Little things

I don't have a lot of weight to lose, but I do want to shift a few pounds. So I have started to eat more intuitively - that is to eat only when hungry, to eat slowly, to stop eating when I'm satisfied or full (even if this means leaving food on my plate) and to eat anything I want. Basically, it's eating like a toddler but without the fussiness and tantrums! I lost 7lbs in the first two weeks of eating like this. I don't weigh myself again until another week or so but feel so much lighter, more energetic, less bloated.

Recent meals we've cooked have included a curry of paneer, tomatoes and peas - a chickpea and chorizo stew with spinach - linguine with crab, rocket leaves, capers and red chilli flakes - lightly seared tuna steaks with a salad of rocket leaves, oranges and toasted pine nuts - a tagine of chicken with saffron, green olives and lemons served with brown rice - sausages in a sauce of Marsala wine, Dijon mustard, onions, fennel seeds and served with, of course, buttery mash - tofu marinated in soy sauce and red chilli flakes and served with an okra and oyster mushroom stir-fry. I'm eating anything I want, even chocolate and ice cream, but my portion sizes have gone down by half or, in some cases, by more than half.

We tend to go out on Saturdays and on Sunday mornings or else entertain friends and family, but Sunday afternoons are reserved exclusively for Mr Planet and Little Planet to bake bread, biscuits or cakes. Little Planet loves pouring in the ingredients, mixing them in the bowl and eating them raw!

The coming of Spring means washing hung out to dry on the line. There is no better sight, for me, than white cotton sheets hanging out to dry.

I have two knitting projects on the go: an orange merino wool scarf for me and a charcoal grey wool scarf for Mr Planet. One day I will progress to something more challenging, like a cardigan for Little Planet or some gloves for me. For now I am enjoying the hour of easy knitting I do when Little Planet is in bed and Mr Planet has yet to return home from work - after a day of writing (or trying to write, see previous post), there is nothing better than to knit and contemplate. I get a lot of ideas when knitting, so my laptop is always on.

Television programmes I've been enjoying have included Marchlands, South Riding, The Big C and Great British Food Revival.

Easter is coming up and I am planning an Easter Egg Hunt for Little Planet. I'll buy lots of smaller chocolate eggs and hide them inside her toy cooker, her doll's house, her doll's buggy, her Lego box, her toy garage, the toy box in her bedroom, behind the books on one of her book shelves, inside empty flower pots in the garden, inside the shed... Oh, it's going to be so much fun!

I haven't given up anything for Lent, but I have reduced the time I spend on the Internet. On that note, cheerio!