You never hear an unhappy host on breakfast radio, do you? Everyone sounds chipper, not tired, and enthusiastic rather than exhausted. So how do they bounce out of bed so full of life when the rest of us would be stumbling around half awake?
Well, according to Nova star Matt de Groot, they don’t.
“We’re getting to the end of the year now and after 52 weeks of 4am alarms, you start watching that finish line very closely,” he tells Health Hacker.
“Everyone has their own way of dealing with it but the truth is there is no way a 4am alarm will ever be a good thing. It doesn’t matter what your strategy is, when the alarm goes off, you’re going to be miserable. It’s a terrible thing to happen.
“Getting out of bed is the hardest thing in the world. But once you’re up it’s actually okay.”
Like the thousands of other Australians who work outside normal business hours, de Groot has developed his own strategies for dealing with the early starts required for his role on the Fitzy and Wippa show.
“For me, the two keys are a nap in the afternoon, which I love. And staying fit. It means you feel fresh and energised, you can do more with your day, and you’re not going to feel as tired and sluggish,” de Groot says.
“If I’m in bed by 9.30pm or 10pm, I can make it work. Any later than that and I’m freaking out.
“But for us, it’s one hour of hurt in the morning but we’re finished at 12pm and we get the
afternoon to ourselves. Would I trade that for an hour or two of extra sleep and working until 5pm? Not interested.”
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While it’s hard to tell by listening to him on radio, de Groot has gone through a massive health overhaul over the past couple of years, dropping a huge 25kg and turning to exercise to give him the energy boost he needs each morning.
So does that mean he’s officially a gym junkie now? Not exactly.
“I’m not intrinsically a fit person. I’m a fat person who has to try every day to be a fit person,” he says.
“But I’ve learned it’s easier to stay fit than to get fit.”
FAST FACTS ON … OVERHAULING YOUR HEALTH
with Matt de Groot
1. Follow your own path
“I think I’m weak-willed, I really do,” de Groot says.
“I hate going for long runs, for example. I just go to water. But if you said we were going to train for 30 seconds and take a quick break, then I could go for an hour.
“You just learn what works for you.”
2. Score own-goals
“I initially started losing weight for my brother’s wedding and then I wanted to be fit for a trip to America,” he says.
“Then I got married at the start of the year and shredding for the wedding is just as important for men as it is for women.
“The year before I had a charity boxing match. You just find all these little goals to keep reaching for.”
3. Don’t drop your phone
“Picture eating like dropping your phone. When you drop it once, you don’t think ‘well I’ve dropped it now, so it doesn’t matter if I drop it five more times today’,” de Groot says.
“Food is the same – just because you eat something bad doesn’t mean you need to make more bad choices that day.”
ASK ADAM
Question: I find it impossible to stick to any kind of diet at this time of year, what with all the lunches and parties and all that kind of stuff. How do people not come off the health and fitness rails around New Year’s Eve?
Answer: Great question, and first things first, it’s absolutely fine to relax your health and fitness goals around the holidays. You need to be kind to yourself and having delicious food with family and friends is what this time of year is all about!
But there are some tips to minimise the impact of the holidays on your fitness goals.
For one, start the day right with a healthy breakfast or shake, so you feel fuller for longer, and ditch the empty-calorie snacks.
* Send your questions to adam@themanshake.com.au
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Adam MacDougall is the creator of The Man Shake. A new, healthy, weight loss shake that is low in sugar, full of protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals that you can have on the run and leaves you feeling full.
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