Naomie Harris' diet and fitness hacks revealed - from shepherd's pie breakfasts to 'gyrotonic' workouts - as the Bond Girl celebrates 50th birthday

Naomie Harris made history when she became the first black actress to play Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond franchise. 

But stepping into the shoes of the famous secretary also required the actress to kick her fitness into gear. 

Joking she was 'very unfit' before landing the role on Skyfall back in 2012, now Naomie prioritises strength training and is 'obsessed' with her health. 

Celebrating her 50th birthday on Sunday, Naomie isn't gatekeeping the secret to her healthy habits. 

She is a big advocate of the importance of sleep and how she doesn't believe in breakfast foods, revealing you might even find her tucking into a Shepherd's Pie in the early morning. 

Naomie's number one rule is, 'Without sleep, exercise is nothing.' 

Speaking to Women's Health back in 2020 she explained: 'Everyone focuses on "do you exercise," but, if you're only getting five hours sleep a night then it doesn't really matter and you're probably doing yourself a disservice. 

'Sleeping is incredibly important – specifically good quality sleep.'

Focusing on strength work she prioritises gyrotonics, which is a mixture of yoga, reformer Pilates and tai chi as well as swimming. 

The martial arts element aided her combat scenes in Bond, as she explained: 'With Bond I had two months before we started filming and even then throughout the filming I was given a personal trainer who took me out five days a week doing kickboxing, circuit training, stunt training including driving and working with weapons.

'You have to be very agile as well, swinging bags at people, fighting off the baddies and so on – to make it look believable yes you’ve got to be fit.'

In terms of diet, Naomie makes sure to stay away from sugar, caffeine and alcohol - so there will be no cereal or pastries for her breakfast.

The star revealed her breakfast is rather unconventional and she tends to just have the same thing as she would for lunch. 

'I have a massive breakfast. I have the weirdest breakfast ever, everyone is always really weirded out by my breakfast,' she told Women's Health. 

'Basically I don’t see any difference between breakfast and lunch. So I will have the same for lunch as I’d have for breakfast - I’ve had Shepherd’s pie in the morning. Or sometimes fried fish and vegetables.'

Explaining it is the same over in Jamaica she added: 'They have fried fish and plantain and callaloo and stews in the morning, and that’s normal. So it’s basically my roots! It’s in my genes.'

Admitting she is lucky with her genetics and is 'obsessed' with health, she told TRAIN: 'I’m very lucky with my figure, I’ve got a great metabolism but working on the Bond films has certainly set me on a bit of a health trip.'

She explained: 'I tried the whole raw-food diet thing but got ill. I became so ill and was anemic, so I stopped that and became a vitamin junkie. I just ate lots of vegetables and exercised. 

'My diet is very balanced, and I really grew to love the benefits – having a lot more energy and feeling a lot more alive and sleeping better and eating better.'

Naomie's healthy lifestyle in her adult life came after she was diagnosed with scoliosis when she was 11 years old before she underwent surgery in her late teens.

She explained: 'I had a rib removed, my lung deflated, then all the muscles near my spine cut through so they could insert a metal rod all the way up my back. I had to learn how to walk again. It was a horrific experience.

'Going through something so traumatic, I learned that my health is a very fragile gift.

'So at that young age, I made the decision to do everything that I possibly could to maintain it.'