Wednesday 7 September 2011

Memory lane

During my Jedward inspired clear out I found a load of old food diaries that I kept when I first became aware of the impact of diet on health and started trying to change my diet, many years ago.

I never thought I ate that unhealthily but, whilst I was pleased to see I was eating plenty of fruit and vegetables, I was shocked at the amount of dairy, wheat, sugar and caffeine I was consuming - I struggled to find a day that didn't include all four at least once (some days each meal was dairy + wheat based).

Given how rubbish I feel if I eat these foods now it's amazing to me how I even functioned, although I think I was using caffeine as a major crutch to keep me going.

The fact is that at the time I thought how I felt was normal, that not being able to stay awake in the afternoon was the hazards of a desk job and that my other health issues (digestive and skin) were unrelated to the huge amounts of wheat and dairy I was eating.

Now I often get comments on how virtuous I am with my food and the amount of self-control I must exercise. The fact is that the improvement in my health when I fundamentally changed my diet was so marked that it made it impossible to go back. The idea of feeling that tired and bloated is so hideous it can't be worth eating even the most delicious cake!

But I didn't change my diet overnight, it evolved gradually and that's the trick - start with small manageable changes and as you start to feel better you'll be motivated to make more until your diet eventually looks unrecognizable!
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