AT THE TABLE WITH... PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL PLAYER AND EXPERT IN ANXIETY ATTACKS TOM PIETERMAAT

Known as a professional footballer, Tom Pietermaat has also grown enormously as a person in recent years on a personal level.
A strong personality, self-aware and he gives you food for thought. This is also the case with the new course we have recorded about anxiety attacks. After years of having anxiety attacks himself, he can now look back on it, put everything into perspective and he does this together with you during the course about anxiety attacks.

Before we start Tom, would you like to introduce yourself first. Who are you?
"My name is Tom Pietermaat, I am 30 years old. I completed my secondary education in the direction of Topsport football-Mathematics. After this I also completed a bachelor's degree in Marketing. I never did anything with my studies. Since I was 18 I have played football professionally and I still do. My busy lifestyle and suicidal programming made me realize at the age of 27 that I needed a different way of life. A much more conscious way of life that has given me a lot in recent years. I'll see what the future brings, I don't know yet and I'd like to be surprised by it. As long as I know that I am making the conscious choices every day that are best for my body, mind and soul, I am convinced that wonderful things will come my way."

"My ultimate goal in life is to raise our daughter in every possible way the way we always wanted to be raised."

What do you do in everyday life?
"I play football, which means that a lot of my time revolves around this. I currently do this at Patro Eisden Maasmechelen. Of course, I spend most of my time there, both during the week and in the weekend. In addition, I have more than enough free time that I prefer to spend with our family; my wife, our beautiful 16-month-old daughter and our 2 golden retrievers. I also try to delve into books, podcasts or other media that help me on my path to awareness. I personally like fasting, the intermittent living concept, meditating and also enjoying delicious, unprocessed, healthy food during my food window."

What is your philosophy on life?
"My drive to do what I do comes mainly from the energy that I experience and feel when doing what I do. I like to check in with myself to feel whether what I do actually gives me a nice feeling or not. If this is not the case, I simply eliminate it from my routines or from my life. My ultimate goal in life is to raise our daughter in every possible way the way we would always want to do it. That we create freedom for ourselves in all areas so that we can always consciously make the right choice for her."

What really makes you happy?
"It doesn't have to be much. It can be small things; the sun shining through the trees in the forest. The sun shining on my skin. The wonderfully sweet smile of our daughter. A beautiful walk with the dog in the forest. A coffee or matcha in the morning. There are so many more. But especially the non-material things. That's where my real happiness lies."

What is your guilty pleasure?
"I love healthy, unprocessed food. Living as consciously as possible on different levels. But to keep a body in balance, physically and mentally, sometimes a downside is also needed. So every now and then I can really enjoy delicious Belgian fries, with everything on it, and an incredible number of different sauces. Or a pizza barbecue at the Pizza Hut. Delicious tiramisu with speculaas. Those are the kind of cheat meals that sometimes pass by here and that you can wake me up for. On the other hand, I can just as much enjoy sweet potato fries, a delicious salmon fillet and some green vegetables. Again, there has to be balance and everything at the right time in life." - says Tom.