He’s the fitness guru who is helping the nation keep fit inside and out, but Joe Wicks admits healthy eating was not a priority when he was growing up.
“I didn’t grow up on the best diet as my mum genuinely didn’t know how to cook,” he admits. “So we used to have picnic dinners of things like sandwiches and Wagon Wheels. When I started going to the gym when I was a teenager I definitely became more aware of how important nutrition is and my sports science degree really made me realise that you could exercise for four hours a day, but if you don’t put the right things in your body you might never change your body shape or get lean.”
The self-styled Body Coach has a massive online following of people clamouring to view his high intensity interval training workouts and try out the latest recipes for his bestselling books, the latest being ‘The Fat Loss Plan’, which is out now. So from where does he get his culinary inspiration?
“I make a lot of my recipes up. I like to use just one pan when cooking, so often it’s about chucking things in and seeing what works. I’m not a chef and don’t claim to be, so I take inspiration from everywhere – from meals out and about, a website, something I’ve seen and put my spin on. The great thing about food is that inspiration is all around us, so I’ll often see something and think – ‘How can I make a lean version of that?’”
Joe shared one of his favourite post–workout recipes with us, click here to try it for yourself. “I’m totally obsessed with risotto at the moment. This one with cod and loads of veg is super healthy and really easy to prepare.”