Lucy Spraggan: “I don’t recognise myself after losing three stone”
Newly single X Factor star Lucy Spraggan talks about the pain of divorce, but reveals cutting out booze and eating healthily has put her firmly in control
Since shedding 3st and transforming her physique, Lucy Spraggan admits that even she is shocked when she catches sight of her ripped reflection. The star, who rose to fame on The X Factor in 2012, says she was overweight for a lot of her childhood and adult life before deciding to overhaul her lifestyle two years ago. And now she reveals she is brimming with confidence.
Lucy, 28, tells Closer, “I looked in the mirror this morning and thought ‘What the hell?’ It’s mental watching the physical changes, especially to my stomach, which is now my favourite body part. It genuinely makes me laugh that I have a six-pack. I think, ‘Is this really me?’”
“It’s exciting to know that my body is at its prime. I’ve always been lazy and a bit fat, so to have people tell me that I look good gives me confidence,” she adds.
BINGEING LIFESTYLE
At a size 14-16 and weighing just over 12st, 5ft 1 Lucy confesses she had an unhealthy relationship with food while her attitude to fitness was “half-arsed”. She says, “My lifestyle before was incredibly unhealthy – the amount I drank, the amount I ate and the amount I celebrated. I was constantly snacking on biscuits and crisps. I struggled to find an off-switch for food and alcohol and binged on both. I’d eat out most evenings – pizza or steak and chips with dessert and two glasses of wine or two beers.”
Nevertheless, she’s now a svelte size 6-8, weighs 9st and possesses a set of envyinducing abs, thanks to cutting down on “bread and biscuits” and taking up regular exercise. Lucy’s weekly workout regime combines four long-distance runs – a total of up to 45km – and three 90-minute weight-lifting sessions in her courtyard gym at home in Cheshire.
END OF MARRIAGE
While she admits to experimenting with fad diets, these days her goal is to
“never feel hungry”, so she enjoys 1,900 calories a day on the advice of former
Navy PT instructor Mel Haslam with nutritious and satisfying food.
She says, “Mel said I needed to consume at least 1,750 calories a day and to eat 50 per cent carbs, 25 per cent protein and 25 per cent fat. Nowadays, I eat so many carbs!
“I have a bowl of Weetabix or cornflakes for breakfast, toast with Linda McCartney sausages at brunch, then for lunch I have salad with a bit of protein. Later on in the day I snack on fruit, and for dinner some rice with a salad and either meat or fish. If I’m craving a sweet treat, I like Fibre One bars, which are 90 calories and delicious,” she adds.
Not one to do things by halves, Lucy quit drinking alcohol altogether last July, motivated by the end of her marriage to wife Georgina Gordon, 31. The couple married in 2016 after two years of dating and endured multiple failed attempts at fertility treatment before revealing plans to divorce last November.
BECOMING MORE PATIENT
Lucy says, “I needed mental clarity to deal with the preparation of divorce, and fitness and feeling good has definitely helped my state of mind. I’m trying to be kind and understanding and not fly off the handle. I have a lot more patience and I’m a lot kinder.
“I didn’t know who I was before I got sober because I’ve always drunk, since I was 12. In this country, when we celebrate something we have a drink. If somebody dies, we have a drink; if someone has a baby, we have a drink. Instead of having a drink, when you’re sober, you really feel that stuff and it’s bizarre sitting there with your emotions for the first time. It’s been an absolute journey of self-discovery on an insane level.”
‘It’s been a journey
of selfdiscovery’
Lucy, who has battled depression and anxiety in the past, says she trains for her physical and mental health, rather than her aesthetic. “I definitely see my body as a reflection of my mental health. I’m more in control than I ever have been. When I’m running, it’s like meditation and it’s taught me discipline, which has spread across my diet and training schedule.”
THE NEXT STEP
And while many celebrities shy away from being open about cosmetic treatments, Lucy admits to having her teeth straightened last year, and also reveals her future plans to go under the knife to boost the 36D breasts she has lost since shaping up. She laughs, “I now have 32A boobs with the skin of D boobs!
I’m trying so hard and everything else has tightened up and looks great, except my boobs. I have absolute pancakes for tits!”