The H E diet

14st 5lb. Goody, goody on the way down!

Life is far from boring at the moment as it doesn't allow a moment to be bored, but it could be a little tedious for a blog reader. Basically, it follows this pattern:

4.30am-7am, depending on when I need to be at work. Get up, shower, breakfast, sort girls, scrabble around various pots for dinner money, send them off to school.
Daytime: Work like mad in very busy kitchens.
On a normal day at 3.30-5pm. Go home, make supper, eat supper, sort homework or ironing or cleaning (very rarely sadly - the "deep clean fairy" urgently needs to pay a visit).
8pm-10pm-ish. Collapse in a heap, try to requisition the remote control, answer emails etc, make any necessary phonecalls and, sadly, play scrabble on facebook if I have time.
11pm ish Go to bed. Rarely asleep before midnight.

See, where is the excitment in that? You don't want to know what I had to eat, other than it was not too bad but not my best day either. I was despairing as to what little nugget of interest I could find for you today. Racing towards the end of the day, it came, in the last furlong, from my delightful Uncle David. He is an elegant, true gentleman who loves life, thoroughly appreciates good food and wine and is himself a superb cook. At various times in his life, he has had to take his expanding girth in hand. At present, he is trying the smaller portion, smaller plate method of intake reduction. He told me tonight that his father (who also loved good food) used to, from time to time, follow the "H.E." diet. When I asked what it is, he said the "Halve Everything" diet. Now, when you think about it, that is an instant way to cut calories with absolutely no deprivation (which must be the downfall of virtually every diet) - you can still have a succulent fillet steak with a creamy brandied sauce but half the amount. I could live with that! It would perhaps have room in my dieting world for my "naughty" days - days when only sugary food will fill the void. If you really can't resist that slice of banoffe pie, have it, but only indulge in a small piece instead of the usual chunk. I could see this working. Not that I intend to succumb anyway, but, if I do, a little restraint can't harm can it?

Thank you Uncle David for that food for thought.

E xx