Is Eating Healthy Too Expensive? The Hot Girl Walk & Why You Don’t Need to Be Perfect

26:49But it just was really penny dropping moment of thinking, I just don't understand how anyone could ever navigate this. these are cheap. They're really appealing to children. They have no nutritional benefit, but they have a sprinkling of multivitamin, which allows you to make claims about having vitamin D, for example, which allows you to make health claims that feel very appealing and therefore say things like supporting your family's health. But it's absolutely extraordinary that you're allowed to say things like that. But I think one of the other key findings that was really interesting to me, and certainly something I see a lot, is a quarter of places, a 26%, where you can buy food in England are fast food outlets.

27:27And that's remained unchanged in six years. And I find it often like, I don't know, we stopped for petrol last weekend and looking at the shelves in the garage and like, unless you wanted a banana or an apple, there was nothing in there that wasn't like neutral. It was fully ultra processed food to the extremes, like really, really, really unhealthy. And as I said, when we were talking about what we had for breakfast and I had a caramel slice, there is nothing wrong. with having a treat. There is nothing bad about that. But the problem is, is it's just so difficult to find healthy options on a regular basis and therefore make things a one off as opposed to the core of what you eat.

28:06And I just think it's absolutely extraordinary. It's the nuance as well involved here where we're talking about, you know, household incomes and inequality as well with health. And if you've got the more deprived levels of population where perhaps their children will only literally eat Cocoa Pops in the morning because that's all they've ever known. So they're used to that sweet palate. They don't have the time to be stressing out those options. So I'm relieved they are fortified. Just to put that out there, it's great that these unhealthy items are fortified, at least to give children some nourishment.

28:35But it goes to show the lack, the financial means, the access to decent food. The government has to step up because this is such a big, big, big problem. and with people conditioned to junk food already, once you're on that hyperpalatable food and once your children aren't used to it and you're used to it and your life is stressful, your life is hard, you've got no money, it just doesn't make it easy for you. So anyway, the broken plate is very depressing, but it's data that we've needed for a long time. The health professionals are now pushing, we're lobbying, we're trying really, really, really hard to tell the government, look, you have to support change.

29:15They have to sponsor and help companies like yourselves and other companies to make decent switches. And I get it. In a garage, like you said, you stop off at a petrol station. That item that sits there has to last for forever because they're not a supermarket. They have to have these types of items. But generally speaking, children, come on. Kids deserve so much better in this country. Well, there was a lot of follow up, obviously, in the papers about the broken plate report because it is shocking. I mean, it's completely, for want of a better word, unacceptable to be living in such a developed country that's so wealthy in comparison to so many other countries in the world.

29:54And yet the lowest, the most deprived fifth of our population would have to be spending 70 percent of their income to feed their children properly. I mean, that's just, as I said, unacceptable. Would you heat your house or do you feed your children? Like who should have to make that decision? And these aren't choices that anyone should have to be making. And I think, as you said, it just shines a light on just how broken our food system is and how radical the change has to be. And I think I've certainly found it really interesting looking at that over the last however long. The fact that there's this really interesting kind of tussle between people saying we don't want a nanny state.

30:29We don't want to be told what to do. but equally I find it hard to believe without very very serious government intervention we're not going to have a problem that's only continuously exacerbated like I don't really see a way out without really extreme government intervention in which they have to have negative VAT on fruits and vegetables and you have to have really clever mechanisms at place you know you have to in the way that we have taxed cigarettes like you're going to have to tax very unhealthy food in order to make healthy food cheaper. I think they're not really solutions that people want and I'm not surprised and no one wants to be told what to do.

31:04But equally, given the damage that it's causing and the completely unfair nature of it, it's very, very difficult to sit here and think that continuing on the path that we're on is viable in any shape or form. Just think of the stretch on the NHS because our diet, as we know, is linked to all these different metabolic diseases And in the future, that's an increased risk, sadly, of diabetes, of heart disease, of obesity, and all these different areas that impact our health and impact the strain on our health systems. And then we're looking at an aging population with a multitude of problems. And I saw in the press yesterday, and a journalist had written, you know, processed meat, read and processed meat, is so pushed on children today that we're looking at a future generation of majorly high record numbers of bowel cancers.

31:49And you just think, what is going on? We're pushing unhealthy items at every single corner onto the future generations. So give us some swaps, Ella. How can we save money and cook better? Well, yes, exactly. Because one thing I was going to say is there were so many people then talking about, okay, but what can we actually do today? And what are some things? I want to ask you about fresh or frozen, because I know you've been talking about that recently again in the press, which I think is a really interesting one, because frozen is oftentimes a lot cheaper and oftentimes also healthier. But interestingly, and this is some research we've done for something completely separately, obviously cooking at home is the cheapest way to eat well there's no getting around it now obviously you can then look at all the problems we have with that in terms of not teaching people now probably to cook at school not making people feel empowered and confident that's also I think it's up to a million people who don't have a fridge households who don't have a fridge in the UK again like this inequality making that difficult so I don't mean to push past that but if you are able to cook at home more then that is extraordinary and you can be using ingredients like dried legumes, for example, which obviously are so much cheaper, whole grain, seasonal veg.

32:55But in that, and we're not talking about this because I eat a plant-based diet, but plant-based options are often so much cheaper. And when I say plant-based, I don't mean meat mimics because those can be expensive. I mean, switching to using chickpeas or lentils, for example. And there's a few different reports on this, but actually it's looked to be about a third cheaper to do your shop as a veggie or vegetarian diet where you're using those plant-based sources of protein and obviously also that's so beneficial for the environment and we actually cost it up again this was something different but i just thought it was interesting a winter bolognese recipe we'd done which is leeks carrots celeriac um just for being super seasonal some herbs tofu tomato and it was about one depends where you shop but like one pound fifty to one pound eighty a serving.

33:42But with beef as a traditional bolognese, it would be additional 40 to 45p a person, making it about£2.50 to£2.20 a serving. So really meaningful difference actually. And if you kind of replicated£1.75 versus£2.17 across the week for a family of four, continuing to swap animal protein for plant protein in an evening meal, you'd be saving almost£12 across the week or£600 across the year, which I thought was really interesting. And again, it's not about going 100 % plant based but it is just an interesting note. It's better also better for the environment and you're not having to store things in the fridge in the same way because you can buy those ingredients you can even buy frozen bags and things and use it on the day if you don't have one but it's the meat it's meat and fish that.

34:24Totally because meat mimics have been so kind of had this boom and now they've gone completely bust and we'll talk about that actually I think interestingly next week but those were obviously quite expensive so I think that people then had this view that plant-based had to be expensive because you had to buy a chicken replica or a bacon replica. But actually, if you're using, as I said, like lentils, then it's a lot, lot cheaper. So many countries in the world, look at India and places where they've got a huge vegetarian population. They love their lentils and their pulses. They know how to cook with them so well, don't they?

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37:09Also called atopic dermatitis that is not well controlled with prescription therapies used on the skin or topicals or who cannot use topical therapies.

37:35Tell us about frozen versus fresh, because I think that interestingly, like in lots of European countries, frozen food is seen as really premium and really positive. Whereas in the UK, it feels like we have a really negative view towards frozen food. And I didn't know this until it was actually maybe over a year ago now, I did a podcast with Shivani Powell, she's Millennial Mind podcast, and we were speaking about frozen food. And I didn't realise the cultural links to it. Because in some cultures, they see frozen food as dead food. You know, food that isn't fresh is not seen as healthy and is not seen as good for you.

38:12Whereas you're right, if you don't have a cultural or religious aspect towards it, it is just a more convenient, cheaper way to eat food and the utilization of technology that's fantastic. And actually, we used to preserve food many, many thousands of years ago in this way. We used to keep food cold and frozen, depending on the climate you live in. People used to ferment things. There's lots of ways of doing it. So basically, let's use the example of a classic fish finger, which most people would buy. If you pick a good quality one and then you freeze it, it would last three months with the same amount of omega-3 as if the fish were fresh.

38:45And that's astounding because most people don't eat food from their freezer in the first place and expect to get the same nutritional benefit. And I think a good example is fruit and things that are really expensive that I know you and I use a lot. Yeah, like big bags of frozen berries. Berries are so expensive. A tiny punnet. You get next to nothing buying them fresh and actually you lose the antioxidant capacity. You lose the nutrition the longer it's sat on the shop shelves. once it's been picked from the vine or the stem. And if you have it straight from the freezer, you're going to get the same, if not more, nutrition than if you were eating it fresh.

39:17So it's just a little incentive to everybody. You can even buy packs of cut onion, if you don't like chopping an onion, and then you just get out the quantity you need. Sometimes you need to get the frozen fruit out the night before. Frozen broccoli, for instance, retains a lot of water, so you might want to pat it down with a paper towel before you start cooking with it, and there's all those different things to consider. But in the press, I was basically just trying to convince people that you can save money, be more efficient, reduce household waste, which is huge in this country. I think a third of the food we eat is thrown in the bin, which is insane when we've got this broken plate that we're reporting right now.

39:53And save money and get more nutrition. Just get things out your freezer more. I live with my freezer nearly every single week. I pull things out. Yeah, me too. I mean, I batch cook. I was going to say in the beginning, like a pro, I love batch cooking. It's so helpful in freezing things. but also I don't know like my girls love porridge before school in the morning and I will chuck in lots of frozen berries yeah and it's so much easier because I always have them I just have the amount I need they don't go off I don't waste even bananas when they're going off so I chop them up like little coins for my kids and then in the morning we both put nut butter on them and then we put them in the freezer and we'll get them out we'll forget about it and maybe get out the week later oh look you've got your nut butter frozen banana bites for breakfast today you know if there's things going off use your freezer yeah no absolutely do freezing bananas okay one okay OK, so our second headline this week is a really positive one that I saw a few days ago and I wanted to talk about, which is that things really do feel better in the morning.

40:45Right. Isn't that so nice? Because don't you feel like it's such a kind of something your granny would say, like, don't worry, darling, things will feel better in the morning. And we might roll our eyes. But science actually backs it up. So there was a major new study of nearly 5 ,000 UK adults, which you will attest to really. It's like that's a serious study. It's good. They were tracking their moods over two years and found this really consistent daily pattern. 50 ,000, I think you meant to say. Oh, what did I say? You said five. Oh, 50. No, sorry. 50. Yes. Sorry. 50 ,000. A mega number of people.

41:16So there was this really consistent pattern, which certainly I feel like I have in my life. So happiness and life satisfaction peak early in the morning between 6 and 8 a.m. Good for us early birds. Then by 10 a.m. your mood starts to dip. So it kind of dips all day, picks up again in the early evening. It was about 6 p.m. but takes a nosedive at 8pm and hits an absolute low point around midnight. This bit I think was so interesting was that weekends bring more emotional ups and downs than weekdays, which tend to be a lot more stable, a lot more regular. And that happiness, life satisfaction and a feeling that life is worthwhile are all higher on Mondays and Fridays compared to Sundays and even Tuesdays had a happiness boost.

41:58So I think you can't help but wonder if actually like as humans, we love routine because most of us have a real routine Monday to Friday and probably less on the weekends. And also seasonal patterns massively at play. Probably no surprise to anyone listening that our mental health was better in summer, lower in winter. Yeah, I mean, I'm always optimistic on a Monday. It's going to be a great week. And then it might peter off for Wednesday, Thursday and then Friday. I'm like, yeah, it's the weekend. But I think it was just, again, it was like one of those moments where it's just a kind of scientific way of proving that our well-being naturally ebbs and flows.

42:33And I think we all expect to be like happy and shiny and really grey all the time. And that is just not how the human disposition is. Which is why we need to do a happiness bonus scoop. Yeah, we do because we all need a bit more how to be happy in our lives. But I just think it's a really nice kind of reassurance that we're all normal. Like it's normal to feel a bit down. And we need routine. I think it also shows how important routine is, right? 100 % and we clearly thrive on it but also like everything just shifts minute by minute day to day and that's so normal but you can talk to us about this is that one of the reasons the researchers were also saying that this kind of general ebb and flow throughout the day with this peak in the morning is actually related to our cortisol levels.

43:17So can you tell us a bit about that? Yeah, because when you wake up, I used to do this in talks a long time ago and people were interested in this. I feel like if they're interested in this again now, this is fantastic. So you wake up in the morning, cortisol is high because it's a stress hormone and it's there to help you feel alert. It's there to help you wake up. And then across the course of the day, it's almost like a slide. It's like a playground slide. It kind of just peters off and goes down. And you can actually spike this by having a cup of coffee and different things you do throughout the day, any exercise.

43:43You can increase or decrease this hormone. but we're actually meant to decrease we get to that 8 p.m point and we're meant to go to bed I almost feel like it's science and our natural internal rhythm saying hey this is when you are meant to sleep and we do have a routine and also our gut bugs have a circadian rhythm and they're very used to time so we've got research now that shows they're awake when we're awake they rest a bit more when we're asleep and obviously they have certain jobs to do we don't know everything just like the immune system has jobs to do when we're asleep and our brain flushes through with grey matter but what's so interesting is that if we stick to the same time each day I know everyone wants a line at the weekend it doesn't happen for us parents so we always have this consistent early wake up but if you do stick to it potentially you can be helping with your happiness and our gut bugs play a role with our happy hormone serotonin so we've got cortisol happening naturally we're not meant to be stimulating it this is why we say to clients stop your coffees from like 11 a.m because your cortisol is meant to be going down you're meant to be petering off.

44:46And that's going to help you get a better night's sleep, isn't it? If your cortisol has naturally dropped down to a very low level. I mean, oh, I wish that we could get as much sleep as possible. I know as parents, it's impossible. And if you've got a very stressful job or you're going through menopause, there's so many reasons why we don't sleep as well as we should. But it plays such a role in regulating these stress hormones and it can impact how high or how low the peaks and troughs that your cortisol achieves as well. And that's why our appetite is also linked to this hormone. So ghrelin and leptin that makes us feel full and ghrelin that makes us hungry can be spiked by our cortisol levels.

45:18And they all work in synergy. When people use the word hormone balance, what they mean is living this perfect 360 degree life where you get the perfect amount of sleep. Your gut bugs are very happy. Your endocrine system's happy. That's not reality. But what we can do to support it is not artificially spike it throughout the day. I always found it so interesting the fact that if you don't get a good night's sleep, for example, you're like hungry biologically programmed exactly to be hungry and crave energy more sugar etc and we can all relate to that feeling but again it's just knowing that that's normal there's nothing wrong with you that's just your body but equally i think it's really just that positive reminder as you said in the way that all these hormones are working together but in line with how you eat and how you sleep and your stress etc that it all matters and so much of health and well-being focuses on our diet you know and broccoli and all the rest of it but actually like your sleep is so important.

46:11It's like a critical part of your well-being as is managing stress, et cetera, et cetera. So don't think that just because you haven't managed to get your five a day or 30 plants a week, but you have managed to switch off and get a good night's sleep. Hey, we had caramel slices and chocolate almonds for breakfast. But do you know what? The day will still go well because we're walking and hopefully we'll get a good night's sleep tonight and we'll eat better at dinner. 100 % broccoli for dinner. But yeah, I just thought that was a nice reassurance that it's normal to ebb and flow. There's nothing wrong with you.

46:40And if you're sitting at your desk at 10am and your mood starts to dip, that is probably the same as everybody sitting in the room around you. Exactly. So that moves us on really nicely, I think, actually, to what is trending in wellness this week. Okay, so the big trend I want to talk about is the hot girl walk. Sorry, I can't take it seriously when you say it. Yes. I know. So I can't take myself seriously when I say it either. And it's funny because I took myself on a hot girl walk yesterday. And I was so embarrassed to be like, so I just want to caveat. I don't see myself as a hot girl. I'm not trying to define myself as a hot girl.

47:19Let's embrace this. What did you say that Sam Greed says? Talk to yourself kindly. Talk to yourself. Exactly. Yeah. Emma Greed, who I referenced the other day, who's this amazing female founder who says she doesn't get imposter syndrome, which I really look up to her. I do. And I can't say I'm a hot girl. But I want to talk about it because I guess it taps into what we were just saying about prioritizing sleep, for example, and these simple habits, which I know we're both so passionate about in terms of moving wellness from complicated, expensive things to these simple day-to-day things that feel more approachable to all of us.

47:50And the hot girl walk is one of them. So we see a lot of mad things in terms of trends. This was a great one for me. You guys might have heard about it. It was a big, big trend last year. We're kind of a few months late to the party, but I still wanted to talk about it. It's had over 600 million views on TikTok, the hot girl walk. But actually, it's not about looking hot, which just have to clarify that. It's actually about getting outside, moving your body and boosting your mood in a very gentle, feel good way. So the term was coined by a TikTok content creator called Mia. Her handle's exactly like the other girls, which I also like, as we were saying, it's like when you get your 10 a.m.

48:24dip, probably the same as everyone else. We're all going through the same things. And she started this back in 2021. And the concept is super simple. you go for she was saying a four mile walk that may or may not be plausible for you but you get outside go for a an intentional walk but while you're walking pop on inspirational podcast hello the wellness scoop or a playlist that lifts you up um something that just makes you feel really positive it would be a bit of taylor swift for me you use that time to just clear your head set intentions and feel good in yourself i think the hot girl element was inspired by the megan the stallion song hot girl summer but it's just about feeling your best which i love girl summer that's what i meant earlier that's what everyone's talking about a hot girl summer exactly so i think the hot girl comes from the hot girl summer and do you know what i love this i love it as a trend it's more of an inspo for me because i can't just leave the house and walk when i want you know you can't do it when you've got children you can't do it when you've got work deadlines but it is an incentive to get up on a lunch break or when you're dropping them or walk them to school at least an extra five minutes i'm going to incorporate hot girl walking into my life more it's amazing yesterday I had a back-to-back day from nine till six like and I had a 20 minute break from 10 past two to half past two and someone said Ella can you just do this one thing and I politely said actually is it urgent because I've got time tomorrow can I do it tomorrow I just want to get outside and I could have so easily stayed at my desk had lots and lots of things to do and I went outside for 20 minutes very short period of time I listened to half of my favorite pop culture podcast.

49:57And it just felt so good. And as I said, it's so simple. Didn't have time to do a full exercise yesterday. Didn't have lots of time to cook, but I did have 20 minutes and I felt so much better for it. And I think, again, it just comes back to this idea that we think we have to do all these complicated things to get health benefits. But walking is proven to support your heart health, lower blood pressure, reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes. Joint health as well. Exactly. Naturally boost your energy. And bone mineral density either. You know, if we talk about women not getting enough, you know, we don't lift weights, at least if you're pounding the ground.

50:31Exactly. Amazing. Lower stress and anxiety. New one enhances creativity, which I didn't know because it's such a great way to clear your mind. And if you go for a little walk after a meal, it can help balance your blood sugar after it, which is so good for your digestion, but also helping beat that like 4 p.m. afternoon slump as well. So just a reminder, you don't need to run a marathon, although very good for you. And more people have signed up for the London Marathon this year than ever before. Again, in terms of this trending upwards of health and wellness, we love it. I have to say, I know people, actually.

51:01I don't normally know that many doing it because it's quite a big thing, isn't it? It's such a big thing. I have friends doing it. Are you doing it? Oh, God, no. Sorry, guys. I thought you were going to say, I'm going to do it. No. So this was 2018. Yeah. So this was just after Matt's mum had passed away of brain cancer. And we were talking to the Brain Tumor Charity. And working with them and saying, like, how can we use our platform? You know, we were so alarmed at how little treatment had advanced in the last 20 years. You know, how can we help? What can we do? And they said, you know, one of the best things you can do is do something like run a marathon, obviously talking about it to a community.

51:36Such a great way to raise money and raise awareness. And on the spot, I was like, great, we'll both do it. And Matt looked at me like, sorry, I'd love to support them. I don't really want to run a marathon. I was like, no, no, we're both doing this. So signed us up. I was like, great, put it on Instagram because I hold myself accountable. I think I remember you doing it. Yeah, and then two weeks later, I was like, oops, I'm pregnant. Yes, I remember. Never even put my shoes on and made Matt run it. Oh, yes, yes, you did. It was awful. He hated every second, but he did raise loads of money, so he was thrilled about that.

52:06But it was awful. And I felt so guilty. I'd be like, what can I cook you? I remember getting a little Boris bike and tracking him around the parks of London. Bless him. Anyway, no, but I can't see myself running a marathon. It's not really. my cup of tea. But what I meant is you don't need to run a marathon. You don't need to go to Barry's Boot Camp, etc, etc, to get health benefits of moving your body. Let's hot girl walk. Listen to the Wellness School while you do it. And if you do, send us a pic because we'd love to hear how you're getting on. But second trend is from last week. We had lots of listeners being like, it was a cliffhanger.

52:41I know, I'm really sorry. We just have too much to discuss sometimes. We have too Too much to discuss. NAD +, tell me everything. Okay, so NAD +, stands for, I'm going to try and say this correctly for you all, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide. So you don't need to know that. Very catchy. Something that no one ever says. And do you know what? Even in my lectures at university, they never said that out loud. It was always just NAD+. It's part of what we call the Krebs cycle, the metabolism. It's linked to our energy production. So it kind of happens that any science-y listeners will know once you get to the end of the Krebs cycle, the electron transport chain, you get byproducts of this NAD +, and they're what help us live longer, feel energized.

53:23Now, people are trying to replicate this, Ella, which is where, as a scientist, I don't... In supplement form. And injections. Yes. And injections. And drips. And drips, in Hollywood, especially. And I've actually been asked to consult on a company that I turned it down that do this. So Hayley Bieber, of course, is recently a fan and says that she will have these for the rest of her life, I quote, in the press. But there's no evidence that this actually works or makes any difference to human lifespan in general. It's so unknown. If I can tell you how tiny a mitochondria cell is and how tiny these are in your body, there are millions of them.

54:03And it's so, so complex that I'm amazed that we're even selling a supplement like this. I cannot get over the fact that science is even considering it because we just do not know. But there's been a record search on the internet for these. I mean, the searches on Google and TikTok for NAD plus supplements is up 226 % from last year. And people are searching for their benefits. And that Google search is 414 % increased. Yeah, it's really having a moment, isn't it? I see people, we had lots of listeners ask us to talk about it. I see lots of people talking about it everywhere. As you said, I saw one company that's selling like at home injections that you can do of it.

54:41There's just no evidence for it whatsoever, Ella. And just to explain, like the metabolism is so complex. It's where your proteins go, your carbs go, your fats and your cells use this different energy. And if only it were the secret to long life and energy. But we simply don't know if even you take a pill that it even makes it through your stomach acid, let alone gets down and is absorbed where it wants to be. It's almost the same as collagen. It's not going to go straight to your face and plump up your face. You've got a whole body you're absorbing something with. It might go to your little toe.

55:11It might go to your bum cheek. Probably people would rather it went there than their little toe.

55:19Anyway, I understand everybody. I do understand. I love looking into these supplements. I find it so interesting when they crop up. And I'd love to see where science goes with our metabolism. but as far as taking a drip especially I would steer clear of that because I don't think that's safe and the pills you don't know what you're really getting inside them and the injections again I mean I can barely fit a glucose monitor when I have to try them for work let alone inject myself but yeah I don't think they're worth the money at the moment. And they're expensive as well. So expensive because it's really new and unknown and if I were a Hollywood celebrity maybe I would give these things a try with my disposable income.

55:59But what are the simple things that people can do? Because as you said, I think we're all the same, right? Like lots going on. You can do this one thing in five seconds that will give you more energy. That is so appealing. I mean, who doesn't want that? I know. But to your point, it's expensive. It's relatively new science. It's very unproven. There's not large studies to show whether or not this works or doesn't work. but if you're sitting at home being like but I want more energy I need more energy give us some top lines on what we can be doing okay most Britons drink an average this is a stat from 2016 one glass of water a day so people don't realize okay no I'm not joking I'm hoping it's increased but that's the average one glass of water a day that's what I wrote in my first book Green Irish I remember that so much I wonder how many people have run to the tap right now I really hope please just drink the water drink we'll get on to water filters another time because I know that question's coming just from saying that and it is actually quite important to discuss.

56:55But you need to drink more fluid. So fluids play a role in how we feel. They play a role in our mood. If you're dehydrated, you will feel fatigued, you won't be able to concentrate as much, you'll feel really moody, you won't be as happy. All of these factors just from waking up in the morning drinking more water and then setting that intention throughout the day. And then of course, having something that makes your gut bugs happy because they play a role of our happy hormones. So the more fiber you eat, the more plants you eat, the happy gut bacteria are going to help with the production of things like serotonin.

57:26But of course, that's a small percentage versus the amount we have in our brain currently. But every little helps. And then if you're looking at reducing sugar spikes and cortisol spikes, stress all depletes our energy. It's depleting things out of our body every time we get stressed. And it's this chronic state of inflammation that can make us feel tired. So my best advice is to drink more water and look forward to your meals. Look forward to them. Try and plan a little bit of it throughout the day so you can maximize your nutrition. And go for a walk, get some fresh air and get moving. Because when we don't move, our body's not happy and we don't get those endocannabinoids in the brain.

58:02Most people refer to them as endorphins that make us feel happy. It's such great advice. And as you said, with stress, do like five minutes of meditation or breathing, getting outside, listening to a song you love, call a friend. And it's, can't really overemphasize it enough. These simple things make all the difference. And I think it's a really nice segue onto our listeners question. And thank you guys. Keep sending us reset like to our social media accounts. We see all your messages. We love them. I really, really liked this question, which was, hi, I'm loving the show. Thank you very much.

58:34You spoke about dried apricots and then I immediately started craving them. I went to two shops and only saw packs with sulfur. Since I was unable to live without the apricots for some reason, I bought them anyways. I'm wondering how you both personally decide when good enough is good enough. I know everybody is doing their best with their budget, what's available, etc. And I would be very interested to hear from you both what your deal breakers are and what they're not. Okay, that's really, really interesting deal breaker wise, because you can't live your life analysing every packet, especially when it's an enjoyed item.

59:06But the apricot thing came up. I took my eldest, he's four, for breakfast at the weekend when my little one was at Little Kickers. and there was a dried apricot on top of it. And I just don't like the taste and texture now because I've got used to the organic ones that are softer, that are sweeter. Dried apricots just seem so bland in comparison now to me, but that's what I've got used to. But I would still let him eat it. I'll let my son have that sulfur apricot. And my big compromise is chocolate. So I've got a big thing about the family in the house if we're having confectionery, trying to have good quality confectionery.

59:42I think it matters because it's an item people want more of. They often want to eat more. And the impact of it is bigger in terms of what it gives to your body. It's not always great. So I'd rather them have chocolate that doesn't have a lot of additives in it. And I do look for that and I look for a higher percentage. But I started that way. So it's easier for me to say because my little ones, all they've ever known is darker chocolate. And, you know, they don't have the confectionery. I'd rather buy candy kitten sweets than Haribo. because I know what's inside them. And I want my kids to have sweets, but I'd rather them have the sweets that don't have all the extra stuff.

1:00:20I'm being honest there because I know that people are going to be like, oh my gosh, check you out. But that's my personal choice. 100%. And everyone has their own things. My kids also love candy kittens. They call them the kitty sweets. Oh, I love them. Yeah, it's funny. Jamie Lang said in an interview in Waitrose Weekend this weekend that he loved our peanut butter oat bars. And we were like, yes, because we love your kitty sweets. but no I totally agree it's I loved this question because I think and I hope this show is helpful in terms of kind of releasing a bit of a pressure valve for people because I think once you start reading it actually all feels quite overwhelming in terms of like toxic things in your cleaning products in terms of the headlines I think it was last week about Apple watches having forever chemicals in them that are leaching into your body into all of the conversations on ultra of processed food and you start to look at it.

1:01:09Plastic in the teacups in Pret. Exactly. The microplastics that we're absorbing from everything, tea bags, teacups, etc. Then how bad screen time is for us and how social media is destroying our brain. And then you turn on the news and World War 3 is about to erupt. And like, it's just, it can be deeply overwhelming. And I certainly have found that at points. And I think you can get on this cycle of trying to be quote unquote perfect and get 10 ,000 steps and do 15 minutes of meditation and get your 150 minutes of kind of more hardcore exercise and do HIIT training and get 10 a day and get 30 plants a week and avoid all plastic at all costs.

1:01:46You couldn't though. I just don't think you can live a functional life like that. Ultimately, if you live in a busy community, maybe you live in a busy city, you've got a full-time job, you've got other responsibilities outside of that. Everyone can only do their best. And I think the point of everything we want to get across to you guys is like it does matter. Like we're saying, like not drinking water matters, not eating vegetables matters, never moving your body matters. It won't make you feel good and it's not good for your health. But equally, there is a tipping point for all of us. What's yours?

1:02:15I think for me it is. Oh, this is so cliche. It's probably a terrible answer, but it is balance. I think that is what it is for me, which is like it's just trying to like going for a 20 minute walk yesterday. That's for me is what's good enough. is I don't have time to do lots of things, but I know I have time to do a 20-minute walk. And that is great. And I think maybe part of the reason I love doing this show is reminding myself, actually, that there's so much evidence that going for walks is really good for you. It's therapeutic, actually. We both get a big kick out of doing this show. Just doing this for therapy for ourselves.

1:02:49Yeah. And I think that's what it is. It's like, you know, so I absolutely like my kids eat kitty treats. Yeah, and do you know what? Sometimes they've had McDonald's and things, and that's just the way life goes. because you're in the middle of nowhere and that's what there is. That's OK. But being good enough for me is then making sure at the next meal, like I cook something nourishing for us all. So that for me is good enough. It's finding a balance which feels like I'm ticking lots of boxes, basically. Absolutely. I think it's a really hard question to answer. And I don't want you to take any of our answers as, you know, everyone has to do this.

1:03:20They don't. Absolutely not. And it's hard when we share our personal answers. But please don't punish yourself over having a salford apricot. Totally. It's just not life is too short. And they're everywhere. We live in a food system like this. So you can only do your best in life ebbs and floats in some days, weeks, months, years. It's going to be a lot easier for you to have healthy habits. And sometimes it's going to be really difficult. And at that point, just having eight glasses of water in a day is a real win. And you should feel pleased with yourself for that. So I think it is. It's just about finding.

1:03:53I think it's not just good enough for you. I think is good enough for you today or good enough for you this week. Oh, and Ella, before we go, I forgot to ask you about microneedling, your red face. Yes, thank you very much. Yes, you weren't the only person that asked me about it. I am always so keen to be super transparent about everything. And I've been doing this for, gosh, I reckon like two years now, every couple of months. And it is just, I'm going to call it baby microneedling. I don't think that's the official terminology, but you can do it where it's very, very deep in your skin and you get scars.

1:04:28Yeah, that scares me. I'm scared of needles as it is. It's not that at all. It's very, very shallow, super, super shallow. Is it an individual needle? Can you describe what it is, like a roller or a... Okay, so microneedling, I'm not an expert in it by any shape or form, but it's a minimally invasive skin treatment. And the therapist will use just very tiny needles to stimulate collagen and elastin production. So we can talk about anti-aging at length another day but it's great for keeping your skin happy and healthy as you get a little bit older i'm absolutely terrified of things like botox just not for me but this is a an alternative way of essentially keeping your skin looking maybe a little bit younger and healthier i've been doing it for about two years every couple of months the same person have just swear by it has been absolutely amazing i think it's the change my skin completely but you can do it where it's really deep and you'll see videos of people doing that and it goes super red like what like a big needle yeah they just take it a lot deeper in the skin and that then takes a while to heal what i do is really shallow on the skin you look like a tomato when you leave like my friend lucy's done it actually i've seen like the bright red face you look like a tomato remember i came home the first day and this guy was like mommy what have you been doing and i was like i can't really explain this to her i was like i've been running angel I'm running, I'm a bit puffed out yeah exactly, I'm just a bit hot and sweaty as we said earlier, I'm not really much of a runner but it's gone by the next morning and it doesn't hurt no, it just feels like a kind of weird scratching sensation on your skin alright I wouldn't say it's like comfy but it's five minutes of mildly uncomfortable I feel like now you compare pain to childbirth every time so you're like no it doesn't hurt, it's nothing but yeah, it's been amazing for skin So I, as I said, not an expert in any shape or form, but for me personally, it has been amazing for just happier, clearer.

1:06:20And then how long does your redness take to go down just quickly? Oh, 12 hours. Like I think I did a five, six o 'clock and by the next morning you look completely normal. So you have to do it that time of night. Otherwise, if you do it in the morning, you are walking around town with a bright red face. Yeah, if you do it in the morning, stay at home. If you do it in the morning, stay at home. Oh, thank you for sharing that, Ella. so we've got such a big show next week though haven't we because there's two huge announcements one from me and potentially one from ella yes everyone keep your fingers crossed we get to that point but hopefully we've got something big to announce next thursday as well exactly and of course we will do glucose i promise i think the most asked questions for me have been definitely on glucose blood spikes 100 oat drinks glucose and i think we might slip in ashwagandha as well because that's something you guys were asking about but any other questions comments thoughts We'll all watch Apple Cider Vinegar.

1:07:11And we just can't wait to see you next Monday. You guys make our week. This makes our week. I'm obsessed with this show. Same. And fingers crossed on the live event so we can all get together soon. See you next Monday.

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