Girls Aloud's diet secrets
Nadine, Cheryl, Kimberley, Sarah and Nicola reveal all
Friday, 22 September 2006
After pigging out on junk food, Girls Aloud wanted to lose weight and shed 36lb between them. This is how they got back their fantastic toned figures.
CHERYL COLE – lost 14lb
'I was 9st when I joined the band – I'm 8st now'
Cheryl Cole, 23, puts her new slender figure down to two things. 'My boobs are thanks to the Pill and my thighs are just fat,' she laughs modestly. But she reveals that her sexy slimline silhouette is really thanks to a punishing fitness regime.
'We'd all indulged a bit too much. I felt my love handles creeping back and my weight shot up, so I decided things had to change.
'As a group we hired a personal trainer and went for it. I just wanted to be toned. So I'd go on the treadmill for 30 minutes and then do an hour of resistance work with weights.
'I still have a lot of work to do on my legs. I hate them. I used to be a ballerina, so my legs were pure muscle. But now it's all fat – they look awful. I rarely ever wear a skirt now.'
Cheryl's new regime also involves a change in her diet. 'If I start the day eating protein, I'll try not to eat carbohydrates,' she says. 'But I still believe you should pig out once a week. I usually do it on a Sunday because that's also my hangover day. I've managed to be good. I was 9st when I joined and I'm 8st now.'
SARAH HARDING – lost 7lb
'I wasn't fat, but I've toned my wobbly bits'
Fitness fanatic Sarah Harding, 24, has a figure most girls would die for, but even she has her pet hates: her hips. 'I've always had a pretty flat stomach, but like most women it's my legs, thighs and bum which are a bit wobbly,' she says.
Sarah says it was the girl's own decision to get fit that led them to shape up. 'When we were recording in Kent, we'd get up early and go for runs in the gorgeous countryside with our personal trainer. It killed us at first. But we weren't forced to do it.'
Sarah works hard to maintain her figure. Her gruelling routine includes running 3km, 10 minutes of rowing, leg weights and 100 stomach crunches. 'That's my morning routine with a bowl of Special K, if I haven't got to be up at the crack of dawn,' she laughs.
She's fairly happy with her curvy size 10 figure and doesn't plan to lose any more weight. 'I feel so much healthier. I've lost 7lb so I'm just over 8st now. I knew I was never fat, but I just wanted to tone the wobbly bits.'
Sarah steers clear of fad diets, but she does watch her carbohydrate intake. 'I love bread and pasta, but I feel bloated whenever I eat too many carbs. I do have a weakness for Jaffa Cakes, though – I can easily polish off a whole packet for breakfast,' she says. 'I'm no angel. I still love takeaways and have the odd binge. I'm only human.'
Even now, Sarah still enjoys a fried breakfast when she's famished. She's also partial to the odd glass of wine and greasy kebab. 'I don't think it's right to deprive yourself. I go to the gym as often as I can, so I'm certainly allowed the odd treat now and again.'
NICOLA ROBERTS – toned up
'I do 500 sit-ups a day to keep my flat tum'
She's been labelled 'stroppy' and 'moody', but behind her feisty exterior Nicola Roberts has been battling an undiagnosed health problem.
Nicola, 21, reveals how it affected her mood and caused her to gorge on fast food – and why she finally decided to seek help when she almost collapsed before a gig.
'I broke down in tears before one of our shows because I felt so weak. I was close to fainting, but I had no idea what was wrong with me. I just couldn't stop eating and I was always hungry,' she says.
Being constantly on the road with Girls Aloud meant Nicola always opted for the easy option – junk food. 'It's hard to eat properly so I'd have McDonald's for breakfast, lunch and dinner while the rest of the girls were eating salads.'
The former redhead was diagnosed with having the iron deficiency anaemia. 'Now I take iron tablets twice a day and I've got a lot more energy.'
Nicola's joined a gym in a bid to lead a healthier lifestyle. 'When we went into the studio all we'd do was sit there from 11am to 9pm and stuff our faces with fried breakfasts and chips.'
She now works out regularly and has become hooked on stomach crunches – she does 500 a day to maintain her ultra-flat abs. 'It sounds crazy, but it's not that bad – especially if you do it in sets of 20s.'
And she tries to eat a more balanced diet. 'I'm a big fan of chips and gravy, but I've cut down on junk food. I'm lucky to have a fast metabolism, so I just don't put on weight easily.'
At 5ft 5in, Nicola weighs in at 8st 5lb, but says she wouldn't mind putting more weight on. 'My weight fluctuates all the time and I actually feel better when I'm about 9st. I joined the band when I was 16, so I was really scrawny. Now I've grown into my body and filled out and it feels much better.'
KIMBERLEY WALSH – lost 8lb
'Of all of us I have to try the hardest to keep the weight off'
After losing weight on Kelloggs' 'cereal diet' and Atkins, Kimberley Walsh has decided the best way to truly shed the pounds is to eat healthily 90 per cent of the time and join a gym.
'It's not what people want to hear but it's the only way that works,' she sighs. 'The other 10 per cent you can have a treat – Häagen-Dazs' Pralines & Cream is the best flavour in the world,' she suggests with a grin.
'I tried the Atkins diet religiously for three weeks. I lost 8lb, but as soon as I got fed up with it the weight came back on. So I tried the cereal diet, which is two bowls of cereal a day and then one proper meal in the evening. It worked, but the same thing happened.'
Now I just go for the healthiest option on the menu. It's boring, but age isn't on my side anymore,' says the 24-year-old singer. 'I'd like to go back down to 8st 5lb, but I'm just under 9st now.
'Out of all of us, I have to try the hardest to keep the weight off. I think I'm quite normal – not thin, not fat – and my stomach's OK because I used to dance loads. But it's mostly my bum that annoys me. Fortunately people like J-Lo and Beyoncé are flying the flag for people with big bums, so it puts me more at ease with it.'
For now, 5ft 5in Kimberley says one of her biggest problems is flatmate Nadine.
'She's the worst person to live with because she'd buy the unhealthiest foods – sticky toffee puddings and crisps. It was torture for me. Now we have rocket salad and balsamic vinegar. But we always keep a couple of bottles of champagne in the fridge just in case anyone pops round!'
NADINE COYLE – lost 7lb
'My first work out was a disaster. I'd never been to a gym before'
Nadine Coyle thought her slim frame was with her for life – until her clothes didn't fit her any more. 'I thought I was invincible. I thought I had hollow legs,' grins Nadine, whose legs were voted the sexiest in Ireland in 2003.
'Then suddenly my jeans didn't even need a belt. I didn't think I was fat, but I knew I wasn't toned. 'The extra weight all went to my boobs. They went from a C-cup to a D-cup and I hated it. Then my love handles started to appear. My heaviest was 8st 3lb. It's embarrassing because I'm 5ft 5in and I don't think it's that bad. But I wasn't toned.
In January Nadine, 21, decided to join a gym. I'd never been to one before and I wanted to see what it was like to break out in a sweat. Just for once I'd like to get through a fitness video from beginning to end, rather than pass out halfway through.
'My first workout was a disaster. Our trainer Nigel couldn't believe how unfit I was. He took my pulse on the running machine and it was going so fast for such little work, it was a disgrace. After that I went twice a week. As a group we'd all go swimming and do cross-country walks together. Then the next day we'd be sitting in the studio moaning about how sore we all felt.
'The weight dropped off my chest, but what helped me more than anything was eating less crap. Because of all the touring we do, our diets were all over the place. We all love junk food and we were all happy eating that rubbish.
'I'd go for a takeaway egg muffin breakfast, lunch would be more fast food and then all day we'd be snacking on croissants and sweets. When I got home I'd have another takeaway.
'Now I try to just have three meals a day. For breakfast I think you can have whatever you want – I don't think you should stick to rabbit food all day, plus you've got all day to burn it off. But now we have salads for lunch and dinner is grilled chicken.
'Now I'm not even 8st – I weigh 7st 10lb. But I still want to look like a girl and keep my curves.
And it seems highly likely that Nadine will. Her favourite dish is mashed potatoes and chips – together. 'Is that bad?' she asks. 'Its been a big enough shock for me finding out that people don't eat chips every day!'
Jay Bowers and Selina Julien
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