Eight down, thirty-two to go

Well, I started reading Big Slice, a mom/dieting blog, and I saw that Jenny had posted about a book called The Fat Fallacy. I am usually a real cynic about dieting books — my mom loves to give me various books on dieting and herbal remedies, and I mostly try to control my eye-rolling. So, any book that claims you can eat what you want and still lose weight — clearly they are insane. Clearly they are stupid, because I’ve been eating what I want, and guess what? I’m fat. I am not losing weight. This book is great though, in that it specifically says that you can’t eat what you want, or snack all the time, or any of that. There is no “scientific evidence,” just examples of what people in other countries who eat similar foods do to lose weight. No “low carb,” no “low fat,” none of that — just some simple things, like — don’t eat in front of the t.v., make a mealtime; eat slowly and drink a glass of wine with your meal. Don’t eat foods made in a laboratory, eat real foods. Oh, and kill the snacks.

So I read all this and thought, yeah, right, this is sooo not going to work. Eat full fat cheese? Have dessert? You have got to be kidding me. Incredulously, I went out and bought olives and whole milk. My husband celebrated when I brought home brie and aged cheddar cheese and when I made fresh french bread from scratch to dip in olive oil. And guess what? I’ve now lost eight pounds. Yes, eight pounds. It’s a lot harder than I thought it would be, though. It takes a lot of work to put together a meal without snacking, and it’s hard to give up my habit of reading a book while I eat. And those faux foods? I love those faux foods, and I comfort myself with a slice of brie on a cracker sometimes while thinking longingly of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and oven-baked Lays and all those other things — like low-fat Wheat Thins — that I enjoy but are really just chemicals in a bag. Yes, I occasionally break down and have a diet coke, but I like having my coffee with cream, and I’ve always liked tea. The best thing is that a lot of my cravings have stopped and I find it easier to wait until a meal because I know I can have good, yummy food.

Of course, writing all this is going to totally jinx me, and I will stop losing weight. I am, of course, losing at a glacial pace, but even a glacial pace is better than nothing. I will post a before and after model of my eight pound loss, and you tell me — can you see a difference at all? Because I really cannot.