Donna: You're 6'4' and I've seen you put away some enormous buckets of salad, but what was your diet like before you started changing your physique?

Matt: My typical breakfast consisted of either 12 Weetbix and canned fruit of 12 pieces of toast with honey and jam (no, that's not a typo - he said 12!) ... or sometime both at once!

Donna: Eeek! That's enough to send into a diabetic coma! How did you feel after this massive rush of sugar?

Matt: I would start eating this kind of food and couldn't stop. The only thing that would stop me would be I would run out of time and have to go to work! I would feel hungry within two hours of eating breakfast and eat again... some sort of roll (or rolls!) from the bakery and some fat-free yoghurt - two tubs. Lunch would have consisted of more bread rolls, filled with potato salad or pasta salad, tuna, a banana and some muesli bars. Of course, following this I would want to curl up and go to sleep! I never had any energy after lunch so sometimes I would eat some more to try and keep me going. You should have seen the size of my lunch bag! After work I was ravenous and would eat whatever I could find in the cupboard. Of course... that old "no carbs after 4pm" rule and had been drummed into me, so I had to make the most of it! Dinner? Chicken and veggies. Of course... no carbs!

Donna: I think I feel ill! I'm a little scared to ask, but what about training back then?

Matt: I would get up at 5:30am and train my butt off for an hour - sometimes running before the gym would open. When I woke up I felt like a truck had hit me but I wouldn't dare take the day off training, regardless of how bad I felt. My days back then were filled with some pretty physical labour. I was doing landscape gardening... you know, digging holes, planting trees, laying grass and pavers. And if that wasn't enough, I would get home and train some more - either swimming or running - until I dropped! At one stage I was also training some clients before and after work and I did their workouts with them too! I'm telling you this because now I know better. Please - don't try this at home! I was trying to get as lean as possible for a pending model agency photo shoot. Not surprisingly, this gruelling schedule almost killed me. I was always tired and injured. My body was screaming at me but I never stopped to rest. While I knew his routine wasn't working for me, when I tried to cut down on the carbs and stuck with salads, I felt so tired and dizzy I went back to the old way and ate... and ate, and ate!

Donna: What a trooper. A mad man... but a trooper none the less! How has it all changed now?

Matt: I eat a sensible three meals a day and they are usually about 4-6 hours apart. I don't have food on my mind all the time like I used to because my blood sugar is stable. The only food I crave these days is my cherry protein shake - I love them! If I do have something"bad" to eat, which is rare, I pay the price and get a food "handover"... much the same feeling as drinking too much alcohol. I walk everyday for 40-60 minutes... a great way to relax and clear your head. I listen to my body a lot more these days and if I'm feeling flat or run down, I take a day off training and allow my body to recover. My energy levels are always high and they have to be as I my work 14 hours a day. My body temperature is a lot better and I can now handle the cold weather. I didn't give supplements the time of day until I met Donna and now I don't go a day without them. Each day I take multi-vitamins, cod liver oil, B-complex, flaxseed oil and glutamine to keep my body functioning to its optimum.