£15 cake for just 50p? Why I won’t be distracted from my Slimming World challenge  - Elise Brewerton

In the middle of the island, in sugar glazed glory, stood a huge, buttercream, soft icing, sweetie bejewelled cake of the variety you’d buy for a children’s birthday party.

Those sweets glistened under the kitchen light, jam oozed out from between the spongy layers. Dollops of cream dripped onto the plate.

Let me put this into context by explaining that in the week leading up to the start of my diet my family had been warned to within an inch of their lives not to offer me anything sweet.

Imagine then, coming face to face with that sort of confection 10 days into my 12 week countdown.

I’d done so well, four pounds off in the first week.

My little gang then came bounding in, mouths covered in  cream and jam  , delighting in how they’d picked up a £15 cake at the supermarket for just 50 pence. 50 pence! ‘Can you believe it?’ they asked incredulously.

No, I couldn’t. How could they?

Having been so strong for weeks, throughout the day I sneakily chipped away with a fork at the cake every time I went into the kitchen, promising myself each time it was the last mouthful. 

In the end I must have had a third of that 24-pie ce cake to myself – more than everyone else put together. 

But, they have a saying at Slimming World that you wouldn’t throw away a whole bouquet if one flower died. So, instead of throwing in the towel and gorging all week I stuck with it and lost  another 1.5lbs. I’m within touching distance of losing my first half a stone.