Nigella Lawson opens up about losing weight, guilty pleasures and enjoying her age

Nigella Lawson always vowed to never exercise.

The cookbook author and host of her own cooking show was famous for unapologetically enjoying her food and equally famous for her curvy figure.

But that's all changed.

“I got to an age where it was either eat less or move more,” the star of ABC’s ‘The Taste’ told  FoxNews.com, in an exclusive interview. “Having said that, I’m even more embarrassed to say that I enjoy it. Actually, when I say that I enjoy it, that may be taking it too far. I certainly feel better for it.”

Clearly, she is still a little ambivalent about exercising.

“I do think it’s only bearable if it’s done in the morning, because otherwise I dread it all day," Lawson said. "It also does give you more energy. If I have it scheduled for later in the day, the temptation to cancel is too great.”

Her program includes power Pilates and personal training, consisting of the treadmill and lifting light weights and lunges, “which I have to do quite a bit of it because I do like eating.”

Although the 53-year-old didn’t specify how much weight she lost, she did say she’s dropped a couple of dress sizes and is more toned — although she added there are still body parts that jiggle.

“They still jiggle, but I’ve also learned about the great art of wearing clothes with Lycra in them," Lawson said ruefully. "We have the shapes we have. Some people are tall and athletic, some are not.”

And she's not afraid to put herself in the latter category.

“My husband would be very, very dismayed if I suddenly turned into a lean, mean fighting machine," Lawson said. "Luckily, that’s never going to happen!”

The self-taught cook, who never had any formal training, is also refreshingly honest about her age, refusing to lie about it.

This sanguine approach to aging, eating and exercise was actually borne from tragic circumstances.

“My mother died of cancer when she was 48, my first husband died of cancer at 47, one of my sisters died of cancer at 32," Lawson explained. "They became emaciated, tortured and died young, so the idea that I would mind about getting older when I know what the alternative is or that I would equate thinness with health is just alien to me."

Lawson, who has a new cookbook out called, Nigellissima, is so sensible about the subject of eating, she refuses to entertain the notion of a guilty pleasure food.

“The notion of a guilty pleasure is alien to me,” she scoffed. “People who feel guilty about pleasure don’t deserve pleasure in the first place. I feel that quite strongly. It ruins it. Why try and drain the joy out of life?”