Photo by Karen at French Skinny
4 and I went to a friend's house. She put out humus and pita chips. I ate 6 pita chips with humus. Then I was full.
She said, "Is that all your going to eat? Have some more. Oh wait, you're doing your French Skinny thing, I forgot." (She gave me a giant eyeball roll.)
My new normal is still not normal for some of the people around me. I don't really blame them. I've been dieting since I was 18. Almost everyone I know is on one kind of diet or in between a diet. The in between a diet includes gorging on guilty pleasures before ramping up to yet another diet to reach a goal weight and then eat again.
I know this because that has been me. Up until now.
Like someone who's just found religion, I enthusiastically explain that this isn't a diet. I'm not starving myself to lose weight. I'm eating exactly what I want. I wanted the pita chips and humus. My stomach is now used to French Skinny portions so I stop when I'm full. The idea that I need to keep eating food after I'm full seems strange to me now. Grab a tambourine and hop on my bandwagon!
This was met with a "Whatever works for you." And a smile that never reached her eyes.
*Sigh*
In general, there is a part of our culture, in America, that's in the habit of gently judging not just what you eat but the amount. The eye roll, the sigh, the off handed comment, I have encountered all of these in my French Skinny Experiment.
Shaboom told me that she has found the exact opposite in France. No one judges you if you leave your entire meal on a plate. If they're not hungry they don't eat. She said it really hit home for her one day when a French woman said to her, "This food will just go into the trash. Would I go in the trash can and eat out of it?"
Now, I'm no dumpster diver but I'm still struggling with this one. I have a hard time dumping food into a trash can and I hate to waste things. The best I can do is eat my French Skinny portions and save the rest for the next day.
I had a nice walk to the store for fresh bread and brie.
I was hungry when I got home so I had 3 pieces of baguette with brie cheese, cherry tomatoes and fresh basil.
I made chicken salad from the roasted chicken we had yesterday. Hubby wanted me to use the mayonnaise with olive oil. How can I put this nicely? I don't care for the taste of mayonnaise made with olive oil...... So I made it for him and 4. I wasn't hungry anyway.
Hubby felt bad about me not eating the chicken salad because I used his mayo. *Sigh*
Wait, am I gently judging him for judging me?
Later that night I had one bowl of popcorn with some real butter.
Then one scoop of chocolate ice cream.
"I love my new lifestyle!"
You know, they say that half of all our waste that goes into the landfills (which are filling up quickly) is wasted food. Makes me wonder how France's landfills are doing. Haha. I'm not likely to throw away half of something I paid full price for. I will, however, take it home and eat it later. There's all kinds of cultural differences coming into play here. The French are not just eating smaller portions, but also, are more relaxed about money, take long breaks from work etc. The "American way" which is long work hours, tight budgets, and everything on the go seems to be our downfall when it comes to staying healthy. Judging, however, is normal everywhere...
ReplyDeleteLinnea definitely has a point.
ReplyDelete