Meet diet guru Gillian McKeith

Gillian McKeith has moved away from examining poo and entered the digital age, with a website, online diet club, walking workout podcasts, as well as a new book.

Her no-nonsense, straight-talking approach remains the same. We are what we eat, and so if we want to be healthier and lose some weight, it takes some effort, but the results are worth it.

It's not a shortcut but if you're seeking one simple dietary step to benefit health, she says it's this: ‘Eat more green vegetables. You should have some green veg with lunch and dinner. Make it fun, like lettuce wraps or cabbage wraps, and it can taste delicious. You can do crudités and dip them into hummus or pâtés, or throw a handful of spinach into almost anything - that's the old standby. Green veg are packed with nutrients that we just don't get enough of.'

And although everyone knows that there's no quick fix to losing weight there's no harm in asking. Gillian's answer is short and sharp: ‘Move more.' In the course of her work she meets many clients, she says, who've started thinking about food in new ways - but ‘they don't move at all.' Gillian praises the benefits of exercise very highly: ‘It makes you feel more alive mentally. You move your muscles, you improve your health.'

[quote]Inspired by her clients, she's devised walking workout podcasts to download to an mp3 player. ‘Some clients have said that they hate the word exercise but if they heard my voice in their head they would move. Everyone loves music, so I figured that if I could put my voice with the music, maybe they would move.'

There are four playlist podcasts: top 40, girl power, 70s and 80s. As Gillian explains: ‘The beats per minute get faster as the tracks go on so when you get to tracks three and four you're zipping along.' And don't worry, she's not talking over the music from start to finish. As she puts it: ‘I'm not yapping every second but I'm spurring you on, giving you tips along the way. It's like I'm on the walk with you.'

Click here to listen to a sample of the top 40 walking workout

Click here to listen to a sample of the 70s walking workout

Click here to listen to a sample of the 80s walking workout

Download the Walking Workouts from iTunes and www.tescodigital.com at £4.86.  

Our emotions and our patterns of thinking play a big part in how we eat. In her new book, 'Gilllian McKeith's Boot Camp Diet' (Penguin, £6.99), Gillian uses the phrase ‘what you resist will persist'. The idea behind this is that the more you resist looking at your emotional self and the reasons why you may overeat, the more those problems will persist. Gillian explains how the pattern of comfort eating can be set.

‘People who eat for comfort will often be able to identify where it all started. A lot goes back to childhood. Maybe you got a packet of Chocolate Buttons because you fell over. Auntie or Granny gives you this and that becomes your connection with feeling good. In adult life, this turns into boxes of chocolates. Every time something happens that you don't like, you're into the box of chocolates. And it's not just one, it's dozens. You can't change the fact that Granny or Auntie did this - you can't even blame them - but you can think: "That's interesting; that's where that started. But I don't need to keep doing it." You can't change the past but you can change today.'

Although her book's called 'boot camp', Gillian doesn't want anyone to be put off: 'It's to connote the idea that it's structured and you don't need to worry about what to do. In the book, what you do each day is delineated. You don't have to worry; you just have to enjoy it.'

Many people who've tried to lose weight and been unsuccessful think that nothing will work for them. But Gillian's having none of it. Her answer to people who say they've tried everything but just can't lose weight is that they haven't tried everything. I think people who say that are just asking for a bit of help and guidance. If they're willing to really look at themselves they'll find a road that will be positive for them. Most people who say that have done diets - the cutting-out kind of diet. When I use the world diet I'm talking about how you're living your life. The word diet has been corrupted; it now means deprivation counting and obsession.'

And if you're concerned that eating more healthily means spending more, they key is buying in season, according to Gillian. ‘Obviously if you buy blueberries in the middle of winter then they're going to be more expensive. It‘s cheap to eat what's in season, with local farmer's markets. But in every single TV show I've been involved in, when we analysed food buying, these families were spending the same or more than anything I ever wanted them to spend.'

Good, nutritious food can be very cheap. ‘You'd be shocked at how much it costs to live on takeaways for a week,' says Gillian. ‘There's nothing cheaper than beans and rice and you can spin it out for ages, freeze it and have it again. It's just not possible for it to be expensive. I make this aduki bean salad; everyone raves about it and it takes literally five minutes. Open the can of beans, mix it with another can of corn, chop up an onion and some parsley , add a bit of vinegar and you've got the most tasty dish. If you've never been taught to cook with raw ingredients it doesn't mean you can't learn now. It's never too late.'

And if you are overweight or eating unhealthily, and think that a marvellous new world will open up when you've shed a few stone, Gillian has some advice: ‘It's a terrible message to give yourself and also for the people who live with you. Live each moment as if it's your last. You don't know what may happen tomorrow and as long as you're on the journey to a healthier life then you should be taking your holidays, going out, doing whatever. Don't wait until you lose however many stone, live your normal life, but don't put a holiday off because you're too fat to fit into a swimsuit. Grab life by the balls.'

Try a two-course meal from Gillian McKeith: click here for the recipes

Click here for Gillian's 20 top weight-loss tips