Have 'a load of sex' and eat more veggies - Joanna Page shares her wellbeing advice before turning 50
From having more sex to eating more vegetables, the actress and presenter tells us what she's been doing to improve her health
Actress Joanna Page has four children and a busy television career. She isn't the only star to admit that wellbeing habits, like proper sleep, diet, and exercise, have fallen by the wayside in recent years.
The 49-year-old, who presents Shift The Thift, told woman&home she wasn’t looking after herself as well as she should be, but was stretched so thin that she didn’t have time to change that. “As women, I don't think we really think about ourselves. We're trying to keep the house going, work at the same time, and look after the kids. The most we basically do is go and have a smear every three years. I think basically that is it,” she says.
"I'm very much comfortable with the way that I look. I've never thought, 'oh God, I want to lose weight, or I want to be skinny'. I love the way I look, I'm really happy. I love my body, it's done me so well, I've grown and delivered 4 children, I’ve breastfed all of them," she says.
Two of the main things she has been doing are drinking lots of water and getting better sleep. “I don't always abide by these, but I have now been trying religiously to get into bed by 9 pm and have a really good bit of sleep,” she says.
Joanna Page's wellbeing habits
1. Find moderation
Joanna says she found she struggled to enjoy food after cooking for her children. “I was basically surviving on chocolate, crisps, cake, alcohol, fizzy drinks and loads and loads of bread. Now there's nothing wrong with any of those, but in moderation,” she explains.
“You can't wake up and skip breakfast to get the kids ready for school, then come home and have a Mars bar, a can of Coke and a packet of crisps. Then have a whole massive big fry up, and then for tea a massive big spaghetti bolognese, a couple of glasses of wine and some more chocolate. And do that every single day.”
Now, she says she has three healthy meals and three healthy snacks a day. “Sometimes I'll wake up, and I'll have a full proper fry-up, and I'll really enjoy it. Other days I'll have All Bran and a bit of Greek yoghurt and fruit,” she says. "I've actually ended up eating more because I'm eating three meals and three snacks, but it’s different food."
She swapped crisps for an apple and eats salmon for lunch, chicken and broccoli, and smaller pasta portions for dinner.
2. Eat more fruit and vegetables
Along with more consistent meals and more high-protein foods, Joanna says she's eating more fruit and vegetables. It might sound simple, but she has "more energy" than before.
"I can run up and down the stairs better without being out of breath, I've got more energy to roll around on the floor with the kids and not feel like I'm gonna have a heart attack, and I just do generally feel fitter and healthier," she says.
3. Have a full-body MOT
After realising that she wasn't looking after herself, Joanna decided to have "a full-body MOT". "I thought, 'you've got to lose weight, you've got to start thinking about yourself and getting fitter'," she tells us.
"I was finding it difficult to sit down and enjoy food after I've been making stuff for the kids, and so I'd always end up grabbing something else - a bag of crisps or some chocolate. Life is so manic and hectic."
But as well as changing her sleep and eating routines, she's started making time for the important appointments as well - beyond the smear tests.
‘I was bitten on the finger by a goat the other day, and my finger went numb, and my dad was saying 'when did you have a tetanus, you need to go to the doctor,' and I said, 'I haven't got time. If I end up getting a frozen finger from a goat, I'm just gonna have to live with it cos I don't have time to deal with stuff'."
4. Find something just for yourself
It's so easy to get caught up in what your family is doing that you forget about yourself. That's why it's so important to carve out time for yourself, "even if it's an hour where you're not doing anything for anybody else", says Joanna.
"There's nothing I like better than getting into a good book and I've neglected doing that because I fall into the trap of scrolling all the time on Instagram. But I've started now getting back to reading, and I would say just getting off your phone [makes a difference]."
5. Have more sex
It's not all about cutting back. "I have now been trying religiously to get into bed by 9 pm and have a really good bit of sleep, but I would say definitely have sex," she says.
"I've got 4 kids, I should be having more sex in my life, but I'm too knackered! But I would definitely say you should have a load of sex because the older you get, if you're tense and whatever, half the time it's because you just need to go out, get pissed, have a dance, and have a really good shag. That really makes you glow."
Watch Shift The Thrift on BBC iPlayer now.
