TV FAVOURITE ON How to get a body just like Davina’s
SHE has the sort of ripped abs you would expect to find on a professional athlete, and has sold more than 1.4million fitness DVDs.
But suggest to Davina McCall that she must surely work out every moment of the day to look so fit, and she looks like she has just choked on an apple.
“It’s so funny people think that,” she says. “Who has time to, unless it’s your career? I have three kids – and a day job.”
Instead, exercise is something Davina, 51, fits around her fast-paced life as a TV presenter, fronting ITV’s ever-popular Long Lost Family and Channel 4 game show The £100K Drop .
Mornings are her holy grail for a cardio blast – her self- confessed addiction, and a far healthier one than the wellpublicised booze and drink addiction she overcame in her younger years.
She rises at 6.30am most days and does the school run for children Holly, 17, Tilly, 15, and 12-year-old son Chester.
She then meets friends for a 20-minute, fast-paced 5km run.
If she needs to film early, she wakes at 6am to squeeze in 20 minutes then.
On other occasions, she admits, she will work out to one of her own DVDs. “I just work out to myself, which is really, really embarrassing,” she says.
During the school term she manages three to four exercise sessions a week.
But she also knows how it feels to be worlds away from loving your body.
After having her first daughter, Holly, she recalls: “I didn’t think I’d ever be able to walk stairs again. I was just so low on energy and so unfit.”
And being a mum did nothing for her figure. Davina says: “I was eating six meals a day with the kids. I’d eat my breakfast and their breakfast. My lunch and their lunch. I took to spraying their leftovers with washing-up liquid.
“Then I thought, ‘ What the hell am I doing? I gave up drink and drugs, now this?’
“But it’s OK. At times you just do what you can and be kind to yourself.”
When it comes to diet, Davina has also cornered the market in sugar- free cookbooks.
It is a mantra she lives by, while not denying herself something she really wants.
But a binge on mince pies and cream over
Christmas was “very much the exception”.
Breakfast is usually
Warburtons crum- pets. She loves them so much she even carries some in her handbag. Lunch is often a salad, and for dinner something slightly more hearty with her kids, such as chicken, rice and chorizo.
While she believes in “eat everything, in moderation”, she rarely has puddings.
“Why do kids need to be served sugar after a meal?” she says. “If we do something, I’ll use maple syrup or honey so at least it’s natural.” Hoping this year to become a personal trainer, Davina says the energy and well-being she gets from exercise has helped her through some hard times.
Her message is simple: “Whatever your situation, give it a go.” You can start with our taster here of her latest DVD – Power Box & Tone.
Designed with personal trainer
Sarah Gor man, it combines cardio, boxing and pilates – packed into 10-minute sessions to easily squeeze into a busy day.
emma.pryer@ sundaymirror.co.uk
Who has time to exercise all day, unless it’s your career? I have three kids… and a job
DAVINA McCALL ON STAYING TRIM USING BRIEF WORKOUTS