Alison Hammond has opened up about her decision to avoid using weight loss injections, revealing she was “frightened” by stories of complications, and chose instead to overhaul her lifestyle without them.
The This Morning star, 50, who has lost an impressive 11 stone, said she was wary of trying weight loss jabs after hearing about negative side effects, but made it clear she has no judgement towards anyone who does choose to use them.
Speaking to Good Housekeeping UK, the Bake-Off presenter explained: “I think that, for people who need to use them, [weight loss jabs are] a good thing — but for me, as soon as I hear any scare story, I get frightened.
“So I haven’t wanted to use them, but that’s not to say I wouldn’t in the future, and I certainly wouldn’t look down on anyone who did.”
At her heaviest, Hammond weighed 28 stone, but now sits at 16 and a half stone after committing to four sessions a week with a personal trainer.
Her transformation followed years of ups and downs with her weight, including undergoing a gastric band in 2007, which she later had removed after her body rejected it.
In 2017, she appeared on the TV show Sugar Free Farm, which followed celebrities cutting sugar from their diets while taking part in physical farm work. While she did lose two stone during the process, the experience took a toll.
“I did have a lot of headaches and felt dizzy. It was like having a hangover, not that I drink,” she told Bella magazine at the time. “I would even say it was like coming off drugs, and I don’t do those either.”
Now, after a serious health scare gave her the push to take her wellbeing more seriously, Alison says she feels like a new version of herself. “I feel happy within myself,” she added.
Recently, Hammond gave an insight into what her diet looks like after losing an impressive 11 stone and managing to reverse a pre-diabetic diagnosis.
As part of that, the TV star has revealed that she is an early riser regardless of if she has to be up for for work the next day or has gone to bed late the night before.
The mum-of-one then sets her day up with an immunity boosting ginger shot and tucking into a Full English breakfast, consisting of eggs, bacon and sausages, which she will sit down to enjoy with her son Aiden.
On days when she is working, she will typically ear Caribbean food for lunch, such as rice, peas and chicken.
If she is at home however, the Great British Bake Off host will cook herself a homemade lasagne before spending the afternoon “pottering” or catching up on her favourite reality TV shows.
She said she tends to fills her free time with activities such as going to cinema, doing some home DIY and cleaning or doing sports to keep fit.
Of her evening meals, she told the Sunday Times magazine: “If I'm staying in I'll rustle up curried goat and rice or chicken fried rice.”
For those who raise eyebrows about her weight loss when still eating things like an Full English, when it comes to food, she says she hasn't cut anything out completely and instead focuses on “moderation”.
“I don't deny myself anything, I eat everything, but in moderation,” she added to the publication.
