Girls Aloud always look amazing – and they’ve certainly come a long way since the Popstars: The Rivals days.
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Cheryl, Nadine, Sarah, Nicola and Kimberley are now firmly established as the nation’s leading girl group.
You’d have thought the music would have been enough (18 consecutive Top 10 singles), but then there’s The X Factor, high profile boyfriends, lucrative ad campaigns…oh, we could go on and on….
Who *can *resist the mighty GA?
In light of recent contemplation, Closer Online took it upon ourselves to look into the girls’ way of thinking when it comes to diet and fitness.
And who knows, maybe we could all end up looking like the delectable Cheryl. Or, we could just, you know, read about how much they fret about their weight as much as the rest of us…..
**CHERYL COLE **
We love her! And so does everyone else on the planet it seems.
So why on earth does Mrs Cole worry about her weight so much?
In the February 09 edition of Vogue, Cheryl told the world her weight had in fact reduced her to tears at one point.
“In the first year of Girls Aloud, I went up to a 29in waist. I remember crying because I was 91/2st when I’m only 5ft 3in.”
Cheryl went on to name the Atkins diet as a ‘plan of action’ to shift the extra weight she’d gained.
“Jennifer Aniston was doing the Atkins diet at the time and I thought I’d give it a try.
“I remember I ate the same thing — chicken in cream sauce with a couple of carrots — every night for weeks. I felt just horrible, but I was on this mission.”
Despite rather drastic ‘missions’, Cheryl claims her diet is pretty average and has pig-out days just like the rest of us mere mortals…
“If I start the day eating protein, I'll try not to eat carbohydrates.
'I still believe you should pig out once a week'
“But I still believe you should pig out once a week. I usually do it on a Sunday because that's also my hangover day.”
New to the massive celeb culture when the band first formed in 2002, Cheryl and the rest of the girls were naturally worried about their weight.
Cheryl puts their toned figures in those days down to a trainer that the girls brought in…
“As a group we hired a personal trainer and went for it. I just wanted to be toned.
“So I'd go on the treadmill for 30 minutes and then do an hour of resistance work with weights.”
But at the end of the day, what does the gorgeous singer put her trim figure down to?
The vigorous Girls Aloud dance routines of course!
“Intense dancing for eight hours a day – I mean no normal human being is not going to drop any weight are they, really?”
**NADINE COYLE **
She does however, admit to been slightly disciplined when it comes to choosing something to eat, and can notice a difference if she’s indulged in the less healthy option…
'I feel better if I know I've eaten something healthy'
“I don't eat whatever I fancy, I feel better if I know I've eaten something healthy.”
Gorgeous Nadine admits she’s not one to follow a disciplined fitness routine and proves she is fairly relaxed in her approach to working out.
“I like to look like a woman, with things up front and at the back! I don't work out or have any muscle tone.”
Her diet is a pretty simple one really….
"I try to just have three meals a day.
"For breakfast I think you can have whatever you want – I don't think you should stick to rabbit food all day, plus you've got all day to burn it off.”
However, we wouldn’t want to compare our diet too closely to naïve Nadine’s, who at one point thought that chips were a staple food for a daily diet!
Her favourite dish is mashed potatoes and chips – together.
“Is that bad?
“It’s been a big enough shock for me finding out that people don't eat chips every day!”
Erm, OK, anyways, moving on…
**KIMBERLEY WALSH **
Kimberley admits to being the one of all the girls who struggles to keep her weight consistent – and, refreshingly, she has a healthy perception of what a womanly figure should be!
The gorgeous singer claims that she manages to keep all her curves in check because of her dance background.
'Out of all of us, I have to try the hardest to keep the weight off'
“Out of all of us, I have to try the hardest to keep the weight off. I think I'm quite normal – not thin, not fat – and my stomachs OK because I used to dance loads.”
After losing weight on the Kellogg’s' cereal diet and Atkins before now, Kimberley Walsh has decided the best way to truly shed the pounds is to eat healthily 90 per cent of the time and join a gym.
“It's not what people want to hear but it's the only way that works.
“The other 10 per cent you can have a treat – Häagen-Dazs' Pralines & Cream is the best flavour in the world.”
“I tried the Atkins diet religiously for three weeks. I lost 8lb, but as soon as I got fed up with it the weight came back on. So I tried the cereal diet, which is two bowls of cereal a day and then one proper meal in the evening. It worked, but the same thing happened.
“Now I just go for the healthiest option on the menu.”
Simple but effective!
**SARAH HARDING **
Sarah’s diet and fitness mantra?
“I work hard, I eat hard and I diet hard!"
Despite the fact that Sarah has admitted to eating a little unhealthily at times, the blonde bombshell realizes that she must cancel out the bad with the good!
Sarah has said before now: “I’ve now realised it’s important to look after yourself when you get a little older and I’ve been pacing myself lately.
'I have just finished a detox programme where I didn't eat sugar or wheat of drink alcohol'
“I have just finished a detox programme where I didn’t eat sugar or wheat or drink alcohol.”
When the band first formed in 2002, Sarah worked hard to maintain her already enviably lean figure.
Her demanding routine included running 3km, 10 minutes of rowing, leg weights and 100 stomach crunches.
She said of the arduous schedule: “That's my morning routine with a bowl of Special K, if I haven't got to be up at the crack of dawn.”
In regards to diets, Sarah steers clear of the crazy fad kind, but she does watch her carbohydrate intake.
“I love bread and pasta, but I feel bloated whenever I eat too many carbs. I do have a weakness for Jaffa Cakes, though – I can easily polish off a whole packet for breakfast.
“I'm no angel. I still love takeaways and have the odd binge. I'm only human.”
Sarah believes that if you put your body through its paces health and fitness wise, then there’s no reason why you can’t allow yourself a treat now and again!
“I don't think it's right to deprive yourself. I go to the gym as often as I can, so I'm certainly allowed the odd treat now and again.”
Despite losing lots of weight on a couple of occasions, Sarah has said:
“There aren’t any curves in the celebrity world at the moment. It’s disgusting, unhealthy and wrong. I understand there are naturally skinny people out there, but there are also girls who just don’t eat.”
**NICOLA ROBERTS
**
In the early days of the band, Nicola was a stickler for gorging on fast food.
This unhealthy diet – combined with an undiagnosed iron deficiency - caused the feisty red head to almost collapse before a gig.
“I broke down in tears before one of our shows because I felt so weak. I was close to fainting, but I had no idea what was wrong with me. I just couldn't stop eating and I was always hungry," she says.
Being on the road touring regularly with the band meant Nicola always opted for the easy option. And we can sympathise with Nic – especially when it’s just SO convenient…(n.b. We don’t condone junk food as part of a healthy diet..!)
'I'd have McDonald's for breakfast, lunch and dinner'
“It's hard to eat properly so I'd have McDonald's for breakfast, lunch and dinner while the rest of the girls were eating salads.”
She now works out regularly and is a fan of stomach crunches (she does around 500 a day) – and don’t her abs look incredible for it?
Modest Nic claims that the impressive amount of sit ups aren’t really that bad (who’s she kidding? Hehe!)
“It sounds crazy, but it's not that bad – especially if you do it in sets of 20s,” she says.
And she tries to eat a more balanced diet which works wonders for her overall fitness.
'I'm a big fan of chips and gravy, but I've cut down on junk food. I'm lucky to have a fast metabolism, so I just don't put on weight easily.'
“My weight fluctuates all the time and I actually feel better when I'm about 9st. I joined the band when I was 16, so I was really scrawny.
“Now I've grown into my body and filled out and it feels much better.”
And you look absolutely fab for it Nic!