Video Chapters:

• Introduction
• The first 6 months, overeating and bingeing before
• How am I feeling in myself?
• Weigh-in, measurements, comparison photos and blood test results
• Talking about my results
• I nearly forgot!

I am thrilled to share with you the results of my 6-month weight loss journey (so far) following a WW2 Ration Book Diet. Join me as I reveal the transformation my body is undergoing and the impact rationing has had on my overall well-being. I am also supporting this journey with scientific data using blood tests, a food diary, ongoing daily monitoring of physical activity, body measurements, blood pressure, and other vitals. Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe to my channel to stay updated on my future videos.

I use Thriva and my GP surgery for my blood tests. You can receive £20 off your first test with Thriva by using my discount code here: https://thriva.co/?discount_code=CEWPGS

C xxxxx

**Trigger warning – Eating disorder** With my 6 month health/weight and challenge update coming up in a couple of WEEKS, I won’t go too in depth right now BUT I just wanted to let you know that I TRULY believe living on wartime rations is literally saving my life when I think back to my emotional and physical state 6 months ago.

Life has been super tough, especially the last few months and if it hadn’t been for the focus of this challenge and the early physical benefits of weight loss that came with it, I’d be in a very miserable place right now. Is it too dramatic to say I may well have not been able to cope? I will never know that (thank goodness) and every day I wake up to a bowl full of porridge and a large cup of tea, I’m feeling happier and stronger and feel there is so much hope on the horizon to be cured of my obesity, once and for all.

It’s also been nearly 6 months since I have binged or ate all day to fill a bottomless pit of a stomach. I’m not sure whether that was an insatiable physical hunger, or was it filling an emotional void? When overeating throughout the day causes you to expel your stomach contents during the night (often nausea, occasional vomiting) you know this is not good and so in January this year I really felt undertaking a year living on WW2 rations would help me focus on not only something that I find really interesting, it would help me get back to a NORMAL pattern of eating. For me this is the traditional “Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and small evening snack with NO eating between meals.”

Had this been easy? Now it is, to begin with, for that first month or so it was difficult as I was so used to eating all day and eating large amounts of junk food in addition to huge meal portions. But I’ve learned that if you eat three generous meals a day that contain wholefoods and plenty of veg so you feel satiated, this soon becomes a habit. I’ve kept that habit for nearly 6 months now, I’m so very proud of that achievement.

With the 40+ lbs weight-loss to date, I’m now able to enjoy long walks again and although my joints still ache at times (I am 57 and menopausal), this is improving and I’m working hard on ensuring nutritionally I am eating foods that will hopefully help. I am also taking daily Omega 3 supplements (Algae oil) and a Vit D3. I don’t take any other supplements and luckily I am not on any prescribed medications.

Thank you so much for all your support through the blog, on our Facebook group and through YouTube and other social channels. I appreciate EVERY SINGLE MESSAGE.

Much love, C xxxxxx

Flicking through the Daily Telegraph Wartime Recipes book, I came across a 1940’s ad for Weetabix which included a recipe for a dish called “Weetabix Cheese Savoury”. Being highly curious about any dish that sounds rather strange, I gave it a go this afternoon, even testing it out on my eldest daughter. Hope you enjoy the video and the recipe!

Ingredients

• 4 Weetabix
• Leftover vegetables
• 1/2 pint of white sauce
• Grated cheese to taste

Method

Remains of cooked cauliflower or other cooked vegetables. Cut a little off the top of each Weetabix or slice in half. heat through under a grill. Mix the cooked vegetables with sufficient sauce to moisten, add seasoning and grated cheese to flavour. Put the Weetabix from under the grill into the bottom of a pie dish. Pile on the vegetable and sauce mixture, cover with Weetabix crumbs and grated cheese and brown under the grill. Serve at once in a hot dish.

My additions.

I added in plenty of seasoning to the vegetables and a knob of margarine too in addition to the white sauce. I also added a teaspoon of Marmite to add a richer flavour. I also added spring onions to the top before grilling.

I only used 3 Weetabix for mine and 1/2 lb of vegetables and I ate the whole pie.

Definitely enjoyed this and will make it again!

C xxx

Dear all, the last few months have been incredibly difficult BUT I’ve continued sticking to WW2 rationing.

My weight is now at 259 lbs (18 st 5 lbs) and my starting weight on January 8th of this year was over 299 lbs (21 st 4 lbs). Although I am still very overweight, this weight loss has already had a huge impact on my life. I now can walk to and from work without any pain in my back and my general joint aches and pain, while still there, are much improved from what they once were.

Simple wholefoods, very little refined sugar and lots of vegetables are without a doubt, boosting my health and well-being and at the end of June I will be doing a 6 month blood test to check my cholesterol and protein levels in my blood as well as several other levels for liver, kidneys, iron, Vit B12 etc. My hope is that my cholesterol levels will continue dropping (they were high at the beginning) and that my other levels will continue to remain in the good or optimum range.

Thank you so much for all your support during these difficult times. Earlier this week I was able to say good-bye to a much loved family member at her funeral. She will never be forgotten.

Much love,

C xxxxxxxx

Thank you for your kind words and support on my latest short video. For those that don’t use the community tab on YouTube (where I post short, written updates) I thought it would be good just to let anyone who is kind enough to pop on and watch my videos why it will be another 2 weeks before I post another video.

My next weigh-in at the doctor’s surgery is June 9th which is weigh-in day at home too so that seems a good time to try and spend time editing a longer video and uploading it.

Much love, C xxxxx

I hope you are having a wonderful Coronation Day and enjoying some feasting! I had two large scones for my lunch which I made from a WW2 recipe and the rations I had and thoroughly enjoyed these. They were delicious!

Coronation Day Fruit Scones

• 16 oz of self-raising flour (or plain flour and 2 heaped teaspoons of baking powder)
• 2-4 oz butter or margarine (I used 3 oz of vegan butter)
• 2 oz sugar
• 1/4 pint of milk (I used oat milk)
• 2-3 oz of sultanas or dried mixed fruit
• pinch of salt

Method

1. Sieve the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar (or add the sugar after sieving)
2. Add small lumps of the butter/margarine and rub in with fingers until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs
3. Add the milk and mix until a stiff dough is achieved
4. Roll out to 1 inch thick and use cutters (I used 3.5 inch cutters which made 8 scones)
5. Wash with milk or egg
6. Cook in over at 180C for 20-30 mins until cooked.
7. Allow to cool before serving

C xxxx

I’m living on a WW2 diet for a full year to lose weight (hopefully 100 lbs) and become healthier as well as fulfil my obsession with WW2 rationing and recipes. BUT there is another great reason to do this as well and that is it will save me over £3400! Watch my video to see how that breaks down and what I was spending and eating before.

Of course, in the months leading up to starting my year on WW2 rations (9th January, 2023) my eating had got out of control. Not only huge quantities of my main three (healthy) meals a day but the takeaways and junk food and constant need to snack in between was costing me around £85 per week which is just crazy! Literally feeding my addiction…

While saving £3,400 a year seems impossible for most, for me it will be a reality based on the last few months of 2022. I don’t smoke, I only drink on special occasions, I have no addictive vices except for food. But surely food itself can’t be blamed or can it?

My next blog post and video (coming soon) will be about ultra-processed foods in our modern diets and how the typical diet today compares with a wartime diet of yesteryear.

Massive hugs, C xxxx

I’m going to be getting back to creating new recipe posts and WW2 rationing content very soon but first I thought it would be good to share what changes have happened regarding my health in the first 3 full months of living on a wartime diet.

Click above to watch my video on YouTube which explains everything and logs all the data for anyone who is interested, I’ve also taken a few screenshots and dropped them into the post below.

For anyone interested in who I do my blood testing with for Cholesterol, Vit D, Liver, Thyroid, Kidney, Diabetes, Protein, Iron, B12 and CRP etc. I’ve been doing an annual test with Thriva for several years now, full details are on the video but I have a link here which will tell you more. http://www.thriva.co/i/CEWPGS

It’s lovely to be pain free in my back now when walking and to generally feel happier and healthier just 3 months into my year long journey.

Hope you are having a wonderful Easter.

Much love, C xxxxx

I haven’t ached so much in months! Another busy weekend coming up as we try and clear more space and move more stuff into the house from the storage unit! Last weekend I got my daughter moved into my home office (which is a tiny box room) and I moved my computer and desk into my bedroom. It’s a really tight squeeze but trying to make it work!

Oh did I mention that my eldest daughter Jess has come back to live with me? We got a permitted occupier permit (we rent our home) and Jess is settling in Swindon and will be with us until she is ready to move to her own place. Rent here is just so expensive, I really don’t know how people on minimum wage get by. There are many HMO’s here as renting out a room in a house is the only affordable option for many single people on a lower income.

Anyway, our house is now bursting even more with boxes and no place to store things so I’m committed to a tip run at least once a month to get rid of anything we don’t need anymore (if we can’t donate or recycle). It means being brutal and letting go but it has to be done!

My eating remains surprisingly stable. My daily 1940’s menu is often this…

Breakfast: Porridge with milled flax seed with a handful of berries thrown in OR a couple of slices of toast with Marmite OR a cooked breakfast on toast one day a week.

Lunch: Leftovers from dinner the day before OR a large salad and a sandwich

Dinner: A stew rich with beans and pulses or soy mince OR a pie with pastry OR vegetables and mashed potato with vegan sausages OR bubble and squeak

Snack in bed: A piece of fruit OR some bread and butter pudding OR a slice of bread a jam

My average grocery spend per week is around £15 but I tend to spend a bit extra here and there when I run out of condiments or when I fancy some extra veg!

C xxx

Hi all, I made a video regarding my weight-loss during the past month living 100% on a WW2 English ration book diet.

This month I’ve had my first modern day real-life challenges which I feel I managed to navigate successfully. I was invited out to meal with my work team to welcome a new member aboard. I don’t spend much time away from the house due to the fact that my youngest has some severe anxiety issues and panic disorder BUT I can’t put all my life on hold so we work things out by short periods away from the house. The restaurant was just two streets away so I went.

Living on a WW2 diet I’m committed to eating food stuffs that were available during the 1940s during the times of rationing. The restaurant we attended served curries so I went for a vegan plain vegetable curry (tomato based) with plain white rice, no naan, no poppadoms and I drank an ale. Curry was served in Britain as early as 1733 and there were curry houses in several cities during WW2 but it wasn’t until post-war Britain when Bangladeshi seamen began to buy bombed out chippies and cafes and started selling curry and rice alongside fish, pies, and chips, that curry worked it’s way firmly into British culture.

I digress….

Apart from the excitement of enjoying a curry, most of my diet has been very similar but I am thoroughly enjoying it. In addition to porridge, sandwiches, salads, stews, pies and lots of vegetables and potatoes, I’ve also baked biscuits, bread pudding and fruit cake. With hindsight, baking a cake wasn’t a good idea as my inability to resist high fat/high sugar combinations, led me to eat the whole cake within 30 minutes. This was a lesson learned to only cook small portions of treats. However, this wasn’t a complete disaster as I ensured I carried on eating plenty of main meals with lots of vegetables and potatoes and this ensured I didn’t have any cravings for the sweet stuff!

Despite this, I’m pleased to say that I lost 11 lbs this month and in two months I have lost 24 lbs (1 st 10 lbs).

C xxx