I feel like I’m talking to a good friend when I finally get on the phone with TV presenter Lisa Snowden. She apologizes profusely to me after having to reschedule our interview. She was stricken with bronchitis and had to cancel work and social engagements for several weeks.
Getting back on track, it wasn’t long before I realized why the model and media personality, 52, always looks glamorous and radiant. “I wake up at 5 in the morning and we go to the gym,” she tells me. By us, she means herself and her fiance George Smart, her partner of about 8 years and a regular on her Instagram feed.
“We have a bit of a routine – it’s very nice to have that, especially in the spring and summer – although it’s a bit more difficult in the winter,” she admits.
You’ll most likely know Snowden from her work in radio and television (or because of her encounters with George Clooney). Hosted Capital Radio Breakfast with Johnny Vaughan and presented Britain’s Next Top Model. Today, she’s as busy as ever, cooking on various TV shows, hosting a podcast, and being an ambassador for various fashion and wellness brands—and perhaps because of her busy schedule, she’s learned the power of saying no to protect her mental and physical well-being.
“As women, we put too much on our plate — we say yes to working too much, being there for too many people and not putting ourselves at the top of the list,” she says.
“I know a lot of busy moms who feed from an empty cup – there’s nothing there and it just drains your nervous system and your energy resources. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found it’s easier to say no, to turn things down, and to not feel that FOMO when you’re not out. I’d rather be at home in my pajamas drinking a box set or taking a nice little bath.
Fertility struggles
Talking about children or pregnancy was a sore spot for Lisa. Last year she revealed in her book, I’m just getting started that she miscarried at 41, just minutes before going live on her radio show. Her fertility journey was also filled with more upsetting moments, such as when she was told she didn’t have enough viable eggs to freeze. She admits she has now “come to terms” with not being a mother, but admits it was difficult when her friends announced her pregnancy, even though she was overjoyed for them.
Just Getting Started: The New Menopause Guide for 2023 to help you manage the signs, symptoms, and everything else to improve your life.
Just Getting Started: The New Menopause Guide for 2023 to help you manage the signs, symptoms, and everything else to improve your life.
“I used to get this tiny little pinch inside – and I felt a little sad about myself. There was obviously pure happiness for the friends, but it was sometimes tinged with a bit of envy – especially around the time I miscarried and then when I was told I was perimenopausal. But I’m definitely in a peaceful place now and I’ve come to terms with it.
Lisa adds that her entrepreneur fiancé has been supportive of her situation and when she explained to him that starting a family might be difficult, he replied: “Honestly, if it’s just you and me forever, I don’t care – that’s what I want .’
Previously opened to WH about menopause, Lisa adds that 10 years ago, “perimenopause” didn’t even exist in her vocabulary. “I didn’t know what was happening to me for about six years, but it affected me mentally – I had depression, anxiety and panic attacks, then sleepless nights, hot flashes, night sweats, weight gain.
“I navigated 2020 pretty much on my own, but then I started listening to my body, which was asking ‘what can I do to make some changes?’
Menopause and children
Although she wants to be a mother, Lisa adds in retrospect that while she was suffering from perimenopausal symptoms, it wouldn’t have been the “ideal” time to raise a child: “I just don’t think I would be very good at it because I don’t I was very kind; I was quite unpleasant with George. Some days I wanted to quit the job too – I think the struggles were too intense for me.
However, even though she has come to terms with not having children, she wishes people could be better. “I think it’s important to recognize that there are so many different scenarios – people just assume they can ask you about your family. They don’t realize that it’s not easy for everyone to get pregnant – there are so many different issues, struggles or reasons.
“Some people need to be a little better about asking questions because they don’t know what goes on behind closed doors.”
Although she doesn’t have children herself, she says she’s lucky to be surrounded by so many children in her family: “I have all these crazy kids in my life, from my sisters – and I’m so close to them. I have five of them under 12 who are just lovely and fun – and I couldn’t love them more.’
She loves strength training
To overcome her menopausal symptoms, Lisa also turned to strength training: “Lifting weights was a game-changer, metabolically, for me—it helped me drop some dress sizes that went up around perimenopause. As women, we need to build muscle, but it’s hard. I think the misconception is that we’re going to walk out of the gym with these huge arms and not be able to wear our nice blazers and suits and stuff, but it’s actually pretty hard to build muscle as a woman.’
She’s also capitalizing on the cold water trend, ending her shower with a “nice cold 90-second icy finish,” which she explains is “more of a mental thing as well as a physical thing for me—you just feel more ready for challenges and things that may come up during the day.
The TV personality also credits breathing as a ‘big game changer’ for her, adding: ‘You can get a really high breath – and it puts a little shield around me and helps me process stress – putting me in a positively happy place.’
CORREXIKO Premium marine collagen powder
CORREXIKO Premium marine collagen powder
Lisa also takes her diet seriously, keeping her collagen levels high with a Correxiko collagen supplement and keeping her gut happy: “When I get up in the morning, I take a shot of Symprove while the coffee is brewing, then put the collagen in the coffee and drink it , while we train.
The Celebrity Masterchef the winner who won the crown in 2022 of course also loves her food. She sticks to a diet that consists of “lots of fresh fruit and vegetables and good protein – lots of high protein foods”. I also have steak now and then and lots of seafood, pulses and lentils.
She admits she doesn’t cook Chef-decent three-course meals every night, she really likes to cook from scratch every day: “Food is very important in my world, it’s very important, but of course it’s not on the same level as Masterchef – it’s usually family style, which is my kind of walking or sharing plates.
Despite her very healthy diet, she also likes to let her hair down every now and then: “I like a glass of wine, red or white – and when I’m with friends maybe some tequila with soda and lime.”
Lisa is an ambassador for Correxiko Marine Collagen
