Get fit in 2012 with Matt Roberts A week of sunshine, sea, delicious food and welcome relaxation in Italy is my idea of a dream family holiday. Usually. Last year, the prospect of such a trip was less appealing. The reason was simple. And shallow! I could not face the thought of having to struggle into a swimsuit - let alone a bikini - and expose my body on a beach full of super-slinky Italian women. Following an operation on my foot, I had gained a stone and a half. Sofa-bound with my leg up for six weeks had been bad enough; on top of that, I'd been under tremendous stress in my job (I work in the humanitarian aid sector) and had comfort-eaten my way through the difficulties that climaxed in my resignation. Looming ahead was my 50th birthday. Women friends had urged me to shed the excess weight before then, because it would be far more difficult to slim once I'd hit this milestone. At supper one evening, when I was bemoaning my plight, someone mentioned the personal trainer Matt Roberts's book I Will Make You Fit Fast. It sounded scary, a 12-week plan that promised to work me to "the limits of my endurance." But I had a very specific goal - that summer holiday - and time, given that I was now self-employed. Roberts's approach was just what I needed. It was uncompromisingly prescriptive: he told me exactly what exercises to do, and how many repetitions of each; and he told me exactly what to eat every day and how much. Having an MSc in nutrition, I was at first sceptical and then impressed to read about a plan that worked out my energy requirements on the basis of my basal metabolic rate, and told me how much to reduce my calorie intake by in order to lose weight. It was still very hard to resist picking over my eight-year-old son's sausage and chips, but there were excellent recipes for salads and stews that used a variety of pulses (chickpeas or kidney beans) and cereals (wholegrain rice, wheat, couscous, quinoa and polenta). I ate my way through most of the lunch and dinner suggestions but making a different breakfast every day was too much for me, so I ate muesli, fruit and yogurt. However, I made sure that I stuck to the recommended portion sizes for fat and carbohydrate. Otherwise, I found the diet easy to follow. Some oil was permitted and alcohol is forbidden only completely in the first two and last two weeks (although Matt recommends minimal intake in other weeks). Snacks are allowed - so you can still satisfy your chocolate cravings with the occasional Jaffa Cake. Eating well was important, but exercise is key to the Roberts approach. I'm not a member of a gym, so I bought a set of weights and a heart-rate monitor (as Matt suggests) which allowed me to do most of the prescribed exercises. It was great not having to set foot in a sweaty gym. I could exercise in the park or my sitting room. Each day was different, alternating between cardio exercise such as running or swimming, resistance work with weights or circuit training and abdominals/core training focusing on ab crunches, the dreaded plank or reverse curls. I stuck to it, and it worked, and I rediscovered the energy levels and stamina I'd once had as a rower. By the time we went to Italy, I felt comfortable in a bikini for the first time in years. And I got so many compliments! One of the most amazing things was how much my waist decreased - nearly 3in in the first month. Over the holiday, I gained about a kilo and so resumed the Roberts regime when I got home. When I reached my target weight - and a perfect body mass index of 23 - I focused less on the diet but continued the exercise. My waist shrank another inch. I remember clearly the moment when my husband walked into our room and did a double-take. "Wow," he exclaimed, "you look amazing!" Now my son has stopped counting the fat rolls on my tummy. But the best thing is that I feel fitter than I've done since I was 20. Free with The Sunday Telegraph: Exclusive Matt Roberts fitness DVD I Will Make You Fit Fast (Quadrille) by Matt Roberts is available from Telegraph Books for £11.99 plus £1.25 p&p. Call 0844 971 1515 or go to books.telegraph.co.uk