A Day In The Life Of Kayla Itsines
5:30AM WAKEY WAKEY
I’m a morning person. If I’m training clients, then the alarm goes off early – if not, I might have another hour in bed. Now I only train colleagues, friends and family or clients who have become friends. I wake up hungry – that’s the way my body works – and will grab a piece of toast before the session
7AM BREAKFAST
I make sure breakfast gives me energy and won’t leave me wanting something sweet half an hour later. My quinoa porridge with figs gives me that little bit of sweetness so I won’t want a piece of chocolate later – which is something that’s really common for a lot of women.
9AM WORK IT
I don’t have a strict 9-5, but I’ll be in and out of the office all day. Nowadays, a lot of my time is spent doing content creation, so I’ll be filming workouts nearby. It’s amazing how the business has grown, but our HQ will always be in Adelaide. I want to keep it all in-house; you don’t get the passion or commitment if you outsource. There’s no hierarchy in our office. When someone joins they get an email welcoming them to the family.
10:30AM MORNING SNACK
My body is so used to the pattern of breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, that I’m hungry and irritable if I don’t stick to it. I do try to keep a routine every day. Now, when we’re travelling, we build our schedule around food. I have to be organised and have a time slot to eat in.
12:30PM LUNCH
My food varies every day, but something like pita with chicken and vegies or a tuna sandwich is typical. The health and fitness industry is confusing and I’m trying to take some of that confusion away. I feel like I’m succeeding, which is good – a lot of girls have come up to me and said, “Thank you, the book is full of normal food.” All food groups are included in my program, because I didn’t want women to feel restricted. I got sick of trainers being like “Cut out this, and you’ll be able to have this body”.
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3:30PM AFTERNOON SNACK
Yep, I’m eating again. I don’t cut anything out. I see girls not eating carbs because they’re ‘bad’, but they can’t explain why. Sure, no gluten if you have coeliac disease, no dairy if you’re lactose intolerant, but otherwise, if it doesn’t affect you, it doesn’t affect you.
6:30PM DINNER
I always eat dinner with [fiance] Tobi – I’ll wait for him to get home. That’s one thing Mum drilled into us – you sit at the table as a family. It’s our time to catch up and talk about our day.
10PM BEDTIME
I used to go to bed at 9pm and still be looking at the clock at 10:30pm. I’d lie awake thinking about what I had to do the next day. So now before bed I write everything in the Notes app on my phone. Everything. From making a hair appointment or checking in with a staff member. It settles me and I’ll sleep through.
For an exclusive WH x Kayla workout and recipes check out the May issue of Women's Health on sale now.
