Featured Friend Interview: Matthew Bate

Meet Matthew Bate, he has played 102 senior games over 8 years as a professional AFL (Australian Football League) footballer for the Melbourne Demons football club. He is now a certified holistic sports nutrition practitioner with the College of Natural Health, has completed a bachelor and masters of science in holistic sports nutrition, & is currently studying to finish his Ph.D. in holistic sports nutrition.

Matt is extremely passionate about educating & guiding people towards a plant-based, alkaline forming diet, that provides the absolute optimum health, & energy, & allows one to experience life with maximum joy.

Matt, you are so passionate about guiding others to live a life of optimum health and energy. What does creating ‘A Healthy Mix for Life’ mean to you?

A healthy mix for life for me means understanding what my body needs in order to thrive each day. I really believe that our bodies are always trying to communicate with us. The more we can harmonise the way we live with what our body needs, the more we are rewarded with vibrant health. This sounds like a simple concept but many people ignore their body’s needs, and when it begins to cry out they instead stifle it’s cries with quick fix stimulants and pharmaceutical drugs.

Each day I send my intention within my body and ask what is needs in that moment. Does it need more food, less food, water, sunshine, exercise, more raw foods, more fun, less toxins, some stretching, or deeper breathing? I try to listen to it and be very respectful of it’s demands because in the end without the health and wellbeing of our bodies we don’t have much.

That is so true. With all of that in mind, what would your day on a plate look like?

I consume a fully vegan diet and am transitioning more and more to 100% raw, at the moment I might eat a cooked dinner 2-3 nights of the week.

I start off the morning with 1-2 litres of water followed by a cold pressed juice. Some mornings however I don’t feel hungry at all, this tells me my body isn’t ready to break the over night fast (“break-fast”), and my internal digestive organs probably needs a few more hours rest. So sometimes I wont eat until midday or even early afternoon.

Throughout the day I always eat raw and stick to high energy fruits and juices/smoothies. This allows me to feel light and energised throughout the day.

I tend to have my largest meal later in the day, and this will consist of veggie/fruit juice, and some fruit, followed an hour or so later by a large salad or stir fry, and most likely some cooked root vegetables like potatoes, pumkpin or sweet potato.

I have the fruit and juice before dinner because these foods break down so quickly in the stomach. If they are eaten after a big meal when there is lots of food still sitting in the stomach, then they are likely to sit on top of that food and ferment. Leading to bloating and other digestive problems.

As an athlete you also know that living a healthy life doesn’t just mean eating well… how do you keep your mind and body healthy? 

Exercise is a huge part of my wellbeing. Every morning I spend 20 minutes on either the bike or treadmill, and lift weights. This allows for my lymphatic system to move freely and aid my body in removing toxins. Exercise also helps with the production of feel good endorphins such as serotinon, sending waves of euphoria through the body.

I also sit in the sauna for 10-20 minutes each morning, as sweating is something I believe we are meant to do every day, and is so vital for overall health and detoxofication.

Towards the end of the day I like to unwind and play some meditation music, have a hot bath and read or watch an intertesting documentary. I used to be someone who would work work work until sleep time but I learned the hard way that this only wears you out and makes you less productive in the long run. Rest and relaxation are just as vital as being productive.

Do you have a health and fitness guru?

I’m a big fan of Tyler Tolman and have followed him for years. I love the way Tyler stands for nothing but the truth, and he is extremely passionate about helping people heal themselves naturally. No gimmicks, no clever marketing techniques just to sell a product, he is very raw and honest and really puts himself out there!

We are running a retreat in Bali in January 2016, and Tyler (who lives in Bali) has agreed to come down for a day and talk with all of our retreat attendees. I was squeeling like a little kid when he agreed to make an appaearance haha.

Name me one super hero food you cannot live without!

My super hero food is Bananas.
I love being active every day and bananas are the perfect food for an athlete or sport enthusiast. Just 1-2 bananas can provide enough energy for 1-2 hours of exercise, they are jam packed full of electrolytes, natural sugars, healthy fibre, antioxidants, enzymes, and other vitamins and minerals. They are also available all year round, quite cheap, easy to store and ripen, and taste absolutely delicious … Ok maybe i’m a little bit obsessed lol.

If you could share with our Raw Blend family one piece of your wisdom, what would it be?

Going back to my first answer, I’d encourage people to learn to speak the launguage of their body.

The body is brilliant! It started as a microscopic cell and duplicated itself 100 trillion times to form you. Within your body your cells have formed incomprehensibly complex systems such as the nervous, cardiovascular, immune, respiratory, and lymphatic systems. These systems all work 100% autonomously, without you needing to think about. Amazing!

So what i’m trying to say is trust the incredible wisdom of your body, it’s only focus is to keep itself in amazing working order and vibrant health. All you need to do is listen to it, respect it, and give it what is asks for, and be rewarded with great health.

We are lucky enough to have you share one of your favourite recipes with us, why do you love this recipe?

This recipe is by my business partner and co Author of 365 Days of Wholeness, Tegan Steele. Tegan’s family have an amazing wholefood Cafe in Albert park, Melbourne, called Urban Projuice. You can taste many of their incredible recipes at her cafe like the one below.

Quinoa Porridge

Ingredients:

• 1 cup organic Quinoa
• 1-2 cups almond milk
• 1/2 cup organic coconut milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or the seeds from 1 vanilla pod
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup dried fruit such as dates or sultanas
• 1 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1/4 cup organic shredded coconut
• 1 banana chopped and strawberries

Method:

1. In a saucepan over medium cook the quinoa in boiling water for 10 minutes then drain.
2. Now add the semi cooked quinoa to the coconut milk and almond milk, vanilla, cinnamon, salt & sultanas.
3. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes until most of the liquid has been absorbed.
4. Remove from heat and add maple syrup, shredded coconut and stir through the chopped fruit saving a few pieces to garnish the top.
5. This porridge can be eaten either warm or cold.