Float Like A Butterfly, Eat Like A Champ

Fitness, nutrition and wellbeing are at the heart of Fit Living, a program designed by Lashara Wood to create a balanced lifestyle and promote positivity. Read more about why we support her amazing movement and see how you can get involved!

Introducing Lashara

Hello, my name is Lashara.  I am a personal trainer and nutritional coach that is currently studying to be a yoga teacher through TriYoga. Originally from Cape Town, South Africa, I now live in London with 2 cats and an energetic puppy called Whisky.

I am on a mission to help people attain their fitness goals, maintain motivation and improve their overall wellbeing. My biggest ambition is to enable people to feel strong and confident, I want to empower people to create a lifestyle that supports their health and helps them achieve their fitness goals.

After an active childhood doing martial arts and dance,I hit a low point in my mid-twenties after moving to the UK from Norway and my mental health suffered. I  felt frustrated with my lack of fitness and I felt uncomfortable after gaining a lot of weight – I was desperate for change! I began running, I tried home workouts and began bouldering. A close friend of mine passed away and I ran the London Marathon in honour of her and decided I wanted to change my career to help other people feel strong and capable after spending a lot of time going through the process myself, which isn’t an easy process if when you start out!

Image: Lashara Wood

Lashara’s Values

I established the Fit Living Community, which is my online offering that includes classes, yoga and private coaching service to reach a wider audience to promote and support healthy living in a sustainable manner. I believe in blending movement, strength and good eating to build a healthy lifestyle. Through this platform, I am able to encourage people to maintain a balanced lifestyle as well as be available to help them through their fitness journey. Being people-centric, I love to meet new people and learn about new initiatives and indirectly challenge the status-quo.

Lashara’s interest in working with The Happy Prawn Co.

Prawns are a particular favourite of mine because of how high in protein and low in calories they are (such a fitness thing to say). They are also a childhood favourite, so I’ve always been a fan! Anything seafood and you have my heart!

I read an article about how damaging prawn and shrimp farming is for the environment and sought an alternative option as I eat prawns weekly and wanted a supplier that I could trust. I found your brand after researching sustainable prawn suppliers and I thought your ethics around farming where amazing! Plus you are a small family run business, which is a huge bonus for me.

I am also aware of the environmental impacts and unsustainable practices often associated with prawn farming and production. I think a big eyeopener to me was that prawn farming can be up to four times more damaging for the environment than beef, and I barely eat red meat due to how detrimental it is our planet.

Prawn farms are typically on coastal land that used to be covered by mangroves. When these mangrove swamps are drained for aquaculture, it can be as harmful for the atmosphere as cutting down parts the rainforest for cattle. So to find your method of farming, I was really impressed and felt as if I could actually make a change to combat the detrimental effects of prawn farming.

Image: One of our mangrove lined, zero-plastic, mud ponds.

Importance of healthy eating

You cannot out train a bad diet, so I incorporate the 80/20 principle to try encouraging clients to eat well and without restrictions. I believe that eating well is basic self-care that a lot of us don’t prioritise enough. That being said, I don’t believe in restrictive diets – been there and got the t-shirt! I try to teach my clients to eat a balanced diet with a focus on vegetable, protein and wholefoods, as well as enjoying life’s moments! You can have your cake and eat it!

Eating advice

Very simple – get creative, but keep it simple, when cooking meals.  I believe that simple meals can taste amazing with the right seasoning and spices, and all the lemon and garlic!  

As mentioned before, try to include vegetables and protein within your meals: Vegetables are hugely important for good gut health as they are full of fibre. Vegetables are also packed with micronutrients like vitamins to help keep us health. I don’t strictly follow the 5 a day principle as I eat a lot of vegetables. A typical meal for me usually includes salad, steamed or roasted vegetables accompanied with fish, chicken or vegetarian protein and rice, quinoa or starchy vegetables.

There is a misbelief that snacking is often frowned upon, but it can be healthy. A go to fave is dark chocolate. Reason being, dark chocolate has small amounts of theobromine in it from cocoa, which can elevate your mood and act as a natural stimulant, similar to caffeine. Other favourite snacks include fruit, carrot sticks and hummus, a protein smoothie (blueberry or caramel flavour), a protein bar, energy bites, rice crackers with almond butter or cream cheese with Happy Prawns Co prawns cooked in, you guessed it, garlic and lemon (obviously).

How you can get involved

I run online classes three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, as well as yoga sessions 3 times a month, plus workshops! Classes cost £3 for your first session, £5 drop in or there is always the monthly membership offer for my classes that cost £29 a month for unlimited access to classes and yoga, as well as access to the private Facebook group and the on demand library for recorded classes. I also offer private coaching for fitness and nutrition as well for those that need that extra accountability and support.

For more information, get in touch with me via my website and Instagram and don’t forget to keep moving and fuel your adventures!

Stay focused!

Lashara x

Image: Lashara Wood leading a class

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About The Happy Prawn Co.

The Happy Prawn Co. is an independent, ethical brand producing 100% natural, 100% traceable Black Tiger prawns from Indonesia. Aimed at seafood lovers and foodies alike, the brand officially launched in 2018, but it’s the result of more than a decade’s dedication.

Check out this short video about our story here: