Fitness queen Davina McCall says daughter, 20, is now teaching her new health tricks

Over the years, Davina McCall has inspired millions of people – with numerous exercise DVDs and a fitness platform, Own Your Goals, to list just a few of her many. she.

She has also published bestselling healthy cookbooks, talked freely about her self-help history, and shed light on menopause with her acclaimed Channel 4 documentaries.

Judge The Masked Singer is now receiving new health lessons thanks to her eldest daughter Holly, 20, who is a nutrition student at Newcastle University.

“I get the same old information non-stop from her,” said Davina, who has two other children, Tilly, 18, and son Chester, 15.

She explains that “by osmosis” she has developed an understanding of how the food we eat affects not only our physical health but also our emotions.

“Obviously, from talking to Holly, I know ‘you are what you eat’,” she said. I used to think it was just a saying, but our gut microbiome determines a lot of how we feel and how we look.

“Gut health is really important, so I’m constantly learning about fermented foods, which I don’t really care about, so I’m trying to change my taste buds to have more bacteria.” better for my gut.”

Responsible for making 90% of our mood-stabilizing hormone serotonin, gut bacteria also boost vitamin and hormone production, improve sleep quality, support circadian rhythms, help control infections, and improve sleep quality. improve our mental health.

That’s why when good and bad gut bacteria get out of balance, we feel it physically and emotionally.

For Davina, it’s especially remarkable that when she eats sugar, bad bacteria and yeast thrive in her gut.

“I definitely know that refined sugar doesn’t agree with me at all,” says Davina. “It makes me bloated and upset. It’s almost like I have an allergy and my body is kicking me out of the sugar. It just makes me feel uncomfortable.”

She emphasizes that she has “no restrictions” on food, Davina maintains her phenomenal figure by championing simple and sensible eating methods, including enjoying a main meal at lunch, limited Processed foods and meal planning.

Happily, her bikini diet days are long gone. “Before having kids, I was on the Atkins diet, where I just had a terrible breath,” she recalls.

“I’ve lost a lot of weight – it’s amazing – but the minute I stop the diet, I start again. What’s the point?”

Even Davina’s “three or four times a week” workout is no longer the goal of achieving aesthetic rewards.

She said: “I feel a lot thinner now to be able to wear a bikini, which means she looks forward to more weeks than before with vacations to feel more mentally refreshed.

Davina, who recently stayed at TUI BLUE Grand Azur in Turkey to try the hotel’s new wellness menu, said getting rid of her “very busy mind and very busy life” loves “just be quiet” request.

That means choosing “meditative” forms of fitness like swimming, as well as trying to get away from technology. “I’ve tried a wonderful Turkish hammam, and I find it helps to purify the mind and body. I love it.”

TUI BLUE conducted research that found 54% of Britons feel worse after trying a wellness trend. Davina believes that the key to replenishing mind, body and spirit is to find an activity that provides comfort, rather than a feeling of pressure.

“We see healthcare as a punishment, but it’s not,” she said. “Health is finding your happiness. It’s not about a bunnies exercising, going for a jog every morning, or waking up at 6 a.m. and doing a HIIT class.

“It’s not even meditation. It’s just stopping for a second and shutting down from your everyday life.”

Returning home, walking with her dog Bo has been incredibly healing and has helped her deal with the pain of the recent loss of her dear father.

In March, graphic designer Andrew passed away at the age of 77, having been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016.

Davina said: “Grief is like waves in the ocean and not respecting the right moment. “When it comes, you have to let it come.

“Just going outside and enjoying the fresh air, feeling the sun on my face, leaving my phone at home and really trying to connect with my dog. It helps me.”

According to Alzheimer’s Research UK, 74% of adults want to know they have Alzheimer’s before symptoms appear, including memory loss and problems with concentration.

Long Lost Family host Davina has not ruled out having predictive genetic testing to assess the possibility that she will one day be affected.

“Obviously, that crossed my mind – that my dad has the condition, so that puts me at more risk? Until my grandmother had vascular dementia [Davina’s beloved late grandmother Pippy’s progressive vascular dementia was triggered by a stroke at the age of 93] she’s perfectly healthy, so I wanted to think that I would do the things I know to reduce my risk of getting it. “

In addition to exercising and eating healthy, Davina says taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can also help.

“New research shows that HRT done early can have a pretty profound effect on reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia, so that’s really lovely.

“It helped treat my menopausal symptoms but also helped reduce my risk of Alzheimer’s,” says Davina.

The study she referred to looked at the health records of 400,000 women and found that those who had or were using HRT were 58 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. .

The study was cited in Davina’s 2021 show Sex, Myths and the Menopause, where she talks about her experience struggling with perimenopausal symptoms.

Now “on the other side” and having “adjusted” to HRT, the former Big Brother host says that one of the greatest triumphs in the middle is finally learning to let go of worries. .

“When you’re of childbearing age, you’re like, ‘You’re looking for a partner to have children.’ It’s a biological thing. When you can’t do that anymore, everything is ready, it’s like like, ‘Do I want to be single? ‘ Do I want to work? ‘

Davina, who is dating hair stylist Michael, said: “You can do whatever you want in life and you care less about things – what people think of you, how you look It’s a good transition, a good place to be.” Douglas, who co-hosts the weekly podcast, Making The Cut.

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From the outside, Davina is positive, centered and always on the right track, but she’s been working to achieve this for nearly three decades.

Her foray into healthcare began 29 years ago at a £10 one-day self-esteem workshop.

“I went with a girlfriend and we giggled a lot along the way but we took things from that workshop that 29 years later we [still] Davina said.

“Self-esteem can come and go during the day. You might wake up in the morning and think, ‘Look at me. I look like Heidi Klum.’ Then, at lunchtime, someone looks at you across the office and you think, ‘Everybody hates me, I hate myself’ and your self-esteem drops to the floor.

“It’s very fleeting, so I’ve been trying to find tools to realize that not everyone is talking or thinking about you. Now I stay healthy to live longer. I just want to be as healthy as possible. can. can.”

Davina flew to Turkey with TUI BLUE, TUI’s luxury hotel brand, to launch its wellness menu. Find out more at tui.co.uk/findyourhappy.

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