…to write about the article in today’s Times (Saturday 3 January 2015).

I always make a point of scouring the nationals the first Saturday after New Year.  You can bet the leftover Christmas cake that someone is going to (try to) come up with some new way of getting shot of handfuls of chub around our tummies, bottoms, thighs and underarms and ….actually…… that horrible squidgey bit near your bra strap….I seem to have passed that on to my daughters…along with, of course the never-ending legs, the long willowy arms and the massive intellect.  Ahem.

So the article in the Times today reads “The High Fat Diet, lose 10lbs in 2 days”.  It’s sensationalist journalism.  But it’s what I, and every self-respecting and informed Health, Fitness and Weight-Loss Provider has been shouting from the rooftops for years.  Fat is not the issue.  It is sugar.

Eat fat.  We need fat.  There are certain vitamins which are fat soluble (A, D, E and K) which are delivered to the body through fat and are stored in fat cells.  Good fats ( nuts, leafy greens, oily fish, you know the score) help our cell membranes, our skin and protect us against diseases.

If you pick up something which says Fat Free, it will have had the fat replaced with sugar.  Sugar promotes a surge of insulin.  Insulin locks fat into fat cells.

So why are you getting your pants in a twist about the Times article?     

Because they want you to think they’re onto something new.  They’re not.  It’s common sense eating.  Fewer ‘white carbs’ and less sugar, keep the fat along with loads and loads of vegetables.  Oh…and move a bit more.

So, nothing new then?

No.  And if you ever come across a personal trainer who advocates anything or even mentions the words ‘low fat’, then they possibly need to have their credentials (and their food diary) scrutinised.

Incidentally, in the same edition of The Times, there was a full colour OMG picture of Elle Macpherson.  One of my daughters was dancing round the kitchen saying what fun it would be if we (i.e, she) photoshopped my face onto her body.  Whilst I am always ready to laugh at myself, I did feel ever so slightly miffed.

“But Elle follows me on Twitter”..I replied…

“Never?!…she said.

“No.  No, she doesn’t. Her loss perhaps. But  I too, like her, drink a disgusting Lean Greens drink every morning (like chewed up brussell sprouts which have been soaked in dishwater) but somehow my legs (and my bank account) are a fraction of hers.

Where’s that gin and tonic?

Happy New Year, lovely readers and enjoy your Saturday night.