Credo: Thomasina Miers

'At school, cooking was not considered a viable career'

The key to a country's culture is its food When I first went to Mexico at 18 I travelled around the country eating what everyone else was eating on the street – anything from wild-mushroom dishes to an incredible range of tacos filled with slow-cooked pork or topped with ceviche. I discovered that, region by region, it's one of the most diverse food destinations in the world.

Dieting is a total waste of time Dieting destroys the pleasures of eating. Obviously you have to eat healthily, but that's easy to do if you're cooking from scratch. I've learnt that your body has its own natural appetite and it tells you if you need something; if you're really low in iron you will crave meat, if you've not had enough vegetables you'll crave greens, but if you eat a lot of processed food you lose that communication with your body.

Winning 'MasterChef' was huge for me I'd always loved food but as I went to an academic school, cooking was not considered a viable career so I went through eight different careers before I found food. Unless you get your hands dirty and try lots of different stuff you'll never discover what turns you on.

All this wanting of 'stuff' doesn't make people happy Our magazines (and popular culture in general) are filled with what celebrities have; the recent riots were about materialism and consumerism, but none of it is the way to fulfilment or happiness. It's when you're creating something – whether cooking in the kitchen, growing something in your backyard, knitting, or working as a mechanic on an engine – that you find the creativity that brings you back to your core, and makes you happy.

Getting distracted is one of my worst habits I often try to do too many things at once, which is why I find gardening or cooking so satisfying; if you can find the confidence and the faith to focus on one thing for an hour or two and free yourself from the relentless impact of what's going on around you, it gives you total calm.

Food is about more than nutrition It's a social lubricant which allows us to spend time with others and talk about important things. I remember having huge arguments over the dinner table growing up, and I think we've lost something now that the traditional family meal has broken down.

Thomasina Miers is a chef, food writer and owner of the Mexican food chain Wahaca (wahaca.co.uk)