The Letter D

D is for Diet

It's been going on for a number of weeks now; I Decided that I would have a go at the Dreaded Diet. 

Since February, I've been regularly going to the gym to get my exercise on. You may remember (if you read often) my confessions about my beetroot face. Well, recently Ben and I Decided to buy some scales and work out the Difference that the exercise was making to our lives... in quantifiable amounts. It was terrifying. 

At the moment of truth I was extremely D for Disappointed. I hadn't actually lost any weight after my continued efforts to get fit. "Harriet", I told myself, "It's time!" and promptly Downloaded "My Fitness Pal" and started to use that to count my calories. I'm not into Dieting. Mainly because of the list of things that I am into such as chocolate, Dessert, brownie, and (Dare I say it) ice-cream. I love food. However, something had to be Done. I had to use a combined attack. Ben decided to join me on the exercise but wasn't too into the idea of cutting out food! 

I'm certainly not one of these huge success stories ("I lost 13 stone over two minutes by shoveling vegetables down my throat") BUT I have actually lost 6kg. Despite my mom's helpful and motivational words that reminded me of something Pride and Prejudice's very own Mrs Bennett might say ("Very good. Though, you'll always be short and dumpy, sweetheart.") I feel better and I think it's starting to show. I mean, 6kg... that's 6 bags of sugar. I'm pretty happy about that!!! 

How? A target of 1200 calories a Day of food (the minimum you can eat without being unhealthy) and going to the gym 3 times a week with the aim of Doing at least 30 minutes on the elliptical. I usually burn off about 420-450 calories just on that machine. I'm a work in progress. Watch this space... which hopefully will get slimmer! 

This 'D' gets abandoned at the weekends (thank goodness) - I'm not sure I could pass up all the temptations then, especially when we go out! 

D is for Days Out...

This is a National Trust place near Cambridge called Wimpole Hall. Ben and I met with his parents there on Saturday and had fun looking round this very grand house. It's beautiful. I find going to National Trust places can put life in a very harsh perspective; but then I see the servants' quarters and I realise that Despite everything, life Does have more balance now. Of course, there are still super-rich people who live in places that rival Wimpole Hall; but I'm grateful that living standards overall seem generally better then they were way back when in the UK. We're so fortunate to live in a country that has a welfare system and free health care. 

Which leads me into... 

D is for Doctors

At the moment I'm on my GP placement for this year so am consulting with patients on a Daily basis and actually seeing about ten people per day. Yes, they see me and then see a 'proper' Doctor but for me it is an incredible boost to start to think about what life is going to be like when I'm finally able to Do this job that I've been gearing myself up for. Applications for my first junior Doctor placement start at the end of this month. Has it really been five years? 

One thing that lets me know it has is...

D is for Dramatic Arts

Tomorrow we're going to Stratford-upon-Avon to see All's Well That Ends Well... and I can't wait! One Day I'm going to sit Down and try and make a list of all the Shakespeare plays I've seen over the years. I feel so privileged to be an hour away from the home of the most famous playwright in the world. The Royal Shakespeare Company have a 16-25 years scheme whereby anyone that age can book £5 tickets which are limited but it's been such an amazing thing! I'm really sad to say that I have only one year left of it next week... I must be getting old!!!