I bought this book because I LOVE food - french and italian restaurants, modern british a la Jamie Oliver, fish, you name it - I love it! (Especially cheese and red wine).

Ruth Watson is a fairly successful celebrity chef - maybe not as much as say, Sophie Grigson (whose cookery books I am a big fan of!) and has always been, to her own admittance, large.

The book sets out the kind of food she ate when she successfully lost 4 stone. A lot of fish, lean meat, veg, and masses of spices and herbs. Some of the recipes are amazing - I really recommend the yoghurty chicken with spiced green lentils. The book is set out quite well too - I especially like the recipes for 'you and your darling' - recipes for two with suggestions for additions if your other half isn't dieting.

Some of her dieting tips and suggestions I wasn't keen on, and the tone of the book is a little self-congratulory. She's very anti-exercise and also doesn't believe that breakfast is 100% necessary. Her attitude tends to be 'if I managed to lose weight without having breakfast and exercising then that's the way to go', which I don't necessarily agree with. She doesn't tell us what weight she is now, she's definately lost 10% of her original weight and so obviously benefits from the health gains associated with that, but I suspect she's probably not in her 'advised healthy BMI range' either.

All that said, it's a great cookbook with very tasty recipes which don't feel like you are depriving yourself, a not so good 'diet regime'.