Patisserie Valerie has now opened in Maidstone.
Not wishing to show any disrespect to my nearest town, but I have to make the point that this is quite a development. First it was Fremlin Walk (posh shops) then it was Wagamama, and now Pat Val! Whatever next??
You may already know that I have an ongoing challenge to maintain a healthy weight – the fact that I am beside myself with excitement over the arrival of a patisserie establishment may give you some indication as to why.
I love the anticipation of it almost more than the eating of it, and certainly more than how I feel afterwards, which is usually stuffed to the gills and occasionally actually a bit sick.
A couple of years ago I lost a lot of weight through a Very Low Calorie Diet (VLCD) called Lighter Life.
This suited me in all manner of ways and worked for me because it addressed the reasons why I was prone to overeating, and thanks to that I was able to maintain a reasonably healthy weight for longer than I’ve managed before.
But I did lose focus a bit towards the end of last year; I was away from home for a few weeks, and then NaNoWriMo happened, and then it was nearly Christmas, and then I ran out of excuses.
Since then I’ve dabbled; I’ve tried going back on a VLCD which I can manage for a couple of weeks at a time, but doing it on your own instead of as part of a class just doesn’t work for me.
Additionally, I like going out for meals. Previously this didn’t stop me – my mantra was ‘it’s not like I’m never going to eat out again in my life; for now, losing weight is more important.’
Well at the moment, being honest, going out for dinner every so often is more important than losing weight.
My husband has been doing 5:2 for a number of years and he suggested I try alternate day fasting. I’ve only been doing it for a couple of weeks but it is working well for me so far.
I don’t know if it will particularly help with the sizeĀ management (I don’t really care how much I weigh, I go on how I feel and whether my clothes fit) but I do already feel much better. I can tolerate fasting well if it’s just one day, and the interesting side effect is that, despite how much time I spend on fast days planning what I’m going to eat the next day, what actually happens the next day is I get up and have a small breakfast and then I’m so stuffed I can’t face eating anything else till lunchtime.
You may have guessed that today is a food day, and I went with Vikki to check out the new Patisserie Valerie…
It was lovely.
Quite full now though.
How about you?
Feeling peckish, at all?
(All cake pictures from Patisserie Valerie‘s website and each one links to the relevant cake – have a click – you know you want to. There are MANY OTHER CAKES that aren’t pictured here….)
Ok, so when are we going back? š
xx
I could sit and dribble over these pictures all day! I’m not sure how I feel about here being a Patisserie Valerie that nearby. It’s always been such a treat on a trip to London, I’m worried that it will lose its magic if visited too often. A bit like strawberries: in early May each year the English fruit feels so special but by this time of year, buying them each week as part of a normal shop, they seem the same as any other fruit, with no more appeal than an apple or banana. The answer is will power I suppose…….