Size 12 Can Still Be Svelte – Look at Me

By Sophie Goodchild

SANTA Montefiore strides into the cafe, her striking height accentuated by high-heeled leather boots.

At 5ft 11in and a size 12, the bestselling writer is by her own admission "Amazonian" but would not look out of place on a catwalk proof you don’t have to be a skimpy size zero to look svelte.

The daughter of former Olympic skier Charlie Palmer-Tomkinson, sister of It-girl Tara and friend of Prince Charles, Montefiore has a successful career as an author her books have sold more than two million copies in Europe alone.

Even at 8.30am, wearing hardly a scrap of make-up, Montefiore radiates natural good health. She is the kind of woman a lot of others on the London party circuit envy. "She never has an off-day or at least not one you can see," says a friend.

So how does she manage a glowing appearance and toned body despite being a multi-tasking mother to Sasha, four, and Lily, six? A punishing exercise regime of Pilates and boxercise is the answer though on probing, I find it’s not as appalling a commitment as it sounds.

But it was hard graft. "At school I could eat 10 chocolate cakes and not put on weight. But when you get to 37 you have to work at it. After the birth I still looked like I had a baby inside me. With Pilates, my figure changed in three weeks." For two hours a week, she works out at Westbourne Studios in London with Beautcamp Pilates. Imported from Los Angeles, it combines Pilates with circuit training, so it is high energy but effective. Her other main workout is boxercise, a form of cross-training.

Montefiore favours a natural beauty regime and would not touch plastic surgery "with a bargepole".

"All these women look like Ivana Trump they look like aliens or boiled eggs and end up trying to have lips like Liz Hurley," she says.

Skeletally thin models, she adds, are also deeply unattractive and have a dangerous impact on young girls.

"I know a lot of beautiful, wellgroomed women but they are dull," says Montefiore, pausing only to take issue with Mrs Beckham. "Posh Spice is beyond comment. She looks ludicrous with those manufactured breasts. Being healthy is having shining hair; skin-thin women look grey. If you pick at lettuce leaves, you probably pick at life." In her teens and early twenties, she was so affected by acne that she resorted to the powerful drug Roaccutane. "I don’t think you should have to suffer with spots," she says.

"When I had bad skin it was constantly on my mind. I’d be in a restaurant and position my face in a way so that no one could see my spots. Going in the sea was impossible because I feared my make-up would wash off." A personal friend is Trinny Woodhall, one half of TV fashion duo Trinny and Susannah whose nononsense advice has revolutionised women’s wardrobes. Santa is quick to defend the programme.

"They’re not telling women to alter themselves cosmetically," she says.

"I’ve even put Trinny and Susannah in my next book in cameo roles." The only vice that she confesses to is a cake addiction rather tame when compared with her sister Tara’s well-publicised battle with cocaine which she has now overcome. For the first time during the interview, Santa’s face clouds at the mention of her sister’s name.

"We get on well but she doesn’t like me talking about her. My sister is from another planet." [broken bar]Sea of Lost Love by Santa Sebag Montefiore published in paperback by Hodder at Pounds 6.99.

SANTA’S LITTLE HELPERS Aromatherapy and massage these are priorities in her pampering regime. For a relaxing home treatment, Montefiore mixes juniper berry with her own moisturiser a tip learned from her masseur.

Crystals: "They really change the energy in your house." A healer friend introduced her to these and Montefiore now has them all over her home.

Homemade bathscrubs her bathroom is her sanctuary and the place where she can spend "me" time. A favourite bathscrub is granulated sugar mixed with Dr Bronner’s eucalyptus oil. She says: "Salt is no good because my bathroom is marble and it stains. But if you use granulated sugar, it’s a perfect exfoliant and you don’t have to go out and spend Pounds ."

Sensitive skin this needs care even years after your teenage acne outbreaks. She uses the French company Darphin’s products, which are enriched with natural oils so do not irritate her face.

Beautcamp Pilates and boxercise Montefiore credits her exercise regime, based on kickboxing, Pilates and circuit training, with toning her figure. Her weekly workouts also ensure she is well- prepared for family holidays skiing with her children.

(c) 2007 Evening Standard; London (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.