The PT and The pasta

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Every personal trainer seems to have a reputation.

Apparently mine is that if I’m sitting at your dinner table, you’re not allowed to order the pasta.

I only discovered this the other night while hiking through the Dolomites with a group of wonderful women who also happen to be my clients.

After an incredible day in the mountains, we were sitting around the dinner table, menus in hand, when I overheard them whispering.

“If Nat wasn’t here, I’d definitely order the pasta…”

”…but I suppose I’ll have the tomato salad.”

I nearly choked laughing.

“Ladies,” I said, “I’m ordering the pasta.”

The looks on their faces were priceless. Equal parts relief and confusion.

It made me realise something.

People seem to think personal trainers spend their lives avoiding carbohydrates, surviving on chicken and broccoli, and quietly judging everyone else’s dinner choices.

Trust me… we don’t.

In fact, one of the unexpected benefits of travelling with your trainer isn’t that someone reminds you to stretch or drags you to the hotel gym.

It’s seeing what a healthy relationship with food actually looks like.

There were no lectures.

No raised eyebrows.

No food police.

No expectation that anyone should order the salad simply because I happened to be sitting beside them.

Instead, we talked about why we make certain food choices.

The next day we were tackling another huge hike, climbing more than 1,000 metres.

That changes things.

Our muscles run on glycogen, and carbohydrates are one of the best ways to top those energy stores up. When you’re asking your body to hike for hours, pasta isn’t the enemy.

It’s fuel.

Now, if the next day’s plan had been a sun lounge, a good book and an Aperol Spritz by the pool… I may well have chosen something different.

Not because pasta is “bad”.

Not because salad is “good”.

Simply because my body would’ve needed something different.

That’s what frustrates me about so much nutrition advice on social media.

Everything has to be absolute.

“No carbs after 40.”

“Fruit is just sugar.”

“Never eat after 7 pm.”

“You must lift heavy every day.”

Honestly… our bodies didn’t get that memo.

Especially in midlife.

Hormones change.

Recovery changes.

Sleep changes.

Appetite changes.

Some days I’m genuinely hungrier than many of my clients. Sometimes it feels relentless.

As a menopausal woman, I’ve learnt that fighting my body rarely ends well.

Understanding it does.

The goal isn’t perfection.

It’s awareness.

Knowing when your body needs more fuel.

Knowing when it needs more protein.

Knowing when you’re eating because you’re celebrating with friends in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

And knowing all of those things can happily exist together.

Health isn’t built on one meal.

It’s built on the hundreds of ordinary choices we make over weeks, months and years.

One bowl of pasta won’t undo your progress.

Just as one salad won’t magically transform your health.

Holidays aren’t meant to be an exercise in guilt.

They’re for adventures.

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For breathtaking scenery.

For conversations that wander as much as the hiking trails.

For laughing until your stomach hurts more than your legs.

And yes…

Sometimes they’re for pasta.

The healthiest women I know aren’t the ones with the longest list of food rules.

They’re the ones who understand their bodies well enough to make choices without guilt.

Sometimes that’s the salad.

Sometimes it’s the pasta.

The healthiest relationship with food isn’t built on restriction.

It’s built on understanding.

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Footnote: Before anyone asks… no, I’m not a dietitian! Everything I’ve shared here comes from my own research, ongoing education, lived experience as a menopausal woman, and years of working with hundreds of women in the gym. Nutrition is wonderfully individual, so if you have specific medical or dietary needs, please seek advice from an Accredited Practising Dietitian or your healthcare team.