Merri Van Lierop

Our Story

Welcome to Merri’s Nutrition and Fitness! My name is Merri from Melbourne Australia and I am a wife and mum of 2 and in January 2014 I found myself overweight and unhappy with how I looked and generally felt about myself. So I decided then and there that I would make a change forever. I decided to set some realistic and achievable goals for myself that would change my life forever. So what were these goals? 1. Change my eating habits by eating more “wholesome foods” - foods that are unprocessed and unrefined. 2. Decrease eating foods that are high in sugar and simple carbs (basically all the foods that are white in colour ie. pasta, white bread, bakery items, biscuits, cakes etc.) and eat more wholegrain foods (ie. foods that are brown in colour – rye, wholemeal etc.) 3. Increase my exercise and try new workouts that would challenge me. One of my goals was to move my body more, I was determined to try all sorts of activities and to find the one’s I loved and one’s that I would stick with. 4. Drink more water! One of the best weight loss tools is to drink more water and I was definitely NOT DOING THIS. My goal was to at least drink 1-2 litres per day. 5. Stay positive and focused. DON’T GIVE UP! So how did I do this? I decided that I didn’t need to see a nutritionist or a dietitian (save the money!) and that I would design my own healthy eating plan through all the research that I had done. The healthy eating plan that I designed definitely wasn’t a short term diet it was about having a balanced lifestyle and including all food groups but having them in moderation. My end goal was a lifestyle that would be sustainable, achievable and one that I could maintain forever! Education is the key! I went back to school in 2015 and became qualified at Australian Institute of Personal Trainers with Certificate 3 & 4 (in Fitness), then went on to get qualified as a Zumba instructor and then got myself a job within the fitness industry teaching group fitness!!! Following on from that I got qualified as a Metafit coach, Metapower coach and Pound Instructor. Just recently I became a qualified a Diet and Nutrition Coach from Beck Health and Nutrition. Today I teach group fitness classes, coach clients in 8 week challenges, coach small groups in strength and weight training and recently have launched my very own online meal plan and training business (Merri’s Nutrition and Fitness). Why did I launch this business? So I can teach and educate everyone what I have learnt over the years so they to become a heathier, happy and fitter person than ever while eating a balanced, sustainable and manageable diet. How did I go with achieving my goals? So I am happy to report that in 2014 I achieved my goals by losing 16kgs. This was done by eating balanced and nutritious food but also by moving my body and doing a combination of cardio and strength/weight training. I have to say about 2 years ago I found a love for weight training and doing this with a combination of HIIT (high intensity interval) training has really changed my body composition and has given me some amazing results. What I eat I eat everything!! I have a rule I follow and it’s not hard (diets shouldn’t be hard) and it’s what has helped me get to where I am today! I eat 80% wholesome foods and 20% fun foods! I have NO food restrictions, I ENJOY all foods, I HAVE NO cheat meal days, I NEVER have any food cravings and this is because I allow ALL food groups! This rule with a combination of exercise REALLY WORKS!! It is simply called flexible dieting (or you may know it as IIFYM – if it fits your macros) and it WORKS, IT IS EASY AND IT IS SUSTAINABLE – FOREVER!! My recipes and meal plans At Merri’s Nutrition and Fitness all my recipes have been tried and tested by me. Nothing is released unless I am 100% happy with it. All the meal plans that I write for clients include my own recipes and my client’s get to choose what THEY want to eat from an extensive recipe list. My recipes are always 1. Easy to make 2. You can find all the ingredients at your local supermarket 3. Taste amazing 4. Packed full of wholesome ingredients My values The Merri’s Nutrition and Fitness my values are summed up in the following simple four words: HEALTHY ACTIVE INSPIRATION ACHIEVE Not only do we have to eat “HEALTHY” to look after ourselves we also need to move and be “ACTIVE”. This is just as important as eating healthy. Lastly, to make sure all this happens we need “INSPIRATION”. Which sometimes is hard as we get caught up in day-to-day life. Sometimes we just need to take a moment out from our busy life and ask ourselves what are our intentions for the day/week/month and how are we going to “ACHIEVE” these. Don’t be afraid to try new things and BELIEVE IN YOUR DREAMS and most importantly YOURSELF!! Follow me on instagram - merri's_nutrition_and_fitness and SnapChat Merrishealthy1 to be kept updated regularly!!!!