Alexandria Wyckoff
Joanna Page is feeling healthier after a lifestyle change.
The actress wanted to change her diet and exercise routines at 49 after a slight health scare, prioritizing herself once again after having four children.
Getting Tested
Everything started when her children asked if Joanna and husband James Thornton were going to “die one day.” The comment prompted Page to book herself into a barrage of health tests.
She shared with Daily Mail, “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.”
She added, “I wasn’t remotely surprised. In the process of giving my kids all of me, I let healthy habits slip.”
Joanna Page has always been devoted to motherhood and children, Eva (13), Kit (11), Noah (9), and Boe (4). She’s low-maintenance most days, cutting her own hair and only wearing makeup when she’s working.
However, this mamma decided to make a change and prioritize herself for a bit.
Page’s Bad Food Habits
Page dived into her past food habits, and how she ate during the early years of raising their four children.
“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,” she said.
Joanna Page continued, “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.”
Changing Her Diet
After Joanna Page’s test results came back, thoughts of diabetes, strokes, and heart disease followed. It was time for the actress to make a lifestyle change.
She said, “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.'”
The small changes have made a big difference in Page’s diet. “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.”
Page also acknowledged how, for many years, her body was not for herself, and was influenced by outside factors like the pandemic, too.
“For 13 years, my body was for them. And I loved being mumsy. At my heaviest after the pandemic, I was cooking endless pies and potatoes every day. And, like most people at the time, I was drinking more than usual. Annoyingly, I didn’t carry the weight I gained in a Marilyn Monroe, hourglass way. I was like a little round apple, and I was aware that holding fat around my waist was a health risk,” she explained.
Adding in Fitness
Not only does Joanna Page eat better, but she’s also adding workout routines to her life.
“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.”
While she hasn’t shared the exact amount of her weight loss, Page did say, “Six months later, I’m down a couple of dress sizes but thankfully I’ve kept my curves and boobs.”
Along with cutting down her shape, Joanna Page is “rediscovering the old Jo,” and she feels “more like herself again.”