What sparked your passion for healthy food and living?
I am originally from Lennox Head in northern New South Wales, Australia, so I grew up spending my days keeping active on the beach and participating in Surf Club (Surf Lifesaving), playing sport, hiking and surfing. I always ate really well and had an active life but when your body is your product you need to be the best you can be, so my training really kicked into gear when I moved to Sydney to model.
How can people realistically kick-start a healthier diet?
I think that if you want to make a lifestyle change stick, you have to make achievable changes that suit you as an individual. If you decide to try a new diet or way of eating, stick with it for a few weeks to give your body a chance to adjust and to see how it reacts. Not every diet suits every person; you need to find what suits you.
I believe in the old adage, ‘everything in moderation’. Keep your produce fresh and try to cook at home as much as possible so you know exactly which ingredients are going into your meals.
“I believe in the old adage, ‘everything in moderation’.”
Are you a breakfast lover?
Yes! My favourite breakfast is avocado on soy and linseed toast with lemon and cracked pepper and a fresh juice. If I am treating myself, French toast topped with fresh fruit and maple syrup is so good!
What supplements do you take, if any?
I take silica capsules and a multivitamin daily. For my training I take L-Carnitine.
Were you always a fit person?
Exercise is a way of life for me. We only have one body and we need to take care of it in every way possible. I was lucky enough to grow up in a beautiful part of the world with a family that loves the outdoors so being fit isn’t something I have to think about; health and fitness is my day-to-day life.
“We only have one body and we need to take care of it in every way possible.”
What do you want people to learn from your app?
I want people to learn that they can train no matter where they are. I have created the app so that you can use it with free weights in the gym or without any weights in the park. Our schedules are getting busier and not everyone can manage to go to the gym for an hour or more to work out every day so we have to do the best we can with the time we have.
The app is essentially a record of my current favourite workouts and they are designed to help people choose a circuit based on their allocated time frame and fitness level. I think that for many people part of the problem with staying on track is the fact that they don’t know what to do in the gym, they get bored of their programme or they find working out too expensive. HANxFIT – a platform for women to use workouts designed by a qualified personal trainer – is really affordable.
“At the end of the day you have to want the change yourself.”
How do you encourage people to get motivated?
I hope that I can inspire people to stay on track by regularly adding fresh content and also by interacting with my audience through social media channels. But at the end of the day you have to want the change yourself.
And stay motivated?
I think that it is difficult for anyone who is making a lifestyle change to keep motivated at all times. With that in mind my main goal would be to really create and build an online community on the X Cast channel, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter where people can interact, make friends and be part of something. A common interest is always a good conversation point and having friends share an experience with you is a great way to stay on track.
What do you think of the idea that it’s 80 per cent food and 20 per cent exercise?
To me they are both as important as each other. Again, it’s about balance. Eating well and being active go hand in hand. You can’t feed your body bad food and expect it to work at maximum performance. When you are healthy on the inside, it shows on the outside.
“You can’t feed your body bad food and expect it to work at maximum performance. When you are healthy on the inside, it shows on the outside.”
How do you feel tech is changing the face of fitness?
I think that it is making fitness a lot more accessible and affordable than ever before. You have tons of workouts at your fingertips, plus you can use apps that track your progress in more ways than just weight loss. Heart rate, distance and speed are all good measures to keep you on track with your fitness journey as focusing solely on weight loss can be negative. And if you don’t want to spend money on a gym subscription, an app can help inspire you to train from the comfort of your own home or the local park.
“Heart rate, distance and speed are all good measures to keep you on track with your fitness journey as focusing solely on weight loss can be negative.”
What’s your weekly workout routine?
It really depends on my schedule, but in an ideal world I would do cardio and gym in the morning and something again in the afternoon. I will train for around 1-2 hours each day depending on how much time I have available. For cardio, I like to run and this would either be in the form of a distance run (about 10km) or sprint training on a treadmill.
For strength training it really depends on where I am. I will go to the gym a few days per week and use free weights, but I will also do a few days in the park working using my body weight only. When I am at home in Sydney I use the gym more. I also do pilates, yoga and aerobics classes.
