Hi and welcome to Flatten Your Curves, a personal food blog for busy people seeking easy, tasty recipes to support a healthier lifestyle around juggling a job, a partner and/or family.
I’m Ben, a 40-something communications professional who lives in Cheshire (I prefer to call it ‘posh Manchester’) with my wife Ann-Marie and teenage son Will. When not at work or pottering about in the kitchen, I’m a big Sheffield United and boxing fan. Historically, I’ve been a yo-yo dieter whose belly is far too big for my mouth when it comes to guzzling food and drink. Now a ‘victim’ of ‘middle-aged spread’, like most people, I’ve discovered that as the years go by it’s harder to lose a few pounds and keep them off.
Over the years, my weight has fluctuated from a trim (well, ish, for a middle aged bloke!) 12 stone to almost 15 stone during periods when my eating spiralled out of control. It doesn’t help that my job working for a bank effectively ties me to my desk, unless I’m going to the pub with work colleagues to shovel more unhealthy stuff in my mouth.
It was time to do something about it. I started this blog to help me and others enjoy healthy, affordable, nutritious food to support their battle with the ‘scales’, and generally look and feel much healthier!
I’ll never be on Masterchef, or possess a ‘six pack’, but cooking has become a passion of mine. I’ve grown to love experimenting with different ingredients after barely being able to make an omelette when I first ventured into the kitchen. Actually, I still can’t make an omelette.
I’ve been inspired by ‘The Hairy Bikers’, who lost six stone between them a few years ago and who have sold thousands of copies of their excellent ‘Hairy Dieters’ book series. This blog will feature some of their wonderful, calorie friendly recipes and I’d welcome your feedback if you try them.
I’ll also include some dishes from Justine Pattison’s superb ‘Without the Calories’ publications, Tom Kerridge’s weight loss meals, as well as Jamie Oliver, who has somehow turned me from a hater to a lover of vegetarian food after reading the ‘Veg’ recipes in his ‘Save with Jamie’ book. More recently, I’ve been trying recipes from the fabulous Pinch of Nom and Two Chubby Cubs – new dieters’ phenomenons who have burst into the scene with huge social media followings.
Good luck on your weight loss journey. I hope this blog provides you with some down-to-earth ideas and amusing anecdotes to help you stick with it.
Best wishes,
Ben
Flatten Your Curves 