Exclusive: Kerry Katona discusses her weight-loss journey, starting with her 3st 6lb in 2023, to gaining weight after surgery, embracing body confidence and embracing her weight loss.
As Kerry Katona prepares to welcome in the new year, there’s one resolution she won’t be making – and that’s hitting the gym.
The star, who is normally a big fan of keeping fit, says work commitments and surgery have kept her away from exercise. But rather than feeling down about it, the former Atomic Kitten singer tells us she’s brimming with confidence and feels happier than ever. “I’ll be honest, I haven’t actually trained since April this year – and I trained every single day,” says the mum of five. I went and did Celebs Go Dating, then I had three root canals, then I had my boobs done, then my boobs broke and I had to redo them again – and I’ve been on tour. So I’ve not been able to do any exercise..”
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Despite gaining some weight, the star says she’s not in any rush to slim down. And it sounds like her boyfriend, Paolo Margaglione, 34, is also loving her new curves. “I’m in a very happy new relationship and I keep eating lots of food,” adds Kerry with a smile. In the past, Kerry has been no stranger to yo-yo dieting. Since shooting to fame in 1999 alongside her Atomic Kitten bandmates Liz McClarnon and Natasha Hamilton, she’s been “everything from a size 6 to an 18”.
Last year, Kerry revealed how her weight spiralled after she moved back up north to Cheshire from Sussex in 2021, leaving her looking like a “swollen beach whale”. She said, “I got stuck in a bit of a rut and was full of self-loathing, which led to emotional eating. I got triggered because I was thinking, ‘Oh God, this is where I used to do drugs’… so it was a lot. I also quit smoking and that made me eat more to get through that.” But in 2023 she shed a staggering 3st 6lb and dropped four dress sizes to get down to a healthy 9st 13lb, thanks to a mixture of sensible eating and regular yoga, weight training and cardio workouts. At the time, the star – who is mum to daughters Molly, 24, Lilly-Sue, 22, Heidi, 18, DJ, 11, and 17-year-old son Max – said losing weight “isn’t rocket science. You eat s***, you look s***. I’ve just been calorie-counting and watching what I eat.” After scaling back her workouts, but still maintaining a healthy weight, she told new that an “improved diet and taking the right supplements” was the key to staying trim. “I have been focusing on smaller portion sizes because I don’t like to leave any food on my plate due to the way I was brought up,” she said. “So if it’s a big portion, then I will have it – and I put on weight. But I’m determined to stay healthy as I get older.”
Kerry lost even more weight earlier this year, this time unintentionally. She said in January, “I’ve been doing panto and the separation, I’ve done it,” referring to her separation from Ryan Mahoney, her long-term partner. Most likely the stress is it. I’ve been under a lot of stress.
But the following month she sounded in a much better place and was clearly feeling more confident about her physique. “I’m slimmer now than I was in Atomic Kitten,” she said. “I’m getting there emotionally, but physically this is the best shape I’ve ever been in.” She added that daily yoga sessions had helped her tone up, and that starring in panto with her pal Katie Price also kept the weight off. “During panto, we did three shows a day, back-to-back. I kid you not, it was so physically demanding,” said the star, who revealed her weight had dropped to just 8st 7lb. “I was burning so many calories.” While Kerry’s weight-management mindset is very much focused on healthy eating and exercise these days, in the past her methods of staying slim have been slightly more controversial. In 2017 she confessed to having a “s*** load” of liposuction and a mini tummy tuck in a bid to look more toned, and the following year she was criticised for promoting SkinnyJabs – a £250-a- month weight-loss plan that involved daily appetite-suppressing injections. The star said she lost “over 2st” on the plan, but critics branded her irresponsible. Hitting back, Kerry said, “If this pen [which injects the drug into the body] is going to help me lose weight and help me feel good about myself, then what’s the problem?”
While Kerry may have parked the idea of hitting the gym in the new year, she hasn’t completely sworn off fitness. “For me, I don’t have New Year ’s resolutions,” she says. “Every day I wake up and think, ‘Right, I just want to be a better version of who I was yesterday.’ I can’t wait to get myself back in a really good routine of doing my training. “But I’ve been through two operations this year because of my boobs, so I’m not risking anything that’s going to f*** up my boobs. “They’re not moving until I’ve got the all-clear!”
Source: Mirror
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