Amanda Holden in Bathing Suit Enjoys "Sunset"
Amanda Holden, the Britain's Got Talent and Heart Breakfast radio presenter, is used to having the spotlight shine on her. Sometimes, the 51-year-old lets the sun shine on her, too. "#sunset," she captioned a photo this weekend of her soaking up rays in a swimsuit. (A perfect soundtrack accompaniment may be her latest album, Songs From My Heart, which features songs like "I Dreamed a Dream."). How does she stay so fit? Read on to see 5 ways Amanda Holden stays in shape and the photos that prove they work—and to get beach-ready yourself, don't miss these essential 30 Best-Ever Celebrity Bathing Suit Photos!
She Exercises Outdoors
"As a family, we've not let this lockdown stop us from exercising, it's actually become an essential hour of our daily lives. Whether it's a home workout, a bike ride, a run or even a walk around the park – working up a sweat is good for your mind, body and soul! #Wecandoit." she has said. When you lift a bag of groceries, go for a bike ride, or a brisk walk, your muscles quickly burn up energy that they've got stored (in the form of glycogen). After you're done lifting, biking, or fleeing, your fat-storage hormones are subdued because your body wants to use any incoming calories to restore the depleted glycogen in your muscle that you burned up during exercise. So building muscle, and working that muscle, robs visceral fat of the ability to grow larger.
She Take Her Workouts Seriously
Holden is serious about burning fat by building muscle. One of the best ways to protect yourself against visceral fat is to strengthen and protect your muscles. Muscle burns energy on a regular basis, so it steals energy away from fat cells—specifically visceral fat cells—in order to sustain itself. Unlike, say, a sprint through the airport, which requires an instant burst of energy, muscle draws down on your fat banks slowly, like a hidden service fee, constantly tapping your visceral fat stores and keeping them in check. In fact, pound for pound, muscle burns about three times as many
This is Her Go-To Lunch
"Lunch, if it happens, is a bowl of soup or sushi," Holden has said. Sushi (with brown rice) and sashimi are a great chose for a mid-day meal. Salmon, for example, is full of omega-3 fatty acids, which help to reduce inflammation, and low in gluten (the protein found in wheat). Recent studies have found that gluten can negatively impact gut bacteria, even in people who are not gluten sensitive.
She Eats in Moderation
"You have to enjoy life," she told the Daily Mail. "I had a friend once who didn't make it to her 50s and her biggest regret was that she spent her life on a diet. I think a little bit of everything is fine….Life's too short to do fat-free, sugar-free, alcohol-free. I don't believe in half-fat anything, I have full-fat yoghurt, butter and cheese. And I splurge on the weekends." That said, she does make sure to have a level-headed breakfast: sugar-free Alpen.
She Does Yoga
Besides it's physical benefits, "Yoga improves symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder, a condition with chronic nervousness and worry, suggesting the popular practice may be helpful in treating anxiety in some people," according to NYU Langone. "Led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, a new study found that yoga was significantly more effective for generalized anxiety disorder than standard education on stress management, but not as effective as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), the gold standard form of structured talk therapy that helps patients identify negative thinking for better responses to challenges."
