My favourite food group? Does cake count?

My eating habits have always been somewhat erratic at best, and although in June I started my Weight Watchers programme, was eating pretty healthily and managed to lose over 20 lbs (and, partially as a result, in September smashed my marathon PB) since coming back from holiday, my diet has reverted to being supported mainly by the biscuit, cake and chocolate food groups!

After a bit of a faltering start, I've managed to get back into my training after the month off, but I'm finding it much harder to get my eating into line, and am rapidly edging towards putting all the weight back on that I was so happy to have lost, never mind actually dropping the 15lbs more I still have to lose.  Now, obviously, that bothers me when I consider the effect it has on my appearance - one day I'd love to look like a stereo-typical runner and when I line up at the start of a race with all of those slim athletic types, I don't want to be bulging out of my lycra!  More importantly though, I'm never going to run the fastest marathon I can, if I'm carrying an extra 20lbs or more.  I'm going to be slower and put more stress on my body and joints - it's a no brainer that as a runner I need to try and be the strongest and slimmest I can healthily be. 

But as well as the weight, I don't think my body can perform in the best way...or recover efficiently...if I'm not properly fuelled!  I've blogged about this before, have felt like this before...in fact it seems I've spent half my life thinking about what and how much I should be eating and then ignoring my own advice! But, that's not going to stop me trying to get it right.  Having restarted training after the holiday, and suffering as frequently as I do with hyponatremia (had another bout in Madagascar), I really do need to be more aware of the nutritional value of the food I'm eating, and make sure that my diet is healthy and properly balanced.

It's not a question of giving up the the biscuits, cakes and chocolate entirely - I know that's unrealistic, and I certainly wouldn't want to stop eating foods I enjoy so much...but they can't continue to constitute the majority of my daily intake!

I'm still paying for my Weight Watchers membership, and tomorrow, as they say, is another day.  So, I've decided that I'll be restarting my food tracking in the morning, refocusing on my diet goals, and probably rereading this post every half an hour through the day as I try to resist the office snack table!  Here's hoping I can be as successful as last time - I desperately want to succeed in my running goals for 2012, and fuelling myself properly is as important (yes, ok, I know not quite as important but you get my drift) as getting the miles in during training, and I have to work hard in both areas if I want to achieve my best performance in the marathons and my ultra next year.