Nigella Lawson has revealed she prefers to live in the present, rather than make plans for the future.

The TV chef told Good Housekeeping that she leaves her life to fate.

“I’m right here, right now. That is a great place to be. I’ve always thought that, when you cook, you have to be in the present. And that’s really how you have to live in your life,” she said.

“With my family history, I never want to plan for the future. You don’t know what the future holds. And anyway, the future never really exists – it’s just a series of nows.”

The 55-year-old food author continued: “I’m not a planner… Everything can be viewed through food because, in a way, food and cooking are the story of human beings. So if you cook and write and live authentically, all these things are going to mesh.”

Nigella Lawson
Nigella Lawson (Lionel Cironneau/AP)

Nigella, who graces the front cover of the magazine’s November issue, also revealed how she has never been on a diet, crediting a gentle type of yoga to keep her toned.

She has slimmed down from a size 16 to a svelte size 12 in recent years.

“I have never been on a diet to try to lose weight. I feel like I haven’t lost weight, but I’m possibly in better shape. No one should be put on this earth to go on a diet! No one should eat themselves ill either,” she explained.

“I am doing a rather slow form of yoga now called Iyengar. As you get on in life, you value feeling well as opposed to looking well. Yoga certainly makes you feel great, and you want to carry on feeling great. I just do a bit in a very slow way. Sometimes, lying down!”

Nigella will next return with new book and accompanying TV series Simply Nigella.