Mersea mum turned fitness influencer with almost 50k followers to release cookbook

Lisa-Maria Kirwan, 36, from Colchester, now lives in West Mersea with partner Paul Miller and children Molly-Mai and Paddy.

As someone who has always been into fitness, Lisa-Maria decided to post daily workout videos and tips on Instagram and YouTube after being furloughed from her recruitment role in social care in 2020.

What started out as a way of keeping fit at home soon escalated into the mum of two earning thousands of followers.

Family – (left to right) Paul Miller, Lisa-Maria Kirwan, Molly-Mai Kirwan, and Paddy Kirwan (Image: Lisa Maria-Kirwan) Just a few years later, Lisa-Maria has gained physical trainer and nutritional qualifications, and through her This Fit Mum page, she has amassed more than 47,000 followers.

She has also launched a successful online coaching business.

Lisa-Maria said: “I started doing live work-outs to help other people – a lot of people were struggling without the gym at the time.

“It got quite a lot of traction. I was contacted by ITV and they put me on an evening news programme.

“The Gazette supported me – it was all accidental really, but nice.

“Ultimately, I thought I need to see how I can help people more seriously, so I created my limited company and started doing online coaching to help women with dieting and fitness.”

Lisa-Maria started sharing cooking recipes and videos of the meals she ate.

Inspiring others – Lisa Maria-Kirwan with some of her recipes (Image: Lisa Maria-Kirwan) In August, she was contacted by a publishing company called Found, which wanted to collate some of her favourite recipes into a cookbook.

Entitled Fit Mum Meal Prep, the book contains ten breakfast recipes, 30 meals suitable for lunch and dinner, and three “sweet treat” recipes.

From protein pancakes and overnight oats to Chinese ‘fakeaway’, pasta dishes, or comfort foods like slow-cooked beef, coronation chicken or stir-fry, all the dishes in the book are nutritional and healthy.

The book is available to pre-order from early December and on sale from December 23.

Lisa-Maria said: “It is very exciting, it reaffirmed what I am doing and made me feel proud.

Cookbook – Fit Mum meal prep (Image: Lisa Maria-Kirwan) “It’s about helping empower women, I have seen so many women struggle to take control of their life and nutrition.

“Women are the head of the households, in general speaking, teaching partners and children, if we can educate mums, who then educate their family, hopefully we are tackling an issue on a larger scale.

“It is more than a cookbook, it is teaching mums and the next generation, what nutrition should look like.

“I am very passionate about wholefoods and eating real food, opposed to pre-packaged food.

“I want to show people you can cook wholefoods at home. It doesn’t have to be time consuming, you can do it quickly.

“To improve your diet, better food doesn’t have to be bland and boring. I’m giving people tools, power and information, to eat better and to help themselves be healthier.”

To find out more, visit thisfitmum.com.