Best known for presenting BBC TV’s DIY SOS and Who Dares Wins, Nick Knowles has now written a cookbook of meat-free recipes. As he prepared to visit East Anglia to promote Proper Healthy Food,
If he can do it, says Nick Knowles, anyone can.Nick, once a committed carnivore, now eats a vegan or vegetarian diet, with the odd day off. And he’s on a mission to help everyone discover the joy in a meat-free meal – without having to give up a Sunday roast at the inlaws or a bacon buttie at the footie.
His cookbook, Proper Healthy Food, which he recently promoted at Jarrold’s store in Norwich, promises hearty vegan and vegetarian recipes for meat lovers.
Nick says he is now “happier, healthier and fitter than ever”. Yet, in 2015 he was feeling unhealthy, out of shape and on the verge of burning out. Determined to change his lifestyle, he travelled to Thailand with a camera crew and fellow DIY SOS stars Billy Byrne and Julian Perryman for a detox, involving a week-long fast followed by a purely vegan diet.
Nick lost nine kilos in three weeks, his cholesterol fell by a third and his blood pressure dropped to a healthy level. The experience was documented in the BBC Two series The Retreat.
Nick says: “Having done The Retreat, I realised the benefits of a more plant-based diet - what a massive difference it can make to not only your physical wellbeing, but your mental wellbeing. When I came back to the UK I found it difficult to find the foods and meals that I wanted.
“I’m a big unit. I’m a rugby player. I’m 6ft 2in, I’m 100 kilos. I stand out in the cold doing DIY SOS for, like, 16 hours a day. When I come in I want a big, wholesome, healthy, filling meal, and I wasn’t getting that from the kind of vegetarian options that were available.
Denne historien er fra March 2017-utgaven av Let's Talk.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra March 2017-utgaven av Let's Talk.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
STOP ME AND BUY ONE: Nigel's on the way with his 1981 Bedford
It’s something we all recall with delight. “Mum, it’s the ice cream man!” Let’s Talk’s motoring man David Clayton meets someone happy to be the owner of a Bedford ice cream van. Bring on the Strawberry Mivvis, choc ices and 99s ...
Beautiful Hill: Normandy Origin For A Name Meaning
Let’s Talk’s surnames expert Derek Palgrave, from Suffolk, researches three more of our readers’ names, the first of which probably stems from the geographical presence of a beautiful hill.
Words of wisdom about a hobby so many of us love
Let’s Talk’s gardening expert Charlotte Philcox has been trawling through some books to find words of wisdom from so many people about gardening and farming. Here she shares just a few.
Vicki remains so positive despite missing her panto
For actress Vicki Michelle, Christmas usually means performing in panto. But, due the coronavirus pandemic, this year will be different. Vicki speaks to Rachel Banham about her plans for the festive season, her outlook on life and her fond memories of filming in East Anglia.
Two centuries on Thomas would be DELIGHTED WITH HIS SUCCESS
He was a man without sight but with such vision. Derek James remembers Thomas Tawell who died 200 years ago.
TURNING 50
Here at Let’s Talk we recognise that our magazine is targeted at those aged 50 and older. So we hope we are always fair to our readers and to the older generation in general. But it seems many believe other media and businesses do not treat older people in the best way.
THE CHASE COULD BE ON FOR a Norfolk home for Bradley Walsh
He is one of the most popular celebrities on television at the moment. He’s a comedian, singer, actor, personality and probably the best quiz show host doing the rounds. David Clayton looks back to when Bradley Walsh came to Cromer.
The calendar is rolling around to the WINTER SOLSTICE
Claire Manion, of Norfolk-based Broadsky Astrology, looks at how we have always honoured the winter solstice, our shortest day.
PEACE, GOODWILL AND PROSPERITY must surely follow
In view of such uncertainty hanging over the rest of this year – and possibly well beyond – it was hard to come up with a suitable offering for December in his usual style, says Keith Skipper. So, he has decided to settle for a festive story set in 1951, that he wrote some time ago.
Friends
Readers of our short stories don’t have to have long memories to recall work by Anne Maxwell, who had a previous short story entry published in the summer.
