What does it mean to be healthy?
To be healthy means feeling great, having great energy, good skin and hair, and to feel mentally and physically at your best.
“I shop online every Sunday with Riverford Organic farms for seasonal fruit and vegetables, so that we can try and eat organic as much as possible.”
Do you follow any specific way of eating?
I try not to eat raw after 4pm to keep my alkaline levels balanced, unless I am doing a juice cleanse. I try to avoid dairy and wheat as much as possible – but I am not strict about this. I try to restrict red meat to once a week and I aim to eat as many plant-based foods as possible.
“I try not to eat raw after 4pm to keep my alkaline levels balanced, unless I am doing a juice cleanse.”
What’s your shopping routine?
I shop online every Sunday with Riverford Organic farms for seasonal fruit and vegetables, so that we can try and eat organic as much as possible – we are not always strict with this. For example, it’s almost impossible to buy good organic peas so Birdseye is still the best.
What do you think are the most nutritious foods?
Plant-based food is the most nutritious and delicious and I always try to have half a plate of it with lunch and dinner.
“I visited the Mayr clinic in Austria and I love their philosophy on food, which is an alkaline-based diet and chewing for longer and slower.”
Did you cook and eat the same types of foods as your children when they were young?
When they were young, I tried to follow the 80/20 rule i.e. eating healthy 80 per cent of the time meant I was relaxed about the remaining 20 per cent. As they were growing, they just needed calories so I would be flexible about what they were eating and would allow chocolate biscuits and ice lollies. I very rarely cook differently for my children.
What is your optimal breakfast?
I try and keep this varied; porridge with berries or avocado on spelt bread. I always have a fresh juice – carrot, kale and spinach.
How do you stay on track when you travel?
It is very hard and there is not much you can do. If I’m going to Paris, I take rice cakes with me so I can avoid croissants, and then it’s generally easy for me to get a fruit salad or boiled egg to go with the rice cakes, and I try and eat as many vegetables as possible. If I’m travelling to New York or LA, they are very well served for raw-juice/clean-juice programmes and I visit the juice press daily.
And at the shows – do you bring any special snacks along to make it through?
“I couldn’t live without ‘Fresh, Happy, Tasty: An Adventure in 100 Recipes’ by Jane Coxwell.”
Nuts, raisins, chocolate rice cakes in the car between shows/meetings, and coconut water.
Are there any cookbooks you couldn’t live without?
Fresh, Happy, Tasty: An Adventure in 100 Recipes by Jane Coxwell. Diane von Furstenberg has written the foreword. I love the recipes as they are balanced and healthy but delicious and not super strict. There is no sugar or desserts, just delicious ideas.
When you go out to dinner how do you navigate the menu?
Most restaurants are fairly easy – I try and choose vegetable-based things depending on what I’ve been eating throughout the week. For lunch, if there is a vegetable soup, I’ll choose that or a salad. For dinner, I’ll go for steamed chicken or fish with vegetables – I love spinach.
Favourite food treats?
Homemade mince pies are a real treat. Occasionally I might indulge in a dessert, as I don’t generally eat sugar, or a glass of wine.
Have you ever tried a diet or detox that worked for you?
I visited the Mayr clinic in Austria and I love their philosophy on food, which is an alkaline-based diet and chewing for longer and slower.
The Mayr clinic in Austria. “As a healthy role model, I look up to my yoga teacher Linda D’Antal and anyone who manages to meditate daily.”
What’s your exercise routine/schedule?
When I am in London, I have a personal trainer twice a week and focus on either weights or running. I also love yoga, which I do once a week.
What do you wear to work out?
I really like Lucas Hugh – where the sports garments are glued rather than stitched, which gives them an urban feel. I also love Stella McCartney for Adidas.
Is there anyone you consider a healthy role model?
My yoga teacher Linda D’Antal and anyone who manages to meditate daily.
