The food lover

I spend an inordinately high proportion of my day thinking, even worrying, about what I'm going to eat next.

I usually read the pudding menu before I order a starter and I have never been on a diet.

Most nights I dine with a restaurant critic, so my life would be hell if I ate only asparagus and steamed sea bass. Anything aerobic is way down my list of priorities, but I pretend to do Pilates and yoga just so I can justify eating more.

7.30am: big glug of water. 8am: two tangerines, cup of English Breakfast tea with milk and a teaspoon of sugar. Litre of water throughout the morning.

12.10pm: three fruit pastilles.

1pm: glass of red wine, Roquefort and walnut salad, steak tartare with chips and buttered broccoli tops, meringue, ice-cream, chestnut puree and chocolate sauce.

3pm: half a bottle of Evian.

5.30pm: cup of tea, chocolate digestive biscuit.

9pm: three lamb chops with watercress salad, bread-and-butter pudding with cream, two glasses of red wine.

11pm: cup of camomile tea, square of Lindt chocolate.

The Food Doctor says... Overall, this isn't that good. Nicola seems to have a healthy appetite and isn't following a fad eating plan which means that her diet will be quite varied. However, sugar figures quite heavily and this kind of eating could lead to weight gain. There are also excess saturated fats, red meat and cream, which can block the absorption of essential fats. This can lead to poor skin and even decreased brain function. There are several benefits from the antioxidants in the red wine, salad, broccoli and chocolate, but these are cancelled out to some extent by the sugar and fats.