I nearly blew it yesterday afternoon. I had a shortbread finger and I could have had another, but then I remembered they are probably full of sugar and fat. Waitrose title them as ‘All Butter Fingers’ , I guess they are probably full of butter. Waitrose don’t miss-sell, do they! With that in mind it occurred to me that there were chocolate bunnies in the kitchen and I thought that just one wouldn’t hurt. All I could think about was the melting chocolate sensation in my mouth and I was so close, luckily they were out of my reach.

I have to find healthy alternatives. Nobody fantasises about carrot sticks, although they would be the sensible thing. As I’m lactose intolerant, working on the basis of an 80/20 diet ie 80% of the time I am good about not eating lactose and 20% of the time not so good, chocolate was the 20%. Giving up chocolate for a year should help me soothe my stomach aswell as helping my weight. Now I need to examine what I can eat that is not chocolate. I have been browsing Waitrose website and Sainsbury’s just to be fair. I found rice cakes of different flavours, many have chocolate chips or are coated in chocolate but there are caramel flavoured and if I fancy savoury they do salt and vinegar flavour, I have bought a few of those. I like oat cakes and can anyone explain to me, why are they advertised as gluten free at 20% higher price when oats are naturally gluten free? A slice of cheese on top of an oat cake would satisfy my stomach until dinner. I like peanuts, salted obviously and I have found some rice crispy cakes with marshmallow, yum!

I have always been worried about being bossy to my PAs, and I don’t like to ask to have lunch organised for me, but I need to be more assertive and explain what I do need to help me to do the things I can’t do through the afternoon to help me stick to this challenge. I forget sometimes that the girls who work for me aren’t psychic and I need to tell them more often what I need help with, without coming across as being demanding.

It’s a childhood thing, ‘I want never gets.’ An adage from growing up.