Healthy eating?

Having written yesterday about how important healthy eating is to me, I have to confess yesterdays diet didn't live up to my standards at all.

Breakfast cereal and fruit shortly followed by 2 pieces of toast and marmalade without butter

lunch 2 large delicious but very unhealthy cookies - I was on the move when I felt hungry

midafternoon ham and lettuce sandwich with picalli shortly followed by a small cherry bakewell tart

Dinner from the chip shop. Tony had a saveloy and I had a battered sausage. I got a large portion of chips between us and a tub of curry sauce.

The good news is that by the time both of us had as many chips as we wanted, there was still nearly a third of the portion left. In the old days I would have eaten a whole normal portion myself, or had half of the large portion and still felt hungry. So while the food may not have been the healthiest it was still far less than I would normally have eaten before I started following Paul's system.

Desert was fresh pineapple and ice cream

Late night snack in bed of another of the large delicious cookies.

That really was an unusually unhealthy day - but to prove that to myself I think I need to report tomorrow on what I eat today - just in case I am fooling myself.

Does sticking to what I know are the rules for a healthy diet mean I am breaking Paul's rules and eating what I think I should eat rather than what I want to eat? I don't think so because I beleive Paul's system is designed to get people to listen to their bodies so they will naturally make healthier choices. I really do prefer fruit to puddings. I do enjoy vegetables when they are cooked well. But Paul's system means I can enjoy puddings (crumble,pies, cheesecake) in moderation if they are offered. I know I wont pig out on them and have second helpings.

While in old fashioned calories terms yesterdays food wasn't good (the bakewell was 205 calories I've just checked the label) I know Paul is right about low calorie diets reducing your metabolic rate so I have no intention (or the desire) to try and survive on 1200 or even 1500 calories a day. I remember a time whern I would have aimed for 1000 calories a day. But yesterday WAS a blip and all the calore counting diets used to say as long as you averaged out at your goal intake over a week you were doing OK.

I think I may just try to work out in calorie terms what I am normally eating. When I went to the incontinence clinic first I was sure I was going to be told I was drinking too much. In fact I wasn't drinking enough. Am I still unconciously thinking in calorie terms still? I think it could be a useful excercise.