Danielle: “I love my wobbly post-baby body”
Danielle Lloyd opens up to Closer about life as a mum of four and showing off her curves
She’s had a roller-coaster S relationship with her body over the years. Then Danielle Lloyd became an advocate for healthy living and being confident in your own skin after posting a tummy-bearing picture of herself on Instagram, only one week after giving birth to her fourth son, Ronnie, in September. The post was captioned, “I’ve had four children and I’d never dream of sneering at another mum’s body. Let’s all start focusing on what’s REALLY important, looking after our kids – and focusing on our families rather than our bodies.”
Despite Danielle, 33, admitting that she’s extremely lucky to have lost her baby weight relatively quickly, the former glamour model says it’s been a long journey to finally start embracing her body. “I’m so happy right now, and I don’t care if I’m not in perfect shape,” she says. “I’ve got wobbly bits and a little bump on my tummy, but it doesn’t bother me. I’ve spent years crying over my figure, especially after I had my other children. I felt so big and uncomfortable. But I’ve finally learned to love myself, and that’s taken me a really long time.”
The star lives with her fiancé Michael O’neill, and her sons Archie, seven, Harry, six, and George, three, from her previous marriage to footballer Jamie O’hara. In September, Jamie Tweeted Danielle claiming that he hadn’t seen his kids in a month, and last week he posted a picture on Snapchat of the few belongings he’d had returned from their marital home, insinuating she had kept £200k worth of furniture and countless personal belongings.
MENTAL BENEFITS
However size 10 Danielle says she does not want to talk about Jamie, and wants to focus on her new life. She kick-started her twiceweekly workouts just six weeks after giving birth to Ronnie, but insists they’re more for the mental benefits than the physical ones.
“I don’t exercise for my body, although I do want to tone up my stomach and the top of my legs,” she tells us. “Those two hours each week are just for me, where I can get out of the house and focus on myself. Things are hectic at home and I absolutely love it, but it’s the one place I can channel my energy into something else.
“I hadn’t been to the gym for about a year, as I’d stopped going before I conceived, so it was really tough. I’m so unfit and get tired running up the stairs, but I love weight training and strength exercises like squats and press-ups.”
Working out is now more important than ever to Danielle. She’s spoken candidly in the past about her struggle with postnatal depression after her previous pregnancies, and she was “terrified” that it would return. Danielle says, “I’ve been lucky this time around. I get such a huge boost of endorphins after exercising, and that’s made a huge difference.”
EMPOWER MUMS
Danielle says she posted her skimpy postnatal picture so soon after Ronnie’s birth because she’d had no time to diet or go to the gym, and wanted to show that post-baby bodies come in all shapes and sizes, as well as encourage women to support each other.
She says, “You see so much scrutiny over our bodies – people criticised Cheryl when she was back looking like her old self four months after she gave birth to her son, Bear, but that’s just the reality for some people. This is what I look like with a two month old – I know I’m one of the lucky ones in that respect. It shouldn’t be anything to be ashamed of, whether you’re fat or thin.
“When I was breastfeeding, my body shrank straight away, and I lost a lot of weight. I’ve stopped now, so I’m putting it back on,
‘I spent years crying over my figure’
but I’m not bothered as long as I feel good.” Danielle admits that she was at her heaviest when she conceived, weighing 11st, and put on a stone during pregnancy. She’s now 10st 5lbs, and also attributes her weight-loss to not drinking alcohol and healthy eating throughout her pregnancy. The reality star sticks to porridge with berries in the morning, then chicken or fish with vegetables and rice for lunch and dinner. Danielle says, “I look after myself, and I try to eat with the kids in the morning, then Michael and I will have dinner together in the evening. He makes me feel amazing every day, telling me I’m perfect in his eyes whatever I look like. That’s more important than anything.”