I have had to confess to myself that the recent lockdown has seen the return of some bad habits that I had previously shaken off.
And I have absolutely no excuse, as my routine has hardly changed.
After not drinking any wine since mid-January, I started to sneak in an occasional bottle again. After all, if the virus is going to get me, what harm can some wine do? Of course, that crept up, until I justified buying three bottles of wine last week, to ‘celebrate Easter’.
That was a pitiful excuse, as I have never celebrated Easter, outside of buying some chocolate eggs for other people.
Then came the sweet biscuits. I had stayed off those for years, and on a shopping trip, I decided to buy some of my old favourites, ‘Fox’s Crunch Creams’. I started by having two, and when I sat and ate seven one night, I realised I had a problem.
Buns seem to be more tempting, since the lockdown kicked in. Why not enjoy a bun, when you have no idea how long you might live? So I started to buy them again. Belgian Buns, Chelsa Buns, Choux Buns full of fresh cream, and even Hot Cross Buns.
One bun a couple of times a week turned into two buns four nights a week.
I know. It has to stop. If I survive this pandemic, I will end up with other problems instead, not least probably having to buy new clothes in a bigger size.
So, next shopping trip, the wine is off the list. So too the Crunch Creams, and the buns.
Well, not Hot Cross Buns just yet. It is Easter, after all.
Dont worry, Pete! You can change your habits after the end of the lockdown. For myself i hope not to do, because now i found my daily indoor fitness program again. 😉 Best wishes, and enjoy it. Michael
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Pleased to hear you have turned to fitness instead of cakes, Michael. I remember that Germany has some very good cakes to eat. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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We all need comfort food in these times. I’m not giving up the wine. 🙂
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I reduced it to one bottle this week, Jennie. No buns though. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Good for you. 🙂
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In South Africa they have completely banned the sale of alcohol during lockdown. I have had exactly one drink in the whole of lockdown and I barely have time to eat in between trying to work full time and mum full time… but I have just had a custard cream…
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Well done with no drinking, Abbi. I reckon you are allowed two more custard creams! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I guess alcohol sales are skyrocketing everywhere. In Connecticut the liquor stores are considered essential and are open. In fact you can now have it delivered in “contact free” manner. In Russia the cure for this is vodka apparently. Though I think in Russian vodka is the cure for everything.
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Well I have been to Russia, (Soviet Union) and the vodka there is very good. Better than the vodka we get in Britain, that’s for sure. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Well it seems that you might need reporting…I will have to consider my options.
Crimint or CAD ? But then again what should I write on the LA4 ? PMC > STM W2 ?
Be cool enjoy.
AK
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Still one packet of crunch creams left! Reminds me of biscuit-mania on night duty at the DPG. 🙂
Cheers, Pete.
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😂😂😂😂Aww, Petey. Wine is not my thing because I just turned 19 and I am a Muslim too but those biscuits, I remember having them in Africa. Seeing the fox biscuits open turned me into a fox and buns😍😍😍. STOP TEMPTING ME!!! 😂😂😂. I might become a football by the time the lockdown gets over. 😜😜 then I will be writing “Football Signing Out_X” I am laughing so loud right now. You really know how to make me laugh on a bad day pete. Thank you so much for such a great post. ❤❤
Stay safe ❤✌😊
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I am so pleased that you have enjoyed crunch creams in Africa, Suzan. You can remember the snap of the biscuit, and the almost too-sweet cream filling. Happy to make you laugh during this bad time. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete. xx
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AHHHHH I am drooling right now. I wanna have some biscuits right now, can you send some?? 😭😭😭 the sweet cream filling😋😋 I can’t stop drooling. 😜😂😂
Stay safe, Petey.❤✌😊
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They sell them on Amazon here. Perhaps you can order some online/ 🙂 🙂 xx
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They don’t sell them here😭😭 one site does but it’s for $7.99. I could buy 3 books in that much cash. 🤔🤔 I miss them so much😭✌💔
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That’s expensive. Two packets for £1.20 in my local supermarket. 🙂 x Only 60p for one packet of deliciousness!! xx
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They are not in India, so it’s imported product so taxes + gst+ transport😞💔 have fun with the deliciousness. 😭😭😭
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Thank goodness you have Ollie to go on walks with!😁
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It is. Otherwise I would be Beetley’s foremost bun-eater! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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They keep telling us to look on the bright side, right? That’s what you’re doing – focusing on the things we CAN have (like wine and sweets) instead of those we CAN’T (like parties or outings). Go ahead and indulge!
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Thanks for the encouragement, IP. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Pinotage is my favourite, too, although Merlot will do when I want to buy a tiny bottle just for myself.
I thought it was just me that was craving sweet things but it seems it is happening to lots of people. Staying in will make me fat. I don’t do exercise routines. I’m looking for a recipe for oatcakes to eat with cheese. That should be slightly better than sticky buns!
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I think we are all looking to ‘treat’ ourselves during this panic, Julie. As usual, I took that much too far. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I say have a glass of wine now and then and really enjoy it!
After watching our fearless leader doing his presser today I felt like downing a whole bottle of wine but I stopped myself. Ha!
Be well Pete and be safe!
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Thanks, Margie. When I open wine, I throw the top away, as I know I won’t be needing to reseal the bottle. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Right? We have the same problem so we introduced new rules. For example, we can’t have an icecream sandwich if we are not watching a movie. By the way, that wine looks scrumptious 🙂
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You have good self-discipline, Margie. Pinotage is one of my favourite varieties of red wine. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Take care that you don’t take all of the impulses out of shipping (and the fun too). Warmest regards, Theo
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Thanks, Theo. Shopping day today, so I will have to see what impulses I can resist. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Try not to become a slave to your willpower 🙂 Warmest regards, Theo
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I wouldn’t feel too bad, Pete. We’re all entitled s some leeway, given the circumstances.
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Thanks, Pete. That makes me feel better. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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You are surrounded by guilty pleasures.
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That’s why I have to remove them, Peggy. I am too easily tempted! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Gotta have munchies Pete! I’ve found a good scotch on ice while watching some German or Russian film with sub-titles to be quite relaxing during a long quiet evening!
Best from hibernation!
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I have to cut back, or they will have to take the door off to get me out by next year. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Blimey Pete, get a grip…..
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No buns or wine tonight, Sue. It’s a start! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Good for you
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Must admit the wine has increased in our household too and the odd cake has slipped into the trolley lately. Not good habits to encourage, but if we both pop our clogs it would be such a waste not to have enjoyed the wine… (that’s what we keep telling ourselves).
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That’s exactly what I was saying. Until it got to two buns a night, and a whole bottle of wine every night for four nights on the trot. (I famously have no willpower) It’s making me feel ‘sluggish’, so the warning is plain for me to see. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete. x
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The problem with a good wine is that it slips down so easily and then you start on the second bottle…
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Julie doesn’t drink at home, so I drink it all! x
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Sharing one bottle is bad enough 😂
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Pete, I share your problems with the wine: it really helps make dinner a more enjoyable experience, and if I have a glass while cooking, and another as my “dessert”….well, you where this is going for me! At least you are staying active with your walks, which a new study has shown is the best exercise to men, even more so than jogging or weights!
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Good to hear walking is better than weights. I don’t have the strength to lift those. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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If they’re actually stuffed with cabbage, I’d wager that Easter bunnies relish Choux Buns…
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These ones, David. 🙂
https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/choux-pastry/
Nice play on words though.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I believe many of us are indulging in emotional eating as a way to placate ourselves. I have been doing a lot of baking. It is yummy but fattening.
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I just eat what others have baked. 🙂 x
Best ishes, Pete.
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you’re not alone, Pete! the first two things that i’ll do after the lockdown is visit my hairdresser and shop for new clothes. 🙂 🙂
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Thanks, Wilma. I have to stop allowing myself those ‘treats’, just because of the virus. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Can’t live without buns and biscuits! 💖
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I love them too, Saania. But I must not eat them! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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🤗🍫
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My wife has managed to persuade me to go out for walks lately, but those few calories [even 45 minutes of brisk walking only equal around 250 calories] I spend there won’t really help. Luckily, even though wit me present intake I m hovering between 180 and 185 lbs – not too bad.
Yesterday was the first day since early March that I had some wine, but I really wanted to taste my wife’s birthday present [a 2015 St. Emilion Grand Cru]. I was really moderate, though. At this rate, it would tke me 3 or even 4 days for the bottle. But now I have to watch it that that won’t creep up.
As for sweets, it’s still only the occasional ice cream or (half a bar of) chocolate sometimes in the evenings.
Stay healthy, my friend, and remember the saying we have in Germany, “good food keeps body and soul together”,
Pit
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Thanks, Pit. Glad to hear you can be so restrained. I don’t have that same level of willpower, sadly. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Well, it’s not always been like that with me. Sometimes it’s easy, sometimes it’s difficult.
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Ha! You too? Sorry…But I’m glad I’m not alone in my debauchery. Everyday, I awake with determination to do better. If I can string together 3 or 4 days or reasonably disciplined behavior, I can get on track. And I will, Lord willing.
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I jumped at the chance to justify that a few ‘extras’ didn’t matter, at the time of a modern plague. Just fooling myself of course, and if I survive, I will be upset at putting on the weight. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Did you have to mention Crunch Creams, it may be years since I’ve had one but I can taste the memory and its driving me mad, especially as I cant buy them over here!
Great post Pete, you have my sympathy and laughter 🙂
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In the world of sweet biscuits, crunch creams remain my achilles heel! Sorry to set off your taste buds, but you should know that they are also sold on Amazon! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thats just cruel 🙂
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Poor Pete! I empathise with you, but I suppose I must be lucky because, although I can very easily give in to temptation, I’ve never had a problem with self-control, so I can enjoy a beer or glass of wine with lunch and a couple of G&Ts at teatime, and I know that is as far as it will ever go; same goes for cakes & biscuits: I enjoy them but I can quite easily take or leave them. I hope you can reach an acceptable accommodation with your temptations 😉 Cheers, Jon.
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Best for me to just remove temptation, Jon. 🙂
Bet wishes, Pete.
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My bad habits are spending too much time reading, writing and ranting….Sue tried so hard to get me off my butt and do something physical…..then this crap happened….she is not happy…LOL chuq
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Wine is not a problem….but sweets will be…LOL chuq
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Wine could be a problem for me if it becomes a bottle every day, chuq. Best not to have it here to tempt me. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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A bottle a day keeps sobriety away.
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Ah, my mantra, David. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Well I can live without buns and biscuits, but the wine is definitely an essential item!
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Trouble is, when I have some wine, I fancy the buns more! 🙂
The relaxation of the alcohol makes me think ‘why not?’
Best wishes, Pete.
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I haven’t had a hot cross bun this year, now I’m tempted. I don’t think you need to worry about your consumption of the wine, biscuits and buns. Next stage of the lockdown will include the removal of all ‘non-essential’ items from our shopping trolleys!
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Yes, they all have to go, Mary! 🙂
(Get the ‘Finest Extra Fruit’ hot cross buns. They are worth the extra)
Best wishes, Pete.
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I suppose I’m lucky in that I don’t drink alcohol or have a sweet tooth. However, I seem to now be addicted to exercise- cycling and walking for much longer than usual every day and enjoying it much more than sitting down and writing anything. My knees have started aching though, so I’ll have to cut down on it I suppose.
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That is definitely a better addiction than almost anything else I can think of, Stevie. Take care of those knees though! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Just found a new footpath across various fields that we hadn’t found before. A lovely 45 minute walk, Knees are not complaining either, which is a bonus!
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I love hot cross buns. As Arnie says, “Have to love Easter, baby.” Or something like that.
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I like the ‘Finest Extra Fruit’ ones best! 🙂
Cheers mate, Pete.
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You and millions of others too Pete, including me. That’s why alcohol sales in the UK rose in March by 22%. Sat at home might as well have a drink. I’ve had to have a word with myself and stop eating and drinking so much. Back running again now.
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I am still doing my 6-odd mile walks with Ollie every day. But unless I double that, my body won’t cope with those extra calories. So the calories have to go! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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