Ed Levine's Serious Diet, Week 91: Diet Armageddon or Hell Week
Is what I'm about to tell you a form of diet armageddon or Hell Week? Either way, it has been bad, and I mean seriously bad. It's been so bad, I thought long and hard about not posting about my diet—then I decided that would make it even worse.
You all have stayed with me through fat and almost thin, and almost every shape in between, so I figure you'll stay with me even this week, when I might hit 220 pounds, a number that I'm terrified of seeing on Thinner.
I don't know how that scary number could have been avoided, given what in many cases I had to to eat this week. Maybe had to isn't an apt description. I'm just going to report here. You decide.
Saturday I took the train to Philly to try four pizzerias for a major pizza piece Adam and I are writing together. Two of the pizzerias, Stella and Osteria, were very fine, indeed. I stayed focused on pizza, never touching a cheesesteak or a pretzel.
Sunday I ate in Chinatown with Robyn and two of her friends for our upcoming review. The specialties of the house: crispy chicken skin stuffed with either shrimp paste or sticky rice with sausage.
Monday I went around on my bike to Shake Shack and Bill's to pick up all the food we needed to do a direct comparison between the two: burgers, fries, and malts.
Tuesday I met our Burger Lab columnist Kenji at Bill's Bar & Burgers. Our burgers, when ordered extra juicy, were perfect. I know other people have had less than exemplary burgers at Bill's. I'm really sorry about that.
Wednesday I participated in Erin's artisanal candy bar tasting in the morning. In the afternoon I judged Iron Chef. Yup, I tried ten dishes.
Thursday I flew to Atlanta to eat at two more pizzerias for the pizza piece I alluded to above.
I just got full typing everything I ate. So whether I decide to call it Armageddon or Hell Week, it doesn't really matter. We can all agree it was bad. James Brown would have called it Super Bad.
The Weigh-In
Unfortunately I didn't leave Thinner in New York. Here goes. 220. The dreaded 220. God, I hate seeing those three numbers. Well, it only increases my resolve for the coming weeks. I look forward to writing all of you that I've been to Hell Week and back.
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16 Comments:
Perhaps Hell Week isn't such a bad thing...it might just help you to double down and be quite careful about what you eat before the next calorie nightmare--Thanksgiving. Always like hearing about your serious diet.
dhorst at 9:05AM on 10/30/09
Honey, you eat for a living. Take a cue from Bruni and don't eat the whole thing; a few bites of an item is enough to assess the taste. Stop being so hard on yourself. Just walk a little further or bike a little harder next week.
arm1970 at 9:21AM on 10/30/09
Ed,
You will always have the support of your readers, no matter what :-) Your weightloss struggles are reality and its OK. EVERYONE who is trying to manage their weight goes through this. I agree with arm1970, just watch your bites more closely and get a little more activity in to balance this out. You are doing a great job so far and this is just a hiccup, not a setback!
kanwal81 at 9:33AM on 10/30/09
when i'm in new york i'll come shlep you for a swim! swimming burns a million calories, and then everything you eat tastes even better and you're meanwhile, burning it up, baby, burning it up! eating is serious stuff, my motto: eat only what I LOVE. the stopping part is the hardest though. but i tell self: marlena, keep a space open in case something EVEN BETTER comes along! you want to have room!
i've lost a lot of weight, like over 160 lbs, so you know, i understand. i understand. and NO BODY LOVES TO EAT more than ME! really! SERIOUSLY.
marlena
follow me on twitter:marlenaspieler
marlena at 9:37AM on 10/30/09
i hope you enjoyed every single bite of what you ate! if you''re eating a lot of stuff that isn't low cal and beating yourself up about it, it only makes it harder to keep your resolve. double up on the exercise, eat salads when you're not working, watch portions, and keep us posted.
i've always had such an out of control feeling about my weight. but you know what? last summer i ate myself right out of my jeans. i was making tons of fruit tarts and pasta pomodoro and was lazy about the gym. then when the cold weather hit and i had to wear my jeans instead of elastic waisted linen slacks or skirts, i couldn't get them over my knees. so i just switched to only eating raw fruits and vegetables, hard boiled eggs, canned fish packed in water, and steel cut oats for a couple of weeks. my clothes fit perfectly again, crisis averted!
cybercita at 9:51AM on 10/30/09
Ed, the Bent Spoon cookies didn't help, either. At least you missed Caroline's chocolate sheet cake. We'll try harder to keep the goodies away!
Carey Jones at 9:52AM on 10/30/09
Stuff happens. You'll eat better at your next meal. Best of luck, as always!
fatitalianbroad at 9:57AM on 10/30/09
sometimes we need a kick in the ass like this to get back on track. keep pushing ahead. consider this your chance to make a complete U-turn and head back in the right direction.
_greenbean at 10:00AM on 10/30/09
Imo the only solution is to get your exercise time up to 2 1/2 hours a day or so, an extra 20 minutes isn't going to get the job done.
Burn 850-1,000 calories a day exercising and you'll be fine.
redfish at 10:05AM on 10/30/09
Ed, are you dreaming about food? No? Don't be so hard on yourself. Though I know since I have lost weight I see people that are the size I used to be and stilll wonder if I look that bad. Food is a hard thing to moderate. Especially being in the business you are in. Besides, the basic idea is that a pound is 3,000 calories. You have to burn more than you consume to lose weight. Think of it as a lifestyle change instead of a diet. Diets have never worked for me. This lifestyle change seems to be doing it.
queenbleu at 10:14AM on 10/30/09
Okay Ed, I love what arm1970 said, "you eat for a living..stop being so hard on yourself" and cybercita, "you're eating a lot of stuff that isn't low and beating yourself up about it".
That said, the episode on Top Chef this week pissed me off, they did such a disservice to vegetables and vegans, the product available for the chefs to cook with was such a small selection it got me really, really mad!!! It just stereotyped the issue with vegetables which is not true!!!!!!
So, I don't hear anything about tasting vegetables, farmer's markets, don't get me wrong, I love a good burger(I loved the write-up here on Prairie Grass)..but Ed..quite seriously...what do you expect when all you are tasting is fatty foods....I am all for not dieting and eating sensibly...but if your palate is trained to love fatty foods and that is all you eat, you are going to go back up, up, up....
I seriously love vegetables and more and more each year as I realize how many heirloom varieties there are out there of everything, Nichols Farm here in Chi-town is a magician in terms of what they grow, there are so many different tastes and different vegetables, the world is huge.
So, I am all for not depriving yourself, eating what you love but until you really make a major food shift in taste and start yearning for green things as well as great burgers and don't get me going on Chinese food...I am sorry to be a little stern but as I said I was Seriously pissed off how vegetables were portrayed on Top Chef, and not hearing any vegetables play a role in your eating this week..well..enough said...
Jbout at 10:53AM on 10/30/09
Hell weeks happen. Then you just get back on track and know that you can do it and it's all about learning to live a life that includes good food but has some days with higher calorie counts and some days with lower calorie counts. You might try keeping a food journal. That can be annoying, but helpful.
greenteacups at 12:11PM on 10/30/09
Ed, you'll be fine. :-) Think long term....one week is not going to destroy everything you have worked (and will continue to work) for. There should be no guilt in eating.
RJ Foodie at 1:10PM on 10/30/09
Having lived in Atlanta, and now Philly, I'm going to assume that besides the named pizzerias you also ate at Tacconelli's, Varasano's, and Fritti. Ed, there is no sane person in the world who would judge you for gaining weight this week. A good friend of mine worked at Varasano's for a few months after it opened, and I'm pretty sure that my body mass doubled during that time period. Don't be so hard on yourself!
unpocojmoney at 9:49AM on 10/31/09
Why don't you try discreetly spitting out some of the food you have to taste for work purposes? Food scientists/technologists and sommeliers do it all the time.
flavors at 5:15PM on 11/03/09
@queenbleu: A pound is 3500 calories actually. Shortchanging that 500 cal is a big difference.
@redfish: That's a lot of exercise to fit into a day. I don't know how much Ed is already doing and he may somehow be able to fit that in, but most people probably cannot do that much.
wunami at 12:53PM on 11/04/09