I Got Hysterical

This is only tangentially a food post. It's more a "if I hadn't been so upset it would have been funny" post.

As you know, I travel a lot for work and tonight I'm once again out of town.

Today, I worked in the city and then left town around 3:30 p.m. to go to work at a public hearing on a nuclear energy power plant. The meeting, which I'm working at tomorrow morning, is in a lovely little town that's over 4 hours drive from home when you have to get out of town at rush hour (as I did).

I'm staying and working at a centre that's owned by a union. They hold a lot of training sessions here for their members, but also rent out meeting rooms to outside organizations. The centre is right by the lake and a bit like a cross between a sprawling hotel and a summer camp.

I arrived around 7:30 p.m., very tired and hungry. The reception was closed for supper and I had to wait a bit before someone came to help me. I finally got my room key and was given directions on how to find the building. It was night, the place is full of twisty roads and the map they give guests was totally useless.

Looong story short: I had a meltdown. By this time, the reception was closed. I couldn't find my room, and I was hungrier and hungrier. I went back to the reception desk and buzzed for the maintenance man. By the time he drove over, I was literally in tears and hyperventilating. As I said, it would have been funny if it hadn't been so horrible.The maintenance man was wonderful, although I think I scared him with my tear-soaked face.

It was 9 p.m. before I got something to eat. The restaurant was not fancy, but my 6 oz. steak was perfectly cooked, the salad with balsamic dressing, served on the side, was wonderful and the best news of all is that, aside from the salad, which I polished off, I left a bit of steak, about half my potato and half my roll on the plate. I ate what I wanted, but didn't stuff myself. The only thing I did "wrong" was eat too fast. But man, was I hungry!

Protein

Hm. I seem to be seriously on a nutrition kick. Today, I'd like to talk about my protein "aha" moment.

Last week I was on the road for six days at two different conferences. I actually had a lot of free time on three of those days and ended up doing a lot of surfing in my hotel room (yes, I did my yoga and took one long walk too). Via Friend of the Bear, I ended up at a site called At Darwin's Table, a paleo-diet blogger. Although I don't feel the need to follow any particular diet, there is obviously much to learn from my fellow bloggers so I spent a fascinating hour or so watching a documentary on the Atkins diet that he had linked to.

Although overly dramatic for my taste, the documentary looks at why Atkins works despite the fact that you are allowed to eat as many calories as you want of certain foods (proteins, fats and a limited number of fruits and vegetables). I won't go through the whole documentary in detail and go straight what I found extremely interesting. It appears that eating protein leads to satiety a lot faster than eating carbohydrates. If you are not dealing with an eating disorder and are able to stop eating when you recognize that you are full, you will probably end up consuming fewer calories (the only way to lose weight) if you're eating protein rather than carbs.

My "aha" moment came from the fact that I always crave protein when I'm hungry: cheese, meat, peanut butter, whatever. Veggies and fruits alone just don't cut it and sweets don't interest me at all when my stomach's grumbling. I'm happy to eat veggies, but they've got to be accompanied by protein, otherwise I won't feel satisfied.

I have no intention of cutting carbs out of my diet (diet, as in "what I eat", not a "plan"). But I do find this new piece of knowledge useful. What about you?

Vitamin D

Recently, I touted the wonders of real salad dressing (no additives, no low-fat crap, just the real deal). Probably a number of you were wondering how I could dare suggest you consciously eat something that contained olive oil AND full-fat mayonnaise. The nerve!

Well, today I'm going to talk about something that won't up your calorie intake but that's really important to your health: vitamin D. (Did I just hear a sigh of relief from the weight-loss blogosphere?)

While surfing some of my favourite sites, I came across a New York Times article that's a must-read. The title, "Phys Ed: Can Vitamin D Improve Your Athletic Performance?", unfortunately does not convey the importance of this vitamin for everyone, not just athletes.

First of all, it's important to realize that many of us suffer from a vitamin D deficiency. It's the sunshine vitamin, so those of us living in temperate climates that have four real seasons, are more likely to suffer from a vitamin D deficiency, especially in the winter. But even if you live in Florida, southern California or Australia, you too may be at risk since we tend to stay inside when the sun is blazing down, either due to discomfort or fear of skin cancer (climate change, anyone?).

Vitamin D is essential for bone health. We always think of upping our calcium intake if we've been diagnosed with osteopenia or worse yet, osteoporosis, but Vitamin D is equally important. Unfortunately, it's difficult to get a sufficient amount out of food alone.

I was diagnosed with osteopenia a few years ago and started taking calcium supplements, but only found out a few months ago that I was lacking in Vitamin D. My doctor prescribed 1,000 IU per day but my acupuncturist suggested considerably more. After doing a bit of research on the safety of large doses of Vitamin D, I decided that I could go for 4,000 IU. My most recent blood test indicates that I now am at a normal level. I'm really looking forward to my next bone scan in January. I'm hoping for good news.

Update: Please read this article, that gives much more valuable information on vitamin D. Thank you, Jacqueline!

Honest Scrap Award

Thank you, Hanlie, for bestowing upon me the Honest Scrap Award! Where to start? Ten things about me? Hmm:

1. I'm very concerned about social justice and democracy in the world. If we don't all work together, we're going to lose our planet.

2. For six years, I studied full-time to become an opera singer. I did not have a professional career, but it was worth it anyway.

3. I often think that reincarnation is true. If it is true, I was no doubt French in a past life. I wanted to learn French from a very young age although I knew no one who spoke the language.

4. There are three (four?) degrees of separation between me and the man who wrote the theme music for the James Bond movies. He's my cousin's husband's ex-brother-in-law.

5. I am an only child and swore that I would have more than one child unless physically unable to do so. Fortunately, I had two. I absolutely hate being an only child. I was greatly loved but not spoiled. I actually had a lot of responsibility and had to grow up fast because I had no siblings.

6. I love singing soul and Motown music...even more than singing opera.

7. I still cry at the end of "La Traviata" and "La Bohème" even though I've heard these operas many, many times and obviously know that the heroine is going to die.

8. I absolutely adore reading murder mysteries. I love British authors in particular.

9. I did not take my husband's name when I married. I made this decision on principle and also because in Quebec, where I was married, by law a woman must use her maiden name for all legal purposes.

10. I love travelling to foreign countries. I wish I could retire to the south of France NOW!

It's hard to pick just ten bloggers. Some of the people I'd like to hear about have already been tagged, but here are some more names:

1. Francesca at Small Changes
2. JulieBean
3. Spunky Suzi
4. Sean Anderson (I doubt he has the time!!)
5. Jack Sh*t
6. Lyn at Escape from Obesity
7. Fitcetera
8. Carb Tripper
9-10 etc. Anyone reading this should consider themself tagged. I'd love to learn more about you!

My Salad Dressing

I believe in yummy food. I believe in real food. I do not believe in diet food because in order to remove calories, you have to add chemicals and additives, not to mention lots of sodium in many cases, to make up for removing the tasty ("fattening") bits.

If you count calories (I don't), I urge you to eat real calories from real food. Your body will thank you.

This is my first recipe suggestion and I have chosen it because I love it, it's made up of only real, healthy ingredients, and a little bit can go a long way.

I love salads. All kinds of salads. And I am a snob. I have yet to find a bottled dressing that tastes as good as homemade (mine, my friend Robin's or my cousin's). So here's my recipe. It's old-fashioned in the sense that you have to play around and find the right proportions for yourself. Amounts are very approximate.

Take a small jam jar. Fill it about 1/4 of the way with lemon juice.
Add the following:
1 clove garlic, crushed
a generous dollop of mayonnaise (regular, not low-fat)
about 1/2 a teaspoonful of Dijon mustard (buy good quality)
a little bit of honey (1/2 teaspoonful?--you'll have to go by taste)
a couple of shakes of mixed herbs (try "bouquet garni" or salad dressing herbs)
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Shake it all up well and then fill the rest of the jar with good quality olive oil. Shake well again and take your pinky finger (well washed), stick it in the jar and taste. Adjust seasonings, oil or lemon juice as needed.

Practice making it frequently.

As a variation, try balsamic vinegar instead of lemon juice. Balsamic vinegar is the only ingredient that I don't insist on being top of the line. The really expensive stuff can be upwards of $40 a bottle. No need to go so far!

If you think all this sounds horribly fattening, think of the alternative: a chemical feast.

You don't have to drown your salad in dressing. The dressing is just meant to "dress up" all the wonderful veggies.

Enjoy!

Pictures Can Be Deceiving

She's a bit chunky, don't you think? She could probably stand with losing a few pounds. Better for her health, and all that, right? She's 5'2" tall and weighs 140 pounds. You did the BMI calculation and she's ever so slightly overweight. And let's not forget that the BMI is used by all kinds of organizations (including the ever-powerful insurance companies) to remind us of how dangerous and nasty it is to be overweight.

Sorry to tell you this, friends, but if you were half as healthy and in half as good shape as Canadian air force major Meagan McGrath (pictured here), you'd be doing just fine. So far, she's climbed Mt. Everest (2007), completed the Marathon des Sables, a 245-kilometre race in the Sahara Desert (2008), and oh yeah, she saved the life of one of the Nepalese climbers accompanying her down from the summit of Everest. This coming November, she'll be pulling a 285-pound sled loaded with supplies over 1,130 kilometres, trekking from the coast of Antarica to the South Pole.

There were a few other photographs of McGrath in the Toronto Star article on her this past Sunday (paper version). None of them were particularly flattering to the eyes of people who are used to judging a woman's beauty by how thin she is. I admit, to my great chagrin, that just looking at the pictures before reading the article, all I could see was a slightly pudgy woman who apparently liked sports. I cannot tell you how embarrassed I feel over how superficial my first reaction was.

In our quest to lose weight, we often forget two things:
- Thin does not equal healthy. "Thin" just looks right to us because that's the only visual message we get in the media.
- There are all kinds of body types, and all these kinds of body types can be healthy or unhealthy.

I have really searched my soul, and though I can give you all the stock reasons why I want to lose weight (all related to health and well-being, of course), I know that in my heart of hearts, I've always wanted to just look really good. If there wasn't that "carrot" of people saying how fabulous I look, I honestly wouldn't be quite as motivated. There, I've said it. And though I'm not singling out one single person in the whole world, I think that if we're being 1,000% honest with ourselves, looking great and wearing tight pants instead of mumus is the top reason why we want to lose weight. Not the only reason, but one of the top ones.

How many people would chose healthy, strong Meagan McGrath over Kate Moss? When was the last time you saw a McGrath-clone strutting down the catwalk? It's a sad commentary on our world.

Just Wondering...

We all know the statistics and they aren't pretty: the vast majority of people who lose weight will gain it back and more. I found this post, where the writer states that the statistics are "bleak" in that 83% of those who lose weight will gain it back within two years. From everything I've heard, that's a pretty optimistic figure. Many people don't give successful losers more than a 2% chance of keeping the weight off permanently (which I think is only defined as five or so years later).

The photo here is of The Biggest Loser's Season 1 winner, Ryan Benson, AFTER his win. He has regained almost all the weight lost.

OK, now that I've depressed you beyond belief or gotten your dander up (not me! I WILL succeed you lousy, negative nay-sayer), here's what I'm wondering about:

Do you feel that the Internet has a positive effect on your weight loss efforts?

And more importantly, do you think the Internet will (or is already) helping you to maintain your new, lighter weight?

Personally, my jury is still out. I've only been on this voyage for 9 months. It's too early to say, though I've really enjoyed making new friends and learning from the experience of others. Taking stock--not every day or even every week, but after a significant length of time--is going to be an important exercise for me. I think the one-year mark is going to be interesting and hopefully heartening. It's the long-term that counts. I don't think that I'm being self-defeating to hope for a long-term, modest weight loss. There are too many of us out there who have accomplished a stunning weight loss several times, only to gain it back. None of us want that.

So, will our little group of merry weight-loss travellers (notice I don't say "warriors" though it is tempting) make it where so many others have failed? And will we feel that it's the support we find on the Internet that has made the difference?

I think my question would make a great PhD thesis. Anyone want to take it on?