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IF MY HUSBAND ATE RED MEAT I'D DIVORCE HIM, SAYS HEALTH GURU GILLIAN McKEITH
FOR a woman of only 5ft 3in, Gillian McKeith is very intimidating. Within seconds of meeting her, you feel guilty about the chocolate you ate for lunch and promise yourself that from now on you'll drink nettle tea.
So it's little surprise that this 43-year-old Scot is responsible for persuading reluctant Britons to radically change what they put in their bodies.
This is the woman who convinced a man on her show to split with his lover because she was
getting in the way of him eating healthily.
"I think people usually want permission from me to say 'it's OK to eat what you do' b
ut I'm never going to say that," Gillian says.
"I have this reputation for being a scary food fascist but I just want to turn people on to healthy food. I want to help them to help themselves."
The You Are What You Eat presenter's passionate approach makes her perfect as the Daily Mirror's new food columnist. From Monday she will be offering tips on how to change your diet - and improve your life.
But with her no-nonsense attitude to eating, you wonder what she is like to live with. Her two daughters - Afton, five, and Skylar, 11 - must surely eat some unhealthy food? A sneaky bag of crisps perhaps? Apparently not.
"There's no junk food in the house," Gillian explains.
"I brought my kids up to eat the way I eat so they don't know any different. It'
s the same if someone only brings up their kids on takeaways, that's all they know. They've never been to McDonald's and they've never asked me to take them.
"I never say 'you can't have that' but they're informed children. One of m
y daughters went to a birthday party. I asked her 'did you have any cake?', when she said 'no' I asked 'why not' and she explained she'd stuck her finger in it and saw there were so many colours and it was so chemicalised, it wouldn't be good for her."
Gillian laughs. "The girls are so switched on. My five-year-old's favourite food is chestnuts."
And what about her husband, Howard, a 45-year-old lawyer, doesn't he ever prefer steak and chips to an adzuki bean bake?
"It would be grounds for divorce if my husband ate red meat," Gillian giggles.
"In my experience most redmeat eaters are narrow minded. I love it when I get a p
articipant who likes their steak as they're more of a challenge.
"I can't believe it when some women say they find it hard to stay healthy because their partner doesn't like healthy food. If it was me I'd say 'they either eat this or they move out'."
Gillian admits that while other couples argue over who should take the rubbish out, they bicker about quino
a, the healthy cereal grain.
"My husband was into healthy food before he met me and I think it'd be hard to live with someone who didn't want to try new foods," she says.
"But we do have different attitudes towards meals. For example, I like my quinoa to be simple and he likes to toss lots of things into it. I don't like it when he does that."
Gillian is passionate about food. But she hasn't always been so healthy. In her 20s she would often get through six Twix bars a day and was three stone overweight. Her diet was so bad she suffere
d from constant migraines and felt drained of all energy.
"I couldn't get out of bed for about a year," Gillian says.
"I kept going to the doctor but they couldn't work out what was wrong. The migraines got so bad I believed I had a brain tumour."
It was while hosting a radio show in America a guest claimed she could see her "energy" and told Gillian she had several vitamin, mineral and yeast deficiencies. Further tests supported this and a change of di
et transformed her life.
"I feel I've reached a pinnacle of health now," Gillian says.
"I have lots of energy and I feel positive. I haven't had a whole chocolate bar for 15 years. I just don't crave that sugar like I used to."
On her wedding day, Gillian even had a cake made from carob - a chocolate substitute.
"Did the guests mind? Well, it was my party so they had to have it," she laughs.
The
only thing that does trouble Gillian is her back. She has scoliosis - an S-shaped curvature of the spine which affects the position of her hips, kidneys and lungs and gives the impression of a small hump on her back.
The condition means she is in constant pain. But she says her healthy diet and daily exercise mean she doesn't have to take any medication.
"People used to comment that my hair was too long but it was because I was trying to hide my back," Gillian says.
"I've had my hair cut now and I don't care. I saw a picture of Sienna Miller recently wearing this backless dress and I did
think 'oh, wouldn't it be wonderful to have a back like that' but I guess lots of other people thought that too."
Gillian doesn't let her condition affect her life. In fact, she is more energetic than ever. She loves dancing around the living room with her daughters to the Scissor Sisters or Robbie Williams.
"I went to
a party with lots of 10 year olds and there was this karaoke machine," Gillian remembers.
"I got up and sang a Girls Aloud song. It was fun but my daughter was embarrassed."
Dr Gillian McKeith has so much energy and passion for healthy living, it's contagious.
"There are so many people with true disabilities, it's wrong to treat your body like a dustbin," Gillian says.
"Your body should be your temple. I want to empower and motivate people to see that."
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FOR a woman of only 5ft 3in, Gillian McKeith is very intimidating. Within seconds of meeting her, you feel guilty about the chocolate you ate for lunch and promise yourself that from now on you'll drink nettle tea.
So it's little surprise that this 43-year-old Scot is responsible for persuading reluctant Britons to radically change what they put in their bodies.
This is the woman who convinced a man on her show to split with his lover because she was
getting in the way of him eating healthily.
"I think people usually want permission from me to say 'it's OK to eat what you do' b
ut I'm never going to say that," Gillian says.
"I have this reputation for being a scary food fascist but I just want to turn people on to healthy food. I want to help them to help themselves."
The You Are What You Eat presenter's passionate approach makes her perfect as the Daily Mirror's new food columnist. From Monday she will be offering tips on how to change your diet - and improve your life.
But with her no-nonsense attitude to eating, you wonder what she is like to live with. Her two daughters - Afton, five, and Skylar, 11 - must surely eat some unhealthy food? A sneaky bag of crisps perhaps? Apparently not.
"There's no junk food in the house," Gillian explains.
"I brought my kids up to eat the way I eat so they don't know any different. It'
s the same if someone only brings up their kids on takeaways, that's all they know. They've never been to McDonald's and they've never asked me to take them.
"I never say 'you can't have that' but they're informed children. One of m
y daughters went to a birthday party. I asked her 'did you have any cake?', when she said 'no' I asked 'why not' and she explained she'd stuck her finger in it and saw there were so many colours and it was so chemicalised, it wouldn't be good for her."
Gillian laughs. "The girls are so switched on. My five-year-old's favourite food is chestnuts."
And what about her husband, Howard, a 45-year-old lawyer, doesn't he ever prefer steak and chips to an adzuki bean bake?
"It would be grounds for divorce if my husband ate red meat," Gillian giggles.
"In my experience most redmeat eaters are narrow minded. I love it when I get a p
articipant who likes their steak as they're more of a challenge.
"I can't believe it when some women say they find it hard to stay healthy because their partner doesn't like healthy food. If it was me I'd say 'they either eat this or they move out'."
Gillian admits that while other couples argue over who should take the rubbish out, they bicker about quino
a, the healthy cereal grain.
"My husband was into healthy food before he met me and I think it'd be hard to live with someone who didn't want to try new foods," she says.
"But we do have different attitudes towards meals. For example, I like my quinoa to be simple and he likes to toss lots of things into it. I don't like it when he does that."
Gillian is passionate about food. But she hasn't always been so healthy. In her 20s she would often get through six Twix bars a day and was three stone overweight. Her diet was so bad she suffere
d from constant migraines and felt drained of all energy.
"I couldn't get out of bed for about a year," Gillian says.
"I kept going to the doctor but they couldn't work out what was wrong. The migraines got so bad I believed I had a brain tumour."
It was while hosting a radio show in America a guest claimed she could see her "energy" and told Gillian she had several vitamin, mineral and yeast deficiencies. Further tests supported this and a change of di
et transformed her life.
"I feel I've reached a pinnacle of health now," Gillian says.
"I have lots of energy and I feel positive. I haven't had a whole chocolate bar for 15 years. I just don't crave that sugar like I used to."
On her wedding day, Gillian even had a cake made from carob - a chocolate substitute.
"Did the guests mind? Well, it was my party so they had to have it," she laughs.
The
only thing that does trouble Gillian is her back. She has scoliosis - an S-shaped curvature of the spine which affects the position of her hips, kidneys and lungs and gives the impression of a small hump on her back.
The condition means she is in constant pain. But she says her healthy diet and daily exercise mean she doesn't have to take any medication.
"People used to comment that my hair was too long but it was because I was trying to hide my back," Gillian says.
"I've had my hair cut now and I don't care. I saw a picture of Sienna Miller recently wearing this backless dress and I did
think 'oh, wouldn't it be wonderful to have a back like that' but I guess lots of other people thought that too."
Gillian doesn't let her condition affect her life. In fact, she is more energetic than ever. She loves dancing around the living room with her daughters to the Scissor Sisters or Robbie Williams.
"I went to
a party with lots of 10 year olds and there was this karaoke machine," Gillian remembers.
"I got up and sang a Girls Aloud song. It was fun but my daughter was embarrassed."
Dr Gillian McKeith has so much energy and passion for healthy living, it's contagious.
"There are so many people with true disabilities, it's wrong to treat your body like a dustbin," Gillian says.
"Your body should be your temple. I want to empower and motivate people to see that."
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