and in bed early.

Add in parenting two energetic boys…

And honestly, we’re mostly just ships passing in the night 😅

So this was meant to be a chance to switch off and reconnect ❤️

Until I wandered into one of the quieter changing rooms…

And found myself surrounded by mirrors.

Suddenly I saw myself from angles I never usually see.

“Oh god… is THAT what I look like?”

Instantly, the negative self-talk kicked in:

“You’ve let yourself go.”

“You should be leaner.”

“Will you ever actually feel confident with your top off?”

Honestly, it knocked me for six 🤦🏻

Because being unhappy in your body isn’t just about appearance.

It steals your confidence.

Your headspace.

Your presence.

From that moment on, part of my brain was elsewhere instead of fully present with Keri 💔

—

In the past, that moment would’ve sent me spiralling.

But this time, I caught myself.

And reminded myself that sustainable change doesn’t come from self-loathing.

It comes from self-compassion 👍

So instead of doing anything extreme, I went back to basics:

➡️ Tracking my food
➡️ Moderate calorie deficit
➡️ Taking ownership
➡️ Small, repeatable actions

No suffering.

No crazy overhaul.

Just calm, steady consistency 👊💚

—

I’m sharing this because I know so many people carry these thoughts around quietly every day.

The body checking.

The frustration.

The shame.

The feeling that you’ve drifted away from the person you want to be.

And when you’re juggling work, kids, stress and exhaustion…

It can feel REALLY hard to turn things around.

So if you’re stuck in that place right now…

I get it ❤️

You probably don’t need another quick fix.

You probably just need support, structure, accountability and a plan you can actually stick to 🙌

-

Free ebook
💚 Fat Loss That Lasts
link in bio

I’ve just spent 4 days in Las Vegas! 🎰🍹

No routine
Frozen margaritas all day
3 hours sleep a nigh
Huge restaurant meals.
Casinos, shows, activities, dressing up as WWE wrestlers, laughing with mates and making memories

It was amazing! 😁

But when I got back…

The hangover, jet lag & sleep deprivation hit HARD

Straight back into parent duties too - so there was no chance to properly recover

This past week has been survival mode

My nutrition has been all over the place:

Buying food on the go
Way too much junk
Overeating for comfort and energy because I’ve been exhausted

Recovery score in the pits
Immune system down
Then a gastro bug to top it all off 🤝

And yep…
I gained 2kg

It took me 2 months to lose it… and less than 2 weeks to put it back on

Now this is where most people panic.

“Right. Time to be strict.”

❌ slash calories
❌ cut carbs
❌ train six times a week
❌ do loads of cardio
❌ only eat ‘clean’

But I’m not doing any of that

Because I know better now

This is a lifestyle

And in a real lifestyle:

There will be holidays
There will be stressful weeks
There will be periods where life knocks you out of routine

That’s normal

My response is always the same:

👉 get back to routine
👉 lock back in
👉 no drama
👉 no panic

I don’t react emotionally with some short-term extreme plan fuelled by guilt and stress

What’s the point?

I haven’t got the energy, time or headspace to go “all in” anyway

I’d just be setting myself up for failure

I see so many people stuck in the cycle of:

“on track” → “off track” → guilt & frustration → repeat

What actually works is:

✅ consistency over perfection
✅ seeing the bigger picture
✅ building habits you can return to quickly
✅ creating a lifestyle you can realistically sustain

This is something I help my clients with every single day

Teaching them how to bounce back when they hit bumps in the road

Because the people who succeed long term aren’t the people who are perfect

They’re the people who keep returning to the basics 👊

-

If this resonates with you, I’ve just released a free ebook:

Fat Loss That Lasts
Free download
Link in bio