Nutrition is where you will see the biggest impact with weight loss and general wellbeing
Gemma Daley
What influenced your career?
I was born in Newcastle but grew up in Sydney. A huge influence for me was my family. My grandfather has always grown his own seasonal food and raised his own livestock. I am half Lebanese so there were a lot of people to feed. We always made most things from scratch at home, from pasta sauces with herbs from the garden to crumbing our own schnitzel. Growing up every night we had no less than 4 or 5 cousins and aunties at our house, all cooking dinners for more than 10.
What was your pathway?
I left school early and started work at a cake bakery. When I was 18 I studied my Cert IV in Fitness and became a personal trainer. I was really getting into getting great results for clients and decided to study a degree in nutrition as I was seeing from all my clients that food was their main roadblock. I wanted to help them through better nutrition, not just exercise more to lose weight, but to nourish their bodies. At 22, I enrolled to complete my bachelor degree in health science with a focus on nutritional medicine.
Why you decide to become a nutritionist?
I wanted to know more about the benefits of each food as well as the method and science behind a diet. I was so sick of fad diets which would make my clients unmotivated when they fell off track. I wanted my own method, not the next diet out of a magazine.
Do you specialise?
I used to specialise in focusing on people competing in natural bodybuilding and bikini competitions. However, my focus has shifted a lot more on teaching my clients to have a balanced lifestyle through nutrition. It is so important to eat nutritious food, but also include the foods (like bread and chocolate) and drinks (wine) you like to indulge in. Food is more than calories and nutrients. It's what brings friends and families together. It's important to learn that having that balance consistently is what is going to deliver ongoing long-term results.
Who are your clients?
My main focus is working with companies like Workout Meals where I get to work with the chefs to design pre-made meals based on seasonal food for our customers, as well as design automated meal plans to get results. I also run wellness seminars for organisations.
What do you do at Workout Meals, which has an organic farm on the Central Coast?
As the sole nutritionist, I was brought on to give their 'muscle meal' menu a broader range so our meals can suit a range of customers wanting to have portion-controlled meals. I say 'portion controlled' as we have made meals with a range of calories and different sizes to suit all goal types, weight loss, health maintenance, and muscle gains. This way anyone from the person who likes to just walk and lose a bit of weight, to the cross fitter who is looking to fuel their intense workout, we were able to design a menu to suit each and everyone's goal. We also launched a program called WM360, where all our meal subscribers have access to me as the nutritionist as well as their own personal trainer through an app for free.
How has the pandemic impacted its operations?
It has had a positive impact as everyone has been stuck at home so there has been a huge demand for home delivered meals and for home workouts.
You have said there's been a shift away from frozen foods to freshly pre-made meals. What has driven that?
People have moved to fresh food as it feels like a healthier and more homemade option. Frozen meals always contain a lot of sauce resulting in higher calories and less satisfying. Frozen meals never taste the same as a fresh cooked meal, which also give us the option of using a larger variety of different foods, as not all foods freeze well from a manufacturing point of view.
What health lessons may people have learnt from lockdown?
The importance of slowing down, and how important movement and being outdoors is for both our physical and mental health.
Many use food as a comfort in tough times. Your tips for staying healthy in lockdown?
Be consistent with your food choices and know what you are consuming. Nutrition is where you will see the biggest impact with weight loss and general wellbeing. Exercise is for the shape you want to create. Know what you are eating and what it's worth (calories/energy). Try tracking your intake for a week and be honest with yourself with what you are consuming. Re-evaluate where you need to cut a few things out, or where your portions need to stay within your daily calorie target. Take control of what you are eating without just snacking a lot at home. So the important first step is your nutrition, then add exercise, like short walks or a workout, in-between meetings or home-schooling.
What will be trending as the lockdown lingers?
We will see a shift in people striving to make healthy, balanced choices to maintain wellness, mental health and a healthy weight. Bodies! As we get out of lockdown, it will be spring (or maybe summer) and people realise that they want to get back on track, especially in Newcastle where there are so many outdoor activities.
