Nathalie Lennon: I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself

'I’m a single girl in my late twenties, there are always peaks and troughs in my love life'

Nathalie Lennon talks guilty pleasures, vulnerability and the impact of the diet industry.

Fitness influencer Nathalie Lennon is the busiest she has ever been, and is currently gearing up for a second Wellness Weekend in Co Kerry next month.

Despite her current hectic schedule, the 28-year-old continues to radiate positivity as she speaks passionately about her mindset on nutrition, working out, and overall well-being.

Nathalie, from Co Wicklow, has over 66.7k followers on Instagram, and as well as being a personal training and nutritional coach, she also has her own radio show on KCLR 96FM.

With such a busy schedule, Nathalie admits that she doesn’t have a set morning routine, even though everyone seems to have one these days.

However, as a lover of all things wellness, she does have some rules.

“Some steps in my morning that never change would be a glass of water when I wake up and letting the daylight hit me. Soaking up some daylight before I soak up some screen time,” she says.

• Revive Active ambassadors Nathalie Lennon and Shane Finn will host their second Wellness Weekend in Dingle on September 23 - 25. For more information, see @nathalielennon_ on Instagram.

What shape are you currently in?

I definitely try to put very little into the importance of physical aesthetics. To me, shape would mean performance, and it would mean my mental well-being. In terms of my performance and mental well-being, I would say I’m the strongest I’ve ever been.

I’ve been really honest on social media about my journey with fitness and food, and being at quite a low point a few years ago. Right now, I’m lifting the heaviest I ever have and I’m at a really good place with my balance between eating healthy but also having fun at the weekends.

What are your healthiest eating habits?

As females, often we’re so impacted by the diet industry, that we think its best if we can let longer times go between our meals or hold off on breakfast whereas, I’ve gotten really good at making sure I eat every two to three hours, and making sure that those meals are balanced.

Nathalie Lennon: 'I’m a very emotional person'

What are your guiltiest pleasures?

White chocolate. I just can’t get enough of white chocolate. And nut butter. I could have nut butter by the bucket.

When was the last time you cried?

I’m a very emotional person and I would cry really easily. I often say I wear my heart on my sleeve, and I don’t think that’s a negative thing. I think vulnerability is strength.

I’m a single girl as well in my late twenties, there are always peaks and troughs in my love life, so I had a little cry last week. It’s something that I would never be afraid to talk about, because I think we need to release emotions like that so much more often rather than bottle them up.

What would keep you awake at night?

Caffeine for one. I’m very sensitive to caffeine so I do try and make sure I don’t have it after two or three o’clock. But beyond that, I do tend to put a lot of pressure on myself to perform well at everything I do. I always have since I was young and it’s both a positive and a negative trait because you work hard at what you do but also, if I have a big event coming up or a big deadline, I’d be quite nervous or excited or anxious about it and that would easily keep me up at night.

How do you relax?

If I am completely physically drained as well as mentally, relaxing would be just staying in, switching off, lying on the couch, having lots of cups of tea and chilling with my cat.

Do you pray?

I wouldn’t say that I’m a very religious person. Maybe that will change as the years go on. I have an open mind to it. When it comes to self-talk, it’s more mindfulness and meditation.

What would cheer your day up?

Going into my direct messages on Instagram. I’m really lucky that there are often very kind messages there from complete strangers. The fact that someone can take the time to send me a kind message when there is often so much negativity on social media, that really cheers me up. But also, flowers.

What is the best health advice you’ve ever been given?

Extremes are easy and balance is hard. I think we grow up thinking balance is quite easy to achieve and it’s not. Balance is not something you just find, it's something that you really have to work on creating.