Book review: Lose Weight & Get Fit by Tom Kerridge

• Lose Weight & Get Fit by Tom Kerridge
• Bloomsbury, £22

It might be something of a cliché to review a diet-related book in January, but the reality is that the majority of us have overindulged on food and drink in recent weeks. It might just be me, but the biggest barrier to losing weight tends to be the lack of drive required to rethink your diet and pull on your exercise gear on a cold winter’s evening. But Tom Kerridge’s new book, Lose Weight & Get Fit, should provide the inspiration needed to get going in 2020.

Having lost more than 12 stone in the past five years, Kerridge knows only too well how important it is to remain motivated with a diet and exercise programme. The two-Michelin-starred chef says his success in losing weight owes much to his creation of a wide range of interesting and tasty dishes that may be calorie-controlled, but are also balanced in a way that will keep the eater full.

Although Kerridge does occasionally use reduced fat ingredients, he generally eschews them for their lack of flavour. Instead, he uses a small amount of a higher-calorie ingredient to boost flavour – be it a splash of coconut milk or a little smoked salmon, chorizo or cheese, making a dish more substantial and satisfying.

Likewise, Kerridge will incorporate intensely flavoured ingredients such as dried mushrooms, tahini, rose harissa and preserved lemon, which provide a piquant hit from small quantities. Black bean and butternut chilli, harissa salmon with lemon couscous and chicken yakitori (pimped with soy sauce, mirin and wakame for an umami hit) all benefit from this approach.

Losing weight will always be more successful combined with exercise. To get readers started, personal trainer Adam Peacock provides some useful tips in the final chapter of the book.

There is nothing complicated about the recipes in Lose Weight & Get Fit – certainly don’t expect the Michelin-starred food Kerridge is famous for at the Hand & Flowers and the Coach in Marlow – but the book will provide some low-calorie options that will be welcomed in the first few weeks of the year. Helpfully, every recipe includes the calories, carbohydrates, protein, fat and fibre for each serving.