Shakira's Secret Diet Plan: Do Celebrity Diets Actually Work?

0:00Welcome to Catching Up With The Royals, a brand new show with me Richard Coles. And me, Emily Andrews. Every week we'll be going beyond the headlines, lifting the lid, and what life is really like behind the palace walls. Hello, sir. Good morning. I'm the Sun's new royal correspondent. Oh, he said, look at me up and down. Things are looking up. We'll be diving into the moments everyone's talking about. What does the world owe you if all of a sudden you've handed back your crown? Meghan and Harry can't keep hold of their staff. We'll reveal the secrets of an organisation usually shrouded in mystery and explore defining moments of royal history to see how the past still shapes the monarchy today.

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1:01Shakira's secret diet plan or Brad Pitt's famous workout that gets him his six-pack abs. The news is filled with this stuff because we're all looking for the secret to have those perfect bodies and those amazing physiques or just live and age healthier like some of these celebrities that never seem to age and always look fantastic. Now, what's the actual truth? Like, what's the real deal here? And is it a secret diet plan that we all need to follow and we're all looking for that magic bit of information? Or is the truth much more simple than that? So let's quickly get into this topic on a special episode of the Unpossessed Truth, where I'm going to be going through the detail of what good looks like and not the perfect celebrity model lifestyle or approach the actual reality of how you need to change your health and your life to live happier healthier and get six packs abs if you want them and have that Shakira body of 48 if you want it but it really is so simple you don't need to be continuing to search for all this information so let's take Shakira is a really quick example.

2:22Her longtime trainer, Anna Keiser, talks about dance-centric workouts and nutrient-focused diet. So fundamentally, when you go through this breakdown of her routines, it's all about exercise and training, which fundamentally is a core thing that we all need to do. But whether you have a secret workout plan from a personal trainer like Shakira or not, doesn't really matter. Most of us just need to go to the gym or find a sport or a form of exercise that we enjoy and we will do consistently and regularly. And by that, I mean, you know, three or four times a week if you can. But for some people that might be walking, for other people that might be going to do strength training in the gym, you know, you have to find your niche even my mum uh you know who's in her late 60s now she's i can't get her to the gym it's not going to happen but she does like swimming so she goes swimming three times a week as a way to move her body because moving her body is really important but then when you get into diet the funny thing about it all is is you uncover that the meals are all salad with a bit of meat, simple food that primarily, as they frame it, is nutrient-rich foods, including fresh soups, vegetables, protein shakes, and primarily dinner is steamed vegetables and protein.

3:56So there's nothing exciting or unique in there. It really is a way of looking at food that our body needs nutrition, and nutrition is more than just proteins, fats, and carbs. it's also vitamins and minerals and micronutrients which are super important and come from meat and vegetables and dairy and whole foods um and you know primarily it's whenever i look at this stuff and don't get me wrong i've spent well the last sort of 15 years in the health industry kind of in the beginning when i was younger getting excited by a new trend or getting excited by a new berry that's discovered in the rainforest and how it's a superfood and the reality is all of it comes and goes and all of it's just hype and a bit nonsense and it's overrated the real systemic change that will change your life and make you feel good comes from the simplicity of eating a whole food diet essentially eating real foods and for me that came down to meat and vegetables if I focus the core part of my meal around meat and vegetables I know I'm getting the nutrients I need I feel much better for it I cut out all the ultra processed foods and I'm getting more nutrition in my diet and then if I combine that with exercise going to the gym playing football or whatever I'm doing I feel amazing life's good and it really is that simple it doesn't need to be this crazy crazy thing but what I'm going to do for you today is I'm going to break down a little bit what's in my day what I do on a regular basis because we always look at celebrities and you know people who are doing these crazy movie workout plans to get six-pack ads and it's really not realistic for most of us um most of us just want to know how you go about life, optimizing your health, feeling better, having more energy and, you know, living healthily without having to make too many sacrifices, without having to count calories, without having to follow a crazy plan, just simply making a few small switches that are going to be better for you.

6:11And I'm not saying my day is optimal by any stretch. It really isn't. I'm not saying you have to follow everything in my day. I'm just trying to break down the simplicity of how some really small tweaks to your day can make a huge difference. And it really is in that simplicity of it. You can take one thing away. You can take five. You can do one tomorrow. You can do one the next day. Whatever feels right for you is the key to making improvements to your health, whatever your health goal may be. So let's get into it. Beginning at 5am, my alarm goes off. I know it's early. I know most people aren't morning people and want to get up at that time in the morning, and you don't have to.

7:05You know, this isn't one of those health guru competitions about who can wake up the earliest. This is a simple way of me finding more hours in the day to catch up on work can exercise before my kids wake up because I've got a one and a three-year-old so it's very hard to find me time in the day but at 5am no one else is up so I can't um so look the alarm goes off the snooze button is the devil that we all find when we're waking up constantly and at the same time each day you know is the key to waking up early you have to have consistency in waking up at 5am or your circadian rhythm is not going to allow you to wake up at that time.

7:47We are creatures of habit and our body likes that consistent schedule so it can fall into a consistent sleep pattern. You know, if you're someone who struggles to set that consistent wake up time and always feel groggy when you wake up, the simple trick to get around this is don't set your alarm for when you wake up. Set your alarm for when you have to go to bed. Keeping your bedtime consistent is the key to actually becoming that morning person you never thought you could be you know waking up regularly you will wake up regularly when your body has had enough sleep so you know I appreciate this isn't always possible um and if you sometimes have a work event a commitment or a friends gathering a meal out whatever it may be there will be times you break this rule it's not a problem but by aiming for 10 p.m and saying right I'm gonna sleep at 10 p.m every night and that usually for me means getting in bed at 9 30 that means if I'm asleep by 10 I wake up at 5 I have my seven hours of sleep I know I'm good on seven hours of sleep not a problem but say I go out for a dinner and I get back and I'm you know in bed by 10 30 gonna be asleep at 11 to protect my sleep I'll have to adjust my alarm to get up at 6am instead of 5 if my schedule allows because I I won't function on six hours so you know whatever time you go to bed make sure you protect your sleep sleep is the number one thing you can do for your health fundamentally um but having that consistency of routine knowing exactly when you go to bed and knowing exactly how many hours you're going to get of sleep is the key to waking up whenever you want so anyway that's your 5am get up if you want more time in the day if you want to go to the gym early be one of the first ones in there and not have to worry about the busyness in the mornings but you know it's up to you you don't have to do this 5am.

9:55The next step is hydration. So after I've woken up, hydration is my number one priority at this point. For me, this is at like, you know, 10 past five in the morning. When you sleep, you've essentially had seven, eight hours of solid, no water and you, your body sweats when you sleep. So you, you do need to rehydrate and fuel ourselves with water. so that's what I start with I start with a normal sort of glass of water first thing in the morning get my system going um and then at the moment I'm not at the gym I've got so much work on at the moment so I haven't been going to the gym like I used to but I will move my body first thing in the morning um so this is when I after my hydration I will do some exercise um and this is as simple for me as doing four sets of 25 press-ups followed by 10 squats on each set so I'm moving my legs I'm moving my arms and my upper body and my chest and so my whole body is kind of moving and waking up um that and it it just you know sets me up for the day especially if I'm sitting at a desk behind most of the day or this could be getting in the car and heading to the gym um if I get to the gym or if you have time to the gym whatever exercise you want to do is up to you just get some exercise in even if it's 10 minutes 15 minutes 20 minutes you know go online look at joe wicks's 15 minute workouts there's so many great workouts there that you can do at home no equipment needed just move your body first thing in the morning and you can go as hard or as little as you like but doing something sets your body up for the day it wakes it up and it moves it further forward and so you will feel better and have more energy throughout the day now next time you know once I've done that 15 20 minute workout we're talking it's about 5 30 a.m now um and it's time for my body to wake up even more and the best way to do this is with natural light.

12:09So I will try and get out in the morning. Now, obviously this was, um, you know, during the summer I would do this. Now it's starting to get dark. It's a bit harder to do. Um, but I'll get out in the garden first thing in the morning, if I can bare feet, um, in the grass. So I'm grounding with nature, um, and getting that light into your eyes is really, even if it's cloudy, doesn't matter. it's getting that natural light into your eyes signals your circadian rhythm that it's morning time um and that early morning light is quite special and it signals our body that now's the time to wake up um and it really just wakes your body up even just the cold air on your skin also has an impact and effect where it's like okay now i'm awake now i'm out um so this is just that cue in the morning that your proper hormonal cycle gets going our body wakes up um and your cortisol level cortisol level is your cortisol levels rise naturally in the morning um which is a normal process and this isn't bad cortisol this is um what you need in the morning to kind of wake your body up and that that morning light will do this and help that help you on that journey whereas if you stay in a dark house you don't go outside it can be slower to move that hormone in your body um so you want that to happen um so you know it's important like these first three steps what I've done is essentially hydrate move my body and then got some natural light but if you imagine what most people do is they wake up they check their phone their head straight downstairs for a cup of coffee it's actually doing the opposite of what I'm suggesting right you're getting unnatural light you're not hydrating with water and then you're getting you're not moving your body and then you're getting coffee in which kind of stimulates your cortisol levels so you will feel that alert but it doesn't do it in a natural way so it can be a bit of a um a hard way for your body to wake up essentially um so you know i think the morning is really important to set up your day obviously the most important thing is get to bed on a good time so you get your seven hours of sleep so that you feel good in the morning and then from there it's those first few things you do in the morning that can set up your day perfectly so at this point I haven't had a shower right it's 5 45 a.m need to go have a quick shower um and to be honest with you there's no real health hack here that you know I don't do cold showers anymore I tried them for a bit and it does make you feel fresh and it definitely wakes you up.

14:58You know, some people swear by their ice baths in the morning. But that's not me. I'm not doing that. I think it's kind of maybe useful if you're a high performance athlete and you want to reduce inflammation in the body. It can be great for things, but I really don't think it's essential. You know, I really don't think it's essential to move your body. Now, if I had a sauna at home, I'd love to go in the sauna in the morning because the fins or the finish have shown that saunering three to four times a week can increase your longevity by quite a considerable amount in studies so sauna would be something i do but i don't have access to one first thing in the morning um so by this time 6 a.m and this could be whatever time for you i'm ready for the day ahead and i'm catching up with work for the next hour or so to get ahead of the day before the kids wake up um you know most recently i've been writing the good the bad and the healthy the new book that's coming out in january which you can pre-order now um to get 25 off at waterstones or amazon and you know that was hard work and the only time i could write this was sort of from this 5 a.m to 7 a.m slot in the morning before the kids wake up So it's been a year's worth of work and it just shows what you can do by like one to two hours every day for almost a year.

16:30I wrote a whole book. Most people would never imagine they could write a book. And I never thought I could. I never thought I'd have the time. But I was just disciplined every morning, one to two hours. and I would write and within a year I had over 50 ,000 words and a book ready to go for you guys which is coming out January 1st, 2026. So get online and pre-order that now if you want the best price. So that's what I'm doing for the next hour. Then around 7, depends on the morning, obviously sometimes it's 7, sometimes it's 6.30, sometimes it's 7.30. The kids are waking up and this is where I actually just love to get a good couple of hours of family time in to start the day um as I said Jack's my eldest he's three he loves his breakfast in the morning um it's the only meal of the day I can guarantee he'll actually eat um and I'll you know try and take him outside first before breakfast so he can get a little bit of that natural light um you know in his eyes so that he doesn't first thing wake up and just sit at the table and eat breakfast um you know they will always ask for the tv first thing in the morning you can't help that but it's you know whilst our kids watch tv I don't think you can avoid it I definitely try and avoid them watching it first thing in the morning I don't think they should be stimulating their brains that way in the morning so I take them outside and then we're off to make breakfast and I get him involved in the process as much as possible so he can learn from a young age how to make food and now all we're talking about is greek yogurt with granola and berries right really simple but he's spooning it into the bowl he's you know pouring the granola on and helping me with the berries so he feels involved it builds self-esteem for the little ones and i think it's really important the more you can get them involved in stuff you do, the better.

18:31So, you know, you know, my breakfast, Greek yogurt, homemade granola berries, really simple, high protein, good fats, you know, low in sugar is what I'm aiming for to set you up. Now, whatever you prefer, that could be scrambled eggs and avocado. There's lots of different ways to have healthy whole foods based breakfasts. but you just want to focus on those proteins and fats and avoid the sugary cereals. And, you know, even if you're buying a Weetabix, which isn't a sugary cereal, you know, I'd say it's not the optimal breakfast because it's carbohydrates primarily. There are limited fats in there, limited protein in there, which is why I always recommend you get something with good fats and good protein and aim for low sugar so your blood sugars are maintained stably throughout the day and you're not reaching for a snack at 10 a.m.

19:23because your blood sugars have spiked from sugary cereal and then crashed afterwards. Now, next port of call is 8 a.m. By this time, we've all sat down as a family with my wife and we usually begin to get ourselves ready for the day, like making Jax's lunchbox for nursery. and you know I try and optimize my family's health as much as I can but I can't pretend I've perfected it at all you know half the time Jax's lunchbox comes back uneaten I'll try and always include real food no processed junk you know for the main in his lunch I always try and use healthy leftovers from the night before if possible because there's more likely to be veg and good stuff in there but if not you know i will do a sandwich for my kid it's not the end of the world but you've got to think about what most kids lunchbox sandwiches are white bread with a slice of processed ham now that processed ham might be 80 percent ham and the rest kind of ultra processed ingredients added so what i try and do is just switch to a cheese sandwich because i know cheese is one ingredient and i'll always give him sourdough with butter and cheese essentially to make the sandwich higher in good fats and protein.

20:45So it stabilizes blood sugar more. And the fun thing about sourdough is kids will eat it if that's what you give them. It's really not that we have to give them this ultra processed bread. And sourdough also spikes blood sugar less because it's been fermented. So sourdough is really cool in that regard. You can eat bread and be healthy. Just try and get sourdough. So alongside the bread or the leftovers, I'll add some cut up fruit. So apples and strawberries or blueberries, whatever. I'll always have a piece of cheese in there, whether that be a Babybel or some other brand, in order for him to get, again, more good fats and protein.

21:25And then some cucumber and tomato too. So ideally, he's having kind of a variety of fruit and veg along with a snack. um unfortunately you know nuts are banned in most schools nuts would be a great snack for kids but you know that's why we have to opt for cheese or you get little air baked cheesy snacks from the brand called cheesies which is just cheese air baked which makes it more crunchy and delicious for the kids which they will always love um and is also still just one ingredient um so then it's you know lunch is packed off on the school run back to my desk for 9am simple family life that everyone has to go through um and you know at 9am you'll be pleased to know this is where i do have coffee i didn't forget coffee i love coffee coffee is technically a superfood it's one of the leading sources of antioxidants in our diets it's really really good for our health now the thing with coffee is it's just about timing and it's let your body wake up naturally have it one to two hours after waking up not the first thing um but the secret little hack that i do with my coffee is i'll have my coffee i love my caffeine but i will have it with a tonic energy and hydration now i'll have essentially make a glass of water and a coffee and then i'll put my tonic energy and hydration in my glass of water.

22:55Now, people ask me, why is it really necessary? Well, the thing is coffee can actually dehydrate you slightly and deplete you of minerals. So by having the tonic electrolyte with my coffee in the morning, what I'm making sure I'm doing is hydrating my body at the right time because hydration is super important for focus and mental clarity. And then the caffeine obviously is a stimulant. So it helps you feel energized at your desk so by combining the electrolyte with the caffeine essentially I'm combating some of the negative effects of the coffee whilst at the same time optimizing my energy and focus by making sure I'm properly hydrated with electrolytes and then having the coffee as the stimulant and I always feel so much better when I do that one of the things I love to put in my coffee is double cream instead of milk because the nutrients in milk are actually stored in the fat so using double cream instead of milk you're getting more nutrients in your coffee and the coffee just tastes way better so that's what I'm doing in my coffee and that you know is my little ritual the signals work has begun my body's awake and it's fueled and I dive into the day feeling focused and energized right um social media is a horrible distraction i try and i always keep my phone on silent um i always try and you know turn off my phone and put it somewhere kind of out of sight so i'm not grabbing at it we're all addicted to social media um and try and get that out of the way but i just start my day with a quick plan you know of what do i need to do today what's in my agenda what's it so what's in my calendar what do i need to focus on and get done today before i start looking at emails because if you start looking at emails first you know you get hijacked with everyone else's plan not your own so you need to focus on your own plan now 11 a.m or 10 30 11 a.m the mid-morning slump this is when most people start to feel really groggy tired reach for that sugary snack um but because i steer clear of it and have a high protein high fat breakfast i don't really tend to experience this the same way most people do because i've filled myself up properly in the morning um but like anyone by that point you've cranked out a couple of hours work and you maybe need that extra bit of motivation you know after the first couple of hours of days you know you don't want to get glued to your chair for eight hours a day you know especially when working from home it's good to get up get out of the chair move your body for a bit you know stop looking at the screen even for five ten minutes just to kind of you know change the rhythm before you keep going on the next stint of work so you know at this point I'm going just for another drink right I will um go for a glass of water maybe some nuts if I am feeling a bit peckish as a handful snack, as a simple snack.

25:59And then, you know, if things aren't really kicking to the intergear at this point, and I'm still feeling rubbish, it's a good idea to just move your body a little bit, like do some stretches, loosen the shoulders, you know, sneak in 10 squats or 25 quick pushups, get the blood flowing around your body before you sit down again those types of things can just re-energize you now come lunchtime um this is where obviously the lunch and what you're eating is super important um i make it a priority to step away from my work for just 30 minutes um it's important to recharge and reset but you know avoid eating a sandwich at your desk and replying to emails while you've been doing it that's what a lot of people do, right?

26:48They go buy a meal deal, they sit at the desk, they reply to emails, they don't switch off. Now, I think having these switch off moments throughout your day helps you maintain focus in kind of shorter stints rather than trying to focus for eight hours. It's impossible. No one's superhuman. You can't do it. So for lunch, typically what I'm doing is I'm keeping it protein focused for that sustained energy throughout the afternoon, avoiding that food coma most people have after lunch, right? You don't want to be reaching for that 3pm coffee because that 3pm coffee is going to be keeping you and affecting you your sleep at night because coffee has a 12 hour half-life.

27:29Now, so for lunch, I'm going for eggs, right? I work from home most days. So really simply, I haven't got much time. It's a bit of sourdough toast in the toaster, some scrambled eggs, and then half an avocado, right? And I try and keep it interesting. You can't eat that every day i have daily variations where i add cheese or i add hot sauce or i make you know a boiled egg mayonnaise to give it a totally different feel so i'll boil three eggs chop it up with some mayonnaise add some gherkins or you can add anything into egg mayonnaise and tastes nice um or one of my favorites is an egg taco um you can go on instagram and search you you know, tonic health, egg taco, and you should find it.

28:13And it's a really cool way to make an egg taco with a wrap and some cheese and some tomatoes and avocado. So you're making eggs fun and in a different way.

28:25You know, if the weather's nice, if possible, I'll take my lunch outside. Getting some fresh air is really important and can work as a midday pick me up in itself. So once I've, you know, made my lunch, I'm outside if I can. Um, and that'll help me return to work with far more energy than if I'd kind of work straight through. Um, but now after lunch, once I've eaten that lunch, I will go and have another coffee. I like to have two cups of coffee a day. I will sometimes have three if I'm really tired, or I just feel like I need one. I think two to three cups is fine. It's when you go to four to five, it starts to have negative effects, um, on your body.

29:06So after lunch, I'll go in and make that second coffee to help me push through the afternoon. But I'll make sure it's never after really about 2pm. So it doesn't still stay in my system for bedtime because I don't want to mess up sleep. Now, obviously, working from home is easy. You can make what you want in your kitchen. But sometimes you're out and about, right? I go to London a lot for work. And at lunchtime, you know it's hard where do you go um i haven't had the time to pack a lunch you know i'm not meal prepping meal prepping is too complicated or you know i never just have the time to do that um so where do i go well there's simple ways to do it right if i'm really on the go and i have no time i get a bottle of kefir for good fats and protein um perhaps a pack of fresh mango if it's a hot day, you know, that's refreshing in the summer, or something like a sliced pack of cheese.

30:05Now, you might think I'm crazy for this one, but a sliced pack of cheese can deliver over 50 grams of protein. And if you add some nuts there or a piece of fruit, you're getting nutrients and you're getting protein that will fill you up. And you can buy it basically anywhere. These are things you can find in any convenience store, anywhere in the country. So you can pick things up like that. Now, you can go to a prep or you can go to find some healthier eat out lunches that will be salads. If I'm doing, you know, a restaurant meal, I'll try and stick to the salads. Essentially, focus on good fats and protein.

30:42Leon sometimes also. Tortilla is another one which does Mexican. You know, these are fast, healthy lunch options, which can be, you know, part of a healthy diet, right? I'm not saying eat them all the time. If it's an occasion, you know, if you're keeping 80 % of your food healthy, then there's really no problem doing this occasionally. Now, if I'm in Lyon, you know, it's simply they have a chicken sandwich. Now, that chicken sandwich isn't deep fried. It's a grilled chicken thigh. sure it's got some mayo in there which is seed oils and sure the bun isn't ideal but it is what it is you're getting a sandwich essentially that's way higher in protein than a normal sandwich you'd find in a supermarket because it's a chicken thigh in there so you know burgers themselves as meat cheese and salad and some non-alther processed bread is a great option far better than a pre-packed sandwich um then comes my prep order another way to go here would be you know they're great salads and protein bolts these are really clear but in the winter you're not really that keen on that so you have to mix it up and have ultimate ultimately different options depending on where you are but they're they're chefs italian chicken salad um is really good right you're getting 25 to 30 grams of protein you're cutting out all the old processed ingredients again the little bit of seed oils in the dressing I don't think it's going to hurt given how healthy the overall meal is.

32:14And then finally, probably my favorite is tortilla. So they make the burritos. I love Mexican food, but you're in control of whatever you put in that burrito, right? So the game changer here is I ditch the heavy load of rice. I say no rice. I want beans and I want salad and I want, you know, the onions and peppers. And then essentially I'm getting a wrap with beans, meat and vegetables in there, you know, cheese, sour cream, sure. And that's it. Like it's a high protein, low carb lunch, ready to help power you through the day. You know, and tortilla don't really add any artificial ingredients to their food.

32:58Their fillings are made fresh in the store. You know, you'll have your own way of doing it, But essentially, again, it's proteins and fats and cutting out the heavy, stodgy carbs for lunch, which will allow you to have that focus throughout the day. So let's move on then to the 3 p.m. slump, which most people struggle with. Your eyelids get heavy. Your energy takes a massive nosedive. Now, like I said, if you've had a decent lunch, this doesn't need to happen. But sometimes it does. Right. And sometimes just tiredness from staring at the screen for too long kicks in. so avoiding the sugary snack and late coffee here is really important because that will start to affect your sleep um you know the questions i ask myself at this point are have i had enough water often the answer is no and dehydration can really affect your focus and energy so it's important to hydrate if you feel that you're getting a bit tired so at this point i'm going to get a pint of water and chugging it down.

34:02You know, I'll usually feel a bit better after that, right? Rehydrating really is an easy way for instant energy throughout the day. Like I said before, if not, get your body moving, you know, step outside in the garden for a five minute breather, a short brisk walk around the block, you know, can even wake you up better than a coffee would. So sometimes you might need a snack also but at this point you know again aim for protein and fiber to keep your blood sugar stable um you know a handful of nuts is a fantastic pick-me-up or some cheese these are always easy they're always available wherever you are and they'll give you that steady steady energy lift without the crash now sometimes we're going to want something sweet right we've all got sweet tooths um in this case i'll try and aim for a piece of fruit or a couple of squares of dark chocolate sometimes you know 90 plus or 85 plus dark chocolate is a super food it's low in sugar you have it as a piece of um of a sweet treat throughout the day and it's great great you can do that regularly um you know and then if you're like desperate for a hot drink especially in winter in england you know that hot drink to keep you warm throughout the day is important but then just opt for a cup of tea instead of coffee right cup of tea has way less caffeine in but still a little bit just to give you a little bit of a boost and so we want to protect that sleep and make sure we're keeping our blood sugar stable and avoid dehydration which will give us that steady energy throughout the day so when you work from home the line between work and personal life can really get blurry and I've fallen into the trap you know I can easily do a marathon 16 hour day um where I'm working all day at home from 7 a.m to 10 p.m at night but it's really unproductive you haven't got the focus you can't deliver for that long so it's important you log off at 6 p.m right and have that evening meal maybe you can switch back on at you know at eight o 'clock once you've had your dinner but you need to switch off um so once I've logged off I jump into the kitchen and start prepping dinner helping my wife if she's cooking dinner um or looking after the kids if she's cooking dinner but the key here is rather than just walking into the next room and starting family time I try if possible and switch gears a little bit um so have a short transition period before diving into evening responsibility right um you know essentially when i used to commute into an office the train ride home the train ride home served as that transition time switching roles from being in work mode deliver deliver deliver to being present as a husband as a dad um you know and having you know a good conversation with my family being interested and what's going on with them.

37:12So, you know, because it's hard, you'll have work challenges on your mind and it's hard to, you know, switch those off. So a good way to do is if you can, like just head outside for five minutes before you jump into the family life to help your mind relax and switch gears and be present in your home life and not take the work stress into that, you know, home life, which is really good way of just optimizing your family routine. now once I've done that full family mode kicks in um you know there's usually pure chaos around the kitchen um you know me and my wife are trying to get dinner ready their kids are bored and you know you know at this point they're starting to maybe get a bit tired and grouchy so there's clutter everywhere they've been playing with their toys my three-year-old's demanding attention we're all kind of hungry and looking through the fidget oh god what are we going to make for dinner now you know we try and make dinner a real family affair every night I think it's really nice you know if I haven't seen the kids all day it's a really nice moment where you can then kind of tune into what's been going on with your family's day um so making the most of evenings is really important um but it's hard we've just had a long day of work you know you don't want to spend an hour in the kitchen cooking your kids haven't got you know the attention span for that so So keeping dinner really simple and healthy and satisfying is the key for us during the week.

38:44Now we're talking nutritious food without too much fast or time committed. And like I said, with the Shakira diet, this is about simply eating nutrient dense foods, which is whole foods. It's meat and it's vegetables. That's what we try and focus our meal around. So a simple dinner could be, you know, a baked bit of salmon in the oven takes 15 minutes to bake along with some boiled or roasted vegetables. Done. Simple meal or burgers, homemade burgers, but without the bun, just salads and pickles. Right. That can be another way to eat meat and vegetables. Really simple can take 10 minutes to make.

39:25um you know in the winter i love doing a one pot slow cooked lamb stew with carrots potatoes basically anything i have in the fridge i can chuck it in and i can slow cook it for you know seven eight hours and then have a delicious meal ready to go um or a sheet pan meal so this is where you just put chicken thighs onions peppers sweet potatoes and any other veg you have in the fridge throw them all in a tray with olive oil and herbs and then roast it in the oven for you know 30 40 minutes now we're talking five to ten minutes of prep and then you're done and then you can go and focus on the kids and it's 100 whole food so really simply meat and vegetables for your dinner that's what we're going for and that's it right we're talking meat fish eggs beans the basis of your meal meat and vegetables nothing more nothing less unprocessed you know and our kids will have to you know adjust it for them for for Bodhi my you know one year old will blend it will blend the meat and veg and try and make it into a bit of a baby food alongside now really that's simple right most people think they have to buy baby food but you just make your normal meal sure you might take some of it out before you put any spices in or whatever but you you then just put it in a blender blend it up maybe add some egg maybe add some butter maybe add some olive oil to get good fats in there um so that it blends better and then away you go you can even add yogurt in there um to get more good fats in there and then you've got healthy fresh unprocessed baby food ready for your little one um now of course i'm like anyone else my toddler's like anyone else and sometimes he refuses to eat our food and I you know I confess I we don't always have the strength to fight him on it it's hard um so you know on occasion this ends up being another bowl of yogurt for him because he loves his breakfast bowl of yogurt um and you know one minute dinner isn't going to change anything right it's about your consistent actions over time and And the majority of food your kids consume over 18 years and how you build a relationship with food with them and an understanding with food that they know what good looks like.

41:49That's what's important. Not the one meal if they're just, you know, refusing to eat. So lots and lots and lots of parents go through this and they go through the stress and angst of, oh, my God, my kid hasn't eaten dinner. What am I going to do? He will be fine. Don't worry about it. It's a one off. Just make sure you're constantly putting healthy, unprocessed food on the table and he will eat it. I mean, we were on a flight the other day and we really had nothing with us. And he basically ate cucumber and tomato for dinner. He was fine. He ate it. He was hungry. That's another thing, right? one of the the keys to making sure they eat dinner as a little toddler is avoid that sort of 3 4 p.m snack a lot of times they get home from nursery or play group or whatever and they're like mommy i'm hungry i'm hungry and then if you feed them a slice of toast and whatever snack you give them that actually does a good job of filling them up so that when you try and sit down for dinner at 6 30 they're not hungry and then they won't eat whereas if you try and avoid that snack then by dinner time they will be hungry and they will more likely eat what you put in front of them um you know one other little health hack in a day to think about is eat early right you don't want to eat at dinner at nine o 'clock and then go to bed at nine day ten your body will still be processing that food and digesting it and that disrupts your sleep quality which we need to protect religiously so that's why you know first thing after work I'm all about let's make dinner let's get dinner done by about 7 30 at the latest so our body has a good couple of hours to digest the food properly before we get into sleep um so that's really important um now obviously at the dinner table no phones we want to have conversation no tv um we try and talk to each other amongst the kid management and craziness um but then after dinner we try and make it fun do something the kids will love which is we have our little milk and choc time which is essentially at the end of the day a little treat moment for the whole family and that everyone looks forward to and you know in the summer we might do it outside in the winter in the living room um but we're talking you know a small glass of milk and it's not even a full glass of milk it's probably like for the kid it's probably a quarter glass of milk for us it's probably half a glass of milk and then we're talking two three pieces of dark chocolate but it's 85 or 90 and that means it's low sugar and even a three-year-old loves dark chocolate he loves it he eats it every day because it's what he knows right it's all about our taste bud training and if you do something regularly for 10 to 14 days your taste buds actually evolve and adapt to that taste so even if you say oh i can't do dark chocolate you can you just need to work your way up at it take steps do 10 to 14 days on one percent then do 10 to 14 days on the next higher percent and gradually move your way up and you can do it so once we've had milk and chalk then it's curtains are drawn lights are dimmed and we try and create this calm environment for bedtime so our little kids can start to recognize that it's a routine it's it's time you know to wind down but obviously to get their last bits of energy out there's always the bit of rough and tumble in bed where i'm playing with both the boys while my wife's perhaps getting their pajamas and getting other things ready um before we get into bedtime stories um and then you know my wife's putting the baby's bed i'm putting the toddler's bed.

45:41And, you know, if you looked in our kitchen or living room at this point in time, you know, there's going to be toys everywhere, dishes in the sink, you know, it's chaos, right? We've got two kids and it's hard, you know, we're trying to get the kids upstairs in bed. We're trying to keep them calm. You know, that's the reality of having two kids under four. We're trying our best. and that's it right on a good night we'll hopefully get them to bed by 8 8 30 leaving us a bit of time for us at the end of the day whether you know we want to just catch up for an hour or more often than not we're in the kitchen cleaning you know making sure the house is ready for the next day but where my wife and I always have a bit of a routine is we'll then have our magnesium at this point in time um this is the tonic rest and recover where we've got 300 milligrams of ashwagandha sorry 300 milligrams of magnesium ashwagandha and lemon balm to help your body relax and unwind and prepare it for sleep but it gives us another moment where we get a chance to catch up you know a lot of parents at this point are reaching for that glass of wine and years ago that would have been us as well but that magnesium will help prepare you for sleep whereas the wine would obviously and the alcohol would actually disrupt sleep quality and you know being a parent of two kids under four protecting my sleep is something I do religiously because without it I can't function the next day um so you know that's our that's our day right there's no secret plan other than as I said earlier is right now then we're aiming for bed by 9 30 so I can make sure I get those seven hours of sleep if the kids don't wake up during the night um and you know that's it that's what a day looks like um we try and do other things like put blue light filters on our phone so if we are on our phone at night and sometimes we are you know we're protecting our eyes from blue light at night because the blue light will block your body from naturally producing melatonin, which is its normal hormonal cycle and part of the circadian rhythm to help you get ready for sleep and help you drift off to sleep.

48:02So what most people do, sit, watch Netflix on a massive TV for three hours before bed and then wonder why they can't sleep. Well, they've just been pumping blue light into their eyes, which stops their normal bodily process of producing melatonin um so you know come nine o 'clock I will put my phone on silent you know um I'll get a podcast on to unwind I'll turn it on flight mode so no messages can come in um and you know at this point it's a podcast so my eyes are shut you know I might listen to something um but I don't want to be looking at a phone or watching something really as I try and get off to sleep so you know I am someone who loves to read I love to learn but in reality there's no time for reading in my day I could probably sometimes you know read a book for 20 minutes before I go to bed instead of doing a podcast but often I don't this isn't about being perfect right it's about what works for you and what your priorities are and works out best for you.

49:08Now, I'm just sharing everything I do in a day as a normal person to give you a sense of what normal life is like. This isn't a fancy meal plan. This isn't a fancy training regime. This is just about living healthily, regularly, on the go, as I live my life with two kids and running a business. You know, and sometimes life throws curveballs you can't prepare for that but you know go out for meals go and see your friends in the evening if that affects your sleep now and again not a problem you don't have to be religious you know community enjoying friends time um and having a social network where you actually spend time with people is actually one of the key consistent traits of all the blue zones around the world where people live the longest um so that is also important and sometimes that is going to affect your routine so don't stress about that too much um and as i said by the time it's 10 o 'clock i'm off to bed i'm asleep um so i get my solid seven hours so i can wake up at 5 a.m again right and that consistency i keep this same routine throughout the weekend as much as i can as well as the week because when your body's used to something it's really easy and waking up at 5am is really easy when your circadian rhythm knows that that's when your body wakes up right um so that's really all it is that's my typical day as a dad as a husband as a business owner as a ceo some people even call me an influencer but i hate the term and i you know never take money from brands on our social posts because I want to give you guys the unprocessed truth um and all I try and do is share what I know and how to make you guys a little bit healthier um you don't need to do all of it my day is not perfect by any stretch um I need to get back into the gym more um but I do have good energy and I can live my life and I can do everything I need and I know I'm protecting my health so that I can enjoy my kids growing up and you know I'm not going to have issues later in life right so there's no secret there's no celebrity three-month diet plan there's no eight-week ab program here it's the simple little choices you make today that will affect your health and your life you know that is the whole idea what you do today is what changes your life.

51:47You can't affect tomorrow. You can't, you know, predict what's going to happen in three months time. The only thing you can control is today. And those small habits, as long as you stick with them consistently and you do them daily over time is huge and changes your life fundamentally. And compounding interest will mean that you might not notice a change in one day or two days or three. But after 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, you're going to start to notice a difference and you're going to feel amazing. And these little things really start to add up and build you on a very good path towards good health.

52:30And, you know, like I said earlier, I wrote a whole book, 50 ,000 words by doing like one hour a day for a year, right? That's all it is. I never thought I'd have the time. But that's how impactful compounding interest can be of doing these small little choices every day. And yeah, that's it, right? This isn't about perfect. This isn't about copying what I do. It's about getting some nuggets of insight that might be useful to you to change up your routine a little bit so that you can be a little bit healthier. So thanks for listening to the Unprocessed Truth. And as always, if you can share this with a friend or give us, you know a good review on Spotify it helps us reach more people and it helps me be able to continue to do these things for you and invest in sharing my time and what I've learned over the years so that you all can be a little bit happier and a little bit healthier so thank you for listening