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What An Ex-Rugby Player and Personal Trainer Eats Every Day

Sydney trainer Chris Feather trains six days a week.

Finding inspiration to eat healthier and workout more can be hard. But one thing that's sure to help light a fire under us is seeing exactly what other successful people do and eat to stay super fit, healthy and happy.

One such person is Chris Feather, trainer, founder and gym manager of 98 Riley Street Gym (owned by Russell Crowe) in Sydney. He's also an ex-professional Rugby League player, having played in the English Super League for 11 years and the Elite One Rugby in France for one year.

"I went to America and completed a qualification called Gym Jones, which is a type of training, in Salt Lake City -- they train similar to the special forces and trained the guys for the '300' movie. I got certification there and came back to Australia," Feather told HuffPost Australia.

"My exercise regime is fairly full on. I train six days a week at the gym with the lads and girls that work here -- a few who are ex-professional sportspeople -- and Sunday off to walk with my wife. We do fairly serious training as a group of trainers."

As you can imagine, Feather's diet must match his training -- it's full of lean protein, veggies, the right carbs and even plant-based protein. And there's room in Feather's diet for treats, too.

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"This is a standard day for me," Feather said. "We have a nutritionist that works alongside the gym, so I've been given a general diet plan to stick to throughout the day, but it needs to be realistic because I don't want to be making 30 meals on a Sunday night."

Mornings

"I get up at 4:30am in the morning and I have this drink with glutamine, lemon, manuka honey and apple cider vinegar first thing, every morning.

"Then I generally leave the house at a quarter to five, stop at my local coffee shop and get a strong cappuccino and then come to work. I usually have my first client in at 5am, so I generally work from 5am to 8am before I eat, as I just don't feel like eating when I first wake up."

After his first clients, Feather tucks into breakfast, followed by second breakfast.

"At about 8am I have a half an hour break and I'll usually have porridge with a scoop of organic plant protein, almond milk, blueberries and manuka honey on top, which fills me up pretty well," Feather said.

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"Then I'll be back to work from 8.30am until 11ish, where I'll have three poached eggs with spinach and mushrooms with dark rye toast."

While Feather aims to get his protein from whole foods, plant and whey protein help to push him to the line.

"I have the pea protein for breakfast -- either in a smoothie in summer, or porridge in winter -- and generally after training I'll have Body Science WPI protein. I try to get my protein through my diet, but it's not always as easy as that."

Midday

After a group training session with the gym crew, it's time for lunch.

"I'll work another couple of hours until about 1pm, where the trainers and I will train and pull in a session of 60-90 minutes, depending on what's planned," Feather told HuffPost Australia.

"After that I'll eat again, which is usually a pre-packed meal from a meal delivery service by Moodi Dennaoui. Generally it's some kind of meat or fish with vegetables -- today I had barramundi, sweet potato and broccoli. Yesterday I had meatballs, peas and zucchini pasta. As long as it's the right mix of macronutrients, you can get it from anywhere, really."

Chris Feather trains six days week, with Sunday being a walk day.
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Chris Feather trains six days week, with Sunday being a walk day.

This rule also applies to eating out, Feather explained.

"If you know what you should be eating, you can pick around the menu to find the best thing to eat," Feather said. "If I'm out at a meeting or at a cafe, I can pull that in and grab a zucchini salad with protein and sweet potato fries. At least I'm hitting those three elements. My diet needs to be convenient."

Afternoon

"I usually have a couple of hours off after lunch where I'll organise things for the gym, reply to all my emails and whatever else.

"At 3 or 4pm I'll have another coffee and a BSC protein bar, then I'll train another couple of clients."

Evening

"Then at 6 or 7pm I'll go home and have dinner, which is similar to lunch but without the carbs -- chicken, steak, fish or meatballs with plenty of greens," Feather said.

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"I'm from the north of England, a Yorkshireman, so I'll always have a cup of Yorkshire tea with my wife at 8 or 9 o'clock with a couple of biscuits like Tim Tams, watch TV and go to bed."

As for Feather's favourite 'treat' food, it's one we all have a special spot for. And it's totally okay to enjoy it every now and again.

"I'm an absolutely massive fan of pizza. I love pizza and could eat it every day, and I do eat it every week without fail," Feather said.

"I train really hard and I want to be really fit, but I also want to enjoy my life. Then the next morning I'll train and burn it off."

Cultura/BRETT STEVENS

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