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Monday 6:30pm - 8pm Tuesday 10:15am - 1:30pm 6:30pm - 8pm Wednesday 10:45am - 1:30pm Thursday 10:15am - 1:30pm

Melissa Smith Total Wellbeing

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Oamaru
Melissa Smith Total Wellbeing

Registered Nutritionist and Registered Personal Trainer. Health, nutrition, sport, exercise, energy.

06/01/2026

After a busy end to 2025 and some much-needed time to switch off, we hope everyone has had a great break and enjoyed some quality time with family, friends, and a bit of rest. We’ve loved spending some slower days together up in Otematata and are feeling refreshed and excited for the year ahead!

As we start to ease back into work and routines, we wanted to share a quick update on what’s happening across our training and wellbeing services here in Oamaru.

Our Rowing Club gym continues to be a key part of what we offer. It’s a supportive, welcoming training space for people who want to move well, build strength, and train consistently in a calm environment.

Here’s what’s currently available and coming up:

• Rowing Club Gym Memberships: A quieter, lifestyle-focused gym with space to train, coaching support, and a strong community feel.

• Structured Strength Classes: Guided, progressive strength training sessions which are free for members.

• Personal Training with Craig Smith: Craig is now available for 1:1 personal training, supporting adults and youth with strength and conditioning, movement quality, confidence in the gym, and long-term progression.

• Nutrition consultations with Melissa: Clinical and sports nutrition support for energy, performance, gut health, body composition, and building sustainable habits around food.

• Youth Athlete Development programmes: Spaces for Term 1 sessions will be opening soon, with a focus on movement, strength, confidence, and age-appropriate athletic development.

We’re also looking ahead to introducing some new class options, so keep an eye out for updates!

If you’ve been thinking about getting back into routine, starting something new, or having more support with training or nutrition, we’d love to hear from you.

Message us to chat or to find out what might suit you best.

23/12/2025

Athlete Foundry.

We’ve shared the why. Now here’s a little more about what we’re building.

Athlete Foundry will be a dedicated performance training space that brings independent training and coached programmes together under one roof.

The space is being designed to support:

▪️24/7 access for members
▪️Youth athlete development programmes
▪️Adult training, either independently or with individualised programming via app
▪️Collaboration with local teams and clubs
▪️Recovery services including sauna, ice baths, and compression therapy
▪️Dedicated turf space to support athletic movement, speed, and conditioning
▪️Performance testing tools, including timing gates and force plates

The focus is on quality movement, space to train, and an environment that supports long-term progression.

Athlete Foundry is planned to open April 2026, or sooner.

We’ll be opening a waitlist in the New Year for those who want to stay connected and receive updates as the space comes together. Waitlist members will be the first to hear about Founding Membership opportunities when they are available.

Follow us at .foundry to keep up to date!

21/12/2025

We’ve been working on something behind the scenes for a while now, and it feels like the right time to share it.

The past few weeks have been an exciting one for us, with not one but two leases signed. We’ve recently renewed our lease at the rowing club and, alongside that, secured a lease for a new space that opens up the next chapter of what we’re building.

Earlier this year, we piloted our youth athlete development and sport academy programmes. That pilot quickly highlighted the need for more space and a dedicated environment to properly support athlete development, not just for young athletes, but for anyone committed to training towards their goals.

As the programmes grew busier (and Mel ruptured her Achilles 😅), Craig jumped on board to help support the business day to day. That shift gave us the capacity to step back and build something bigger, with long-term purpose in mind.

That’s where Athlete Foundry was born. A 24/7 access performance training space designed to support athletes across all stages, from youth athlete development through to adults who want to train with purpose, refine movement and strength, and stay engaged in performance for life.

At Athlete Foundry, we believe that being an athlete isn’t about elite status. It’s about showing up, learning to move well, building resilience, and developing habits that support lifelong performance.

Athlete Foundry is planned to open April 2026, or sooner.

As we head into Christmas, we’re incredibly grateful for the community that’s supported our programmes. We’ll be sharing more very soon, including the Athlete Foundry brand and identity. We’d love for you to follow along!

19/11/2025

Last night I delivered a sports nutrition workshop for the Oamaru Rowing Club, and it was great to see so many young rowers and their parents keen to learn how to fuel well for training, school and growth.

Rowing is an energy-demanding sport, and one of the biggest take-home messages was the importance of baseline nutrition: eating well and eating enough each day - not just on race day! Athlete's might get race-day fuelling right, but performance can still be held back if they have been undereating in the days or weeks beforehand.

We talked about what good everyday fuelling looks like, how much energy rowers actually need, and simple ways to spread carbohydrates and protein across the day to support training, recovery and development.

We also covered the signs of chronic underfuelling and how it can affect strength, technique, mood and long-term health.

One of the key reminders was that athletes have multiple chances throughout the day to fuel their bodies well through meals, snacks and top-ups before and after training. These small, consistent choices make a big difference over time.

Nutrition is often the missing piece of the performance puzzle and building these habits early sets athletes up for a strong, healthy season. 💛🖤🚣‍♀️

13/10/2025

✨Because sometimes the first step isn’t weight loss, it’s rebuilding trust.✨

This message summed up exactly what I want people to feel when they work with me. I see, time and again, women who’ve spent their lives on diets, fearing food (especially carbs) and believing their worth is tied to the number on the scales.

This message from a client’s family member meant the world to me, because what she found in our session wasn’t another diet. It was safety, kindness, and the start of learning how to nourish her body instead of punishing it. We talked about what it really means to build trust with food again, and how to move away from the fear that decades of dieting can create.

We explored core beliefs, those old stories like ‘thin = lovable’ or ‘food = comfort.’ Once we start questioning where those beliefs come from, we can rewrite them into something far more powerful.

There is never any judgment when you come to see me. It’s a safe space to talk honestly about your goals, and also food, your body, and the beliefs that have shaped your relationship with both.

I always meet clients where they’re at, starting the journey from the place they need most, which in this case wasn’t focusing on weight loss. Often, when those core beliefs are addressed and healthy eating and lifestyle principles are applied consistently, weight loss follows naturally.

Together, we start to unpack those old stories and replace them with new ones built around nourishment, strength, and self-compassion.

When you stop chasing smaller and start focusing on stronger, in both your body and your mind, everything changes. 🌈

30/09/2025

One of our gym members, Caitlin Todd, is taking on a huge challenge with her friend Brianna to raise money for Caitlin’s niece, Indie, who is bravely fighting cancer.

They’ll be rowing 232km — one kilometre for every day Indie has been in this fight — and you can get involved!

📍 Where: Oamaru Rowing Club
📅 When: Saturday 1st November

🎉Facebook Event Link: Row For Indie - https://www.facebook.com/share/1ZcU5FaiNh/?mibextid=wwXIfr

How you can support:
- Buy a raffle ticket – available from the start of the event.
- Enjoy a sausage sizzle at lunchtime.
- Jump on a rower and knock off a kilometre or two to help them out.
- Donate directly to the Givealittle – https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/supporting-indie-and-the-todd-family

To read more about Indie’s journey, see The Timaru Herald:

https://www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/360816752/family-awaits-funding-news-little-indies-fight-against-rare-brain-tumour

Let’s rally behind Caitlin and Brianna to support Indie and her family! 💜

21/09/2025

✨ What an incredible day! ✨

I had the absolute privilege of speaking at the Menopause Conference on Saturday, alongside some truly amazing experts. The room was full of energy, connection, and so much valuable knowledge being shared.

We covered everything from nutrition, exercise, hormones, and mental health, giving participants the tools to thrive through this transition.

Here are some of the key takeaways from my session:

🥗 Balanced meals matter. Build your plate with protein, colourful plants, low GI carbs, and healthy fats. Carbs are not the enemy — they provide energy, support mood, and provide fibre, which is especially important for gut health and appetite regulation.

🥩 Protein is essential. Aim for around 1.6g of protein per kilogram of body weight. If you’re starting from a lower intake, even 1.2g/kg is a great first step. Spread your protein evenly throughout the day. Skipping meals makes it very difficult to meet your total protein and energy needs, especially if you’re trying to lose weight while maintaining muscle.

🏋🏻‍♀️ Strength training is key to protecting muscle and bone health. You don’t need to lift super heavy weights — any rep range works as long as the last 1–2 reps feel challenging. Start where you feel comfortable and progress gradually.

🎀 Be cautious of the “pink bow tax.” Many supplements marketed to midlife women promise quick fixes but lack strong evidence. Look for proven ingredients, transparent labelling, and therapeutic doses, which are impossible to confirm in proprietary blends. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

A huge thank you to Stacey from Movement Hub and Margie for organising, my fellow speakers, and all the incredible participants who came ready to learn and share.

Together, we’re rewriting the menopause story. 💪✨

16/09/2025

Life after high school brings freedom… but also responsibility.

Yesterday, Craig and I delivered a series of workshops to St Kevin’s Year 13 students to help them prepare for the transition to university, trades, or full-time work.

We explored how to:

✅ Build routines that balance study, social life, and health.
✅ Set non-negotiables – small daily habits that keep you grounded.
✅ Fuel your body with the right nutrition for focus, recovery, and energy.
✅ Manage stress, sleep, and movement to perform at your best.
✅ Access free support services at uni and in the community.

It was amazing to see these young people reflecting on what they need to thrive and setting their top 3 non-negotiables to guide them through this exciting next chapter.

It was also extra special as this was the first time Craig and I presented alongside each other and I couldn’t have asked for a better teammate! It was so rewarding to combine our knowledge to support the next generation!

Address

Oamaru Rowing Club
Oamaru
9400

Opening Hours

Monday	6:30pm - 8pm
Tuesday	10:15am - 1:30pm
	6:30pm - 8pm
Wednesday	10:45am - 1:30pm
Thursday	10:15am - 1:30pm

Website

http://www.melissasmithtotalwellbeing.co.nz/

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