Keep Crafting and Carry On star Kirstie Allsopp is looking better than ever after losing an impressive two stone in weight in recent years, after cutting potatoes, wine and sugar out of her diet. The TV favourite spoke to HELLO! about her new outlook on life, revealing that she decided to take control of her diet after she started gaining weight between the ages of 40 and 44. And as well-meaning fans praised her for being a role model for "curvy women" the craft-loving celebrity realised she wasn't comfortable being overweight and encouraging others to be the same.
WATCH: Kirstie Allsopp talks exclusively to HELLO! about her impressive weight loss
"Part of it was some people saying to me 'You're such an inspiration for curvy women' and me saying, 'No, that's not what I want to be.' [I decided] I shouldn't be perceived as encouraging people to be overweight, that's not right. As mothers, daughters, sisters, colleagues, we need to be setting an example and safeguarding others' health. We have a world regarded National Health System it is being crucified by obesity. As a passionate believer in our state health system we have to be responsible," she told HELLO! Online at her Handmade Fair in October 2017.
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Kirstie has a brand new crafting show on Channel 4
To start with Kirstie, 48, upped her exercise regime. "I usually get up at six and run a bit, walk a bit, round the block - fat burning exercises. I upped my exercise that didn’t make a difference," she said. She tried a few diets - cutting carbs, but again struggled, until she discovered Amelia Freer's metabolic balance. "I followed the program and the weight fell off," she revealed. "I did it all at home, within my home environment. It's all about basically cutting out potatoes, wine - I don't drink any wine - and sugar."
"I don't have sugar in my tea anymore so I don't really like tea, which means sadly now I don't really drink tea anymore which I miss, but not massively," she continued. "I will have sugar as a very rare treat but pretty much I don't eat it on a day to day basis. I eat sour dough, not that often, and not much other bread. Apart from that there's not a massive difference. I eat three meals a day. I leave a five hour gap between meals. I drink water between meals and I make sure I eat protein first, always my first mouthful, then greens."
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The middle-aged-spread that Kirstie encountered is very common. "I have always been arguably a stone or a stone and a half heavier than I would like but at the same time, there's quite a lot of people in my life who are quite neurotic about their weight so I was quite happy bobbing along. Then between the ages of 40 and 44 I put on another two stone and that was unacceptable," she said. "It happens to a lot of people."
The TV star pictured with her two sons, Oscar and Bay
Amelia helped Kirstie realised the main problem was filming her TV shows - and the unpredictability of meal times and healthy food. "Now I eat far more actual food," Kirstie explained, of her new diet. "But it's just being more food conscious. I get up and often have egg and green beans and spinach. Then a big gap before a proper lunch, with a lot of veg, that's the key. Not seeing food as something you should stay away from, but go towards food much more positively, but the food that's real fuel."
Part of the reason for her desire to lose weight was an awareness of health issues. "There's a history of breast cancer in my family and the number one risk factor is being over weight on your 50th birthday," she explained. "My 50th birthday will come." But the other driving force was the fact that she really wanted to fit back into some of her favourite clothes. "It was maddening to have things in the attic that I couldn't wear," she laughed. "The dress that I wore for my sister Sophie's wedding was sitting up in the attic, it cost me a fortune that dress! Now I can fit into it again."