A Leading Midlife Trainer Reveals How She Stays Fit & Healthy

I’m an early bird – I’m up at 5am and I’m annoyingly chirpy at that hour. My mornings always start the same way: I do a five-minute mobility routine I’ve been doing for 30 years, drink a large glass of water before any caffeine, let the dogs out, step outside for a quiet moment and then sit with a cup of tea while I prepare for my classes. I really love the mornings – for me it’s the best time of the day. By 8am, I’ll have a coffee but, before my workout, I keep things light and usually eat a banana because anything heavy just sits in my stomach. I always work out in the morning, otherwise the day takes over – it changes my mood and my mindset for the whole day. 

My structure is consistent. I walk the dogs every day, which is non-negotiable, and I do four 30-minute strength sessions a week. Those are my workouts – I’m doing them with everyone on my platform and that’s why I know what works. I design the weekly training intentionally, rotating upper body with lower body, using all muscle groups and balancing HIIT with recovery. The workouts are designed to be functional, mimicking the ways we actually move in real life: getting out of a car, reaching overhead, carrying shopping, gardening. It’s the movement patterns you repeat that matter.

I bang on about glutes all the time, but they really are so important. Strong glutes protect your lower back and support everything from posture to lifting. Injuries don’t usually happen in a workout; they happen when people are gardening, picking up laundry or carrying the supermarket bags from the car. That’s why I train the way I do.

Breakfast is always focused on protein: eggs with avocado on sourdough or Greek yogurt with berries. I never weigh food or count calories; I go by how my clothes feel and just choose portions intuitively. In midlife, it’s not about restriction and cutting things out. I’m really happy that the ‘no carbs’ culture is disappearing. We need carbs – they’re my energy source.

Lunch is usually a proper meal: a chicken salad, salmon or something like crayfish, quinoa and mango. I don’t just have a plain salad, it needs protein! If I have soup, I’ll have a wholemeal roll. If I need a snack, I’ll have something satisfying like peanut butter on a bagel or hummus with vegetables. I do love chocolate but I don’t believe in good and bad foods – it’s all about balance and refuelling your body correctly with nourishing food.

Dinner tends to be sweet potato with fish or something like a Thai green curry. On Sundays, I love a roast. I tend to avoid lentils because they don’t agree with me, I keep coffee to two cups a day, and I’m not big on protein shakes, which can be laden with sugar – instead, I try to get my protein from the foods I choose.

Gut health is huge. Everything starts in the gut – stress, mood, energy, performance, skin. We made sure my book included recipes that are high in fibre and with gut-friendly ingredients. Fibre is the unsung hero, but a tweak for me that’s been a game changer is protein. I have a very sweet tooth but, now I’m sitting down to eat a proper lunch and not eating on the go, I’m managing that better and avoiding the mid-afternoon slump. The meals I eat now keep me fuller for longer.

Supplements really help me, especially in midlife. Creatine has been a real winner – it’s helped my performance and my recovery so much. Women shy away from it because people think it’s for men or elite athletes, but it’s one of the most researched supplements and it’s amazing for women, especially in midlife. I take turmeric shots for my joints, magnesium glycinate before bed for sleep, and NAD for clarity and sustained energy. If I don’t do these things first thing in the morning, it’s gone, so I’m religious about remembering. There are so many myths surrounding creatine, like bulking up or water retention, but I’ve never experienced any of that.

Everyone's different – menopause, peri-menopause, what they're eating, how they're exercising. Social comparison is huge, but everyone's journey is particular to them. What I need to eat or how I exercise might not be right for someone else. You have to find what works for you.

My own evolution with training has been huge. In my twenties, I was all about cardio. I loved spin classes and anything high energy. Then I discovered Body Pump while I was working in advertising in London and squeezing in classes before work. It made me feel stronger from the inside out. I still love cardio for the headspace but, as I moved through my thirties and forties, priorities shifted to my strength, joints, posture, mobility and balance. Strength training supports all of it. My training flipped from 80/20 cardio-to-strength to the exact opposite.

Walking is still one of the most important tools for me. It’s unbelievably underrated. It lifts your mood instantly. If you can add inclines, even better. Cardio and strength aren’t competing forces – they complement each other beautifully.

A big fear for women is ‘bulking’ from lifting weights. It’s such a myth. To bulk, you’d need a specific programme, a calorie surplus and years of training. What you actually get from strength work is confidence, shape, stronger bones, better metabolism and better posture. The weight section in the gym can feel intimidating, but home training is incredibly effective.

When it comes to weights, technique comes first. Starting with 2-3kg is absolutely fine and, ideally, you have two or three different sets as you build strength. The last few reps should feel challenging but controlled. I love kettlebells too and resistance bands which are brilliant for travel because you can take them anywhere.

Recovery and tracking help me stay consistent. I use an Oura Ring, particularly for sleep. I fall asleep easily but I’m always up early, so I’m trying to shift my bedtime to earlier. My evening ritual is a bath with magnesium or Epsom salts – Dreem Distillery, Neom and Olverum are my go-tos. I always make sure I don’t skip post workout stretches. Even a quick walk after a workout helps the muscles to relax.

Mobility is something I wish more people valued. Five minutes makes a huge difference. It doesn’t need to be a long session – small, frequent movement is enough. Movement is my stress reliever. Walking resets me and, at least once a week, I walk with a friend – you always walk further when you are chatting! Because so much of my work is online, real-world connection means a lot. Retreats and in-person events matter because, while online training is amazing for reach, nothing replaces being in a room with people working out together.

The biggest mistake I see is people going too heavy too fast or expecting instant results. Strength, energy and fitness all come from time and consistency. You can’t out-train a bad diet, poor sleep or high stress. Everything feeds into everything else.

When I walk, I listen to podcasts. I love Dr Rangan Chatterjee, Elizabeth Day, Gabby Logan, Fearne Cotton, Jenny Falconer for running and Just As Well with Claire Sanderson and Jenna Atkinson.

And when January rolls around, I always tell people to avoid the ‘new year, new you’ thing. You don’t need a new you. You just need small tweaks you can actually stick to. Choose things you enjoy – dancing, strength, swimming, running, cycling, walking – whatever makes you want to come back. The best goals are kind, achievable and sustainable.

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