Actress and radio presenter Gemma Atkinson isn’t interested in unrealistic resolutions this year. Atkinson, 39, shared a video of herself working out with a kettlebell, wearing purple leggings and a baggy t-shirt. “It’s been a long time since I’ve bought into the whole ‘new year new you’ stuff. Today was treated like any other day for me. Building a lifestyle with habits of moving regularly, eating nutritious meals as well as still enjoying nights out and the occasional blow out is how I prefer to be all year round. It keeps me sane, keeps me healthy and most importantly, keeps me away from ever feeling disappointed in myself for not sticking to something that I put on myself,” she captioned the post. Here’s how Atkinson eats and works out to live her best life.
Atkinson’s workouts are based around weight and resistance training. “I get up at 4.30am to present Manchester’s Key 103 Breakfast Show,” she tells Women’s Health. “I swear by getting six hours’ sleep, drinking three liters of water a day and being active. My motto is ‘energy creates energy’. My 12-week transformation—and current training—does involve a lot of heavy weight training. I’ve always gone to the gym – but this taught me to focus on the quality of my workouts, not the quantity.”
Atkinson’s typical diet is as follows:
5am: Poached eggs on rye
9am:Oats with protein powder and almond milk
12.30pm:Sweet potato jacket, hummus, salad and salmon
3.30pm:Dark chocolate and fresh strawberries
7pm:Chicken stir-fry with vegetables
“I haven’t eaten red meat in five years, and I limit my dairy intake,” she tells Women’s Health. “I love animals and there’s cruelty in how these foods are produced. I’m working towards becoming pescetarian, then vegetarian… I cook from scratch as much as I can. It gives me more control over what I eat, tastes better and is free from nasties. It works out cheaper, too.”
Atkinson works out with a personal trainer. “I train in UP [Ultimate Performance] four times a week for around 45 minutes to an hour. It’s no more than an hour for my weight training sessions,” she says on the UP blog. “I have two cardio sessions a week which can be anything from a long dog walk, to 45 minutes on the bike or cross-trainer, and I have one day where I do absolutely nothing, and I have a rest and recovery day. I think a lot of people assume you have to train for hours and hours, but our sessions are around 45 minutes.”
Atkinson’s workouts are designed to challenge her at every level. “The idea with Gemma’s training, because she already does a lot of training and has done a lot in the past, was just to refine it and ensure it was quality over quantity,” says her trainer Mark. “So when Gemma comes into the gym, we repeat a lot of the same exercises – split squats, deadlifts and a lot of big movements. Then what we do each week is ensure that Gemma is actually progressing; the weights are going up or we’re doing extra reps each time or an extra set. This is so that every week there’s some measurable progress. That way we can guarantee that over 12 weeks we’ve improved her performance.”
Atkinson’s approach to fitness and health is to live a balanced lifestyle and not obsess about outward appearance. “I try to ignore what people say about my shape,” she tells Women’s Health. “We’re all in the gym to try to better ourselves. We may be at different starting points but the goal is the same. There should be more respect. I used to live off fast food, but had awful headaches and constant break-outs. It’s important to care for yourself from the inside out. Expensive creams won’t help if you’re dehydrated and not eating right. The weekend is my time to rest. I don’t train – I’ll go for long dog walks instead. If I fancy it, I’ll have pizza, pasta or a glass of wine. I aim for 80% what my body needs, and 20% what it wants.”