Oops.  I had lots of sugar last night and some more today :-(.  I blame the Advent Calendar.  Seriously, I do!  I gave up sugar on 29th September 2013 and lasted just over 2 months.  I lost 10 pounds in the first week and then nothing.  That is because I ate too much cheese, butter and bread.  And don’t do enough exercise and probably drank too much wine too.  However, I felt better and will give up sugar again as it is definitely healthier to never have it.  But during the festive season I will allow myself the occasional treat.

So what has the Advent Calendar got to do with my sugar surge?  Well, behind every door is a little wooden Christmas decoration, wrapped in tissue paper.  Harvey opens the relevant number each morning, unwraps the decoration and hangs it on one of the little white or red pegs on the calendar.  As a little treat I put a sweet in it for him too.  Harvey can’t eat dairy and I dislike artificial flavourings and colourings so I was very pleased to find a box of petit fours (marzipan shaped in to little fruits) and some almond nougat.  Unfortunately, having them in the house proved too much of a temptation and I had a sugar frenzy which I was very ashamed about but once started, I couldn’t stop!

Obviously I don’t really blame the Advent Calendar, I totally blame myself.  Hey ho! Having had a sugar surge last night, I wanted more sugar today.  I woke up early and decided to make myself a smoothie instead of rushing off to work.  We had a talk from a personal trainer last week.  She came in to work and made us all stand up and move/dance around for 10 minutes (we all felt pretty stupid but in a way I enjoyed it).  She then gave us a talk about healthy eating.  One of the things she said was to eat within half an hour of getting up so you get your metabolism going.  I never do that so I decided to try it today.

Well, it doesn’t work for me!  I had my smoothie first thing and by the time I got to work, about an hour and a half later, I was hungry.  I am never hungry that early but today I was.  It may have been the sugar playing havoc with me but I was needing something more.   So I went to ‘Paul’ and bought a latte with a croissant with cheese and ham.  A dreadful choice for diet and health reasons.  It was good though!

I worked in my usual office today but I had to work on a different floor which was much better and I had a seat beside the window.  This was today’s view.  Not a great photo as you can see my office reflected in the window but you get the general idea.  I like this yellow building.  In the distance is The Shard. Looking to the left you can see Tate Modern – the large brick building. As if the morning’s eating wasn’t bad enough, I went out for lunch today.  This is the first time in ages I have been out for lunch as I have been too busy at work.  Today I met Gail at Albion which I have had takeaways from but never eaten inside. We had bread with butter while we read the menu. Albion serves very traditional British food.  If I am ever in the mood for some “nursery” food, my first choice will always be fish pie.  I love it.  One of my favourite meals.  I had it today with peas and bacon.  You always have to have fish pie with peas. Oh my goodness!  The fish pie was incredible.  Yes folks. I-N-C-R-E-D-I-B-L-E!  As good as any I have ever tasted. Creamy soft and smooth mashed potato topped generous chunks of fish, prawns and mussels.  The sauce was rich and perfectly seasoned and the portion size was just right too.  I could have had more but didn’t need it.  Well done Albion, that was exceptional. And then pudding, she says as nonchalantly as she can manage.  Yes, I had a pudding!!!!  This was Spotted Dick with custard plus there was a jug full of custard on the side.  The actual Spotted Dick was very pleasant but not amazing.  The custard was very amazing though.  Sweet and very vanilla.  I loved it. Followed by a small Cappuchino.

So a disasterous day of eating for someone trying to lose weight and get healthy.  But an awesome experience for my taste buds.  Albion does not disappoint.  The food was excellent and the service, decor and ambience was perfect for lunch.  Plus it was lovely to see Gail.

Unsurprisingly, I do not need or want any supper.