Actress Gemma Atkinson has revealed how she overhauled her body with a strict fitness and fasting plan ahead of her training for Strictly Come Dancing. The 32-year-old underwent a 12-week transformation to improve her strength and tone up for the show.
Speaking at the start of her journey, Gemma said: 'I love feeling strong and athletic, and that’s how training with weights makes me feel. My simple goal on this transformation journey is just to become the best version of myself I can be.' She admitted she was shocked to learn she weighed 73kg with 16.9 per cent body fat, her heaviest ever, compared to her usual 70kg and 15 per cent.
Working with Ultimate Performance Fitness, Gemma followed a programme of short weight training sessions and cardio. She did a 45-minute workout four days a week and an hour of cardio once a week, focusing on different body parts each session. 'It’s the kind of training where, on paper, you think “that’s not very hard. I can do that,”' she explained. 'Sometimes there might only be four or five exercises, but because of the repetition, the overload and the increase in weights, that’s what makes it difficult.'
Gemma also made tweaks to her diet but did not cut out any food group entirely, including carbs. She replaced bread with oats and sweet potato and reduced her intake of dark chocolate and nuts, which she had been snacking on multiple times a day. 'I actually ate a lot of food, but just a lot of good food. I didn’t deprive myself really,' she said. 'After about two or three weeks I stopped craving rubbish foods. One time I did have it, I felt shocking afterwards.'
