When Hermione first told me about the Dunwich Dynamo, I was impressed. It sounded a bit nuts and I figured I definitely needed to show my support.

Working at The DoNation, I sometimes get so caught up in all the great things people are doing that I forget I have the opportunity to make my own pledges – to also do something. A lot of people think that I would be doing all the actions already but looking a little closer, the beauty of The DoNation is that there really is something for everyone, and it is highly unlikely that people are doing all of the actions all of the time (even me).

So needless to say, with a bit of digging, I quickly found an action I could do to support Hermione – Do diet. Choose from one of 5 ‘bad’ foods and give it up for two months. I decided to go all in and pledge to cut chocolate out completely – argh! I am a die-hard chocolate fan; I eat it at least 4-5 times a week. My weakness is a couple of squares of the really dark stuff after dinner; and of course the odd slice of cake.

But, Hermione was cycling 120 miles overnight and I was beginning to feel I ought to practice what I preach a bit more…so no more chocolate for me.

My chocolate pledge has the potential saving of 21 kgCO2; what you might say is quite a negligible amount really. Stopping eating chocolate is not going to save the world – but it does make me realise that how I was behaving before was not necessarily positive.

One month in I began to see that the real value of my pledge was in the realisation and recognition of former bad habits. In giving something up, you become incredibly aware of your previous dependency on it and it really helps to put things into perspective. I definitely don’t need to eat chocolate 4 times a week!

So, I’ve come to the end of my pledge period with the simple realisation that habits can be kicked for good and new ones can be formed. I don’t think I’ll go back to eating as much chocolate as I did but… I may indulge myself every now and then. Besides, Hermione has just made the same pledge for my Hever Castle triathlon and I’m dying to rub it in her face a little!A piece of my sister’s leftover cake that nearly broke my pledge!