I want the body of a 20 year-old when I’m 60 – here’s my simple weight loss secrets, reveals MasterChef’s Gregg Wallace
TUCKING into delicious meal after delicious meal on MasterChef, it is no wonder Gregg Wallace ballooned to more than 16st.
But while much of the grub put a smile on his face, what it was doing to his waistline was making him miserable.
The 57-year-old, who also presents the BBC’s Eat Well For Less?, lost four stone by ditching fast food, embracing home cooking, drinking less and exercising regularly.
Gregg — who has joined forces with The Sun in an exclusive two-part series to help YOU eat healthily this summer — confesses: “Some people say, ‘I’m overweight and I’m happy’. Well I was overweight and I wasn’t happy.
“And I say to those people, ‘If you could take a pill right now and be three stone lighter, would you take it?’ And of course they would.
“The trouble is, people think weight loss is going to be difficult, because they’ve tried it previously and they’ve tried a really restrictive diet that is uncomfortable.
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“They didn’t like doing it, they felt hungry doing it, they wanted to know when it was going to be over and hated every second.
“Diets like this don’t work. I know, because I’ve been there.”
Of his own weight loss, he says: “It honestly wasn’t a struggle.”
He is now aiming for the body of a 20-year-old.
Gregg, who is 5ft 8in and at his heaviest weighed 16st 7lb, says: “My motivation at the start was, ‘I just want to look better on the telly’.
“But now it’s, ‘How fit can I actually get? Can I actually have the body of a 20-year-old at 60?’.
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“I’ve done everything. I’ve done fasting, no carbs, low fat. You name it, I tried it.
“And yes, you can lose weight short-term. But it’s really uncomfortable and you won’t keep it up because you’re horribly hungry and miserable all the time.
“I learnt that it’s far better to wean yourself off the crap diet slowly and cook proper, healthy meals, as you are far more likely to succeed and enjoy the change.
“I’m not talking about lettuce leaves here, I’m taking about foods you want to eat.”
It was in 2017, after being told by his doctor that his weight could give him a heart attack, that Gregg decided to change his lifestyle.
Three years later he had lost four stone and revealed a super-toned body and six-pack to his thousands of Instagram followers.
Two years on from that infamous topless picture, Gregg says he loves showing off his body and has no plans to stop, despite what others might think.
He says: “Some people told me not to (share the topless picture) but I just thought ‘Sod it, I’m going to do it.’ I think it’s good to celebrate success when you have improved your health so dramatically.
“It got huge hits online and people got really inspired by it.
“I’ve done a few now and I’m going to do it every birthday to chart my success, because I’m really proud of how I look at my age.
“I’m approaching 60 and I know for sure I’ve been scared of my age before and scared for my health. But now I’m embracing ageing.”
Key to any success is not only losing weight, but keeping it off.
I'm really proud of how I look for my age
Gregg Wallace
Gregg has managed it with healthy eating and regular gruelling workouts.
His sessions with a personal trainer involve chin-ups, bench presses, kettlebells and hundreds of press-ups.
He says: “I cannot begin to tell you the confidence boost it’s given me being a slimmer, fitter version of myself
“I feel more attractive, I’m nicer to be around and, let’s be honest, my wife Anna is 22 years younger than me and while I can’t change my age, at least I can change what I look like.”
Gregg met Anna seven years ago on Twitter and since then the pair have had son Syd, now three.
He credits his Italian wife with teaching him how to cook healthy food.
He says: “Anna and I bond over food. It’s our thing and we are both really anti posh food.
“Tasty, simple food is what we are all about. People assume I eat fancy stuff all the time.
'I like the Michelin dining experience'
“I like the Michelin dining experience but it quickly gets boring.
“Everyone assumes I drink champagne, only eat organic and love people who used to be lawyers who now make disgusting cheese in Gloucestershire, and I don’t.
“I like supermarkets, simple meals and branded foods.”
Gregg also thanks his healthier lifestyle for making him a better parent. He says: “I can’t imagine being a new dad in my 50s overweight.
“Syd looks on me as the play machine, I’m the only one who is strong and fit enough to do aeroplanes with him.
“That makes me really happy.
“People do judge you becoming an older dad, but I’m fitter and healthier in my late 50s than when I was in my 30s, when I had my son Tom and daughter Libby.”
Gregg and his long-term co-presenter John Torode received MBEs for their charity work and services to food in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in June — an honour that Gregg says he is “ludicrously proud” of.
He adds: “To go from a council estate with no education and leaving home at 15 to be recognised by her majesty the Queen is one of the proudest moments of my life. I’m chuffed to bits.”
And he credits John, 56, for helping him get there.
He says: “I love John Torode. He recently said we are incredibly different and that’s what makes us work so well together, and I’d agree.
“People don’t understand why we haven’t been to each other’s houses, but we speak on the phone all the time and spend long days together, we are very, very close and I’m so proud of that relationship.”
Gregg, who has set up a successful diet and exercise platform ShowMe.Fit, also says he has noticed that John is transforming his appearance, too.
He adds: “I have to say, John is looking really good recently. I haven’t asked him how he’s doing it because I don’t want to impose what I do on him, but whatever he’s doing he looks great.
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“Whether we like it or not we work in an image-conscious industry and I do often think, ‘Would I still be in work if I was overweight?’.”
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The way Gregg is going, that is a question he will never have to worry about.
- Gregg’s online fitness and food platform ShowMe.Fit is available now for £7 per month. Visit showme.fit.