Yo! It's Day Fourteen of my daily weight loss diary blog (or the DWLDB). 204.6. Finally, the post-tri bloat fest is deflating. I feel like such a Yo-Yo, though. Am I ever going to get below 200?
Tonight is going to be tough class...Cajun and Creole food. Yum. In this class (American Regional Cuisine), the students work in three teams to execute three different menus and have to either plate the food like they would at a restaurant or set up a buffet. Everyone sits in the dining room and tastes all of the food and we talk about cooking techniques, local ingredients to that region and customs and traditions of that region. It is a really cool class and all of my students are awesome. It's always interesting and the food is always good. It is so hard not to overeat.
My strategy lately has been to have them make me a very small tasting plate of each of their dishes (which leaves me with 10-12 tasting plates) and I take my tasting plates in the dining room and just eat those while the students hit the buffet. I critique the food (too salty, not salty enough, meat doneness is just right, overdone, underdone, etc.) and tell myself I am only going to eat what is on my tasting plate and not go up for seconds. I make them, literally, give me one bite of food of each of their dishes so it really equates to about a full meal, sometimes a little more. If I go up for seconds, well, that's way overdoing it.
Last week I went up for seconds just of the meat (lamb roast) and fish (halibut) and had a little extra soba noodles. I try to avoid seconds anything fried, or "white" (rice, bread, potatoes, etc.) and have been okay at it. Tonight will be tough. I love Cajun food.
Yesterday, with the cookies, it was easier not to taste anything in class because I was grading them more on the technique and the doneness of all of the cookies as well as the decorating. I didn't have to taste them to grade them. If I don't have to taste at all, it's much easier not to eat the food. It's the little tiny taste that whets my palate and then, well, it's 1000 times more difficult. Especially the savory food. I love sweets but can live without them. Try to take away crunchy, salty, chewy, meaty, cheesy food from me and, well, you may draw back a bloody stump.
I am so lucky because I love my job but it sure makes this whole weight loss thing difficult. But, I had this same problem when I wasn't a chef, so, I really can't blame my job. I mean, I know a lot of healthy, fit chefs. I will figure this out and, yes, the taking the stairs can help (a la Robert's solution on Fat Chef for me) but I need to learn to control myself too. I want the change more than I want the food. I have to remember that. Tell that to the Shrimp Etoufee looming in my future.
Wt loss makes no sense. You would think with the calories burned in the Tri that you would drop 2-3 lbs. Instead, you gain bloat. That just plain sucks. Great attitude powering through it. You will be under 200 before you know it.
ReplyDeleteHow can you stick with a "do" plan not a "don't" plan?
ReplyDeletelove you
Peg