Just As Well, The Women's Health Podcast - Michelle Keegan on Past Fitness Fails and How She Found Healthy

Episode Date: January 19, 2021

This week’s episode of Going for Goal is a joyful January catch up between Women’s Health Editor-in-Chief Claire Sanderson and this month’s cover star, Michelle Keegan. The Brassic actress and bonafide national treasure chats about finding her groove with fitness and food - and shares her current workout formula. And while she’s in a great place with her lifestyle now, Michelle opens up about a time when she was training harder, but definitely not smarter. They also discuss the new positive habits Michelle has picked up in 2020 and how the past year has shifted her outlook when it comes to maintaining her relationships with friends and family. Oh, and there’s probably a good few minutes on her favourite snacks, too. So, if you are trying to keep a lid on the amount of between-meals morsels you’re consuming, maybe don’t listen when you’re peckish. Join Michelle on Instagram: @michkeegan Join Claire on Instagram: @clairesanderson Join Women’s Health UK on Instagram: @womenshealthuk Topics  Michelle’s exact workout formula  What Michelle used to get wrong with fitness The social media boundary that’s made Michelle happier Michelle’s favourite foods + ideal day How 2020 made Michelle fall for nature Like what you’re hearing? We'd love if you could rate and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, as it really helps other people find the show. Also, remember to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, so you’ll never miss an episode.  Got a goal in mind? Shoot us a message on Instagram putting ‘Going for Goal’ at the start of your message and our experts could be helping you achieve your health goal in an upcoming episode. Alternatively, you can email us: [e-mail] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Kingstown. New season now streaming on Paramount Plus. Hello, I'm Roshine Dev Shokane and this is Going for Goal, the weekly Women's Health Podcast. Week in, week out, we recruit the help of our top expert contacts to arm you with the tools you need to make good on the health goals that matter most to you. And from time to time, we pull our favourite celebrities and wellness heavyweights for a chat about the healthy habits that enable them to feel and function at their best.

And today's episode is one such time. The conversation that follows is a joyful January catch-up between women's Health editor-in-chief Claire Sanderson and this month's cover star Michelle Keegan. The Brassick actress chats about finding her groove with fitness and food and shares her current workout formula. She also opens up about a time when she was training harder, but definitely not smarter, sometimes spending up to two hours in the gym in one go. She also chats to Claire about the positive habits she's picked up in 2020 and the way the past year has shifted her outlook when it comes to maintaining her relationships with family and friends.

Oh, and there's probably a good three minutes on her favourite snack too. So if you're currently working from your kitchen and engaged in a Mexican standoff with a biscuit tin, maybe don't listen when you're hungry. Over to Claire. Hello, everyone. I'm Claire Sanderson. I'm the editor-in-chief of Woman's Health. Thank you for listening to Going for Goal. And today, my guest is our current cover star. She's one of Britain's best known and loved actresses.

She is none other than Michelle Keegan. Hi, Michelle. Hi, Claire. You're right. Yeah, I'm good, thank you. How are you? Good. Yeah, I'm good, thanks.

I'm really good. Good, good. So we shot our cover, which I would urge anyone to go out and buy if they haven't done already. Where did we shoot it? We shot it several months ago. Yeah, yeah. When was it September, maybe, October? Yeah, yeah, when we were allowed to.

So, you know, so many different rules going on. So, yeah. Yeah, so what was the end of 2020? for were you strange, I'm sure. It was really strange because for me, I was in Manchester working at the time. And obviously what happened during Christmas, I had to go back to Essex to be with Mark and my dogs and things like that.

So it was just very a quiet, it's a quiet Christmas this year. Yeah. It's gone from a bit manic from work, you know, work-wise, then to a really quiet Christmas. Yeah. Which really actually was quite nice. Yeah. I mean, if we look back at 20,

2020 and there was so much devastation to come out of it and I would never gloss over any of the agony that so many millions of people have endured but a lot of people are saying that we learned a lot about ourselves during 2020 and as a society what can you take away from from how the year played out for you personally? I think for me it was it's the little things now that I appreciate a lot more than I ever did back in the you know back before what happened last year and it's making time for people. I'm the first one to say, you know, I've had a long week. I just want to relax, not really go out, not see anyone, and I'll try and fit you in

if I can. For me now, it's getting those little moments with family and friends, going to my mum's house for a nice cup of tea, going to see my mates, you know, even to watch a film at my friend's house. I think it's little things like that that we always put off because we're always too busy, where in fact it's just nice now to make that time for people. So you're absolutely right. It's the simple things that have come to the fore and there's less consumerism and we're spending less on our clothes and on things that we didn't think twice about, you know, departing with Citi's cash and, you know, we've just simplified our lives and simplified our wardrobes even and just just the way that we, as you say, engage with people and have fun. But one of the things that came out of lockdown for you,

which you talk about in your woman's health interview, is how Mark did his live workouts. And then I loved it in the interview. And you said he was doing the live workouts on, was it Instagram, I'm not sure, downstairs in your garden. Yeah. And then you'd be up in the bedroom.

Yeah. Do it, you know, copying the workouts. But because you could hear him in real time and there was a slight delay, you'd hear him go, oh, there's burpees coming. I knew exactly what was happening next. I was literally seconds behind the thing. So when he was having his rest, I thought, right, it's going to happen.

We could have a rest in a second. And then I said, I heard him go, right, next one, burpees. I was the worst one. So I knew what was happening before he even said it on Instagram. But yeah, I think in lockdown as well, I think that's one thing that kept me going really. It kept me physically active. It kept me mentally active.

The fact that he would roll out of bed, going to the garden, and I could hear him setting up live outside and I thought, I've literally got no excuse, I'm in the bedroom, and I literally did it there and then got my gym mat on the floor and I did half an hour hit in the bedroom. And it just set me up for the day

and it made me feel a lot more positive with what was going on at that time. So I definitely think that helped. It's just the power of exercise generally for your holistic health. We are very much realising that now that yes, exercising is great for, if you want to change your appearance

or that shouldn't be the primary driver but the mental benefits are far more important in my opinion. Definitely, definitely. And I think, again, I think what happened last year, I think a lot of people got into fitness, health and fitness, more so

for their mental health rather than their physical appearance. And I think well, hopefully now that's going to continue. Yes, absolutely. And women, and we know this through doing a survey at Women's women are now working out at home more than ever, which is brilliant. Because like you said, we've realised you don't need to over-complicate your lives to have fun.

I think people have realised you don't need to over-complicate your fitness regime either. And like if you've got a mat and access to YouTube or Instagram or woman's health or anything, you can do an effective workout at home. You don't need expensive equipment. You don't need huge weights in a gym. You know, your body weight is as adequate. Yeah, exactly. I was guilty for that. I thought I would never have a proper workout if I didn't go to a gym or I didn't do a class at a gym. I have to be in that environment to keep me motivated. But I sort of learnt being in lockdown, you actually don't need that, you know. Even you don't have to be working out for an hour, an hour and a half. Even if you do 20 minutes, it benefits you, you know? So I think I've learned that as well. So you were first on women's health cover three years ago.

And it actually, it feels like longer. I remember the shoot. Yes. It was in a boxing, an old, old-fashioned boxing ring, wasn't it? In East London, yeah. Yeah. And you had wraps on your hand. And you just come back from Malaysia where you were shooting our girl.

And by your own admittance, you said, oh, I don't feel like I'm in the best shape at the moment. You said that you'd be, you know, eating maybe not the best food on set. But you've gone on a journey over the last three years. And in our interview, you say that it's now your way of life. Fitness is now your way of life. And you did look different on this shoot. You looked stronger. You looked more confident on the more recent shoot.

So, yeah, just talk me through that, that journey that you've gone through over the last three years. Like, yeah, like I said, it's more of a lifestyle change for me now. Not only exercise, but food as well. I've made changes to my diet where I probably won't eat a lot of food that doesn't agree with my body so I tend not to eat a lot of white bread, white pasta

because it doesn't make me feel very well I don't drink a lot of alcohol I think back then especially when I was away for work our downtime was having a few drinks at the end of the day a few glasses of wine going out at the weekend whereas now I see alcohol as a treat really and what else?

I think, again, it's the workouts as well for me. When I was in Malaysia and, you know, filming our girl, I had, I didn't have a lot of time to work out. So my workouts consisted as, you know, twice a week, if I was looking, in a gym for two hours straight, lifting weights and not really seeing a change in my body, whereas now I will do three, three to four time a week, 30 minute hits using my body weight. So I feel that's more attainable for me. I can keep up with that and it's not a really struggle.

And as well, I'm not as strict. Like I would now, I haven't been to the gym or worked out for two weeks. But I'm not punishing myself over that. You know, if I want, you know, if I want a cheeseboard one night, I'll have it without feeling guilty. It was always that, it was always the guilt for me a lot of the time why I would be in the gym for two hours. Because I was like, oh, I've really been bad this week.

so I need to go in the gym, I need to work it off. I was in the gym for two hours, you know. Yeah, and that's not an effective way to work out because you can't possibly function properly in the gym for two hours unless you're some, you know, ultra athletes, you know. But the likes of us, 45 minutes, maximum, an hour. Maximum, yeah, that's all you need. Yeah.

Yeah, and I think it's a growth thing as well as an age thing. I have become more confident within myself now. And a lot of the time, if I ever get anything negative, it won't consume me now. Whereas I suppose years ago, three years ago, four years ago, it would have really bothered me and I would have been thinking about,

you know, and one negative comment for a long time. Whereas now I've sort of like learned to deal with that a lot better. So, and imagine you do get negative comments on social media because some people are just bored and they do it to entertain themselves, not realising the impact it can have on the recipient. So the way you deal with that, I understand,

is that you take yourself off social, media quite a lot. You're not a slave to it. I do. I've definitely taken a step back and I've sort of took my private life away from social media as well. That was like a choice that I made a couple of years ago and I feel a lot better about that, you know? But yeah, I feel like I've sort of gained some control over my life by making these choices. But don't be wrong, social media could is a great, can be a great platform for people. But it's also, you know, but it can be a very negative one as well. And I just choose to use it,

which in a way that works for me now. Because you can get stuck in a rabbit hole on social media, can't you? We all try and not to compare ourselves to other people. But we all do, unless you are a super confident, self-assured person, which I don't believe many people are.

I don't think anyone is really. I think everyone has the bad days. And, yeah, social media, it does highlight all the good times in people's lives. And they always put the best picture up They never put the worst picture up. And you do question yourself like, oh, I wish I could look like that. Or I wish my hair looked like that.

Or if I was doing well, doing this show or whatever. It's constant, you know, self-doubt of, well, why am I not there yet? You know what I mean? You constantly questioning yourself. So for me, if I'm having one of those days now, I just want to go on social media. I make, like, a decision not to go on social media. I don't need to, so I won't do it. It can be a very positive space as well.

So, for instance, recently, I go through episodes where my mood and anxiety, my mood drops, my anxiety raises ugly head, and then I struggle to look at pictures of myself. So then I'll notice, if anyone who follows me, if you follow me, I'll just disappear from it for two weeks and I won't put pictures up. And then, so this has happened quite a few times recently, and I think it's asymptomatic of what's going on in the world. And then I put a pit, one day, I thought, oh, I'm going to just. put a picture up with myself. I'm just going to rip the band-aid off and just do it. Just do it. Yeah, just do it. And I said in the comment, you know, I struggled with looking pictures of myself, blah, blah, blah. There were so many positive, lovely comments that came back, you know, it's true. It can be a force for good, but I imagine when you're on your level,

when you've got such a big audience, you are going to get idiots, basically. Absolutely. And it's hard because you can get all these lovely messages, which is 99.9.9% of the time, are so lovely and so supportive, but you get that one negative comment and it can affect you for the whole day. Yeah. And it's so frustrating that that's how the human brain works. Yeah.

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How do you practice self-care, Michelle? So what do you do to make yourself feel better? What's a treat of a day for Michelle Keegan? A treat for me I would definitely exercise first because I think that for me just sets me up for the day and if I've already got that exercise

out of the wind like done I can tick it off a list and I feel a lot better for the day so I'd try and do 30 minute exercise hit or like Pilates or something do that 30 minutes and then I will

I really got into walking actually in lockdown I loved going for walks with my dogs just get a bit of fresh air get a coffee on the way around just with the dogs in the sunshine

that for me is a big treat and then come home have a bath maybe have a bath and just then have a really nice dinner like a treat dinner oh what would that be Claire you know me

I like my food I would probably say I might have some garlic prawns to start with and some crusty bread and then for my main See, I like my pasta as well because of a brown pasta or gluten-free.

But I have that with like a garlic and chili olive oil. Wow, a bit of Parmesan cheese on top. And then for my dessert, I'd have a caramel cheese cake. Oh, nice. Yeah, yeah. And the glass of a nice glass of chardonnay. Lovely. That sounds delicious.

So that's your out of a treat dinner then. What's the eating regime that you follow on a day to day? Is it just intuitive? Do you track calories? No, no, no. It's intuitive. I don't track. I know sort of, I know I plan my meals in advance.

So maybe on a Monday I might go shopping, which will last me until Thursday. So I've got it all in the fridge already that I won't order, you know, a takeaway because it's all in the fridge. I've got no excuse. And it's so easy as well, especially when it's not work, you finish work,

last thing you want to do is cook. But if it's all in the fridge, you know, it's going to take time. minutes, I just do it. So for me, breakfast normally is like maybe porridge with oat milk and a few berries in there or brown bread with avocado. Nice. I do like me savoury food. And then for dinner, I normally have like, I don't know, like a salad. I'm trying to think what I have on set. I normally have like a protein base, whether it's chicken or a fish with veg. I tend to stay away from like potatoes around midday because I get a crash about three if I have loads of

carbs and I get really tired so I try and just have the meat and meat and fish and veg and then for my tea or dinner should I say when I get in is the same thing I always make sea bass or salmon with soy sauce and a bit of honey on there and then I have asparagus and broccoli and sometimes if I'm really hungry, I have whole meal rice with that as well. It sounds quite boring, but I make it with lemon, chili, lots of garlic, so it's actually really flavouring. Sounds delicious. Are you a snacker? Could you haven't mentioned any snacks then? I'm not, you know, I'm not. Sometimes I might find myself, especially on set when you're waiting around, you get a bit bored, in the cold. I might have a cup of tea and then I might have a few biscuits. It's very hard not to do that when you're cold

and you're a little bit hungry waiting for your lunch. So I could do that, but I like my savoury snacks. So if you put crisps, I'm a sucker for crisps. Yeah, but it's crisps. A small pack is just not enough. It's not enough. And then the family packs, which we buy at home, they just talk to you, don't they?

They do. Walker's Chili Sensations, sweet Thai flavour. Oh, they're the best. And you keep going in the kitchen, grabbing handfuls at a time. Before you know it, you're at the bottom of the pack. I know. I do that all the time.

Talking of chocolate, have you ever had the white chocolate lint? The balls. I know, but I'm going shopping after this. So shall I get them? Claire, please get them and let me know what you think. Right. I literally have gone through two packs this week.

The unbelief. And I keep selling them to people going, you need to get them, you need to get them. The best thing I've ever had in my life. You know, you're going to be like undersea. with a lint white chocolate falls now after this. Oh, no. So should we just put it out of here?

Right, what do I want to be said? I love Terry's chocolate orange. You know, you can get them before Christmas, and they sell that whole oranges. The segments. Yes. But again, I'm mostly vegan, but lately, I think, you know what? Life's too short, so a bit of chocolate is crept in.

Yeah. I suppose that last year. Yeah. Yeah, exactly, you know. So a bit of cheese on pizza now and again. And honestly, in December, I think I had four or five but those terry chocolate oranges. You open them, you know, I'll have two pieces, two pieces.

Yeah. Back in the cupboard. That's it. Yeah. And then you find any reason to go back in the kitchen. It's so true. You do. Yeah.

And then you can't box it back up again. It just goes back into the tin for it all messy. It looks all messy. So you're just like, well, have it now. I know. And then I try and like fool myself. I throw on the top shelf. Top shelf is out of way. And then I, you know, and then I just get a stool and get it off the top shelf. It's easy. And you sat there thinking about it. Yeah. Should I do it? Should I not do it? You know you're going to do it.

I know you are. It's a matter of time. Yeah. Just get it done. Just eat it now. Yeah. Terrible. Yeah. That and Harabo as well. See, I'm not. I'm not bothered about sweets. You can leave them in front of me all day and I won't touch them. Oh, no. They would. But again, you can't, the amount of calories in one pack of parables, like your daily consumption or something. I know, I know. You can't go near them. So what do you have planned for 2021?

It's quite a hard year to make plans in, I would say. It is because it's so uncertain. You don't know what's going to happen or what's around the corner. But for me, obviously, I'm continuing Brassick until March. That's if it doesn't get pushed back. Again, if you don't know what's going to happen. happen. And then obviously I've got very as well. So I've just been looking at, it's so weird to say, but spring, summer, 2022. Wow. That far ahead. Yeah, we're that far ahead. So I've been looking at designs for that year.

And yeah, I think just like I said before, like making time, more time for family and friends and seeing people are making much memories as I can, really. Yeah, and no one's booking for on holidays, are they? So we'll be with staycations, probably. Staycations, yeah. Yeah, yeah. It was nice. Locked down last year, I got into cycling. And I've never been into cycling in my life.

I didn't even know what cliques were until, you know, lockdown. But I really got into it. I really, really enjoyed it. So hopefully I'm going to start back that will, when it gets a bit warmer, I'm going to start cycling again. So was that you and Mark would go out on a Sunday? Yeah. But sometimes I used to go out on my own.

I used to do it on my own and do like 40 miles. Yeah. It's hard, isn't it? I've got a road bike and it's hard. It's really hard. I do countless spinning classes and I've got a Peloton bike at home. But it's much hard on a road bike, I find it. Especially uphill.

Yeah. The amount of times I've had to get off and push it uphill. Yeah. It's unbelievable. But it is so enjoyable when the weather is so nice as well, You just get a, you know, you go out in the fresh air and you look at the beautiful views. And yeah, I'm looking forward to doing that again.

Because I, yeah, I think, because we were actually told for a long time last year, don't go out. That's another one of the simple things that came to the fall that we appreciated. So true. The gift of fresh air and the countryside. There was some poor people who were stuck in London during lockdown in flats and stuff, which was dressed terrible. And I live in the countryside and you, I know you live in Essex as well,

but just the beauty of the British countryside. You did, it was weird. It was a really weird feeling, conflicting feeling, because you actually did feel really lucky to be outside. Yeah. You appreciated everything so much more. And I remember actually, me, my mum were speaking and we were like, how beautiful are these seasons, like spring and summer?

It just made you look at things in a total different way. Yeah, yeah. And I think that a change of mentality is here to stay. Surely we can't go back to life how it was. was. No. You know, yes,

there's a lot of loneliness that has come out of the whole COVID experience. And I think there will be long-term mental health issues for a lot of people where they, you know, the anxiety, the mental pressure that we will be all being under. But we can't go back to how it was where I know you and I have slightly different jobs and that you won't commuting every day. But a lot of people were commuting five days a week,

you know, three hours a day commuting. It was too fast-paced as well. Everyone was so, like, rushing from A to B. Yeah. It was just, yeah, it's too fast-paced. Yeah, that's no way of living.

I can't see how we can go back to that. No. So the name of this podcast is going for goals. So if I was to ask you what your number one goal is, it could be wellness-related or not. What's your goal for 2021? I really want to get into Pilates or Yoga. That is my goal.

It's something that I've always been interested in. I've always tried it, but I've never gotten into it, where it's become a regular form of exercise for me. But at the minute, I am doing it a couple of days a week, and I'm really enjoying it. So for me, by the end of 2021, I want to be able to do the splits. I'm going to hold you to that. No, it's not going to happen.

It's not going to happen. When you say you do it at the moment, is that you're following online workouts or have you got a trainer? Just online. Just on YouTube. Just typing in, even 20 minutes, 30 minutes, just do it. But I do, and I find it really helps with anxiety as well. You know, with the breathing. But I want to make it more regular.

So hopefully next year I'm going to put it into a fitness regime. Because we shot Rochelle Humes for a cover last year. Lovely Rochelle. We went to my old budget shooter when we could go abroad and shoot. But she said all she does is Pilates, reformable. Pilates. You know, the reformer machines. Yes. She's... She literally lived near me actually. She went to

a class near me and she actually told me about it. I think the guy messaged me on Instagram but at the time it was when I was film... I can't remember what I was filming so I couldn't do it. I couldn't go to the classes and then obviously went into lockdown so then I couldn't. So maybe I could do that what she did. Because I would love to do it. I would love anyone who does

Pilates and Yoga religiously just look so amazing, don't they? They do. I know. I know. It's even the posture. The posture's different. Yeah. It's just they just, and they seem to exude wellness as well, don't they? They seem to have their glow in their skin.

And I'm a bit like you. It's like, I've done it, but I can't really get into it. And I wish I could get into it. I literally look, honestly, I'm like stiff as a board. I look stupid when I do it. But yeah, I'm going to really try. I'm going to really try. Because anyone who says it, say you see the benefits really quickly.

Yeah. You feel the benefits. fit. So, okay, I'm going to give it a try. Right, well, that's a worthy goal. And I am going to reconvene with you in about 11 months time. Okay. So come on, Michelle, let's see the splits. I went too far with that. I'd take that back. Right, well, thank you so much for taking time after your very busy schedule to speak to me today, Michelle. And thank you for being on the cover again. It's a great issue. Please do all go out and buy it. And I'm sure we'll speak again soon, Michelle. This is going for goal. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Claire. Right, from Fair Weather, YouTube Yoga and Pilates to the splits, you have to respect the energy. You have been listening to Michelle Keegan, interviewed by Women's Health, editor-in-chief, Claire Sanderson. As ever, if you want to comment on anything that we've raised in this episode of Going for Goal,

get in touch, all the details of how to do so are in the show notes. And remember, if you've got a goal in mind, let us know, and we could be helping you get there in an upcoming episode. That's all from Going For Goal this week, we'll be back on Tuesday. Bye for now.