What's a meal?

I am very frustrated with myself right now. I've actually been frustrated with myself for the last two months. I haven't been sticking to my plans. I don't eat the right foods, or within the right ranges, and I ignore my better judgments and eat and eat and eat.

The other day on SparkPeople or CalorieCount or one of those sites, I read a question along the lines of, "If I over-eat, should I reduce my calorie intake the rest of the day or week?" The answer said that you should eat normal meals for the rest of the day if you're still hungry. When I was thinking about it, I realized I didn't know what a "normal meal" might be. I have been trying to eat the smallest amount of calories possible, and have no mental mechanism to gauge what's normal after I've blown my calorie count.

So, quite simply, I've decided to cut my calorie target - 1,240 calories - into three. This means a "normal meal" is 400 calories. Of course there's a range here, but it gives me a good idea of what I should be shooting for in a meal, where before it was "Eat as little as possible and still be full". This mechanism allows me to still feel successful, even if I've made bad choices for other meals.

(Picture from Diet Blog's 300 calorie meals)