Fiona O'Donnell MSc Nutritionist

Fiona O'Donnell MSc Nutritionist Empowering change for a healthier, fitter you. Nutritionist and lifestyle coach. Founder of Feedback is more than welcome and is very much appreciated.

I built this page initially to chronicle my journey from marathon running to competing in figure competition. I love training and I also love eating - so dieting is a big challenge for me. For this reason, I try to develop new recipes which are gluten free, sugar free, low carb (for the most part) and highly nutritious. I am open to learning as much as I can whilst on this journey. Following completion of my MSc in Exercise & Nutrition Science, I am now working through a post grad in Applied Nutrition with the CISSN.

08/12/2025

Two things can be true at once-

You may want to be thinner, and at the same time accept that the body you have today is the body you have today.
It’s not changing in the next 24 hrs.
That’s what acceptance looks like.

You may want to give up dieting, and you may also want to be slimmer.

These two thoughts can coexist. You don’t need to choose one thought over the other.

It’s important to understand which foods will nourish us. And it’s also important to avoid hyper vigilance unless we have serious food allergies.

A message may be true or important, and the way it’s delivered can be harmful.

You can be enthusiastic about getting out walking because you know it’s great for your health, maybe you’re excited about losing a few lbs with this new habit?
AND….. encouraging someone else to engage in this behaviour because you’ve decided they need to lose a few lbs too….. that may be harmful to them. Even though you have the best of intentions.

There are strategies that can be used to approach these topics with neutrality - and if you have never worked in this space or had appropriate training, you’re likely to not get the full picture.

And even people who are fully trained get it wrong sometimes.

What are your thoughts?

07/12/2025

Let’s try this one and see if the sound works:

07/12/2025

Being madly in love with someone who speaks to you badly …. It’s kind of a contradiction.

Just like you can have someone who is a great person, a good friend, and a brilliant businessman or woman can share misinformation because they believe it to be true.

You can have a person highlight the underhand marketing techniques used to fool us into buying food we believe has a health benefit (this is great info to have….. right???? )

And equally that person can be sharing the information in a way that may not be harmful to you, but may be harmful to a very large population of individuals.

Sharing how small food producers are pushed out of the market by the large producers for whom money is the ONLY motivation is important.

Equally important is that people stay in their lane professionally and don’t step sideways into a lane where they are actively doing harm.

But you see, this space of moderation and perspective doesn’t get the shares that polarising, fear mongering gets.

And that’s unfortunate.

But you can fail to go viral and still help the small volume of people who learn from your message and feel less pressured in their food choices.
Two things can be true at once!

Also…. Side note - every time I add music, it wipes out my voice. So sorry about the lack of tunes

02/12/2025

Danny just watched my stories on qualitative research.

😂😂😂😂😂😂
That’s me told.

No time for content creation today - I’m in the depths of pluralistic review.

I’ll be back Friday.

To those of you who responded to my request for research testers - I’ll be emailing at the end of the week.

“I’m just afraid to make the wrong choice”I had a chemistry call at the start of the week with the loveliest woman. She ...
28/11/2025

“I’m just afraid to make the wrong choice”

I had a chemistry call at the start of the week with the loveliest woman.

She told me that meal times were incredibly stressful because she was so afraid of getting it wrong.

Her GP told her that she should lose weight for her health, gave her a 3 page information & recipe sheet and sent her on her way.

And look, I get it, GP’s are incredibly tight on time, completely overloaded for their limited resources and they are doing their best.

But for most people - dietary change is not an information challenge.

The strategy most people use is to deliver a food plan, a list of appropriate foods, a calorie margin to stick to….

Without ever asking about satiety…
Fullness….
Habits….

The psychological element to food choice actually has an effect on our hormones.

Did you know that when we anticipate satiety being lower, some studies have shown we secrete more ghrelin…. The hunger hormone!

You are so focussed on calories and the scale that you’re ignoring all the bits that could actually make a difference.

Many of our clients report that the first few weeks of change are hard. There’s a lot of thinking, reflecting & questioning.

But it’s the very first time many of them have learned to listen to themselves.

And for most, it’s a revelation.

For example, this morning, I really didn’t want the porridge. But I knew that oats would be great for my gut and would set me up for a morning of work.

So instead I made oat pancakes with some stewed berries saved from the garden this autumn made with spices.

They were delicious.
I’m full, I’m satisfied, I’m nourished.

All boxes ticked.
And I didn’t agonise over the choice.

We have opened places for our wait list - next week is already booked out.

If you’re ready to get started - or you want to think about starting in January, pop me a message with ‘WAIT LIST’ and let’s have a chat.

I still have thoughts like “Oh no…. Am I really bloated today…. What will I do?”….But before my mind goes down a track o...
24/11/2025

I still have thoughts like “Oh no…. Am I really bloated today…. What will I do?”….

But before my mind goes down a track of ‘cut out carbs, any food that brings me joy and train for two hours…”,

I have developed an alternative strategy that works far better!

Instead, I ask now, “what can I do to feel better right now”

Here are my most frequent answers to that question;

➡️ If my thoughts are telling me I ‘should’ do something, I get out of my head and into my body….. I go for a walk. I get my heart rate up and then I acknowledge how I’ve just nourished my body with movement.

Win!

➡️ If I’m feeling rubbish physically, I ask what I can do immediately to feel better…
Do I need to sleep, hydrate, eat….

And most importantly, I can acknowledge “I don’t feel great right now…. And that’s ok, it doesn’t need to come with a whole story of blame, guilt or criticism….”

Because that’s the real issue, isn’t it!

The story we tell ourselves around food.
The narrative …. The dialogue…. The diatribe of ‘look what you’ve done now…’

It serves absolutely no purpose other than making us feel like absolute rubbish.

It gets us nowhere!

We have this idea that if we stop bullying ourselves, we’ll go absolutely ape!

Imagine!

What if getting rid of the bully allows us to flourish ….

Have you ever considered that?

I’m in Lanzarote at the moment…And trying to find somewhere that serves poached eggs on sourdough has been an impossible...
17/11/2025

I’m in Lanzarote at the moment…
And trying to find somewhere that serves poached eggs on sourdough has been an impossible feat!

Breakfast is a full English with Bimbo bread….
And ALL of it tastes like it’s had a good dose of sugar and salt to make it palatable….

Personal choice has dictated that I eat at home in our self catering apartment.
But I’d love if there was greater choice.

This is where the psychosocial model comes into play….

Choice, decision making, food behaviours….
They aren’t always down to the individual.
Finances, your environment, work schedules, commuting time, health status….

They are ALL factors in the choices we make around food.

The fact is …. The less whole foods you eat….

The more convenience foods that are highly processed, you incorporate into your diet….

The greater the impact on your health.

Nobody is arguing that point.

BUT…..

That doesn’t mean that encouraging fear around certain food choices is the optimal approach.

Encouraging small steps to incorporate fruit and veg into your diet is an inclusive approach that allows everyone to engage in positive change….

Sharing quick, easy recipes that allow us to utilise convenient short cuts are absolute winners.

Teaching hypervigilance …
It’s just not the way!

It feeds into black/white decision making and can actively cause harm …

What are your thoughts?

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