And what have you changed about your diet?

I eat more dairy products now. I’m not a lover of yogurt but I will eat them. Because I don’t like much milk in my hot drinks. I’ll drink cold milk till it comes out of my ears. But you give me a cup of tea or a cup of coffee, I only like enough milk just to cover the bottom of the cup. don’t ask me why. it’s just a fad I’ve got. But I always have a milky drink before I go to bed, hot chocolate.

But green vegetables, I mean we’ve always eaten, so it’s nothing new to me, eating this and fruit.

Do you grow your own vegetables

If you saw the size of my garden. But we have got a few potatoes in and we’ve got Jack and the Beanstalk. I planted some, got some runner beans and they’re going skywards. And we’ve got a couple of pea plants in and lettuces and mint and parsley and dill and chives, bay. And I’ve got a little greenhouse, it’s only this big, and it’s got tomatoes in. And it’s only 4 foot across. You see, I can’t bend down. [husband] does, [husband] puts the pots on the table and I put the plants in. And then they go down on the floor. And that’s what we do. He’s the labourer and I’m the gardener.

Actually I was all the time born a vegetarian but when I came in this country I started eating meat for a while. And then suddenly when I lost my husband and he had a kidney problems and all those things then I realised I should not be eating too much meat and everything. Internally I didn’t like very much, because I myself is a, work I have done nutrition myself. So I stopped eating meat. So is my son, so is my daughter. And so we decided to become vegetarian. But I am very conscious what I eat so that we don’t lack any sort of vitamins.

And my first doctor was good as well because when we used to ask him what to eat and what not to, he said, You should eat everything, balance everything so don’t worry what you are. don’t worry that you are vegetarian that you are suffering, it’s not like that

So you eat pulses?

Yeah.

Like lentils and things?

But my GP, first GP was good. She used to give example of my own father-law because he was 97 at that time. So she said, Look at your father-in—law, he’s 97, has he ever eaten any meat I said, No So he said, OK, then, just think how he is good, so you can be good as well, if you eat properly And that’s it. But she never used to say, Yeah, you should eat meat Or anything. So I thought our food is good, so why can’t we eat a balanced diet?

But recently I have started taking omega 3. Omega 3?And cod liver oil. Because that helps my bones. To me I feel that that helps a lot. Pain is less. And I have cut down my painkillers, a lot of painkillers.

Now?

Since I’ve taken this omega 3 and cod liver oil.

I’m almost vegetarian. I will eat like a tiny bit of chicken because I know that I ought to but I do not enjoy it. I eat quite a few pulses. And I, I like Mediterranean food, so I cook a lot of things like aubergine and other pulses and fish and this and that. But that’s why I can’t understand why I’m putting on weight, because I don’t eat chips, I don’t fry anything. But I do have olive oil on things. But then that’s helpful.

Healthy.

Yes, I know. So, I don’t suppose I have enough calcium apart from the tablets.

You don’t eat cheese.

I eat it a bit, but not too much because they say that’s bad for you. So what are you supposed to do?

High cholesterol.

Yes, that’s the problem, my cholesterol.

Do you eat yogurt?

Not enough. We do get a lot of plain yogurt, Greek yogurt. And I’ve started making my own yogurt. Which is quite hit or miss. But supposedly it’s, it’s a good way of doing it, cheap, economical. But mine always ends up, I think you have, to appreciate it you have to have made it yourself so you know what’s got in it because otherwise you go Ugh, what’s that

Have you made any changes to your diet since you were diagnosed?

No I haven’t made any changes.

Have you talked to or has your doctor talked to you about losing weight?

Oh, I’ve been to a dietician. I’ve gone, yes.

He sent you to a dietician?

Oh, no, it wasn’t. That was my cholesterol problem. That’s why I went to the dietician, to try and cut my cholesterol down. But I don’t, you know, the cake, I’ll have a slice of cake out of a whole cake. I do enjoy that but I don’t go mad. And I have a slice of chocolate, perhaps on, maybe on the same day. After that it’s, I eat loads of vegetables. And spinach because I know it’s good for me. I like the spinach. I do Mediterranean cooking because I used to be married to a Greek man and I learnt a lot of Greek food. And I do love it still. So I’ll continue cooking like that. So at least that’s one good thing he did for me, got me into this kind of cooking. Yummy. That’s very healthy. So I will put it down to, my tummy, as lack of exercise. That’s all I can think of. I don’t think it’s my diet.

But you have put on weight now because you have had that break? That fracture two years ago and then another one?

Yes, I wasn’t able to, and I’m not working. Because when I was at work I was up and down all the time answering the phone, dashing round to get somebody, coming back. And it’s amazing what you wear off in the course of a day. And I’d walk as fast as I could to the hospital when I was working and walk as fast as I could coming back. So that was a good bit of exercise as well. I was a bit slower coming home than going to work in the mornings, I must say. Didn’t have quite the same energy. But I must be missing that a lot. But I try to do, when I’m doing the housework I’m trying to think, Oh, that’s a, that’s a few calories off, doing this and that Using it as an exercise excuse.

So would you say that sort of you have put on weight within the last

Any changes that you have made to your diet?

Yes. I have tried I did feel I was overweight, though my doctor told me I haven’t to lose too much weight because it did protect my bones, but I was and still am slightly overweight now and I did try and reduce. I have lost two stones in the past about three years because I felt that my weight was putting a strain particularly on my back and on my knees. I do try and have a high calcium diet. I eat, always have yoghurt and cheese and I try to keep a balance between too much fat not getting enough calcium.

I have always had a very high consumption of fruit and vegetables, always salad every day and a reasonable amount of protein. I am not a vegetarian, but I do try and, I’m interested in food, I’m interested in cooking and I do try and have a good health diet.

I have cut down on very fatty cheeses. I tend to eat cottage cheese and lower fat cheese now. I cut out all sweet things. I tend to get my sweet from fruit rather than from cakes and biscuits and so on. I have cut down slightly on size of portions as well. I think perhaps quantity was important as well as the quality of the food.

Now tell me about your diet. Do you cook regularly?

I’m cooking today because my daughter’s coming up. But I get some of those ready meals, sometimes I’ll cook. You know it all depends.

But on average would you say that you have more ready meals than?

No I think I cook more but I haven’t got no, I’ve lost my appetite. I can’t eat at the moment so I. That’s why probably I’m getting the ready meals because I make, not eating much at all.

How much energy? Well not a lot because I’m not eating. I’m not eating very well because I get a lot of problems with my stomach. You know I have sickness and that quite often. And I, I can’t eat anything.

Has the doctor given you anything for it?

I’ve got them boxes and

Lansoprazole?

Well yeah something. But they don’t. Nothing seems to taste any good, you know what I mean? Everything seems to taste horrible. And the only things I like eating is sweet stuff and I’m not supposed to eat sweet stuff [laugh].

Tell me more about your diet. Ok you have lost appetite. How long ago?

Well put it this way, about eight years ago, nine. I was eleven stone. At Christmas I went, I was six stone. I’ve gone up a little bit. I’m just under the seven now but that’s a lot of weight to lose isn’t it from not actually on a diet. But sometimes I just have one potato and then I can’t eat. But then I’d like a pudding but you see I’m not supposed to eat sweet stuff. So I’m a loser all the way round [laugh].

What about drinking milk and eating cheese and eggs?

I don’t like eggs. I don’t like cheese.

And milk?

Not very keen on milk.

Ok and meat?

I’ve got, I used to love meat but I’ve gone off that. I’m like enjoying salads the more lately.

And what about fish?

I don’t like fish. I had kipper for breakfast.

That’s good. Every day?

No, no a lot of times I don’t have breakfast. Sometimes I’ll have porridge. I will admit sometimes I have porridge. Yeah because then I make it with milk as well. But I haven’t had that for two or three weeks. I’ll have to start on that again. See if that will build me up. Because I look in the photos and that now and I think, Oh my go! I don’t recognise myself.

I think we have a pretty good diet but we keep it as simple as possible which makes sense.

What do you mean? Can you tell me more about it?

Well, we wouldn’t spend a lot of time each day preparing a big meal. We, we do have a roast joint once a week. But otherwise we buy in things like fish cakes or prepared meat pies. Things like that and the evening is, is a small meal. It still has to be prepared as, as does breakfast of course. But again, we keep that simple so that it’s either cereal or, or porridge. It seems the only sensible thing to do but after all if we’re not exercising an awful lot we don’t need heavy meals do we.

Just enough to be of adequate nutrition.

We try to keep a sensible balance of, of fish and meat, eggs, cheese that kind of thing. And, and such vegetables as we feel inclined to have or prepare and cook.