Sandra Ashenford reflects on the ups and downs of her week

MY 1940s ration diet lasted for four weeks – and was definitely an interesting experiment in living history.

I cannot imagine how bored the population must have become of the daily fare by the time rationing finally ended in the mid 1950s.

The rations consisted of very little meat, cheese and sugar, and lots and lots of locally grown, in-season vegetables. I followed it as faithfully as I could, slipping only occasionally, such as when I was invited to join some friends for lunch at an Indian restaurant.

That was a real treat after days and days of potatoes and corned beef. I even introduced the family to the delights of Spam but they decided they would be happy if they never had to taste it again.

I lost a total of 8lbs over the four weeks, and I can definitely see why obesity was not a national problem in the 1940s and 1950s.

Now I’m just trying to incorporate the good things about the diet, such as lots of local vegetables and meals cooked from scratch, into my daily eating routine, while embracing the variety of foods available to us today. Daughter number four watched the historical diet experiment with interest. As a vegetarian, she enjoyed trying some new veggie recipes, but she was sorely disappointed this week when an expected treat failed to live up to expectations.

Every Monday after school we go for a swim at GL1 in Gloucester, where we run the risk of hypothermia (Stroud indoor pool is much warmer) but we are able get in for a swim from 4pm.

Afterwards the daughter has a portion of chunky cheesy chips to eat in the car on the way home.

This week, however, the chips were neither chunky, nor particularly cheesy, and the daughter was devastated. She hates the kind of skinny chips that most fast food restaurants sell, so was thrilled a few weeks ago to discover the GL1 version. It was a long ride home as she expressed her disappointment, repeatedly. I made her eat the chips, though, partly because I was still in 1940s 'no waste' mode, and partly because if she didn’t, I would, which would start to undo all my previous good work.

However, next week we will be measuring the width and length of the chips before we proceed with our purchase.