Weight watching

I am far too embarrassed to reveal the actual weight I had ballooned to but one sideways look in the mirror, some 10 weeks ago, convinced me that the time had come to shed a few pounds. A total of 29 of them to be precise. I am now a third of the way there.

What I have not done is “gone on a diet”. I have not joined Slimming World or Weightwatchers (other short term fixes are available), but I have tried to cut down on what nutritionists refer to as “the crap”. The most difficult crap to cut down on has been alcohol and at times I have failed dismally to reduce my consumption. I am not reaching for the bottle first thing in the morning, apart from airport days when I am off on my holidays, of course, when it’s compulsory, but nine o clock is wine o clock in our house and the only way to deal with the urge to find a Shiraz is to not buy one! So whilst I have managed to cut back significantly on the alcohol front, it is a step too far to cut it out altogether!

Food is very much easier. We always had a reasonably healthy diet anyway, so the change to less sugar and fat was less jarring. Breakfast is Oatibix, lunch is an industrial-sized and largely fat free salad and dinner (tea as I call it) is never, ever processed food. More importantly, I have largely cut out snacks. I find it hard to pass the Deli without buying an onion bhajee or a Scotch egg, I have a soft spot for pork scratchings (which is not shared by my dentist) and I love foam sweets. All these have been removed from my diet. So have the McDonalds Sausage and Egg McMuffin, cheese, bread, pizza, chips and just about everything in the world that tastes nice. And when I pass Spud U Like, I am so tempted to buy that potato drowning in egg mayonnaise and extra grated cheese on top. Instead, I reach for an apple.

All my excess blubber gathers in the same area – my stomach – and I had got to the stage where it was becoming a real squeeze getting into my jeans and some T shirts looked ridiculous. As the weeks have gone by, I have shed the equivalent of around five bags of sugar and things are starting to fit again. One thing I never do is submit to weight gain by simply buying larger sized clothes. I never go into my preferred shop – Bench – and request a pair of fat jeans because I can no longer get into my slimmer jeans. It might be an effort squeezing into some clothes, but for me that just isn’t right.

Luxuries are allowed, just occasionally. Today we will have some roast potatoes with our slowly cooked brisket of beef, but they will not be swimming in grease and fat. She who must be obeyed has developed a technique for cooking the spuds with a minimum of oil. Thank goodness for small mercies.

I liken my new diet to when I gave up smoking some 21 years ago. I am not on a diet, it’s just a new, improved diet with no props. Just self-discipline and willpower. When I quit cigarettes it was without patches and e-cigarettes hadn’t yet been invented. It was a break with the past and it was permanent. Although I did not join Weightwatchers, I followed it closely and it worked, but gradually I tired of it and gave up. The pounds slowly returned. In short, diets do work for me, but not forever. It’s the overall diet that counts.

Advancing age does not help things much and neither does exercise. Of course, exercise is very good for you but in terms of weight loss its benefits are minimal. Eating less sugar and fat and drinking less sugar are far more important.

Believe me, I would love to boil the kettle for a nice cuppa, accompanied by a huge cheese scone filled with real butter. Sadly, a piece of fruit will have to suffice until noon when I can eat something more substantial. But not before.