carolyn ekins wartime ration diet

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Keep Calm Carry On

I’m back…hopefully for good this time!

Life has been interesting the past couple of months. Although life has been challenging in many of it’s aspects I keep soldiering on. My Hobbits (children) are now 22, 17 and 13 and keep me busy and sane (ish) above and beyond my full time job as a web manager with a local newspaper group.

It’s in the midst of winter here in Nova Scotia, Canada. Having moved here from England (UK) in 2004, each winter still catches me unawares and I still find that 3-4 months of snow covering the ground takes a bit of getting used to.

My personal life too has taken some interesting turns and at this moment in my life I am a happy bunny. I wish I could share more with you about this but choose to keep this close to my chest at this moment in time to respect an individuals privacy. However any reference in my blog to Aragorn is someone who is currently there for me and who I hold in high respect…

It is with the support and encouragement of those close to me including my children that I return to complete what I started. My eldest (Jess Hobbit) sat down with me the other day and said “Mum- you look beautiful but I am so worried that one day something will happen to you and we will not have you anymore”….(isn’t it wonderful how your children see you as beautiful despite your appearance!) I love my Hobbits, we have become very close. When Jess Hobbit left the room I cried…

Apart from the health issues of carrying around an extra 100 lbs or so I simply have grown tired of not being the person I know I am.

I am a woman who wants to be adventurous, wants to wear gorgeous clothes, wants to express herself in ways my current body shape does not allow.

Finally… I do this because of my continuing interest in the WWII Domestic Home Front especially the cuisine and rationing of the time. I have always and continue to believe that adapting to a simpler diet of eating fresh healthy foods (locally sourced) and following a 1940s wartime rationing diet will lower my body fat and improve my health.

I do this for my children… I do this for ME!

C xxx

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First weigh in for a very long time- 314 lb

Cor what? TREPIDATION was the big word looming in front of my eyeballs as I carefully placed my feet on the weighing scales Monday morning…

I had lost a little weight over a few weeks, back in June,  but stopped jumping on the scales for the last 5 or 6 weeks as I knew my eating was getting out of control again because of very hectic work, volunteer and social schedule. Fast, horrible food on the go, was the order of the day most of the time.

It is so unfair that weight goes on so quickly. Anyone else find the same?? Last time I weighed myself, sometime in June, I was 289 lb but standing on the scales on Monday morning saw the needle thrust itself outrageously to the 314 lb mark. Basically in 5 or 6 weeks my weight had ballooned to just 1 lb less than when I started this back on August 2009. The alarming thing was that 25 lb had attached itself to me in just 6 weeks. How could that be possible?

How did I feel? Shitty for about 10 seconds but relieved that I finally had faced the reality of my situation. At least now it was time again to really try hard to make a final push and conquer this demon of mine..I know that fat lady isn’t me, I want to hike, run, go swimming and buy smaller knickers!

So here once again, for the third time in my life, its time to finally finish what I set out to do- lose 100 + lbs and improve my health by eating a diet low in processed, chemically enhanced crap and sticking to a tried and tested method, eating lots of fresh local veg and “non-fiddled” with food that kept that nation healthy during WWII.
C xx
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Day 1: Daily diet sheets- hellish

Today was hellish…. and not because I ate yet more porridge oats (oatmeal).

Car blew up on my way home from work, 3 hours later I made it home from work, minus my car and $150 out of pocket and now DREADING what tomorrow may bring while I work from home (thanks boss!) waiting to find out what’s wrong..

My plans for some fabby 1940’s, lovingly prepared nostalgia dishes fell by the wayside for the following quick fixes..

PS: I have included the cost of my days food in dollars and English pounds because I know there are others out there like me that like pinching pennies either out of necessity to just get by or because you just do…

Breakfast

Large bowl of organic porridge oats (oatmeal) made with water and sweetened with a little sugar. 25 cents/ 12 pence

Lunch

Mad rush this morning and ran out of time to make lunch. When this happens I pop into Tim Hortons and order a large wholewheat country bun, toasted with butter on it. The staff tease me mercilessly… “Not having your BIG BUN today then??” if I for instance just have a cup of tea. Sandwiches at Tim’s cost around $6/3 UK pounds…. 1 large country bun toasted with butter costs just $1.35 cents/ 65 pence

In addition I had a large apple from home 60 cents/ 30 pence

Dinner

And because I didn’t get in until 8:30 pm I just couldn’t face an hours food preparation …. an ‘OSLO MEAL‘ came to the rescue. This was a big plate of green salad (had seconds too), 1/2 oz cheese, and two bread slices with plenty of margarine spread on them. In addition I had a large glass of milk… $1.25 / 60 pence

It was a good job I had no appetite as today’s menu has NOT been very satisfying nor do I feel it was adequate.

Tomorrow it will be meat and potatoes for sure!

Total cost of food today: $3.35/ 1 UK pound & 67 pence

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