Great to chat with Gerry Kelly again today (7th Jan 2020) on The Late Lunch Show on LMFM. See the interview below or you can listen by clicking the button
Gerry Kelly LMFM 0:01
Christmas and New Year over many people overweight January the gyms are teaming, diets the order of the day and everyone’s set off with the very best of intentions. However, in many instances, it just doesn’t last. Yes, month-end or early spring the wheels have come off the waggon I’ve invited nutritionist Rachel Graham to join me once a week during January to guide us to better health, listen to this: through the food we eat! You are so welcome back, Happy New Year Happy to you I’m delighted to have you back, look it is simple isn’t it – eat better exercise and you’ll have better health but yet, we don’t seem to get it.
Rachel Graham 0:50
Now I think, obviously, diet and exercise play a key role in your health and also obviously if you’re trying to lose weight, but other factors play a key role in your health and in trying to lose weight. That would be things like quality sleep. A lot of people don’t realise how important sleep is to their weight loss, in fact, I consider as one of my number one weight loss weapons as I think of them!
Gerry Kelly LMFM 1:17
I’m sitting here agast you are telling me that shut-eye and good shut and consistent Shuteye is one of the real cornerstones and keys to this
Rachel Graham 1:27
Yes, because well, first of all, is called good sleep hygiene, which means that you always go to bed more or less around the same time and you wake up at the same time, you know, seven days a week, that trains your body clock or your circadian rhythm to always be, you know, at the same level, and this controls two very important hormones called ghrelin and leptin, which are your hunger hormone and your appetite hormone. And if you’re not getting enough quality sleep, basically those levels of those hormones will drop and create a deficiency which can cause to knock-on effects which are not good for your health or weight loss and that would be number one that you’re craving all the wrong foods like high calorific Foods high so energy-dense foods like sugar and fat and also that you find yourself eating when you’re not hungry.
Gerry Kelly LMFM 2:18
I eat with boredom at times is that a common thing you would come across like if I’m bored, I’m sitting there I’m doing and you know my mind is occupied in that I’m fine but I’m a little bit of boredom creeps in. I like to get something to slice a cake. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 2:36
Well, you see that’s also fueled whether you’re eating sugar consistently throughout the day and you’re spiking your blood sugars and your blood sugars will drop and then you are craving more of those kinds of sugary, fatty, high dense energy foods. So that plays a key role as well. And also if you are eating consistently throughout the day, so if you have a breakfast or lunch and dinner and possibly two snacks, depending on your activity levels, then you won’t feel that hunger late at night. But if you’re not eating, so let’s say you skip breakfast, and maybe just go straight to a late lunch, and maybe better
Gerry Kelly LMFM 3:11
Your in my mind here today. Are we on some other subjects? Are you getting deep into my psyche?
Rachel Graham 3:17
Well, your body saying that it hasn’t had enough calories. So that’s why it’s prompting you to eat later on it nice.
Gerry Kelly LMFM 3:23
Come back to sleep. And I’m going to come on to this in a moment. And let’s talk about the average adult man or woman. How many hours do we need as eight? Should we go to bed before midnight? Yes. How many hours before midday?
Rachel Graham 3:41
Well, the old saying is you know, two hours before midnight is worth four after but I would say if you can get into bed at around… depending on the time that you have to get up. I mean, this is different for everybody, but if you have to, let’s say be up at 6 am then you need to actually turn the light off by about 10 pm
Gerry Kelly LMFM 4:00
so that’s a good rule of thumb eight hours and you walk back from the time you must rise in the morning and get those eight hours
Rachel Graham 4:07
and an hour before you go to bed No screen time. So turn off the phone, you know close the laptop, read a book, pick up a magazine do things like that instead because the blue light that’s emitted from phones is very stimulating and that will ruin your good quality sleep
Gerry Kelly LMFM 4:23
TV?
Rachel Graham 4:23
The same thing but not as bad as phones
Gerry Kelly LMFM 4:26
or the devices, exactly okay so that’s what we need sleep-wise to kick off a kick in with this better health that we all desire.
Rachel Graham 4:37
You’re just going to feel more energised Okay, you’re not going to be reaching for the stimulants like the sugar and coffee to keep you going
Gerry Kelly LMFM 4:44
So sleep is a key. Now I am looking at a container you have brought into this studio today and I know from looking at folks this container is a water container. Yes, it’s a massive what how much water does that contain?
Rachel Graham 4:57
2.2 litres and I fill it every morning with filtered water. Sometimes I add in some slices of lime or lemon. And basically, it just signals to me that I need to finish that container every single day. And once I have I know I’ve had my 2.2 litres of water,
Gerry Kelly LMFM 5:11
that’s what we need to take water wise
Rachel Graham 5:13
Well, I would say about 1.5 would be an adequate minimum. Yeah. And then I like to have at least two litres because it just, reduces my brain fog and it just actually gives me nice clear skin all of those things as
Gerry Kelly LMFM 5:25
you spread that 2.2 over the day. You have a glass you just move through the day.
Rachel Graham 5:30
Exactly. It’s always with me. What about tea and coffee besides the water?
Gerry Kelly LMFM 5:34
Do you drink tea or coffee?
Rachel Graham 5:36
I drink one good, a fabulous cup of coffee first thing in the morning. I love it. And then after that, I’m on herbal tea.
Gerry Kelly LMFM 5:43
That’s it? Yeah. How many herbals would you have for the day,
Rachel Graham 5:47
maybe two, not a whole loss, green tea possibly. And maybe an evening time I might have kind of like a sleep tea or something like that.
Gerry Kelly LMFM 5:55
I’d have 123456 a day at least six cups of tea.
Rachel Graham 6:03
Okay, well that bad it’s not great
Gerry Kelly LMFM 6:07
I blame the Louise Walsh! Are you all right for tea??. Great but she’s always asking me Do I want tea now? I’m only joking I take it myself willingly about six I’d say
Rachel Graham 6:16
I would say start swapping out half of those for herbal tea. Because green tea, in particular, is also brilliant for supporting proper fat burning
Gerry Kelly LMFM 6:24
I tasted it, it does nothing for me.
Rachel Graham 6:26
Okay. Well then if you don’t like us just have water.
Gerry Kelly LMFM 6:30
Yes. Okay. But herbal tea is good you say
Rachel Graham 6:32
absolutely. And specifically, green tea because it contains properties called catechins which are good for fat burning.
Gerry Kelly LMFM 6:39
A lot of people this week and for the next few weeks will go on these fad crash diets and they know themselves like mad and at the same time try to exercise more. Is that reason in itself? Why this doesn’t work?
Rachel Graham 6:52
Yeah, of course. I mean, you’re just setting yourself up. It’s a losing game, literally a losing game because basically, all you’re doing there is losing water weight, you’re not actually going to lose any fat and it’s also you’re relying on willpower the whole time just to try and get you through your miserable, you’re probably low in energy because you’re not consuming enough calories. And you know, it’s just after the period of this kind of fad diet is over, you’re going to have massive regain in terms of ways. So you’re just it’s not health-focused at all. And this is all about being health-focused, and there is a very easy way to be health-focused and lose weight as well.
Gerry Kelly LMFM 7:32
And can you do it without any exercise? Can you by getting the right amount of sleep, taking on board the right amount of water, cutting down on the stimulants, eating as you’re going to recommend with us over the next four weeks or so? Will, you shed weight by that alone?
Rachel Graham 7:49
Yes, you will. I mean, you if you reduce your calories by the, you know, recommended a man to lose, let’s say a pound of fat a week, then yes, you will. That but it’s gonna be much more enjoyable and you’re going to get many more benefits by exercising, in particular, the psychological benefits of exercising
so it’s good to combine this with exercise as well. And even a small amount if you can only fit in say 20 minutes a day or half an hour every second day. better than nothing
Its about being consistent. consistency is really key because it’s the small habits that you reduce daily that adds up to the big results at the end.
Gerry Kelly LMFM 8:31
So this is more a marathon than a sprint.
Rachel Graham 8:34
Exactly.
Gerry Kelly LMFM 8:35
Now, let’s begin to do this properly. You say getting your mindset in order is the first thing What do you mean by that?
Rachel Graham 8:44
So set yourself a realistic goal First of all, so if you want to lose – let’s say five kilos, Give yourself five or six weeks to do that, okay? A realistic goal for weight loss would be about a kilo a week, okay, is about two pounds. And you can do that very simply by just reducing your daily calorie intake by about 500 calories, which is as simple as… and, if you increase your exercise levels, then, you can probably get away with, a little bit more, a hundred calories plus or minus that, it would be fine, so the more active you are, the more room you have for enjoying the odd indulgence and things like that.
Gerry Kelly LMFM 9:33
Are you better to write it down, put it down, set a timeframe and say, yeah, I’m gonna go for this?
Rachel Graham 9:41
Well, research has shown that pretty much if you write down your goals and put them in a place, that’s very visible in a high traffic area, ie, let’s say on the fridge.
Gerry Kelly LMFM 9:50
Nice place. Don’t open the door, but read what’s on the outside.
Rachel Graham 9:53
Just remind yourself constantly of what your goal is, what you’re working towards. So I mean, you wouldn’t get any into the car and head off on a long journey not knowing where you wanted to end up. So basically set yourself that goal saying, Okay, I’m going to lose five kilos, I’m going to give myself five weeks to do it be very specific about what are the steps required to do this? I need to reduce my daily calorie intake by 500 calories. And how am I going to do that? Okay, I’m going to, let’s say on days that I’m exercising, I’m going to have, let’s say, more of my carbs, but good carbs on days that I’m not exercising IE my rest days, I’m going to have fewer carbs and that is promoting your fat-burning hormones as well.
Gerry Kelly LMFM 13:58
Rachels Graham is with me on the Late launch and we’ll sort you out, I promise you for 2020 you’ll be healthier than you’ve ever been in your life. Let’s start with me as a bad example or anybody at breakfast time. I’m a cup of tea and have a slice of toast, maybe a little marmalade on in the mornings’ person. That is it. I take nothing else mid-morning I’d have a piece of fruit and maybe some water. And then before I come on the air here, I’d have a sandwich maybe and soup or just a sandwich on its own or soup on its own as well. What about that to the midpoint of the day? Is it enough?
Rachel Graham 14:30
Well, starting your day like that with a slice of toast or butter and marmalade is not a good start because it’s refined white carbs with sugar, so it’s like two forms of sugar. So all you’re doing is asking your body to release insulin which is going to activate your hunger hormones as well and you’re going to have those blood sugar spikes. So what you want to do is have a satiating or filling breakfast and porridge is the best breakfast that you can have.
Gerry Kelly LMFM 15:00
Could I slice a banana and the porridge and maybe put a little touch your honey? Would you allow me a little?
Rachel Graham 15:04
Yeah, of course you know I love the local honey.
Gerry Kelly LMFM 15:08
So that’d be fine to kick the day off
Rachel Graham 15:09
Porridge is great, to have your porridge and definitely put a little bit of banana and I would also encourage some blueberries.
Gerry Kelly LMFM 15:16
Okay. And a cup of tea with that. Okay. Yes, after they no problem there. If I want to vary in the morning What about a pair of scrambled eggs or something or two eggs and a cup? with a piece of bread or something. Is that decent?
Rachel Graham 15:29
Yeah, it is. Eggs are a great start because they’re high in fat and high in protein, but the good kind of fats and also, I would say, even try and have some smoked salmon with us, because you’re going to have some good protein and also your omega-three fats, which are beneficial as well. So that is a very good breakfast option. Or if you don’t want to have the fish, you could have some sliced avocado or something like that as well.
Gerry Kelly LMFM 15:51
What about the mueslis and the bran cereals, Weetabix things like that.
Rachel Graham 15:57
Well, of the three that you mentioned Weetabix would be the healthiest option, but most mueslie and most granolas, and brans and things like that are very, very high in sugar. So you’re actually better off making your own, which is incredibly simple. And so I do a meal prep class, which I also use that recipe in that class. So I can send that on to listeners if they want. Yes, yeah, but that’s a really good low sugar option. So just be very careful with things like muesli and granolas because they are also very calorific, because of the nuts although they have healthy fats in them they are, you know, a high in calories. So you want to be careful with things like that. So just have very measured spoons of those nuts and seeds when you’re including them in your breakfast.
Gerry Kelly LMFM 16:40
So let’s say most people today have what we call lunch, something like we used to have our dinner when I lived a simpler life in Ireland. We had our breakfast and our dinner at lunchtime, and we had our little snack at tea time. That’s the way, I mean, we were all thin!
Rachel Graham 16:55
Yes, that’s a healthy way of eating
Gerry Kelly LMFM 16:57
They weren’t or wouldn’t be overweight or obese people. in Ireland back in the 70s you know just went there and it maybe it was to do with that the way we come back to there between breakfast then and the sandwich or the soup at lunchtime, if I want something, what’s a nice snack piece of fruit in the middle of the morning?
Rachel Graham 17:15
Yeah, so one of my favourite snacks that I always recommend is called my apple doughnuts. So this would be Apple with a little teaspoon of almond butter. So in almond butter, you’ve got your healthy fats there and that combination high in protein with your Apple which is very high in fibre is kind of like the secret source of weight loss because that combination keeps you full for longer and which will eventually lead to weight loss. So get yourself some almond butter and an apple slice it up and just dip it in. And again, just be careful that you’re not ladling the almond butter into you Because remember, it’s high in calories. Both and that combination is good, not secret.
Gerry Kelly LMFM 17:57
What did you call it?
Rachel Graham 17:57
The secret sauce to weight loss
Gerry Kelly LMFM 18:00
Free on late lunch today you lucky folks – thinking about that and you’re on your way, add the lunchtime soups you have to watch the soups as well and what they have in them
Rachel Graham 18:12
Are you having homemade soup?
Gerry Kelly LMFM 18:14
I do try homemade – today is homemade only chicken soup today and yesterday I go for the Cully & Sully or the fusion street or those if I don’t have you know my own homemade
Rachel Graham 18:25
Yeah, I would say if you can have a soup at lunchtime that has a lot of plant protein so in the forms of beans, lentils things like that
Gerry Kelly LMFM 18:33
loads of barley and my carrots celery onion,
Rachel Graham 18:36
fabulous. I mean that’s a great lunch and very very filling
Gerry Kelly LMFM 18:41
something right today at but that type of thing. What about the sandwich at lunchtime? if you’re gonna have a sample, what do you go for that’s good.
Rachel Graham 18:49
And well something that’s on a whole meal, whole grain brown bread, and that’s the first thing and then just make sure that the filling doesn’t contain a lot of mayonnaise or coleslaw or the things like that. So use things like hummus instead of mayonnaise. hummus is really good. It’s made with chickpeas and that’s a good plant protein source or you could use mashed avocado which is also lovely as you know to keep the sandwich moist and then you can fill it with things like chicken and red onion tomatoes and maybe some nice spinach leaves or something like that. So just make it as healthy as possible.
Gerry Kelly LMFM 19:22
That is the key but generally something along those lines I’ve lunch – afternoon again, right we have the secret in the morning for the snack. What would you have in the afternoon if you want something to snack on between that and dinner time?
Unknown Speaker 19:34
Yeah, well, it depends. I mean, if you’re as home and if you have access to a kitchen, you could have you know, something like maybe popcorn would be another good option as long as it’s not the microwave popcorn. You can have your own like organic popcorn kernels and do it yourself and then you can add in beneficial things like the nutritional yeast, which is really good high-end B12 and that’s something can buy in the health food shop so kind of makes cheesy popcorn. That would be really good. You can make a batch in In advanced, meal prep, and then keep it in an airtight container. And then you could, kind of have a little cup of that as a good snack. And you could even transport that as well.
Gerry Kelly LMFM 20:08
So no salt or butter on the popcorn,
Rachel Graham 20:11
Maybe a little bit of Himalayan salt. Yes, because it’s full of minerals, but certainly not the table salt. , Butter is not great, no high in saturated fats.
Gerry Kelly LMFM 20:20
And of course, at any stage, different aspects of the fruit. You mentioned apples, there are oranges, pears, yeah, anything like that in the afternoon, another piece of fruit.
Rachel Graham 20:27
So it’s a low sugar fruit option. So berries are fantastic. So they’re great low sugar fruit option. So raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and then in terms of like apples and pears high in fibre. And so anything high in fibre is your friend.
Gerry Kelly LMFM 20:43
Now dinner time is the difficult time for a lot of people especially with you know, two people working in a house, be they with or without their children, of course, you have more mouths to think about as well. And what you know each day Planning making sure you have something nutritious fulfilling and good. It’s easy to put a microwave meal in the microwave, but something fast in the oven or to order a takeaway.
Rachel Graham 21:12
Yeah, exactly. And that is probably the biggest barrier to change that I come across as a nutritional therapist. And you know, this is actually where my meal prep class came from. Just trying to help families to get prepared, get ready and make it easier for them to eat healthily, consistently throughout the week. And if you can just put aside two hours at the weekend to make up two or three dinners in advance and then make up individual components that you can assemble to make up dinner, you’ll find your life so much easier. And it really can be a fun activity than for the family. You can get the kids involved you know, and chopping and making and cooking and stuff.
Gerry Kelly LMFM 21:52
that’s the key. Use time at the weekend. Yes to have your dinner time sorted during the week and then using A combination of the fridge and the freezer. to make this happen during the week
Rachel Graham 22:04
Nearly everything can be successfully frozen. You know, just to then defrost on the day in the morning time before you leave for work, you can take it out and leave it in the fridge to defrost slowly. And then when you come home, you just take it out and then you put us into whatever pot, roasting tin or whatever you need.
Gerry Kelly LMFM 22:21
So to heat it again. A protein, vegetables and a carb on the plate. is that the combination?
Rachel Graham 22:29
More or less, that’s simplifying it but it’s about the quality of the protein. It’s the quality of the carbs as well so you won’t complex carbs. The complex carbs are everything that’s Brown, so brown rice brown pasta, those things are much more beneficial for you because they’re high in fibre. They haven’t had the fibre strip days, which means they’re giving you a lot more benefits. They’re also not spiking your blood sugar. And this is the problem that all the refined white flour in things like white pasta, white rice, all the high starchy foods, so even Regular potatoes although they’re very very good for you, but even just swapping those out occasionally for a sweet potato which is higher in fibre, is a much better choice.
Gerry Kelly LMFM 23:09
The sweet potato is lovely and I’m just thinking about the pasta you can prepare them and 10 minutes fresh when you come in in the evenings. Well, if you say you have a Bolonaise if you have that ready
Rachel Graham 23:18
Exactly. Exactly, exactly. And even a simple tray of root vegetables that you could roast at the weekend, you can split that up in three ways and have three different meals from that. So you could take one portion of it and add some tomatoes blend it and you’ve got a lovely kind of veggie tomato sauce that you could pour over some nice, you know brown pasta and then just bake it in the oven with a little bit of mozzarella cheese. And the kids love that. You know that’s a fast & simple and all it takes is the amount of time to cook a bowl of pasta.
Gerry Kelly LMFM 23:49
Simple as! should you stop eating… let’s say have our dinner is that between six and eight o’clock at night, some people go that late because of home from work. You know, let’s say that the window. Should that be it? Should you be finished in with eating for the day?
Rachel Graham 24:04
Yeah, I mean, I recommend eating within a 12-hour window. So if you’re up at 7 am, and have your breakfast at 7:30 am, then your last meal should be at 7:30 pm. Because giving your body that 12 hours to rest and repair and do its housework is so beneficial for your overall long term health.
Gerry Kelly LMFM 24:23
I think it’s interesting because I was reading about Chris Evans the weekend and he’s on this regime of an eight-hour window where he eats and he fasts for 16
Rachel Graham 24:32
Yeah, so I would say start with the 12-hour window and then if you find that’s working for you, and some people love it, you can stretch that eight to 16 because the longer you stretch it out and create that fasting period now you’re in the realms of intermittent fasting and intermittent fasting it research has proven to be so effective at lowering blood glucose. So for anybody dealing with things like pre-diabetes, insulin resistance, these are an epidemic at the moment. in this country with pre-diabetes, and it’s just all down to our poor dietary choices and lifestyle, we’re all just too sedentary
Gerry Kelly LMFM 25:07
Gerry, it’s very difficult me being a vegetarian to lose weight that you are either reception my head that of your vegetarian it wouldn’t be a bother to thank you for the comment today. Can I book an appointment with Rachel for advice to put you in touch with this lady? If you don’t mind? We’ll pass your number on to Rachel, that’d be fantastic. And if you need something at night, you know, the munchies get you the worst-case scenario, Rachel, help me. What should I turn to?
Rachel Graham 25:41
Well, do you like savoury?
Gerry Kelly LMFM 25:44
Yes, I’m a savoury guy.
Unknown Speaker 25:46
Okay, well try the popcorn because I think that would be a really good choice for you.
Gerry Kelly LMFM 25:50
Okay. Okay, listen, we’re up against the clock. You just want to mention something that you’re starting soon.
Rachel Graham 25:55
so obviously January being the month of weight loss. I have a guided weight. a programme that’s starting on Monday the 13th of January. And you can find this programme on my website it’s Rachelgraham.ie and it’s my 21-day weight loss programme. I have a group that I have added into a private Facebook group and in the private Facebook group, I am the virtual nutritionist. to help and support them throughout their weight loss journey, give them tips and tricks and I’ll also do maybe a couple of Facebook Lives and maybe do a live little demo just keeps them accountable to me.
Gerry Kelly LMFM 26:33
Are you full?
Rachel Graham 26:35
No, I have space
Gerry Kelly LMFM 26:36
Enjoy. Check it out on RachelGraham.ie
Okay, RachelGraham.ie and all the details are there. and you will be back with me Monday the 13th to Pick up this story and sort us out even further. It’s been brilliant. Great and we’ll see you then.
