Kia ora! Hello! Let me introduce myself.
I am Jamie Scott, New Zealand Registered Nutritionist, strength coach, and now proudly offering support and advice to the Frontrunner community. I have always admired the ethos and passion of Oska and the wider Frontrunner team. The support they offer to everyone is amazing, and something I have felt personally and been privileged to receive in my own life. It is now exciting to be a part of the team and be able to give something back.
In my role as a Nutritionist, I have worked with a wide variety of individuals over the years - everyone from those wanting to simply have enough energy to get through their day, through to high-performance athletes, including Frontrunner faces, Katherine Camp, and Oska himself. While there are many factors individuals have in play which influence their food and nutrition, the common ground I see, almost without exception these days, is people not fuelling themselves enough to maintain their energy and vitality.
Ask any good coach about what is the key to making progress and developing your fitness and capacity, and it is consistency. It is hard to stay consistent, showing up to do the basics of training, day in, day out, month after month, season after season, if our energy levels are up and down like a rollercoaster. Indeed, if I think about the one piece of consistent feedback I have had from working with Oska for the past 5 or so years, it has been that the changes we have made with his nutrition have allowed him to stay healthy, and maintain his energy levels, which in turn has allowed him to show up and do the work. Nothing flash. Nothing fancy.
Of course, it is easy to see how the opposite holds true, too. That one amazing workout, that one big run counts for little (in terms of longer term progress) if it is followed by a couple of weeks of low motivation, missed sessions, illness and injury (ask Oska what life was like before we rebooted his nutrition). Sadly, at a time when everyone is looking to cut either carbs, fats, or proteins, or some combination thereof, all depending on which diet tribe they are aligning themselves with, combined with the ever quickening pace of life and the associated demands, a loss of energy and vitality, motivation and consistency, is more often the norm, and is often framed as some sort of individual failing - “laziness”, “lacking discipline”, “no willpower”, etc.
Which brings me to my why. All too often, introductions focus on the who (Jamie Scott) and the what (Nutritionist), but rarely do they focus on the why and the deeper underlying values of what is driving and motivating an individual’s acts of service. Frontrunner is ostensibly a shoe shop. Oska is a business owner. But if you have spent any more than 5 minutes in the store, with any of the team there, or you follow them on social media (or here via their resources page), you will know that things run much deeper than that. This comes down to Oska’s why, his values and vision.
My why - what gets me out of bed in the morning - is my desire to help improve people’s energy, vitality, and lust for life. To help them find the energy to not just survive, but to thrive in this crazy world. Specifically, I help people to focus on the ‘big rocks’ of health and wellbeing, so that people can have a greater capacity to live a fulfilling life. I wear many different hats to achieve this. Sometimes I’m a nutritionist. Sometimes I’m a strength and conditioning coach. Sometimes I’m a public speaker. Sometimes, like now, I’m a writer. The vehicle might differ, but the journey is the same.
Over the coming weeks and months, we’ll put out a regular call for your nutrition and training questions (though don’t feel limited to just those areas - there are a lot of bases I can cover relating to general health and performance). Please feel free to get involved and ask that burning question. Chances are, if you are wondering about something, someone else is too. I’m looking forward to hearing from you.
Jamie.
