Singer and television presenter Jane McDonald on finding balance in her diet
WORDS: ANNA MATHESON.
She’s dropped four dress sizes since 2016 and these days, Jane McDonald is looking as fit, healthy and glowing as ever. The star, who turned 60 in April, is also embracing her new decade too – and is determined to get the best out of life.
Former Loose Women star Jane, who first found fame on 1998 docusoap The Cruise, is now embracing her size eight figure after dropping from a size 14 and has admitted that she’s enjoying wearing dresses again. But, she insists, her diet isn’t completely restricted. Instead, everything in moderation seems to be Jane’s way of keeping an eye on her waistline. ‘Life’s too short not to have a scone or two, you’ve got to give yourself a little bit of pleasure,’ she admitted. ‘But I’m very aware of what I eat. When I’m on my travels, I have a good go at everything put in front of me, but I know when to stop and I think that’s the secret. I have everything I want, but I don’t always finish it. I also have plenty of salad.’
LOOKING YOUNGER
Still, the star has cut back on certain foods. Jane has admitted to limiting her intake of ‘white carbs’ like bread and pasta, while she’s also cut back on cakes, biscuits and convenience foods. Jane explained, ‘I used to eat so much rubbish. I didn’t realise how much rubbish I used to eat. I’ve always loved a pie and I was very carbohydrate-led as I was always hungry. I didn’t realise that if you eat the wrong things, it doesn’t feed your body so you will want more.’ She continued, ‘My schedule takes a lot of energy, but I was beginning to get quite tired and I was blaming it on age.’
Some of Jane’s diet tips were learnt during her 2016 stint on ITV show, Sugar Free Farm, with the star recently revealing that she now tends to have two meals a day rather than three to help her keep slim. She explained, ‘If I have a breakfast, I don’t have a lunch. If I have a lunch, I don’t eat breakfast.’ Starting the day right is also important to the singer, who has revealed she enjoys a green smoothie every other morning. She explained, ‘I blend up a mixture of raw greens, flax seeds, chia seeds, spinach, kale, mint and banana. It really is lovely.’
And when it comes to alcohol intake, Jane learnt a hard lesson during her Sugar Free Farm experience. She explained, ‘We had to cut out alcohol, cakes, biscuits, convenience food… everything. The hardest thing for me was missing red wine. Oh, I love my wine! But now I’ve completely cut down on it, and I only have a
