Fiona Groves: A Journey to Success in Health and Fitness

Active from a young age, Fiona Groves, 42, has had her fair share of ups and downs with her health, but she’s found her balance.

With more than a decade of experience—Fiona became a certified personal trainer in 2010 and now works as a mind-body nutrition, fitness, and body image coach—you might assume that living a healthy lifestyle has always been easy for her.

From Childhood Athletics to Personal Trainer and Body Image Coach

Fitness has always been a part of her life—as a kid she was involved in track & field, netball, touch rugby, tennis, dance, and cross-country running, and then in her mid-20s she started lifting weights. It wasn’t long after that that she decided to pursue a career in fitness.

Healing from Eating Disorders and Bodybuilding Struggles

But she shares that she has a long history of food and body challenges, including eating disorders. “I have spent many years healing my relationship with food and body, which is why it is my passion to help others to heal,” she says. When she got into bodybuilding, that presented other challenges, too. ‘I have had my fair share of struggles after bodybuilding comps.  But I see these as learning experiences, and am fortunate to be able to share this with others in order to help them not go through the same struggles.”

Embracing Imperfection and Learning from Experiences

She credits her husband, her family, close friends, and loyal clients as the inner circle that gives her strength. Her coaches, too, have helped her stay the course. She’s also learned along the way that you don’t have to be perfect. “I have worked hard to overcome perfectionism and to get to a place where I have a mindful attitude and relationship with food, body, eating, and training,” she says. At the same time, she wouldn’t change anything about her journey thus far. “All of it is a part of who I am today, my story.  We learn from our experiences, good and bad.” She feels fortunate now to be in a position to help others based on her experiences.

Self-Care as a Priority

For her now, self-care is now the most important part of her program. She makes sure to take regular breaks from technology and also makes time to read, go camping, hiking, and both downhill and cross-country skiing.

Passion for Bodybuilding and Addiction to Crossfit

As for her workouts of choice, bodybuilding remains a big focus. Groves has competed in 10 bodybuilding shows to date, with more slated for Fall 2021. Crossfit is also a big part of her program; she confesses she is addicted to it since discovering it three years ago. “I love the challenge of the WODs and skills, and also the community.”

Nowadays, professionally, it’s not about her own success but her clients.” It is about my clients’ healing and/or achieving their goals. Their success is my success,” she says, and she stands behind her mantra when it comes to working towards success: “Overcome your limiting beliefs, and believe in yourself, and nothing will stop you.”

Photos by Mikey Stevenson