1977/06 portions: 12

I've been eversobusy. So busy I'm knackered and don't want to go on today. We're off on holiday so there will be a hiatus for about a week or 10 days. I will be keeping a food diary, as I think it will be interesting to see how I'll be while in France. But I'll have to input everything when I get home -- M might not find it too interesting that I'm spending all my time documenting my food and none looking at the Alps.

But someone's watching my dogs and my house is dirty and messy, a hard combo to tackle effectively. Some bits will stay dirty, some bits messy. It's about finding the balance that doesn't make you look like a madwoman -- What, another pile of papers? Ugh, look at that hair in the corner... and that corner! So I've been bustin' my butt to clean. I barely ate so I had to make a good dinner to make up for it.

Brekkie

Melon - 3 portions

Lunch

Microwave pizza
Apple-elderflower juice - 1 portion

Snack

Hummus and watercress sandwich - 2 portions

Dinner

Prawn stir-fry (courgettes, beansprouts, peppers, broccoli)- 5 portions
Apple-rhubarb crumble with vanilla ice cream - 1 portion

17/7/06 portions: 8

All those peas from the 16th came back to haunt me. The loo in Tesco didn't flush properly and waving at me where about six little peas, looking as if they had just come out of the pod (well, they had... the first pod, I mean).

"Chew your food!" they said, cheerily.

But that's today, the 18th. As for the 17th, nothing remarkable. I didn't have much fruit or veg in the house as we're going on holiday shortly and I couldn't be bothered to purchase anything (which I did today, the 18th, anyway). So that accounts for the Doritos and orange snack combo: stopped at a corner shop.

Brekkie

2 grapes

Lunch

remnants of a dinner long ago: pasta, peas, bacon with some parmesan, adding some sausage.
2 peas portions

A bag of "fun size" Doritos
1 orange

Dinner

1 small microwave pizza
3 broccoli

Snack: peanut butter and jam sandwich - 2 portions

16/7/06 portions: 13

After realising my intake was going to be pathetically low, I did what any self-respecting 17-a-dayer (which I seem to believe is only me) would do: I pea'd up. Yup, had an enormous bowl of garden peas with three-fourths a pork and Edinburgh ale sausage from Crombie's. Delish.

Brekkie
2 mango
6 panckes with fakey American maple syrup (of the Aunt Jemima's variety)
Lunch
Three-fourths of a mozarella, roasted veg and pesto sandwich, twice (first one was from a kiosk; the second from the cafe that made it, this time on a croissant and how can anyone resist the buttery-goodness of a croissant?) -- 1 portion of roasted veg
A honkin' huge brownie
PB and J sandwich -- 2 portions
1 apple juice

Dinner
7 peas
1 sausage

15/7/06 portions: 7

Because the 14th was rather boring, I do not write of it. It does not exist. I am that omniscient.

As for today, did what I do on the weekend, abstain, so why go on about it. I think I'm supposed to be giving a breakdown of my meals, I shall do it that way.

Brekkie
• ½ chocolate chip cookie
  
• A "big" egg and bacon roll
  
• Some melon, but not enough to constitute a portion
¾ a glazed lemon and passionfruit tart
¾ apple and blueberry cake

I think, combined with the melon, that should all count as one portion!

A late dim sum lunch, including
• Char siu buns
  
• A few dumplings
  
• Some curried baby octopus
  
• Sticky rice with pork and stinky, salty fish
  
• 2 portions of bok choi (pak choi in this country)
Other ½ of chocolate chip cookie
3 grapes
1 apple juice

Which I will go to drink right now...

13/7/06 portions: 18

Zoiks! 18 portions. Sadly, this is only my second day ever achieving my goal, again getting there with an excessive amount of peas. 6 portions comes to a little more than a cup of peas, and really, that's nothing to eat. Doesn't take much to chew and quite easy going down. I'm a baby, I am.

1 apple juice
1 banana
2 satsuma
3 dried blueberry
1 hummus
2 tomato soup
6 peas
2 aubergine parmesean wrap

12/7/06 portions: 9

I've been thinking of keeping a fart diary (as mentioned in another entry), but haven't gotten around to it just yet. Yesterday would have been impossible to keep an accurate record as I was trumping left and right. I don't think that the fish and chips I had yesterday was sitting well with me. But I would have it again, those lovely, lovely fish and chips.

I ran out of the house yesterday as I had an appointment in the City Centre. I had eaten nothing and Greggs was nearby. Hmmm... yum-yums. I think I did well to have only one. But then that didn't explain the egg, bacon and cheese sandwich from Burger King (that cheese was rank, some Monterray Jack-ish processed crap; just stick the regular processed "American" cheese crap on it, thank you -- and since when was brown sauce put on it) and the tall white chocolate mocha decaf with soya, no cream. Apparently, 344 calories with skimmed milk!

1 orange juice
1 banana
1 satsuma
3 dried blueberry
1 grape jam; 1 peanut butter (PB and J, again)
3 cauliflower
2 aubergine parmesean wraps (aubergine and tomatoes in roasted peppers)

11/7/06 portions: 15

A lot of good this whole exercise is doing me. Am I healthier? Well... at least I'm only eating 2 Tesco's Finest Triple Chocolate Chunk cookies a day. Am I fitter? Well, how can anyone improve on how good this is?

I went to the gym today. 30 minutes of the cross-trainer on the cross-country course. Then weight lifting and some ab work. Do know that I used to lift weights regularly, but now I sadly lift much, much less than before. My back is very weak and I am unable to prop my body up on right arm and elbow. I'm a mess! So what did I do upon realising this? Had some fish and chips. In my defence, I had it with garden peas and didn't eat all the fish or chips.

Oh hell, who am I fooling? Where are the cookies!?

1 orange juice (nearly finished, then no mas for me)
2 melon
1 satsuma
1 banana
2 veggie casserole (peas, chickpeas, tomatoes, spring onions)
1 peanut butter; 1 grape jam -- PB and J, crusts kept on
6 peas

10/7/06 portions: 9

My personal Catch-22: not doing much, especially not working, makes me less hungry; I'm less hungry because I'm not working. Maybe not a Catch-22, but definitely interesting. I had two oatcakes with Wenslydale with cranberries at 2 pm for lunch -- though I did have a smoked duck sandwich with organic mayo and organic spinach for brekkie, how odd -- cos I wasn't hungry. Completely unhungry (Kobe Bryant asks: Is that a word?) until I take the dogs a walk at 7.30. I'm disappointed about my totals in the last two days -- really I'm trying!

1 orange juice (an old UHT carton M purchased a while ago -- I definitely didn't purchase it)
2 melon
1 banana
1 satsuma
1 spinach
3 broccoli, raw