Finding the time is one thing finding the energy is a totally different one. My eyes are heavy, as I type and it’s only just gone 1pm… It doesn’t help that I’ve just had a rather tasty ham and cheese baguette followed by the smallest smidgen of birthday cake. Before I continue I need an ice cold refreshing wake me up drink (Evian).

One of the main reasons I don’t like following a set diet plan, or following the theory that you should eat more frequently… Is because I spend too much time thinking about food as it is. When i follow these diets though not only do I spend my time thinking about what is coming up next…? I’m also thinking about what foods i can’t eat. You think I’m exaggerating… I think I’ve probably joined weight watchers 20times at least and every time i have read the paperwork obsessively I then obsessively weigh out my food to the exact gram. I knew exactly at what time I was going to eat and how many points it would leave me… I however did not obsessively stick to it.

And when it comes to the thought of eating lots of small meals I just know I would end up spending quite a few hours of my day just preparing and eating food… Woo hoo I hear you say… And I would agree but the kind of food they suggest is mainly full of water so any time you have left, will be spent on trips to the toilet. The other issue I have with this, if I keep feeling hungry I just know I will eat more than I should. Whereas now I eat enough at lunchtime to keep me full up well into the afternoon, on a good day I am able to go until dinner. Don’t get me wrong I still think about food, buts it’s not on the forefront of my mind I might think I fancy that but then because it’s not followed up with a feeling of being hungry I can quickly dismiss it.

I use to follow diets like the ones above when I was single, but now as part of a family that likes to socialise etc., I don’t want to be quirky about what I can eat and when.  Admittedly over the past few weeks I have made some silly choices… like the hot x buns at the weekend (nothing wrong with them, it’s just they aren’t a meal). Or the times I have broken them, because I was too busy to work out points or to pack a small snack… and in my moment of chaos I have grabbed what I thought would be a good alternative. I would then go into meltdown thinking I’ve ruined another diet.  Or the days when I was just so plain lazy I didn’t want to look up how many points where in a specific food.  All the time though my food choices weren’t based on what I actually wanted to eat.

 Also I just don’t think these diets work in the long term, if you come across people that say they do then ask them how many points they’ve had that day… and I 99% guarantee the answer will be ‘oh I don’t bother counting the points anymore I just know what I can have’  or with the small meal plan it will be ‘oh I don’t need to eat that many now, I’ve  cut some out and have bigger meals’  both of which are what I am trying to achieve without the need to follow a plan, take a load of chemicals or have surgery.

Recently I started getting obsessed about what I was having on a good day…. like today I haven’t had my glass of orange juice! Oh no is it the end of the world, should I let it worry me, will it break my diet, will my vitamin C levels drop dramatically, NO.  Life will go on as normal and come tomorrow I might fancy a nice glass of orange juice who knows…  I guess what I’m trying to say is I don’t have time to think about what I’m going to eat (ok I do) but I shouldn’t my life should have more going on in it, than thinking about when I can next eat something. Or how long until the next meal. On a good day if I feel hungry before meal times I just grab a mint, cup of tea or coffee and get on with things until the next mealtime.