R.E.P.O.R.T. card

As I mentioned in my previous post, last week was a doozy. My papa was in the hospital for four days and most days my maman and I were running around just trying to take care of everything.  As a result, my eating was anything but typical. In some ways, this was actually positive because since I wasn't at home, I couldn't just walk over to the pantry to forage for a snack. And, to some extent, stress functions as an appetite suppressant. But, obviously, stress, poor sleep, erratic eating, and no exercise doesn't exactly lead to glowing health.

In any case, papa is back home now and I'm hoping (fingers crossed) that I will be able to recuperate this week from last week's stress.

In terms of grades, here we go:

• Real, natural foods: 50% pass, 50% fail. Some days, take out was the only option. 
• Enjoy the dining experience: n/a. It's not easy to enjoy dining when you are exhausted and stressed out from other things that are going on.
• Portion control: Pass. 
• Only at mealtimes--no snacking: Pass. See intro.
• Run around--incorporate exercise naturally: 50% pass, 50% fail. Did okay up until my dad hurt himself.
• Treat yourself: Fail. Not because I over-indulged, but because I didn't treat myself well at all. :( Perhaps I'll have to make up for that this week with a little pampering? ;)

Oh, one more thing. Yesterday's lunch really didn't sit well so for the entire rest of the day I didn't eat much at all. Dinner was some herbal tea and a slice of toast with a little peach jam. 

Weekly weigh-in: 164.5 (-1.5 lbs versus last week and -2.5 to-date)

Final Grade: Obviously, I'm thrilled with the number on the scale and I plan on fully enjoying its memory for about half of the day. However, I also realize that it is probably somewhat misleading since my stomach was upset and I didn't eat much at all yesterday. Since I hadn't planned on using fasting as a means of weight control, I don't expect that weight loss trend to continue! 

Now I think I just need to focus on sticking with the plan and really taking care of myself. Hopefully that will not result in a weight gain next week, if I'm careful about how I go about things this week.

Sidetracked

My papa fell and fractured his pelvis. If you ever consider going and breaking yours, try to do it the way he did--with a stable fracture that doesn't require surgery, just time, to heal.

This happened on Tuesday evening and ever since we've been in a bit of turmoil, trying to get everything settled. 

As a result, the last two days I've been eating take out. Pizza and salad on Wednesday and Chinese food yesterday. And lunches have been slapped together. 

Add to this a lack of restful sleep and no exercise, and I'm sure you can imagine how well I'm doing, French diet-wise. 

We can't always control the circumstances of our lives, and I think that now I just have to give myself a break. What good would come from beating myself up on top of everything else that's going on?

Maybe that's kind of French after all...

Weight Math

After yesterday's disappointing weigh-in, I remembered (vaguely) that statistic about how many calories you need to cut to lose 1 lb. So, I turned to my friend The Google and did a little research.

There seems to be some debate over the precise number of calories you'd need to reduce or burn through exercise in order to lose 1 lb of fat in one week, but the general consensus was that 3,500 calories = 1 lb of 'weight'. Breaking that down into more manageable daily pieces, you'd need to cut back about 500 calories per day to lose 1 lb, or 250 calories per day to lose 1/2 a lb. Roughly.

Now, part of the reason the French Diet appeals to me so much is that I have never counted calories. The whole idea is anathema to me. I just hate it! I have enough things I need to juggle in my mind that I really don't want to add calorie counting to the list. First of all, I'd need to memorize the calories in  everything I eat, and then I'd have to try to calculate how much the portion of food X that I just ate contained. I just patently refuse to add this task to my daily to-do's.

Of course, with the advent of the iPhone and all the health/diet related apps that are available, you might say that all I need to do is find the right app and let it do the work. And, that might be true. But I still just don't want to do it.

So instead I asked The Google about exercise and how many calories each type of exercise (roughly) burns. Here's what I found, according to the Mayo Clinic:

For a 160 lb. person:

1 hour of...                    =              calories burned

  aerobics, high impact                          533
  aerobics, low impact                           365
  cycling < 10 mph                                292
  weight training                                    365
  swimming laps                                    423
  walking, 2 mph                                   204
  walking, 3.5 mph                                314

So yesterday, I went for a brisk walk in the morning. My iPhone app WalkTracker (I'm not opposed to using technology to help with health and fitness, it's just calorie counting that I despise) informed me that I had walked approximately 2.7 miles over 50 minutes at an average speed of 3.26 mph. According to my app, that represented 270 calories. Later that same day, I ended up walking another 1.5 miles when I found myself taking the train back home after visiting my parents. So, all in all, I had a pretty good day, exercise-wise.

My goal is to do some moderate amount of aerobic activity for 30-60 minutes each day, I probably would be able to take care of 1/2 a pound a week. The rest (if I want to make 1 lb a week my goal) should come from appropriate application of the French diet, especially from portion control.

R.E.P.O.R.T. Card

Despite the holiday weekend, I thought today would reveal nothing had changed. Instead, I was quite disappointed. But first, grades:

• Real, natural foods: Pass. 
• Enjoy the dining experience: Pass
• Portion control: Pass. 
• Only at mealtimes--no snacking: So-so. No crazy snacking that I recall but probably some. 
• Run around--incorporate exercise naturally: Pass. Actually got a bike ride in and some swimming. 
• Treat yourself: Fail. Definitely had some extra treats. Chocolate. Pancakes. Whipped cream. Ice cream. Did I mention chocolate?

Weekly weigh-in: 166 (+1.0 lbs versus last week and -1.0 to-date)

Final Grade: Sad face. 

Time to focus and take this experiment seriously. 

Stuck

I've decided to move my weigh-in day to Tuesday because, for some reason, I always seem to have breakfast before realizing it is Monday. Hopefully I will not start messing up on Tuesdays, too!

This past holiday weekend went, I think, reasonably well. I got a lot more exercise in since Monsieur is very keen on it. So, we went for a swim on a couple of days and got in a (for me) long bike ride. Yesterday, we rode for almost 12 miles. Took our bikes down to Whole Foods, picked up picnic supplies, and then rode to a park, where we ate under two huge oak trees that housed some very grumpy squirrels. Then, we looped around before returning home, so by the time I hopped off my bike, I felt I had worked out.

I think that my eating was fairly French, but I did indulge in a few more treats than needed. In retrospect, I realize that I often forget about the French mentality towards food. I just haven't yet made it my own and, truth be told, I'm starting to worry.  I don't know if I ever will.

Of course, the books (Losing It In France--Les Secrets of the French Diet and The French Don't Diet Plan: 10 Simple Steps To Stay Thin For Life) that inspired me to try the French diet are by non-French people who discovered the diet/lifestyle's myriad of benefits. Presumably, they have adopted the French diet as much as possible and continue to adhere to it, even after they have returned home. But I'm wondering if it's possible for someone who hasn't lived in France for an extended period of time to actually start to think like a French person...???

I am starting to think that I may actually be stuck and kidding myself by saying things like "my eating was fairly French". Sure, I may be more French than your average American, since I do like to cook and I have cut out things like sodas and most processed foods. But I was like that even before starting my French experiment. It's the rest of the French diet that seems so hard to make my own: portion control, listening to my body for cues on hunger/satiation, and--perhaps most importantly--feeling enough pride in myself to say "I deserve to be svelte and healthy and fit, and I deserve that a whole heck of a lot more than I need that candy".

Maybe I need to re-read those books and remind myself of what is possible?

All I know is that I haven't made that much progress in the three months and that makes me sad. I don't want my French experiment to be a failure.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy Independence Day! 

I can barely believe it is already the 4th of July and we are in the middle of summer.  The weather where I live has been a bit erratic--super hot some days and then cool and breezy others. 

Yesterday, Monsieur gave me the option to play some tennis pre-dinner or go for a swim. I felt very worn down because I'd been running around most of the day, so I chose the swim over more running around. Our pool was so warm that it felt like getting into a hot tub, and my muscles felt soothed despite swimming around for nearly 30 minutes. They say that exercise is--paradoxically--a good way to re-energize when you're feeling tired, but I've often felt that it depends on the type of exercise you pick and your reasons for feeling tired. I'm glad to say that now I'll know to choose a swim over something more vigorous the next time I feel too tired to move.

Anyway, there isn't much on the agenda for today. Mes parents will probably join us for some sort of BBQ dinner. I would have liked to have baked something special for today, perhaps something like Ina Garten's Flag Cake:

but that will have to wait for next year. Instead, I think I will just serve up some strawberries and whipped cream. Maybe I can add some blueberries, too, and really be patriotic. :)

I wish you and yours a wonderful 4th of July!!

R.E.P.O.R.T. card

Luckily, I remembered to weigh myself before anything else this morning.

I had no idea what to expect today. Last week seemed to fly by and I didn't do a good job of recording what I ate. I certainly didn't do much by way of planning what I ate, either.

So, I think we'll have to take these grades with a grain of salt:

• Real, natural foods: Pass. I recall making dinner a few nights and eating things like salad, rice and some protein.
• Enjoy the dining experience: No grade.
• Portion control: Pass. 
• Only at mealtimes--no snacking: Fail. Some chocolate and a bag of gummy bears went missing last week. 
• Run around--incorporate exercise naturally: Fail. Monsieur and I went on one after-dinner walk, but other than that, I don't recall doing anything else other than thinking about how I should be exercising.
• Treat yourself: No grade. 

Weekly weigh-in: 165 (-1.0 lbs versus last week and -2.0 to-date)

Final Grade: YAY!! 

Now I really wish I had done a better job of keeping track of what I ate and how much I exercised so I could keep on doing it. I think I'll just have to stick to the French diet principles and see how next week looks.