Model Danielle Lloyd on how exercise and eating well have helped her stay on track following traumatic events
LESLEY JONES
Danielle Lloyd is a true warrior, as anyone who watched her on Celebrity SAS will know. Now 40 and having come through a miscarriage and a past abusive relationship, she’s happier than ever with husband Michael O’Neill, 36, although the couple have their hands full with kids Ronnie, six, and Autumn, two, as well as Archie, 13, Harry, 12, and George, 10, whose dad is Danielle’s ex, former footballer Jamie O’Hara.
After a stressful time last October with a terrifying home invasion burglary, which the family witnessed on their phones while on a day out, Danielle is beginning a new chapter. She has dropped a stone and sees her new diet and fitness regime as an important part of staying strong for her kids…
Hi, Danielle! You’re looking amazing at the moment…
Thanks. I’ve been training really hard recently with my PT Craig at Velocity, and I’ve been on a calorie-controlled diet. I still have bacon sandwiches and eat a lot but I don’t go over the top and keep within my macros – I use the My Fitness Pal app to track them. I wanted to do it naturally because I feel like so many influencers and celebs are like, “Try this product.” And everyone’s into those “skinny pens” – I’ve seen so many people going on about them. I’m lucky, Michael and I enjoy things like salmon and rocket, so it doesn’t become a chore to eat healthily. It’s important we teach the kids – though their favourite is fillet steak. They’ve got expensive taste.
Do you feel more confident about your body image than you did in recent years?
Yeah, I feel like I definitely feel a lot more comfortable with my body now. I’ve always been quite a strong-minded person anyway, but November and December is a time you always overindulge. When you’ve got your baggy clothes on in the winter you don’t realise – even my mother-in-law looked at photos last year and said, “That’s not you.” But it’s not about how I look – I want to feel healthy for my kids. My downfall was always chocolate and wine – they went hand in hand for me.
It must have been hard to keep things normal during the stress of the burglary…
It was a really difficult time and hard for us all to function – even the kids. My youngest boy, Ronnie, was really struggling with it and was in our bed for quite a long time after that. We were watching on our phones when
