'I didn’t obsess over my baby bulge'
Tuesday 07 July 2009
Most celebrities can’t wait to get back into their skinny jeans after giving birth, but refreshingly, new mum Edith Bowman says shifting her baby bulge was the last thing on her mind.
Although the Radio 1 DJ, who had son Rudy in June 2008, is now back to her usual size 10, she says: “Getting back in shape wasn’t something that even entered my thought process. I certainly didn’t go mad trying to lose the baby bulge – and I’ve still got a bit of a paunch!”
But at Closer’s photo shoot, 5ft 2 Edith arrived looking slim and toned – and her supposed “paunch” didn’t stop her slipping effortlessly into a figure-hugging size 10 dress.
Yet Edith, 34, admits she is still a little self-conscious, especially when she stripped down to swimwear on a family holiday to Mykonos in Greece last month.
“I hated wearing a bikini,” she says. “We were staying in a villa so there weren’t loads of people around, but I still felt self-conscious. I’m not obsessed about these things, but I like to look good.”
However, there’s one part of her figure she’s more than happy with. “My boobs are still pretty good – I don’t even need to wear a bra, which I’m chuffed about!” she says. “And I didn’t get any stretch marks.”
Edith confesses that she has no idea how much weight she put on during her pregnancy.
“I didn’t weigh myself and I wore whatever fitted,” she says. “But I cycled and swam pretty much right through my pregnancy. I didn’t really worry about my weight, just about staying healthy.”
And Edith says she didn’t put pressure on herself to lose weight immediately after Rudy’s birth, confessing she had bigger things to worry about.
She laughs: “Three weeks after having Rudy I was reporting from Glastonbury, expressing milk off-camera in case I leaked on my T-shirt!”
Edith’s secret to getting back into shape was to simply take her time. After a few months of home-cooked meals and regular exercise, she was back down to the size she is now.
Forget sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll: despite being the BBC’s resident rock chick and living with a musician (Tom Smith, 28, frontman of indie band Editors), the Fife-born blonde says her only addictions are Power Plate sessions and M&S Dunker biscuits.
“I walk every day, take Rudy swimming and I cycle to work,” says Edith, who was spotted power-walking with Rudy in his buggy at this year’s Glastonbury Festival. “Exercise isn’t about losing weight – I don’t even have scales in my house – it’s about doing things I enjoy.”
She also practises yoga at home at least once a week. “It’s so relaxing – Tom often finds me asleep on the floor,” she laughs.
And her latest passion is Power Plate, the vibrating exercise equipment loved by celebs such as Madonna and Natalie Imbruglia. “It’s brilliant, I only do 25 minutes at a time and it’s toned me up all over. I’ve got more energy too
– I love it,” says Edith.
Her active life means Edith doesn’t obsess about food. She’s never even been on a diet. “My mum used to go on loads of them, maybe that put me off,” she says.
And Edith is a fiend in the kitchen – she even beat Gordon Ramsay on The F Word cook-off challenge when she cooked haggis. “He got me a baby T-shirt saying ‘My mum went on The F Word and whipped Gordon’s arse,’” she laughs.
For Edith, a typical day starts with Honey Shreddies and coffee. Lunch will be Caesar salad and she always has a mid-afternoon chocolate fix. In the evening, Edith takes it in turns with Tom to cook dinner, with spaghetti carbonara and marinated tuna among her specialities, and then they’ll often share some microwaved popcorn while watching telly.
Edith returned to her weekday afternoon show on Radio 1 last November, following five months maternity leave. However, finding the right balance between motherhood, her career and me-time is essential for the DJ, who was diagnosed with a heart murmur four years ago. Although she insists the condition has no major impact on her everyday life, she had Rudy by Caesarean to avoid putting a strain on her heart.
It’s also made Edith more aware of looking after her health in general – she has regular massages to ease stress and covers herself and Rudy in sunscreen before leaving the house, whatever the weather.
“I use factor 30 because I’ve got Scots skin,” says Edith, who’s working with Boots to encourage families to think about sun protection this summer. “People need to realise that even if the sun isn’t shining, it’s still strong enough to cause damage.”
Being sun-aware means Edith hasn’t had to worry about wrinkles, but even when the first signs of ageing appear she won’t be rushing off for a shot of Botox.
She says: “I look at someone like Nicole Kidman and think, yes she’s beautiful, but she has no expression in her face.”
In what must be a rare admission for a female showbiz star, Edith insists she’s never felt pressure to change anything about her looks – even when she put on weight after moving to London at 22 and landing a job at MTV.
“I was going out loads, so it was the booze and bacon sandwiches that were
to blame,” says Edith.
“I was a lot heavier, probably a size 12 to 14, but my bosses never commented on my weight. I never made a conscious decision to lose weight. I just gradually changed my lifestyle so that I was having fewer boozy nights out, which meant I ate less junk food.”
But given a magic wand, is there anything Edith would change about her body today? “I’d like to chisel a bit off my inner and outer thighs,” she says. “And definitely do something about that little paunch – that would be nice!” n
By Catherine Woods
Edith has launched a children’s book with Boots called Fun In The Sun With Sunshine Sam. To listen to Edith reading it and to download it, visit boots.com/sunshinesam.