TV presenter Lorraine Kelly on pandemic diets, mental health and why we need to be kinder to ourselves

Undoing the damage of ‘diet culture’ will take time, so it is great to hear wise reminders about self-kindness and going easy on ourselves from the likes of Lorraine Kelly.

“I’ll be honest with you, during the pandemic, I have, like most people, made far too many visits to the biscuit tin – I know I have,” the TV presenter said.

“And I’ve not been able to go to my exercise classes. Yes, I know we can do a workout online, but it’s not the same for me.”

She is keen to get back to her routine, she adds – because she enjoys it and it makes her feel good. And if you’re feeling a bit rubbish about your fitness levels dropping or last year’s jeans not fitting right now, you are not alone. Could we do with just being nicer to ourselves about that sort of thing?

“Gosh yes, definitely!” says Kelly, who has one daughter, Rosie, 27. “It’s fine. I’ve gone up a dress size – big whoop! I’m not going to stress about it, and that’s alright, we just have to cut ourselves a little bit of slack.

“Of course you don’t want to go down an extreme road and end up needing the fire brigade to get you out of your bed!

“But it’s all about moderation, isn’t it? Feeling heathy, feeling fine, feeling good about yourself if you can.

“It’s been a really scary time, it really has. We are going to have a lot more people with mental health issues and we are going to need to be talking about that more, and make sure it’s matched with action so people can get support. But absolutely, we need to cut ourselves some slack.”

Kelly has also been raising awareness about the menopause, something she touched on in her eponymous ITV show about five years ago.

“We found it astonishing, the reaction we got from so many women, and men as well whose wives and partners were going through it – saying thank you for doing this, and for helping me realise I wasn’t actually suffering from some sort of mental illness, because it can feel like that sometimes.”

She recently teamed up with Always Discreet on their new campaign, seeking to redefine understanding of menopause and empower women to live it their way.

She believes future generations won’t suffer in silence: “This generation that’s coming up after us are amazing anyway, they ask questions, they’re curious, they want to know about things, they’ve got the internet which is brilliant and of course I didn’t have. And all of that makes it less of a taboo. And that’s what we want.”

In terms of coping with the pandemic, for Kelly the focus has particularly been on mental wellbeing.

“What has saved me, mentally and physically, is my dog [Angus], taking my dog out for a walk. Honestly, I know that sounds so simple, but he’s a wee border terrier, and taking him for a walk every day, and being able to talk to him and tell him everything, because he’s a great listener!

"That’s been a brilliant thing to do. It gets you outside too. I don’t think we all appreciated before this how important it is to get outside. And that we need other people.”

She acknowledges she was “incredibly lucky” being able to continue going to work safely throughout the pandemic too. “I certainly needed that routine of going into work every day...That and my wee Angus kept me well.”

Lorraine is partnering with Always Discreet to empower women to talk openly about the menopause. Find out more at alwaysdiscreet.co.uk