Celebrity Health – Catherine Tyldesley
Actress Catherine Tyldesley talks to YHL about staying healthy during pregnancy and keeping digestive issues at bay
Image of Catherine Tyldesley © Tom Pitfield
Actress and singer Catherine Tyldesley is a familiar face on our TV screens, having played the role of Eva Price in Coronation Street from 2011 to 2018. She also starred in the BBC1 sitcom Scarborough, the BBC drama Lilies and took part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2019. Catherine, 38, is married with one son and currently pregnant with her second child.
Q Congratulations on your pregnancy! How are you feeling?
Catherine: Thank you. We’re so excited! I’ll admit this second pregnancy has been much tougher than my first due to severe pregnancy insomnia. But I’m listening to my body as much as I can, resting when needed, but at the same time keeping as active as possible. I’m nourishing my body the best way I know how with good and pure foods from the land. I’m also still weight training, walking and swimming. It’s crucial to keep fit during pregnancy for many reasons, mentally and physically.
Q Is exercise normally an important part of your life?
Catherine: I love to exercise. I’ll admit I get quite grumpy if I’ve been inactive for a few days. I try to exercise each day even if it’s only a 30-minute walk. But generally I aim for three weight training sessions a week and then fill in the gaps with long walks and swimming.
Q What do you normally eat during a typical day?
Catherine: I tend to have a protein-based breakfast. Scrambled eggs, mushrooms and avocado on rye bread is a firm favourite, or during the winter I love a bowl of protein porridge with berries. Lunchtime tends to be either plant-based or fish; for example I love a good vegan stew or perhaps miso-baked cod with green vegetables. At dinnertime some firm favourites in our house are curries, a good chilli or roast dinners! Whatever I am eating I make sure the bulk of it is vegetables.
Q You have experienced IBS in the past. How did you overcome this?
Catherine: I’d had digestive issues for as long as I could remember. As a child I often complained of a tummy ache. As I got older and became more aware, I started to keep a food diary. I started to notice a pattern with certain foods and at times of stress. A real breakthrough moment for me was discovering that I was completely lactose intolerant. Cutting out lactose made a huge difference, then I educated myself on nutrition, learning that my body craved natural foods, thus eliminating processed foods and sugar from my diet. At one point I was on a lot of medication for my IBS. I was even admitted to hospital a couple of times and put on a morphine drip, I was in so much pain. But after making these changes and becoming more aware of my gut health, and introducing a water-based probiotic into my daily routine, I was able to stop all medication.
Q What do you do to manage the symptoms?
Catherine: I have a very simple golden rule: if it came from the Earth i.e. if it ran, swam or grew from the Earth, eat it. Anything else has been tampered with.
The more ingredients in something, often the worse it is for your body, especially when it contains ingredients you can’t pronounce/additives. I now stick to a balanced and varied diet eating predominantly plant-based and organic whenever possible. We also grow some of our own vegetables. That way we know exactly where they came from and have the enjoyment of eating our own produce. It tastes 100 times better than what you buy in the supermarket and you save a lot of pennies!
Q Do you have any healthy living tips that you would like to share with us?
Catherine: Yes, here are some of my tips:
- Keep hydrated. This means drinking plenty of water but also being mindful of one’s electrolyte levels.
- Eat from the land.
- Aim for eight hours of sleep a night. It is crucial as sleep is when we heal, grow and repair.
- Take care of your gut health. It’s the best kind of ‘self care’.
- You only get one body. Don’t mess it up! You wouldn’t put petrol in a diesel car, would you?
Catherine is an advocate for unique, water-based food supplement, Symprove, which is based on an extract of germinated barley together with four carefully selected strains of live and active bacteria. To kickstart your Symprove journey, order a 12-week (£149.99) or four-week (£79) course online via Symprove.com.
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