The French (Baking) Diet?

Hello again!

Let's jump straight ahead and get the weigh-in done.

Monday's weigh-in: 163.5. (-1.0 versus last week and -3.5 to date)

Alleluia!!!!!! Yipee!!!!! Hurrah!!!!! [Insert cartwheels of joy here] 🎉

What happened??!!

I wish I knew! This past weekend, I did some more baking. This time, it was chocolate croissants.  

Maybe it's the French pastry diet?  Hehe

No, it's not. Last week I behaved reasonably well. I tried to eat reasonable portions, and I tried to eat mostly home-cooked meals. But the truth is, I also did eat out sometimes. And, last night, I had a tiny dinner because I had an upset stomach. I don't think it was from the croissants, since I only sampled 1/2 of one (to make sure it was good). So, the truth is, I'm not sure why I saw such a big loss this week.

But, I'm not complaining! In fact, if anything, it has motivated me to be extra careful this week. And, I'm going to be better about jotting down what I'm eating, if I'm exercising (and how much), and how my tummy reacts to it all. Hopefully that way I will have a better idea of why my weight fluctuates.

In the meantime, I'll just enjoy this new weight (probably my lowest in over a year) and hope that the downward trend continues!

Back again, baking again

This past weekend I took another baking class: Viennoiserie at Home. Viennoiserie refers to "laminated" dough, like the one used for croissants and Danish pastries. So, we made croissants, pain su chocolat, assorted fruit Danishes, and brioche. 

Of course, this meant we had to taste what we made. :)

We each went home with lots of goodies. I kept some but gave a bunch away. 

Despite this, I'm sure these delicious treats didn't leave my waistline unscathed. 

Tuesday's weigh-in: 165. (-0.5 versus last week and -2.0 to date)

I guess I'll call this a success, since I managed to go back down a bit despite the enjoyment of numerous buttery baked goods. 

Now, the treats are gone. Time to get serious!

Monday, Monday

How does the old The Mamas and The Papas song, Monday Monday, go?

Monday, Monday
So good to me...
Monday, Monday
It was all I hoped it would be... 

Well, that sounds about right. At least, today it does.

Why? Well, let's just jump straight to the bottom line.

Weekly weigh-in: 164.5 (-0.5 versus last week and -2.5 to-date) 

To be honest, I'm not sure how that happened. I think I ate a bit less because this weekend I had to go help out mes parents more than usual/expected and so I felt like I ran around more and didn't have time to sit around and eat. There was definitely less snacking. Also, I ate more salad than usual because we reaped the benefits of our summer planting and I had tons of cherry tomatoes that had to be eaten or they would spoil. So, salad made up a larger percentage of my actual dinner meal. But, I also did some baking and we enjoyed the fruits of my labor. (Specifically, we enjoyed a strawberry & raspberry tart made with chocolate pastry cream filling and chocolate Pâte Sucrée.)

I've gotten a bit lax about recording what I've been eating in the past several weeks. I think perhaps I need to go back to that. That way I might be able to figure out what I did that worked (or that didn't).

In any case, I'm definitely happy to see things move in the correct (downward) direction. I need to remember this feeling the next time I think about buying some worthless candy bar or other junk dessert.

R.E.P.O.R.T. Card--Special Edition

Last week I finally took my pastry class at the San Francisco Baking Institute. Every day, my alarm would go off at 6 a.m. and I would scurry to gather my things and get dressed to leave the house. Classes started at 7 a.m. and they would go until about 2-2:30 each day. It felt very intense, but I learned a lot and it was a really special treat.

Given the early departure time required to make it to class by 7 a.m., and the fact that breakfast and lunch were included in the course, I ate both of those meals at SFBI every day. Breakfasts were usually some sort of bake good (shocking, I know) and coffee or tea. Lunches always included a fresh green salad bar, plus a second item like a sandwich or some quiche or some pasta. And, there was always some sort of fabulous dessert available at lunch. One day we had slices of Opera Cake. Another, it was a Whiskey Hazelnut Mousse Dome Cake. And still another day, it was a super rich chocolate cake. Crazy!

The number and assortment of baked treats that accompanied us home at the end of each day was phenomenal. One day, we had three full sized pies! But, usually, I shared what I made with some family and friends, so we didn't have an excessive amount of goodies at home to tempt us. Still, for obvious reasons, last week Monsieur and I definitely ate a lot more sweets and baked treats than we normally would. Also, because I would arrive home pretty tired, I cooked dinner fewer times and we had take-out more than usual.

Given all this, I was a little bit worried about what today's scale might tell me. But, I know that last week was the exception to the rule and that I should be able to course-correct this week, as long as I'm careful and pay attention to what I'm doing.

In any case, let's get started with grades:

• Real, natural foods: B+
• Enjoy the dining experience: B 
• Portion control: B
• Only at mealtimes--no snacking: C 
• Run around--incorporate exercise naturally: B 
• Treat yourself: ??

Not sure how to grade "Treat yourself" this week. I certainly didn't deprive myself! I tasted everything and had more than I normally would given the special circumstances. But is that good or not? I guess that I need to remind myself that last week was unique and try not to over-think it.

Now for the scary part.

Weekly weigh-in: 166.0 (+1.0 lbs versus last week and -1.0 to-date)

I don't know if I should be sad or ecstatic at the 1 lb. change. I am a little sad, because I definitely tried to limit the number of treats I allowed myself and I ate some salad every day for lunch, and sometimes only salad. But, I'm also a bit elated because part of me thinks it could have been so much worse! Especially considering the sheer number and variety of delicious pastries that we made!

The key for this week will be to settle back into a normal routine and plan out some healthy, French-style meals. And, I need to incorporate some exercise back in to my daily life. If I do those two things, I'll be curious to see how quickly I can recover from my week-long pastry vacation!

Final Grade: C

Slow week

Sorry for being M.I.A. this past week. Too many to-do's and not enough inspiration contributed to my lackluster performance here on the blog.

At the same time, I sort of wonder if I should force myself to post something every day, even if there isn't much to tell. Is that daily discipline good, or counter-productive? And if I do post something every day, am I being creative or just making stuff up??  I'm really not sure.

In any case, next week the blog will be 'on vacation' since the time has finally arrived for my Foundation of Pastry class at the San Francisco Baking Institute. I'm really looking forward to it.

See you in a week!

Dilemma: Baking Enthusiast or Svelte Sensation?

I celebrated my birthday in April, and Monsieur offered me an extra-special opportunity as my birthday gift: a week-long class at the San Francisco Baking Institute on Pastry. The class promises to teach you "how to master pastry doughs and use them to create an unlimited variety of exciting pastries."  

As I may have mentioned before, I love pastries in general, and French-style patisserie (Paris-Brest pastries, éclairs, Breton tarts, etc.) best of all.

So, here's my dilemma: 

If I'm trying to lose weight and I know that pastries are a particular weakness, should I really be signing up for a week-long, intensive baking class like this?? Am I just playing with fire? Courting disaster? Sabotaging myself? [Insert confused look here]

Sounds like it's time to resurrect the old WWFD (What would a French person do?) strategy here.  Going to mull it over and I'll let you know what I decide.

Feedback/comments/advice are always welcome...  :)

Sweet endings

If I had to identify my single biggest weakness, diet-wise, I'd have to confess it is my sweet tooth. I love, love, looooove sweet treats. My favorites are ice cream, chocolate, and pastries like the patisserie that the French are known for the world over. In fact, my favorite shop in all of Paris is probably
Ladurée.  
Last time I was in Paris, I even snuck a few photos at the store in St. Germain:

So, I have to confess that when I embarked on this French experiment of mine, I wondered about the French attitude towards all these delicious confections. I mean, what is the point of being able to make all these wonderful treats if you are never going to enjoy them?

Then, as I did my research, I started to understand how they French did it. Again, the key lies in balance and moderation.  Sure, the French eat dessert and they have access to delicious croissants and macarons and other baked works of art, but they view them as treats, not everyday staples. Their typical weeknight desserts come in the form of fruit, not frangipane! And breakfast bread is baguette, not croissants or pain au chocolat. Those treats are reserved for the weekend or some other special occasion.

Luckily, I am not a big fan of dessert. (Hmm...maybe because I always tended to overeat and was too stuffed for dessert??) But, in my former eating life, I would eat something sweet every single day (!!), usually with an afternoon coffee. 

So, it was a wonderful surprise to read in The French Don't Diet Plan: 10 Simple Steps To Stay Thin For Life that the author, Dr. William Clower, recommends incorporating an "ender" into your daily diet. That is, as he describes it, some small sweet treat that you enjoy some 10 minutes after you finish a meal (a meal that didn't already include what we would normally think of as dessert, like cake, ice cream, or pie!) and that serves as a sort of epicurean punctuation mark and tells your brain, "Okay, I'm done eating now until my next regularly scheduled meal." 

With this in mind, I looked for that special item that I would use as my "ender" and I found it in the form of extra-dark chocolate from Lindt:

As Dr. Clower recommends, I take a small amount of this super rich chocolate and I let it melt in my mouth, savoring the flavor and letting it cover every taste bud. With chocolate that's this high in cocoa a little goes a long way, so you don't need much to feel satisfied. I'd almost go so far as to say I think it would be nearly impossible to overdose on such dark chocolate!

In any case, I've found that having just a bit of chocolate after lunch or dinner really makes me feel like I got a "treat" in, but it doesn't derail me like a daily raspberry-chocolate-mousse-tart or eclair might. 

C'est magnifique!