Former chef Richard Kerrigan’s top tips for healthy living

His career began at Buckingham Palace, but now chef and butler Richard Kerrigan is on a different mission to help Australians.

The beaches of Australia aren’t where you’d imagine a British former chef and butler would be working as a personal trainer and nutrition coach, but then again, Richard Kerrigan’s journey to health and fitness has been anything but predictable.

Having left school at 16 to train as a chef and butler, Kerrigan was lucky enough to find himself at an institute where students gained experience at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, waiting on tables and serving for major events. For Kerrigan, this included the state visits from then US President George Bush and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and Prince Charles and Camilla’s wedding in 2005.

“It was a very surreal time at the start and then, weirdly, got very normal,” Kerrigan says of the palace. “It all looks like a dream outside and then behind the scenes it’s just people going everywhere.”

Richard Kerrigan. Picture: AAP/Joel Carrett

From there, he moved throughout Europe, doing stints at the British Embassy in Paris and working as a private chef. “Having Buckingham Palace on your CV opens up a lot of doors,” he laughs.

It was while working as a full-time chef in Bath, though, that Kerrigan saw the unsustainability of life in a kitchen and, at just 20, began to feel the effects of burnout.

“The hours were so long,” he says. “You’d start at maybe six in the morning and finish at 11 o’clock at night, and do that for 10 days straight before having a day off – it was just absolutely brutal.”

Not wanting to leave cooking behind completely, Kerrigan began looking for a way to do what he loved while finding a better balance, which led him to gaining qualifications as a personal trainer and nutrition coach.

From there, he says, “I knew how to train people, I knew how to cook for people, and I knew what food would help people get results.”

As a student, Richard worked major events at Buckingham Palace for the Queen. Picture: Eddie Mulholland / AFP

This three-pronged attack is something the now 33-year-old, who has called Sydney home for a decade, has brought to his cookbook, Crush Calories in 20 Minutes, which brims with quick and easy recipes that taste delicious and pack a nutritional punch.

“Some people look at food just as performance,” Kerrigan says. “They don’t care what it looks like or what it tastes like, so long as it’s doing the right things and they’re getting results. But 99 per cent of us aren’t like that. We want to eat something that looks and tastes good.”

The other major trap for people wanting to live a healthier life, he says, is the lure of the “quick fix”.

“The way I think about training and food is that it’s about doing the basics over, and over, and over again, every single day,” Kerrigan says. “Eat well, maintain your calories for your body type, and focus on exercise that you like. That message might not be ‘sexy’, but it gets results and it works.

“Health is about consistency, and not being too hard on yourself.”

Richard Kerrigan’s cookbook, Crush Calories in 20 Minutes, is available now. Picture: AAP/Joel Carrett

RICHARD’S TOP TIPS FOR HEALTHY LIVING

•Maintain calories for your body type: Everyone’s caloric needs are different. Base your food intake around what’s healthy for your height, weight and exercise level.

•Find an exercise you enjoy:
Do a little of something you like often. This will lead to long-term gains and help you avoid short-term burnout.

•Create a goal: Be it boot camp, a marathon, or swimming 500m, having a goal that allows you to learn something new will help maintain momentum. Writing down goals and sharing them with others is another great tool for accountability.

•Follow influencers based on qualifications, not follower count: There are many people out there giving unsound advice that’s just packaged well

•Consistency is key: Making small changes but adopting them regularly is the secret.

Crush Calories in 20 Minutes is available now