HFI Training Ltd

08/01/2026

Personal trainers: a timely heads-up (and an invitation).

A new BMJ systematic review + meta-analysis (published 7 Jan 2026) looked at what tends to happen after people stop weight-management medications (including GLP-1 injections): weight regain is common, and other health markers can drift back too. It’s not a “lack of willpower” story — it’s physiology, appetite regulation, and the reality that obesity treatment often needs a long-term plan. (BMJ 2026;392:e085304)

Why this matters in the gym: many clients arrive after (or while using) GLP-1s with:
• rebound appetite and food noise when doses change or stop
• fear of regain → restriction → rebound cycles
• loss of trust in hunger/fullness cues
• guilt, panic, or “I’ve ruined it” thinking

If you’re a PT supporting someone who’s coming off GLP-1s, plateauing, or feeling pulled onto the “doom train” (diet → suppress → rebound → shame → repeat), please reach out.

I work alongside trainers to help clients:
• rebuild reliable appetite regulation without rigid control
• reduce restriction-rebound patterns
• strengthen body trust, satiety awareness, and consistency
• create a maintenance plan that supports training outcomes and mental wellbeing

If you’d like a referral pathway for clients who are struggling — or want to prevent the rebound spiral in the first place — message me and I’ll send details of how we can collaborate (including my free consult option for new clients).

— Alison (HFI Training / The Appetite Club)

06/12/2025

As personal trainers, we spend a lot of time talking about what clients eat and how they move… but far less time talking about what they wear to do it – and how loaded that can be.

For many clients (and plenty of trainers), getting dressed is shaped by diet culture and patriarchy long before it’s about function or comfort:
• “I can’t wear that at my size.”
• “I need something more slimming before I go to the gym.”
• “I’ll buy proper kit when I’ve lost weight.”

All of this chips away at body confidence and keeps people stuck in shame instead of in their bodies.

I’ve written a new article that looks at how to decide what to wear without diet culture’s damaging influence – and why this matters for us as fitness professionals:
• How diet culture and the patriarchal gaze show up in wardrobes and gym kit
• Why “flattering” has become code for “look smaller” – and how that affects exercise behaviour
• A more realistic, trauma-aware idea of body confidence for our clients
• A simple 4-step exercise you can share to help clients choose what to wear based on comfort, function and self-respect (not self-criticism)

This is a really practical way to make your practice more inclusive and trauma-informed: helping clients feel safe, comfortable and “allowed” in the clothes they have now, in the bodies they have now.

👉 Read the full piece click the pic.

It might look like a “soft” topic, but reducing outfit anxiety can be the difference between a client turning up consistently… or not turning up at all.

This blog is an invitation to step out of that. To let getting dressed become easier, more political (in a good way), and more you.

10/11/2025

💬 Personal Trainer Perspective: Why We Need to Talk About Body Size, Diet Culture & Real Health

As fitness professionals, we’ve all seen how hard clients can be on themselves about weight.
But here’s the truth we must acknowledge:

👉 Aesthetics are not the same as health.
👉 Diet culture harms clients more than it helps.
👉 Most weight fears come from cultural conditioning — not biology.
👉 And women, especially, have been taught to shrink themselves rather than trust themselves.

I just read a brilliant new post from The Appetite Club that digs into this:
how body ideals are shaped by diet culture and misogyny — and why Intuitive Eating is actually the health-centred, evidence-based, feminist alternative.

As trainers, we’re in a powerful position to support clients’ wellbeing, not their insecurities.
And that means shifting the conversation from:

❌ “How small can you get?”
to
✅ “How well can you live, move, fuel and feel in your body?”

This article is a must-read for any coach who wants to practise ethically, support long-term behaviour change, and avoid accidentally reinforcing the systems that make our clients feel “not enough.”

🔗 Read the full article here:
https://www.appetiteclub.co.uk/post/why-our-obsession-with-body-size-isn-t-about-health-diet-culture-misogyny-the-feminist-power-of

Let’s be the trainers who help people build strength, not shrink themselves.
Let’s support autonomy, not aesthetic pressure.
Let’s coach for health — not diet culture.

For decades, society has taught us that caring about our weight is the same as caring about our health.But when we look closer, we discover something very different.Our cultural obsession with thinness has far more to do with diet culture, misogyny, and the male gaze than with genuine wellbeing. And...

18/10/2025

As personal trainers, we’re seeing more and more clients using GLP-1 medications (like semaglutide and liraglutide) to suppress appetite and accelerate weight loss.

These drugs do alter hunger hormones — but they also change how people think and feel about food. And that’s where the coaching challenge begins.

When clients start to fear their own appetite, rely on medication for emotional stability, or panic at the thought of eating “normally” again — what we’re seeing isn’t just physiology. It’s psychological dependence.

It’s not addiction in the classic sense, but the same neural and behavioural loops apply: relief → reward → fear → craving.
The drug becomes a psychological safety net. And when it’s removed, clients can feel lost, anxious, and out of control.

As fitness professionals, our role isn’t to shame or advise against medication — it’s to help clients rebuild trust in their body’s own regulation system.
That means supporting them through appetite awareness, emotional regulation, and long-term behaviour change strategies that reduce fear rather than suppress hunger.

Read the full Appetite Club article to understand the psychology behind GLP-1 dependency — and how you can support clients who are using or coming off these medications:
👉 When Appetite Control Becomes a Craving: The Hidden Addiction Risk of GLP-1 Drugs

You finally feel in control. You start a GLP-1 medication, your appetite shrinks….. but then something shifts..

10/10/2025

As personal trainers, we all want our clients to feel successful — but are the techniques we’re using helping in the long term… or quietly making things worse?

When we rely on willpower-based strategies — strict calorie control, rigid meal plans, or “discipline over hunger” — we can actually train the body to fight back. Appetite grows stronger, cravings increase, and clients end up feeling like they’ve failed.
It’s not their willpower that’s broken — it’s biology doing exactly what it’s supposed to.

That’s why understanding the set-point range and natural appetite regulation matters. When trainers work with physiology, not against it, results are more sustainable — and clients feel calmer, not more controlled.

I’ve written a new post that explores this from the client side — why people (especially women) keep chasing a weight their body doesn’t want to maintain, and what that means for us as professionals.

Click below to read it.

It’s one of the strangest things about modern life: so many women spend years — sometimes decades — trying to weigh what their bodies clearly don’t want to weigh.

09/10/2025

Taylor Swift has embraced Intuitive Eating — a reminder that real health isn’t about control, it’s about trust, balance, and listening to your body.

Intuitive eating is "an approach that focuses on trusting your hunger cues," says dietitian Jinan Banna. In 2010, Taylor Swift was practicing the eating pattern.

19/09/2025

💭 Food + Fitness Check-In
Sometimes it’s hard to know where healthy eating ends… and disordered eating begins.
As trainers, we often see clients struggling with food rules, guilt, or control — even if it doesn’t meet the criteria for an “eating disorder.”
👉 Our quick questionnaire can help you (or your clients) reflect on your relationship with food.
Remember: you don’t need a diagnosis to deserve support. 🌱