I love roast vegetables. I do. The ultimate mix is probably my Dad’s. He uses red peppers, aubergines, red onions, courgettes and carrots smothered in garlic, balsamic vinegar and olive oil and then once roasted they are scattered with feta cheese and returned to the oven just for a moment so that the feta becomes fluffy – amazing! This dish reminds me of Saturday nights in front of the TV watching Bugs (please tell me I am not the only person who remembers this 90’s gem?!).

To keep my wobbly hormones in check I need to keep fairly slim. Generally it’s going pretty well. As much as I can I have switched to wholemeal alternatives and was surprised initially at how easy I found it to cut out sugar, but this week, I have really struggled. My new routine should be frighteningly healthy and consist of a breakfast like; wholemeal toast with avocado and/or a poached egg, a fruit smoothie with added spirulina and either a black coffee or herbal tea. Snacks of seeds, nuts or dried fruit, during the day, light lunches and an even lighter dinner. But, lately, I’ve been waking up without an appetite and therefore eating more and more later on, or worse, eating lots when I’m not even hungry.

Last night was particularly bad as I made a huge tray of roast vegetables for which I had a massive craving. I ate a great big greasy bowlful, half a pack of feta cheese and still went back for more and some flapjacks! This morning, not wanting to go to the shops I started to heat up the rest in the guise of brunch, but looking at it dished up, I stopped myself and had some fruit instead.

I have started to find it easy to fall back into the trap of eating as something to do. Loosing weight is hard, keeping it off is harder. I know, stuffing my face with vegetables isn’t exactly the same as eating a big plate of fish and chips but I have had a week of biscuits, ice cream, cocktails and a vat of chilli con carne so I do need to get back on track. Enough is enough.

For me the important thing is to acknowledge what’s happening. If I go into autopilot and start scoffing my dinners mindlessly in front of the telly it’s going to be harder and harder to get back to my sourdough and avocado ways. And what happened to my 10 minutes a day of exercise? I’ll tell you what happened; I stopped doing it that’s what!

There are many reasons why I find lifestyle changes hard – stress, laziness, lack of confidence, I’m sure everyone has a dip now and then. It’s the same reason why a few kitchen chores get neglected, I don’t keep up with the laundry and sometimes I find it a real push to write with any kind of regularity.

This blog post is to give myself a bit of a ticking off. An online disapproving glance and “Ahem”. We shall see this week if it works, the proof is in the pudding (must not eat pudding).

x