'I'll always have trouble with my weight'

On Sunday, a trim, toned and healthy Lorraine will be taking to the streets to run the Flora London Marathon for the British Heart Foundation. ''I can't believe I'm doing it,'' laughs the 44-year-old. ''I've always wanted to run it but it will be a once only event.''

Not only is she running the whopping 26 miles, she's team captain. Lorraine and her team of forty 40-year-olds will be out to prove that it's never too late to get fit, and celebrating the charity's 40th birthday while they're doing it.

''I'll be leading from behind,'' she jokes. ''I'm not fit - I'm a pit pony. I'm not very elegant and I'm quite sturdy but I'll keep going. I've got endurance.

''Obviously you don't have to run a marathon to get healthy but you can change your lifestyle. Walk rather than take the car when you're going short distances. Try and eat in a healthy way. There are all these books about what to eat and how to get fit and I just think, 'Eat less rubbish and get off your arse!','' she advises.

Having lost one and a half stone since last November, Lorraine knows what she's talking about. She's taken a measured approach and had great results.

''It's been gradual through exercise and sensible eating. But I'll always have trouble with my weight and have half a stone floating around, like most women. I don't want to beat myself up about it any more. I still have curries and chocolates but in small amounts. I would never say deny yourself. I don't think diets work.

''All this Atkins thing is crazy. Sure, you'll lose weight but the side effects,'' she gasps. ''Constipation, bad breath and depression. You'll be really thin but smelly and miserable with no friends.

''Some folk are meant to be a size 8 and some a size 16. I'm meant to be a size 12 and that's what I am at the moment. If I was any thinner, I'd look ridiculous and if I'm any fatter, I look big.''

One of Lorraine's larger moments came just over a decade ago when she was expecting her daughter, Rosie, now age 11. A miscarriage years later also led to her piling on the pounds.

''Oh for the love of God, I was an Easter egg when I was pregnant. I was gigantic. I used the pregnancy as an excuse to eat. Six months after Rosie was born, I was still wearing maternity clothes. People thought I was having the longest pregnancy in the world.''

The only downside of slimming down, says Lorraine, is the loss of her bust. "My boobs are hanging on in there but they're not nearly as voluptuous as they used to be. It's annoying isn't it? It always makes me laugh when these women starve themselves within an inch of their lives and then go and have a boob job. What's the point of that?''

This departure into a thinner and fitter world was spurred on by a family holiday to Australia at the end of last year. Like most women, Lorraine was none too excited by the prospect of donning her cossie.

''I thought, 'On Christmas Day I'm not sitting on Manly Beach in a kaftan, I am not'. I wanted to be able to wear a pair of shorts, a top which showed the tops of my arms and to feel OK.''

So the healthy eating started, as did the exercise and then the British Heart Foundation approached her about the marathon.

''I thought it would keep me on track. It's worked out really well. I'm amazed I'm doing it - I've never run in my life.''

This year's marathon may be her first but together with her best mate and faithful exercise partner, Joyce, Lorraine has twice completed The Playtex Moonwalk for Breast Cancer. This year she won't be able to take part as she'll be presenting The Eurovision Song Contest on BBC One, but will be 'nipping down' nonetheless.

As for her fitness regime, Lorraine has to work it around her four days a week ITV1 chat show, LK Today, journalism and being a mum.

''The hardest thing is finding the time. At the weekends I've been doing a big run. During the week I go to the gym about four times a week and do interval training - you run fast for five minutes then walk and swap between the two,'' she explains.

''Doing it on your own is dull, even with an iPod and listening to The Cure or The Smiths. When you're with someone, you can talk. Joyce and I gab about everything and everybody when we're working out.''

With so much going on, you wonder whether her husband of 12 years, Steve Smith, 44, a freelance cameraman, and their daughter Rosie, ever get to see her. But Lorraine, who lives in Berkshire with her family, would never let that happen.

''Och no, it's fine,'' she smiles. ''You just compartmentalise everything that's going on in your life.''

No matter what's going on at work, Lorraine's always at the school gate to pick Rosie up from school. ''We come home, she does her homework, I make her tea, give her a bath and that's her time. If I have to write at midnight, then so be it. Rosie's great company and very funny. She's got a cute English accent but she can take me off to a tee.''

Having started out as a news reporter and then gone on to TV-AM as the Scottish correspondent in 1985, Lorraine's been in the 'industry' for almost 20 years. It's no surprise she's got her routine off pat, but it was never planned. ''I fell into my job. I was more than happy up in Scotland and was dragged - kicking and screaming - down to London to sit on a pink sofa with big hair.''

Despite her accidental success, and unlike some of her showbiz peers, Lorraine really is grounded.

''I'm not Madonna. I use my maiden name for work but at school and on my passport and everything else I use Mrs Smith.

''I get recognition on the street. It's like people know me, which is nice, but it's not daft. I can toddle around and shop for Toilet Duck, it's no big deal.''

l Lorraine Kelly will be running the Flora Marathon on Sunday for

The British Heart Foundation.

l LK Today is on ITV1 on Monday-Thursday. Lorraine presents The Eurovision Song Contest on BBC One on Saturday May 15.

Mike Amos is on holiday