Joanna Page’s dramatic ‘mindset’ shift at 49 that helped her drop two dress sizes

Joanna Page is feeling better than ever. The Gavin and Stacey star has charted her journey to getting fit and healthy at 49 in a new piece for the Daily Mail, revealing that she decided to change her attitude towards her diet after experiencing a health scare.

 “Last year, when I turned 48, I realised you can’t control most things in life, but you can at least check what’s going on with your own body. So I had a run of NHS health checks – a mammogram, smear test, bowel cancer screening and blood tests – and the BMI test confirmed that I was overweight,” Joanna penned. “I wasn’t remotely surprised. In the process of giving my kids all of me, I let healthy habits slip.”

Joanna’s former diet

The star, who shares four children with her husband James Thornton, went on to detail what she had chosen to eat during the early years of raising Eva (born 2013), Kit (born 2015), Noah (born 2016), and Boe (born December 2021).

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“After tucking them into bed, I’d dive into cheese on toast, crisps or chocolate and a late-night coffee. That wouldn’t have been so bad, I guess, but I hardly ever included fruit or veg in my daily diet,” the actress said.

“I never touched breakfast, so when hunger struck at 11 am, I’d scoff 11 custard creams. I also wasn’t doing much exercise at all.”

Joanna switches up her approach

After Joanna’s test results came back, she started worrying about diabetes, strokes and heart disease. With this in mind, the Love Actually star decided to make some lifestyle changes.

“Rather than suddenly cutting food out and feeling miserable, I got into a mindset of adding the good stuff in. Instead of thinking: ‘No more biscuits,’ I thought, ‘Today I’m adding in water or three apples’,” she explained.

© Dave Benett

“Now I eat three proper meals a day, including a three-egg omelette with ham and cheese in the morning, and I consume less sugar because I’m not snacking between meals. I still have chocolate and crisps, but they’re no longer my main food source.”

Incorporating fitness into her lifestyle

Exercise also now has a firm place in her weekly routine. “Now I also do the odd weights workout at home, plus lovely daily walks with our spaniels Bess and Lola and the occasional swim in my local lido.

“Six months later, I’m down a couple of dress sizes but thankfully I’ve kept my curves and boobs.”