1. She’s a Dancer
Jama prefers dancing over grueling gym sessions. “I’m not very consistent,” she says. “My friends always joke that the fact I’m in somewhat okay shape is because I dance so much. My exercise is my partying because I will be the first one on the dance floor and the last one to leave – I go for it! That’s at least some cardio, surely? I wake up the next day with my knees hurting, thinking: I put in a shift last night. I’m quite a hyperactive person anyway so I move around a lot – I’ll be honest that I don’t love the gym. I just do it because I need to look after my insides more than anything. Everyone’s got to work out at some point! I like the rowing machine because it doesn’t feel that hard.”
2. Working Out For Mental Health
Jama loves the way exercise benefits her mental health. "I just think [working out] helps your mental health so much anyway,” she says. “There’s a difference in how I feel if I go out and do some exercise versus just staying in bed all day. I notice how it impacts my brain and how I’m feeling."
3. Exercise First Thing
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Jama tries to carve out time in the morning for a workout before the work day starts. "When I’m away filming, I try to wake up early so I can fit in a workout before arriving on set,” she says. “It helps get me in the zone. I previously did a South African road trip with Alice Liveing for work and she taught me that quality over quantity is key. I’m really busy at the moment so it’s easy to just say, 'I don’t have the time to work out', and quit. Alice showed me that it’s not how long you train for, but how you train that counts."
4. DIY Beauty
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Jama makes her own hair masks from kitchen ingredients. “I often do homemade hair masks,” she says. “I mix olive oil, eggs, avocado, honey and warm it slightly in the microwave. I run it through my hair, then put a plastic bag over it so it gets a bit sweaty and steamy. Leave it for an hour and wash it off. My mum told me about it years ago, and I've been doing it ever since.”
5. Sauna and Spa Sessions
Jama is a big fan of sauna and spa sessions in her down time. “I do like to spa,” she says. “I only do it if I’ve got a working trip abroad and there’s a day off in between, or I’ll extend. For a while, back in the day, I didn’t really have days off and just worked all the time. If I could get a holiday, it would just be extending wherever I was working for an extra day – then I would stay in the spa the whole time. I like the steam room and going from the sauna to freezing cold water. I’m half Swedish and the Swedish side of my family, like my mum and nan, always went in a hot sauna and then jumped into freezing cold water when we were young. They said it tightens your pores and, you know, anti-ageing and all those things, so I try to do it.”
