Hero worship!

And that's not all of them...I've got another four Patrick Holford books out on loan to friends.

I followed Patrick's Low-GL (low glycaemic load) diet for 4 months and lost 11kg (best part of two stones in "old money" as my Nan would have said). And the best bit is that I have kept the weight off for 2.5 years.

After struggling with what was simply sugar addiction for as long as I could remember, it was one of those "light bulb" moments when I attended the GL Revolution lecture given by Patrick Holford back in early 2009. Suddenly, all my blood sugar highs & lows made perfect sense. I was causing myself so much grief and laying down extra fat to boot. So, when I got approached to see if I wanted to take part in a free trial of the diet for 6 meetings, I could not accept the offer quickly enough. So, after completing a full five weeks on the "diet" (it's not a diet, it's a way of life :-) ) I found I'd lost 4.7kg. (Woo-hoo)

Since I was so enthusiastic, my class nutritionist asked me if I would be prepared to say a few words at a promotional meeting for the Low-GL diet classes that were about to start (I had just been on the free trial, remember). Well, I was certainly very enthusiastic and despite being a terribly shy type, I agreed to get up and speak..after all, I was only going to tell other interested people about it, wasn't I? When it came to it, the room was packed with all the seats taken and lots of people standing all along the sides and at the back too - I hadn't expected to see so many.

But the best bit of the evening was that I got to meet Patrick himself. Well, I could hardly contain myself - I rushed up to him and told him I could hug him (although I didn't but I did shake his hand firmly) and wanted him to know that he had literally changed my life! He was very good, and didn't look too startled, so I can only assume he is used to ladies of a certain age rushing up to him like that (ha ha).

And even now, I am shown on the diet website under their "success stories " tab, which I am pretty chuffed about. Of course, I didn't lose half my bodyweight or anything spectacular - just the 2 stones I had put on in the past few years, meaning I am now virtually the weight I was in my early 30s and that's good enough for me.

What's more, I continue to follow the Low-GL eating way and feel so much better...although if I do waiver and re-introduce sugary or highly processed foods I soon know about it which tends to keep me on target.

(And yes, my flapjack that I mentioned in an earlier blip is based on Low-GL principles, as it contains no sugar and has the addition of nuts & seeds. Similarly, the Love Cake is not too bad, as it contains much less sugar than a normal sponge mix plus the addition of ground almonds to lower the GL.)