Celebrity Health - Lisa Snowdon
Lisa Snowdon chats to us about how she maintains a healthy diet, what she does to relax and how she’s getting on with giving up dairy
Image of Lisa Snowdon courtesy of Theo Cohen
As a model, TV presenter and radio show host, Lisa Snowdon has been a familiar face on our screens for many years. She has fronted Britain’s Next Top Model, been a panellist on Loose Women and co-hosted Through the Keyhole and Weekend Kitchen with Waitrose. From 2008 to 2015 Lisa, 45, co-presented the Capital Breakfast radio show and recently appeared as a contestant on I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. Here, Lisa talks to us about her latest project – a challenge to go dairy-free for 21 days.
I really love my food and I’ve always been interested in the nutritional side of it. I follow a healthy food regime and thankfully I’ve always had a very healthy attitude and relationship to food. I think it’s important to know what you’re eating and what you’re putting in your body.
Compared to when I was growing up, I think people are a lot more educated about food now and its health benefits. I think if you start taking care of yourself and you eat something that doesn’t agree with you then your body will tell you straight away and you’ll get symptoms like bloating, feeling uncomfortable or skin breakouts. I think that’s when it’s good to be a bit more mindful about what you’re eating.
I love going out to dinner but nothing beats home cooked food where you know exactly what’s gone into the meal. I really enjoy cooking for myself and my fiancé George. He’s really good in the kitchen too. I also love food shopping. Buying food online is ok for bulk buying but I love choosing my own fruit and vegetables.
At the moment I’m doing a challenge with the dairy-free brand Dream, whereby I’m cutting out dairy for 21 days. I’m on my fifth day so far and it’s going really well. I feel so much better. My stomach feels flatter and less bloated and I have loads more energy. I think eating dairy was irritating my stomach. I just feel as though everything is working much better now.
There are certain days where I’ve wondered what I’m going to cook but I’ve had some great advice from Rhiannon Lambert who’s an amazing nutritionist. She has come up with some really good dairy-free recipes that I’ve been trying out. It’s good to get some inspiration from someone who really knows their stuff.
I can’t imagine at this stage that I’ll want to change back to having dairy in my diet again. I know that a lot of people will worry about where you get your calcium from but you can get it from other dietary sources, like certain vegetables. Also, a lot of the dairy-free Dream products have added calcium as well as vitamins and iron.
I would say that my diet is generally very healthy. I make sure that I eat a lot of protein as it helps to fill you up and keep you going. I eat a lot of eggs and fish. I love scrambled eggs, frittatas with roasted vegetables and I also like salmon as it’s a good source of omega-3 fatty acids. I’ll have that with some broccoli and sweet potatoes. I eat a lot of plant-based foods.
I like to start the day with porridge and either rice or coconut milk, or I might have a banana chia pudding. They are so easy to make as you prepare them the night before and then they’re ready to go in the morning. For lunch I might have a tuna salad. A great healthy snack that I like is crunchy kale as it’s a good healthy alternative to crisps. You just put some oil and seasoning on the kale and you bake it in the oven. It’s crispy and delicious! I also like to snack on a handful of raw almonds and goji berries.
I take a multivitamin twice a day, in the morning and at night. Sometimes I take magnesium to help me get to sleep if I’m feeling like I can’t switch off or if I’ve been exercising a lot. It slows me down and makes me sleepy. It’s also really good for rejuvenating the muscles while you are asleep.
I try to do a lot of exercise and I really love doing Pilates on a reformer. I go to a regular class about three times a week and the teachers are great. The reformer looks a bit like a torture device as it’s got all these springs and ropes, but it’s basically a board that you lie on and perform different exercises on. It’s a dynamic form of Pilates which you do to music so you get on a bit of a sweat! It really strengthens and lengthens all the muscles but you don’t end up looking bulky.
When it comes to relaxing and winding down, I enjoy spending time in the garden. George, my fiancé, is an amazing gardener so I’m learning lots from him. We’re growing blueberries so I’ll often be out there pruning and picking blueberries. I just enjoy being outside. I also like spending time with my family and seeing my nieces and nephews who are brilliant. They’re all five and under. I also find driving to be really relaxing and I like watching movies, reading books and cooking. Just easy, breezy stuff that’s quite low key.
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