And relax

Tomorrow is my day off. Tomorrow I will be doing housework.
For anyone who works a weekend, this is the normality you face. Whatever you can't do on a Saturday or Sunday is carried over to the week.
For me it's ironing, cooking and... well something else.

The worst thing for me will be staying away from any temptation. For temptation, read 'The Pub.'
To say I'm a huge fan of the midweek drink would be somewhat underselling my devotion to what is one of the few things that still feels naughty.

There's something wonderful about sitting in a boozer, while others are at work, and supping a drink while pouring over a paper. You get this particularly cheeky feeling. Well, I do anyway.

You still get some shocked reactions when you say you're off to the pub in the middle of the day.
At one stage I'd have to explain to people: "Look, I'm just going for the one. I'm not going to be there all day. I'll pop out, have a pint or a whisky, read the paper and come home to continue my dedication to the housework."

I no longer have to do that, mainly because I got legless on one occasion and people know I'd be in big trouble if I did it again.


So, I have cut down on my habit. But with the wedding on our minds I don't think I can justify it at all. Oh on special occasions I'm sure I'll head out of an afternoon, but for now the pub is closed in my brain. Well, on weekday afternoons anyway. For now.

As we're off the diet now we've got open season on what we eat. Because we can use more than a few pots and pans, our kitchen looks like a toddler has gone on a slight sugar-fuelled rampage. There are dirty saucepans everywhere. Knives I didn't know we owned have appeared. The peeler is filled with all sorts of funk. And that's just from today's effort.

For the record I cooked salmon with herbs and lemon, with steamed veg and a small portion of mashed potato. Having gone through last week, mashed potato seems to be a novelty.

We did sort of fall off the wagon last night. I know, I know, first day off and I'm already going bananas. Stick with me though.
We had small glass of rose wine and a single Hershey's Chocolate Kiss (under 200kcal for both if you're interested). Everything in moderation.

Plus, now I've had some wine, I won't think of the pub tomorrow.

Yeah, right.

Green machine

I don't hate vegetables, really I don't, It's just I've never had the best relationship with them. 

I've never understood how people can chomp down on a raw carrot or look forward to eating celery. Both of those, in my opinion are best served in stout, traditional dishes. Pies for example. Or stews. Or, in fact the cabbage soup which has become the focus of my life this week.

I just don't think I'd only eat veg throughout the day*.

Today was always going to be tricky for me. No fruit. Still no meat. No dairy. No bread. Just veg.

Breakfast consisted of cucumber and peppers with black coffee. Dinner? Well the soup, of course, and some more cucumber and peppers.  Tea had a spark of variety. Baked potato. some more of the soup and steamed spinach, courgette and broccoli.

So far, so healthy.

The food itself has been fine. But we're in a tricky period, I'm sure all of us would agree. The flotsam and jetsam of festive good still lingers in our kitchen cupboards. I know that if I open one cupboard I will find about 12 Kinder Eggs. Temptation has never been closer. Especially when the editor brings in bag after bag of Christmas food for the newsroom to eat. It's all very kind but it's taking some will power to avoid the treats. Thank goodness I still have coffee! Huzzah!

I also think I'm starting to experience the one familiar problem the diet has. Gas. Guffs. Farts. Trumps. Parps. I've got a sneaking suspicion the cheese will be cut quite a lot this evening. I can only hope they hit their peak before work tomorrow.

Tomorrow I can bring fruit back in. I'll be hitting the apples from early morning.

*Apart from potatoes. I mean you can have chips, waffles, fondant, mash, baked, fried...