About Me – Healthy Living London & Personal Trainer

No Artificial Sweeteners | Naturally Nutritious

Eliza Flynn. The love child of an entrepreneurial doctor and an arty mum. Brought up on microwave meals, bags of tomatoes, and chocolate pudding breakfasts.

I also have the zen of a panda, alertness of a cat and agility of an armadillo.

Say hi on Twitter @wabbitpie – if you’re feeling reckless, why not follow me too.

I’m also on Instagram @wabbitpie

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I run Healthy Living London, an online resource that inspires people to become healthier and fitter. I’m also a Personal Trainer with pre and post-natal qualifications.

However, you’re here because you want to know more about me and my personal blog. ElizaFlynn started off as a way for me to be accountable for my health and fitness. As I love food, that featured too. And Doris, my secondhand, one-eyed cat. And then there came travel. It turns out the things I love, I love to write about. I’ve also got a husband but he’s not so keen to be written about…

I try hard to say it as it is and give true views on what I’m writing about. I’m PR-friendly and love finding out about the latest food campaigns, cooking courses, crazy fitness trends and recipes. It’s all about healthy living in London on this site.

UPDATE: Since being surprised with a little one in August 2016 (that will teach me for going away for a super long honeymoon!), affectionately known as Hungry Bear, or HB for short, this blog now also details my experiences as a new mum through Adventures of Hungry Bear. Sorry Doris, you’ve got competition!

My motivation

I’m making up for years of a lopsided diet – our freezer was always full of ice lollies and the cupboard full of crisps – it’s probably why I can easily turn my nose up at a bar of chocolate or sweets.

Having dealt with cervical cancer and a mum with dementia and having a sister who lives off almond butter and chia seeds and a dad who has the health of a teenager, it’s fair to say that I’ve been thinking seriously about what I’m doing to my body and what I’m putting into it. It doesn’t help that I really really like macaroni cheese.

So I’m spending a lot of time researching the best foods to eat and what exercise I need to do in order to ensure my body is as healthy as it can be for now and for the future. I’m also battling to get to grips with my post-pregnancy body – a lot has changed so I’m working towards feeling more confident in my body as well as eating well and exercising in the right way.

What I do

I support and advise people on how to live a balanced lifestyle that works for them, through writing, personal training, speaking and coaching. I’m very fortunate to do what I love and alongside these services, I also support individuals who are their own business at various early stages, from website set-up to social media marketing to communications.

Inspired Living

I’ve always been an active person, enjoying county-level tennis at school, Taekwondo at a competitive level at University, boxing (I almost entered a fight but illness prevented this) and many more sports. I’m not a team player, much preferring solo sports, but I love to support others which is why I run bootcamps and help people train for obstacle course races which we then complete as a team. However, I learnt the hard way that you can’t be great at one element (in my case fitness) and neglect the rest (diet and wellness) and be truly healthy. Ok, so my diet wasn’t actually that bad but I did (and still do) have an utter weakness for macaroni cheese. In 2013, I spent a year re-thinking and experimenting with my health after my mum was diagnosed with dementia at the end of 2012 and I was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2013. There’s a great deal of reflection that happens when you have time to consider the mortality of those you love and yourself. In a very self-focused way, I wanted to improve my health and fitness to limit my chances of inheriting mum’s illness and also because I couldn’t understand why my body worked against me. A very stressful year resulted in terrible eczema over my face, neck, hands and inside of elbows and I’m still working on completely ridding myself of that. My one epiphany was the importance of the link between mind and body. Healthy mind = healthy body. So wellness plays a big part in my life and what I speak with others about.

Writing

ElizaFlynn.co.uk is my personal blog where I write about the things I love most – namely personal fitness challenges or struggles, food (all types, including recipes), my gorgeous (if a little wonky) one-eyed secondhand cat, Doris, travel (I don’t do enough of it!) and the latest addition to my blog is The Adventures of Hungry Bear – my thoughts and experiences on being a mum for the first time. HB was born in August 2016 and I’m still in disbelief. So is Doris.

Healthy Living London is an online magazine which I set up in 2015. I wanted a platform where normal every day people could share their health and fitness journey and inspire others in a similar position. It has since grown to include reviews, interviews with healthy business owners, brand and blogger collaborations, advice from experts and more. Our motto is #eatsweatbreathe which is a shortening of our ethos around inspiring busy Londoners to eat better, sweat more and remember to breathe. We recently added merchandise to our list of offerings and now have #eatsweatbreathe active / loungewear in our shop.

Personal Training

Unlike other personal trainers, I choose to work with a select number of clients in order to give a fully personalised and dedicated service. The work we do together is less around pure fitness and more holistic; there’s an agreement before we begin that exercise, diet and wellness play equally important roles. I work with clients on average for 6 months during which I improve habits, change mindset, and educate so that my clients are better able to successfully continue their health and wellness journey.

As well as personal training, I run ‘WARRIORRR Workouts’. Regardless of fitness level, age or size, those who come to my class because they have focus and determination and want to improve their fitness. There are 3 types of workouts, two of which are dedicated to new mums as having been there, I know how important it is for confidence and future health to start repairing your body. And every mum is a warrior.

Speaking

With an honest and open approach around health, the stress of living in a busy city and coping with illness (my mum has dementia and I was diagnosed with cervical cancer (CIN3) in 2013), I’ve been asked to speak publicly on several occasions.

Watch my interview on cervical cancer on the Chrissy B Show:

 

Watch my interview with Richard Parr from Sportuccino [WARNING: There is singing. ME SINGING.]

Coaching

Using over 10 years’ experience in digital marketing for international agencies, I work with individuals who are their own business, helping them set-up their online presence, from building their website, to communications and messaging. My clients are mainly from the health industry as connections are everything and one of my ‘unicorn’ offerings is making these connections and helping establish partnerships.

5 Essential Things you should also know about me.

1. I love animals. So much so that I’m 80% plant-based and foster dogs when I can (read: sneaking them in past my husband).
2. My most memorable travel experience was swimming with Manta Rays in the wild off the coast of Flores, Indonesia, on my honeymoon.
3. My favourite colour is bright yellow. Or lime green. I like happy colours.
4. I was on Total Wipeout. I got through to the second round where I discovered I had a fear of heights and totally sucked at the sweeper.
5. Weight-loss diets and products are, in my opinion, the devil. They prey on people’s insecurities and are often full of shite. I like to imagine a world where we support people feeling healthy and confident rather than piling on the pressure for unattainable, unsustainable bodies.

Working with me

I am open to working with brands on reviews and sponsored content, and will consider speaking opportunities as well as taking fitness classes for you. If you’re interested in finding out more, please email me at h e l l o @ e l i z a f l y n n . c o . u k Be warned, spam me and I’ll set my very ferocious secondhand cat on you! Please also get in touch if you would like to work with me on a one-to-one basis for personal training or coaching.

To Note: All posts on www.elizaflynn.co.uk are my own opinion and haven’t been influenced in any way. I only blog about experiences and products I’ve personally tried and tested and if I’m sent products, I will state this. It does not affect my opinions and I pride myself on being honest about what I think.

All images on my blog and social media accounts are my own and any sourced images are credited. If you would like to use any images, please email me. I can’t think of a reason why I’d refuse – this is more because a lot of hard work goes into taking photos and I’d like to know where they’re getting used and to be credited.