Watch the full interview below or listen to the full episode on your iPhone HERE.
Guy: This week welcome to the show Lesley Maxwell. She redefines what it means to be fifty and fabulous. A mother of three, Melbourne-based Lesley has more than 20 body sculpting titles to her name and represented Australia in New York where she won the prestigious Miss USA Figure Championship.
Director of Oui Fitness, Author of Get the Body you Want, Oxygen Ambassador plus Oxygen Covergirl. Lesley is also a regular contributor for Oxygen magazine and has appeared many times in the media.
Audio Version
Questions we ask in this episode:
- What prompted you to compete in body sculpting competitions?
- In a nutshell – what are the benefits of lifting weights for (older adults) … people over a certain age?
- With the people you meet and the clients you train, is there still a fear around fat?
- Do you believe people can reverse the ageing process?
- What does your exercise routine look like?
- And much much more
Get More Of Lesley Maxwell
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180 – Fuelled By Nature
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Full Transcript
Guy
[00:00:30] Hey, this is Guy Lawrence on 180 Nutrition and welcome to another episode of The Health Sessions where of course we are connecting with leading global health and wellness experts to share the best and the latest science and thinking and empowering to turn all of our health and lives around. And this week we are doing it with the awesome Lesley Maxwell. Now, if you’re not familiar with Lesley, she redefines what it means to be 50 and fabulous. I’ll tell you, she truly does, I mean it’s amazing. She’s a mother of three, she’s Melbourne based and has more than 20 body sculpting titles to her name and represented Australia in New York where she won the prestigious Miss USA figure championship. Amazing.
[00:01:00] Author of Get the Body You Want and her new book, Training to Train, which we discussed today. And, she’s an Oxygen ambassador, plus Oxygen cover girl and Lesley is also a regular, ah, can’t get my words out, contributor to Oxygen magazine and has appeared on TV and ACA and newspapers and so forth. And it was fantastic to tap into the topics that she discusses today, especially when it comes to training. Weight training especially, for people over 50 years old, which is phenomenal. And I’m a huge fan of Lesley’s message and what she shares with us today and I have no doubt if you’re not doing any weight training, this is going to inspire you. And I certainly am a big believer in it as well. So, I hope you enjoy the episode!
[00:02:00] And I just wanted to mention as well, guys, that we are currently giving away free samples of the 180 Superfood Blend, protein Superfood Blend. So, if you haven’t tried it yet and you’re keen, then hopefully this little announcement is going to motivate you to go back to 180nutrition.com.au where there’s a big banner there saying, “Grab your free sample!” So, if you want to try it and want to know what all the fuss is about and why thousands of other people who have walked your path in the past are using 180, making smoothies out of it and actually getting rid of some of those unfavorable foods and replacing it with the 180 smoothie, then you can go and try it out. All we ask in return is that you pay a small shipping and handling fee, and we will give you four serves for nothing. There you go, how’s that for a deal? Anyway, go and check it out and hit me up on Instagram if you do so. Anyway, let’s go over to Lesley. Enjoy the podcast and of course when it comes to iTunes guys, you know what to do. Awesome.
Hi, this is Guy Lawrence. I’m joined with Stu Cooke, as always. Hello Stu.
Stu
Hello Guy!
Guy
And our lovely guest today is Lesley Maxwell. Lesley, welcome to the show.
Lesley
Hi Stu, hi Guy! Thank you so much for having me, it’s great to be here.
Guy
[00:03:00] The privilege is all ours, right? It’s a true honor. Now, just to kickstart the show Lesley, we ask a similar question to everyone at the start and that is, if a complete stranger stopped you on the street and asked you what you did for a living, what would you say?
Lesley
[00:03:30] Well, I actually change people’s lives. Truly, I give them their lives back again because often people become so, you know at a certain age they think they should go downhill instead of revamping and getting better and stronger and healthier. And I feel I honestly give people a new lease of life and I give women, you know, help them get their sexy back and feel great and that’s what life is. We’ve got so much to offer, and so much life to live. It’s a shame that you shouldn’t do that, just because you get to 50 or whatever it is they feel it’s shut off point. When we can really improve our bodies and health and go on and live this amazing life in the best health and strength we can. So, it feels great.
Guy
Yeah, totally. I love it.
Stu
Brilliant.
Guy
[00:04:00] And it’s funny, because we often talk about these mindset things as well on the podcast and I literally tell myself every day as I get older, I get healthier you know? And I kind of embrace that philosophy and hopefully as I do get older, it will stay with me, but I have no doubt.
Lesley
Yeah, sure.
Guy
Yeah. So there’s one thing Lesley, I didn’t realize this morning that you had more than 20 body sculpting titles to your name. That’s amazing, that’s amazing. So, can you take us back on your journey before you even got into it and what’s led you to this sort of passion of health and fitness? Because you really do walk your talk and it’s incredible.
Lesley
Well I just, I love it. But how it started was, I’ve always been into fitness and health, like my whole life I’ve enjoyed it. But trying a few different things, everything from back in the 80s, all those classes and even tried hydraulic machines and circuits, which when you go to a gym and they just direct you immediately to these, without sounding condescending or whatever. They direct you to these little circuits and easy classes and lots of jumping around and no one really gave you, or we didn’t know what was available really. And most women do stay out of the weights room. So, what started it was, I was 49 and I was thinking, “Oh, I’m going to be 50 next year and I know there’s something in me.” Like, I had an epiphany, which just happened like, there’s something in me I’ve got to do.
[00:06:00] I’ve got to do something more than this. It can’t just be 50 and not be the best in the world at something. Anyway, so then I was watching TV one night and there was one of those Today sort of type shows. I think it was A Current Affair or something like that, and all these body sculptors came on and I hadn’t seen the female body sculpting before. And they had high heels, and they were like glamazons and they had muscle and shape and they looked amazing and incredible and I thought, “I want to do that. That’s what I want to do.” So, I actually trained in a different gym, completely changed my training around, started being aware of what I was eating and started lifting weights, and getting that magic M word. You know, the muscle that changes lives.
Guy
Yeah.
Lesley
[00:06:30] Yeah, as I got stronger and anyway, I went in my first competition, which was on a Mother’s day and I felt really guilty. You know, should I be doing the Mother’s day thing and whatever? But no, I was standing on stage in a sequined bikini, flexing my muscle. And I won my first competition, and then I went on to win second in the nationals. And then I sort of just became addicted and I did another 25 after that and, yeah. At first, I was really, sorry, go on.
Guy
No, that’s amazing. I was going to say, how long did it take you to train for your first ever competition?
Lesley
[00:07:00] It was only about five or six months because all I had to do, well, I was fairly lean but too lean. I was starting to get too thin, one of those. I always say we are at the age, soft and fat, or thin and frail because muscle is the thing that gives you the difference, the shape, the strength. It’s the tissue of meat. So, by putting a bit of muscle on just by increasing protein, increasing fats, changing my diet a bit, and lifting some weights, my body responded really well even though I was at the ripe old age of 49 and it made a difference. So, it’s good.
Stu
Fantastic.
Guy
Amazing. That’s incredible. Go ahead, Stu. [crosstalk 00:07:32]
Stu
[00:08:00] It’s amazing. Well, I was just going to say Lesley that I know that many, it is a female perception that, I don’t want to pick up any weights because the moment I pick up weights, I’m going to look like the female version of Arnold Schwarzenegger. And all I want to do is look slim and toned and I know that you’ve written a book that highlights all the benefits of, I guess, weight bearing exercise. So, I wondered if you could just tell us a little bit about why you think that it’s so beneficial over something perhaps like endurance running, cardio.
Lesley
[00:08:30] Okay. Well, cardio has its place. I’m not really going to bag everything else. But too much cardio can be really stressful to the body, like your body can produce a stress hormone. It can be aging, it can be damaging to the joints if you keep repetitively stomping on those knees, or whatever is not lined up properly. And most of all, it burns muscle if that’s all you do. So, muscle really, it does more than just give you shape and give you that look that sometimes women are scared of building muscle. But if it was called something else, if it was called the tissue of youth, everyone would be wanting it, right?
Stu
Yeah.
Lesley
[00:09:30] When it’s called muscle, women go, “Oh no!” You know, you give them a two kilo dumbbell sometimes, and they’ll say I won’t look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. You’re right, Stu. That’s what they are all feared of. But without muscle, like it supports your frame. So, it gives you the strength. It gives you a lovely shape. Like I said before, otherwise we just have soft body fat or skin and bone, which can also look really unattractive as you age. But having a little bit of shape about you, and strength and you know, so that it will support your frame as well, like I said. And it fills you out nicely. And you hit the magic word on the head before. You said toned. Every woman wants to be toned, but you can’t get any toning without muscle because toning is a state of your muscle. So, there you go.
Stu
Brilliant.
Lesley
Yeah, so you need muscle in order to be toned.
Guy
[00:10:00] Yeah, when I used to work in the fitness industry Lesley, I’d have an image of a kilogram of fat and a kilogram of muscle. And the amount of room, the space a kilogram of fat took up compared to muscle. And then there was finally a clear kind of definition that the body would actually thin out, even though it would get more toned and firm. And once they could physically see that, then I could sell them in on it. But until that point, it was quite hard sometimes.
Lesley
Yeah, I know. That’s right. And another great benefit of muscle is it’s metabolically active. And that means it’s burning calories for you, so it’s like this little engine that allows you to eat more, girls. So come on.
Guy
What kinds of transformations have you seen Lesley, with the people you’ve trained? Especially the older group. And how long does it take before you see the adaptations, the changes start to happen with people?
Lesley
[00:11:30] It’s actually been quite incredible. I think I was mentioning to you that I’ve started training groups now over 50 years plus. Like I train all ages of women, and some guys as well, it’s all great. But the ladies and men over 50. For instance, you can not only get rid of certain conditions by eating correctly, you know putting in some fats and protein. Taking out sugar and carbs. You can get rid of all sorts of things. You can help arthritis and osteoporosis and you know, these debilitating diseases. By the way, a disease in my book is just a dis ease. Your body isn’t at ease with something. And you can really cure so many things. And the differences I’ve seen are giving people that lease of life to enjoy their holidays, to pick up their suitcases to climb, you know rock climbing, or do all these things that they really want to do, even once they are retired. And even giving women their waists back and toned up the triceps and giving them some strength and confidence and it feels amazing, it’s really good. I love it.
Guy
Yeah.
Stu
[00:12:00] That’s brilliant. Because it is such a misconception I think, that we need to run. Literally run the fat off our bodies. And I think nothing could be further from the truth, because you’re certainly not going to get toned, by running.
Lesley
[00:12:30] That’s right. And have you ever had anyone run past you Stu, and you see their arms and back and body jiggling because they’re not doing any back exercises. They’re not doing any chest exercises, they’re just putting a lot of stress on their knees and joints. I’m not saying don’t run, I don’t mind a bit of interval if you really need to do something, or climb steps you know? Like, get the heart rate up now and again. You don’t have to do a slow walk. We are agile and fit. But I just think that long, constant running of kilometers upon kilometers and no other type of training can be quite, have a reverse effect. Instead of the effect that someone wants.
Stu
Brilliant.
Guy
[00:13:00] Yeah. When you first get clients come on board, where do you find they’re at when it comes to their nutrition these days? Do you still think there’s a fat phobia, still out there? And how willing are they to change their nutrition?
Lesley
[00:13:30] It’s actually, I’m sure you’ve come across it too. I think anyone that’s been around and the last 50 years already has this preset thing in their mind that they can’t eat fats. They can’t eat eggs, or they’d starve. They’re terrified of eating a whole egg, you know? And they’ve really been scared. They’re still really hesitant to eat butter or include fats in any way because fat’s been put out by the dietary guidelines, I suppose where fat is a bad thing. Fat will make you fat. Fat will give you high cholesterol levels, whatever. And it’s clearly not. I believe it not to be true.
Guy
Yeah, same.
Lesley
[00:14:00] And if it was called something else, like again muscle should be called something else and fat should be called something else. They hear the word fat people go, “Oh, it’s going to make me fat!” But if it was called something else like cell renewal something, because it does renew, as you know every cell in our body and our eyes and everything else. So, we need them.
Guy
Yeah, totally. And just some question’s popping up. What about yourself? Have you ever prescribed to a low fat diet in the past? Or have you always ate the way you do now? Or was there an epiphany for yourself where you’ve gone, hang on? Because that’s certainly happened for me in my life. But yeah, I’m just curious.
Lesley
[00:15:00]
Well, actually I did. Back in my 40s up until about then, until I worked out my own diet. And even my first two competitions, I followed the guidance of some other trainer. And it was all, which everyone did back then. So, I’m not [inaudible 00:14:42] trainer. But it was all egg white and no fat, and no olive oil and this and that. And I nearly, honestly after my first two competitions it took me another year to get over that and do my own diet. And then even leading up to comps now, I’ll have three to five eggs, whole eggs a day and fats and whatever. I’m only two k’s off comp weight all year round anyway.
Guy
Oh, wow!
Lesley
And that’s eating, yeah just how I like. You know, keeping fats on meat and in eggs and you know, just really great quality foods. I think it’s important to have organic food and [inaudible 00:15:17] you can both do as well.
Guy
Yeah. So, after the two competitions you started to then research or look at different …
Lesley
Yeah, that’s right. Then I started doing my own diet and I’m putting everything that I want, like sardines because they had oil, lots of oil. Crab legs, whatever. And my body responded well, I just got stronger. And it was easier to drop the weight because then you just maybe increase a little bit more exercise, adding super sets, whatever. And your body just changes. It’s amazing what we can do with food and exercise. A certain type of exercise to our bodies, any age.
Guy
Yeah, right. Sorry Stu, I keep asking the questions here.
Stu
No, I’m just enjoying listening Guy. It’s great.
Lesley
Great!
Guy
[00:16:30] I’m curious as well, from a competition perspective. How would you, and I know there’ll be listeners to this that’ll probably compete themselves. You know, we have a broad range from people starting to just change their nutrition to all the way to the other end, that would be competing whether it be sport or figure sculpting or whatever it might be. And so, how would you start to prepare yourself for a competition? Would it be six weeks out now, 12 weeks out now? What would be the processes you do to?
Lesley
For myself?
Guy
For yourself, yeah.
Lesley
[00:17:00] Myself. For myself, because I eat clean, because I love it. It’s not hard for me in any way. It would be hard for me to eat any other way, actually. So, I always know that I’m having x amount of, I don’t weigh or measure by the way. I don’t even own a set of food scales, that can do your head in. But you just know basically, in 86 grams of protein, so you need three. You know a piece of meat has x amount of protein so you know you just time it with every meal. Some proteins, some fat, a clean green. And you know I have this thing where you time your carbs. I’m not big on carbs, I’d rather have fats.
Guy
Yeah.
Lesley
[00:17:30] But you just time them when we need them. I don’t go without them altogether, but just timing them is really important. And it’s just second nature. I always refer to it, it’s like a car. There’s three things, [inaudible 00:17:32] we have protein, fats, carbs. You should just know your body, like you know your car. You don’t go sticking veg oil in your tire. If you know what to do with those things, it’s really easy. And your body responds accordingly, and it does.
Guy
Yeah. Got it, got it. And what is the time on the carbs? Where would you time them, after exercise normally, or?
Lesley
[00:18:00] Well, I always have, like about every second meal I just have, you know I like steel cut oats in the morning with some molasses. I do all those, and I do eat salt because of the trace elements in it. I believe people over hydrate and don’t have enough salt. So, I have my own beliefs in things. But yeah, I would have them. I don’t have them in every meal, but I do have them sometimes. You know, maybe one piece of fruit a day and a bit of sweet potato later. And if you cut everything out, but I have fats in every meal, for sure. And protein.
Guy
Fantastic.
Lesley
Yeah.
Stu
Brilliant. So if I have now, I’ve now got this epiphany and I’m thinking great, I’m going to go to the gym. Like I am so in tap with what Lesley’s told me, I’m getting in there. I’ve come into the gym and I think, well I don’t have a personal trainer, don’t really know what to do. Now I know you’ve spoken about seven basic moves, and the necessity for these moves. So, I wondered if you could just explain what they are, and how they might benefit me?
Lesley
Well, I think they benefit all ages. Like if you’re 20, you know the girls will come into the gym and they’ll say I want a high butt and a six pack, and toned arms. And then you’ll know as a trainer, of course you start with a full body routine. And I always give a mixture of free weights, body weight and machine weights. A good cross section of all three. And eventually after a couple of weeks, depending on their progress, you would change it to a split routine. So one day you’ll be doing more. But I always put in functional exercises as well with every day. So we’re not just purely on machines, or whatever.
[00:20:00] But why the seven moves are so important like I said, is if the 20 year old wants a high butt, but the 70 year old wants to, or 80 year old wants to stay out of aged care facilities, they both need squats, right? So a squat will give you a high butt, granted and will give you great legs and everything else but not being able to squat when you’re 80 means she cannot get up off the couch, or you know? So, you need squats all the way along. The other basic moves of course are lunge, which is a unilateral movement, which is helpful with step-ups and climbing steps and doing all, making sure each side works individually.
[00:20:30] Then we have, so you’ve got squat, lunge, push or push movements are what’s going to work your chest and triceps and shoulders. All pull movements are going to work your back, which is just as important as working your chest and shoulders, as well. And then some bending and twist movements, which we all need for our backs and abs and cores. So, that’s why they’re very beneficial for all ages. When don’t you need to do a squat? When don’t you need to do a lunge and climb some stairs? Or put one foot in front of the other? We always need that. And we need to keep our upper bodies strong as well. Front and back.
Guy
Yeah.
Lesley
With chest exercises and back exercises. So, they’re all incorporated in those seven simple moves.
Guy
Yeah, fantastic.
Stu
Brilliant.
Guy
Fantastic. And the other thing as well is, that gets underplayed is the mental stimulation of consistent weight training as well, I think. Like, have you noticed a change in their mindsets as they can start to see they’re getting stronger through time?
Lesley
[00:22:00] Yeah! Definitely. And the groups like I’m saying, one set are the over 50s. Mind you some of them are over 70 that come in to those groups. And this is like the highlight of their week. I mean, I don’t … If you, without trying to judge anyone else. Some older adults weight train or whatever they call it, they do very little at all. Maybe walk up and down a swimming pool sometimes with a balloon or something. But you know, it’s really amazing to see when you start off giving, say someone who first starts a wall pushup because they can’t do pushup. And then you slowly go a bit lower and lower to an incline, you know a high bench down to a bench. To a hop to the floor. And they can actually do pushups, and they can pull on lap pull downs. Same with a neutral grip. They’ll be, I’ve got one lady Suzanne she’s 72 or something, and she can pull down 47 kilos. Now, she couldn’t do that at the start!
Stu
Wow!
Lesley
[00:22:30] Now I’m not saying that one needs to step in straight away and start lifting weights and never, you know always so careful. Don’t ever push yourself to create an injury. But a challenge they can work up to it. And it would probably hurt her to do more than that, but that’s her moment in the week she comes in and she loves it, you know? And the guys are all doing their leg press and squats. And it’s just great to see these people moving again, and having their life back. Enjoying their holidays and, you know feeling strong and youthful again.
Guy
[00:23:00] Yeah, it’s phenomenal. It takes me back, actually Lesley. I used to train a 70 year old and he has lung cancer and so he could only breathe through one lung. And when we started, the leg press was on the smallest weight, and by the time we finished with him I think six months in, he was doing practically the whole stack on a leg press. And he was inspiring everyone else, because they knew what he was going through, and what he had been through. And here he was, lifting weights, more than people half his age. It was really fantastic to see, yeah.
[00:23:30] So, how many times do you find, if you’re training people, how many times would you recommend a week they actually weight train, Lesley?
Lesley
[00:24:30] Well I try and get them in, at least suggest twice. So, they’ll do legs and chest one day, and some tris or whatever. And then the second maybe lighter, legs and back or something. Try and get each muscle group working out. And of course always incorporating those movements like pushups and squats, as well as lunges. So you’ve got some of everything in, and some weights and some machine weights like we’re talking about. Free weights are very important too, as you know. To make sure one side isn’t working harder than the other one. Like if you put a barbell and you’re pushing one side, one side might be pushing harder than this one. But if you’ve got free weights, then both sides have to work independently. So, I think that’s really important to cover a cross section of everything. Get the best start off you can, you know out of the machines by, you just mentioned leg press. That gentleman you were training, you wouldn’t get him to squat probably 40 kilos, but leg press is nice and safe.
Stu
Yeah.
Lesley
So, get the best out of everything, out of your squats and the machines and the free weights. And people see a difference straightaway. But I would say you need twice a week, but its only you know 40 minutes to an hour. I wouldn’t, they don’t have to go over that. But you can get great results even in that time.
Stu
[00:25:00] Brilliant. And on those days in between training, do you recommend any particular recovery strategies or perhaps just go for a nice walk in fresh air? What would be best, do you think?
Lesley
Sure, I do say walk. And I also try and suggest to them … Do you want me to close that window is that siren on?
Guy
No, it’s fine.
Stu
No, no. It’s fine actually, yeah.
Lesley
Yeah. Do you want to ask me that question again? Sorry.
Stu
Sure.
Lesley
I’ll close the window because it’s annoying me.
Guy
No, go for it Lesley.
Stu
No problems.
Lesley
Sorry about that.
Stu
No, that’s all good. So, I was intrigued as to what your recommendations might be in those rest days. So, would it be perhaps a little bit of stretching, or walking? Or would I just sit on the couch and relax because I’ve been to the gym?
Lesley
[00:26:30] No, I would say to people, you know don’t sit longer than an hour. Like, even if you can get up and just have a little walk, or walk to the sink or do something. Don’t just sit there for anything longer than an hour. The whole body just shuts down. I’m sure you’ve heard of sitting disease. So, just get up and move. And also people’s posture these days, it’s really everyone has iPhone neck and it’s tight flexes and whatever. So getting up to move. A good one Stu, with the stretches, because after my workouts I always do a stretching routine, which is a bit odd. Pilates, a bit of yoga, you know these stretches. It’s important, stretching adds circulation, which is healing and it’s good to stay agile. So, I’m always suggesting some stretches and if they can in the week, some fit ball squats against the wall and get out there and walk you know, by the river or whatever. It’s always fantastic, I’m always encouraging movement, for sure.
Stu
Excellent.
Guy
[00:27:00] Yeah. What do you find is the spark that gets them to come and see you in the first place, Lesley? Because I’m thinking, of all us people here that are thinking about their parents and thinking, “Oh, I wish I could get them to the gym twice a week.” Or you know, obviously they’ve got to find that discovery for themselves. What do you find, from your experience, what generally gets them in the first place?
Lesley
[00:27:30] Well, sometimes it’s word of mouth. They’ll start because I train where I live, here in this lovely building. So, they’ll see me and they’ll see me training other people. And then, now I’ve got four classes a week because I started off with one. And that’s really good, where it’s you know, word of mouth really spreads and they see their friends looking good and then they want to join. But there are still some like I’m sure you know, that are really scared, the word weights sends them running. So …
Stu
Yeah, totally. Totally.
Lesley
So, they just see the results from their friends, basically.
Guy
Okay.
Lesley
And they really [inaudible 00:27:44] so it’s good.
Guy
[00:28:00] Yeah, that’s what I need to do. And right now, the fitness industry, what I’m curious about is where do you think it’s at? Like, in terms of the way it’s evolving and do you think it needs to change at all? Like do you think it’s where it needs to be? What’s your thoughts on that, Lesley?
Lesley
Well, it seems to be like in the general public there’s two halves, isn’t there? There’s half of us that are really into fitness and health, and half that really shy away and won’t come near a gym and work out and you know, just pat their stomachs and say that they don’t want anything to do with it, sort of. So, it really is a mindset, isn’t it? And what people want if they’re willing to give it a try.
[00:29:00] But I think it’s becoming more popular. I think people are becoming aware of moving, and the benefits of health and the benefits of eating clean and healthily. But, it’s still hard sometimes as we talked about before, to get around the mindset of eating fats, for instance. When they’ve been taught that for 50 years, that fats are bad, you know? That sort of thing. And sometimes people have that mindset that weights, they’re going to turn into Arnold Schwarzenegger overnight and you know, all this. But they can get around that, I suppose. And just start, or see their friends or take charge of their own health, I hope.
Guy
[00:29:30] Yeah. It’s important, it’s important. And do you think the teachings in the fitness industry has changed? Because even when I did, when I got involved in the fitness industry about 11 years ago, I was taught the food pyramid. I was taught low fat and prescribed nutrition from that perspective. Now, I have no idea if that’s still going on to this day because I’m kind of removed from it. But, is that changing that area within?
Lesley
[00:30:30] Well, they’ve changed the pyramid, Guy, to a food plate. Have you seen it? It’s called a nutritional food plate and it’s taken all these people to get together and put this plate down. And you know, with certain sections of what they should be eating but it’s still no fat on there. And do you want me to tell you, the food plate is grains and everything, which is one. And then, it’s got six. It says six food groups, or five. So, we’ve got grains, and then it’s got vegetables including potatoes. You’ve got to have more of that. Plus six serves of grains. Fruit is a food group, according to them. You know, when it is a carb as you know. And potato is a carb and grains are a carb. And then we’ve got low fat dairy still, which is a carb. And then we’ve got a bit of protein, lean it says. And then underneath it’s got occasionally fats. For them the fat’s got margarine. So we’ve still got the same battle, Guy.
Guy
[00:31:00] I know, it’s amazing. And what blows me away is that, if someone was to have a conversation with you, and look at you, and see how you’re the epitome of health, like and the way you look after yourself and the fact that you’re on here talking that you eat lots of good fats. And yet, people’s beliefs will still get in the way and not be able to get their head around it, which yeah it just blows my mind.
Stu
It’s interesting as well that we’re often advised to take fish oils as a supplement. And of course, I mean that’s a quality fat. Yet, we don’t really like to, we’re not really advised to eat quality fats outside of that, but we can supplement with them. Very strange place to be.
Lesley
Yeah, I know. As long as we buy them in little plastic bubble container things and eat them, good fat. I don’t know.
Stu
Exactly.
Lesley
No, I just like pure, clean natural food. That I don’t need. I don’t, yeah.
Stu
I just want to quickly then, if you could just tell us little bit about the fats that you’re eating and how you incorporate those in your diet?
Lesley
[00:32:00] Okay, well I like coconut oil in my, I actually have organic coffee that I make, coconut oil. I have whole eggs, I have fat on organic meat and chicken, and sardines, things like that. Even some butter sometimes. I love butter. And you know, those sorts of fats, so fats with [inaudible 00:32:08] fats [inaudible 00:32:09] like, yeah.
Guy
And you just make sure you have them with every meal then?
Lesley
Yeah, like I wouldn’t, for instance, I don’t really even like filet steak. I prefer something with fat on, and I just put it in the oven and roast it or whatever. I do have fats with every meal.
Guy
Yeah. And how often-
Lesley
And-
Guy
Oh, sorry. Go on.
Lesley
And protein, yeah.
Guy
And of course. And then the timing of your carbohydrates. And-
Lesley
And lots of [inaudible 00:32:37] sorry about that, yes.
Guy
And how many days a week do you weight train, yourself?
Lesley
[00:33:00] Five actually. Four or five, usually five. But that’s about it, like I don’t do a lot of, when I’m getting ready for comp, which incidentally I might do another one this year, just because I’m missing it. Yeah, I don’t really do a lot of cardio at all, I just walk. But if I’m getting ready for comp I just might add in a few extra walks or a bit of interval or something. But the weight training still stays. I mean, I could never go without a nice firm arms, or firm back and you know, I like to have a six pack.
Stu
Yeah.
Guy
Yeah, all around. So, just for clarity for the listeners then, you basically maintain your health and your look and your physique from your nutrition and from weight training mainly.
Lesley
Absolutely, yeah.
Guy
I’ll let them ponder on that a little bit. That’s fantastic. And, oh go on, Stu.
Stu
I just wanted to jump in there Guy, when you said that as well, because I’m just thinking about your story all those years ago, when you were subjected to a group who were treating people very differently with chronic disease. And they were using that very strategy weren’t they?
Guy
They were, absolutely. They were using a high fat diet, and some cases ketogenic, depending on the seriousness mainly of the cancer, and they were using weight training as well to get a muscle adaptation response to help with the blood sugar levels and stabilize them, so then they could actually end up having more carbohydrate that was in their diet so it still wasn’t affecting them on that level. But the issue was, a lot of the people that came in through the door were in a bad way, because they’d already sort of maybe gone though the conventional system once or twice and then the cancer had come back. And then they were jumping on the program, so they were already behind, if you like.
[00:35:00] But it was quite incredible to see some of the changes. And the other thing that was really powerful was the sense of community and being with other people and training, and having something to look forward to and actually start to see results because then it was switching their mindset because they could see they were getting stronger, and it was actual proof that they were starting to heal at some capacity. Yeah, it was quite incredible.
Lesley
Great.
Guy
So, I’m a huge advocate of what you’re saying, Lesley.
Stu
Yeah, for training. And Lesley, you’ve written a book called Training to Train.
Lesley
Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Stu
I wondered if whether you could just explain a little bit about what to expect, from that one.
Okay. Well, I’ve got another book as well called Get the Body You Want and that sort of covers a bit of everything. But Training to Train, I was actually inspired by these groups that I train. And I realized that if someone read a program, and it said squats and lunges and whatever. Pure beginners at 60 and 70 have never really heard of a squat or a lunge. And they just didn’t know where to start. And I sort of had to give them a program to train them, in order to train. So, it was like seated for instance, warming up the joints, seated leg extension, half wall squats, wall squats, even if they could do a squat.
[00:36:30] You cannot just go and get a complete novice at 60 or 70 and say, “Squat!” you know? So, it was going through the motions in order to do a squat. And then, when we get the squats right, starting off with wall squats, half squats, semi-seated squats, whatever. Then we can do a squat, and then we can add a bit of weight, and then we can really train. I felt like I was actually training them, to train. So, that’s where it came from.
Guy
Love it.
Stu
Brilliant, brilliant.
Guy
Fantastic, okay.
Stu
So, so beneficial. And especially, and I keep hearing the word squat as well, and I’m wondering if you could only do one exercise from this point forward, which exercise would you choose, and explain what it is?
Lesley
Can I have three? One for legs, one for back, and one for chest? I need three.
Stu
All right then, give us the three.
Lesley
All right, I’ll give you three. It would be squat. And it would be a pushing motion, pushups would be great. And chin ups, for my back. I’ll be happy.
Stu
[00:37:30] Right. Yeah, and they are kind of old school exercises, aren’t they? They’ve been around for years and it just seems that machines and gizmos and gadgets can’t really replace that. And I guess, you can do that as well no matter where you are, because I oftentimes will be on the road, and we can’t access equipment. So we can do, we can always find someway to pull ourselves up, you can always do pushups. And we can just do air squats, as well.
Lesley
Yeah, there’s so many variations of squats. And for the beginner, I realized they can’t do chin ups, of course so that’s where that pull down and whatever. So, there’s always a way. But yeah, those three would be fine.
Stu
Brilliant, brilliant.
Guy
That’s my travel routine as well. Exactly that. Chin up, squats and pushups.
Lesley
Fantastic!
Guy
So, I’m going to go off on a tangent here, Lesley because I’m curious. Because when I first met you, I think you’d just been on the cover of Oxygen magazine. How did that come about?
Lesley
[00:39:00] That’s right. It came about because of the competitions I did, I started off as you know I was 49. Then when I did the rest of all the comps, I was in my 50s. And I was a bit cheeky, because instead of going in the masters, like they put you in the over 40s and then the over 60s. I used to say, “No, I want to do the open.” Because this sport isn’t about age, to me it’s about your body, how you look. And I wanted to prove that age is just a number. That’s my theme. So, I used to go in the open competitions and I actually won the open figure title in New York, in the world championships in the open, against all of the young folks. So, you know that was what sort of got me on A Current Affair and in Oxygen magazine, which I still write for, Oxygen. Yeah, it opened a lot of doors.
Guy
That’s amazing, that’s amazing. Good on you, yeah. Right, so we’ve got a couple of questions that we ask everyone on the show, Lesley. And the first one is, what are your non-negotiables to be the best version of yourself?
Lesley
Well, never give me junk food. I obviously eat clean, I love really clean, organic food. And I need to train because it’s not only good physically, but mentally. It’s the best thing you can do. So, I could never do without that.
Guy
Yeah, fantastic. You’re addicted to health. And in your opinion, how damaging do you think not eating right is, over time?
Lesley
[00:40:30]
Well, if your body cells are renewing every, you know how they do and you’re not giving them the building blocks they need to renew and repair, and rebuild, well obviously they’ll grow and come back in inferior. So, you won’t have stronger body anymore if you’re not feeding it the right things. Nourishment is everything, really. It does allow you to train. We eat about 40, you know you might train four or five times a week, but you eat 40 times a week. So, give it what it needs to repair and renew. Don’t hold back on that. Don’t diet so you’re starving it, because that’s what a lot of people do. They don’t think of their food, or what their nourishment is for the day. They’ll work all day without anything, or rely on the corner shop, see what’s left in there for lunch instead of thinking about anything. So, I think eating and nourishment is so vitally important.
Guy
Yeah, and it’s never at the top of people’s priority list. It just-
Lesley
No, they don’t. Or it might be even, they’ll look at it as like, well how can you spend money on those organic eggs? And yet, they might smoke or something. So, you know you’ve got to think where your priorities are. Just you know, if you look after your body it looks after you so it’s really worth the investment.
Guy
Yeah.
Stu
That’s right, it’s the only one we’ve got.
Lesley
Yeah, true.
Guy
[00:41:30] Well, we’re currently, I think it’s coming to an end. I’ll be finished by the time this podcast goes up, but we’ve just run a 14 day cleanse to closed group, and we just encourage people to remove some of those inflammatory foods and those processed foods. But we always encourage people just to eat when they’re hungry and stop when they’re full, and follow the guidelines. And you know, it’s amazing. Just by doing that alone, the results people are getting within the first sort of few weeks, once they sort of take in unfavorable foods from their diets, it’s quite phenomenal. It truly is.
Lesley
That’s fantastic. I’ve always loved your 180, you know that. But I made a shake with a raw egg yolk and goat’s yogurt actually, it saves me quite often.
Guy
Oh, wow! There you go, a raw egg yolk and goat’s, I’ll have to buy that.
Stu
Brilliant. Please send us the recipe, Lesley.
Lesley
I shall do that.
Stu
Yeah, please do. We’ll put one on the website.
Lesley
[00:42:30] Yeah, it’s great it saves me often. And anyone can have a quick snack and drink it down, and it’s gone. It’s done.
Guy
Done, and you carry on. Exactly. So last question for you, Lesley. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
Lesley
I think to just wear your blinkers, and just do what you feel like you do. Don’t look at where you’re meant to fit in in society, what age you are, whatever. Just go for it, enjoy every moment and look after your body. And then you’ll be able to enjoy every moment. But definitely just do what you want to do. Don’t be putting small catches [inaudible 00:43:00]
Guy
Love it.
Lesley
Live your dream.
Guy
Exactly.
Stu
Brilliant, fantastic.
Guy
Well you’re certainly an example of that, Lesley. That’s for sure, that’s for sure. So, if people wanted to get a copy of your book Training to Train, where could we send them to, Lesley?
Lesley
[00:43:30] My Oui Fitness, O-U-I that’s yes, and fitness. Ouifitness.com.au and I’ve got some training programs on there, and eating plans and my other book Get the Body You Want and Training to Train. And I’m writing my new recipe book, which is out in a couple of weeks too, which I’m very excited about! I’ve always got something on the go.
Guy
Clearly. That’s awesome. And maybe the body comp that’s going to come up at the end of the year, as well you said.
Lesley
Yeah, I’ve got about 12 weeks I think to go and I just feel like doing it again. You know you get that feeling. I’ve done 27 and I thought I should round it off to 30. What do you think?
Guy
Wow, a hundred percent. Why not?
Stu
I think so. Absolutely, right. Go for it Lesley.
Lesley
Okay.
Guy
Fantastic. Well, thank you so much for coming on, Lesley. That was fantastic.
Lesley
It was such a pleasure, thanks again for asking me, Guy. Thank you Stu.
Stu
No problems Lesley. A real pleasure, fantastic to speak to you and I can’t wait to share all this fantastic information with our audience. It’s going to be great.
Lesley
All right, well thanks so much.
Guy
Beautiful. Thank you!
Stu
Brilliant.
Guy
Thanks guys.
Stu
Bye-bye.
Lesley
Bye.
