JOE WICKS: ‘As a kid, my diet was about 90 per cent processed food'

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

My first food memory is my mum's lasagne. She'd be the first to admit that she isn't a very good cook. She left home at 15 and lived in a squat. So, growing up, our diet was not that healthy. Lasagne was the one thing she made; OK, so she used Dolmio red and white sauces, but it's the only meal I remember her actually spending a little time preparing. Even now she'll still say, 'Do you want me to bring a lasagne round?' and it takes me straight back to my childhood.
My dad, when he was about (as he was in and out of rehab), used to chop up some chicken breast, put it in a pan, then pour in a jar of that nuclear orange Uncle Ben's Sweet & Sour sauce. There were no vegetables and it was so sugary. I hated it.
As a kid, it wasn't a question of being allowed fizzy drinks, sweets and chocolate – that was my diet, about 90 per cent processed food. My mum would shop around various supermarkets to get the cheapest deal – things like Wagon Wheels, Iced Gems, Findus Crispy Pancakes, frozen chicken and mushroom pies, KitKats, Penguins, sandwiches and maybe a little bit of fruit. And it definitely affected me: I was hyperactive, climbing the walls. But at the time I suppose it was all my mum knew. She didn't know how to prepare healthy food.
Growing up in Surrey, I had free school dinners and remember some dishes so vividly. The midweek roasts with thin slices of beef, and butterscotch tarts with cream on top and a thin pastry base. Everything was thin. At secondary school we had the usual stuff – slices of pizza, burgers, chips, more roasts. I loved it all. I was very cheeky but knew how to be polite, and a bit charming, to get extra portions from the dinner ladies.
Because I was raised on all that cheap food, it's in my DNA to still want it. When I'm stressed, it's a real issue. I don't just walk out of a shop with one chocolate bar and a bag of Monster Munch crisps. I'll also get a can of Coke, a packet of Fruit Pastilles and a tub of Ben & Jerry's and eat it all within half an hour. I'm trying to have a better relationship with food, and be a role model for my children.
My life's very different now but, because of my childhood, I know what it feels like to live off that sort of diet, and the difference it makes to your energy, mood and health. These days I am very balanced in my diet, and 80 per cent of the time I'm in control. But the other 20 per cent I'm drinking fizzy drinks and bingeing on sugar.
Our kids love nothing more than cakes, brownies and ice cream. But it's more about having those things as a treat when we're out. I don't want them in the house all the time.
The only food I really despise is tinned tuna. My dad used to make pasta with tinned tuna, mayonnaise and sweet corn. It made me retch and I remember hating the smell of it. I was a very fussy eater as a child, very beige.
My ultimate comfort food would be a gourmet burger and chips, but I also love a pub roast with all the trimmings.
I always have the basics in my fridge: eggs, cheese and lots of vegetables. Things I can throw into a pan with some rice or noodles. Along with beef mince and chicken breasts for bolognese and curries.
It makes me laugh when I'm having a burger or ice cream in a restaurant, and people say to me, 'Ooh, I didn't expect you to be eating that.' But I'm a greedy eater and want to be full up. I'm the person having a slice of toast with marmalade before bed. I just love food.
My last supper would start with gyozas and popcorn shrimp tempura. Then I'd mix it up and have a smash burger and chips. Dessert would be chocolate fondant or sticky toffee pudding. Along with a pint of Coke. That would make me so happy.
Book tickets for Joe Wicks Festival at Kew on 6 July at kew.org