Lisa Faulkner tells us about a new online tool
Lisa Faulkner helps to launch MyDrinkAware's new online diary and unit calculator in a bid to get people more aware of what they are drinking.
Almost half of the UK are attempting to lose weight and nearly two-thirds are worried about their bank balance, yet many don't make the connection between their drinking and an expanding waistline and empty purse.
So to help you better understand the effects that drinking has on, not just your health but your pocket too, Drinkaware has developed MyDrinkaware - an easy-to-use online unit calculator and drink diary.
The tool provides personalised feedback on risk levels based on your alcohol consumption and shows the data in units, calories and money. For instance, the tool equates alcohol intake into 'burger' equilvalents - with a pint of 4 per cent beer or two double gin and tonics comparable to around one burger.
Lisa used the tool for a week and insists that it's a "great campaign". It allows you to see something easily and think about alcohol in a different way. She says that seeing the calories and comparing them to foods that we sometimes think twice about eating is beneficial: "I think for a girl, you can see something much more like that than you do in units."
The actress says that rather than being shocked by using the tool, it made her really think about how much she was drinking.
"It made me become just a little more aware and maybe think, 'Oh wait' I don't actually need to have a drink tonight."
The study carried out by Drinkaware found that a third of people plan to monitor what calories they are eating within the next month, yet only one in 10 are thinking about tracking the amount of alcohol they are drinking.
Chris Sorek, chief executive of Drinkaware, says: "We know that people understand calories better than they understand units, and this study shows taht when it comes to tracking their alcohol consumption, many people have a 'blind spot'. While they might make healthy lifestyle choices in other areas of their life, they might not know that sharing a bottle of wine with their partner exceeds the daily unit guidelines and is the equivalent of eating a slice of cheesecake.
"Having a mobile version of the tool also means people can track their drinking on the go - making it even easier to stick to their targets and meet their goals."
I caught up with Lisa to find out what she thinks about the tools, her life as the greatest winner of Celebrity MasterChef and whether or not, we'll get to see her on out TV screens once again.
So you've used the drink calculator?
I have.
Was you surprised by what you found?
What it made me do was really think about how much I was drinking. So it was like, oh on Saturday night, I know that I'm going out and that I will drink, therefore I'm not going to drink on Sunday and Monday. Whereas, before I would have a glass of wine and wouldn't think anything of it. It made me become just a little more aware and maybe think, oh wait I don't actually need to have a drink tonight. Also, because I'm conscious of my weight being an actress, but it was also to do with, well, how much am I spending? How many calories am I using and also, it got me to think about how much I actually drink.
So do you actually drink less now, since using it?
I think I'm more aware of how much I actually drink. I mean I've always like to have a glass of wine with my dinner. But it's just saying, well I'll have that glass of wine, but I won't have that next glass of wine.
Like you've just said, wine is the perfect to pair with food, and you're a great cook - has this altered at all since using the online tool?
I'm not an over-drunk, I go out and I'll have drink with friends but I just think it's about everything in moderation. I won't have a glass of wine every night with my dinner, but I will still have a glass of wine every so often. Because I like cooking, and I like wine and it's just about moderation. I will have a glass of wine if I want one, but I'm just being much more aware I suppose.
Since you won celebrity masterchef and were hailed as the best winner, do all your friends and family expect you to cook for them?
Yes, all the time, constantly. But it's okay, I love cooking, and I'm doing some food festivals and cooking in restuarants and doing pop-up restuarants and also writing a cookery book. Now I spend the majority of my life cooking and I love it.
What cooking festivals are you doing then?
I'm doing the blind-food festival, next weekend. Jimmy's food festival, with Jimmy Doherty at Jimmy's Farm. I've just done the BBC Good Food Show. Just anything that comes up really, and I'm doing pop-ups and things like that and writing my book.
When is the book due out?
Mothers Day next year
And what sort of food does it feature?
It's all family food and family recipes.
So you obviously cook a lot, what's your favourite meal to cook?
I love cooking roast dinners, I like making food that everyone can share, do you know what I mean. Big dishes of stuff, and having everyone around.
Do you cook a lot of healthy meals at home?
Yes, I do. I cook a lot of healthy meals at home, a lot of vegetables. Pretty much everything I make, I don't cook ready-meals. There are a few in the freezer, but I don't cook them very often. The odd children's pasta dish, but that's it. You can do so much now and it's so easy. It's so easy now we have so many fruit and vegetables in our supermarkets, that's why I try as much as possible to be healthy.
What do you do to keep healthy and fit?
I try and do yoga, and running around after Billie, (her adopted daughter, with husband Chris Coghill) but most of the time, I'm just so busy. Like now, I feel like I'm running everywhere.
Would you ever consider opening your own restuarant?
Not at the moment. I mean I love cooking, but I don't think I'm anywhere near opening my own restuarant.
Any more plans to go back into acting?
I've just finished filiming a drama in Guadalupe for the last three weeks. A BBC drama called Death in Paradise. With Ben Miller and it was really great fun, it was great to do some acting again.
What's that about?
It's a who-done-it? A detective drama set in the carribean, which was lovely really.
Yes we can imagine.
Femalefirst Taryn Davies
Lisa Faulkner is launching MyDrinkaware, an online unit calculator and drink diary. With two standard glasses of wine or a pint of 4% beer comparable to 1 burger, MyDrinkaware can help you start seeing your drinking in lbs and pence and keep track of the impact of alcohol on your weight and wallet.
Try it for yourself, at http://my.drinkaware.co.uk
Lisa Faulkner helps to launch MyDrinkAware's new online diary and unit calculator in a bid to get people more aware of what they are drinking.
Almost half of the UK are attempting to lose weight and nearly two-thirds are worried about their bank balance, yet many don't make the connection between their drinking and an expanding waistline and empty purse.
So to help you better understand the effects that drinking has on, not just your health but your pocket too, Drinkaware has developed MyDrinkaware - an easy-to-use online unit calculator and drink diary.
The tool provides personalised feedback on risk levels based on your alcohol consumption and shows the data in units, calories and money. For instance, the tool equates alcohol intake into 'burger' equilvalents - with a pint of 4 per cent beer or two double gin and tonics comparable to around one burger.
Lisa used the tool for a week and insists that it's a "great campaign". It allows you to see something easily and think about alcohol in a different way. She says that seeing the calories and comparing them to foods that we sometimes think twice about eating is beneficial: "I think for a girl, you can see something much more like that than you do in units."
I will have a glass of wine if I want one, but I'm just being much more aware I suppose
The actress says that rather than being shocked by using the tool, it made her really think about how much she was drinking.
"It made me become just a little more aware and maybe think, 'Oh wait' I don't actually need to have a drink tonight."
The study carried out by Drinkaware found that a third of people plan to monitor what calories they are eating within the next month, yet only one in 10 are thinking about tracking the amount of alcohol they are drinking.
Chris Sorek, chief executive of Drinkaware, says: "We know that people understand calories better than they understand units, and this study shows taht when it comes to tracking their alcohol consumption, many people have a 'blind spot'. While they might make healthy lifestyle choices in other areas of their life, they might not know that sharing a bottle of wine with their partner exceeds the daily unit guidelines and is the equivalent of eating a slice of cheesecake.
"Having a mobile version of the tool also means people can track their drinking on the go - making it even easier to stick to their targets and meet their goals."
I caught up with Lisa to find out what she thinks about the tools, her life as the greatest winner of Celebrity MasterChef and whether or not, we'll get to see her on out TV screens once again.
So you've used the drink calculator?
I have.
Was you surprised by what you found?
What it made me do was really think about how much I was drinking. So it was like, oh on Saturday night, I know that I'm going out and that I will drink, therefore I'm not going to drink on Sunday and Monday. Whereas, before I would have a glass of wine and wouldn't think anything of it. It made me become just a little more aware and maybe think, oh wait I don't actually need to have a drink tonight. Also, because I'm conscious of my weight being an actress, but it was also to do with, well, how much am I spending? How many calories am I using and also, it got me to think about how much I actually drink.
So do you actually drink less now, since using it?
I think I'm more aware of how much I actually drink. I mean I've always like to have a glass of wine with my dinner. But it's just saying, well I'll have that glass of wine, but I won't have that next glass of wine.
Like you've just said, wine is the perfect to pair with food, and you're a great cook - has this altered at all since using the online tool?
I'm not an over-drunk, I go out and I'll have drink with friends but I just think it's about everything in moderation. I won't have a glass of wine every night with my dinner, but I will still have a glass of wine every so often. Because I like cooking, and I like wine and it's just about moderation. I will have a glass of wine if I want one, but I'm just being much more aware I suppose.
Since you won celebrity masterchef and were hailed as the best winner, do all your friends and family expect you to cook for them?
Yes, all the time, constantly. But it's okay, I love cooking, and I'm doing some food festivals and cooking in restuarants and doing pop-up restuarants and also writing a cookery book. Now I spend the majority of my life cooking and I love it.
What cooking festivals are you doing then?
I'm doing the blind-food festival, next weekend. Jimmy's food festival, with Jimmy Doherty at Jimmy's Farm. I've just done the BBC Good Food Show. Just anything that comes up really, and I'm doing pop-ups and things like that and writing my book.
When is the book due out?
Mothers Day next year
Tagged in Lisa Faulkner Health