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00:02 CAROLYN: Some of it was you looked at it and
you went eugh, that is absolutely disgusting, I would not eat that in a million years.
00:11 COMM: We're always looking for new ways to
be healthy and save money, and Carolyn Ekins says she has an extraordinary solution to
both. The World War Two rations diet.
00:21 CAROLYN: I'm interested in any nostalgic things,
but particularly World War Two, I was interested in austerity, the old fashioned type recipes.
00:29 COMM: The 47-year-old from Nottingham tried
her 1940s experiment for one year keeping a blog to show her progress.
0:37 CAROLYN: I was just really struggling and
really worrying and my kids were worried about me as well so I thought okay lets give this
a try, let's go and try and go back for a whole year on wartime recipes, on authentic
wartime recipes.
00:49 COMM: And she says it not only saved her thousands
of pounds, but going back to simple staple foods made her healthier too, losing six stone
in the process.
01:00 CAROLYN: And I did that in 2012 and um I lost
eight pounds in a year, stuck to rationing 100% because I made sure that I recreated
authentic recipes, and just incorporated those into my diet, stuck with the rationing amounts,
eat loads of vegetables and it worked out really well.
01:17 COMM: The mum of three, scoured old recipe
and ration books, including the wartime ministry of food for ideas.
01:24 CAROLYN: Everything looks a bit beige if you
know what I mean but surprisingly most things taste quite good.
01:31 COMM: Recipes included long forgotten classics,
Lord Woolton Pie, Brown Betty, Vinegar Cake and Anzac biscuits, and most bizarrely, mock
turkey, made of sausage meat and finished with two parsnips made to look like the bird's
legs.
01:47 CAROLYN: To begin with it kind of felt like
it was a little bland, but after a week or two you kind of get used to it and then you
really appreciate the flavours.
01:56 COMM: Carolyn's journey to a healthier lifestyle
hasn't been easy, but she is determined to keep calm and carry on.
02:03 CAROLYN: I think I may have had one or two
blips but it worked really well, saved a lot of money, got by, lost a lot of weight, and
I'm halfway there. Still got a hundred odd pounds to lose so I'm gonna go back to it
and get the job done basically.
02:17 COMM: Now Carolyn hopes to inspire others
to give the World War Two rations diet a try.
02:24 CAROLYN: I think I encourage people to eat
a little healthier and also cut money, I think if that can help somebody in the long run
I think I would just be really, really happy about that.