Penny Ashton - Comedian

Each week a celebrity tells us what they're putting in their mouth - and our nutritionist gives them a report card in the award winning Sunday Star Times Escape section. 2009 winner - Health Section Qantas Media Awards

Penny Ashton is one of New Zealand’s most prolific comedians, having performed 200 solo shows worldwide in the past two years alone. This year she will be touring her show Hot Pink Bits from Hamilton through to Gore.

8.20am: I usually get up in time for the 8.30am news and munch my rolled oats, a Pacific Rose apple, low fat yoghurt and mixed spice watching Paul Henry offend as many people as possible. I accompany this with an instant coffee. I’m all class.

11am: Four Vitawheats smeared with hummus or goat’s cheese, possibly another instant coffee.

1.30pm: My staple lunch consists of a soy and linseed pita pocket, low fat mayo, a can of tuna or salmon, tomatoes and cucumbers and um, you guessed it, instant coffee - and often watching Oprah. One of the joys of working from home. (Insert wild enthusiastic female standing ovation here)

4pm: I always get that mid afternoon blood sugar plummet. Sometimes a diet V or Diet Coke and a tub of low fat yoghurt or an ETA nuts and raisins. Might meet a friend for a real coffee - luxury (trim flat white of course).

5pm: I usually go to the gym four to five days a week which involves RPM, Body Attack or Pump classes. I am hopeless at pushing myself so I need a lycra clad Energiser bunny being rather derisive and yelling at me to keep me motivated. RPM is a particular killer, especially on my delicate buns.

6.30pm: Dinner. My favourite of late has been poached salmon steak, baked potato and salad of chickpea, rocket, tomatoes, chargrilled capsicum and goat’s cheese. Usually digested as drama on Shortland Street unfolds.

10pm: Home after show and maybe some low fat yoghurt and fruit to stave off the hunger pangs - and an instant coffee! Throughout the day I’ll try to drink my eight-plus glasses of water but I probably fail. Some favourite vices include date scones, milk bottles and jet plane lollies and gallons of Sauvignon Blanc. Being on medication for epilepsy affects my hunger, so I have to really watch the food I eat. Which sucks. A lot. Sometimes you just want a McChicken burger.

Jacquie says:

Are there any ladies out there with low energy levels and an extra 5kg to shift?

If that sounds like you, cut out this article and give Penny’s diet a whirl. It’s pretty concise and not too fanatical. She hasn’t cut out wheat, dairy or anything that moves and it resembles a sensible, easy to follow weight loss regime.

The workouts Penny does each week will easily compensate for the occasional date scone and bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. That’s right girls, you can have your cake and lose weight too. Forget the ‘you can only eat every five hours’ rule, which sometimes applies to dieting or the banning of entire food groups. I like the five to six meals a day rule for lots of reasons. Eating every three or four hours helps balance out energy levels, you deliver more nutrients more often and the next meal is only a hop and a skip away so you don’t ever get so starving that you eat an entire cake.

As Penny explains, her medication increases her hunger, which she controls with her food. She starts with a good breakfast, followed up with balanced meals throughout the day. With any reduced or restricted meal plan it’s a good idea to include nutritional supplements. I’d start with a multivitamin and extra chromium to help with those cravings.

Each week a nutritionist from Real Nutrition looks over a celebrity's diet. For award winning health articles and a really good read - check out the Sunday Star Times each Sunday.