Whenever I watch programmes like “Supersize vs. Superskinny”, I find myself torn between sympathy and revulsion when the subjects are confronted with what they normally consume.  (For the uninitiated – in this programme, each participant’s usual daily diet is chucked down a large, transparent, plastic tube in front of them – nice!)

I can never decide if they are trying to humiliate people by doing this or if it really is helpful.  I think that, no matter what you eat, it would look disgusting if all you ate and drank in a day or a week was laid out in a massive pile for all to see.

It finally hit home to me when reading a financial advice book by Alvin Hall, that he employs exactly the same principle when addressing money problems.  You can’t fix a problem if you are not fully aware of what the problem actually is.  He gets his clients to write down everything they spend so that they realise where and when they spend money and how much of it is unnecessary.

So maybe people who have less than perfect eating habits (and who doesn’t ?) need to make themselves truly aware of their true nutritional intake if they want to make permanent changes to their diets.

The obvious next step, having had my lightbulb moment, would be to do the equivalent of the gross plastic tube and lay out everything I would normally eat and drink to confront myself.  And do you know what I discovered?  I am far too mean to go and waste all that good food and drink!

However, I am keeping a diary for this week to audit how and when I spend all those calories.  Watch this space . .