Porridge

Working on daytime and late night television (sometimes from 10am - 4am) had a big effect on my diet. I found myself over eating to give myself the energy I needed to get through the shifts. I started to eat 4 meals a day - Breakfast, lunch, dinner and a late night evening meal with snacks in between. After a while people began to notice that I was getting chubby. I went from 12 stone to 15 stone over 4 months! The live shows involved talking non stop to camera for long periods so keeping my energy levels at their peak was crucial to my performance. It didn't help having a Senior Producer who would bully and shout negative comments down an earpiece to presenters. I didn't want to be at the receiving end of this tyrants temper tantrums so would overdose on high energy caffeine drinks and snack constantly to keep my energy levels up to avoid his ranting. Not only was my diet affected, the caffeine had an effect on my sleep.

I began to become depressed about my weight gain and couldnt see a light at the end of the tunnel until a fellow presenter gave me some useful advice: Eat Porridge. I initially laughed and thought it was a ridiculous suggestion until I noticed him eating a bowl at midnight. I decided to try it and it really helped my diet. Instead of eating 4 meals a day and snacks in between I would eat 3 meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and have a bowl of porridge at 11pm. I found this kept my energy levels high until 4am. I was tempted to put sugar on the porridge but resisted and had fruit for snacks. Slowly I began to notice my weight decreasing. Here are some facts about porridge:

1. Porridge has an extremely high carbohydrate content, which is just what you need when working long shifts. Load up on porridge and you won't feel so hungry later on.

2. Add honey or golden syrup (real luxury!) for a massive sugar boost. This will help to digest the porridge.

3. It's hot, so on cold days it warms you up and increases morale.

4. Porridge contains a lot of water, which helps to keep you hydrated.

5. If you're feeling greedy, you can add a little bit more oatmeal to the pot whenever you want. In fact this isn't such a bad idea, because there's always more left in the box than you think!

6. In dire circumstances, porridge can be eaten "raw" or substituted for other meals.

7. It doesn't go bad if it gets warm, damp, or squished (within reasonable limits, anyway).