We Talk Food, Fitness And Striking A Balance With Lee Sutherland
Lee Sutherland is a personal trainer, certified health coach and the name behind cult health and wellness blog Fitness In The City. As a regular contributor to various health blogs and magazines, we reached out to this busy mum and wellness expert to share her tips on striking the right balance.
How would you describe your fitness philosophy?
It is very much a holistic approach. I use my background in Natural Health Science (Herbal Medicine and Nutrition), health coaching plus fitness when working with my clients. This means everything is more balanced and individualized. No two people are the same and their programs should reflect that. Through a thorough initial consultation, I learn all about their history, their health, injuries, sleep patterns, job, stress levels, relationships, hormones, nutrition etc to gain an indication of the bigger picture and what will work for them. With some people I am very gentle and their workout reflects this but others, where high levels of cortisol aren't an issue, well they can handle a super tough session!
Why did you decide to become a personal trainer and health coach?
I guess I worked backwards as they were the last in line with my learnings. I already had years under my belt with Natural Health Science and then didn’t really get interested in fitness professionally until I moved to Sydney 10 years ago. To be honest I just wasn’t liking what I was seeing out there and knew I could do better!! No one was taking into account my injuries so they just kept getting worse, nor did anyone offer other areas with expert knowledge around wellbeing or nutrition.
‘Busy’ is often used as an excuse not to exercise. How do you balance work, being a mum and fitness?
Well, ‘balance’ looks very different these days to what it did say 3 years ago!! Now it's all about being smarter with my time. There are things that aren’t going to change. My bub is always number 1 so my schedule works around him, then I run my two businesses Fitness In The City and Little Wildling Co (organic herbal teas) which again, takes up a large chunk of my time so I don’t have the luxury like I did back in the day to go for a run in the morning, followed by yoga then maybe some weights… now its hard and fast. A good HIIT session or tabatas is usually my go to but I’m itching to get back into regular yoga and pilates again too.
How has your fitness routine changed since becoming a mum?
I’d say its more time efficient! I also focus more on form and core. Prior to having Jet I broke my leg so it was a long recovery from that, then the baby came so I pretty much had to start from scratch which isn’t a bad thing. I’ve learnt just because you can do something (ie crazy hard core movements) doesn’t mean you should! Slow and steady can win the race.
What does a typical week of fitness involve?
I get a lot of incidental exercise in such as walking, carrying serious heavy weights to and from my PT and small group training sessions, running after Jet, walking the dog etc so that is daily, then at the moment to be honest it’s mostly home workouts inbetween working on the website, clients and Jet sleeping! I do have a gym membership to Virgin Active which is down the road from me so I should make use of that more…. (note to self!). I am also very lucky to attend lots of product and media events for the blog and a lot of those includes workouts such as Barre classes etc so that is also a fun sneaky way of getting a workout in!
Describe your typical food diary in a day:
Breakfast: Avocado on sourdough toast with lots of basil, lemon juice, roast tomato and eggs. So. Good. If I’m in a rush it’s a smoothie of some sort with protein.
Lunch: Roast salmon on a bed of fresh salad if I’m home or rice paper rolls if I'm out on the run.
Dinner: Loving a good quality grass fed steak with sweet potato mash and greens (cooked by the hubby is even better!!) followed by a wee bit of chocolate of course. Moderation guys!!
Snacks: Cobs organic Salt & Vinegar popcorn, unlimited mangoes and blueberries because yum or a handful of nuts
Tell us about Fitness In The City. How did this come about?
The website/blog Fitness In The City was just a great way to reach more people who were outside of my client base. I love to write and I’ve always worked in areas helping people so it was something I just did without really thinking about it! The training side (small group sessions and PT) started after I was frustrated with what I was seeing in the industry personally. So I thought, hey I've already studied Natural Health Science, and I do love to research and train myself so why not take it a step further, study and get qualified and then do it myself – so I did! I adore all of my clients and I get as much out of the sessions as they do!
What can readers expect to find on there?
A good mix of information that falls either under the Nourish banner (recipes, superfoods, nutrition tips), Move (fitness tips, review etc) and Live (everything else to help live a healthy, happy life – toxic free living, make up/body products, healthy holiday suggestions, latest fitness apparel edits etc). I always try to keep the tone fun and a little cheeky to brighten up what can sometimes be dry topics – like gut health.
What has been the most rewarding part about starting the website?
The most rewarding and perhaps most surprising part has been the amazing people I’ve met because of it! I’ve gain some really great friends through events where there have been groups of great, like minded people!
What advice do you have for individuals who can’t find the motivation to exercise?
Motivation is something you always have to feed. Something that worked for you 6 months ago isn’t going to necessary work for you today. That picture on the fridge of you looking mightily fine worked before but do you even see it on the fridge now? Keep mixing it up!! Journal about why you want to reach your goals. Start a vision board. Follow inspiring people on social media. Sign up to event that you HAVE to train for, book a holiday to get fit for and that’s your reward, sign up to a 6 week challenge (having an end date helps most people), have a girl friend waiting to meet you for a walk 3 times a week who you can’t stand up. You have to become your own motivation!!
What is your life motto?
Oh that’s a tough one! Right now, I just love ‘you got this’. Simple but effective!