By Adam MacDougall, News.com.au
THE most amazing thing about fitness guru Paige Hathaway’s astonishingly large social media presence isn’t so much the actual number of fans, but the fact she never thought she’d get any followers at all.
“I have over 10 million followers now,” she says.
“It’s so crazy to even think about. I created my social media account thinking I’d never get any followers. It has just been amazing.”
Amazing is right. Over the past few years, Paige’s professional life has undergone the kind of transformation her followers hope to see in their waistlines.
The 30-year-old only turned her attention to the fitness industry six years ago, and she is already an Instagram star, a global ambassador for the F45 fitness network and a hugely successful businesswoman in her own right.
And the secret to all this success? It’s no different to the secret to her incredible fitness regimen.
“Accountability is key,” she says. “People ask me how I stay motivated in life, and my answer is to find yourself a motivation partner.
“It’s super important. It’s why people go to the gym maybe once a week or once a month, because they don’t have accountability.”
At least part of the reason Paige’s motivation tips resonate with so many of her followers is because she admits there are no hard and fast rules for getting fitter and healthier. She’s a committed pescatarian, but she’s also relaxed about diet, admitting different approaches work for different people. “I’m a pescatarian, which is a plant-based diet with fish or seafood. I did it for my own health reasons. I was having digestive issues, and I was trying to find a way to a holistically solve it. And so it fixed itself and so I’ve been doing it ever since,” she says.
“That’s one thing I always say — living a healthy lifestyle with a healthy diet, it shouldn’t be something you dread every day, it should be something that works for you and fits into your lifestyle.
“That’s what gives you longevity and the ability to stick to it.”
FUNCTIONAL FITNESS
Paige is no stranger to the inside of a gym (and a global ambassador for the F45 fitness group), so it’s surprising to hear her say the very best way to train is to ditch the weight stacks and the endless kilometres on the treadmill.
Instead, she says, the key is to make fitness functional. That way, you can use it for more than just posing for gym selfies.
“I was brought into F45 about seven months ago, and I love it,” she says. “It’s just for everyone.
“It doesn’t matter whether you’ve been working out for a really long time, or if it’s day one.
“It’s all functional movements. So it’s like when you’re picking up your kids, or you’re putting your suitcase in an aeroplane locker — it’s the functional movements you use every single day.
“I call it life fitness.”
A day on Paige’s plate
With a business that keeps her phenomenally busy, and with an Instagram feed filled with a photos of her incredibly sculpted abs or toned biceps, you might think that food plays only a minor role in Paige’s life.
But that couldn’t be further from the truth.
“I’m all about filling your body with good nutrients,” she says. “And I’m talking a lot of food.
“I’ll eat three or four meals a day. Lots of fish, lots of carbs; potatoes, rice, quinoa — all sorts of good things.
“In the mornings, I’ll usually make a protein shake with some good fats or fruits, or maybe some avocado toast. Then there are the snacks, hummus, all that good stuff.
“So many diets are unsustainable. And so people fall off the wagon because it’s all so hard.”
PAIGE’S BREAKFAST SHAKE
“I love to fill my shakes with good nutrients, so I use plant-based protein, then I’ll do almond milk, and some fruit,” she says.
“My go-to is pineapple, but you can do any kind of fruit that you want.
“And then add some almond butter. But the most important thing is that you freeze it, stick it in a bag, and then pop it in a blender the next morning.
“It’s perfect for when you’re in a rush.”
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