I found myself in a moment of stress yesterday and once again sought out food. We had our annual AC service yesterday morning, got home around 11:30 last night and found that the downstairs zone wouldn't come on, the system wasn't pulling with the same volume as yesterday morning before the tech was here, and the temp just wasn't as cool. I immediately went to a 'one more expensive repair to the AC like the last two years' place and DH went to pick up food from McDonald's. We were going for ice cream but they had the machine down for cleaning, so we ended up with nuggets and fries. At midnight. Because food obviously will fix the AC.
So it's 4 days now since I got back from Paris. I weighed 124.4 this morning, which is 1/2 pound over my red line (and 4 pounds over my real goal weight). Today's calorie intake was just over 1100, and I got in a 30 minute jog before work. I have also started logging my food again on Fatsecret, which is tough for me to keep up but I think will be crucial to staying honest with a goal calorie intake of 1200-1300/day until I get back to 120.
I loved the experience of being in Paris (and Honfleur, and Pont Aven, and Mt. Saint Michel, and Carnac) but I am absolutely flummoxed by how French people manage to stay thin on the utterly crappy diet they eat, at least based on my extensive examination of restaurant fare. And I refuse to believe they walk it all off. We maintainers know all too well how impossible it is to compensate for bad eating with exercise alone; and let me tell you, from what I saw, the average Frenchman/woman easily consumes over 2000 calories a day, about 2/3 of which come from full-fat dairy, very non-lean meat, and bread. Not to mention alcohol. I can only assume that the offerings in the innumerable French bistros, restaurants and brasseries are not typical of what French people actually consume when they are at home (just like we don't eat burgers and fries as in-home staples).
Coffee and cigarettes, and it probably helps that most Frenchmen/women have never had weight problems or been overweight/obese. I wonder the same thing about Japanese people often when I see 95 lb women chowing on 7-scoop ice cream sundaes at Haagen-Dazs.
I've been back in NY for about 30 hours now and I'm all messed up. Eating and exercise has been good so far. I went to the supermarket and was blown away at how massive the vegetables here are! Seriously those peppers and bok choys can't be "real."
My food so far has looked like this:
8/1, 2 am: Dennys breakfast slam (1 wheat pancake with butter and syrup, some grits, egg whites, chicken sausage patty), 1/5 of a caramel apple crisp dessert
8/1, 4 pm (one hour after waking): Hometown diner: 1/2 fillet baked sole (hold the butter), cup of chicken soup, salad with fork-dipped bleu cheese dressing, a couple bites of green beans, a couple bites of mashed potatoes, part of a "Bavarian cheesecake" monstrosity
8/2, 4 am: Huge bowl of plain spinach, bell pepper, some goat cheese crumbles
8/2, 7 am: Banana, followed by a 3 mile runwalkjog
I picked up a silly temp job within 6 hours of arrival - I'm to sneak around pretending to be underage and try to buy cigarettes and alcohol from local stores, taking note of whether they ask for ID.
It's a cookbook, but I think the basic premise is "portion control". Here's an excerpt:
With French Women Don’t Get Fat, Mireille Guiliano wrote the ultimate non–diet book on how to enjoy food and stay slim, sparking a worldwide publishing phenomenon. Now, in her first-ever cookbook, she provides her millions of readers with the recipes that are the cornerstone of her philosophy—mouthwatering, simply prepared dishes that favor fresh, seasonal ingredients and yield high satisfaction.
Organized around Mireille’s three favorite pastimes—breakfast, lunch, and dinner—these recipes emphasize pure flavors, balanced ingredients, and easy cooking methods. Eating pleasurably is just as important as eating healthfully, and Mireille does not neglect dessert and chocolate (essential components of any French woman’s diet) and incorporates advice on entertaining, menu planning, and wine selection. And once again, Mireille offers tips and tricks to reduce one’s waistline (including a secret family recipe from Mireille’s beloved Tante Berthe for a delicious breakfast that melts away pounds effortlessly).
Filled with stories from Mireille’s childhood in France, her life in Paris, Provence, and New York, and her extensive travels and meals for business and enjoyment, The French Women Don’t Get Fat Cookbook is a beautiful, practical lifestyle guide to living well, eating wonderfully, and getting the most out of life with the least amount of stress.
Quote:
I am absolutely flummoxed by how French people manage to stay thin on the utterly crappy diet they eat, at least based on my extensive examination of restaurant fare. And I refuse to believe they walk it all off. We maintainers know all too well how impossible it is to compensate for bad eating with exercise alone; and let me tell you, from what I saw, the average Frenchman/woman easily consumes over 2000 calories a day, about 2/3 of which come from full-fat dairy, very non-lean meat, and bread. Not to mention alcohol.
I kinda believe the books theory because the same is true for me (albeit I'm not French) I guess it's all a matter of what you deem "bad" foods. I don't believe the french believe animal fat to be "bad" and I think I great point has been made about their lack of "stress" which I believe can cause obesity in itself. I also know that stress is a leading killer, but doesn't get the credit it deserves. So perhaps we can learn something from the French. Avoire(sp?)
Krampus - I'm fascinated by your temp job. Let us know how it goes.
Andrea - when I was in France I lived with a family for a semester. We didn't eat a lot of the cream saucy, bad for you food. We did have full fat milk, shelf stable stored in boxes, so didn't consume much of it. We had a several course meal every night, with lots of fruit and small amounts of cheese. We might have three fruit courses scattered in. We did a lot of hot tea and had crusty baguettes with every meal, but the same large one usually lasted several days with the four of us. Didn't eat much at a time. The father had recently recovers from open heart surgery, maybe we were unique?
I'm pretty sure that the French can't possibly eat at home what I saw in the restaurants on a regular basis, or they really would have serious weight problems. But I also don't buy the "French women have less stress" theory either; why would they? Don't they work, raise children, deal with financial headaches, family problems, etc, just like us? Portion control may be part of the answer, but if the trick to eating like them and not getting fat is that I can only have 2 spoonfuls of whatever rich, saucy food is being served for dinner, that's not going to keep me satisfied for long- I note Shannon's comment "didn't eat much at a time."
Not making any headway whatsoever on weight loss back to goal; still weighed 124.4 this morning (after bouncing up to 125 for a few days). But I'm also not being too successful at staying under 1300; have been hovering near my usual maintenance calories (1400-1600) with only moderate exercise thrown into the mix. It is SOOO painful to go back to 1100-1200 calories a day again, and the feelings of deprivation and self-pity come to me really quickly when I do that. Need to cultivate a different mindset though, or I'll be above redline for months to come.
Krampus, your food log made me laugh; I've so been there and done that (jetlag from Asia leaving my sleep-wake cycle totally topsy turvy). Are you finally adjusting to EST?
Andrea - I'm struggling with keeping my calories down, I also get the feelings of deprivation and self pity when I go too low. Then I get the feeling of frustrations and self abuse when my clothes are snug. I need to figure out how to lose both of those feelings, or I'll be living with you above my redline.
I've been okay for the last two days, and am planning for a good day today, too. My weight is down a little bit, and I would like to keep it that way.
Today was ick for me. It was one of those mornings where I just didn't get satisfied and full. I started off great, a little banana and pb and my morning coffee. Then grabbed for the watermelon. Then pb calling my name on a nice toasted bagel....it's homemade, less processing and fat, so that's alright in my eyes But uhoh, than I found myself in the cheerios. Stop that. Alright. Wait, put in some gum. Make some muffins. Oh, they smell good. Open up the peanuts. Eat way too many of them. Then feeling guilty. Way too guilty.
So then I hop on my elliptical, in a pathetic attempt to discount at least some of those calories and make myself feel better.
I'm better now. Tomorrow morning will be better, it has to be
Wow, BakingChick- you do the exact same thing I do, only at the other end of the day. I have gotten much better in the last 5 weeks or so, but was having huge overeating issues in the evening, after dinner. One thing would lead to another, just like you're describing. I finally put an absolute moratorium on any food in my mouth after 8 pm, which actually sort of worked, especially since we're not eating dinner until close to 7 at my house these days. Perhaps you can declare breakfast over at a certain time, with no more food until lunch (no mid-morning snack)?
I finally got 2 days in a row with weights below 124, so I'm feeling a glimmer of hope. I have NOT been successful at getting calories to 1200 though; 1400 is as low as I seem to get. I KNOW this will not get me back to 120, so I'm considering options like eating a Kashi frozen meal + piece of fruit as dinner every night for the next 2 weeks as a means of better evening calorie/portion control. The big drawback is that dinner is the one time of day my entire family sits and eats together, and I'm always making a big fuss about the kids eating what we eat (not making separate, usually junky, kids meals like mac and cheese), so it would be very hypocritical. But I really need to get dinner down to like 500-600 calories total, which is proving highly challenging. Do any of you use packaged meals to help with portions?
Andrea - I'm struggling with keeping my calories down, I also get the feelings of deprivation and self pity when I go too low. Then I get the feeling of frustrations and self abuse when my clothes are snug. I need to figure out how to lose both of those feelings, or I'll be living with you above my redline.
This had me laughing out loud because... well, I *have* felt all those things and I *have* been living above my red line for...oh, ten years now? (I lost the weight 15 years ago) Not that it'll happen to you guys, and it's not funny, but it made me laugh. Yeah, sad, I know.
Also, Andrea, I think in that book Strong Women Stay Slim the author says that while French people eat the fattiest things, they also eat TINY amounts of them. As in 2 tablespoons of a sorbet and things like that. I could never live that way.
Andrea, yeah breakfast for me is hard. Usually because I'm bored and a procrastinator on starting the day. I do really great if I have something to do that day, but If there's nothing to do for a while, eating is my means of entertainment. On days like that where I can't stop eating, I actually skip lunch and snack times, and don't eat again until dinner. I'm sure that's the absolute wrong thing to do metabolism wise, but I'm so full, I can't phathom eating anyway. And if I do get hungry, I'll keep it to a piece of fruit or a protein shake. So I figure eating two meals at once, while really really full, isn't horribly bad, it just makes me feel bad.
Oh, and no packaged meals for me. I can't stand pre made store bought food. Honestly don't see the point. Kind of defeats the purpose of eating healthy in my eyes. Just make yourself your own portions of veggies. Or a lot of times when I have to keep my calories low I'll just put whatever we're eating over a bed of lettuce of cabbage. I.e. spaghetti dinner, just a spoonfull over lettuce, instead of a whole plate with a side of lettuce. Or breakfast burritos ... no tortilla for me, I'll just put it over a bed of cooked cabbage. A good and quick way to cut calories, yet eat the same foods as everyone else.
Proud of myself for turning around a day that was starting to slide out of control. I ate a little too much breakfast (like, 100 calories over my plan) and then ate 1 1/2 tablespoons of creamy pb with 3 graham cracker squares for an afternoon snack (I never do this- too much sugar so it kicks in my carb cravings) along with the handful of granola that was my original plan. I already had 1000 calories going in to dinner, but managed to eat stir-fried veggies with just 200 calories of super-thin-crust pizza for dinner (BakingChick, I followed your advice!), followed by a 1/2 c. of nonfat greek yogurt and some peach slices, to bring the day's total to just under 1400 calories. Not that I've lost an ounce to date ...
Sometimes our bodies do not agree to the number our brains have picked to be our goal weight. It's hard to accept that but "it is what it is". We can battle against it and be frustrated and hungry and tired or we can accept it.
I am still fighting my body's desire to be 136 lbs. (my brain says 130 is possible) 4 years after losing the major portion of my weight. I think my body is winning!
) I guess it's all a matter of what you deem "bad" foods. I don't believe the french believe animal fat to be "bad" and I think I great point has been made about their lack of "stress" which I believe can cause obesity in itself. I also know that stress is a leading killer, but doesn't get the credit it deserves. So perhaps we can learn something from the French. Avoire(sp?)
But uhoh, than I found myself in the cheerios. Stop that. Alright. Wait, put in some gum. Make some muffins. Oh, they smell good. Open up the peanuts. Eat way too many of them. Then feeling guilty. Way too guilty. 
