Real Health with Karl Henry

This week’s show is part of a series I like to call ‘Life Lessons’ with some of Ireland’s most respected and most famous personalities and my guest, Francis Brennan, is certainly no stranger to Irish television screens having shot to fame on the RTE series At Your Service and of course Francis Brennan’s Grand Tour.Francis is also co-owner of the Park Hotel in Kenmare and author of best-selling books on home management and travel and his latest is his Homekeeper’s Diary for 2021.Francis has an infectious, perennially good-natured outlook on life and in the midst of Covid and cancellations to his hotel (he just got €100,000 worth of cancellations before we spoke) I wanted to find out how he kept his positivity going and what the secret to his success in life is.Francis also spoke to me about the importance of faith and religion throughout his life and why you must always believe that things are going to work out in the end.“I don't know anything about drive, I just do what I do and today is the very same,” he tells me. “I don't ever think like - I'm not good at planning out, I never sit down and say 'I'll own this and I'll own that' other than I knew I wanted to be in the hotel business and everything else just falls into place.” “There's a man above of course with whom I believe in very much, the God above, and he looks after me. I mean I just land on me feet every time and I think 'oh my God, he's great' and I'm lucky to have a faith as well as everything else so I'm just one of those lucky people.” Stay healthy and safe and do keep in touch with me for daily postings on Instagram and Twitter @KarlHenryPT.Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts from.For more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to:www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-re…health-podcast/The Real Health podcast is in association with Laya Healthcare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week’s Real Health is focusing on healthy eating and healthy living with one of Ireland’s leading fitness experts, Derval O’Rourke. Derval is a three-time Irish Olympian and former World Indoor Champion and after retiring from athletics she has become a best-selling author and also developed her own digital platform on health, nutrition and self-care at Derval.ie.Empowering people to live well, in body and mind, is what she aims to do and she explains to me how she has done it for herself, why Sunday night planning is so important to her and how she has dealt with criticism along the way.“Whatever my opinion is on myself, what I'm doing, that's the number one opinion I need to tune into,” she tells me. “And sometimes my own voice in my head, like everybody, isn't as positive as it should be and I have to check myself and say 'right Derval you need to back yourself a bit here'. So, the nice stuff is lovely but also you have to care more about what you think yourself than what everybody else thinks.”Stay healthy and safe and do keep in touch with me for daily postings on Instagram and Twitter @KarlHenryPT.Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts from.For more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to:www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-re…health-podcast/The Real Health podcast is in association with Laya Healthcare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week’s Real Health guest needs no introduction to TV viewers having graced Irish and international TV for more than two decades from Ireland AM to the Big Breakfast, the Swan and Dancing with the Stars.But, as a former model and TV presenter, that brought with it its own difficulties and pressures to look ‘perfect’ on screen.Now aged 47, Amanda Byram has opened up about her darkest moments and how she turned her life around in her debut book, ‘The Switch – the secret to overcoming the pressures of perfection and finding health and happiness’ and she explained to me just how she dealt with her toughest days.Amanda talks openly and honestly about her early body image issues, the pressures she faced in her career and ultimately how she overcame it all.“I've had so many knockbacks in life as we all do,” she tells me. “And sometimes it's really difficult to go 'no, I believe I'm brilliant' because that's not the belief, it's not that I believe I'm brilliant, it's that I believe that I have the ability to hold it together long enough to do a good job because if someone believes in me enough to give me the job, ok I got to take that deep breath and really believe in myself, although sometimes it is really difficult.”Stay healthy and safe and do keep in touch with me for daily postings on Instagram and Twitter @KarlHenryPT.Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts from.For more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to:www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-re…health-podcast/The Real Health podcast is in association with Laya Healthcare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s fair to say that weight loss tips and weight loss interviews are some of the most popular episodes we have done on Real Health over the course of our three years. People are constantly struggling with their weight, lifestyle and exercise.Continuing my international masterclass series, the guest for this week’s show is Dr. Jason Fung who is a world-leading expert on intermittent fasting and low carb diet. He has also written three best-selling health books and he co-founded the Intensive Dietary Management program.I speak to Dr. Fung about the Obesity Code and he explains why the messaging around weight loss has been wrong for so many years.He also details the truth about calories in-calories out and why our body’s hormones play such a central role in people putting on weight.“Our body responds to salad completely different than it responds to cookies,” he tells me. “Insulin goes up and other hormones go down, but the hormonal response is totally different and our body listens to hormones - that is the language our body listens to. So, whether you can gain body fat or not, it depends on the hormones in your body telling us.”As always, it’s an emphasis on eating natural, real foods that will create long term, lasting impact on your health with Dr. Fung a vocal proponent of intermittent fasting which you’ll find out more about in a future interview.Stay healthy and safe and do keep in touch with me for daily postings on Instagram and Twitter @KarlHenryPT.Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts from.For more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to:www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-re…health-podcast/The Real Health podcast is in association with Laya Healthcare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Since the Covid lockdown have you been one of the many, many people who have taken up bread making and are spending more and more time in the kitchen?Healthy cooking and healthy eating are a key mantra of mine here on Real Health and for this week’s show, since you’re getting to do more home cooking, why not find out how to do some healthy cooking that doesn’t have to be time-consuming or boring?Nicola Halloran runs the hugely popular food blog, The Wonky Spatula, and has just released her first book with tips, hints and tricks on how to be healthy and happy through well-balanced, delicious food.Nicola tells me some of the most common mistakes people make in the kitchen, the importance of planning your meals in advance and why she’s a fan of the ‘no-meal-prep prep’ to make sure you’re not slaving away for too long at dinners.Plus, I find out what some of her most popular recipes are and what her favourites snacks and go-to meals are.Stay healthy and safe and keep in touch with me for daily postings on Instagram and Twitter @KarlHenryPT.Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts from.For more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to:www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-re…health-podcast/The Real Health podcast is in association with Laya Healthcare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My guest for this week’s Real Health wants to help you with what’s holding you back in life.Owen O’Kane is a psychotherapist, former NHS Clinical Lead and best-selling author who takes me through the ten tips that he says will not just make you happier, but ten times happier in yourself.From letting go of the past, having no regrets and stopping over-thinking, Owen explains that, ‘it’s about being comfortable in your own skin, being comfortable with your life. The more you can be present and in the now, the happier human being you are going to be and that’s clinically evidenced.’His book, ‘Ten Times Happier, a guide on how to let go of what’s holding you back’ is out now and you can also follow Owen on Instagram @owenokaneten.Stay healthy and safe and keep in touch with me for daily postings on Instagram and Twitter @KarlHenryPT.Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts from.For more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to:www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-re…health-podcast/The Real Health podcast is in association with Laya Healthcare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As we deal with a lot of uncertainty with regards to the future, it’s important to learn more about our minds and how to keep them fit and healthy and so for this week’s Real Health I’m focusing on the importance of mind over matter and why having the right mindset really can make all the difference in living a healthy life.Cognitive Behavioural Therapist, Niamh Connolly, of TheMindGym.ie, joins me with some invaluable insights and advice on dealing with uncertainty, developing your mind properly and CBT strategies to help you deal with life’s stresses and strains.Niamh explains how and why anxiety arises within us, how we can get stuck in bad habits trying to deal with it, how to break free of them and how it can manifest itself physically in our bodies.Niamh also discusses the placebo effect and why our mindset is more important than ever during times of stress.There’s a huge amount of really useful insights and advice from Niamh’s interview and I’m sure you’ll find it really helpful with the challenges in the weeks and months ahead.Stay healthy and safe and keep in touch with me for daily postings on Instagram and Twitter @KarlHenryPT.Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts from.For more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to:www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-re…health-podcast/The Real Health podcast is in association with Laya Healthcare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What if being lucky was a skill you could master? Can you create smart luck and even make ‘accidents’ more meaningful? Wouldn’t this be something that you’d try and develop to enrich your life?This week’s Real Health episode finds out about how you can develop this skill with Christian Busch, Director of the Global Economy programme at NYU and author of ‘The Serendipity Mindset: The Art & Science of Creating Good Luck’.Christian explains exactly what serendipity is and why some people seem to have more luck in their lives, from the personal to the professional. It is all about seeing opportunities in every situation he tells me, being open to change and welcoming the unexpected when it happens. ‘Treat the unexpected as an ally,’ he says, believing there are opportunities even during a global pandemic for us all to improve our lives.Christian also gives some advice for developing your ‘lucky’ skill-set and how you can put it into practice every day.Stay healthy and safe and keep in touch with me for daily postings on Instagram and Twitter @KarlHenryPT.Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts from.For more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to:www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-re…health-podcast/The Real Health podcast is in association with Laya Healthcare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s hard to believe, but September is only days away one of the strangest of summers is coming to an end.It’s also back to school time and it’s probably one of the most fraught and nerve-wracking returns to school that we have seen with Covid cases on the rise and no end in sight to the pandemic.So, with an increase in cases, the fall-out from Golfgate and people adhering to government measures, as well as parents’ worries about school, I wanted to address many of the concerns Real Health listeners currently have about Covid and I’ve turned to one of Ireland’s most outspoken GPs, Dr Matt O’Tuathail, to join me on this week’s show.Dr. Matt discusses what it’s been like as a GP during the pandemic, he takes me through the recently updated HSE guidelines in relation to kids and schools and explains why he says kids need to return to the classroom, and he looks ahead to the coming months and what we might expect.Stay healthy and safe and keep in touch with me for daily postings on Instagram and Twitter @KarlHenryPT.Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts from.For more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to:www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-re…health-podcast/The Real Health podcast is in association with Laya Healthcare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s been an incredibly tough couple of months and with the summer coming to an end and schools returning, people are looking to get their lives back on track – or at least trying to.On this week’s Real Health episode, with some great tips and advice, I’m joined by broadcaster and performance coach, Anna Geary.Anna talks to me about the difference between self-love and also being prepared to challenge yourself to tackle those parts of your body and personality that you want to improve; she explains the importance of the language and energy you use; and why mindset and confidence underpins everything.Anna discusses her own struggles during the lockdown, the need to prioritise and be less self-critical, and also why you need to pace yourself.“I've probably started and failed about three times during lockdown to get on a health kick,” she tells me. “It’s about taking one thing and being very realistic.”Stay healthy and safe and keep in touch with me for daily postings on Instagram and Twitter @KarlHenryPT.Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts from.For more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to:https://www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-real-health-podcast/The Real Health podcast is in association with Laya Healthcare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.