In this special celeb secrets report we’ll deconstruct the diet plan Ed Sheeran followed to lose 3.5st and get back in peak shape.

Celebrities are popular sources of diet and fitness inspiration, but trying to be like your idol can lead to an unrealistic body image, following very questionable advice, and disastrous dietary changes to get the perfect Instagram selfie.

Our hope with this new column is to dispel any myths that some celebrities are “born this way” or have an easier time than the rest of us keeping in shape…From our research the one advantage they do have is the right entourage of personal trainers and nutritionists to help, but life on tour and on the road can take its toll so it’s not uncommon to see celebrities yoyo from overweight to peak shape and back again.

Ed Sheeran is no stranger to this… He’s a talented singer and songwriter, who’s work and play schedules has been detrimental to his figure… But through hard work he’s managed to beat the bulge to get back to his ideal weight.

You don’t have to workout for hours at a time

The first thing Ed did was to ask his Hockey playing girlfriend Cherry Seaborn for fitness advice. Knowing Ed was short on time, she recommended a 10 minute interval workout consisting of 30 second sprinting and jogging intervals daily.

Yes you read this right, 10 minutes a day!  High intensity interval training(HIIT) workouts have been shown to be as effective as longer more steady training sessions, plus have been shown to improve:

  • aerobic and anaerobic fitness
  • blood pressure
  • cardiovascular health
  • insulin sensitivity (which helps the exercising
  • muscles more readily use glucose for fuel to make energy)
  • cholesterol profiles
  • abdominal fat and body weight while
  • maintaining muscle mass.

If you are low on time, but want to stay in shape applying HIIT principles can help you get many of the benefits of a longer workout and can be applied to weight training or cardio.

Take control of the carbs

One of Ed’s “comfort foods” was Pizza and Beer… A deadly combination of low nutrient carbohydrates with a high calorie price tag.

Ed’s plan included ditching the Pizza focusing on more balanced nutrient rich meals, and replacing beer with vodka. A word of warning though here, Vodka still carries 97 calories (vs 153 calories for a beer) and alcohol will do no favours to your liver or your waist, so our recommendation is to stay away from alcohol for optimal health.

What about supplements?

Celebrity personal trainers frequently suggest health supplements to help fight deficiencies on tour and also to speed up results. But they always start with dietary changes first, then supplements can add some fuel to the fire.

Only relying on supplements would be like trying to put rocket fuel in a car with its brakes on!

If you’re ready to improve your health and need a potent supplement to complement your diet changes look no further than Better Nutrition Lab’s range.

Thanks for the tips Ed!