Brooke Turner is the Founder of Balance Fitness & Nutrition, a qualified nutritionist, exercise scientist, personal trainer, speaker, freelance writer & Mother of two, with over 10 years’ experience in the health & fitness industry.
Brooke is an international speaker, facilitator and trainer having previously presented at fitness conventions from Singapore to Sydney and writer having contributed to a range of print and online publications including Australian Fitness Network, OK!, New Weekly, Women’s Health & Fitness, STRONG, Man of Many, Polar global and more.
Brooke Turner is the Founder of Balance Fitness & Nutrition, a qualified nutritionist, exercise scientist, personal trainer, speaker, freelance writer & Mother of two, with over 10 years’ experience in the health & fitness industry.
Brooke is an international speaker, facilitator and trainer having previously presented at fitness conventions from Singapore to Sydney and writer having contributed to a range of print and online publications including Australian Fitness Network, OK!, New Weekly, Women’s Health & Fitness, STRONG, Man of Many, Polar global and more.
Brooke is the founder of her:
Online six-week STRIVE program; a complete lifestyle guide encompassing everything from movement, training, mindset and goals to nutrition and her Happy, Healthy Pregnancy eBooks – a two-part series created to educate and empower women to exercise safely and effectively and nourish their bodies throughout pregnancy and the postnatal period.
Brooke believes in striving for balance by finding fun, nourishing & sustainable ways to eat and move to optimize both long-term physical & mental health. Her mission is to inspire women across the globe to recognise that healthy, active living need not be a hindrance but a habit and that no matter where you live whether urban, regional or remotely, you can achieve great things!
Find inspiration as we talk to Brooke Turner in our #StrongHealthyWomen interview.
Hi Brooke! Thank you for being part of the Health and Fitness Travel, Strong, Healthy Women Interview Series, where we are shining a light on the importance of self-care, not as an indulgence but a necessity to reduce stress and general health issues.
Is there such a thing as a typical day for you and what does that look like?
As a Mum to two young kids, running my own business and having a husband that does shift work I don’t follow a typical Monday-Friday week and every day is different! Some days are more work-based and others more ‘mum life’, I love the flexibility that I have as a stay at home mum and business owner.
Work-based days will see me either heading out to the Crossfit gym that I operate out of and running my face to face STRIVE training Sessions, leading a corporate wellness session, facilitating my Happy, Healthy Pregnancy workshops or working away at home to get the latest contribution through for publishing or within my online STRIVE community & programs.
The more ‘mum life’ days involve getting my eldest son to Kindy, taking the kids to gymnastics or swimming lessons, or adventuring in our amazing backyard. Getting active outdoors is always a priority and we love taking our paddleboard (I am currently loving the inflatable range from Red Paddle Co – it means not having tie boards to car roofs and so manageable when it’s just me and the kids!) to the beach our out on the boat and getting our daily dose of vitamin D and fresh air. I’ll catch up on admin, emails and social media when the kids are napping or of an evening.
Regardless of what’s on for my day I always aim to start it with some form of movement – either a HIIT or CrossFit style workout or a walk/run get that ticked off early before the kids wake. Taking that time for me is so important. I then drink 500ml of lemon water most days before, followed by a smoothie and a long black to fuel my morning, then it’s into the rest of the day.
Can you share a time when you felt your well-being was challenged in the past and what did you do to overcome it?
There isn’t a time in my life where I haven’t been active. Following two years of fitness competing and overtraining I began to experience irregular periods, at the time this was no biggie. However, once I reached a stage in my life (which was very soon after that) where my husband and I wanted to become parents, falling pregnant took a little longer & I had actually been diagnosed with PCOS. This was really difficult to process at the time so I conducted my own research, sought second and third opinions and tuned into my body to in the end beat the ‘diagnosis’ of PCOS, rebalance my hormones, pull back on my training and regulate my periods and cycle again and fall pregnant with babe #1!
What does ‘being healthy’ mean to you and how do you keep this at the forefront when life gets unavoidably busy?
Health is an absolute essential to me! It’s a non-negotiable. There is no better feeling than that of being fit and healthy and I wish that everyone could experience that feeling.
Health to me means having that balance between healthy eating with the more indulgent foods (and not beating yourself up for that), keeping active daily be it through training or less structured forms of activity like stand-up-paddle boarding, prioritising sleep, and being aware of my mood and mindset. I have a great level of self-awareness and can identify early on when something needs my attention to avoid sacrificing my health, nutrition, sleep and mental wellbeing.
I always keep in check the four elements of movement, mindset/mood, nutrition and sleep (the basis of my online STRIVE program). I continually perform little self-checks on these elements whenever I may be feeling a little anxious, run-down or that things are a little off-balance to identify what may be lacking vs dominating and where I need to transfer my energy to feel more ‘me’. It comes down to:
- Movement: how we move our bodies
- Mindset/Mood: the mindset we are operating in, our mood and knowing what I need to help shift it – be it connection with others, time alone, getting outdoors, moving my body.
- Nutrition: how I am fuelling my body – everything from food to drinks, eg. when I’m feeling a little more anxious, I’ll cut back on the coffee.
- Sleep: the quality and quantity of.
For example, if I don’t sleep well my nutrition choices tend to be poorer and I have less energy to exercise and this then impacts my mood. Therefore sleep and nutrition then become a bigger priority to help keep my energy levels and health up to be able to move in a way that I enjoy, improve my mood and continue on with that little cycle and self-check to continually make small adjustments so that I don’t suffer from stress, I can manage it to help keep my health in check.
Have you ever taken a holiday specifically for your well-being? Can you share what the experience was like?
I am yet to do this! Coming into 2020 it is something I would love to and feel ready to do now that my babes are a little older & can do without me (mum guilt would have got me before). I would love something that has a balance of getting sweaty + yoga + water activities like stand-up-paddle boarding or surfing – so feel free to send any recommendations my way! I would also love to be a part of running one in the near future.
Every woman’s idea of self-care is different, please tell us what does self-care mean to you?
Self-care to me is about looking after all aspects of my health and prioritising regular movement, healthy balanced eating, operating from a positive and growth mindset (as much as possible) and spending time with my wonderful family and friends.
My cup feels the fullest after a day on the water with my family, SUPing, surfing, swimming and making memories.
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