Meet Lauren

You might be surprised to know that my third passion is food. Yes you can be fit and healthy and enjoy food and all its joys including its cultural and social aspects. I am also a mum of two so as you can imagine, life can be a little hectic sometimes.

I started my journey into the fitness industry slightly later on in life after having my children. I was originally introduced to fitness through a friend of mine who had started CrossFit and was making some amazing changes with his body and I too wanted to change. I wanted to feel energised and tighten up. After a year of doing CrossFit 5 or 6 times a week and Muay Thai nearly every day, I was fed up. There was a motivational picture in the gym of a girl with six pack abs, I was working out so hard so why didn’t I have that figure? Around this time, one of my close friends started to compete as a bikini bodybuilder and was proudly showing off her amazing physique, she convinced me to find a bodybuilding coach and train for a show.

My CrossFit coach volunteered to train me and unfortunately whilst he was a fantastic CrossFit coach, he was unqualified to coach bodybuilding. He advised me to eat huge amounts of protein and only lift weights 3 times a week. This was not the correct training for my body, for my shape, size and gender. The result? Well, I became overweight and honestly quite miserable. Fortunately for me he then left Koh Samui where I live and I moved to another coach who did her very best to get me in shape.

Whilst I did lose weight, it was not in a healthy way and I also lost a lot of muscle. However, I was hooked and signed up for a second show. Half way through my training my second coach also left as she needed to move back home. Living on a small island, it is not easy to find coaches and so with a thirst for knowledge, I read everything I could get my hands on and persevered on my own. I came 2nd!!! It was the best feeling in the world. From here I hired an online coach who unfortunately dieted me too hard and damaged my hormones. This is a painful situation that no one ever should experience.

My body thought it was hungry all the time and it took an excessive amount of willpower to not eat everything within my sight for the next few months. I knew this didn’t need to have happened but I felt I lacked the skills to question the “qualified” coaches. It made me realise that one of the biggest problems with the fitness industry is that so much of it is designed as one size fits all and so many coaches perpetuate diet and training myths that have no grounding in science. This led me to years of intense study with the industry elite, picking and choosing my education carefully, I became a fully qualified nutritionist, personal trainer, bodybuilding specialist, women’s specialist and a certified health coach. From here Temple Tribe was born. Bringing together all of my knowledge, I can help you achieve your goals and live the life you want in a healthy and sustainable manner.