Cheryl Lin is founder, personal trainer, and nutrition coach at Eat Train Love, a consultancy which aims to create a community that is inspired and empowered to make positive changes in their lifestyle.

We talk to Cheryl about building such change, sustainably, into the life of the entrepreneur.

---

Tell us more about Eat Train Love and the story of how it began.

Over the years, I’ve worked with many people confused by all the conflicting information out there, others who fall prey to fads and diets marketed as quick fixes, and those who view exercise and diet as form of punishment. With a strong academic background and a huge passion for learning, I really wanted not just to help, but to educate these people too, so that in the end, it wasn’t me making choices for them, but them being empowered to make choices for themselves.

I broke it down into the simple mantra that I continue to live by: ‘Eat Well, Train Hard, Love Yourself.’ That was how the name came about! The last part is so important because once you change your perception, fitness and nutrition are no longer ways to punish or deprive the body, but ways to take care of, strengthen and nourish it. Our focus is never about making our clients fit certain ideals of how they should look or how much they should lift; rather, it is about coaching them towards a way of eating and moving that they can thrive in.

Many tend to cut corners when it comes to taking care of themselves, usually for lack of time or a budget. Are there any tips you can suggest to someone in such a position but who wants to make a positive change?

It’s all about planning and approaching your health just as you would your work. We schedule meetings and plan out our social calendars at least a week ahead so if we took that same approach to training/fitness and meal planning, it would be a lot easier staying on track. Even if you didn’t stick to your action plan 100 percent, you would be more inclined to make better choices as opposed to winging it and making poor choices in a moment of “hanger” (‘anger’ or irritation that arises from hunger, which happens to us all).

How do you keep yourself continuously motivated to eat well and train hard? 

It’s all about doing what works for you and what sits right with you. I do the training that I love, and I eat the foods that I love so I never feel like anything is a chore or deprivation. I also always have a goal: knowing what you want to achieve, or at least what you want for yourself, will determine the choices you make. When it comes to training, I stay motivated by doing things that I enjoy and things that I want to get good at. At the same time, I listen to my body, so when I need to give my body a rest, I do, and I don’t beat myself up about it because I know that by resting today, I’ll be able to give it 110 percent tomorrow.