Being a Monday, I had decided yet again that I really needed to get my diet , healthy eating lifestyle back on track, as it’s really veered off course the last…oh, seven years or so. “That’s it!” I said, “I’m sick of this! Diet starts now!” I decided I would just have soup for dinner every night during the week. Soup, NO bread, followed by two dates with a cup of tea if I was still hungry later in the evening.

I threw cans of soup, tuna (for lunch) and fresh vegetables into my trolley for my healthy new regime. But since I last went into my local supermarket, they have had a redesign. More shelf space. And what do you think is on those extra shelves? MORE fresh baked goods. I’m talking about “artisan” breads in brown paper packages, soft cookies filled with chunks of white chocolate and macadamia nut, chocolate cupcakes with a Mr.Whippy style swirl of cookies-and-cream frosting on top. And don’t even get me started on the chilled cabinet with it’s lemon tarts, tiramisu and triple-layer chocolate mousse cakes. What are you doing to me, Supermarket?!

I decided to NOT put any of those baked goods in my trolley. But just as I was about to hit the checkout, I caved. I turned back. One packet of cup cakes won’t hurt, right? There’s four cakes in there, but I can freeze them, for later. It’s not like I have to eat them all at once,” I reasoned. So I went back and got them, and felt instant calm. Putting the cakes in the trolley was a salve to the mild anxiety I was feeling at missing out on them.

Once I’d arrived home with the shopping and started unpacking, I realised I’d left a bag of groceries at the checkout. The bag with the veggies, tuna and soup in it. But I had the bag with the cupcakes, clutched in my fat little hand. How’s that for convenient?