The work-eat balance

A These are the tips that Mercedes Ngoh Sieff, co-founder of the award-winning Yeotown detox and wellbeing retreat in Devon (yeotown.com), gives her busy clients.

•Always eat breakfast – eggs, fish, porridge or granola – to keep blood-sugar levels steady and avoid cravings. Don’t fall for a muffin or fruit yoghurt on the way to work. Pret a Manger offers two hard-boiled eggs and spinach in a pot.

•Have an am/pm snack, eg, hummus and crudites, a few nuts and piece of fruit eaten together (the nuts slow down the release of fruit sugar), or sip a fresh green or beetroot juice.

•If you are peckish in a restaurant ask for olives rather than bread.

•For a takeaway lunch, choose soup or salad with protein, eg, avocado, cheese or organic meat or fish.

•In restaurants, opt for one course of grilled or baked fish with different coloured vegetables (not roots).

•Start with water and a squeeze of lime and save wine to drink with food.

•Instead of pudding, choose a herbal tea with a hint of sweetness, such as Clipper Organic White Tea With Vanilla If your sweet tooth is aching, have one petit four, a teaspoonful of someone’s pud or a small portion of cheese (goat’s orsheep’s milk) with celery.