Day 12 Grumpy, grumpy woman

15st 1lb. Weight not a problem. Weather dreadful - rained all day. There are 5 of us (and the dog) in a small house and my youngest had a friend on a sleepover. I had the computer because I was working which meant they were bored. All day (and even now) there is noise. I crave peace. The house is a tip, I never stop washing (and there is no where to dry it) and to compound the problem, the dog is in full moult and the vacuum cleaner is inefficient to put it mildly.
On a positive note, despite considerable pressure, I have not succumbed to, or even been tempted by, chocolate - result!

Anyway, I'll try to cheer myself up by telling you my happy story from last week. I decided that I would chance my arm and send the first few days of my blog to the Mail on Sunday magazine to see if they thought their readers would be interested in my diary (I knew they wouldn't, but, nothing ventured, nothing gained!). Anyway, the woman who answered the phone suggested I sent it to Sarah Stacey, the Health journalist. I did and within 15 minutes, the phone rang. It was Sarah Stacey. For the next 25 minutes, I juggled poaching salmon, prepping a salad and boiling potatoes, whilst gesticulating to the children to retreat from the kitchen - all with the phone tucked under my chin. I had the most encouraging, informative and thoroughly interesting chat with her. She said that, unfortunately, my blog wasn't suitable for her page and that space is limited in the magazine. However, we chatted about diet and food generally and she directed me to a previous article she had written about her sister in law's need to lose a few pounds and recommended I look at Charles V Clark (www.charlesvclark.com), a specialist in nutrition (actually he has more qualifications than I thought it was possible to get!) and an internationally recognised specialist in diabetes. Prof Clark advises eating meat, fish, shellfish, eggs and poultry, with lots of vegetables for fibre (except potatoes and parsnips, which are almost pure sugar), salads, egg, nuts and seeds, with extra virgin olive oil, herbs and spices, and even a little butter. He explains that carbohydrates convert to sugar in the blood stream and trigger a hormone called insulin. ‘Only 15 per cent of the cholesterol in your blood comes from fatty food. 85 per cent is made in your own liver as a result of insulin.’ He also recommends a healthy dose of exercise thrown in. Sarah said she is not one to listen to faddy diets etc, but his advice was sensible, achieveable and worked. I am going to buy his book and get reading!
However, the thing about this conversation with Sarah that pleased me the most was that she said although she doesn't have a weight issue, we do "all have our fragilities" - something that touches a raw nerve - she quite rightly said that losing weight will not solve all my self esteem issues. The upshot of it was that I had a conversation that I wasn't expecting, that raised my spirits and gave me boost - what a thoroughly lovely lady!
Thank you, Sarah.
E xx