Let’s welcome Sally Matterson, one of Sidney’s top body transformers and trainers.

She trains like I’ve never seen a woman train before. We’re going to have a bit of a chat on nutrition, training, and fat loss for busy moms.

There’s a real need for people to learn how to train smarter, not necessarily harder. We need someone who’s tried it all and know what’s working and what’s not.

There are a lot of women who are trying to get in shape after a baby. So, how do we fit it in with a baby and a busy life? It starts with what you can do before the baby. You need to get back to where you were, training, getting your heart rate up. You need to burn fat, but you also need to get stronger. Some people think that cardio is the secret. You want to have the nutritional side right. Getting it right means that you can train and strengthen your muscles. People who get nutrition don’t have to spend hours and hours doing cardio.

Most people have very high cortisol levels. It’s a stress hormone. Doing too much cardio elevates the cortisol even more. If you’re training well with weights, you can raise your heart rate and lower the cortisol at the same time. You don’t need to add in three cardio sessions too. For women who are used to training hard and sweating, you don’t need to do cardio to really get worn out in the gym. If you’re doing it right, you can use weights and get as tired as in a cardio session.

With your nutrition, you don’t need to be perfect. You can indulge one day a week and get a taste of the foods you really like. Maybe it’s something high-carb or something with more dairy, but you don’t have to eliminate it all together from your diet. Generally, I recommend that this be at night. I’ve found that if people start their day with a “cheat meal,” it tends to go into the next one and the next. This isn’t forever. You can do it for six weeks to get your body to reset and then add back in what you’ve eliminated slowly. You don’t have to count calories or weigh food. For the most part, I’m a big fan of adding in more protein. I don’t think that most women (or even some men), eat enough.

So, I give people a protein target and that along with good carbohydrates and good fats, that’s where I come from. As long as you hit your protein target, you’ll find that you naturally eat less of the carbohydrates and fats. As long as you get your protein in, the rest will take care of itself.

If there’s one thing that people need to know is that training your legs will burn a lot of fat. Never skip leg day. If you train your legs, with compound exercises, you’ll naturally get fitter. Posture and everything return back to your leg muscles. You need to train the rest of your body to keep in proportion, too, but legs are very important.

Dealing with lack of motivation is hard for a lot of women. To do that, you need to find a greater purpose to your training. When you’re lean, you feel better about yourself. Once you’re done with your training, you’ll be a better wife, sister, or mother. That’s a higher purpose. Finding your real why isn’t just about you being in shape, but it’s about providing tools for the greater good.

It doesn’t matter how much you know. It’s great to jump in and do something structured that someone else has created. It’s great to do something that you don’t have to think about. Sally’s
program is one that I highly recommend. You keep moving; you don’t have to stop and think about it. If you love training and are willing to work hard, this is the program for you.

Tell everyone you’re doing it to keep you accountable. It’s great to be strong and be able to have control of what you’re eating and doing. I love being strong as a female. It helps you feel a lot better about yourself.

Check out her extreme shredder program as well.

Outline of this episode:

• There’s a real need for people to learn how to train smarter, not necessarily harder. We need someone who’s tried it all and know what’s working and what’s not.
• There are a lot of women who are trying to get in shape after a baby. You need to get back to where you were, training, getting your heart rate up. You need to burn fat, but you also need to get stronger.
• Some people think that cardio is the secret. You want to have the nutritional side right. Getting it right means that you can train and strengthen your muscles.
• Most people have very high cortisol levels. Doing too much cardio elevates the cortisol even more.
• With your nutrition, you don’t need to be perfect. You can do it for six weeks to get your body to reset and then add back in what you’ve eliminated slowly.
• You don’t have to count calories or weigh food. For the most part, I’m a big fan of adding in more protein.
• If there’s one thing that people need to know is that training your legs will burn a lot of fat. Never skip leg day.
• Dealing with lack of motivation is hard for a lot of women. To do that, you need to find a greater purpose to your training.
• Tell everyone you’re doing it to keep you accountable.

 

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