Just As Well, The Women's Health Podcast - Millie Mackintosh on Unlocking Anxiety, Parenting with Hugo and Body Image Battles

Episode Date: April 20, 2021

In the decade that she’s been on our screens, whether that’s watching her on TV or reading about her on your smartphone, we’ve seen a few sides to Millie Mackintosh. There’s been the party girl, the businesswoman, the wellness enthusiast, and the WH cover star a whopping four times over. And now, almost a year on from the birth of her daughter, Sienna, it’s time to get to know another: Millie the doting mum, which has given her a whole new perspective on what healthy means to her. In this episode, she tells us what becoming a mother for the first time in a year like no other really felt like, her nerves about her post-baby body before our photoshoot, and what she’s booking in for the great British ‘unlocked’ summer of 2021. She is super open - discussing her and husband Hugo Taylor’s lockdown bickering, as well as the unfiltered realities of C-section recovery and how this has affected her journey back to fitness. Join Millie Mackintosh on Instagram: @milliemackintosh Join Roisin Dervish-O'Kane on Instagram: @roisin.dervishokane Join Women's Health UK on Instagram: @womenshealthuk 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

In the decade that she's been on our screens, whether that's watching her on TV or reading about her on your smartphone, we've seen a few sides to Millie McIntosh. There's been the party girl, the businesswoman, the wellness enthusiast, and a woman's health cover star are whopping four times over. And now, almost a year on from the birth of her daughter, Sienna, it's time to get to know another. Millie, the doting mum, who, the way she tells it, has got a whole new perspective on what healthy means to her. Hello, I'm Roshin-Dervichaut, Kane, and this is going for goal, the weekly women's Health Podcast. On this show, we call on top experts to share the tools you need to make good on the health goals that really matter to you. And on episodes like this one, we chat to our favourite celebrities and wellness heavyweights about what they do to feel and function at their best. In today's episode, Millie discusses her nerves in the run-up to her first women's health shoot after having daughter, Sienna, what she's booking in for the Great British Unlocked Summer of 2021, spin classes, spa days, girly lunches, all the good stuff. And what becoming a mum for the first time in a year like no other was really like. Millie was super open from what her and husband

Hugo Taylor bickered about during lockdown to the unfiltered realities of C-section recovery and how this affected her journey back to fitness. While she's resolute that the notion of snapping back post-birth needs to, and I'm paraphrasing here, do one, Millie speaks candidly about times when in the months following the birth, getting used to her new postpartum body was tough and why she believes it's important for her to be able to share that. Let's hear from her. Milly McIntosh, hello, welcome to going for goal. Hi, darling. Hi, thank you so much for chatting to me. I'm very excited. How's your day going? Do you know what? It's great. I'm in such a good mood because it's so springy. Yeah, it is, right? Today, I, you know, this weekend it felt like properly first day of spring,

and it was spring echinocks, but I can feel it now. Definitely, definitely. And when we spoke for your cover interview, I feel like it was like the deepest depths of lockdown three. It was like a grey Thursday morning. It looked like it was about, I don't know, it looked like it was 5pm even though it was like 10 in the morning. Yeah. When was it? It was like February, right?

Yeah. Yeah, I think like mid-Feb. Yeah, but we're past that. I'm so glad. And like we're nearly at the end of lockdown. I mean, gradually, hopefully coming out of it soon. I think that's making me feel a bit more positive. Yes, definitely. And you look absolutely. So we spoke before your shoots. You look absolutely

phenomenal in the pictures and by the time this comes out, everyone will have got to see them. Did you enjoy that shoot day? Do you want, I really did. It was just so exciting to be around people. I mean, obviously everyone was wearing the correct PPE and we didn't touch, but it was just so nice to actually not be at home and not just be like a mummy for the day and actually to get really glammed up and be in heels and amazing swimwear and have this great team to doing my hair and makeup. And then I love the photographer who I've worked with before which makes me feel so comfortable.

I was nervous at the beginning. It did take me a little bit to warm into it because it felt really odd. I hadn't done a shoot in a long time. And in that time, we've been in a pandemic and I've had a baby. So it was my fourth cover. So I did kind of know what to expect. in like how those shoots work and have a bit of that like kind of to make me feel less nervous.

And as the day went on, I found that I kind of found my rhythm and remembered like the poses that make me feel good and kind of found my confidence. But like when I first walked out on set, I was quite nervous. Of course. Because it's been a big change. Yeah. And it was so great to chat to you about that. And we go in depth in the magazine interview, which will be on sale now.

and you should all go buy it and you can look at those stunning pictures. Yeah, Millie truly working, working swimwear on a pair of heels like I think few other people can. Well, you know, I haven't got to wear nice swimwear in so long. I was like, just loving it and the sunglasses and the earrings. I mean, if you actually get that glammed up on in by the pool or on the beach, especially with the baby. So I just thought, this is my chance. No, it was really fun. I really enjoyed it.

You've probably got to make the most. And how is Sienna? How is she doing? Sienna is good. She is almost one. And yeah, when this comes out, it will literally be a couple of weeks before her first birthday, which is on the 1st of May. And, oh, gosh, she just gets more adorable every day. I'm so obsessed with her. She's amazing. Lots of kind of new challenges and new, you know, new stages. As always, you think you're, you know, mastering it. And then everything changes again. but she's kind of trying to stand up. I think she's going to be kind of trying to walk soon, which is exciting, also a bit nerve-wracking. She's trying to pull herself onto everything,

and you could see her kind of little wobbly legs, and they just get so scared of her falling down, or pulling something onto herself. But she's so inquisitive. She just wants to get into everything, and she's kind of at a stage, but she doesn't really want to play with her toys, or not for very long.

She wants to play with, like, all things, things that, you know, whatever I'm doing, she wants to be doing. And yeah, our most recent thing has been, like, weaning and going from puros to finger foods and kind of progressing her onto, like, whole, like, actual whole foods rather than just eating everything, like, mush. So that's been, it's been actually really fun. Although at the beginning, I was really nervous.

I'm actually really enjoying it now, like giving her a little bits of what I'm having and introducing her to foods that I really love. It's getting more fun as we go along and she gets more useful. to her. And she'll be another foodie, another generation. She is, yeah, I hope so she is a good eater. She seems to really like her food and like trying new things. And if she doesn't, she's sure, she's sure to let me know and just like drops it on the floor. No. Next. No. No. But, yeah, she's, yeah, she's got quite a strong, she's quite a strong world. She is a tourist.

Ah, yes, of course. We're seeing that come through. I'm starting to see like glimpses of like almost toddler tantrums and that's a little bit scary. You're like not yet. Glimpses of what's to come. I'm like you're not even one. It just goes so, it goes so fast. Honestly, like I really weirdly feel grateful to lockdown because I feel like I've just spent so much more time at home with her than I would have otherwise. And that in a, you know, the time does go so fast. You don't get it. and just getting to be around her so much, constantly seeing her change and develop and all these moments are so special.

I'm already feeling like, oh, I don't want her to like to grow up and not be my baby anymore. Oh. No, I bet it goes so, so, so quickly. And what are your speaking of, that's been a highlight for you of lockdown. What about plans for after the unlock?

I feel now like it's what everyone, everyone's talking about, everyone's trying to book everything and get excited. What are your? I know. What are some of your top things that you have to do with her, so as a mum, but then also just go. So big unlock. I am really excited to go on a family staycation, which we're doing in the UK, with the grandparents.

So we're going with my parents and Hugo's mum. And we're going to Devon. And that was kind of like end of May. So I'm really excited to take it to the season. inside and just, you know, just get out of London and just kind of get that fresh air and just kind of make those memories by then she might be like starting to stand up or I don't think she'll be walking unassisted but, you know, running, like playing on the sand and taking her to the sea and hopefully we get one of, you know, one of those amazing spells of weather.

It will typically rain every day and we'll end up playing like board games. But either way, I'm really excited for that. Just, yeah, getting outside. and just, I don't know about you, after being, like, cooped up in our houses for so long, I just really just, I just want to feel the sun on my skin. I want to feel, you know, smell the sea air. I want to see the sea and just have a break from being at home, really. So I'm really excited for that.

And I'm excited for dates with Hugo, you know, getting dressed up and going out for, like, date nights and going up to a nice restaurant, ordering from a menu, not washing up, and just having some couple time. I'm excited for, like, like girls lunches again like getting a bit dressed up like having some rosé having a giggle um you know just we're strolling around like you know window shopping and i'd love a spa day those are a couple of things i'm excited for and um gym classes i cannot wait to go back to like a yoga class you know and feel

the energy of the room and do like a really nice flow and spin class and get that kind of get my groove on on my bike, like to the music, tap it back. Like, I just miss that, like, disco lights. I don't even want to go to a club. I just want to go to a spin club. That's how sad I am. That's what I'm most excited for. And that's why you've been on the cover of women's health all times. It's just, I just, you know, just to see friends, picnics, barbecues, these love, you know, the things that I really enjoy in a British summer. I'd love to, I'd love to go abroad. It seems quite unknown still at the moment. So who knows? But if we manage to go away maybe towards like the end of the summer, it might be more possible. But we're like keeping that

as a maybe. But we've got another trip in July, which is in the Cotswolds. We've like rented a cottage. So I would definitely just going to do a couple of like staycations and just have as a family and I really enjoy that. What about you? So nice. Yeah, I've got. I've got. I've got a few days penciled in September that were always for being like, let's go get a villa somewhere hot, maybe on some Mediterranean island. However, that's looking increasingly unlikely. So probably we'll be off to the south coast somewhere if there's still going to be space at that time. I don't know about you, but I have felt as excited as I am for lockdown to end,

there's this kind of weird feeling of like you go to like you're like oh I can book a restaurant and stuff and then everywhere's fully booked and it's a bit like oh and also I've had a little bit of anxiety like well we're allowed out now but like what to do like so much choice and then oh no but actually everywhere's books and I didn't make plans and oh my god like ah like the stress of like not being able to make plans and then the pressure of making plans do you get that too when like when it all got announced I actually had a week of feeling really weird when they announced like steps out and I expected just to be really happy and excited but actually it was quite confusing how I felt about it. I think I felt the same as you and it was a real I found a really

noticed a really interesting thing my friendship group because I had all the kind of slightly more introverted people just were quite quiet and then all my really extroverted friends were like let's book this let's book this let's book this let's put this let's this festival there's this thing and then it was like my phone was properly going off um but yeah it is a funny one and it's almost like one of the worst things of the past year is that you've not been able to have like spontaneous plans. But now it's that thing you're like,

oh, can we do spontaneous plans anyway if everything's all booked up? So yeah, I guess still have to count ourselves as very lucky, again, especially when you look, I don't know. Yeah, no, I feel really lucky that COVID hasn't, you know, affected me badly, like apart from I can't smell. But, you know, everything else, you know, otherwise I do BIR do.

we're really lucky and lucky that there is a plan out of it and, you know, there'll always, there'll be, you know, gardens and parks and we will get to socialise the summer, even if you can't get a table anywhere. Even if you can't, yeah, exactly. It's just going to be another summer of maybe another summer of tinned G&Ts in the park that will probably be glad for it. So long as, exactly, really not so bad. do you have any double play dates planned for um because obviously spencer and vogue have a little one i know

jiji she's so cute and yeah it's it's it's really hard not you know not doing those those play dates you just it's you just can't do it over over zoom you know with the little ones because they just they you know they look at each other's faces and like kind of smile for a second and they just want to like break your laptop so um i can't wait to to get together yeah we've got plans to, you know, girls' lunch and then also, you know, just us and then definitely like play dates with the babes as well. I've got, yeah, loads of friends with them with kids and I'm just like so desperate to get them all together. It's going to be really sweet. Yes, you're like, come on, Bond. Yeah, Bonn, like, please please please be friends, no pressure. You will love each other

and you will hang out. You and Hugo's, you go, you go to be definitely, um, you, nailing new parenthood. But obviously time has been very intense on relationships. And even when, you know, you're not, your main focus isn't keeping a tiny person alive. What have you learned about Higo in lockdown? The good and the bad. You know what? I feel really lucky that we haven't killed each other.

We, I honestly feel very lucky that I feel like we've got through the test of lockdown and we're like closer than never. So, you know, they say these things like make you stronger. and, you know, to have had a baby and been in lockdown, it's two super intense situations for any relationship. And I think it has taught us a lot about each other. I hate doing the dishwasher. He's quite good at it. You know, we have our roles.

You know, he does, he takes the bins out. I do most of the laundry. And, you know, we have to have, you know, a balance of, like, house duties and things that you, both do and um i feel like it's better just to find with the ones that you don't find as painful and then you know you just work out he does what based on that and just making sure it feels like it kind of it feels shared and and i'm just communicating and i think understanding that he isn't a mind reader and and that's fine sometimes you just have to just have to ask and ask nicely

rather than i sometimes can just make comments which are you know like kind of a bit like passive aggressive or just you know just just like he's like if you want to ask just ask and I'll just be like oh but just can really deal with like I can't even think of an example but I'll just keep like leaving these like comments and he's like can you actually just ask me if you want me to do something and I'm like okay yes so when I work on communication that's good um sometimes we've needed to give each other space I think that's really normal and you know whether that's just you know being like actually You know, I've said, oh, should we go for a walk together?

And he said, actually, I just really need to go on my own and, like, listen to an audio book. And it's just, like, understanding, like, that's normal and fine and need that space from each other, like, outside the house. We both need some time on our own. And occasionally, I've been, like, I need a night in the spare room. Like, if Ciena's been going through a phase of crying at night, and I just, I need a good night's sleep. I'll just be, like, you're listening to the monitor tonight. Like, I just need to go and sleep in a room with ear plugs in so I can actually just catch. up and we balance things like that as well. So, you know, we both feel like we're coping.

But the date nights have definitely been something I really look forward to. We normally do them on like a Friday or Saturday night and either cook or get a kind of restaurant kit, which is quite fun, which we wouldn't normally do on just like an average weeknight. Sometimes just in loungeware and eating on the sofa in front of Netflix, which is kind of heaven with a bowl of pass from a glass of wine. Other times like, you know, laying a tape. lighting candles, putting on a nice dress, it kind of just depends on the week. But those date nights being really important. And I'm so excited to actually start doing some out of the house. Out of the house. I know how exciting. As you say, no one has to stack the dish washer. Bliss.

Oh, no, dishwasher. I'm so sick of the dishwasher. Oh, dear. Yeah. And so in our interview in Women's Health as well, so we talked loads about how you how you felt about your body and kind of how in this year postpartum how that's kind of evolved and you were super honest and super candid about insecurities that you experience in those first couple of months why was it so important for you to be open about that kind of stuff I think women often feel like they can't talk about how they feel about their postpartum bodies and there's so much attention on women's bodies when they're pregnant and then there seems to be a lot of pressure to bounce back after you've had the baby. And that's just something I really

can't stand because, like, give us a break. You've literally just grown a human. And yes, your body changes a lot while it's like creating a life, carrying it for nine months. And I did find the first few months after pregnancy, like really challenging, like, I found it hard to love my body. And I was kind of ashamed to admit that I didn't like what I saw in the mirror. But I think it's actually really freeing and liberating to like admit that and I I really tried to practice self-love but it did take me a bit of time to to get there and to actually really appreciate my body um definitely what definitely didn't feel like that in the weeks after I gave birth um but now like looking back I do I'm so amazed how my body did and I definitely am much kinder to myself now like seeing first

obviously how my body grew this baby but also how it's recovered in the nine in the nine in the now it's always been a year since I've had Sienna and I just I feel really strong I feel like fit I feel like I love my body and I've got kind of curves and I'm just like different shaped how I was before and some of my jeans fit and the kind of slightly more fitted ones definitely don't and that's fine and and things don't quite sit how they did before but I feel I feel really body confident and I felt so good on my shoot day. And yeah, I feel, I feel, yeah, so proud of what my body did. And now I'm constantly running around after Sienna. And she's, she's pretty heavy now. She's like 10KG. She is literally a kettle of. As I said to you at the time, it was almost, I'm really glad that you were so open.

I'm not someone who's ever had a child. So I can't speak to that experience of what it's what it's like to to embrace and discover your body postpartum. But I just thought it was very, it was very honest. And so thank you. I think one thing I found really hard as well. I think we talked about this in the interview was just finding clothes that sit me after I had a baby. And my, you know, I was a different size to what I'd ever been before.

And I had these big milk-filled boobs, which were ginormous. And I'd never, I'd always, I've always had a very small chest. So that was quite a big change to it to adjust to. And, but I just found clothes that from, you know, high street brands or whatever that I would chop in normally, even kind of three, four sizes up from what I was before would just like too tight, especially like around my chest. And I just, I just felt uncomfortable with things that like didn't fit properly. So I did end up just wearing, I mean, I was breastfeeding.

I just remember wearing kind of lots of like big kind of painting. smock type shirts that I could easily like unbutton and like leggings or just I just ended up wearing like really loose like tent like dresses um but I found it yeah I did find it a bit uncomfortable at first just adjusting and finding things that I felt comfortable wearing adjusting to being the different size than I had even before and adjusting to when I was pregnant and I just wanted everything to be tight on my bump and show it off because I loved it and I was you know just just want to just show off my big bump and then And after the baby, I kind of just wanted to like, I felt like I didn't want to show my tummy.

And, you know, it was an area that I kind of wanted things to kind of just skim over and swear. Like, yeah, floaty things. That's so interesting, isn't it? It's almost like there's an overnight shift in kind of what you want. Yeah. It's almost like you want there to be, you want to show off the bump and then you want it not to be there. Yeah, but it is still there. And it's so different for each woman.

I've got friends who've been literally the same size again after two weeks. So they are so happy for them. They are genetic freaks. And most women, you know, you do still have looked pregnant for a bit. But, yeah, it's definitely taken time. And it took a couple of months, definitely, to kind of go down. And that's fine and that's normal. Absolutely.

And we must say that, yeah, you look absolutely incredible in the photos. But let's talk about, so you've kind of grown the respect that you've had for your body, which has grown in the time that your body is kind of healed after the birth. So you gave birth to Sienna and vizs-Ary. And let's talk about that in context of your fitness journey and how you kind of built your body back up to the strength where you are now. Yeah, do you know what? People always ask me about how, you know, C-section recovery actually really should do a post on it.

And, you know, it is different for everyone. But when you've had a C-section, I think it depends whether you've had a planned C-section or which I had because S-Section or whether you've had an emergency one. I think the recovery can be quite different because often with an emergency one, they go in really quickly and I think it cannot sometimes take a bit longer to heal. Whereas if you have a planned one, it's everything to sound a bit slower and, you know, I actually felt better in a couple of weeks. But the, you know, the recovery at first, it was quite hard.

You know, it's very difficult to move around. It's painful. I was on a lot of pain medication, but, you know, you just had surgery. It does hurt. I got out of bed the next day. and just moved around very gently, and I was at home after two nights, and kind of recovered at home. I don't think I even left the house for about 10 days,

apart from, you know, just walking around the house and our little patio, just, you know, resting when I could and figuring out breastfeeding and everything, and then started going for short walks, literally kind of 20 minutes a day, and then slowly built them up over a couple of weeks, till I was maybe going for like 40 minutes or up to an hour. And you really have to listen to your body. I went in one of the first walks I did. I did, I'd maybe done about two walks.

And I was like, I can go a bit further today and tried to do kind of double what I'd done the day before and then ended up, like, bleeding quite a lot. That evening, it was quite painful. And that is like quite normal if you, you know, push it a little bit further than you should early on. So definitely listen to your doctor and. and like take it, I would just say take it super easy after a C-section. And after a couple of weeks, I started doing some kind of, but after I was signed off, I think it's at like six weeks or eight weeks post-partum.

I had my kind of post-bastom checkup with my obstetrician. And I also saw a woman's health physio. And she did a kind of internal check to make sure to check and pelt my pelvic floor. And she said everything was okay. And I was fine to start that gentle kind of Pilates and gentle. and gentle exercise. So that's what I started doing. And I started doing Pilates at first, which I've done Pilates like on and off over the years. And it is really just like the core of everything. You know, it's like if you, if you can do those kind of even basic Pilates moves,

it's just so important for your posture, for your strength, your mobility. And I've done a lot of Pilates when I was pregnant. So Pilates was kind of something I felt safer. And that's So that's mainly what I did. I've done quite a lot with fluid form, which is online, which is really great as well. And then I started doing a bit of weight training. So just like light weights that I've got at home, obviously haven't been able to get back to going back to gyms very much. There was, during, in between one of the lockdowns, I did actually start going back to a couple of spin classes, which was really fun. Oh, amazing.

Where's your favourite studio? I go to call collective. I really like the spin there. But actually I've really been meaning to try and I want to when we can again, like the cycle and soul cycle in Notting Hill. Oh, yeah. I've not been to the cycle. I've been to the ones near the office. So like the Fitzrovia, the Fitzrovia cycle. They're actually sending me a bike tomorrow. Like an at home one to try, which you should definitely look into. I can't vouch for it yet. because I've not. But yeah, it'll be interesting to see if you can recreate that, like, environment at home. I have thought about getting a peloton. It's just, like, where to put it.

Now we've got Siena, like, space is tight, you know, where I think I'd put it. That's really where, like, her playroom is. And then you want it, like, in your bedroom. I don't know. But it won. So I've, so I got excited about going out of classes. Then we couldn't go to gyms again. I thought, I need to get my, my cardio fix somehow.

So one thing that I've taken, another thing I've taken from lockdown is that I've started running and I'm very much an amateur and I mean, I'm not about, I'm not someone that's going to do a marathon any time in my life. But doing these kind of short runs, kind of I like to run for between 30 and 40 minutes. That's kind of like comfortable. It's quick, it doesn't hang up too much of my day. I can do a quick stretch when I get home. and a quick warm up before

and then the whole thing's done in like an hour or on some days I've literally just done 20 minutes of the stretch if I've only got half an hour but you still feel like you've done something and I use an app I just use a Nike running app and use the guide with runs on there

which really helps me just to get out of the door and I like having someone in my ear like making me accountable so but yeah I normally I normally do like 5K to maybe two or three times a week And it just makes me feel really good. I just enjoy listening to some music

or sometimes even just literally just to like the birds, just to nothing and just going for it. Having some bee time, having some fresh air. That's something I really said to start doing like this year. So that's so great that you've discovered running as a new mum and in lockdown and you think it's something that you're going to stick with. Women's Help of Commission Research recently into harassment. that people have experienced when they're out jogging.

Have you heard about people being harassed when they're out running? And is it something that you've ever experienced? No, it's something that a girlfriend has told me about and she had an experience where she thought someone was following her and she was quite freaked out, which is awful and I really felt for her. And she's now started wearing an alarm. And I know Amy does that too, actually. But to me, I feel really lucky that it's not something that has happened to me.

in saying that I'd haven't I probably wouldn't feel that comfortable running I live in a very busy area of London if I live somewhere more rural I don't think I'd feel very comfortable running if there was there wasn't good like streetlights I didn't feel like there was anyone around kind of more in the middle of nowhere

I think I probably would feel a bit of anxious to do that and no one should have to feel like that right but the kind of I'm just like I just say it so easily right like you're just like you know I think walking certainly I felt like that, but running, I haven't had any experiences. Maybe the odd guy, like, they're like ogling you a bit.

Yes, but not a, not a situation where you felt like you might be physically threatened. No, and I feel very lucky, but it's amazing that you're doing that because, like, no one should feel happy to experience that. Absolutely. And yeah, we've, for our research show that it had increased in lockdown as well, which is super worrying, just as more people are kind of getting out and discovering running. And as we said, it's that most accessible, cheap form of exercise. Right.

It was so interesting actually because when you're, obviously, we said so you've done four women tell covers. It's been four interviews and we've been able to kind of, and it's almost like you've grown, you've grown up. So your 20s have run almost perpendicular to like the boom of like the wellness scene in London. Yeah. And abroad. And it's interesting because in all of them you kind of, so there was a phase when you got really

into weight training and then there's a phase and you were doing some quite like intense hit and stuff and then there's the more like yoga phase and it's been really interesting now because it's like by this time it's like you've because we think of you being this poster girls with the London fitness scene and all these like glam classes and stuff and it was so funny

just speaking to you and you're like yeah I just use my night training app and I go outside and I run to the park for 20 minutes because it gives me it gives me half an hour to an hour out of the house when I can clear my head. And it's so interesting because, yeah, as we've always associated with you, you with the kind of the more glamorous side of fitness.

And it's like the most ultimate, ultra-accessible, ultra kind of relatable form of exercise. We've all just had to adapt, you know. Like, I love, like, putting on my new, I'd love nothing more to put on a new set of, like, really nice barley gym kit and go to a studio bump into someone I know,

like get a coffee and like you know I'm so excited for that but it has I think lockdown and then also being a mum um have both you know made it kind of impossible to to go to classes and and gym so being able to learn what you can do what works for you what you like doing and what you can do literally anywhere that is actually so valuable because you know if you can actually just be motivated enough and find things that you can actually do on your own at home or, you know, on a run. I mean, we are so lucky that we have access to. And then I say on my own, I mean, over Zoom or, you know, on an online class.

Like, we are so lucky to have access to so many things. It's not like I'd be doing it literally without something to look at, you know, I need someone on the screen going, come on, do it, you can go. So do you think even when Core Collective and Cycle and everything opens up, do you think you're still going to be lapping the park? I think I will. I definitely want to keep it up. I mean, I'm not one for doing it on a rainy day.

I have done it. It's not my favourite. I must rather do it on it when it's nice weather. Yeah, I hope so. I think as much as I love I do of doing loads of classes, I probably do like one a week, realistically, the time I have. It's another string to your bow, isn't it?

So what does healthy, what's being healthy mean to you now? Healthy me means just having the energy to run around after Sienna and the strengths to like, you know, carry her around and throw her up in the air. And honestly that's like what healthy means now. It's about being like the best me possible so I can be the best mum possible. And it's a role that you are evidently thriving in. Even when you talk about her, obviously this is audio so people can't see, but you just get such a little smile on your... You get such a little glow when you're talking about her. How much do you love being a mummy?

Well, it's literally, I don't know, it sounds so softly, but it just feel like it's like completed me. Like, I just, it's just going to put me all together and just, like, missing peace. Like, I just love it. I just feel like it's just giving me more purpose. And honestly, like, waking up in the morning and I'm so excited to just go and get her up. And I have to lie there from, I don't get her up till seven. I always wake up at 6.

I can hear her chatting way and I have to try for an hour to not go into her room and just get her out of bed. Like, must stick to routine. I just really want to go and single her. Sometimes I do bring her into the bed and we have saddles, which is like my favorite part of the day. Oh, so adorable. I do.

It's not always easy, though. It's important to say that as well. But I'm very lucky I've got, I had Hugo Graham for a year. We've had like grandparents support. us and, you know, she's, after we've got her reflux and sleep issues and her hips, her hip space, so once we kind of got past those things, you know, I've really, really enjoyed it. And I'm just so excited for kind of next stages with her. Yes, absolutely.

So before we were talking about, so you have been on the cover of women's health and unmatched four times. Really? Has no one else done it four times? No, you haven't. They happen. Seriously, I can't believe that. You're the ultimate boomerang cover star and we love it.

My mum in their loo at home has got my covers on the wall. So she'll have like all the women's health ones like lined up next to each other. That's so sweet. Oh, so doting. I love it. I feel extra proud of this one because my body, in the last year, you know, a year ago I had a baby. So I feel like super proud. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely, as you should do. And when we're looking back at all everything that, like everything that you've tried on like the fitness scene and various like wellness trends, what's the kind of silliest thing that you've, what's the silliest or fattiest thing that you've done or something that you'd never try again?

I used to do like bit from yoga for like 90 minutes. And I then. I then. watched the light bit from yoga documentary and like felt really weird about it. And I was like, what did I like buy into? Like that was super weird. And I was like, I could never do it again. I don't know about you, but that was mega weird. Also just being in a smelly, sweaty room and that heat for 90 minutes. Like I just can't imagine anything worse.

That's definitely not something I'm doing again. It's interesting, isn't it? It was such a trend. And then I think lots of studios of obviously, what's the word? They have hot yoga. They've hot you, yoga. Which is different. Hot Pilates, that kind of thing. Yeah, and distancing from the name of someone so awful.

Yeah, I know. But yeah, it's funny how things peak and then go out, isn't it? Have you tried, like, the start going in a cryo chamber? I've not, actually. Have you? I have tried it, and I know, I don't want to put it a fact, because I do think there's amazing, there is amazing research into it, and it's proved to be amazing for, like, injury and all these things. but I'm not dissing it and saying it doesn't work

because I think it's incredible for health. But oh my God, it's so cold. And I just, I wish I could, like, I had one. There are, you know, lots of London. I wish I could just get almost go and do it regularly because of the health benefits, but I just can't stand the cold. It is freezing.

And you're not in there for very long, but it just like burns with cold. Yeah, not for me. Not for you. Okay, so the name of this podcast is going for girls. and when we end, we always like to ask what your number one goal is right now. So aside from getting tough enough to withstand a cryotherapy session, which I don't think is going to happen anytime soon.

What's your number one goal at the moment? Oh, number one goal. Fitness goal, life goal. It can be anything. You can give us one of each if you want or anything. Yeah, fitness, life, health, happiness, the rest. I feel like I've kind of got my goal. So, like, I feel, I feel really happy.

And I'm, I'm so happy with, like, being a mom and with Hugo and that we've kind of come through lockdown, like, stronger. And for us, it's actually been, like, a really incredible start of our life as a family. And I'm just, you know, really excited. I guess my goal's, like, kind of right now. It's just coming out end of April, right? Yeah, it's, you know, we're kind of slowly coming out of lockdown, being unlocked, as he called it. and, you know, just getting to spend some quality time, like with my family, with our family, outside of the house is a goal, you know, just enjoying the UK and nature and just having some

kind of chill time this summer. That's what one goal I thought I know is going to feel amazing. Yes. We've been looking forward to it for so long and it will be like such a nice reward for kind of, you know, all the dirty nappies and, you know, insane. my hair and like food thrown at me so I really have been bored to just like having some some fun down to find that as a family. That sounds wonderful.

Maintaining and appreciating everything great that you've got going on right now. That sounds. Yeah, there we go. You put it into one seven time. That sounds like that's the point. That's okay. That's your job. I'll do my job.

Okay. You nailed it. Yeah, that is, yeah, fair enough right now. but yeah. It's been so lovely chatting to you and I hope everyone gets a copy of Women's Health and you enjoy reading our interview.

What a very worthy girl, Millie McIntosh. Thank you very much. Thank you so much for coming on going for a goal. Oh, thank you so much for having me and have a lovely rest of your day. Oh, I hope you enjoyed listening to that chat with Millie as much as I enjoyed having it. Millie McIntosh, as we might have mentioned a couple of times,

is Women's Health's May Cover Star and the issue, which is brilliant, by the way, and packed with tons of tips on how to live a little more sustainably, is on stands now. Remember, if you want to comment on anything that we've raised in this episode, get in touch or the details of how are in the show notes. And if there's a celebrity that you'd love to hear interviewed on the show, we are all ears.

That's all from Going for Gold this week. We'll be back next Tuesday. Bye.