After trying – and ditching – every fad diet under the sun, presenter Nadia Sawalha is finally happy with her weight, she tells Diana Pilkington

IN an ideal world, Nadia Sawalha would have banished the word “diet” from the cover of her latest cookbook. But, says the author of Greedy Girl’s Diet, some rules have to be followed for marketing purposes.

“But I really believe that if you think you are on a diet, you are going to stuff your face at some point,” she says. “Unless you can feel like a normal person who sometimes eats a pudding and has a bit too much to drink, you will not succeed.”

The 48-year-old says a constant state of “dieting and denial” resulted in her being obese.

Eventually, she decided to eat as normally as possible (breakfast and pudding are key components of her day) and simply shave off the hidden calories here and there, as well as eating enough to fuel an active lifestyle. As a result, she shed three-and-a-half stone and is now a healthy size 12.

Beautiful berry pancakes

Serves four (eight pancakes)

125g self-raising flour

2tsp caster sugar

½ tsp baking powder

Small pinch of salt

1 egg, separated

150ml skimmed milk

1tsp vanilla extract

Vegetable oil spray

50g blueberries or raspberries

To serve:

1 tbsp icing sugar

Agave syrup

Method:

Put the flour, caster sugar, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl. Combine the egg yolk with the milk and vanilla extract in a jug and whisk into the dry ingredients to make a smooth batter. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg white until soft peaks form and carefully fold into the batter.

Heat a non-stick frying pan and spray with a thin film of oil. Put a spoonful of the pancake mixture into the pan and sprinkle a few blueberries or raspberries on top. Once you see bubbles forming, flip the pancake and cook on the other side.

Transfer to a warm plate while you finish cooking the rest. To serve, dust with icing sugar and accompany with agave syrup.

  • Greedy Girl’s Diet by Nadia Sawalha (Kyle Books, £14.99)