New! Magazine – 29 July 2019

Former Hollyoaks actress Ali Bastian, 37, tells us about

embracing her hips and her obsession with chocolate

‘I want to be

OK with all

parts of me’

Hi Ali! Do you feel body confident?

Like most women I’m on and off with that.

I don’t think I would be being very honest

if I was like, “Oh yes, I wake up every day

and feel brilliant about my body all the

time.” But I really try not to give

myself a hard time because

that’s not good for anyone.

I try to be kind to myself.

What are your body

hang-ups?

I’m quite curvy and I’ve

always had big hips, but

it’s just the shape I am. It’s

funny – for my wedding [in

February] I chose a dress that

really showed off my curves. That

was the bit I wanted to celebrate because

that’s what makes me feel feminine and

like a woman. We see images of how

women “are supposed to look”, but I’m at

a point in my life where I want to be OK

with all of those parts of me.

What’s your exercise regime like?

At the moment I’m doing a lot more yoga

than anything else – I practise three to four

times a week. I also love Spinning classes.

Would you become a yoga instructor?

I have done two teaching qualifications

and I have taught a little bit over the years,

but doing those courses was more for

me, personally.

Are you a healthy eater?

Intermittently. I really enjoy food and

cooking and eating. The most

recent thing that’s going

on in my house is that we

are trying to eat less meat

and that’s for loads

of reasons, not just

for our health.

What is your guilty

pleasure when it

comes to food?

I’m a chocoholic! I love Green

& Black’s but I also love Maltesers.

What’s your takeaway of choice?

Chinese. I have sweet and sour chicken,

crispy shredded chilli beef and dumplings.

Have you ever tried a quick-fix diet?

I have only ever lasted about five minutes

on any of them. I even tried the lemon

juice diet but only lasted about two days!

What’s your top advice for staying

healthy?

Finding a way to de-stress in this

incredibly busy world that we live in can

actually do more good than anything else.

HEALTH MY DIET SECRETS

Follow Ian

Marber on

Twitter

@ianmarber

NUTRITION CONSULTANT

MY FOOD DIARY IAN MARBER SAYS...

A shake with banana, peanut

butter and oat milk

Loads of grilled

vegetables and halloumi

Cod, vegetables and

sweet potato

A large orange and

some Popchips

“I know shakes are popular but I don’t

think whizzing up food to drink rather

than eat can be as satisfying, as a shake

lacks texture and reduces fibre. A small

bowl of oats, topped with banana and

nut butter is better as it’s rich in fibre

and provides longer-lasting energy.

“Ali eats modestly and has plenty

of veg, which is of huge benefit. Fish

is always a good idea but cod doesn’t

offer many of the all-important omega-3

fats, so she could have salmon or

mackerel instead.

“Popchips have less fat than

fried potato crisps, but don’t

have much protein. A few

walnuts or brazil nuts would

be a better choice.”

HEIGHT 5FT 8IN WEIGHT 10ST DRESS SIZE 10

Ali with her

wedding “PA”

Ciara Lowth

WORDS: Gemma McCartney PHOTOS: Getty, Shutterstock