Chef’s 1920s diet works wonders

Mar 10 2008 by Laura Wright, South Wales Echo

A CHEF has slimmed down three dress sizes thanks to a dieting reality show which took her back in time.

Nikki Taylor, 37, spent three weeks sticking to a strict diet and living like a woman from the 1920s for series The Diets That Time Forgot.

The self-confessed tomboy, who lives and works in Cardiff, swapped trips to the gym for “girlie press-ups” against a wall and hearty breakfasts for half a grapefruit.

In 24 days, she shed more than a stone and went from a size 18–20 to a 12–14.

Nikki said: “It’s brilliant. I’ve got so much more confidence now, I’ve learned to love the bits of myself that I used to hate.

“I don’t think I’m perfect, who is? But now I think I’m OK and I know it’s fine to look like that because 90 per cent of us look like that and that’s great.”

Nikki, who heads the GreenShoots charity catering business, is aiming to drop down to a size 10.

She said: “That’s really going to be hard for me. As a chef I’m surrounded by nice food all day long. Obviously I have to taste it but I also suck a lot of mints to keep temptation at bay.”

The Diets That Time Forgot will be screened on Tuesday, March 18, on Channel 4.