Fiona O'Donnell MSc Nutritionist

Fiona O'Donnell MSc Nutritionist Empowering change for a healthier, fitter you. Nutritionist and lifestyle coach. Founder of Feedback is more than welcome and is very much appreciated.

I built this page initially to chronicle my journey from marathon running to competing in figure competition. I love training and I also love eating - so dieting is a big challenge for me. For this reason, I try to develop new recipes which are gluten free, sugar free, low carb (for the most part) and highly nutritious. I am open to learning as much as I can whilst on this journey. Following compl

etion of my MSc in Exercise & Nutrition Science, I am now working through a post grad in Applied Nutrition with the CISSN.

It’s always been about weight. Everyone has defined success as a number on the scale. I understand why. It’s definitive!...
05/09/2026

It’s always been about weight.
Everyone has defined success as a number on the scale.

I understand why. It’s definitive!
It’s a set outcome. It feels tangible and REAL.

But you’ve never actually asked if it’s sustainable or realistic! You’ve never really thought about what it takes to get there and stay there.

And the reality is that dieting, restriction, counting calories and getting nowhere…. It’s soul crushing and it’s making you hate your body if you so much as put up a pound or 3 before your period.

Success looks different for us.

We want you to go from alternating between control and falling off the wagon to consistently fuelling with self-trust.

From monitoring and criticising your body to understanding and relating to it with respect and care.

From exercise as compensation for eating to movement that brings you joy and makes you feel a sense of achievement.

From all or nothing plans to a framework that bends around family, work, and life.

Choose the group framework or the group & 1-1 mechanism for support.
Get your training, share recipes, engage in nutrition and psychoeducation for 12 weeks.

Alternative tiers available to suit your pocket for the same price as a weekly PT session.

Post INFO below for the full breakdown of the 12 week programme.

Or hit the message button and let’s chat.

01/09/2026

Evidence to support supplements for ‘more skin elasticity’ ‘age reversal’ ‘turn you into a unicorn’ …. Is, as you guessed, pretty poor.

Ideally, we should be supplementing with Vitamin D from September to May.

There is evidence to support the use of vitamin c when you have an upper respiratory tract infection or a cold - it won’t cure you but may reduce the duration of illness.

B12 for the vegans if you’re not great at the nutritional yeast or other fortified foods.

And really, unless you have a medical need, it’s unlikely you need supplementation.

Individuals on certain medications may be at higher risk of deficiency. But a blood test and consult with your GP will fill in the blanks on that. And if there is a medical cause for deficiency (like my renal disease) speak to a registered dietician and show them your blood results.

If you want to supplement because you feel like you’re doing something for yourself - go for it.
No judgement from me.

But it’s probably going to be more beneficial for you to increase your veg intake, get an extra hour of sleep, and do a little bit of stretching.

Funnily enough - lots of the same people saying we shouldn’t be eating UPFs are the same ones that are horsing into the supplements.

Go figure 🤷🏼‍♀️
Touch some grass - it’ll do you good.

If you’re wondering why Pippy is my model for today, here it is;Pippy has very specific behaviours with food. She doesn’...
21/08/2026

If you’re wondering why Pippy is my model for today, here it is;

Pippy has very specific behaviours with food. She doesn’t rush to it, she can hoard an apple for days just because…

She doesn’t bite your fingers when you’re paying the cheese tax. There’s no urgency.

Her cousin, Danny, on the other hand, is a savage. He would take your arm to the elbow…. After you’ve told him to be gentle.

Now before you think I’m comparing people to dogs… take a breath.

I’m comparing a state. Relaxation around food, enjoyment, appreciation….

Versus, urgency, a sense of lack, constantly looking for and thinking about the next meal.

We help clients to understand where the urgency comes from…. Whether it’s a physical prompt like hunger because you’ve been “so good all day”….

Or is it about how you think.

When it’s happening, all we see is the craving, the need to eat…. We don’t take the extra few steps of pulling on the threads of that thinking and understanding it.

In a world where ‘6 week bodies’ are the trend and as thin as possible appears to be à la mode, we want to work with women who know that 12 weeks is just the beginning.

12 weeks is just laying the foundation for change. Real change takes time, support and a willingness for growth.

If you’re ready for that change, we are opening our group coaching again for September.

12 weeks of 1-1 sessions, group education, introduction to movement and psychoeducation, all enclosed in a single package.

Are you ready to really pay attention to what your body is telling you?

DM me with JOIN and let’s chat.

Making a quick comeback to advertise our trusty camper. Completely renovated horse box in 2021. Replaced walls and floor...
28/07/2026

Making a quick comeback to advertise our trusty camper. Completely renovated horse box in 2021. Replaced walls and floors, full electrics with leisure battery. Touch lighting with phone charge ports. Completely insulated with laminate floor and kick boards. L shaped couch with under seat storage, folds out to large double bed. €15,000.

Selling our awesome horse box / camper. €15,000. Full electrics inside with leisure battery. Phone charging ports and li...
28/07/2026

Selling our awesome horse box / camper.
€15,000.

Full electrics inside with leisure battery. Phone charging ports and lights.
Fully insulated. Floors and walls replaced in 2021. Original fibre glass roof. Camping window at the back with privacy screen. L shaped couch opens to double bed with under couch storage compartments.
Jockey door for access and front ramp with new flooring/rubber matting. In excellent condition - indoor storage year round when not in use.

08/07/2026

My first exposure to ‘nutrition’ was in my PT programme in 2002 (yup….. 24 yrs ago)

It contained the basics.
Food pyramid, macros, energy balance…..
The importance of fuelling your workout.

The conversation was centred around ‘eat this way to stay thin’.
So that was my perspective on nutrition from that programme.

Eating and exercise was for ‘thinness’.

As I explored more, I discovered precision nutrition and my eyes were opened to the behavioural side of food.

I began to understand how environment, sleep, stress and genetics influence food behaviours.

It moved me away from the ‘blame’ model towards a model of empathy and collaboration…. But it still felt like it wasn’t enough.

Having acquired my undergrad in Medical Physics and Physiological Measurement in Dublin, I had a solid understanding of physiology and biology…. So I progressed towards a Masters in Exercise and Nutrition Science.

I wanted to understand the bigger picture…. How does how we use our bodies link with how we nourish our bodies?

It was a great programme - we spent days in a lab doing testing, more physiological measurements, history taking…. It was a huge challenge…
For my thesis, I explored whether a simple phone intervention influenced blood pressure reduction within a walking group compared to a control.
Unfortunately, the weather turned, attrition rate was too high to make any meaningful assertions as to the effectiveness of the intervention.

I still felt it wasn’t enough.
I wanted practical experience…. So I started bodybuilding.

Competed twice….
Developed orthorexia….
Packaged restriction as success….
Binged entire roast chickens and loaves of bread….

It was grim.

Started (during that phase) an evidence based post graduate diploma with the IOPN (which at the time was SENr accredited. It no longer is so wouldn’t recommend as you’ll have to do a shed load of work for portfolio).

That programme literally took me on a journey of biochemistry, deep dives on human physiology, reams of white papers and buckets of research.

It took the consensus research papers and translated them to practice.

Game changer.
More in

05/07/2026

Seeking and savouring moments that bring me joy….

Something that stood out to me during the was the importance of savouring the little pebbles of joy that we collect throughout the day.

Observing or recording these moments provide us with a ‘bank’ of happy memories or pebbles that collect to contribute to positive affect.

A type of gratitude practice if you like.

What moments have you collected this weekend?

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