After posting a photo of the weight she had gained since having her daughter, Strictly Come Dancing star Ola Jordan knew she had to make a change to her lifestyle.
The former Strictly dancer had pilled on the pounds while she was pregnant with daughter Ella, two, and struggled to lose it after giving birth, reports the Mirror. Then lockdown hit, and Ola stayed at home with her husband James Jordan - getting into bad eating habits with wine and chocolate.
Previously, the pair were gym rats and enjoyed working out together. But due to the exhaustion that comes with having a new baby, they stopped going.
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At five feet and three inches, Ola, 40, weight 11 stone and nine pounds. This gave her a BMI of 28.8 - which is just over a point off what the NHS classes as clinically overweight, or obese.
Due to this, Ola stopped attending fancy events with her husband as nothing fit her, and preferred to lounge at home with a glass of wine. She told Hello! : "I felt disgusting if I'm honest. We went on holiday to Tenerife in the summer and I didn't want to be in photos. There are a few pictures of me and I look awful; I wore the baggiest clothes I could find. I wasn't happy. I wanted to do something about it.
"The truth was, whilst I was overjoyed to be a mum, I was very unhappy with the way I looked and whilst I was smiling on the outside, I was struggling with my size."
Ola said that the couple would often overindulge in portion sizes, with big meals at the Beefeater. On top of that, Ola found herself snacking on food she prepared for Ella.
It was an honest conversation with a doctor that finally sparked a change for Ola and her family. Ola said: "I went to see my fertility doctor earlier this year to discuss if and when I might be able to try for another baby.
"They told me my chances would be greatly increased if I was a bit healthier, I knew at that point I needed to get fit and it was a real motivator for me. It was time to make a change."
Since then, Ola has lost three stone and six pounds, and has dropped from a size 14 to a size six, with seven inches lost from her waist.
She has also completely avoided fad diets and trends, and preferred to make simple changes.
So, what were they?
Firstly, Ola began listing what she ate, comparing her diet before to the one she is on now. This helped her to track her calories and understand how much she was really eating before.
James said that at one point, he was consuming as many as 5,000 calories a day when the average man needs just 2,500.
Next, Ola said she refused to cut any type of food out. She still enjoys a few glasses of Prosecco, and won't deny herself having some of what she enjoys.
Ola explained: "To be honest with you, we eat everything. I'm not cutting any food groups out. Nowadays you get all kinds of fad diets, but I'd say I eat everything."
Thirdly, Ola also looked at the timing of her meals. Before, Ola and James would wait until Ella was in bed before sitting down to dinner at 9pm.
Now, the couple eat at 5pm to give their body time to digest the food and burn calories before bedtime. And the final change was exercise.
Instead of burning the calories at the gym for hours or on the ballroom floor, the pair followed their own 15-minute Dance Shred programme, which combines dance with walkouts, planks, burpees and ab workouts.
Completed five times a week at home, once their baby is in bed, it has made a massive difference for James and Ola. Ola added: "I would say everything fits me now in my wardrobe.
"That's amazing. We did two shows this December and I was able to fit in my dancing costumes again which felt so good. It's just nice to be back to ourselves. We are not trying to be something we are not, we just wanted to get back to our old selves."
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