eat like a french woman

Monday

Breakfast: Small bowl of fruity pebbles with skim milk
Lunch: Personal-sized four-cheese pizza, handful of Kettle Chips
Dinner: Vegetarian “steak” dinner thing, 2 slices cheddar cheese
Snack: Sugar-free raspberry popsicle

I didn’t realize until I started keeping this log just how much cheese I’m eating! I really need to try and moderate my cheese intake, and eat more fresh things. My goal for the rest of the week is to incorporate fruits and vegetables into each meal. This may not happen for a few days though, because I need to go to the market and actually buy some.

Tuesday

Breakfast: Kashi GoLean protein shake with matcha green tea
Lunch: Soy burger on a flaxseed bun with one slice of cheddar cheese
Dinner: Thai coconut soup with tofu and vegetables, flatbread with brie (oops, cheese again)
Snack: Small walnut brownie, two handfuls of unbuttered popcorn

Wednesday

Breakfast: High protein black bean vegetable soup, sugar-free fruit popsicle (not very breakfast-y, lol)
Lunch: “Mango Mantra” 16 oz Light Fruit Smoothie and cheddar tomato twist from Jamba Juice
Dinner: Sauteed tofu, raspberries
Snack: Brie with flatbread and grapes

Thursday

Breakfast: Whole grain waffles with rhubarb/strawberry jam and a bit of butter, a granny smith apple
Lunch: Kashi GoLean protein/fiber bar, jasmine green tea
Snack: Whole grain flaxseed bread, 4 breaded mozzarella sticks
Dinner: Annie’s Macaroni & Cheese

Friday

Breakfast: Whole grain french toast with jam
Lunch: Grilled cheese sandwich, Redbull, circus animal cookies (GAH NOOOO)
Dinner: Caesar salad

Saturday

I had my weekly weigh in this morning and irritatingly enough, I weighed exactly the same as I did last week. I’m already working out for an average of two hours a day so I guess I’ll have to start being a lot more strict with my diet from now on… :(

Breakfast: Kashi GoLean protein shake with matcha green tea
Lunch: Soy/veggie burger patty on a flax seed bun with soy sauce for flavor, granny smith apple
Dinner: 3-bean vegetable soup with whole grain crackers, raspberries
Snack: 1 slice cheddar cheese

Monday

Breakfast: Small portion of oatmeal, Matcha green tea
Lunch: 8 oz tomato basil soup (I sprinkled a little bit of blue cheese on it), rose green tea
Snack: Ravioli, very small amount of cheese & crackers (I was really really hungry for some reason)
Dinner: It started out really well- low calorie butternut squash soup but then NOOOO I then had a portion of white rice and a large cookie!

I need to figure out how to stop bingeing at night and eating between meals! For the rest of the week I’m going to limit snacks to fruits and vegetables, and no eating after dinner. Whenever I start just “having a snack” after dinner, I end up eating a cookie or something equally unhealthy.

Tuesday

Breakfast: 2 small whole-grain waffles (no toppings or syrup)
Lunch: Small portion of couscous with veggies, jasmine green tea
Dinner: Cheese & crackers, sauteed tofu

Wednesday

Breakfast: Small portion of oatmeal with almonds and matcha green tea
Ugh I did horrible for the rest of the day… I don’t even want to talk about it.

Thursday

Lunch: Macaroni and cheese, small piece of lemon tarte
Dinner: Small goat cheese pizza, fresh raspberries

Friday

Lunch: Egg white scramble (this time with mushrooms)
Dinner: Butternut squash soup with cheese, whole-grain flax seed roll
Snack: 30 calorie sugar-free fruit popsicle

Saturday

Breakfast: Vegan breakfast burrito
Lunch: Vegetable curry with brown rice
Dinner: Half a personal-sized pesto pizza, butternut-squash soup, a little bit of caesar salad, a couple chips

Sunday

Breakfast: Very small bowl of fruity pebbles with skim milk
Lunch: Some small appetizers at my high school graduation, cheese and crackers/bread
Dinner: Vegetarian plate, bread, and dessert at a restaurant in SF

I’m going to record my food intake for the first month to both hold myself accountable and celebrate my progress. On August 1st, if I have consistently maintained this way of eating, I will consider this goal “done” and remove it from my list.

Anyways, my first day of this lifestyle was amazing! Much smaller portions of much better food.

Wednesday

Breakfast: Tofu breakfast burrito
Snack: Tiny slice of mixed-berry pie
Lunch: 8 oz of tomato basil soup, raspberries
Snack: 1/2 protein shake with matcha green tea powder
Dinner: Egg white scramble (I made it from scratch!) with olive oil, tomato, goat cheese, and herbs. Also, half piece of sourdough bread and seaweed.

Thursday

Breakfast: Breakfast burrito
Snack: Seaweed, 2 potato chips (I wasn’t hungry and realized that I was only craving flavor, so I allowed myself to have two and stopped at that. I was quite proud of myself!)
Lunch: Lunch didn’t go very well… I ate good food but didn’t control my portions. As is consistent with this lifestyle, however, I’m not going to beat myself up- I’ll just eat really really well at dinner to get myself back on track.
Dinner: Dinner went far better! I enjoyed a cup of cream of mushroom soup (I added goat cheese to it- I LOVE goat cheese right now), and I stopped when I was full and didn’t finish the portion.

Friday

Breakfast: 8 oz tomato basil soup, rose green tea
Snack: 8 oz tomato basil soup
Lunch: Small bag of garden salsa Sun Chips
Dinner: Egg white scramble as described above, strawberries

Saturday

Breakfast: Small portion of oatmeal
Lunch: Cheese and bread plate and half a dark chocolate fondue dessert at Neiman Marcus’s Rotunda
Dinner: Vegetable soup (I didn’t finish the portion), sugar-free Redbull
Snack: Fuze Slenderize drink

Sunday

Lunch: Pesto tortellini (I slept in, so I didn’t eat breakfast)
Snack: Two frozen waffles with a tiny bit of jam
Dinner: Cheese and whole grain crackers, tofu/veggie pot pie
Snack: A tiny bit more cheese & crackers (about 100 calories worth), a large cookie (Bad, but I suppose it’s alright with how well I’ve eaten all week. At least I only had one.)

My goals for the next week are to greatly increase my water intake, and to minimize snacking after dinner.

From fifteen to seventeen I suffered from Anorexia and almost every kind of disordered eating imaginable (aside from Bulimia), including binge eating, and weighed as little as 98 pounds at 5’5’’ to as much as 150. Even now, after supposedly having been “recovered” for over a year, I’ve continued to view food in a decidedly negative way. My weight has been all over the place, and whether I was miserably eating a dry salad or guiltily consuming half a pizza I felt horrible- everything was in excess and out of balance.

I bought French Women Don’t Get Fat looking for another “quick fix” deprivation diet, and found something entirely different and INDESCRIBABLY BETTER. This book has somehow made me realize what so many people could not: a life of negativity, deprivation and guilt is not one worth living. I only live once, and I need to try and maintain a body weight I can feel proud of, while eating foods that taste good and make me happy in moderation and small portions.

One of the goals I’ve made on this site is to exercise five times a week, and for the first time in my life I’m doing it because it makes me feel strong and positive, rather than because I’m trying to punish myself or work off the day’s earlier “bad” foods. I actually find myself looking forward to my workout each day. It sounds so corny, but I feel so alive!

Today for lunch I bought a cup of fresh tomato basil soup and a carton of raspberries from a local market, and am proud to say that I ate only until I was full (about half the portion), and gave the rest to my boyfriend. I ate slowly and tried to fully enjoy the food that I was eating, and it worked! I felt satisfied and happy with far less than I would have normally consumed.

I’m looking forward to finishing the book and already feel so much better about myself, my body, and food! I feel like I’m beginning a new chapter of my life.

My main dietary problems are binging on crappy food, and guilt. When I’m guilty I will switch to super healthy stuff, or eat less than enough to satisfy, leading to another binge. It’s a vicious cycle.

So, after a bit of reading around on the French Paradox, I thought I would try it out. I went to France for three months when I was 15, and despite eating far richer and ‘naughtier’ foods than I ever ate in Australia (e.g. brie, croissants, non-lean meat), I only gained a little bit of weight. I think the people I stayed with generally ate a bit worse than the average French family, but if I ate a similar diet but, for example, fruit salad instead of a second croissant with Nutella for afternoon tea, it would be ideal. I’m now vegetarian, so that provides further opportunity for improvement on their diet.

Today I went shopping and bought some small croissants, camembert, eggs, haloumi, Lindt dark orange chocolate, creamy berry yogurt (I always bought high-sugar ‘diet’ yogurt before), and good quality wholemeal bread. I also made a batch of fresh fruit salad for snacking. I already have pasta and tomato sauce, plus tofu for Asian cooking. I want to focus on making smaller meals that I enjoy, rather than chosing certain foods out of a sense of obligation.

This is very important…

b-b-b-ut i love food toooooo much

im not fat, therefore im not motivated

I think I’ve got it down now—lots of fresh, natural foods and nothing artificial, small portions and not hurrying at mealtimes. Yum :)

for the longest time i have been doing this thing where i only eat the same one-to-three things for around a month.
it’s really strange-i know- but i don’t really do it consciously; i just fall inlove with what i’m eating and let/make myself enjoy it for a long time. when i think about eating something else that doesn’t really appeal to me.

after i detoxing my body, i’m planning on having peanut butter, italian or french bread and cheese.

and i really like eating slowly and taking the time to enjoy the taste and experience of what i’m eating.

i just wish it didn’t bother most everyone around me.

Yesterday I went to Trader Joe’s and got a bottle of cheapo Charles Shaw merlot (really good), some whole-grain artisan bread, some whole milk (for my French roast coffee), romaine lettuce, really fresh, sweet tomatoes, crisp Fuji apples, mineral water, a bag of teeny, superfresh lemons, croissants, their brand of Greek yogurt, itty bitty red potatoes and some lovely dark chocolate triangles. Mmm. I already had some cheese, salmon and chicken sausages at home so I didn’t have to buy any of that. I definitely plan to eat this way forever, it tastes so much better and is actually cheaper than what I was buying before. I’m watching my portions and also exercising so hopefully I’ll be able to lose weight this way. Yay!