Amanda Mercer Nutrition

Have you thought what a poor image is costing you right now?

When we think of change it is often scary as it's unknown, different and its the thought of the unexpected that keeps us is the same cycle.

When I talk about positive image, I am often met with fear that "I will let myself go" or "I will juts eat and do whatever I want."

But

Having a poor body image also comes at a cost.

How many of the risk factors of a poor body image did you resonate with?

Ps. It is never too late to change.

If you are interested in learning more about how a different style of coaching and approach could work for you, comment "YES" below to find out more 👀

What is the link between stress and your periods? 🩸

Are you currently feeling stressed or overwhelmed?

Or always busy? 🤪

If you answered yes to either of those and you suffer from PMS (Pre menstrual syndrome), then this post will be useful for you.

When you experience high levels of stress, especially chronic stress this can increase your risk of experiencing severe PMS as this can impair ovulation which is how your body makes most of its progesterone.

Swipe left to learn more about the benefits of progesterone and why we need to manage our stress levels to support our period health 👉👉

My key tips for reducing stress are:

🔥 To have less things on during the weekend and allow myself downtime to rest. It also means I can be more spontaneous.
🧘‍♀️ I do yin yoga 1-2 times a week.
🧘‍♀️ I meditate everyday for 5-15 minutes
😀 That I can say No and it isn't a big deal.
🚶‍♀️ I have swapped running for walking when I need it. I listen to my body and move in a way that works best for me.
🌙 I read before I go to bed and not scroll- that helps to reduce my anxiety and falling into that comparison trap.

What are your best ways to reduce stress. Let's share our tips in the comments below to help other women.

Can a heathy body image help you eat better? 🧐

There is a big misconception that in order to make healthy choices, get control of your eating and feel confident in your body, you need to follow a strict diet.

Therefore working on improving your body image is a sign you’re giving up and you will never get the body you want.

I am here to tell you, that isn’t the case.

In fact, the opposite is true.

If you have tried every still diet going, can’t be consistent and on the brink of giving up because you think you don’t have enough willpower, improving your body image could be the missing piece.

Swipe left to learn more 👉👉👉

If you are interested in learning more about how improving your body image can benefit you and help you achieve your goals, comment "body" below.

What has bone health got to do with perimenopause?

As we get older we tend to take for granted that our bodies will continue to function as it always did.

But when it comes to perimenopause, ladies there is one area that you need to focus on 💪

BONE HEALTH

As women go though perimenopause their bodies start to produce less estrogen (hello perimenopause symptoms). This is an issue for our bone health as estrogen has an anabolic (building) effect on our bones.
Which means your bone is breaking down at a faster rate than your body can grow new bone tissue.

So what?

👉 1 in 3 women over 50 years old will sustain a fracture to the hip
👉 Women are more at risk of developing osteoporosis than men
👉 Fractures can severely impact a women's quality of life, affecting your ability to carry out daily activities such as eating, dressing, washing or shopping.

Swipe left to see what you can do from a nutritional perspective to support your bone health.

It was an honour to be asked to speak at this event beside 3 other amazing women.

I loved this event and could talk about this all day 😊

Thank you to the four fabulous speakers at our Wellness through Menopause Evening tonight. Monica, Amanda, Julia and Naomi covered a range of topics across health, nutrition, fitness, and pharmacy 👏

We were delighted to have a great turnout of attendees, big thanks to Emily for organising the evening 💙

Not all clients transformation need to be about physical changes 👀

One of the common see I things when it comes to weight loss is the sole focus on only measuring your success on the scale weight.

But then overlook all the other successes and transformation that takes place.

✨Imagine how good it would feel to enjoy eating out and not feeling anxious.

✨Imagine how good it would feel to have control around food.

✨Imagine not feeling guilt, shame or that you "missed out".

✨Imagine being able to get on with the rest of the day and have more headspace.

This is my client who is perimenopausal and making so many gains in all areas of her life, stepping out of her comfort zone, working on her relationship with food and losing weight.

For many this may seem impossible, but I want to show you that this is possible and it can happen.

If you are interested in learning more, send me a DM and I will be in touch.

"Enough is enough!"

How many times have you said this to yourself?

You may have found you are saying this to yourself more and more recently.

Enough is enough, can be a pivotal moment when it comes to the relationship with your weight and body.

But the issue then becomes, "what do I do now?"

I am here to give you hope that there is a solution and another way.

There are some misconceptions around creating a positive body, which I will debunk in future posts, but I want you to know that if you have tried everything and NOTHING has worked, there is another way.

Having a more positive body image can not only help you achieve your goal and maintain it, a positive body image can help to reduce:

👉Eating disorder onset and disordered eating
👉Depression and depressive symptoms
👉Anxiety disorders and anxiety symptoms
👉Low self-esteem

What are you thoughts on a positive body image? I would love to know in the comments below.

If you are keen to find out more, flick me a DM.

Having a positive body image ca mean different things to different people and there is often a lot of misconceptions for what it actually means.

What are your thoughts on a positive image?

Do you think it is something that is possible for you?

For any woman going through perimenopause or if you are post menopausal, here are my top 5 nutritional tips to help support your health and wellbeing so you can continue to live your best life.

There is no question that going through perimenopause can have a huge impact on your life, especially as you navigate through the rollercoaster ride of symptoms you may be experiencing.

To support your health and maintain a good quality of life as you get older, I am sharing with you my top 5 nutritional tips:

1. Protein at every meal

2. ⬆️Your calcium requirements

3. Get enough Vitamin D (supplement during winter)

4. Eat more Fibre

5. Reduce alcohol

There are so many different nutritional and lifestyle factors that you have control over that can influence your symptoms and better support your health:

❤️ physically,

❤️ mentally

❤️ and emotionally.

How many of these do you do at the moment?

If you want to learn more, DM me the word "PERI" to see how I can support you.

Perimenopause is a time when women can experience changes in their body, symptoms, anxiety levels, and feeling less resilient.

It often comes at a time when life is already chaotic and really full on and isn't the right time.

Dealing with perimenopause can feel like one more thing to have to "deal with" and it can seem really overwhelming.

One way you can take back some of that control is to become more aware of what is happening in your body and how you are feeling.

We operate on auto pilot so much that none of are aware of what has changed and where we may need more support.

Don't be afraid to ask for help 💖

If you would like to learn how working with me could help you through this transition, DM me the work "PERI" and I will be in touch.

When I say the word self care what does that mean to you?

I know some of you will relate a lot to the first slide that selfcare is all bubble baths, facials and pampering 🧖‍♀️.
While that is one element of selfcare, it isn't the only one.

Often we forget that selfcare takes many different forms both internally (Food, exercise, water, mindfulness) and externally (Supportive friendships, reading, travelling and challenging our beliefs.

What are your favourite selfcare rituals?
Let me know in the comments below 👇

🥳 New service offering 🥳

I am so excited to announce that I am now officially offering nutrition talks. I have been sked to a few the last few months which I have been absolutely loving!! There is nothing like an in-person event.

These talks have ranged from 30-90 mins and on so many varied topics from sports nutrition, female health, perimenopause, how nutrition can support shift work.

If you are interested in learning how I can add value and support the health and well-being of your team, get in touch.

Click on the website link below or send me an email or private message.

https://amandamercernutrition.com/workshops-and-events

I can't wait to help and support more people and bring evidence based nutrition to help you cut through all the BS.

Have you noticed your mood change, feeling more anxious and less resilient or more easily stressed?

This may come as a surprise, but our hormones can affect our moods and emotions.

When you go through perimenopause your hormones go on a rollercoaster ride, this can cause these feelings to be more heightened.

Our hormones impact our whole body, especially our mental health and well-being. This is often an area that is overlooked and not well understood when it comes to perimenopause symptoms.

For those women who are perimenopausal or post menopausal, have you noticed any difference to your mental health?

⚠️Newest podcast alert ⚠️

This podcast is all about perimenopause.

It's a short little podcast jam-packed with lots of information for you.

Share with anyone else that you think would benefit from it.

If you did listen, I would love to know what you thought and if there was anything interesting you tool from it.

Let's chat PMS

PMS- premenstrual syndrome

In this episode with Nic I talk about what PMS is and what you can do to help reduce those symptoms.

I will post the link to Spotify and apple in the comments.

Thanks for sharing your feedback on the last episode, it was so good to hear how it resonated.

When you listen to this episode let me know what resonated with you.

✨Client feedback from Michelle ✨

When you have yo-yo dieted for so long it can be really hard to trust yourself to try a different approach and see the changes you want to see.

Part of how I work as a nutrition coach to reduce that yo-yo dieting cycle is too improve your relationship with food.
For many women the demonising of food as "bad" keeps you stuck in that same cycle that you can't get out off.

With Michelle we worked on imping her relationship with food, creating a regular eating pattern and helping to break down some of those food rules.

Once you can break those patterns you can create a lot more freedom in your mind and experience lasting change.

If you are interested in learning more about working with me as a nutritionist DM me the word "SUPPORT".

⚠️ New podcast alert ⚠️

This is the first podcast in a 3 part mini series with the beautiful Nic from wellness weekly podcast.

This chat is all around how you can support your menstrual cycle via nutrition.

Let me know what resonated with you in the comments below.

If you are keen to listen, the links are below or click in my bio

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wellness-weekly-eating-for-your-menstrual-cycle-with/id1594026939?i=1000654342888

https://open.spotify.com/episod/0iohWn7zUhNxlznqaVPCmt

Do you think eating dietary fat, makes you fat?

Dietary fat has so many benefits in our diet and is why it is important to not completely exclude one macronutrient in favour of another.

Click on the post to learn more about why it is useful to include fats in your diet 👉

Don’t be afraid to add in dietary fat sources to your meals, they can actually help keep you feeling fuller for longer too.

If you are struggling with weight loss/maintenance to need to look at your overall diet and habits.

What is your relationship with failure like?

When you are making a change to your diet and lifestyle you will come across hurdles, its almost a given.

We have all failed, I have many times, sometimes on a daily basis 😆

When you experience failure, it's how you handle it that will determine the next. step.

Here are some tips to improve your relationship with failure:

1. Remember that everyone fails. There is not one person on this earth that hasn’t failed. You are NOT alone.

2. If you don’t fail, you don’t learn. See failure as an opportunity to learn, ask yourself “What can I change?”

3. Talk to a friend or family member about your struggle or disappointment, don’t keep it bottled up. This can help put it in perspective.

4. Ask yourself when have I failed before and continued to move forward? What did you learn?

5. Remind yourself you are strong and capable and can do hard things!

Failure will always be part of your journey, embrace it.

What have all these things got in common?

They can impact our eating patterns, which can result in eating more highly palatable snacky foods.

✨Stress- When we are highly stressed, we tend to seek comfort by eating more calories. Do you know how you manage stressful situations? If not, get curious…

✨Lack of sleep- Are you getting a good 6+ hours of good quality sleep a night? If not, make that a priority and watch your energy levels improve.

✨Periods- When you are due your period are you prioritising protein rich foods and
vegetables? These foods help to stabilise your blood sugar levels so you don’t crave those sugar rich foods.

✨ Boredom- How many times have you went to the cupboard and just started to pick because you are bored? No shame, we have all been there myself included! To help support boredom, how are you bringing joy into your life each day?

✨Happiness and sadness- we often think we eat highly palatable, sugary foods only when we are sad, but we can also use these types of food in times of celebration and happiness. This is where having a range of tools to help manage these different emotions can be useful such as meditation, journaling, speaking to a friend or therapist.

Nutrition is so much more than just what you eat, there are many different factors that can impact your eating patterns.
If you want to change how you eat, you need to look at the whole picture.

If you are interested in learning more, send me a DM with EATING and I will be in touch.

✨ Client feedback from Tash ✨

As a busy mum, it can be really easy to pout yourself last and prioritise everything else over yourself.

But what most mums forget is that when they are at their best, everyone benefits- including them.

You don't need to be perfect for me- I always preach consistency over perfection.

I am not they type of nutritionist that will ever make you feel shame for eating certain foods- working to improve your relationship with food is how you stop that viscous restrict and overeat cycle.

With Tash we worked on incorporating a more regular eating pattern, with the right foods for an active busy mum of 3, who also runs her own business so that she is properly fueling her body.

We also worked on bringing more awareness and mindfulness which meant she was consistent throughout our coaching, continually showing up, taking action and making small improvements each week.

I take that guess work out of it and create a plan to get you where you want to be so that you.

Tash is now set up so she has the confidence and the tools to keep going across all the different areas in her life so she can continue to show up as her best version.

If you are interested in learning more about working with me as a nutritionist DM me the word "SUPPORT".

🏃‍♀️Eating for performance 🏃‍♀️

A common mistake I see all the time, especially in female athletes is under fueling and not eating enough for the level of exercise they are doing.

Especially once you start training for over an hour and take up endurance sports.

If you want your body to perform and to feel your best during during your training and on race day, you need to prioritise your food intake.

If you are unsure if you are under fueling, swipe across to see the common symptoms that often indicate you ma need to increase your food intake.

All your macronutrients: Protein, carbs and fat are important to support training, especially carbs.
Ladies do not be afraid to eat carbs, they fuel your training and if you want to increase your intensity and perform at your best, carbs are your best friend.

Great carbs sources for training are:
👉White bread and Jam
👉Orange juice
👉 White rice/ Oats
👉 Banana

What are your go to carb sources before your training sessions?

I prefer to train in the morning, so mine is always a big bowl of oats, whey protein and blueberries 😍

🚴‍♀️Sports performance hydration 🏃‍♀️

Sports nutrition it another area of passion for me as I myself love sports and partaking in endurance sports and movement in general.

Before I became a nutritionist I didn't understand the importance of hydration and how it can impact your performance in training and on race day when we are aiming for those PBs.

If you are an endurance athlete or a weekend warrior that enjoys half marathons or marathons and have ever suffered from:

👉GI distress
👉Muscle cramps
👉Difficulty recovering
👉Reduced performance

This post if for YOU!!

If you want to reduce fatigue and improve your performance, you could be overlooking a very key area- your hydration 💧💧

💥 My biggest tip for any athlete out there is too focus on your pre hydration. Too often many athletes are starting training or an event slightly dehydrated. 💥

I normally make my own electrolyte solution and make sure I focus on my water intake in the week leading up to an event.

What are your go to's for keeping you hydrated during you events?

Let me know in the comments below 👇

Is your goal actually stopping you from succeeding?

When you think about your current reason for making changes with your nutrition, what is the main driver for this change? I.e. what is your motivation?

For those that have a weight loss, the majority of the time, our motivation comes from an external driver in wanting to change our physical appearance.
Often changing your physical appearance is the only reason that you want to make changes.

I am not saying that wanting to change your physical appearance is a bad thing, however when it is your sole reason for implementing change, this is not a quality form of motivation.

Why does this matter?

Not all motivation is equal!!

If you want to increase your level of success and be able to maintain your goals, you should also include a health related form of motivation, which can be a better quality form of motivation.

You can still have the goal of wanting to change your physical appearance, but the key difference is to not make it you main or only form of motivation.

The research shows that having a health related goal results in more weight loss and being better able to maintain that weight loss vs those that have appearance based motivation who gained more weight.

Having a health related goal can be a really effective way to achieve your goal, even though it isn't the main driving force.

Do you have quality motivators for change?

I would love to know in the comment section below 👇👇

There is so much sickness going around at the moment 🤧

I thought it would be really useful to share my top 6 tips to avoid getting sick 😷

It is a good reminder that there are so many things you can do from a nutritional perspective to help support your immune health to keep yourself strong and healthy 💪

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but a good start to help prevent sickness.

Swipe right to see my top 6 tips for what you can do to better support yourself from getting sick.

What are your go to tips to help your immune system???
Let me know in the comments below 👇👇

Client feedback 😍

As a coach, one skill I think I do quite well is being able to meet you where you are at, without judgement.

It can be really scary to be vulnerable with your eating habits. So many of us carry so much shame and guilt over our eating behaviours.

I want you to know you aren't alone and you have nothing to be ashamed off.

When it comes to working with a nutritionist, you want to pick someone that is supportive, will never judge you and also provide you with the education so that you can help improve your relationship with food and your body so you have the confidence to continue and have lasting success.

Have you ever worked with a nutritionist? If not, is there anything that is stopping you?
Let me know in the comments below 👇👇👇👇

Client feedback from Becca 😍

My coaching is personalised to your goals and what you want to achieve.

As women, we are never taught about our menstrual cycle and the impacts it can have on:
👉our mood,
👉energy levels,
👉our motivation,
👉our hunger,
👉our strength.

When you understand how your hormones fluctuate with your cycle, you can learn to work with your body.

It can be so empowering to understand this and know that there is nothing wrong with you.

Education is power 🤓

It can help break unhelpful cycles and remove guilt from the changes you may experience to your eating behaviours, lower energy levels and increased weight.

I want to give you that education and power so that have the confidence and self belief to do it yourself.

I am not your average nutritionist, so if you want something different send me a DM with HELP and we can start a conversation.

🥳Client feedback from Yvonne 🥳

It can be common to feel that you are broken when your body doesn't feel like your own and it isn't working lie it used too.

You aren't alone and you are NOT broken!!

I have been working with Yvonne to create a regular eating pattern that suits her lifestyle, adding in MORE carbs and food to her diet...yes you read that correctly and she is doing amazing!!

To have that feeling of hope, after 8 years of feeling broken and battling with food is one of the reasons why working with a supportive and qualified nutritionist like myself is crucial.
I take that guess work out of it and create a plan to get you where you want to be.

Of course I can't take all the credit, the work is really all down to Yvonne making those changes every day and making that commitment to herself 😍

If you are interested in learning more about working with me as a nutritionist DM me the word "HELP".

Lies that surround the world of nutrition 🤪

I know January is still that time of the year when new years resolutions are on the front of our mind.

Have you been told that counting calories is the only way you can lose weight?

I chatted to a new client last week on this exact same topic and I thought it was worthwhile sharing with you all.

My client felt such relief being reminded that counting calories is not the only way you can lose weight or to get healthy 🙌

There are so many other areas in your life you can focus on that will help you reduce your calorie in take without making it a mathematical chore 🤓

There is so much misinformation around nutrition that we have lost touch with the basics and focusing on our habits and improving our relationship with food.

I used to count calories and while looking at the calorie content of food can be useful to help us make better food decisions, it isn't the only way that you can get healthy and lose weight.

Do you calorie count and how do you find it? I would love to know in the comments.