I’ve had several questions and comments recently that I wanted to reply to, and I’m doing so in no particular order :

On being in France & food temptations. This is a typical comment : “If I was faced with your food temptations I hate to see how fat I would be.” The first thing I did 4 years ago upon arriving in France was gain 20 pounds which I haven’t been able to lose. The culture here is very different, and my life is very different, and the food temptations are multiple, varied, and almost always GOOD. That said, there are food temptations everywhere. From Peoria to Paris, you can’t avoid them (and I’ve actually been to Peoria IL, so I swear that’s true!).

Food is a bigger preoccupation w the French. I can get anyone talking for hours by moving the conversation to food - always a sure bet when making chit-chat. The French spend 50% more on food than the Americans. Food in the US is incredibly cheap by world standards, and France is particularly expensive. But even people of very modest means spend real $ on food.

As time has progressed the temptations become more manageable. I’ve tasted a lot of things by now, and the fact that I’m now committed to living my life here permanently means that I’ll always have another opportunity to eat a _____(fill in the blank)______. I now have that “taste it now or never” thing when back in the States for a visit, with cheesecake, Mexican, etc.

Fundamentally it comes down to managing the food choices in your environment. No matter where you live, you have temptations. Here maybe it’s mille feuilles and fancy tarts, in your town maybe it’s donuts and muffins. It’s the same challenge. When I finally got serious and lost the big chunk of my weight (from 250+) it was because I just gave up the excuses. I needed to lose weight, period. And I realized it would never be easy, that there would never be a “good” time. I just did it. In baby steps, but constantly improving, lots of slip ups, and real progress over time.

On how I eat. The comment : “I’m one who hates to waste food, so I am in awe of your resolve!” This comment stopped me dead in my tracks, because I have always, always, been someone who cleaned her plate and never wasted food. I was floored that I was considered to be ‘on the other side’ by this person. I’m not, I’m right there with you.

These Food Tests are a way to help me change one of the behaviors that is at the core of my being overweight and a key to successfully managing my weight in the future. At every meal in fact I try to leave at least one bite uneaten. It is really hard and my success rate is not even 40% right now. But it’s higher than it was a few months ago. Eventually I want to be able to stop eating automatically - either because I realize something is not-so-good so I decide to use my calories elsewhere, or I realize I’m no longer hungry. I have a LOOOONNNNGGGG way to go. My first step is just stopping to eat the last bite of one thing on my plate.

On business travel, meetings, and restaurants The comment : “After weeks like this, do you start craving your own fridge and kitchen. Something you make?” YES. Growing up, my stepdad was an airline pilot, and when he was at home he insisted on eating at home. I never understood it until I started traveling for work. Now I do. It’s really hard to get much plain food on the road, and fruits and simple veggies are even harder. You start to crave cereal and plain steamed broccoli, even when not dieting. When dieting it’s even harder.

On the Food Tests The Comment : “This sounds interesting…why pizza?” The idea of the Pizza Test is to put a food I myself considered to be off-limits (on my Taboo foods list) and make me realize it’s just a food like any other. Eating it every day takes away some of the magical properties - nothing is as good 4 days running as it is when you only have it once in a while. And realizing that ‘it’s just dinner’ makes you start to pay attention to how much you WANT to eat, not how much of this super-mega-delicious rare treat is served to you. I used the same approach w the Dessert Test, because I often struggle at business meetings like that when faced w dessert every meal for days on end. I either feel very deprived by not having them, or I just say ‘the hell with it’ and eat eat eat. This is the first time I’ve done this, but I would say it’s a success, and I’ll probably be repeating it, or a variant, in the future.

Time for one of my favorites The Comment : “They have Pizza Hut in Paris???” Sadly, yes they do. And Domino’s. And KFC, and McDonald’s and Starbucks (actually, I’m happy about Starbucks). There are also French or European copies of all of the above. Speed Rabbit pizza, Quick fast food, Columbus Coffee… and more. I had a friend when I first moved here who worked for KFC in marketing who told me “the dirty little secret of the French is they are the number 2 consumers of fast food after the Americans”. In a grocery store you’ll find an entire row of Kellogg’s cereals and cereal bars (bye-bye traditional French breakfast of bread, butter & jam). The other aisles are packed with the same convenience foods as in the US.

The big difference is the fast-food, chain-restaurant, convenience-foods lifestyle of the French exists alongside a robust traditional mindset. We have a local butcher who does a very good business. There is a local market (like a farmers market but they are not farmers) in front of my house 3 days a week, where I can buy fresh fruits, veggies, cheese, bread, cakes, spices etc. There is a “boulangerie” (bakery) just about every block or two in the whole city. People still cook, and when they cook, they do so from scratch, not just from boxes.