Ed Levine's Serious Diet, Week 18: What Happens When You Lose Control?
I don't know why exactly, but this week I felt like I lost control this week. It happens to me at some point or other whenever I go on a diet. Do other serious eaters find this to be the case when they embark on a weight loss regimen? In my case, losing my resolve could have disastrous consequences. Because once my resolve is gone, I can succumb to temptation big time. And believe me when I tell you that temptation is all around me virtually nonstop.
Friday afternoon I sent Sarah, one of the serious eaters here in the office, to a local bakery that had recently opened. I decided she should get one of every item the pastry chef-owner was proud of so that we could write the place up. Sarah came back with a dazzling array of exotic cupcakes, puddings, cookies, and cake slices (above). It was a brutal introduction to my diet weekend.
It turned out to open the floodgates, foodwise, for the rest of the week.
Saturday
The next day, Saturday, we visited my 88-year-old cousin Terry. Terry loves to show me around her her extremely varied, multi-ethnic food neighborhood. We ended up at Hildebrandt's, a soda fountain and luncheonette where the hamburgers are sublime and the homemade cottage fries even better.
And of course the proper accompaniment to a soda fountain burger and cottage fries is a coffee malt. That night we went to a play and then to a party where they were serving cupcakes. Cupcakes are not one of my weaknesses, but I still had one mini cupcake, or most of one, anyway. Why? It was there in proximity to my hands and mouth.
Sunday
Sunday was a Mother's Day doubleheader. First we had a brunch at our house. I bought some of my favorite bagels, some smoked fish, cream cheese, ham, and some Grom ice creamfor dessert. I kept tearing off small pieces of bagel and putting just a little cream cheese on them. I must have done this five time after I had eaten a whole mini bagel topped with smoked salmon and cream cheese. This is classic "Ed Levine is out of control when it comes to eating" behavior. I wasn't even tasting the food. I was just consuming it.
Sunday dinner was poached salmon, green beans, and barley and corn salad. Dessert Sunday night was lemon bundt. I was still full from brunch, so I just had little barley salad and sliver of cake.
The Following Week
But I think the bad weekend set up the bad week, because I was eating without thinking, to quell anxiety, I think. On Monday night I went to a restaurant's pre-opening and book party. Because it was a restaurant that I am probably going to review reasonably soon I had to have a bite of everything the kitchen sent out. I managed to stay in pretty good control. Later that evening we went out with friends to another restaurant I was thinking about reviewing. I ordered for the table and managed to get back on track. That is, I was aware of the potential damage I could do to my diet with the food arrayed in front of me. I tried just to sample even items that I really liked.
Wednesday I night I went to Taste of the Nation New York, one of these food events where more than 50 serious restaurants set up tables and serve tasting portions of one of their specialties. It is an invitation to excess, but I managed to rein in my worst instincts. For the most part succeeded in taking a bite of something and throwing the rest out. Once or twice I succumbed to the pleasures of one particular dish and finished the plate, but considering the damage I could have done I felt I was in control.
So as you can well imagine I am not looking forward to getting on the scale today.
Yup, unsurprisingly I gained a pound this week. I do feel like I weathered the caloric storm and got back on track toward the end of the week. But I was in some extremely problematic situations the past seven days and got through them without suffering too much damage. Wouldn't you agree?
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10 Comments:
As I read, I was guessing that you probably hadn't moved the scale much and was glad to read that I guessed correctly. Of course, that won't be the case if you stay off the wagon. In no time, you'll be right back where you started and go up from there - the yo-yo effect.
Time to jump back on the wagon and refocus on your goal. Don't beat yourself up, just be happy that you didn't do too much damage and now YOU are back in control. You slipped, but you didn't fall! Congrats!!
PerkyMac at 10:15AM on 05/16/08
What's the name of the bakery!
casperOne at 10:48AM on 05/16/08
A very wise friend said to me once, "One meal doesn't make you fat". Neither does one day, or one week. Honestly, the only part of your description that worries me is "I was eating without thinking, to quell anxiety". Other than that, you indulged a little - enjoyed yourself, I hope - and you're back on track.
rebeccablood at 10:50AM on 05/16/08
Is the Hildebrandt's you went to on Long Island? Because that's one of my favorite places to go when I'm home!
gkang at 11:47AM on 05/16/08
Wow, I felt like I was reading an excerpt from my own dieting trials and tribulations. I'm glad you were able to get back on the wagon. If you are working out, just try and step it up a bit and you'll undo any damage. On another note....Yuumm! Sounds like everything you ate was amazing!
camilarisso at 12:04PM on 05/16/08
@casperOne: The bakery is Batch.
roboppy at 12:26PM on 05/16/08
I hear ya. I have the same problem. I have OK weeks, great weeks, and weeks, well, like this week. I've been craving ice cream like crazy. It's a bad addiction for me all year, but once the weather gets nice, I just go nuts for it. And the killer is that the local chain where I get my ice cream recently had a sale on their half-gallons. I bought 5 (all light, oh the irony of good intentions), and now that they're right there in my freezer, the temptation is extremely hard to resist. I'm up a pound for the week.
techcommdood at 12:44PM on 05/16/08
Dieting is like a car accident. When you get into a fender bender, apologize and check for damage, then get yourself back on the road as quickly as possible. Whatever you do, don't just hit the gas and cause more damage!
dagoose at 12:54PM on 05/16/08
techcommdood, you must live somewhere near Stewart's--the only gas station/convenience store with incredibly good house-brand food. an ice cream sale at Stewart's is announced a week ahead of time, so people can clean out their freezers and make room. seriously.
annien at 4:24PM on 05/16/08
Speaking as someone who was a former fat kid, I hate to say it but I could never, never lose weight through your strategy of portion control alone. Now I am happy with my weight and can genuinely eat what I want, but I only achieved this state by really detoxing myself of my old craving foods, teaching myself to appreciate simpler and healthier choices, and discovering that lots of my forbidden food cravings were more head hunger than physical hunger, and that my junk food consumption was for psychological reasons, not because the food tasted good.
Why not do a week detox of totally clean eating to kick your motivation and weight loss into shape, even if some of the weight is water loss, and then slowly add back a few treats that are really worth the splurge? You might find that you 'want' some of them less.
But if you aren't a cupcake person, don't eat the cupcakes--send them to me, preferably the ones with extra icing ;)
HeartofGlass at 7:51AM on 05/17/08