Carol Doey writes for the MYCookstown blog

“The bigger my backside the bigger my handbag” that was how a friend of mine replied when I admired her new oversized, bejewelled bag one January…that was 10 years ago, and to this day, roughly around the 28^th December I think of that statement. Why? Well isn’t that the day “us” with the weight problem realise that January the 1^st is coming and we have to make that decision again, not, whether we shall join a slimming group, but rather which group, we will join. That’s the day when we open all cupboards, fridges and freezers and have a look at what we have to eat in 3 days. Dribbling…. as we discover a Tesco’s finest range Belgium chocolate cheesecake, hidden behind unopened large jars of Pickles. Pickles I might add that were going to be served on the side of a plate, with cold turkey and ham for a light tea on Christmas day, with perhaps 1 slice of brown wholemeal bread. We do have a wonderful imagination!

Anyway I have decided to look into, why I have enrolled in slimming classes at least twice a year from I was 17. Take 17 from 55 and you get 38…38 years later and I am probably heavier now than I was at the first class I attended in the Glenavon Hotel with Alma McMinn….I did a rough calculation and I reckoned with all the joining fees and weekly payments, (not counting the slimming products) I could have had liposuction mid gut and hips… breast reduction, eyebrows tattooed… and still change left for a 7 night Mediterranean Cruise.

My very first experience with slimming, was growing up in our house in Stewartstown, my mother was (and still is at nearly 80) always on a diet. Now most of you won’t remember these sweets called Ayds…but that was my first encounter with a diet product that would make you thin… My mother had several boxes in our cupboard and I would pinch the odd one, it tasted like fudge to me…but I suppose back then fudge would have been a yearly treat at Christmas in a stocking or Selection box… so Vanilla Ayds was a good substitute. I am adamant that 2014 will be the year that I make friends with healthy food and exercise. My two new words this year is Consistent Action. So watch this space… (I just ordered a small clutch bag as an incentive ;) ) I am away to dust George Foreman and leave him on the worktop where I can see him.

I am not stupid… I know exactly what I have to do; I could write the book…I could take the class...so Why Oh Why can’t I… Let’s do this journey together!! Tell me your experiences about diets and products etc…Chat next month … C.D.