prolific.org

I don’t want to make a big deal out of it (I’m obsessive about things, but would hate to become obsessive about weight.), but since I’ve been diagnosed with diabetes I’ve stepped up the eating pattern I had been trying to adjust to since earlier this year. I suppose what I am doing comes closest to the NoSDiet, which is more like a simple guideline: ‘No Snacks, No Sweets, No Seconds’. I’m not doing the second part of the NoSDiet: ‘except on days that start with an ’s’. That would probably make it more difficult to break my habits, since it’s on the weekends that I usually indulged. I cut down a lot on butter, eat more fruit, drink mostly water. That kind of thing.

Anyway, I’ve lost 5 kilos going on 6 since March without too much trouble. I need to lose at least 20 more to become ‘normal’, whatever that is (my BMI was 35.8, now is 33.7 and should be 24.9).

I have to say, going to a lot of gigs has helped. See U2, lose weight. How’s that for a slogan?

We hurtle down the M2 to Whitstable on the North Kent coast. Two women falling asleep in the sun, Mr Hg behind the wheel. Will we make it in time for the table at noon?

17 degrees according to the sign on the rent-a-boat building, but it feels warmer. Upstairs in the restaurant’s a cinema — but the seats are stacked with boxes and the first floor is under construction. More seats for hungry customers.

A waiter cleans lobster at the bar. Outside on the beach kids play with the waves while daddies strap their bellies in a wet suit. Their grown up toys are catamarans, jet skis and motorboats. The need for speed. Where are their wives?

Steaming mussels, baked cod, Sancerre. Mr Hg laughs when I take a first bite of my pudding and light up like a four-year-old.

We buy sweets and books.

Some photos of Whitstable