Elle Nielsen: Turning anxiety into empowerment

July 12, 2018

The bubbly and adventurous Elle Nielsen is a personal trainer and health and wellness advocate! She is currently studying a Bachelor of Health Science (Nutritional Medicine). Growing up around the beach has turned Elle into a little Summer baby! If it’s not beach weather at home, Ellie is usually booking her next ticket out of here to escape the cold.

"My whole life now pretty much revolves around living a positive, active and healthy life, but that wasn’t always the case."

Ellies Story

"In 2011 I reached my lowest of lows. I was overweight, eating foods that were certainly not doing anything for me, my parents had recently divorced and I was suffering from severe bullying that was sending me into a continuous downward spiral. I was depressed, emotional eating and on most days, was too anxious to leave the house or attend school. As a desperate attempt to help me out of this and avoid going on antidepressants, my mum encouraged me to go to the gym with her to get a natural high. Hellooooo endorphins!!

I started to learn more about exercise, researched the power of positive thinking, and even booked myself in to see a naturopath (which is where my love for nutrition really began!)"

"I truly believe, everything in life happens FOR you, not to you, and we have the power to be who we want to be!"

Elle's Advice

"JUST GO FOR IT!" "You truly don’t realise how good your body and mind is meant to feel until you start living an active and healthy lifestyle. I know it sounds cliche, but you absolutely NEED to surround yourself with people who have values and qualities you admire and aspire to have. Energy is contagious!

Also, with thanks to the internet and social media, there are so many resources available for you to research, and SO many people to connect with, that you just need to put yourself out there and be open to learning. Be a sponge!"

Elle loves her food, especially good food that nourishes her body. She usually makes her own adaptions of recipes she finds on websites like taste.com. If she gets a craving for a specific meal, she will research healthy alternatives such as “carbonara pasta paleo version” or “carbonara pasta nutritionist”.

Elle's favourite Zesty Chicken Skewers and Quinoa Salad Recipe

PART 1: Chicken -Marinate chicken (breast or thigh) in garlic, paprika, Himalayan salt & pepper for a minimum of 10mins. Thread chicken onto skewers and cook over char-grill pan or bbq over high heat.

PART 2: Quinoa -Add chopped mint, pepitas, sunflower seeds, lentils, apple cider vinegar, Himalayan salt, pepper & extra virgin olive oil to cooled quinoa and toss to combine.

PART 3: Chimichurri Sauce -Finely chop onion, garlic, mint, parsley, coriander, apple cider vinegar and Himalayan salt in a food processor.

SERVE: Combine all 3 parts and add a salad of choice (kale, red cabbage and carrot for mine) ️

Cheeky string baby-blue bikini by The Hessian Collection

Elle's Naughty Nibbles

Ellie absolutely loves the Balance Sports Nutrition plant protein powder, she enjoys it on its own, in smoothies, mixed with yoghurt and mixed in hot drinks (without going clumpy!) She usually makes:

Turmeric, chai and vanilla lattes
Hot chocolates
Banana, blueberry and PB smoothies
Chobani yogurt with frozen berries
My 'go-to craving busters' are frozen raspberries or 70% dark chocolate

"I always keep dark chocolate in the house so I never feel restricted to eat it. If you haven’t discovered these already, Aldi sells blocks of 70% chocolate in perfect individual packs... LIFESAVER!"

Cheeky string baby-blue bikini by The Hessian Collection

Gym Time With Elle

"I’m a huge advocate for weight training, high-intensity functional training and getting outdoors for a walk. Training for me is all about feeling strong, getting a good sweat and increasing those endorphins! I love seeing myself improve my strength, speed and endurance and get a huge kick out of achieving goals! I always think...If I can conquer my limits in the gym, then I can conquer them in other areas of my life!

Weight training helps to:

Increase lean muscle mass
Reduce body fat
Increases metabolism
Helps with posture
Allows us to create curves where WE want them!

Ellies Favourite Circuit

Set 1:

Barbell Back Squat x 6 (heavy)
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts 1 1/4 reps - x 12
Dumbbell Walking Lunges - x 25(x 5 rounds )

Set 2

Barbell Shoulder Press 1 1/4 reps - x 6 (heavy)
Dumbbell Arnold Press - x 12
Rope External Rotations - x 25 (x 5 rounds)

(Don't forget to complete all 3 exercises then REST before you start the next set)

"The bikinis were gorgeous! I loved the quality of the material and the shape of them!"

💋💋💋

Feating The St Tropez String/ Blueberry

Photographed by: Lyndon Marceau - @Marceauphotography

Instagram handle: @elle_wellnesslife

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MOTIVATION ACTION PLAN: Feeling unmotivated?

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Have you found yourself constantly procrastinating, pressing snooze or feel yourself just being lazy?

Then stop reading, I can’t help you.

Jokes 😂 but seriously I can put in my two cents worth now that can help you but at the end of this post it’s up to you to activate the advice/suggestions I’ve made.

If you’re feeling unmotivated, lazy or always finding excuses... the truth is you just don’t care enough. 🤷‍♀️

When you know exactly what you want and it is honestly IMPORTANT to you... the motivation comes easy. You won’t make excuses and you’ll find ways to make it happen.