Day in the Life – Nathalie Lennon, health & fitness coach

Nathalie is an inspiring health and fitness coach passionate about spreading an authentic message based on body confidence, developing sustainable habits, and establishing an optimal relationship with both food and fitness.

This year for the Savour Kilkenny Food Festival she will be on the Savour mainstage to teach us about fuel for exercise. She’ll be answering your questions while showing you how to make some of her favourite nutritious snacks. 

Nathalie qualified as a personal trainer in 2016. Since then, she has built up her business coaching clients in the gym for over seven years before moving her business online, where she also teaches classes and events. She shares advice and tips surrounding healthy living and building a balanced lifestyle on her Instagram daily.

In 2018 Nathalie qualified as a Nutritional and Health Coach from the Irish Institute of Nutrition and Health. She aims to showcase and help others find balance between extremes, enjoying all that life has to offer, whilst keeping on top of their physical and mental health.

Nathalie hosts her own radio show on KCLR FM on Saturday mornings and Sunday evenings. She ran two series of specialty shows based on health and wellbeing which you can find on Spotify.

Here is a glimpse into Nathalie’s energic world…

Nathalie, you are very passionate in striking the balance when it comes to food, fitness and fun. What drives you? 

Having worked as a personal trainer for three years, I saw first-hand just how difficult it is for clients to find balance. I once heard a saying ‘extremes are easy, balance is hard’ – and it really hit close to home.

I spent years struggling to build a balance myself, I was living in more extreme ways which the diet industry promotes and tries to sell to us all – the ‘all in or all out’ mentality one might say.

Since I built a better balance in my own life, I am just so passionate to help others do the same. Life is too short to spend it at war with your diet and with your body.

Since moving into Nutritional and Health coaching, it’s been truly heart-warming to see how a little education, encouragement and support can help someone to live a healthier and happier life.

You are very open about your own health journey and recently you opened up about adult acne on social media. Do you mind sharing with us about the eating disorder that you struggled with? 

Since opening up about my adult acne struggles online, it reminded me of a powerful statement. “Vulnerability is not weakness; it is our greatest measure of courage’. Isn’t that a great one?

In sharing our struggles, it truly is so empowering, it allows us to take ownership of them. However, it is very difficult to share such personal experiences that affect our mental health to such a high degree.

I knew that in sharing my eating disorder struggles from my past, even though it would be difficult to share, it would help so many people. I am proud to say it’s very much so in the past, but it was an extremely difficult few years for me that I wasn’t sure I would make it out of.

When we hear the term ‘eating disorder’ – we often think of particular types. Mine wasn’t necessarily any of these, it did not have a classification, but still these types of eating disorders account for most of those out there – and I guarantee you far more people struggle with them than you think.

My own was an obsession over calories, counting them on an app, weighing food, and exercising without enough fuel. Every day was a battle, and I look back at that time now and wonder who that girl was, because it doesn’t feel like it was me. It was like someone else had control.

You felt social media was to blame for this eating disorder. Why?

In 2016 my Instagram started to grow very quickly because of a ‘before and after’ picture that went viral. These are photos which compare your body before, and after, a fitness challenge.

Subconsciously, this fed into the development of my struggles. It is hard not to get consumed by the numbers of followers and likes. Luckily, I have reset my relationship with social media too and always tell others to try to pay less attention to likes and followers, and more attention to how social media is making you feel.

Always ask yourself ‘Why am I posting this?’. After all, they say that if you put your happiness in numbers, numbers never end! This applies to everything, followers, likes, scales and so on. Focus on the feeling rather than the numerical result!

What was the clinch moment when you decided it was time to change?

I just woke up one morning in 2017 and had what my English teacher in school used to call a ‘penny dropping moment’.

I was tired or fighting with myself and living every day in a state of heightened anxiety, isolating myself, feeling scared and honestly, lost.

I opened to my loved ones, started seeing a professional and it was difficult to overcome it – but we did!

I always feel pride in sharing my story now, it’s a part of my past I am happy to talk about because I know it will help someone else to open too.

Siobhan, it truly is terrifying how many young girls message me on Instagram, with similar struggles. It’s terrifying, but all we can do is keep trying our best to spread a message of hope, encourage others to open up, and put positive energy out into the universeNathalie, I am amazed by your energy. I follow you on Instagram and you are always on the go, from all corners in Ireland. How do you squeeze so much in?

I am happiest when I am busy, but also, in the outdoors or being active! During the Summer in Ireland (when the weather allows it) I try my best to make the most of every spare minute to explore parts of our beautiful island.

I also feel like I lost a few years when I was working through my struggles, so I am making up for lost time. To be able to live life so freely again, it’s thrilling. That said, I am very aware of my energy and have improved it by putting up boundaries when I need to. Downtime is important because you can’t pour from an empty cup.

Almost three years ago you landed on the Kilkenny airwaves as a broadcaster. Yet another string to your bow!

What’s for you won’t pass you, isn’t that right?! Joining the team at KCLR has been a dream come true. Honestly, I always dreamt of working in media as a child and since joining KCLR, I can say it’s a pathway I want to continue to travel down and hopefully progress in.

Presenting on air at the weekends is my favourite time of the week! You can catch me on air 7-10am Saturdays and 6-8pm Sundays.

We are really looking forward to having you at Savour Kilkenny on the main stage this year for the first time. What will you be focusing on?

I am beyond excited! I will be focusing on how we can use food as fuel for exercise. My recipes will be focusing on fuelling movement, but also ensuring we all learn the secret to better energy – balancing our blood sugars.

This is the most life changing nutritional point you could ever learn; I promise you that! We will be making some really tasty recipes that fuel our wellbeing, without compromising on taste.

Do you have any advice for anyone struggling with a negative body image? 

Stop picking your body apart in the mirror, stop comparing your body to others. Start challenging negative thoughts, identify positive traits that are not aesthetic based.

If you were giving advice to a younger girl, or young boy, would you tell them to treat their body the way you do yours? Be kinder to yourself and focus on FEELING good!

Nathalie Lennon’s Food as Fuel for Exercise Demonstration will take place on Saturday October 28 at 12noon on the Savour Stage, The Parade. Entry is free, for more information savourkilkenny.com