Ashton Photography
Gabrielle Maston

INTRODUCING DIETITIAN EXTRAORDINAIRE, NUTRITIONALIST, COLUMNIST FOR 'THAT'S LIFE' MAGAZINE AND AUTHOR

 GABRIELLE  MASTON

1       Please tell us a little bit about your background.

         A:   I grew up in Sydney within a Latin American household. I was always an organised and studious child with perfectionistic qualities and still am today! I have always played sports and loved studying. Growing up I learned to love cooking and learning about food. Currently I run my own nutrition and exercise business. My favourite past time is cooking, writing, reading and playing sports… I guess nothing has changed!

2     You are in the health, wellness & fitness industry.  Have you always wanted to follow such a career or did you aspire to do something else when you were younger?

       A:  I have always been involved in sports and ate healthy food. The human body is fascinating to me. So it was a natural progression to get into the health and wellness industry that evolved around staying fit and healthy. There was a stage of about 2 years where I was adamant I was going to work in business management. I went to uni to study it for a year and decided it wasn’t for me - it was too boring. Exercise science and nutrition came naturally to me. So I transferred courses - the rest is history.

Gabrielle's book -
'Recipes For The Weekend Warrior'

3      You are a clinical & sports dietitian, nutritionist & exercise physiologist, a personal trainer and practitioner as well as being the director of 'Changing Shape'.  Wow.  What made you set out to be such a picture of health?

       A:   I don’t know any other way. I always ask myself, if I could be doing anything else in the world right now what would I do? The only other idea I have, than do what I am already doing, is to be a paid professional athlete. Unfortunately genetics didn’t allow this and I am a bit too old now. But I can certainly help and work with recreational and professional athletes in area that I love. What I do doesn’t feel like work, and it comes easy to me. Some days I can’t even believe I make living out of it. Being healthy and advocating health is part of my lifestyle, it’s who I am. It’s both my professional and personal life.

4    You also have 'Channel 7 - That's Life Magazine' in your profile.  Can you tell us a little about that please?  How that started etc.

       A:   My affiliation with That’s Life Magazine is an awesome outcome from my blog. I have been writing and health and wellness blog for about 3 years. My blog is informative and empowering. It addresses current diet and exercise trends as well as my own personal experiences. The assistant Editor was doing a search one day looking for a dietitian to help with on a project they were running and sent me an email. They obviously liked me and I have been with them every since. I thoroughly enjoy working with the That’s Life Magazine team, they are always so positive, and a magazine that is very empowering to women.

'The ABC Of Good Nutrition'

5     Who and/or what are your inspirations?

       A:    I don’t really have any? I look up to senior dietitians in my industry because of their wealth of knowledge. I also find some of the books I read to be inspiring at the time, but I don’t get fixated on any individuals per-se. Celebrities don’t impress me, because I don’t live their life, I live my own.  What impresses me, is my own ability to achieve things, I never thought possible.


6     What do you do in your 'spare' time?

       A:  I take my dog for a walk, spend time with my boy friend, travel. I do like to keep busy though, so my typical weekend would consist of a run or swim, a visit to the markets and lunch at a funky café.

7     Have you appeared on television at all for any reason?

       A:  Yes I have been on TV for That’s Life Magazine body blast weight loss challenge. I was the expert dietitian that developed the meal plans and recipes. I was involved in a segment on the morning show. In addition to this, I have been on Ready Steady Cook as a contestant. Which was loads of fun, in particular eating the dishes afterward.

8     Have you ever been bullied?

       A:  Yes several times during my life, the worse was at my last place of employment, where I left for the day a few times in tears. It was really awful, due to personal circumstances it was difficult to leave, so I had to stick it out for a duration. Which was a terrible position to be in.

9    Whether you have been bullied or not, do you feel that the governments and schools around the world are doing enough to try to combat this problem?

      A:    I don’t know if this is a government problem. I do think it’s a way society has developed over time, a lot of people seem to have a sense of entitlement and over developed egos. Where this trend has developed I don’t know? I think for an adult to be a respectable member of society, who treats people properly it comes from the family unit. It comes from feeling, loved, valued and supported. That’s not something you can teach at schools, or something the law can enforce.

It has to come from parents, instilling moral values and ethics to their children. Bullies naturally have a poor sense of self-esteem and an over developed sense of entitlement, it is a way to express their own negative personal experiences. It has nothing to do with the victims of the bullying themselves.

10   What more do you feel the above could do to try to either decrease bullying hugely or eliminate it altogether?

       A:  Within organisations I feel it ridiculous that employment laws prevent bullies from being removed from organisations and reprimanded for their actions.  Companies should be protected via legislation, to enable to remove these people. In addition awareness campaigns for bullying could aid to bring this matter to light and hopefully work as a preventative measure.


11   You are also an author.  How many books do you have published?

       A:  I have self published 3 ebooks on nutrition. Each book has been a long process, my latest one is a sports nutrition recipe book, I am extremely happy its almost finished!

12     Are they self published or traditionally?

         A:  Self published.

'How To Look Good Nude'

13    Where do you envisage your career to be in ten years' time?

  A:  I see my self as an international presenter and holding more media space. I love performing, public speaking and sharing knowledge. It would be the best way to spread the word of health and fitness to the masses. Help people get healthy in a seamless, fun way. 


14         What is on the drawing board for Gabrielle Maston for 2014?

     A:    Personally I want to compete in a few triathlons and start writing a new book… I don’t know what on yet? I have to see what comes to mind!

15              Do you have a message you would like to impart to the world?

      A:  Nothing good ever came without sacrifice, so go out and do something challenging!