Product placement

With regard to the recent strand upon these pages concerning my health issues – here and here – I have in the last few days been in receipt of good news. Having once again been relieved of a goodly measure of my precious blood (analysis for the purposes thereof) my nutrition doctor has declared that my liver enzymes are now firing as they should. I don’t suppose enzymes do ‘fire’, of course, but as the writer and proprietor of this online journal I get to play with language (meaning and metaphor) as I please!

This does not mean that the fattiness with which my liver has been flirting is necessarily all gone – as yet. That apparently takes time and would require another ultrasound to determine for sure, but the good doctor is sufficiently content that he has now parked me in ‘maintenance’ mode and doesn’t even want to look further at my blood for the next half year. “Yay!” – say I to that!

Even the nutritionist herself (not the doc – the other one!) announced proudly that I had excellent levels of Vitamin D (not sure what that has to do with anything) and asked if was taking a supplement. The cheek!…

The point is that my shiny new diet has clearly not only dropped me a couple of trouser sizes and taken me back to the weight of a much younger version of myself, but it must also be doing the job of restoring my internals to the shape in which they should be (sort of squidgy, since you ask)…

Now – I am not normally one to endorse products upon these pages but – in the manner of a good award winner (which is what I feel like) – there are just a few ‘people’ that I would like to thank.

I have admitted previously to my habitual taking of a single drink each night to accompany my repast – the which I have done since I left home back in the 70s. This was always something of a indulgence but the point was to give myself a little reward for getting through another (hopefully) fruitful day. To be able to willingly give this up I needed some alternative that actually felt like a treat. Water is all very well but is, in my book, for exercise – and that ain’t a treat!

So – here is my new nightly beverage of choice – the very wonderful range of Zevia Iced Teas. No sugar – zero calorie and (should you so require) caffeine-free to boot.

What is more – they are delicious!

Not cheap…

…but delicious…

At the other end of the meal I still need something sweet. Many such lovely things are now ruled out – but how about a little… chocolate?…

“Surely not” – I hear you cry – but worry not, for this is no ordinary chocolate. This is Lily’s ‘no sugar added’ chocolate – and it is yummy!

It is sweetened with Stevia (of which I am a huge fan) which has apparently no downsides (unlike sweeteners ending in ‘ose‘ and suchlike). Some folk gripe about the aftertaste. All I can say is that Lily’s seem to have cracked the Stevia thing in this case – this one, for example, having only an aftertaste of salted caramel.

Yummy, indeed!

Not cheap…

…but yummy…

Finally – there are snacks. You know – late night munchies! Nothing that a thick slice of toasted sourdough and marmalade wouldn’t fix – or maybe a nice strawberry jam sandwich. Hmmmm!

So for those occasions – there is Fatso!

I have, as it happens, never been a fan of nut butters. They just don’t quite do it for me; something to do with the texture, mayhap.

But Fatso… A range of low-carb, low-sugar nut butters made with plant-based fats… right here in Victoria!… These things are awesome – and quite addictive. A nice big dollop of Crunchy Salted Caramel (or Maple) Peanut (or Almond) butter on top of a couple of Walker’s Oat Cakes (“They’re delicious!”)…

TDF!

Not cheap…

…but TDF!

There now – dieting’s not so bad…