So the diet is going quite well – small steady losses, that’s the way to go.
And while my body yearns for a full English breakfast with hash browns and beans, I know that I have to be sensible.
So my husband found this recipe for baked oats and it is lovely. You can use it with any kind of fruit and it keeps me full till lunch time!
I was lucky recently to find a huge supply of blackberries free to pick, and after making blackberry and apple crumbles, we saved some for breakfast!
It brought back memories of blackberrying with my grandma. The OAP mafia always knew where and when the blackberries would be out and off we would go with grandma’swooden baskets – no plastic bags for her.
She would take one of my grandad’s old walking sticks with us so that we could pull down the high branches.
I was always dispatched to get the lowest blackberries as I was the smallest! I hated the brambles and always got scratched! Grandma always told us not to eat too many, but it usually fell on deaf ears. So it was one for the basket and one for me!
When we got them back to Grandma’s, we would wash the blackberries, dry them then use them. We would make crumble using enamel baking dishes and pies, using Pyrex dishes.
Depending on how many blackberries we had picked, we would make crumbles and pies to feed an army.
We would always have some to take home to Mum and Dad.
Some would go to the neighbours, after we had cooked them.
In those days, there were not so many fridges or freezers, so everything had to be eaten as soon as possible.
What better excuse to have pudding every day! The freshly made crumbles and pies, would often be exchanged for rhubarb or strawberries or apples.
Then we would set to, and make more crumbles, etc, and so it would go on!
So, not only is this breakfast good for me, it brings back such happy memories!

Ingredients (one portion)
40g Porridge Oats
3 tbsp plain Yoghurt
Fruit (raspberries, blackberries, etc)
2/3 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp sultanas or raisins
1/3 tsp baking powder
Squeezed lemon juice

Instructions
Put everything into a mug and mix. Microwave on high for 90 seconds (or 20 minutes in the oven on 180C/350F/gas mark 4). Tip the cake out onto a plate, top with extra yoghurt and enjoy straight away.

By Martha Legg.