Dr Michael Mosley invites you to EAT (Well), SLEEP (Better), LIVE (Longer!)

It’s difficult to think of a more appealing title. But the point is that we really are quite bad at looking after ourselves, Michael believes.

“I really do think we are. And I think we are under the illusion that we are generally healthier than we are. I have got this series going out on Channel 4 on the secrets of your supermarket shop and I ask a family how healthy their shop is and then I ambush them in the supermarket and look at what they are buying. I think the thing is that we're pretty good at forgetting the bad stuff, and I think it is because we have a natural optimism. We tend to go ‘Oh that's just a little bar of chocolate. That doesn't count.’ But it does all add up and I think also people do exaggerate how much exercise they do which you can test and then you can see that they haven't done anywhere as much as they thought they had. I do think we are good at kidding ourselves!”

Dates on tour include Eastbourne’s Congress Theatre on Thursday, February 15 and Guildford’s GLive on Wednesday, February 21 – and part of the fun of it all will be the fact that Michael is going on the road, for the first time ever, with his wife: “She's been a GP for more than 30 years and we've been married for more than 35 years but this is our first show together and I just think it's going to be great fun. The great thing is that Clare will be doing some cooking. She's one of the UK's most popular recipe writers and she's got a new book coming out on treats (The Fast 800 Treats Recipe Book: Healthy and delicious bakes, savoury snacks and desserts for everyone to enjoy, released on April 25), ways you can turn your treats into healthier food. So Clare will be doing some live cooking which will be a challenge.”

Part also of the fun will be the fact that though they are united in their views on the subject, they are inevitably very different people: “Clare is slim and always has been since I met her at medical school 43 years ago. She is more of a greyhound whereas I am more of a Labrador. If someone puts food in front of me, I will eat it and I think the temptation is a difficult thing.

“I think what this is about is changing the mindset and so we'll be talking about some of the simple tips and tricks that you can learn to help you. I really got into this ten years ago when I discovered that I had type 2 diabetes and since then I've explored different ways of keeping the weight off but I will also be talking about some of my favourite tips from the podcast I do called Just One Thing, but really the key is to maintain the healthy habits.

“Obviously weight is very important but a more reliable test is measuring your waist and knowing that your waist needs to be less than half your height. Blood pressure is also very important and I would certainly invest in a blood pressure monitor which you can buy online or at the chemist’s pretty cheaply. If you're over the age of 40 then there is a chance that you will have high blood pressure and equally if you have a family history of type 2 diabetes you really ought to be thinking about testing.”