Taking myself in hand

After yesterday's hot and stressful day, the cooler weather and sociability of today was a welcome change.

I started off with a visit to my nutritionist, who took one look at me and declared me to be full of acidity and raised cholesterol levels. As usual, she was absolutely correct, and it's all of my own doing, as I freely confessed. I was treated to a lecture on the workings of the liver and associated hormones and once again I could see that I had strayed far from the path of righteousness.

It all began with December festivities and numerous lunches and dinners with visitors from around the world who obviously needed to be treated to the finest of Cape eateries, and it was all downhill from there. A little dessert here, a slice of cheesecake there. a toasted cheese sandwich because there just wasn't anything else available, my mother's delectable date scones... the list became endless. I knew that all was lost when the pain returned to my elbow for the first time in about 4 years.

I have been given one week to rectify my diet myself, failing which she will put me on a detox of nutritional shakes and green vegetables. That will sort me out and I will be back in tip-top health in no time. There is no doubt that I am what I eat, and carbohydrates, notably sugar and wheat, simply cannot be part of my diet. Truth to tell, I can live without them and far prefer to eat fresh vegetables, fruit, eggs and white meat or fish. Somehow, red meat has lost its appeal, and eating a potato creates such a turmoil in my gut that you would think I was distilling whiskey inside. It is amazing that such a simple ingredient in everyday cooking played such havoc with my digestion all my life. I still can't believe my stupidity when I actually eat a potato and suffer for hours afterwards, when I know it will happen!

After being remonstrated with, I am now determined to resume the eating habits that suit my digestion, and so if you saw me at the coffee shop today, you wouldn't have seen me eating a piece of cake or eating my all-time favourite, Eggs Benedict. Plain scrambled egg and cherry tomatoes are the order of the day, and if you see me straying, please remind me that I'm not doing myself any favours!