Latest / The BEYOND Podcast / Jennifer Hanway: The Royal Nutritionist on Hormones, Energy and Metabolism

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Jennifer Hanway: The Royal Nutritionist on Hormones, Energy and Metabolism · The BEYOND Podcast

• 0:00
  Unknown: You're definitely someone people want to hear from. You're an expert in all things. It's
• 0:04
  holistic skin, body care. I've worked with royal family. I've worked with some Hollywood Alist,
• 0:11
  some musical stars, CEOs, Olympic athletes. The things I really work on are metabolism
• 0:17
  and hormones and energy and skin. My name is Jennifer Hanway. I'm a board certified
• 0:22
  holistic nutritionist and women's wellness expert. Why are so many of us so tired? It's
• 0:28
  a multitude of reasons. I think if everybody's tired, then it must be normal. No, it's common,
• 0:34
  but it's not normal. What are the biggest habits that we're doing that are draining our energy
• 0:40
  every day? But I think if we can just knock one of those pillars out, if we can improve one thing,
• 0:45
  it has this wonderful knock- on effect of everything. We live in a world where we
• 0:51
  have so much information. We also have so much misinformation. 5% of it is willpower. 95% is
• 0:59
  what's happening in your biology. You've wired your biology to want those things. How should
• 1:04
  we be training then? I always say to people, if you don't like running, you don't have to
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  run. Dehydration is everything. Nutritionists and health coaches working with eating disorders, and
• 1:13
  that's an absolute no. So, I always say to people, think about what you're going to add in before
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  you take away. It only takes a couple of days to start to feel better. The negative part I think is
• 1:28
  Okay, Jennifer, welcome to Beyond the Boardroom. Very excited to have you here. You're an expert
• 1:35
  in all things is holistic skin body care. Would you say that's accurate? Yeah, I'd say really
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  the things I really work on are metabolism and hormones and energy and skin. Okay. So, so okay,
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  we'll we'll go through qualifications now. so that people understand just why they should be
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  listening to you because you're definitely someone that's definitely people want to hear from. Not
• 2:00
  least because the royal family clearly like your whatever it is that you're doing. They they listen
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  to you. You don't have to tell us secrets. I know that you can't say any details or NDAs. You can't
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  say specifics, but you have it's correct to say that you have worked with the royal family and
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  advised on on the matters that we're going to be discussing today. Yes. Yes, I've worked with royal
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  family. I've worked with some Hollywood A-lists, some musical stars, CEOs, Olympic athletes. Um,
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  and also women like you and I. Okay, perfect, perfect, perfect. Okay, so in terms
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  of um qualifications in in in beauty and this holistic, can we call it holistic wellness? Yeah,
• 2:40
  holistic nutrition. Holistic nutrition. Okay, so what what qualifications do you have? Yeah,
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  so I've been doing this since I was Well, I've been in health and fitness for the last 19 years.
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  19 years. 19 years. So yes, pre- Instagram. Um, so my long story very short, I'm an ex-professional
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  dancer turned fitness instructor. You were a ballet dancer. I was ballet and contemporary
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  dancer. I was also a Latin and ballroom dancer as well. What? So dancing with the stars and strictly
• 3:07
  you can really do it all. That was my that was my thing. Yeah. Oh wow. It's quite difficult.
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  You know, ballroom dancing. I tried it. But yeah. Yeah. I mean, and ballet is hard. Um, so that was
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  actually my first degree, but I got an injury and I couldn't dance anymore. And then you're kind of
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  like, well, what what do I do with myself? So that's when I started teaching fitness because
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  it was a very simple kind of transition for me. Um, and then as part of that, I was part of the
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  team that opened the first bar studio in London. So that was fun. That was back in 2012. And then I
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  was struggling with my own health. So I was having gut health issues myself. Okay. And then I worked
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  with a practitioner who really helped me with my gut health issues. And I was like, "Oh, I didn't
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  realize I could feel this good." And then I was, you know, I was living in London. I was doing all
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  of the things. I was healthy on the outside, but definitely not healthy on the inside. So,
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  what sort of problem? What What was going on with you? Yeah. So, I So, I had a just my digestive
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  system was just not working very well. And I did all of the testing and all of the things. And then
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  I ended up with the the diagnosis of IBS, which is not a diagnosis. And at that point, I was like,
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  okay, I'm not, you know, I was in my late 20s, early 30s. I was like, this is not what I want for
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  my life. Let me dive a little bit deeper myself. And because there's no such thing as coincidence,
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  I started working for a bar studio. And the woman who owned the bar studio was also a holistic
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  nutritionist. Mhm. So, she and I worked together and we just changed a couple of simple things.
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  I think we cut out gluten, might have been gluten or dairy and I took a probiotic and I felt so much
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  better straight away and I was like, two things kind of went through my head. Number one, well, I
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  want more of this. If I can feel this better with some simple swaps, what can I do? And then number
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  two is, well, if this is helping me, I must be able to help other people as well. So, long story
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  short, I got some qualifications and then realized that wasn't enough. So then I went back to school
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  to study nutritional science. Um, and that's kind of how I got into doing this. And then at the same
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  time I met my husband who's an American. So I went off to live in the States where I live now. Um,
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  and then fast forward 19 years you and I are sat here chatting. Well, you you I mean you've
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  achieved a lot and you're clearly someone people want to hear from and listen to. Um,
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  you've got the credentials and you're trusted by a lot of people, a lot of important people. Yeah.
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  It must be doing something, right? Give it give it all to us today. I It'll be difficult to learn it
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  all in in an hour, but you know, in whatever way you can help us cuz lots of people watching are
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  going to be having stomach issues. Yeah, that's I'm going to call them stomach issues. We can call
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  them what I mean. I talk about for a living. So, we can we can talk about gassy, bloated,
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  not regular, whatever it is out of the ordinary. Yeah. And the effects it has on on everything,
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  on your metabolism, on your energy, on your brain function, on your skin. And I mean it really,
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  you know, I say gut health is the foundation of all health because that's where everything starts.
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  Okay, let's start at the most common symptom, stomach issues, whatever it might be aside
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  for now. Y but a symptom, tiredness, why are so many of us so tired all the time? I wish I could
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  give you one one reason, but it's a multitude of reasons. I think we are just not prioritizing our
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  health. And I think that's hard to hear for people who are bit. You know, we're all busy. It's hard
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  to hear, oh, you're not prioritizing your health. It feels like another thing to do, another thing
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  on the to-do list or oh my goodness, this is another thing to do about it. But what people
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  don't understand is it is the multi. It is the one thing that you can do to make your life easier. It
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  is the one thing that you can do to give you more energy. It is the one thing to do to give you more
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  brain function, to help you sleep better at night. So, it's does it require a little time and effort?
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  Yes. But the benefits that you get from it are are so important from the everyday to living a
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  long and healthy life. Okay. So, you need to make the decision to I you're feeling tired
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  all the time. That's not a normal feeling. You shouldn't, right? Yeah. It's normal to feel tired
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  after you've gone running for 5k, 10k, long day at work. But not there's a difference between common
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  and normal. And I think this is where we find the challenge sometimes is that if everybody's tired,
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  then it must be normal. No, it's common, but it's not normal. And it's because of all of
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  the external stresses we have in our lives these days. It's the fact that we're not prioritizing
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  our health and wellness. So, it's common to feel tired all the time, but it's not normal.
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  Yeah, I'm going to say something now. When I when I was um in um university, I had I was very tired.
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  Very very tired. And I didn't know why. And then I went to the doctor. He was a really really good
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  doctor. And um and I said to him, "I'm so tired all the time. I don't know what's wrong with
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  me." And he was like, "Well, you're 20some. You shouldn't that's not that's not normal." Yeah. And
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  then we did some tests. And at that time it turned out I had something called bilhazia which is like
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  a tropical disease that I got when I was water went water skiing or whatever you call it and
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  I jumped into some mud by the edge of the river and they got these little parasite parasitic snail
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  things that go into your skin pores and then give you this disease. Yes. So I had to take
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  these tablets and then I was fine. But but what an incredible doctor that didn't just say, "Oh,
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  you're a student. You're studying. You're tired." Or the other one that we hear all the time is,
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  "Oh, you must be depressed. as an anti-depressant as the worst mess with your brain which you know
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  there is an absolute time and place for them but it shouldn't be the go-to for tiredness. No. Yeah.
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  So, so in terms of habits then um what are the bigger biggest habits that we're doing that are
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  draining our energy every day? Goodness naughty habits. Naughty naughty habits. I think I think
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  it's important to remember that everything is connected. So what you eat is going to affect your
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  energy. It's going to affect whether you want to work out. It's going to affect your stress levels.
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  It's going to affect your sleep. So understanding that it's all connected, which can sound daunting,
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  but I think if we can just knock one of those pillars out, if we can improve one thing, it has
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  this wonderful knock-on effect of everything. One of the I never say easy because if they were easy,
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  we would all be doing it. But one of the simplest things we can do, something we have control over
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  is what we're putting into our mouths. So what we're some of us have control. So what we're Yeah.
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  So what we're eating, but you know, needing that sugar fix, that caffeine fix at 11:00 or 3:00,
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  it's probably because we haven't had a good breakfast. It's probably because we haven't slept
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  well the night before. It's because we haven't prioritized moving our bodies. So everything
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  is intertwined. And I think if we can just and it doesn't have to be complicated. It can be simple.
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  It's not easy. The reason it's not easy is the way that our modern day lives are set up. But
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  it can be simple. And I think these days we live in a world where we have so much information. We
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  also have so much misinformation that it can get super overwhelming and everyone's just like, "Oh,
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  I don't know what to do. I'm obviously doing it wrong. Pass me a kebab." I love the way that you
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  look at it because you're you're literally saying because people don't think about that you eat that
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  the cookies you keep going to the cookie jar but it's affecting everything the whole that's why
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  you're a holistic. Yeah. And I mean I think people people hear that word holistic and they think
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  crystals and candles and I love all of that stuff but really holistic just means that I'm looking
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  at the body as one system. So what is happening in my gut is affecting my brain. what is happening in
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  my muscles is affecting my energy in my sceal you know my skeleton like everything is interconnected
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  and I think that is something that we can grab hold of for a positive thing because then when we
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  make one change in one thing it's going to affect everything else so let's just say we get you
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  eating well and you're having protein and veggies and healthy fats at every meal that's going to
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  balance out your blood sugar but balancing out your blood sugar also helps your stress levels
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  when we help our stress levels It helps us sleep. When we sleep, it balances our blood sugar. So,
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  they all are interconnected. So, it can sound daunting, but I think if we can get one habit
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  in place, it has such a great Let's talk about it the other way around. You're not doing that and
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  you're going for the cookie jar. So, what happens? What happens when you cookie? We're going for the
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  cookie jar. We're doing it all. So, we're doing it often every day. So, it's a bad habit. And
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  most of us go into we're doing something we know we shouldn't be doing it, but let's go. So, I'm
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  gonna take a step back and say, why are you doing it first? So, it's nice. So, and I'm also going to
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  say it's not your willpower. Okay? So, my clients come to me and they say, I've got no willpower.
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  Okay? I'm like, 5% of it is willpower. 95% is what's happening in your biology. Wow. Okay. So,
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  you don't have to keep blaming Yeah. Well, I think it's empowering because then you don't
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  have to keep blaming yourself that, oh, I've got a sweet tooth, so I love cookies. I love cakes.
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  No, it's that your biology is now you've wired your biology to want those things. Okay? So,
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  as human beings, we naturally crave sugar and sweet things and refined carbs because they
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  give us a burst of energy. But if we're looking after our energy levels, if we're looking after
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  our blood sugar, we don't necessarily need it. So, I say to my clients, if you can eat your protein
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  and your veggies and your healthy fats at every meal, you're putting your suit of armor on. So,
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  I can if I've had a great day of eating, I don't know, let's say I've had my breakfast,
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  I've had my lunch, had a couple of squares of dark chocolate after lunch because that's my thing. And
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  then and it's so good for you. It's really good for your skin, dark chocolate. And then someone
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  puts a plate of cookies in front of me. Well, I've put my suit of armor on with my veggies
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  and my protein. All of my hunger hormones are nice and balanced. My blood sugar is nice and balanced,
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  and I can say, "No, thank you. I'm not hungry." Gosh, I love that. I love that suit of armor. It's
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  just like putting it. So you've But if you've had a day where let's say you've left the house and
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  you haven't had breakfast, you grab a coffee and a quason on the way to work, you know,
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  or you get a pan of shakalar or you jump into prep, whatever it is. And then at lunch, maybe
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  you're grabbing a sandwich or you're grabbing a salad with no protein. Your body is going to say,
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  "I need some fuel." And of course, it's going to go for those cookies. Yeah. It's going to say,
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  "I demand the fuel. I demand the fuel. Give it to me." And it's not your willpower. Okay.
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  Okay. It's your body needing fuel. But if we can fuel ourselves properly to start with,
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  we won't need it. And it's amazing the change that happens in that's something we can see in a couple
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  of days time. Okay? But if you're not doing that and you're getting the sugar, then you're just
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  getting the sugar and then it makes you want more sugar. You are on that sugar roller coaster. Just
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  so you get this lovely hit of sugar for about five minutes and then you get this drop, dumps,
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  and then your body goes, "Oh my goodness, my blood sugar is in the floor. I'm in a panic state.
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  I need to eat some more. What's my quickest, easiest, simplest thing I can do? I'm going to eat
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  some more sugar. And this is why we bounce between sugar and caffeine and refined carbohydrates and
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  alcohol. Okay. Okay. So, what what happens to our bodies after 35? Like, why can't we maintain that
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  nice slim frame? What's going on? What's going on after 35? Well, okay. So, good and bad news
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  is that our metabolism doesn't actually lower. So, that metabolic rate, the amount of calories
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  that we burn at rest, it doesn't actually go down until our 60s. Oh, so good news, bad news. Okay,
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  what's actually happening after 35 for women is it's our hormones changing. So really between
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  the ages of about 37 and our early 40s is that's when we start to move into permenopause and we
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  can go through all of the permenopause, menopause, postmenopause times, we'll just call it menopause
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  or the menopause transition. So post, it's really post 35. most women find it in their
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  late 30s to early 40s is our hormones change. So our main hormone changes is estrogen. So we
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  start making less estrogen. We're also making less progesterone and less testosterone. Now this has a
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  huge impact on our metabolism. What it really has the impact on though is our muscle mass and our
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  blood sugar balance. So for blood sugar, estrogen has this wonderful balancing effect on our blood
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  sugar. When the more estrogen we have or when we have healthy amounts of estrogen premenopause,
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  it helps to regulate our blood sugar. When we move into pmenopause, then our blood sugar
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  balance starts to become disregulated because we don't have estrogen. The other part is something
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  called sarcopenia, which is the loss of our lean muscle mass. Now, this has partly to do with the
• 15:52
  effects of our lowering hormones, but it also has to do with the way that we live our lives post
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  35 into our 40s. I'm 45 today. Um, oh yes, happy birthday to you. You're 45 today. Don't look good
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  at all. Yeah, congratulations. So, really what we're having is these hormones and our lifestyle
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  is meaning that we're losing our lean muscle mass. So, we're not able to balance our blood sugar so
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  much and we're not having as much lean muscle mass. Now, lean muscle is the engine of our
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  metabolism. It's the only thing that will speed up our metabolism. There's no tea, there's no
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  supplement, there's no nothing that will boost our metabolism as much as lean muscle mass. So when
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  we lose that lean muscle and we lose that blood sugar regulation, what happens is that we start to
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  become softer. Exactly. That's exactly the word. Oh, why are our bodies so mean to us that Well, in
• 16:45
  a way they're not if you if you keep the muscle, but it's like you will naturally deteriorate if
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  you don't do something about it is is what you're saying. Yes, it's horrible. This is a horrible It
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  really is. Yes. But I would also counter that you can I think what happens a lot is a lot of women
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  in their early 40s finally start to take their health seriously. Okay? Because you can't get
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  away with what you used to get away with. Okay. But what about men? Surely this affects men.
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  Surely it's slightly different. So they do have so in the nicest way men are more simple than women.
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  So really the only hormone we're thinking about with them is testosterone. Now testosterone is
• 17:28
  also important for women. That's really important to know as well. But for men they experience a
• 17:33
  gradual decline in testosterone. Now if they're not keeping their blood sugar balance healthy,
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  if they're not having if they're not managing their stress, that's going to affect their
• 17:41
  testosterone as well. Okay. So that goes down. So that goes down. It goes down for women as
• 17:45
  well. Okay. But for men, we're not talking about such a complicated hormonal system. For women,
• 17:51
  it's the complicated hormonal system. Okay. Yeah. It's all the intertwining. It's all the
• 17:56
  interwinitude of Why are women so complicated? But I do, you know, my goal is for women. You know,
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  I typically work with women over 35, high achievers, busy families, all of the things,
• 18:11
  traveling a ton. And my clients are healthier in their early 40s or mid-4s than they've ever
• 18:16
  been in their lives. Really, it's doable. It's not easy, but it's definitely doable. So, hormones are
• 18:23
  doing their thing anyway, but you're counteracting that with food and the muscle. So, you're fighting
• 18:30
  it. You're fight you're you're optimizing it. Let's say optimizing optimizing it. Because
• 18:36
  what we think about is we think about all of those hormones that I mentioned, estrogen, testosterone,
• 18:39
  progesterone, but the most important the two hormones that we have to look after are insulin,
• 18:44
  which is our hormone of blood sugar balance, and cortisol, which is our hormone of stress. Exactly.
• 18:50
  If we can get those under control or at least manage them, be aware of them. It can really help
• 18:56
  everything that's happening post 35. Cortisol is a horrible one. We need cortisol to live. Cortisol
• 19:03
  is what woke you up this morning. So again this is and again this is where we get this so much
• 19:08
  misinformation from. No hormone is good or bad. We need all of them. It's when they become not even
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  imbalance. It's when they become disregulated. So every hormone has a role to play and every hormone
• 19:19
  has a role to play in your circadian rhythm in your 24-hour period and then for women in our
• 19:26
  menstrual cycle. So our 28 to 35day period. So cortisol we need cortisol. Cortisol is what wakes
• 19:31
  us up in the morning. Cortisol gives us the energy to go to the gym, to have this conversation, to
• 19:36
  do all of those wonderful things. Okay? But when cortisol is too high at the wrong times, that's
• 19:41
  when it causes issues. So, it affects us mentally, physically. And it's also if we're stressed out,
• 19:46
  this is why we can't sleep because our cortisol is high. So, it's about regulating our hormones. So,
• 19:51
  if you're waking up at 2:00 at 3:00, 4:00 in the morning, is that cortisol? It's high cortisol.
• 19:55
  Yes. Gosh. So, what that means is that you now it's really important to understand and I feel
• 20:01
  like we could talk for days on this. We could talk for a very long time. We're tapping into
• 20:05
  I've actually I'm not following my my uh You're fine. We'll go off script. Um so, with cortisol,
• 20:12
  if you're not managing it and mitigating it during the day, it's going to be high at night. So,
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  we want it to be higher in the morning, go down a little bit in the afternoon,
• 20:19
  be low in the evening so we can get to sleep. But most of us only ever think about chilling out,
• 20:25
  relaxing. You know, when we get home from work, we've done dinner, we've sorted the kids out,
• 20:29
  we've got ourselves ready for the next day, and then maybe we've got an hour before we go to bed,
• 20:34
  and then we decide to watch Walking Dead or any of those any of those shows. And so, we're going
• 20:40
  to bed with really high cortisol and then that's what's waking us up around that 3:00 a.m. point.
• 20:45
  Right. So, it's what you're doing in the daytime that's affecting what you're doing in the daytime.
• 20:50
  Yeah. Gosh. So, we need to try and be more chilled out then in the day, which is very difficult. It's
• 20:55
  very difficult. It's just about finding It's about finding those micro moments. So, let's say you and
• 21:01
  I finish this podcast. Instead of rushing off to the next one, instead of me running to check my
• 21:06
  phone, just taking a deep breath or Exactly. Just a deep breath. Couple of deep breaths in, couple
• 21:11
  of deep breaths out. Or not being on devices all the time, not having screens in the bedroom. Oh,
• 21:18
  that's a good one, actually. Yeah, it's that blue light is going to make you is going to stop you
• 21:23
  producing melatonin, which is your sleep hormone, and keep you producing cortisol. Right. Right. So,
• 21:30
  no screens. It's such a nice thing though to get into bed and No, it's not. It's stressing you out,
• 21:37
  is it? When have you ever seen anything on your phone at 10:30 at night that has relaxed you?
• 21:44
  Well, it's only when I look at pet pet things, animals. Yeah. But that screen, that light from
• 21:50
  that screen is just is stopping you from producing melatonin, which is your hormone that makes you go
• 21:54
  to sleep and is keeping you increasing adrenaline and cortisol, which is your stress hormones. Yeah,
• 22:00
  I did have an anxiety person in the other day. Anxiety Josh actually is his name, but he said
• 22:05
  um actually with the phones he he obviously it's you know the blue light and everything but he was
• 22:09
  saying that if you can find something relaxing and it actually does relax you then probably I
• 22:14
  think the payoff with very anxious people is if it is going to relax you then you can do it is what
• 22:19
  he said. Um but then it's like you're saying make sure you're looking at relaxing things but then
• 22:24
  you are still going to have the blue light. you're still going to have the blue light and it is a
• 22:28
  very disciplined person who is not then checking their emails. I just check my email I'll just
• 22:34
  check my email once more before I go to bed. Yeah. So, we spoke about lean muscles. So, how should we
• 22:44
  be training then? What's changed? Nothing's changed. So, nothing's changed in what we
• 22:52
  should be doing. So, I typically work with women over 35, but I love it when someone comes to me
• 22:57
  in their 20s cuz I'm like, "Brilliant. Let's get you into really good habits now. Let's build you
• 23:01
  some really great foundations so when you get into your late 30s and your 40s, it makes it easier for
• 23:06
  you." Yeah. So, everybody, but especially women, because we're slightly less muscular. We should
• 23:11
  be thinking about preserving that lean muscle mass. So, we need to be strength training. Gosh,
• 23:16
  we need to be in the gym. How many times a week do you need? Three to four. Three to four. Not
• 23:22
  two. Not two. Two is a great start. Let's never, you know, everybody's got to start somewhere. Two
• 23:27
  is a great start. Two is always going to be better than nothing. Three is your minimum. Four is your
• 23:33
  sweet spot to see real changes. Interesting. But I don't want anyone, if anyone's listening to this
• 23:39
  and they're like, there's no way I can do three or four times. Do one. No, no, that's interesting. I
• 23:44
  mean, well, I I run, so I I love running. I do strength training as well, but I'll sort of do
• 23:49
  maybe, you know, if I if time allows it, I'll do two. Um, but I will run the rest of the time and
• 23:55
  then I'll take a Sunday off. So, I'll do six days. So, I would say swap out. I would swap out. Yeah,
• 24:02
  I would swap out. So, running is one of those things that can be very stressful to the body. And
• 24:09
  I always say to people, if you don't like running, you don't have to run. Now, for other people,
• 24:14
  running is the way they de-stress. Absolutely. So, I'm never going to take that away from them. Never
• 24:18
  going to take that away. If you're running and you hate every moment of it, you know when you see
• 24:22
  people run past you or they jump past you and they look they're questioning their life choices. No,
• 24:25
  I adore it. I've got my border colleague cross to the lab and she she goes with me and we just go in
• 24:30
  the countryside and it is a genuine d-stresser and I just feel like I'm away from everything. I run
• 24:36
  far away. And then if we can add three strength training, big full body squats, lunges. Yeah.
• 24:43
  Gosh, you're gonna see you're gonna but you will notice such a difference in your body and also
• 24:48
  your it's not just you know we talk about these things for lean muscle mass which is so important
• 24:54
  but also for women it's about bone density and also it's about longevity as well. We know that
• 24:58
  the more muscle mass we have you know one of my goals is to help people live long healthy
• 25:02
  lives. We can keep people alive on medications and machines into their 90s into their hundreds. I had
• 25:08
  this conversation with my dad this morning, but is that health span in your lifespan? And for me, I'm
• 25:14
  planning to live to 90, 100. I'm doing everything that I can, but I want to be healthy. Put on a
• 25:20
  party and have a tea and chat. Remember those days? I wonder what podcast will be like. We'll
• 25:25
  be we'll be like we'll be holograms in people's in people's living rooms. Oh my god. But, you know,
• 25:33
  I think it's important not to just want to live to a a long age, but want to live to want to carry
• 25:38
  your shopping. Carry your shopping. Um, there's a doctor that calls it the oxygenarian Olympics.
• 25:44
  Like, can you pick up your grandkids? Can you put your case in the overhead locker on an airplane?
• 25:48
  Listen, I was watching this thing, you know, the mast's athletics, cuz I'm I'm like inspired.
• 25:53
  I'm like, I I want to compete, you know, but I saw these literal 90 year olds running and they
• 25:59
  they've quite fast, you know, and they're on the track like 96, 99. And we have studies that show
• 26:05
  that you can build lean muscle. Yep. You can build lean muscle. You can be completely drained and you
• 26:10
  can build lean muscle. They had a study that was women in like 95 96 and they put them on a higher
• 26:16
  protein diet and did strength training and they put on lean muscle mass. They did. So if these
• 26:21
  are these women in their How quickly can you do it? Put on not so nice. This we're starting from
• 26:25
  not so good. Yeah. I think that study was like 12 weeks. The thing is if you're starting from not so
• 26:29
  good, it's actually easier. Okay. So for someone who has trained all of their life, it's kind of
• 26:35
  it's a little bit harder to to do that. But if you are dtrained and you never strength train, you're
• 26:41
  going to see differences in a couple of weeks time. But for you, it's different. And um you know
• 26:47
  you've you've done all this ballet and and all this ballroom dancing stuff. So you your muscle
• 26:51
  memory is there for sports muscle memory? Yes. But I will say I personally had a real wakeup call.
• 26:58
  I was 42 and I'd kind of you know 42 permenopause and I'd kind of slid out of my good habits. Oh. So
• 27:07
  for me my diet is always on like that's something I find very easy. Okay. But I will honestly say I
• 27:14
  don't love strength training. It's pretty boring. It's pretty boring. You know, who doesn't want to
• 27:18
  be in a class where it's like fun music and you're learning dance moves and all of those things? But
• 27:23
  I was at a I was at a medical conference and got my body composition done. So that's my lean muscle
• 27:28
  mass to body fat ratio. Now the funny thing is I have weighed within half a pound of the same
• 27:35
  weight for the last 12, 13 years. I was exactly the same weight, but my lean muscle mass had gone
• 27:42
  right down. And my body fat had gone right up. Wow. So, for me, that was a real weight. And I was
• 27:48
  feeling a lot softer in my body. Yeah. Oh, I don't like softer. Yeah. Exactly. Horrible, you know,
• 27:56
  softer, more inflamed. So, for Yeah. So even for me that was a real wakeup call of okay let's I
• 28:04
  started working with a fantastic doctor and we got all my hormones sorted out and my thyroid sorted
• 28:08
  out and all of those things but none of those you know I think these days you know everyone's
• 28:13
  talking about hormone therapy and peptide therapy and all of those things and they're wonderful and
• 28:17
  I do a ton of them myself but none of it works unless you're eating right, sleeping right, doing
• 28:23
  the exercise, managing your stress, taking your vitamin D. getting sun all those no one's getting
• 28:29
  no one's getting sun basic things sometimes isn't it but if you if you don't know to know then you
• 28:35
  know if you don't know you don't know so how are you going to help yourself it's you know we
• 28:40
  especially in I work with clients in the UK and the US and in the US we typically get our blood
• 28:45
  work done you know every six months to a year at least in the UK no one is testing no one's doing
• 28:50
  it no one's doing it and it's it's wild because you know we started off this conversation talking
• 28:55
  about energy that could as simple as you've got low iron and low vitamin D. And those are really
• 29:00
  simple fixes and they're really easy to afford blood test. Do your blood tests. Do your blood
• 29:05
  test. Do your blood tests because I always say test don't guess. Test don't guess. Yeah, I love
• 29:11
  that. More of a proactive approach, I think, is what you have you have to be proactive. And I,
• 29:16
  you know, I have lived in a country with an NHS and a country without an NHS. And I will never
• 29:21
  have a bad word said against the NHS. The NHS are amazing. They save lives. but they don't have the
• 29:29
  ability and the resources to be preventative. So that's where we have to be proactive. Yeah,
• 29:35
  that's the thing. People don't normally think about their health until there's a problem. Then
• 29:39
  we triggered into sort of waking up really and taking it more seriously because we have to. It's
• 29:44
  so much harder to do something about it when there is a problem rather than when the first symptoms
• 29:49
  start to show. Okay. So, how how do we protect our energy? You know, we're all busy. We're running
• 29:52
  around stress family work and everything. What's what's the thing? How can we protect protect
• 29:57
  ourselves? Control the controllables. So again, control the controllables. What can you do? What
• 30:01
  can you I flew to I flew from Boston to Heathrow on when did I fly? Tuesday? Monday. How are you
• 30:07
  feeling? Tuesday. Are you okay? I I always feel absolutely fine. So I always try and fly so badly,
• 30:12
  the jet leg. I always try and fly during the day. So I try not to do a red eye because I cannot
• 30:16
  doesn't matter how much melatonin I take. I cannot sleep on a plane. I just can't do it. It's hard.
• 30:20
  Um but I don't eat the plane food. I hydrate the whole time. I probably peed about 10 times on a
• 30:27
  six and a half hour flight. So, I always sit in the aisle. Um, I take my own food on the plane.
• 30:31
  I take electrolytes. I take my vitamins. You know, you can you can bring all kinds of foods
• 30:36
  on a plane. I even froze a Greek yogurt and that went through security. So, it was a new travel
• 30:42
  hack unlocked. You know, you know, you just said electrolytes. Is this is this must be an
• 30:46
  American thing? Cuz I was there um recently and in Vegas and I was having my nails done and the
• 30:54
  lady there and I I've been feeling a bit faint or whatever. She's like, "Oh, no. You you need to be
• 30:58
  taking your electrolytes, especially in Vegas because it's so hard honestly." Yeah. And they
• 31:02
  they take a shot of electrolytes every day. Yeah. I take electrolytes once or twice a day. Stop. No.
• 31:08
  because we don't really think about our mineral balance. Now, this is a whole other kind of I
• 31:13
  mean, if we could go off on so many tangents, but we if we're eating a generally okay diet,
• 31:18
  and most of us take a multivitamin, we're pretty okay for vitamins, sometimes vitamin D, but that's
• 31:23
  hard to get in the diet, so that's a supplement. Um, vegans and vegetarians need to look after B12
• 31:27
  and iron, but most of the time we have enough vitamins in our diet, you know, if we're eating
• 31:31
  a good amount of great quality protein and fruits and veggies, but we don't really think
• 31:36
  about our mineral intake. So minerals, we don't need a ton of them, but we do need them. Now,
• 31:41
  especially something like magnesium. We use magnesium for over 300 processes in the body.
• 31:46
  And the more stressed we get, the more magnesium we get. So if you can find a great electrolyte
• 31:50
  with some magnesium, with some sodium, with um any of the other kind of trace minerals, potassium, it
• 31:56
  can make a huge difference. And what it's doing, it's actually keeping the water in our cells
• 32:00
  rather than drinking it and peeing it out. Yeah. Because that that's the thing she was saying. Oh,
• 32:03
  you can't just have normal water because that's doesn't have all these minerals. So, you need to
• 32:08
  have these electrolytes or some sort of advanced mineral water. Properly hydrating. I mean,
• 32:13
  we're probably all these days, thank goodness, filtering our water or drinking bottled water.
• 32:17
  Now, you do filter out some of the minerals in that. So, putting them back in with a Yeah. So,
• 32:22
  put them back in with an electrolyte. Yeah. We don't think about that. There should be more
• 32:26
  information actually about this whole electrolyte thing. Now, in Vegas, it was a particular
• 32:29
  situation because it was excessively hot and the traveling and everything. And I just was like,
• 32:34
  one of the most stressful places in the world. So stressful and I just I just felt overwhelmed and
• 32:38
  I felt like I was going to faint and I probably was going to faint. I found one healthy restaurant
• 32:43
  last time I was in Vegas. Did you? One one healthy restaurant. A lot of Vegas is not the place for
• 32:48
  me. Yeah. No. No. You kind of need to The nice hotels are a thing that you need to escape into a
• 32:54
  nice hotel if you go there. But then you never see daylight cuz it's so hot out there. Yeah,
• 32:58
  it's hot. That's the thing. And people find people sit around those pools and then they dehydrate.
• 33:02
  They're drinking water, but that's not enough. Are they drinking water? Are they drinking a cocktail?
• 33:06
  Oh, a cocktail. Okay. It wasn't me, I swear. I just drinking water. But yeah. Yeah. Okay. So,
• 33:14
  in terms of energizing, so we spoke about electrolytes, but in terms of energizing,
• 33:18
  coffee. Yay or nay? I love coffee. I will never take I will never take someone's coffee. I love
• 33:23
  coffee. I love coffee, the taste of coffee. Now, I never love I was I'm British, so I was a tea
• 33:28
  drinker until I met my American husband. Tea, too. I'm more of these days more of a coffee person,
• 33:34
  but I do love my coffee. Now, that's usually the first the two things I get asked about is do I
• 33:40
  have to give up coffee? 99% of the time it's no, but let's make your coffee healthy. The other one
• 33:45
  I always get asked about is cheese. Um, usually that's a yes, but we'll do something healthy with
• 33:51
  the cheese as well for coffee. So, the only people that shouldn't be having coffee is if
• 33:56
  you're having extreme thyroid issues or if you're having adrenal fatigue because what coffee does,
• 34:01
  c coffee has caffeine. It's a stimulant. It can tax our energy systems in the body. But for most
• 34:09
  people, we just have to be careful with coffee and we can actually make it a health food. So,
• 34:15
  probably the same in the UK, but in the US, coffee is most people's main form of antioxidants.
• 34:22
  So, antioxidants, type of vitamin and mineral. Um, we need them for everything, for energy
• 34:27
  production, for fighting free radical damage, the whole thing. Okay. Before you continue,
• 34:31
  can I ask? So, when you're having like your nest cafe and you're putting that in,
• 34:35
  is that okay? You're going mm. So, we're not going to do nest cafe. Come on. You're better than nest
• 34:40
  cafe. I always say to people, no, no, it's it's it's funny. My dad drinks instant coffee and I
• 34:47
  come home and I bring I travel with my coffee. It's instant. It's but it's not good for you. If
• 34:52
  we're going to do coffee, let's make it good for you. Let's make it a real source of antioxidants.
• 34:56
  And those antioxidants are wonderful for your immune system, for your skin, for your hair,
• 35:00
  for your energy. So, if we're doing coffee, we want to do organic coffee. Organic. Okay. Organic
• 35:06
  coffee. And then really looking at something that if we can get it organic, ideally low acid.
• 35:12
  That's a hard one to get. Um I can't think of the brands off the top of my head here, but organic,
• 35:17
  low acid. Obviously, we don't want to be adding sweetener. And then in terms of the milk part,
• 35:22
  filtered like does it have to be one of those freshly grounded things? Yeah, a French press
• 35:28
  or I mean we have a we have a Mr. Coffee machine where I am that makes the coffee for you in the
• 35:34
  mornings, but yeah, ideally a French press or a pourover, something like that. Um, you know, it's
• 35:39
  just again thinking about it comes under processed foods. So yeah, you know, if you're thinking about
• 35:45
  your jar of Nest Cafe and you're just pouring your hot water, that's a real processed food.
• 35:49
  But if you're doing a great organic coffee, you you know, I'm not so worried about whatever milk
• 35:53
  you're adding to it, but sweeteners, we obviously don't want to be doing sugar or any of those kind
• 35:57
  of mushroom stuff that people add in and and and collagens and all of those things. Yeah. I mean,
• 36:01
  okay, that so mushrooms talking adaptogens. So adaptogens help with stress or focus or any of
• 36:09
  those things. Fantastic. But are you having your mushroom coffee with a pan of shaka or are you
• 36:15
  having it with some grilled chicken and a fruit salad? So I think people really like to major in
• 36:22
  what I call majoring in the minors. So I'm going to feel really virtuous that I'm doing something
• 36:28
  good for my health because I'm having my mushroom coffee, but I'm not going to give up my sugar and
• 36:32
  my pastry. So these things work, but they're really the last kind of I would say two to 5%
• 36:41
  So, mushroom coffee. Yeah, fantastic. As long as as long as you're doing everything else. Um,
• 36:45
  collagen. I'm a huge fan of collagen. Most collagens I wouldn't heat. So, if you're having
• 36:50
  collagen, put that into your smoothie or something like that. Don't put it into your coffee. Okay.
• 36:56
  We're getting very advanced. We're getting into the nitty-gritty. I love it. Advanced here. But
• 36:59
  we we've decided on on the basic things for most people watching, probably having a a nest cafe.
• 37:06
  Yeah, me included. I mean, we do occasionally have the filter, but I can't be bothered. I've got no
• 37:10
  time. And it's like done. I know. I know. Don't No escap. We have to think about short-term versus
• 37:19
  long-term gains, okay? You know, and let's here's the thing. If you are doing everything else 80 to
• 37:26
  90% right, and you're like, I'm not going to give up my Nest Cafe, fine. I always ask my clients.
• 37:31
  I'm like, what are your non-negotiables? Because for everybody that's maybe 10% of what they're
• 37:37
  doing. If we're doing the other 80 to 90% right, have your nest cafe, have your one glass of wine
• 37:42
  a week, have your pizza night with your family, it's not about that 10%, it's about the other 90%
• 37:48
  that you're doing all the time. Actually would be able to adapt because probably the non-negotiable
• 37:51
  is not having a coffee cuz that if I mean the concept of not having the concept life's not worth
• 37:56
  living. It's not right, is it? There's nothing more disappointing than if you come downstairs,
• 38:01
  you're trying to make a coffee and there's no milk or something, god forbid. So, here's the
• 38:05
  thing. So, I travel with coffee and a hot water heater and a filter. That's how Yeah, cuz I love
• 38:12
  my coffee first. Like, it's my grounding ritual in the morning. So, I get up, I make my coffee,
• 38:17
  beautiful coffee. I'm not dealing with hotel coffee room makers. I make my coffee. I read
• 38:22
  my book. I start my day. Gosh, makes me want to step into your life. Live your life. Come on in.
• 38:31
  Organized, organized, beautiful life. Okay. So, what about energy drinks? No. No. Right. They're
• 38:38
  horrible things. We don't even have to give them air time. You're not getting any time. Right. Um,
• 38:43
  how does dehydration affect your focus and your cravings and your metabolism? Um, dehydration is
• 38:50
  everything. So our cells need so much water to be able to function properly. So you know if you're
• 38:56
  tired, drink some water. If you're hungry, drink some water. If you've got stomach ache, drink some
• 39:02
  water. There's nothing really that, you know, it's very hard to be overhydrated. So I think for most
• 39:08
  people, we're not drinking water enough. And then people say to me, well then don't you need to pee
• 39:13
  all the time? I'm like, well, that's kind of the point. All right. You know, we we think
• 39:17
  about cleanse. Yeah. We think about detox teas and juice cleanses and all of these things. Well,
• 39:23
  our bodies naturally detoxify anyway. They didn't. We would be dead. What's one of the
• 39:27
  best ways that we get those toxins out? It's pee, poop, sweat, and breathing. Well, to pee, to poop,
• 39:33
  and to sweat, we need to be hydrated. Yeah. Okay. And then to poop. So, we talk about um what is it?
• 39:39
  An apple a day keeps the doctor away. What do we eat? What's what's the one food if you had to say
• 39:44
  eat it every day? What would it be? For pooping. Ah well for for all of that for everything. Well
• 39:51
  here's the thing is it's probably hard one food for but let's say for pooping actually for pooping
• 39:56
  um fruits and vegetables. People always say you know do you take a fiber supplement? Well no I
• 40:01
  just eat fruits and vegetables at every meal. Six to eight servings a day. Gosh. Don't overthink it
• 40:07
  if you don't like you know everyone will always say you know do I have to eat kale? Do I have to
• 40:11
  eat Brussels sprouts? No. There's no one fruit or vegetable that you have to eat. just eat more and
• 40:16
  eat a mixture of them and then if you want to you can add a fiber supplement on top but most people
• 40:21
  you should be getting the fiber from the fruits and vegetables cuz then you get the vitamins and
• 40:25
  the minerals and the antioxidants. Okay. So you spoke about travel earlier so what's the
• 40:29
  healthiest way to to eat I suppose where you're traveling it's just so difficult isn't it? You
• 40:34
  don't know the restaurants you don't know what the hotel's going to have. It creates mess disorder. I
• 40:41
  I'm a little controversial in this that I actually think it's actually really easy to eat healthily
• 40:46
  when traveling or it's simple to eat when traveling. Okay, but it has to be a decision. So,
• 40:54
  here's the thing. A lot of people are, "Oh, I'm traveling. I can't eat healthy." And it's a really
• 41:00
  great excuse just to kind of let everything go. But here's the thing. You can travel with
• 41:06
  your own food on a plane. I didn't know they allow this. Yeah. Yeah. As long as it's not liquid, you
• 41:11
  can take it. I took What did I take last time? I took um I made like a gluten-free healthy muffin,
• 41:18
  like blueberry muffin thing, and then I took some um wraps with chicken and salad. And then
• 41:22
  I took my Greek yogurt. I took my electrolytes. I took my supplements. Really easy. Or if you're,
• 41:28
  you know, grab something from I always when I come back here, I always grab
• 41:32
  um a salad from PREP and I take that on the plane with me. So on the plane, take your own food. Most
• 41:38
  restaurants will have you can find a protein, veggies, sweet potato, something like that on
• 41:44
  a menu. You don't have to Yeah, they will have it. It's just I think we it takes a little bit
• 41:50
  more of an effort. But I think a lot of the time we just want an easy out. So by saying,
• 41:56
  "Oh, it's hard to stay healthy when you travel." Now, is it going to be perfect? Absolutely not.
• 42:01
  Can it be 80% of the way? Absolutely. But you just have to be willing to forgo the cocktails,
• 42:07
  the wine, the bread basket, the ice cream on the flight, which is a new thing, the Kit Kat. Um,
• 42:14
  you know, or you make a conscious decision to choose that. But I think it just it comes down to
• 42:20
  that decision. The pot of chocolate mason. I mean, so here's the thing. I also say there's also a
• 42:28
  difference between travel for business and travel for pleasure. And those are two different things.
• 42:35
  And if I'm traveling for business, I want to be as sharp and as switched on and as energized. And so
• 42:42
  I'm going to keep to my routine 90% of the time. So what is the routine? So when you're choosing
• 42:46
  the food, you're looking at fruit and veg. So I'm always going to start with my protein. Proteins.
• 42:52
  You start with that. 30 grams of protein every meal. Gosh. 30 grams is what? A handful. 30
• 42:57
  grams is like a good like a decent sized chicken breast. Okay. So it's not huge amounts. Yeah. So
• 43:04
  with every single meal with every single meal. So we should be aiming for a gram of protein
• 43:08
  per pound of body weight. Don't make me do this in kilograms cuz I live in the US now. Don't even get
• 43:13
  me started on math. But for example, if you weigh 125 pounds, you should be aiming for 125 grams of
• 43:19
  protein. Okay? Break that down easy. Think about 30 grams at each meal. Just think about a good
• 43:27
  size serving of protein every visually like is it this much? is the size of your Now, it used to be
• 43:34
  people used to think the size of your palm that's not enough. Your palm and your fingers is going
• 43:38
  to be a good 30 grams amount. Wow. But we're not then having all of the carbs with it as well. So,
• 43:46
  number one, I'm going to anchor around protein. So, for breakfast, I typically do I could do a
• 43:50
  protein smoothie. I could do some Greek yogurt with some protein powder, some eggs, some eggs
• 43:55
  whites, turkey bacon, something like that. Okay. Lunch, I usually do um a big ugly salad. Mhm. So,
• 44:01
  and here's the thing. 99% of my meals I would never post on Instagram because they don't look
• 44:06
  cute. They're just really healthy. Um, so you know, a couple of handfuls of leafy greens,
• 44:11
  your baby spinach, your um rocket, whatever that is for you. Some protein, tomatoes, avocado, extra
• 44:18
  v virgin olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Super healthy. Yeah. Yeah, that's it. And then
• 44:23
  dinner usually some like last night was uh grilled salmon and uh steamed vegetables. Gosh. Now I'm
• 44:31
  eating for now I love how all of that tastes, but I also love how it makes me feel as well. And I
• 44:39
  think that's the thing that's the the part that we have that little bit of a disconnect of, okay,
• 44:45
  that doesn't sound as delicious as my curry, my fish and chips, my whatever it is, but the way the
• 44:52
  way that number one, when you start changing the way you eat, your taste buds will change anyway.
• 44:57
  Number two, the way that that makes you feel is worth so much more than any moment of pleasure.
• 45:06
  And that's not to say that you can't have those. Like, you know, have a treat meal once a week,
• 45:10
  go out to dinner with the family, have pizza night. Like, there is absolutely room for those,
• 45:15
  but it's what we're doing that 80 to 90% of the time that is most important. I've never um gone
• 45:20
  to a McDonald's and felt great afterwards. There's a reason for that. Yeah. Now, I'm going out for
• 45:27
  a meal this evening with my friends, and I will have my death row meal is a really great burger
• 45:33
  and fries. No, I wouldn't go to McDonald's for that cuz I'm not going to get really great ones.
• 45:38
  Like I want to get a like really good meat, gluten- free, gluten, gluten- free fries,
• 45:44
  ketchup, the whole thing. No, but that's I say, you know, I do treat meals on birthdays, holidays,
• 45:50
  anniversaries, you maybe once a month, certainly not doing every week. Okay. Um, but there is a
• 45:55
  time and a place for it, but it just shouldn't be the majority of the time. It's not a mainstream
• 45:59
  thing. Okay. Do you take supplements? Like you spoke about collagen? Yes. Yep. I do. I take
• 46:04
  supplements. I definitely think there's a time and a place for supplements. Um, supplements should be
• 46:09
  just that, a supplement to a healthy diet. Um, we absolutely can't outs supplement a healthy diet,
• 46:15
  a healthy lifestyle. Um, I work with quite a lot of affluent clients and they would always
• 46:21
  love to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on supplements but not do the hard work. Yes,
• 46:26
  I think we all love supplements because it's like, oh, I can just pop a pill and everything's going
• 46:29
  to be great. No, they're supplements to a healthy diet. And again, going back to that conversation
• 46:34
  we had about testing, let's, you know, the number of times, probably at least once a day,
• 46:39
  someone will reach out to me on Instagram and say, "Should I take this supplement?" I'm like,
• 46:43
  "It depends. I don't know. I don't know." Like, I haven't seen your blood work. I don't know what
• 46:48
  you need. I don't know what you're eating every day. I don't know your health history. So, before
• 46:53
  we Now, there are some basics. A multivitamin, probiotic, probably vitamin D, magnesium,
• 46:59
  fish oil. Now, I'll caveat that with saying always check that with your health care provider first
• 47:03
  because supplements can be powerful. So, there's some foundational things that we can all be doing.
• 47:08
  Collagen is wonderful for skin. Um, creatine is wonderful for our lean muscle mass. But really,
• 47:15
  get your diet right, get your exercise right, get your sleep and stress right, see your doctor,
• 47:19
  supplement is needed. Okay, supplement is needed. Okay. What are the warning signs of a burnout?
• 47:27
  Oh. Um, I really think it probably starts way I I never want to get to someone at burnout because
• 47:38
  what I'm thinking about when I think burnout is I'm thinking adrenal fatigue or adrenal
• 47:42
  dysfunction. So, I've actually seen it in a couple of clients and I've seen lab work and really when
• 47:49
  I'm thinking burnout is someone has been in a state of high or disregulated cortisol for a long
• 47:54
  time. Then what happens is that their body stops making cortisol or their cells stop being so um
• 48:01
  sensitive to it because they've just been in this state of high cortisol for such a long time. What
• 48:06
  do we start to see beforehand? So always feeling tired or a big one is tired and wired. So you wake
• 48:13
  up in the morning and you're tired but also your mind's racing like you're anxious when you wake
• 48:18
  up in the morning. um not having the energy to work out, not having the drive and the get
• 48:25
  up and go. So losing the passion for the things that you once loved to do. Um all of that's not
• 48:30
  normal. Then it's not normal. You're losing all that passion. Again, it's not normal. Now we are
• 48:35
  human. You know, there's a real world thing. And you know, probably you and I, we love our jobs,
• 48:39
  but it's still a job. You know, we still have to get up early. We still have to deal with emails,
• 48:43
  the whole thing. But if you lose that, if if there's nothing in there that you feel excited
• 48:49
  about, that can be a sign of burnout. Um things like um always having sore muscles or sore joints,
• 48:56
  not recovering from your workouts. You know, let's say for you, maybe with your running,
• 49:01
  you find that your running is making you more tired than it energizes you or um frequent colds,
• 49:08
  frequent infections, you know, it can be across the board. Yeah. So we really want to but it's so
• 49:14
  much harder to come back from that than to prevent it in the first place. You mentioned earlier that
• 49:19
  you looked at the scales then you knew that you know you had put on the fat but you were the same
• 49:24
  weight. Um so how how into these wearable devices and the tech are you do do you do that? Do you
• 49:30
  wear one of those smart watches? So it's funny I So this was looking at my body composition. So,
• 49:36
  I think that's a really great metric for people to look at is not how much do I weigh, but how much
• 49:43
  lean muscle mass to body fat ratio do I have. So, you need an advanced scale for that. One of those
• 49:47
  good you can get those from, you know, you can get them from Boots or Superdrug or or anything. Now,
• 49:53
  they're never going to be clinically accurate. This is really important, but they're going to put
• 49:57
  you in the right direction. So, let's say you jump on the scale and it says you're at 24.9% body fat.
• 50:04
  probably going to say something different if you were doing that in a clinic. But let's say you do
• 50:08
  that and then you work really hard for 12 weeks and you're 22% body fat. Fantastic. It's gone in
• 50:14
  the right direction. So that's something that can be useful. In terms of the Apple watches
• 50:20
  and the Aura rings and the Fitbits and the I say GoPro, that's not one of them, but No. Yeah. Yeah,
• 50:26
  I'm with you. You know, I wear them occasionally. So I wear an Aura ring occasionally. Um I think
• 50:32
  it's useful I think it's important not to get too bogged down into it to remember that it's
• 50:38
  not clinically accurate. It's just a guide. And I only think any kind of And also CGM, so the
• 50:44
  blood glucose monitors. Oh, yeah. Those things. Yeah. Yeah. I I wear one of those occasionally,
• 50:50
  they're only useful if they create behavior change. Yeah. I've never used one of those,
• 50:54
  but I think I might I might do that. If they create behavior Yeah. If they trigger you into
• 50:58
  something fant or they they create a positive change, fantastic. If all you're doing is looking
• 51:03
  at the data but not making any changes, it's not worth it. But if it's something that if you need
• 51:09
  that reminder every time you reach for a coffee or a cake or a sandwich or a pizza and you get
• 51:14
  that little reminder and that creates a healthier behavior change, fantastic. I love statistics. I
• 51:19
  love facts, you know, and and yes, the the scale might not be completely accurate. It tempts me to
• 51:24
  go into one of those little scientific studios and get a raw measure, but I love I do believe
• 51:29
  in statistics and I, you know, information is power in my world. I just feel like it can help,
• 51:35
  you know, I I do that with my clients, you know, I look at statistics and it helps form
• 51:39
  pathways and something like a CGM or any of those things, they're real time data as well.
• 51:45
  So you'll literally I I'll never forget it was a few years ago and I was wearing a CGM and and
• 51:50
  what a CGM for for listeners is it's a device that goes into it's got a tiny little filament and it
• 51:55
  goes into your skin. So it's constantly a little Yeah. So it's a little thing that kind of you
• 51:59
  go it's almost like a stapler like a staple gun and so it go it doesn't hurt. So there's a tiny
• 52:04
  filament that goes into your blood and measures your blood sugar at any moment and it's constantly
• 52:09
  sending data back to your phone. So, what can happen? I will never forget we went out for it
• 52:14
  was my friend's bachelorette party and we were in North London. We went for pizza and wine. Oh.
• 52:18
  And Yeah. And I eat gluten-free. So, gluten-free pizzas are naturally more high in carbohydrates,
• 52:24
  refined carbs than normal pizzas. And so, I knew it was going to happen, but I mean, we literally
• 52:30
  were all waiting for this thing to go off. So, I have my piece of pizza. I have my glass of wine.
• 52:33
  Now, I was having a salad with it as well. But it was treat night. It was my friends, you know. Um,
• 52:38
  fair enough. you know, Hendu is what we're calling here. And my blood sugar probably went from like
• 52:43
  the 80s to like the 300s or something. And it was like, you know, it was it was I mean, we knew what
• 52:50
  was happening, but I think if that if if you are a data person and you need real time feedback,
• 52:56
  it can be really useful. You saw that happening in real time. And we knew it was going to happen.
• 53:01
  Imagine if you were doing that every day. Every day, right? So if you're diabetes, basically.
• 53:06
  Exact. Well, yeah. That's it's you know that blood sugar dysregulation then we move to metabolic
• 53:10
  dysfunction then we move to type 2 diabetes which can be reversed but let's prevent it first of all.
• 53:17
  Gosh that's powerful. I I definitely want to try one of those things. So some people have
• 53:23
  um a bit of a strange relationship with with food, don't they? With dieting and they do the fasting
• 53:29
  and everything. How can they rebuild a healthier approach to just all of this stuff? Yeah. I think,
• 53:35
  you know, I think if it's a real, you know, there's a mental health piece of the puzzle,
• 53:39
  which is you absolutely, you know, work with a mental health professional. I think that's
• 53:43
  also something I see in my industry that can be a little bit scary is nutritionists and health
• 53:48
  coaches working with eating disorders and that's an absolute no. So, if it is disordered eating,
• 53:54
  that is you work with a licensed mental health professional full stop. But there is another
• 54:00
  side of it which is something different which is again this misinformation. So I think it's
• 54:05
  number one it's misinformation and it's number two it's wanting a quick fix. So fasting is something
• 54:10
  people love to grab hold of because it's like oh I can eat whatever I want as long as I'm only eating
• 54:15
  you know twice a day or once a day within the window. Within the window I can eat whatever I
• 54:19
  want. No that is not how it works. Um number one everything that we do should be about the quality
• 54:26
  of our food. So food is information for the body. Food tells our hormones what to do. So number one
• 54:31
  is about food quality. Number two is about food timing. Now for men, intermittent fasting can be
• 54:39
  a better tool in a toolbox for them because they don't have the compl the complicated hormonal
• 54:43
  interplay. For women, our bodies go through enough stress with our hormones anyway, especially per
• 54:50
  menopause, lowering of estrogen. Estrogen, progesterone also help our stress levels.
• 54:55
  For women, intermittent fasting in pmenopause is the worst thing that you can do. Eat three to four
• 55:02
  times a day, 3 to four hours in between meals, 12 hours overnight. It's all you need to do. Yeah,
• 55:07
  I love that. I love simplifying that because it does get it does get a lot, doesn't it? It gets
• 55:12
  a lot. And here's the thing, we're we're always all looking for a quick fix with everything.
• 55:17
  And that's just our society, you know? I get I get crossed now when I can't Amazon Prime something in
• 55:22
  the same day. So, we all want a quick fix. We all want something easy, but let's quick fix this. So,
• 55:28
  if you're eating badly, you're eating badly, you you know, you're eating too much, you're eating
• 55:32
  the wrong kind of food. What can you do? Just what what do you do? So, I always say to people,
• 55:36
  think about what you're going to add in before you take away. So, don't think about the things
• 55:41
  you can't have because number one, what that's going to do is that's going to set you up for
• 55:44
  a deprivation mindset. We all know, I mean, you know, I'm 45. I've been through the dieting years
• 55:49
  of the 80s, the '9s, the naughties. You know, the second that you're told you can't have something,
• 55:53
  what do you want? So, the second you're told not to do something, second, you know, if there was
• 55:57
  someone standing behind you and I'd be like, don't look behind you. What are you going to do? You're
• 56:01
  going to look. Okay. So, what we want to think about is where can we add abundance to our diets?
• 56:05
  And this is going to do two things. Number one, it's going to give you that abundant mindset. Look
• 56:09
  at all of the foods that I can eat. Number two, it's going to balance out that blood sugar. So,
• 56:13
  again, that comes back to that point of it's not about willpower, it's about blood sugar.
• 56:18
  So, if I say to someone, okay, all I want you to do for this first week of us working together is
• 56:23
  add protein to the meal that you're eating. Don't change anything else. Just add protein. That's a
• 56:26
  good one, actually. What they're going to do is that's going to help them feel so full. It's going
• 56:31
  to balance out their hunger hormones. It's going to balance out their blood sugar that they're
• 56:34
  then going to not want the dessert afterwards because they're already full from the meal,
• 56:38
  full. So, that's the way, you know, and then maybe, okay, great. We've added protein to a
• 56:43
  meal. We've done that for a week. Where can we now add a serving of vegetables? Can we add, if
• 56:48
  you're having scrambled eggs for breakfast, let's put in some soauteed spinach. Let's put in a side
• 56:53
  salad at dinner. Let's put in some fruit after lunch. And then you're slowly slowly improving,
• 57:00
  making little changes and you don't think, "Oh my goodness, I can't have all of these things." It's
• 57:04
  more that your body starts naturally not to need these things. Okay. What about this is a big one
• 57:08
  with with you. I know you know about this, but if you're trying to eat um because these products and
• 57:13
  things that we use, beauty products, they work on the surface of the skin, but we all know that
• 57:17
  it comes from within. So, what are the things you can eat to look better? Yeah. So, this is one of
• 57:22
  my favorite this is one of my favorite topics. I started working with a dermatologist in 2017. Um
• 57:27
  and at the time, talking about beauty, nutrition, and skin supplements, and it just wasn't a thing.
• 57:32
  Now, fast forward to 2025, everybody's talking about it. And this is what I work. Everyone's
• 57:38
  talking about it. Um I work with L'Oreal for this. Like it is a it's a big thing. But we all love our
• 57:45
  creams and our serums and I'll always be honest and Botox and all of those things. Wonderful. But
• 57:50
  the biggest lowest hanging fruit is what we're eating. So people say to me, you know, does what
• 57:56
  we eat really affect our skin? Absolutely. Because what we eat becomes our cells. Every single cell
• 58:01
  in the body becomes our skin. It literally becomes our skin. what I'm seeing now in your and you have
• 58:06
  beautiful skin and it's glowing. It's very clear. Thank you. Is a result of what you've been eating.
• 58:11
  So number one again comes back to protein. So our skin is made of protein. We have elastin. We have
• 58:18
  um you know all of those different proteins in the skin. If we're not eating enough protein,
• 58:23
  we're not going to be able to repair our skin cells. So number one is protein. Number two,
• 58:27
  yes, we can do a collagen supplement. Fantastic. But don't do a collagen supplement if you're
• 58:31
  not eating enough protein. Number one, get that protein in because it's so important. People are
• 58:36
  like, "Oh, protein for skin. I thought protein was for muscles." Protein's for everything in
• 58:40
  the body. So protein is for our hormones, for our neurotransmitters, but also for our skin as well.
• 58:45
  So if you're seeing those signs of um you know, if you're seeing signs of aging in the mirror,
• 58:50
  you're seeing that slight sagging, you're seeing those fine lines and wrinkles, up the protein in
• 58:54
  your diet. Now, with protein is I like that. Yeah, collagen is a type of protein. So yeah, adding a
• 59:00
  collagen supplement can be really beneficial. Make sure you're doing it every day. Um, healthy fats.
• 59:05
  So, if people are having a low-fat diet, you can really see that in the skin. They lose that glow.
• 59:09
  They lose that plumpness. So, avocado oil, extra virgin olive oil, avocados, nuts and seeds, whole
• 59:16
  milk and butter, sorry, that's just me. Butter has something called um butter has conjugated linoleic
• 59:24
  acid in it, which is fantastic for our skin. And then I think we hear a lot about vitamins and
• 59:30
  minerals, but you heard it here first. Polyphenols are going to be the new buzzword. Okay,
• 59:35
  tell us about them. So polyphenols are specific types of plant compounds. And you find them in,
• 59:43
  if you think about our brightly colored fruits and veg, so things like berries, things like red
• 59:47
  cabbage, but they're also in extra virgin olive oil. They give that that kind of green taste,
• 59:53
  green color and that spicy taste. dark chocolate, coffee, all packed full of polyphenols. Now,
• 59:58
  polyphenols are wonderful because they help feed our gut bacteria, but they also really help free
• 1:00:03
  radical damage in the skin. So, antioxidants and polyphenols, they're that next extra level. So,
• 1:00:09
  you've got your protein in, you're doing your healthy fats, you're not having your sugars or
• 1:00:13
  your alcohols or things because you've got that all nice and balanced. Then think about where can
• 1:00:18
  I add polyphenols to my day? And my two favorite sources of polyphenols are great quality coffee
• 1:00:22
  and organic dark chocolate. Oh yeah. Good things, right? Good. And berries. As of all the berries,
• 1:00:29
  they sound really good as well. Gosh, it doesn't sound that difficult, does it? It's really quite
• 1:00:35
  It's quite Yeah, it can be quite It Exactly. And you think about, you know, you can think
• 1:00:40
  about a day, you know, maybe you're having like a really nice, you know, berry smoothie
• 1:00:44
  in the morning and then lunch, maybe you're having chicken salad with avocado and a bunch of veggies.
• 1:00:50
  I always have two square I have a herbal tea and a dark chocolate two squares of dark chocolate
• 1:00:54
  after lunch and then dinner maybe you know salmon and veggies on that big baking sheet you know it
• 1:00:59
  doesn't have to be complicated dark chocolate contains magnesium doesn't it as well yes so
• 1:01:03
  great for stress levels yeah dark chocolate is a for your nervous system for your stress for your
• 1:01:09
  bones for your nerves um yeah in my opinion dark chocolate is definitely a super it does
• 1:01:15
  sound like you sort of feel sorry for your body in a way if it's really not getting these things
• 1:01:19
  and it's got no way to manage its nervous system and no way to to to build its muscle and give you
• 1:01:24
  the hair you want and then and and and give you that energy. You kind of you feel sorry for the
• 1:01:28
  body. You think in a way we're abusing ourselves by being mean and eating this rubbish that we we
• 1:01:34
  absolutely are. But it doesn't have to be, you know, as we sit here and describe these foods,
• 1:01:38
  it doesn't have to be about deprivation. You know, one of my favorite things is, you know,
• 1:01:42
  sounds the opposite. It's literally the nourish the beautiful nourishment. Exactly. It's all about
• 1:01:48
  thinking about how do I nourish my cells? How do I give my cells the best? You know, it's just the
• 1:01:52
  same as the type of petrol that we put in our car, you know, if we give ourselves that, you know,
• 1:01:58
  and I think the other part is it only takes a couple of days to start to feel better and when
• 1:02:04
  you do feel better and you when you feel better on a consistent basis, it's pretty amazing. And I do
• 1:02:10
  wish people could feel that straight away because people say to me, "How are you so disciplined?"
• 1:02:15
  I'm like, well, I'm not really disciplined. I just know how I feel when I don't eat this
• 1:02:20
  way or I don't live this way. You've chosen to it's it serves you. Okay. So, to finish off,
• 1:02:24
  we're going to do two two things really. Two questions. On the one hand, the question is
• 1:02:29
  going to be a negative one and on the other one is positive. So, what would you say, you know, for
• 1:02:34
  the negative one is that the biggest misconception and and fake news, whatever you want to call it,
• 1:02:41
  out there about all this health stuff there. And then also to counteract that on the positive side
• 1:02:45
  what is you know what can we take away from this conversation if you could give someone one thing
• 1:02:51
  to take away just one and do it what would that be? Okay so the negative part I think is how I
• 1:02:59
  think it's wonderful in society that we're talking more about permenopause and menopause but I think
• 1:03:06
  all we hear right now is doom and gloom. So when we open up our apps, when we hear Deina McCall,
• 1:03:12
  God bless her, all of the things, all we hear about is how awful menopause is, how you're going
• 1:03:18
  to gain weight, you're going to get hot flat, all of the things. Now, that's not taking away from
• 1:03:21
  anyone's experience whatsoever. But when we talk about something negatively, it gets more clicks,
• 1:03:27
  more engagement. And yes, menopause is going to be or the menopause transition can be challenging,
• 1:03:32
  but there's so much that we can do to mitigate those challenges. And it doesn't have to be a
• 1:03:37
  heavy lift or complicated. So I'd say that's probably my negative. And on the positive side,
• 1:03:42
  I mean, if you're not bleeding anymore and lose all that iron, then you've got some more iron for
• 1:03:47
  your There must be. Yeah, it's so I work with I work with Johnson and Johnson and I work on their
• 1:03:52
  menopause health platform and we did a two-day conference and I spent it with 60 or 70 women,
• 1:04:00
  all of who had been through menopause. And the overarching thing was it's really not as
• 1:04:05
  bad as anyone makes out. Now again, not to take anywhere take away from anyone who's having a bad
• 1:04:10
  experience with menopause, but just for women to understand that there is a spectrum of experience
• 1:04:16
  and there are things that we can do to help manage the symptoms. And it's also natural and it's part
• 1:04:22
  of life and it's part of our evolution. So we shouldn't be in a lot of cultures um negative.
• 1:04:28
  I think it's I think it's Japan they call it the second spring. So in a lot of cultures it's
• 1:04:33
  celebrated. It's that next the second spring. It's that next evolution, you know, and I'm
• 1:04:39
  45 and I feel like I'm only just getting started. Yeah. So I'm with you. I'm with you. And that was
• 1:04:46
  positive. That was positive as well. Yeah. But yeah, but um one takeaway for for our viewers,
• 1:04:55
  it only takes a couple of days to start to feel better and it just
• 1:05:00
  starts with that decision of looking after yourself and you don't have to, you know,
• 1:05:04
  it's not going to be something that you are going to punish yourself through or
• 1:05:07
  feel like you're making huge sacrifices and it's going to feel awful for weeks. couple
• 1:05:12
  of days of prioritizing your protein, eating your veggies, drinking your water, getting some sleep,
• 1:05:17
  you start to feel better after a couple of days. It's been fabulous having you on. Thank you so
• 1:05:22
  much for filling us with your wisdom. And like I said, I want to go into your organic, healthy,
• 1:05:29
  well, organized life and just and just live like that cuz I can just imagine you with
• 1:05:33
  your lovely coffee and everything's, you know, clean and tidy and awesome in your world. Yeah,
• 1:05:38
  it's been amazing and no wonder the royals and everyone else is listening to you because yeah,
• 1:05:42
  very wise. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you. Thanks for coming on. Thank you.