A personal trainer who only aspired to be ‘skinny’ as a teenager and suffered from an eating disorder has sculpted her new dream body by turning to weightlifting – and now inspires others to live their healthiest lives.
Meg Kimura, who lives on the Gold Coast, Queensland, had a ‘disjointed’ and ‘toxic’ approach to fitness as a teen, using it as a means to ease the guilt she felt for eating.
‘I was influenced by TV shows, friendship circles in high school and common stereotypes that made young girls believe they need to be skinny,’ the now 27-year-old told FEMAIL.
Meg Kimura (pictured) had a ‘disjointed’ and ‘toxic’ approach to fitness as a teen (left), using it as a means to ease the guilt she felt for eating
‘I was influenced by TV shows, friendship circles in high school and common stereotypes that made young girls believe they need to be skinny,’ the now 27-year-old told FEMAIL
It wasn’t until she discovered weightlifting that her mindset around fad dieting changed and she started training for strength and performance instead of aesthetics.
‘I now see food as fuel, I see the gym as my me time and I train to feel empowered and mentally strong,’ she said.
Meg, who offers online coaching to clients, believes in ‘flexible dieting’, a concept which promotes the idea that there are no ‘bad foods’ – so you can choose what you eat and when – as long as it fits within your macronutrient needs.
Macronutrients describes the proteins, fats and carbohydrates contained within a meal.
There are easy calculations you can do to figure out how much energy you expend in a day and therefore how much food you need to eat to compensate.
It wasn’t until she discovered weightlifting that her mindset around fad dieting changed and she started training for strength and performance instead of aesthetics (pictured as a teen left and today right)
In a typical day Meg will eat a bowl of oats with peanut butter and blueberries for breakfast, alongside an almond milk coffee (pictured as a teen left and today right)
In a typical day Meg will eat a bowl of oats with peanut butter and blueberries for breakfast, alongside an almond milk coffee.
Morning tea might include an apple and some form of protein bar before lunch, which is an open sandwich with tuna and avocado on one, and cream cheese, honey and banana on another slice of bread.
She’ll turn to pineapple, watermelon, yoghurt and granola clusters in the afternoon before a prawn pizza with cheese, vegetables and sriracha mayo for dinner.
She’ll turn to pineapple, watermelon, yoghurt and granola clusters in the afternoon before a prawn pizza with cheese, vegetables and sriracha mayo for dinner
This is followed by a second bowl of oats and protein custard with ice cream or chocolate.
‘I will train lower body twice a week, upper body twice a week and do one full body session,’ Meg said.
‘I always start a session with a compound lift which uses multiple muscles at once, a variation of a compound lift and follow it up by targeting the accessory muscles.’
‘I will train lower body twice a week, upper body twice a week and do one full body session,’ Meg said
One of her current lower body days consists of low bar back squats, sumo deadlifts, goblet squats, hip thrusts, leg curls and leg presses.
Now more than ever Meg is feeling comfortable in her skin, strong and energetic – working towards competing in bodybuilding competitions.
‘Do not compare yourself to anyone except the best version you envision for yourself,’ she said.
‘Appreciate the skin you’re in and get rid of the “not good enough” mentality.’
If you need help with an eating disorder, please call Butterfly’s National Helpline on 1800 334 673 or e-mail [email protected].