A Life in the Day Of... Sarah Webb, 55, Nutrition Adviser & Weight Management Expert

Sarah has a comprehensive background in the health and fitness industry, qualified as a personal trainer, a fitness coach and most recently as a nutrition and weight management adviser. Her Eat Better UK bespoke programmes, based on her clients’ individual needs, provide straight forward advice and uncomplicated methods to get results. Sarah lives in Hanwell with her writer husband Paul.

"I wake to the gentle vibration on my wrist from my latest wellness wearable WHOOP. The time can vary slightly depending on the classes at my gym. I’m currently enjoying Vinyasa yoga and Swiss ball. I prefer to exercise early in the day; it gets me up and out in all weathers throughout the year. Before breakfast I’m on the scales to check my total body composition including bone density and visceral fat. A quick breakfast is Dorset cereal or, with a little longer, porridge, both with berries, a small banana, mixed seeds and semi-skimmed milk – all carefully weighed – and with a green tea and a vitamin D10µg supplement. At weekends its eggs, mushrooms and tomatoes on sourdough.

I check my stats on WHOOP - my sleep and recovery percentages, and yesterday’s daily strain. It’s important that I know how my body is starting the day as it can influence what equipment I choose to work on before or after my classes. I pick up my water bottle and head out for the fifteen-minute walk which I use as my warmup. I don’t wear earbuds; I like to listen for the birds over the sound of the early morning traffic, or the chatter of the children on their way to school if I’m starting a little later.

               Back home, I take my first decaf coffee of the day (I’m calming my ANS, Autonomic Nervous System) into my workspace and I check my messages at my stand-up desk.  Then it’s time to switch on the PC and get down to work – usually with some gentle jazz from Ella Fitzgerald, or French Café, or electronic from A-ha or the Thompson Twins. I log into my Nutritics software to calculate the nutritional analysis and dietary in-take of my clients. I check their progress, especially for any missing nutrients, for example vitamin A, and to recommend amendments if necessary.

A big part of my job is not only to advise on every client’s personal nutritional requirement, but also to monitor, motivate and support their progress throughout the programme.  We all need a gentle reminder occasionally. My consultations can be in person or on Zoom. If I have a morning visit, I’ll take my lunch with me.  This can either be a sandwich, chicken with rice or grains or salad, a handful of mixed nuts with a couple of dates and a piece of fruit.

               In the office, my non consultation time is spent preparing for the next ones: analysing clients’ latest food diaries, measurements and stats, and making the adjustments required for their macro and micronutrient intakes. Other time is spent engrossed in research and staying up to date with current developments in papers published by The Nutrition Society and other respectable organisations. Sadly, too often, there are other sources with misleading articles with bold claims about what is supposed to be good or bad for us this week. My training and experience have taught me that many of these claims are mere headline grabbing fads with no substantiated, reliable, evidence-based or peer-reviewed research and I consider it part of my job to dispel any such misinformation. I’m pleased to hear that, at last, a Secretary of State for Health is attempting to tackle obesity at its cause. Through discussions with food manufacturers and the supermarkets I believe that Wes Streeting is a man in a million, trying to improve health and save lives by making the changes, at source, necessary to save the NHS.

I plan my supermarket shop to provide a fully nutritious weekly menu. I prefer to work with good ingredients, not recipes, and I like to think that I can throw anything together to make a nutritious, tasty and convenient dinner that complements my lunch and that completes my daily food group requirements. It helps that I can eat most things…but I do avoid tofu, kidney and polenta! With only good ingredients in the kitchen, it’s easier to prepare a wholesome meal: fish, chicken or meat with rice, pasta, potatoes or noodles, and at least three types of veg. Portion control is essential – no matter how tasty it is! Nothing takes me longer than half an hour from cupboard to table…unless I’m throwing a special dinner party…and that can take all day and create a lot of mess! I love eating out with a nice glass of wine in good restaurants and we often take the tube into London or take a walk through the park to Ealing.

At home, dinner is the start of my evening wind down. Paul and I sit at the table (I love a crisp, white tablecloth) and talk about our day and then I catch up with calls to friends and family and completing my own personal food diary before settling down around 9 p.m. for some TV. We look for a good drama, thriller, documentary or travel programme (loved Race Across the World) depending on our mood, and I like to finish with a half hour ‘funny’ before bed. I’ll read the Sunday paper magazines – starting with the Travel section for inspiration for our next holiday - or one of the four books I have on the go. They are always non-fiction, typically: Shackleton’s Antarctic adventures, something work-related and, currently, Vanessa Van Edwards fascinating ‘Captivate’ book about behavioural science. I set my wake up for the morning’s class and WHOOP suggests my bedtime to reach my sleep need to wake refreshed for the start of the next day."

Words of Wisdom

Best advice I was given: By my grandma Esma before I went to boarding school: Remember Sarah, no one likes a boaster.

Advice I’d give: Only go where you’re wanted.

What I wish I’d known: That family relationships change over time