Clare Balding feels happier since losing weight
Clare Balding feels "better" about herself since losing weight, and the broadcaster feels "great" about being able to squeeze into belted trousers and having her shirt tucked in it - something she has not been able to do for years.
Clare Balding feels "better" about herself now she has shed weight.
The 54-year-old esteemed broadcaster thought she would be "fat and happy" in her 50s, as many diets had not worked for her over the years, but a low-carb diet that was recommended to her by a friend made her gain a svelte figure.
Clare told the new issue of Britain's HELLO! magazine: "I've worked hard at it and feel better.
"I got into my 50s and thought, 'I'm just going to be fat and happy,' but then a friend talked about a low-carb diet, and the late [medical journalist] Michael Mosley publicised this form of weight loss, too, and I thought, 'I'll give it one more go' - as I've tried so many diets over the years - and see if it works.
"And it did!"
As well as loving her slim figure, Clare feels great about finally being able to squeeze into belted trousers and have her shirt tucked in it.
The Celebrity Traitors contestant said: "I'm never going to be stick thin - that's just not me.
"I've got massive bones. But I can now put on a pair of trousers with a belt and my shirt tucked in, and I went for years without being able to do that.
"That feels great."
Clare has stopped eating bread or pasta, and she tries to consume as little sugar as possible.
The Celebrity Gogglebox star added: "And if I want a drink, I have a gin and tonic instead of wine, so I don't feel like I'm depriving myself of things."
In 2026, the TV legend and her wife, former BBC Radio 4 newsreader and continuity announcer Alice Arnold, 63, will celebrate 20 years since they entered a civil partnership at Chiswick House, London.
And Clare - who married Alice in a private ceremony at the same venue in 2015 - feels very "lucky" to have a soulmate she can "grow old" with.
The broadcaster - who releases her new novel Pastures New on September 11 - said: "One of the things I wanted to write about in my novel was about falling in love because I thought, 'I know that.'
"I know what real, deep love is and meeting someone I want to grow old with.
"Lucky, lucky me."
