We are sharing success stories to find out why people decide to see a dietitian, what happens on the journey, what the hardest part of that journey is and what results are achieved. This week we chatted to Bianca Dorp who worked with registered dietitian Alex Royal to improve her health and diet.
Why did you decide to see a dietitian? (The before story)
I was training about 5 to 6 times a week in the gym, and seeing a personal trainer twice a week during those sessions. The results I was seeing were not correlating to the amount of activity I was doing, so I decided to enlist the help of Alex to see where my nutrition could be improved in order to reap the rewards for the amount of effort I was putting into training.
Tell us about your journey with the dietitian?
The main surprise for me was that the amount of food that I was eating was far too much, albeit healthy. Alex gave me the tools to live a healthy lifestyle that was designed for my body and physical activity level. Since I love cooking I’ve found this extremely helpful because now I know what portions I’m allowed to eat, and I can invent meals that stick to this ratio, while still being very tasty.
I loved my journey with Alex! It is very rewarding to see those centimetres drop off month by month after the hard work I put in. It was great to have a sounding board to talk about food, any difficulties I was facing, and simply learning about my body and how to feed it well.
I felt like I was treating my body with the utmost respect and felt amazing during the whole process.
Tell us about your results / successes?
The results were incredible, but like anything came with hard work and dedication. Alex was an expert in making me pick up muscle mass, but reducing fat at the same time, which is a rare combination I believe. My monthly measurements showed a good reduction in fat percentage and a good pick up in muscle mass, which showed off all the muscles I wanted to from training. I not only physically looked better and felt stronger, I’ve never felt more energetic in my life. My body felt so healthy and well nourished. Another benefit was that my skin became very clear and radiant, which is always appreciated!
What was the hardest part of the journey?
The hardest part in the beginning was dealing with the amount of food I was allowed to eat, mainly on the protein side. During the journey I decided to lessen my alcohol intake significantly, which sped up my results even more. This was initially hard to do as I do love a good glass of wine. Throughout the journey I would say staying motivated is definitely a important factor. It’s very easy (for me) to rather stay at home instead of exercising, but you just have to keep at it. And to also be kind to yourself if something does slip through the cracks and you take a tiny step backwards. Alex taught me that in the big picture of life, gaining 1cm back is not a big deal. It’s your overall well-being that is important.
What are the top three tips you can share?
- Meal prep and plan! This was a huge help since I then couldn’t stray from the plan, because all the meals were already measured out and prepped.
- Carry healthy snacks with you. If I was feeling very hungry during the day I’d make sure to have an apple or some nuts on me so that I could snack on something healthy rather than resorting to buying something.
- Be kind to yourself. I would beat myself up a lot if my results weren’t consistent every month. But as Alex said, it’s a journey so try to not be too hard on yourself if one month is ‘worse’ than the rest
What the dietitian says
I loved every minute of the journey with Bianca. She was so enthusiastic and committed to improving her health and diet, which showed in her beautiful, well deserved results. I think she was also motivated as she picked up speed and saw that the results were actually tangible. To be honest she inspired me and reminded me why I truly love what I do. Thank you Bianca!
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