Host: Murray Norton (MN)

Guests: Nicki Waterman (NW)

MN: Good afternoon and welcome to today's webchat. We're talking calories today. How to burn them and what to do to burn them. We are joined by Nicki Waterman fitness guru to the rich and the famous. Welcome Nicki.

NW: Thanks for having me.

MN: Now, the latest research that comes from Special K, from Kelloggs, tells us that we've got a complete misunderstanding about how many calories we're burning.

NW: Exactly. We know exactly what we're eating because it's on the package. If we buy a sarnie for instance, it's actually on the back of the package.

MN: Three hundred, four hundred calories, whatever.

NW: Exactly, and X amount of fat, fine. Same on a packet of crisps, bar of chocolate, lovely. But they've done this survey and people just haven't got a clue to how many calories you burn doing the housework, ironing, having sex, anything, they just haven't got a clue.

MN: Well there are so many myths about this, 'Oh yeah, good sex, oh that's ... ooh, I don't know, a thousand calories' or whatever.

NW: In fifteen minutes or half an hour, whatever. There's no way, even swinging off the chandelier, it's not going to happen.

MN: Really? Obviously it varies person to person. So it's not going to happen is it.

NW: It's not going to happen and I think this where the problem lies. I think people's waistlines are expanding, let's put it in a nice word and I think that's where the problem lies. People don't realise that actually they're eating far too much and actually they're not burning the calories to exceed that and it's as simple as that. If people want to lose weight it's calories in, it's calories out. It's that easy to get rid of the weight. Now, to actually lose a pound of fat you have to burn three thousand, five hundred calories.

MN: Whoa! That's a lot of calories.

NW: Yeah, it is. A pound of fat is a lot. Now, if you went on a very strict, calorie-controlled diet, which I don't believe in, I believe in healthy eating, you could lose seven to ten pounds in a week but it's fluid. You cannot physically lose or scientifically lose more than a pound and a half of fat in a week.

MN: Three and a half thousand calories, that's a daily intake isn't it? That's a daily intake for a normal man.

NW: Yeah and for a woman, it's about two, two and a half.

MN: Really?

NW: Yeah, really.

MN: So that's a lot of calories to lose.

NW: And you or me, if we will sit down with a takeaway, an Indian takeaway with some korma and some naan bread and some poppadums and some beer would easily, easily consume that in one sitting and that's the problem. Now, how long do you think you'd have to walk to actually burn off that three thousand, five hundred calories?

MN: Walk?

NW: Mm, just a normal walk, leisurely stroll.

MN: Good afternoon.

NW: Good afternoon, no.

MN: No, just an afternoon's worth?

NW: That would be eleven hours and forty minutes, that's staggering, staggering!

MN: Eleven hours and forty minutes of walking to get rid of a pound of fat.

NW: A pound of fat.

MN: That would put you off for life, wouldn't it, eating anything!

NW: Well, I think it puts you off for life eating the wrong food. We are like a car. If you drive a car and your car only takes unleaded petrol, for instance, and you put diesel in your car, what's going to happen?

MN: It's going to conk out.

NW: It's the same with us. Eventually, if we keep putting crap into our bodies and feeding our body with fast foods and foods that aren't nutritionally full of goodness, basically our bodies will conk out and the less we do, the less our muscles and bones and our metabolism is going to drop. So basically, it's going to be harder to burn up those calories. So we want to - especially as we get older, we want to keep our metabolism revved up and that's by exercising.

MN: Alright, we get the message I think, or at least we're starting to.

NW: All you have to do is put one foot in front of the other.

MN: Yeah but it's a lot of foots in front of a lot of foots, that's for certain! We're getting the message and certainly there are a lot of questions coming in from you. If you want to add to that list of questions we'll try to get into them in the next half hour, with Nicky here and Hugo, who's alongside, who's a dog, who's just out of shot there and being ever so good. You'll maybe get a picture of Hugo if you're very lucky a little later. He's just being perfect. Actually, talking about that, is a pet good for exercising with?

NW: A pet is amazing because they'll never let you down. If you want to go for a W-A-L-K ...

MN: Good excuse to go for a walk.

NW: Yeah, exactly, it's a great excuse because you have to walk when you've got a dog.

MN: I said the 'walk' word, sorry.

NW: It's alright because he won't move because he hates it. If I mention that word he'll hide.

MN: Alright, let's take a question from John, John thank you very much indeed for your question, 'What are the typical issues people come up against when following an exercise plan and how can we counteract them?' I guess we all start off with good intentions but it falls by the wayside. I don't know if that happened for you, John, it certainly happened for me.

NW: so many people have this happen to them. You know something, people spend a fortune on a gym membership for exactly that reason. They join in January and by the end of March ninety percent of the people aren't going anymore because ...

MN: I'm one of them!

NW: Are you?

MN: Yeah. What a waste of money that membership was.

NW: What a waste of money and you don't need to go to a gym. I think the first thing to do is set yourself realistic goals so get yourself in a race. There's loads of 5K races around. Maybe do a London to Brighton bike ride or something and I think it's really, really important to get an exercise buddy, a mate of yours who will exercise with you because you won't want to let each other down.

MN: Yeah, if there's more than two of you, you always rely on the other two, don't you.

NW: Exactly, but two of you is good and that's how I lost my weight originally, is by exercising, getting a friend of mine ...

MN: But there's nothing of you.

NW: No, but I've lost five stone. I mean, not recently, obviously, I've kept it off for nineteen years. I lost five stone and I did it with a friend of mine, we did it together and it was really good because we motivated each other. It's really important to have support around you, losing weight and getting fit is all about support. And once you start, as I always say, getting started is the hardest part and then you're on your way.

MN: But that's the pitfall that John was talking about really, wasn't it, that's the issue. How do you counteract that?

NW: Well, as I said, you will hit plateaus, everybody hits a plateau but you have to know if you hit a plateau then you've got to change your routine. It's really important to enjoy the sort of exercise. First thing to do is to find what sort of exercise you enjoy doing, right. So that could be anything from tennis to squash to swimming to skiing or even just go walking, there are loads of ramblers associations, lots of websites, even scuba-diving, anything. Just find a hobby that you actually enjoy doing, even golf is good, and then it's a matter of sticking with it and it's good to vary it. Vary the programme that you're doing and that will keep it exciting. But I think goals, setting yourself races to do, 5K, 10K and maybe even a Marathon one day or cycling, you know, everybody's different but setting yourself short term goals is a good idea.

MN: Make a commitment and then you've got to live up to it.

NW: Yeah, yeah, completely.

MN: Thank you John, for your question. Mandy has a question, it's the age-old question, 'Is there a quick way to lose weight?' That's a fantastic question but ...

NW: I would say if you are going on holiday next week and you want to drop literally a few pounds, yes okay. Cut out all fast food because loads and loads of salt in your diet and the other thing is, of course, become a lot more active just by walking a lot more, running a little bit, going to a few classes and cutting out all processed food really and it will all come off you. No alcohol. You can do it.

MN: No alcohol, cut out the processed food, do more exercise.

NW: Every day.

MN: We know all this though, don't we?

NW: We know it but we don't do it and there's so much information everywhere. Everywhere it's drummed into us, 'Okay, you've got to do this, do that' and do people do it? No. Because of computers. Computers are making us get fat because these days you don't even need to go shopping anymore, you can do it all on-line, they deliver.

MN: This is what's come out of this Special K survey, hasn't it, that we don't know enough, we assume we know enough.

NW: We don't know enough at all, we really don't. People think that just by sitting down, seven percent of people think by sitting down at your desk you're going to burn five hundred calories, well you're just not. You're not going to burn anywhere near that amount. When you're on the phone, little tips like, when you're on the phone, instead of sitting down, stand up. First of all you'll have more authority so basically you're going to come across better. Second of all, you're going to be burning calories. Even just by trotting around on the phone, it's a much better idea.

MN: We actually have a little watch here and you're wearing one.

NW: I'm wearing one, I always wear my watch.

MN: Fantastic little watch and the reason why I refer to this is because this will help you exercise more. Does it actually encourage you to exercise?

NW: I tell you what, it's called the 'Personal Trainer' watch and I thought, “Well, why is it called the 'Personal Trainer' watch?” And now I've got to know it really well.

MN: Yours just beeped!

NW: I know, I've just beeped it, yeah. The reason why it is, is because it is like a personal trainer, because it saves all your data. So if, like a normal person, you decide, 'Right, I'm going to start my regime today, I'm going to put on my watch this morning, I'm going to have my breakfast and off I go to work but it's a long way to work and I'm going to get off at the station two stations earlier. Right, I'm now going to see how many calories I burned to work.' So it's twenty minutes, you might burn a hundred and fifty calories, that's great. Tomorrow, and 'I've programmed it in, it's all set there, tomorrow when I do the same, let's see if I can do it in a quicker time. Instead of twenty minutes it takes me seventeen minutes to burn that one hundred and fifty calories.' So basically, it's storing all the data.

MN: So this will not only read your heart rate ...

NW: It will read your heart rate like a heart rate monitor which is really important to do that because heart disease is the biggest killer in the UK.

MN: Sure.

NW: And actually knowing if you're working out in the right zone, as they call it, is very important. People say to me, 'I can't understand why I'm not losing weight, I go to the gym three times, I'm not losing' and I say, 'Well, you're not working hard enough. You're not working hard enough to push yourself. You might as well go shopping round the Mall for what you're doing, it's a waste of time.'

MN: So, heart rate, calories burnt are all there.

NW: Calories are amazing, it will tell your calories sitting down; it will test my calories now by just sitting down here.

MN: Well okay, you're testing those, while we're doing that let's just say you can get these watches only by one way. There's an on-pack promotion, isn't there.

NW: Basically, you can check out the Kelloggs website which is www.kelloggs.co.uk/specialK or you can get the watch by buying special packs of special K and they're everywhere and that's what you should do.

MN: The watches aren't expensive.

NW: No, they're only £9.99 and they're worth just under £60.00 and there are other ones on the market that are hundreds and hundreds of pounds. It's the best value and I think it's a nice looking watch as well, don't you? Nice looking watch.

MN: Yeah, it's a cracking looking watch.

NW: All my celebrity clients have them.

MN: It tells the time now, doesn't it.

NW: It does, it even tells the time.

MN: Fantastic.

NW: But it's idiot-proof. It's really, really easy to use. Look, just the sensors, you put it on here and it will tell you everything you need to know.

MN: Okay, we've got sensors on the watch at £9.99. Do check out the page on the Kelloggs website and also the other way to do it is to have a look at the Special K special packs, special promotions packs, where you can get the tokens for it as well, £9.99 and that will encourage people to exercise.

NW: That's right. That's like being your own personal trainer.

MN: Is that right, yeah. And of course you sort of start playing mind games with yourself on it, don't you.

NW: Well, what you should try and do is to beat yesterday's record, every day try and improve on yourself.

MN: Talking of which timescale, Gill wants to know - thank you very much indeed for your question, Gill wants to know, 'In your experience what timescale does it take someone who is unfit and two stone overweight, to get fit and shed the pounds?'

NW: How long's a piece of string? How much effort is she willing to put into losing that weight? I mean that's it really, isn't it. It's all down to effort, It's all down to effort. If you go on a healthy eating regime, I'm not talking about a strict calorie-controlled diet, I'm talking about having a breakfast, lunch and dinner, maybe with a few snacks in between and doing an hour and a half worth of exercise, walking every day. Not in one go. You will feel better the first day. Within four weeks you should drop a dress size easily.

MN: Wow.

NW: So, there we are, I think that's it.

MN: So you'll start seeing results in four weeks but it should go on from there.

NW: Oh gosh, it should be a way of life, this should not be a quick fad. This is not a fad, it's a good way of life, it's a healthy way of life.

MN: Here's an unusual question in from someone who goes by the name of Marr, hallo Marr. Marr wants to know, 'I'm sixty five, I'd like to lose some weight but I don't like the idea of joining a gym' which I guess is for a lot of people.

NW: Don't blame you, Marr.

MN: 'I do eat relatively healthily but is there anything you can recommend for me?' Now obviously, age is a factor in this, isn't it.

NW: Age is a factor and that's why a heart rate monitor is very good. Basically, it's 220 minus your age and then you go between 60 and 70 of your maximum heart rate but if he's unfit, he'll probably want to work at 140 which your watch will tell you. If you go beyond that it becomes dangerous and that's why it's so important for anybody over the age of forty to wear a heart rate monitor. I mean, this is an added bonus because it will give you your calorie expenditure but, honestly, I think it's a must for anybody and if he just starts off doing five minutes here and five minutes there and maybe building it up to twenty minutes every day.

MN: You mentioned 220 minus your age. That's your maximum heart rate, is it?

NW: Yes. Are you working it out.

MN: Right, yes, I'm just working it out in my mind now. Blimey, that high is it? I better start working a bit harder.

NW: And the fitter you get, the harder it will be to raise your heart rate.

MN: Okay.

NW: So you'll see it and the watch will tell you it, the watch will tell you everything. Again, you just put your two fingers on the watch and it will tell you, you'll hear it beeping.

MN: And it will tell you your heart rate. What's your heart rate at the moment?

NW: I'm just sitting down.

MN: You're sitting down, it doesn't count, does it. Joe's got a fantastic question and a question after my own heart, if you like. /p>

NW: Go on

MN: Joe, thank you for your question, 'Some people say chocolate is good for you, others say it isn't. What do you say?'

NW: I think it's fine. Everything in moderation. Everything in moderation.

MN: Really?

NW: Yeah, if you get an organic chocolate, for instance, and you get one cube and you put it under your tongue and let it melt, there's nothing wrong with it, honestly. Again, everything in moderation. It's when you go through the whole packs

MN: The seventy percent cocoa ones as well, the ones in high chocolate, low fat.

NW: Yeah, they're very good for you. They've got lots of antioxidants in them. Nothing wrong with chocolate.

MN: Alright, so nothing wrong with it, just don't have the whole bar in one sitting.

NW: Yeah, exactly. Because if you say, 'Right, I'm not having any chocolate' - to say that to me means, 'Forget it, I'm going to eat the whole lot and more and go to the garage and get more chocolate and more sweets.'

MN: Just because they said not, you'd do it, wouldn't you.

NW: Exactly. The minute you say, 'I'm not a diet' - if I say that to myself all I do is think about food morning 'til night so that's not the key. A little bit of what you fancy is always a good thing.

MN: Right, we've been told, Nicky told us so it's got to be true.

NW: Yes.

MN: Right, Josephina, how long will it take me to burn off the packet of crisps? I think Josephina's just had the packet of crisps, that's why.

NW: What size packet of crisps?

MN: Oh, let's go for thirty grams.

NW: Well, it varies. You know it could takes probably an hour and a half of walking, maybe two hours of walking to burn off that packet of crisps.

MN: Oh that's a lot!

NW: Is it worth it, Josephina? And empty calories making you all spotty. Not worth it.

MN: No, don't want it. Give them up. Chloe, on the other hand, is into soups, 'What do you think about these soup diets. Do they work? Does the weight stay off?'

NW: Right, you know what? This is exactly what I was talking about before. You will lose weight, you will lose fluid, the minute you start eating solids again, the weight will pile back on. So is it worth it? No. What's the point of putting yourself through all that pain and misery and you'll get the headaches from detoxing as they call it. If you want to lose some weight and you want to detox, get yourself some milk thistle and stay on that for three weeks. You can get it from any health food shop or any chemist.

MN: Milk thistle?

NW: Milk thistle and just eat a healthy diet and that will detox you.

MN: That's it?

NW: Mm.

MN: Okay, I just wanted to ask you because you mentioned about eating the bar of chocolate, is the pressure really on you? You're a fitness guru, you're very well known, you write in 'The Sun', we see you on the TV screens, you're doing lots and lots of publicity so with all that being the case, when you're out, everyone's looking. People who know you ... Supermarket.

NW: Oh, funniest thing, it's the funniest thing, people don't want to eat! When I'm out with friends for dinner or people who I don't know that well, they are so conscious of everything I eat. Suddenly they think, 'Oh, I can't have that, can't have that' and that's ridiculous.

MN: I checked my lunch with you today, didn't I. I was so guilty.

NW: I know, too funny, so many people feel like that and that's not the case but it's good. You should feel like that all the time, am I eating? What am I eating? Because you said you had a granary roll with chicken salad which was so healthy. It's brilliant. You were saying, 'But it's too big, the granary roll.' You could have had two granary rolls, there's nothing wrong with that, you're a growing lad!

MN: Growing too much but do you know the good thing? When I went to the sandwich bar I said, 'No, not the one with mayo, I'll just have the plain chicken.'

NW: That's it.

MN: And that's because you were here.

NW: Are you serious?

MN: Yeah, that's absolutely true.

NW: But nowadays they do an extra, extra light mayo, you can have that.

MN: Fine, alright then. I'll do that next time.

NW: There's nothing wrong. And remember, eating anything with a little bit of chilli or spice will raise your metabolism so sometimes I put a bit of mustard with my chicken and beef, little tip.

MN: See, we're getting into cookery now.

NW: And I'm not a good cook.

MN: Katy, thank you for your question, Katy's got a very serious question here. Twenty seven, trying to eat healthily but often binged due to personal issues, 'I desperately want to lose two stone but I feel it's impossible. I binge eat when I think it's impossible to achieve this.' Is that the sort of giving up? 'Oh, well I've had a chocolate bar so I might as well eat the fridge out.' 'Will I definitely get results if I stick to your on-line plan or do some people just not lose weight?' Lot of issues here.

NW: No, anybody can lose weight if they put their mind to it. You've just got to really, really want to lose weight. That's the thing. It's not easy, I'm not going to say it's easy but with support and help - and the minute you start to lose that first couple of pounds, 'Yeah! I'm in there' and you'll go for it. It just takes twenty one days to break a habit or twenty one times to break a habit. If you can stick with it, it makes a huge difference, really a huge difference.

MN: Alright, so sticking in there.

NW: Just sticking in there and you can do it. You know when you think you're going to binge, first of all don't have it in the house, any rubbish, do not have it in the house. Just have healthy food in the house. You know you can pick on vegetables and humous if you want to pick on something. Don't have the biscuits, the chocolate bars in the house, it's not worth it really.

MN: Collect them all up, box them all up and take them somewhere else, to somebody else.

NW: Yeah, take them to an old people's home or a hospice, that's a good idea. And the other thing is, if you think you're going to binge, why not go out for a walk. After five to ten minutes you'll come back home and you'll think, 'I'm so glad I didn't do that.' That urge will go, I promise you that urge will go because I was a real sugar addict. I could have written a book on sugar addiction, okay. I promise you faithfully that that urge to want to binge and eat all that sugar will go once you go for that little walk or get on the floor, do some tummy crunches, it will go.

MN: Katy, good luck with that and I hope it all works for you. In the meantime I can tell you that we have only ten minutes left of the web chat so if there is a question then please, please let us know as soon as possible. Craig has got a question for us, he wants to know, 'I'm thirty years old, I'm male. I want to lose a stone and get fit. The question is how?'

NW: Cut out the beer, that's what I say, Cut - Out - The - Beer!

MN: See you're assuming that Craig drinks beer.

NW: Every bloke drinks beer!

MN: Yeah, we do, don't we.

NW: That's why they've got beer bellies! (Laughter).

MN: Do you mind if I just button up here for a minute? You're picking on me now! (Laughter). Craig, so cut out the beer.

NW: No, cut out the beer and get moving. You know, play some soccer, go for a walk, again, get active. Do you know something, men have a totally different relationship to women with food and it's phenomenal to see.

MN: What is it?

NW: Once a man decides he wants to lose weight they can just do it, they've got such - it's unbelievable.

MN: Really? In your experience are men better to deal with it?

NW: Oh, without a doubt. They've just got, 'Right once I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it.' There's no, 'Well, I fancy a binge here.' Men don't really binge, they just don't, honestly.

MN: You've not seen me yet, then. Michael wants to know, 'Does it take men as long to burn food as women?' This is a metabolism question really.

NW: No, faster normally.

MN: Really? So we've got quicker metabolisms?

NW: Yeah, normally faster because they're heavier.

MN: Oh, so we're carrying more anyway so ...

NW: Exactly, exactly, but it's all pro rata, isn't it. It all varies. Again, it's down to genes, a lot of it is down to genetics and also what you did as a youngster because your body is very good, it does repair itself very quickly. You know your body remembers if you were active as a kid, your body will always remember that so you'll get back into it but try and start leading a healthy lifestyle.

MN: The sooner the better.

NW: The sooner the better.

MN: The celebrities that come to you, do they come to you in some pretty poor states because when I think of celebrities I think of people that maybe live life a bit to excess, maybe a bit too much booze, maybe too many late parties, lots of food at the wrong time. If they're doing all of that how do you go about it with people in that state?

NW: I think celebrities are quite competitive within themselves because they know they have to look good. So if they would abuse themselves and over-drink one day, they will be okay for the next quite a few days. They won't do it in concession the whole time. I think it's just talking to them and explaining to them the health benefits and once they start feeling better they won't abuse their bodies so much. But basically they're all pretty good, they vary.

MN: Do you ever get overawed, do you get someone come in and think, 'Oh my God, I've been a fan of this person for a long time!'

NW: Well, funniest thing, Donny Osmond who, when I was growing up ...

MN: He's a great guy, isn't he.

NW: Oh, when I was growing up with Donny he was my idol.

MN: You had a poster on the wall, didn't you.

NW: No, THE poster, my whole room was covered with Donny. I mean I'd go to all his concerts literally and I'm in the front row. A few years ago I actually met him and I thought there would be hundreds of people in the room and there was only eight of us and do you know I couldn't believe it. This is the guy that I loved and adored all of my life and he was another one - he normally likes sugar and ice-cream. Because I was sitting next to him he didn't have any. I was so chuffed I can't tell you! It was great.

MN: I had to admit to him actually that I did put funny glasses and moustaches on all the posters in my sister's bedroom which I did, but he's a good guy.

NW: Oh, isn't he a nice guy and it was so nice speaking to him.

MN: Have you trained him

NW: No but I spoke to him about nutrition and for two days I was just in heaven and my husband was totally jealous because I didn't stop talking about Donny, Donny, Donny. (Laughter). No, he was my ideal, I was in awe of him but nobody else.

MN: Alright, you're not naming names, are you.

NW: No, you know I'm not.

MN: You told me you wouldn't. You told me before, 'Don't ask me who I train because I'm not allowed to tell you.' Because they don't want those secrets out, do they.

NW: I Don't know if they do or not but it's just my policy. I've been doing it for a long time and they've been my mates for a long time so I won't talk about them.

MN: Okay.

NW: Sorry!

MN: I think I'll give you sorry eyes. Alright then, Jenny wants to know, 'UK TV, how did you become a fitness guru to the rich and the famous?'

NW: Recommendation.

MN: Is that it really?

NW: Mm, it's all been through word of mouth actually so yeah. I've been very lucky and maybe because I'm not in awe of them has probably helped me. The problem is they all become my mates which doesn't help. It's chaos all the time but it's great fun. I love it, listen, I love it. I get to meet very, very interesting people, people from all walks of life and it's fascinating to see people because I normally get to see the bands before they're famous and I remember meeting Mel C, it was funny, I must say this one because I met her at the David Lloyd club two years before they launched as the Spice Girls. She said to me in her accent, I'm terrible at accents so I'm not going there, 'You know, Nicky, in two years time I'm going to be really famous' and she's lovely, Mel C and I said, 'Yeah, sure'.

MN: As you do.

NW: As you do. I've got it wrong so many times every time I think they're not going to be famous I know they're going to be huge.

MN: Alright.

NW: And she was a fitness fanatic, she loved it.

MN: You've got fans of your own. Helena says, 'Hi Nicky, I think you're a fabulous role model by the way'. So there you go, role models, you're getting all the plaudits now.

NW: Ah, thank you, thank you.

MN: Keeping people motivated. Once they're on that first couple of steps, they've lost that first couple of pounds, it's where so many of us go wrong.

NW: It's very hard to stay motivated that's why go get yourself a new outfit, chuck out your big clothes, get rid of them! I know so many people who've got from size eighteen to size ten clothes from when they have fat days and big days and good days.

MN: Yeah but, just in case.

NW: Get rid of them, get rid of them.

MN: Really?

NW: Don't go there, get rid of them. As you lose, every time you lose weight treat yourself to a new CD or a manicure, something for you because you know the advert, 'You're worth it.' It's because you're worth it, treat yourself to something, it will make you feel good. Have a new haircut, dye your hair blonde, they have more fun.

MN: Yeah, I'd look great with that, wouldn't I. I've never tried it.

NW: Do highlights.

MN: There's a few grey ones in there already, thank you very much. Get off me here! With regard to the survey, and I was looking through the findings of the survey, there were some fascinating facts there about the difference from region to region with what people thought about calorie burning and measuring the amount of calories.

NW: Yes.

MN: And this is where we started when we came in. and I was just thinking with that watching you've been wearing on your wrist there, it's been measuring the amount of calories you've been burning during this interview. I suppose that's a really great way of keeping a chart if you like, of keeping a diary.

NW: Absolutely, without having to write it down. I would say if you really want to lose weight and you can't understand why you're not losing weight, first of all you're not burning the calories but second of all - food amnesia. You don't remember what you're eating, food amnesia is so typical.

MN: Oh, I'm the worst! Not eaten anything today except ...

NW: No, because you've picking off somebody's plate and that doesn't count when you pick off somebody's plate. Of course it's got no calories when you're picking off somebody else's plate.

MN: That croissant earlier on you know.

NW: Are you serious?

MN: I ate it earlier.

MN: I ate it earlier.

MN: It was on a plate, it was a croissant on a plate. Nicky ignored it.

NW: Croissants, three hundred and fifty calories.

MN: You know I said to you, 'I can't help it.'

NW: Three hundred and fifty calories. Full of fat, not worth it.

MN: You turned your back.

NW: How long would that take for ...

MN: You turned your back. You turned your back and so I ate it this way.

NW: Not worth it, that would take you an hour to walk that off.

MN: Oh I better go for a long walk then.

NW: One croissant. Oh, it's not worth it, is it. Wouldn't you be better off with a bowl of cereal? Sugar free cereal.

MN: Yeah, I would have been. See, there wasn't a bowl of cereal sitting in front of me though, there was a croissant.

NW: You should always be prepared, I always say, 'Be prepared.'

MN: Marie wants to know, hi Marie, I'm getting told off again, 'How can we monitor our calorie intake?' That's the way, that watch.

NW: Well you'll know, how do you monitor your calorie intake ...

MN: That's your calorie burner, isn't it.

NW: That's your calorie burner, calorie intake, how do you monitor it, you can write down everything you eat. By writing it actually down in a diary. Get a little diary and as I say, do a three day food diary and you can monitor what you're eating and if you're eating foods that are healthy and not empty calories like, I don't know, a packet of sweets or white bread. Even brown bread, brown bread's like eating jelly beans, you want anything with a grain that's slow release

MN: Like that whole grain roll I had earlier. See!

NW: So good for you and chicken - protein. The other tip is to start every meal with some protein because it will fill you up.

MN: So whole grain, protein, we're getting some lessons here.

NW: Water, plenty of water, I haven't mentioned water here, lots of people think they're hungry ...

MN: How much?

NW: About eight glasses a day.

MN: That's a lot.

NW: People think they're very, very hungry whereas in fact they're not, they're dehydrated. So if you try drinking two glasses of water before every meal that should make a difference too.

MN: It'll reduce the portion control probably.

NW: Yeah and if you want, try not to pick in between meals, have some fruit obviously, but try not to. If you feel like you're going to pick, do something, get out there, be active, do some crunches. You will come back and I promise you faithfully you will not want to pig out.

MN: Alright. Finally, these watches once again how do we get hold of these watches?

NW: Right, you need to log onto the Kelloggs website which is www.kelloggs.co.uk/specialK or you can get the watch by buying special packs of Special K.

MN: And there's tokens on them. Mark wants to know, 'Are you married?'

NW: I'm married with two children, twenty and twenty one.

NW: I'm married with two children, twenty and twenty one.

NW: Yeah, my son, Harry, who's twenty and Alex, who's twenty one.

MN: Oh sorry, yes. Really?

NW: Yes.

MN: Hilary wants to know what calories are, that's a very good question. They're the measurements.

NW: Yeah, that's the measurements of the food that you eat.

MN: Energy.

NW: Energy levels.

MN: Kilojoules and all that nonsense. See I've read all that stuff.

NW: It's very good you know it, don't you. But you just don't adhere to it like everybody else.

MN: Next time you see me ...

NW: You're going to be a stick?

MN: I will, I shall be in a bikini, well not quite the bikini but I'll be somewhere near.

NW: The Speedos.

MN: Yeah.

NW: the lycra, men in lycra, don't go there.

MN: Do you know I shan't even bother now. Nicky, thank you very much indeed. Your energy has sort of rubbed off on everyone around the station.

NW: Thank you.

MN: Except Hugo the dog, who has been completely and utterly bored with everything, and I mean everything, that has been going on.

NW: I know.

MN: He's just not entertaining anybody, he's been down on the studio floor and that's exactly ... Hugo! Hugo! No.

NW: He won't move, will he. He's been here all day and he just won't move. Hugo! Hugo! Hugo! He can't be bothered, he's so lazy!

MN: Listen, thank you very much indeed. Oh, he's woken up now, bless him.

NW: Sorry darling, sorry.

MN: Thank you very much indeed for joining Nicky and Hugo here in the studio on web chats. We'll see you next time and in the meantime look out for those watches and go measure your calories, bye-bye