We all have our food weaknesses and mine is snacking. I have a sweet tooth and I love chocolate. But I have learned that if you plan ahead you can get round that. I always carry a few chocolate-flavoured protein bars when I'm travelling.Collection: Food
I have learned a lot of interesting things about nutrition in my cricket career but the biggest lesson of all is to ensure your healthy eating habits are sustainable. The best way to eat healthily is to think of nutrition as a lifestyle, not as a diet.Collection: Diet
I enjoy fitness. I've always enjoyed trying to stay healthy. I've enjoyed all my gym work; obviously there's a cross-over with that going into cricket. But you also talk of finding an escape and I think in the last year or so, running has provided me with that.Collection: Fitness
Although I train hard with England and Rajasthan Royals, when I am at home in London I always like to join some group fitness classes and experiment with new workout ideas.Collection: Fitness
I know that fitness helps me to be better at everything I do and to live my life in the best possible way, so it has become a genuine passion, even outside of cricket.Collection: Fitness
Running is a good example of the link between fitness and psychology. I have found an easy way to enjoy running by focusing on 5k runs - they are long enough to get your heart going but not so long that you get bored.Collection: Fitness
What was scaring me was if we lost, I didn't know how I'd play cricket again. This was such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, a World Cup final at Lord's.
One of the main things that stand out for me is the mentality of the best players. They really want to be in those big moments, have the responsibility, the trust in themselves and the self-belief.
I sometimes like to do plyometric work which hits my core and the rest of my body at the same time: things like jumping to catch balls, box jumps, hurdling over cricket stumps, bounds, hops, or combined exercises like three jumps in a row followed by a sprint.
It can be hard to keep that mentality but I know that to play your best you can't be worrying about getting dropped, because then you just go into your shell even more and play safe. I've just got to come out and play how I know I can play - that's the way that you get the best out of yourself.
The first time I played Test cricket, I did OK because I had no real expectations, I was just going to enjoy it. Then I lost that.
I've always been a bit shy, especially in new situations. But I have that other side in me too. Cricket demands that you grow up fast. Playing in domestic tournaments as an overseas player, you're expected to score runs and bring a lot to the group. And I expect that of myself.
One of the things that I like to pride myself on is being the guy who sees the game through till the end.
I enjoy the football, I really love our kickarounds. I would say Chris Woakes is the best - a real Rolls-Royce midfielder. He gets himself around and he's got a silky touch. He's the main man.
Cricket isn't the be all and end all. That doesn't mean you put in less effort or don't try as hard. You put everything into it, but at the end of the day there are bigger and better things.
It's really important to have your escape away from cricket, whatever that is for the individual. I enjoy my time away from the game, that really refreshes me and lets me get excited for when I do go back in and play.
I was constantly searching for something and you kid yourself that someone out there has got that secret to batting that they can give you one piece of advice that will enable you to go and score a hundred every time. It is silly. By trying to learn I confused myself.
When Mahela Jayawardene was with us before the Test series against Pakistan he said it should all be about enjoying your talent and skill. He took his bat out there to score runs and enjoy playing the game.
It was a relief to get dropped which is sad in a way because you never want to miss a game. But I was not performing and mentally I got to a stage where I was not concentrating and did not want to be there. I was not enjoying walking out there and feeling like I didn't know where the next run was coming from.
Keeping wicket is the worst place to be when out of form. You can't hide at fine leg where you might touch the ball once every 10 overs. Behind the wicket you are involved every ball.
I'd say the biggest difference is knowing you can do something. You can sit here and say, 'I believe I can get a hundred tomorrow'. But it's a different statement to say, 'I know I can get a hundred tomorrow'. That's something I try to think about.
The fact that people want to learn from you gives you confidence as well, especially if someone in an IPL dressing room that you respect comes up to you and asks how you do something. Your self-worth starts to improve.
India is such an attack on your senses and is unrivalled for the passion surrounding cricket.
But one of the best things away from playing was a visit to a Mumbai slum. You see people in their conditions, getting stuck into their way of life and not moaning, and realise how lucky you are to be doing what you are doing. It put things into perspective.
Going into a new environment with new coaches posed the question as to how well I actually know my own game. To have these big names asking what I want from them, and what makes me tick, showed me how selfish you have to be with your practice.
I was worrying about how Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson or Josh Hazlewood would get me out and how I would counter it, but in doing that forgot how I was going to score runs and put pressure on them, which is what I'm good at. I have to be more focussed on myself.
We're very lucky in England: everything's very structured. But in India you have to deal with chaos, and I think that helps dealing with expectation.
I think I have an innate inner confidence, one that I don't feel I need to prove all the time. There will be times throughout your career when it does dip a little bit. Whether it's from within, or something you guys have written.
Cricket takes so long. There's a lot of airtime to fill. Guys have to talk about someone's technique for half an hour.
I'm quite content with who I am and what I do. You might get someone in your local Tesco who might know who you are. But not really. To think you couldn't do those simple things, I'd say I'd probably crave them quite a lot.
I feel maybe at times I've just been a bit too desperate to do well, almost tried too hard. But even though I haven't contributed as I would have liked, I've still enjoyed the cricket just as much.
There's always going to be pressure on your place. It's 11 cricketers. There's always going to be other cricketers outside the team doing well.
Early on, when I was playing the one-day stuff a few years ago and had a really poor start to my career, it was actually when I stopped worrying about getting dropped and about all the things that might go wrong that I started playing better.
Chris Gayle is an incredible player. A big guy, with phenomenal power and a very big bat. It's quite the combo.
The only way I can meet expectations of myself and what I think I am capable of is to make sure my game is in order and I am doing things that allow me to perform at my best, to make sure my training is good, to make sure I am focused on watching the ball and not worried about the external expectations.
In T20, even when you are in form and you feel like you are making good contributions, you are going to only face 30 or maximum 40 balls in the position where I bat in the middle order.
It's an amazing opportunity to be around at the right time and play in a home World Cup.
Innovation grabs the attention. You go back through the history of cricket and there are certain moments in time that grab you. Kevin Pietersen's flamingo shot was one of those.
Cricket has a stigma of old men in white clothes playing cricket but readdressing that image to people who aren't necessarily cricket lovers may go some way to making it cooler.
When there is change, there are always sceptics who think it won't work. I am sure someone at some point thought the iPhone wouldn't take off.
When you look at the best players in the world, they can play all the formats. I don't think it's an easy thing to do and that's why they're the best players in the world.
I've been lucky, my wife's been amazing. Any time we've had cricket matches she sends me to the spare room to get some sleep. She takes care of everything.
We hear about the importance of strong core muscles all the time, but it never quite hits home until you stop and think what the muscles around your stomach and lower back really do.
Your core holds you upright; it helps you bend and twist and jump; it helps you transfer power through your body; and it strengthens your posture, whether you are batting, sitting at a desk or running around a park.
I have a more personal insight into the importance of core strength because my wife Louise runs a Pilates studio in London. I have enjoyed getting into Pilates. I am not the most supple but I enjoy Pilates more than yoga.
Just because I have to deal with the stress and pressure and nerves of elite sport every day, it doesn't mean it all comes easily. I have worked hard at the mental side of my game.
The psychology of sport is so important. When you are standing at the crease, in front of a stadium full of people, it's a pretty intense experience. So you need to have the psychological tools to control your mind and deliver your best performance.
A really important technique for me is visualisation. Before a match I will sit down and think about all the different situations which might happen on the field - if the openers start well, if you end up going out earlier than expected, what the conditions might be like.
I sometimes get someone to bowl at me from closer than the usual 22 yards so when I then go and play on a normal-sized pitch, everything feels easier.
I do a lot of gym circuits; a bit like CrossFit or HIIT sessions, so just 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off. Circuits are a good fat-burner but they also work your heart and lungs.