The No Diet, Diet

As published on the London LookI’m well aware that any woman size 12 or below who says she doesn’t watch what she eats is scorned upon, probably for good reason too.So I’m not saying I don’t watch what I eat , as I really, really do, I’ll just say that over the years, I have worked on honing my diet and/or lifestyle choices to stay fit and healthy and hopefully slim. That’s not to say I aspire to be skinny, I’d rather enjoy some cake or a dessert every day and be a comfortable size 10+ than be a bag of bones. However, people always see me eat cake and seemingly live in local indie coffee shops and ask how I stay slim. In reality I have one or two cakes or desserts per day and I don’t have an office so work from coffee houses but here are a few of my tricks:Eat little and often. Around every two hours is what my body needs but if I’m going to be in a meeting or not have food access then porridge sets me up for up to 3 whole hours.Don’t eat dinner. I gave up on eating late meals a decade or so ago and it means heavy food is not sitting in my stomach all through the night as I sleep. I find my hungriest part of the day is between 11-4 (also my most creative part of the day; coincidence or just well-fed=productivity?) so that’s when I eat most of the day’s food, including ideally, my main meal if I have one.Only eat when hungry. Breakfast, lunch and dinner have long gone. I tend to start eating around 10.30-11 with the Radio 2’s Pop master for company and have a second ‘breakfast’ around 12-1. My body will demand my main meal around 3-4 depending on if I’ve managed to have a coffee and delved into the biscuit tin in the afternoon. I enjoy lighter snacks for the rest of the day unless I’m out for dinner in which case I will have to starve myself. I have a big appetite and constantly crave food so its will power and the motivation to stay healthy and live long that stops me eating bars of chocolate or packets of crisps from dawn till dusk.Stop. On that note, I stop when I’ve had enough, or just before. Leftovers are a delight to tuck back into later when I have worked of the first plateful.Eat well. Even when eating cake or biscuits I choose the best quality I can afford but I forgot takeaways and all fried food other than the occasional fries and I never drink sugary fizzy drinks, mainly because I’ve never gotten their appeal. Rather than a takeaway, I’d rather buy something extra special rather than my normal M&S food shop and having a bottle of water with me ensures I take consistent sips, although admittedly I have nowhere near enough of this free stuff.Treat yourself but be disciplined. I reward myself when I’ve completed a task (I’m going to get a couple of mini-chocolate doughnuts out of the box as soon as finish this) but I don’t eat whole packets of biscuits in one go, just grab one or two and leave the rest in the tin, in the cupboard.Move. So do I exercise you ask? Well yes, lots! Five years ago, I gave up the gym and swapped my membership for a Cineworld card. Shortly after I also sold one of the joys of my life, my car, and ever since I’ve worked everywhere, including the cinema for a Friday afternoon treat. So walk, run, dance, have sex or jog – even around the desk but keep on moving. Walking everywhere since giving up my beloved car has been the best exercise plus it gets me where I need to be and saves money.Above all, I love my food! I don’t waste any and appreciate every morsel. I never feel guilty; to have great food every day is a beautiful thing.Twitter @RickieWrites