— There are some people who can eat cake as a snack simply to content their sweet tooth or because they need comfort and they don’t put on weight.
— It’s too unfair I get one extra bra size simply by looking at the cream puff.
— Eh. Why, in your opinion, some don’t put on weight even if they snack and some do?
— Hum… Because bitch mother nature?
— There we go, you are victim of a genetic conspiracy, maybe you even are Martian, aren’t you?
— You can laugh, it’s all fun and games. All I know is that all I eat makes me put on weight. When my friend Béa, for example, she has always been able to eat her own weight in chocolate and nothing moves. So if that’s not a proof, I’m willing to eat my bag.
This cordial and relaxed exchange happened during my last appointment, last Thursday, with mister Zermati. Who finally gave me the explanation for this scandal of which some of us are victims.
Why some can eat plenty pastries without any collateral damages and some others put on weight with a fat free yogurt?
Well simply because, those persons who don’t put on weight despite a good snack are regulated. Mister Z. means that those blessed people are actually capable of skipping a meal with no problem, simply because they are not hungry, because they had an apple tart 3 hours earlier. The others, the ones who systematically swell, are the ones who will have the apple tart but won’t, under no circumstances, boycott the next lunch or dinner. You never know, in case war starts the next day, right.
Result being a huge difference on the scale.
Why this discussion? Because I was explaining to doctor Z that, lately, with these painful times and the somehow tense atmosphere at home afterwards, I have a few sweet-chocolate cravings. But, I mentioned proudly, I just baked madeleines and ate only a few.
I was expected to be congratulated, I was disappointed.
– Control is not what we are after. You won’t keep up in the long run. Why do we eat, according to you? Because of our physiological needs, of course. But also for the pleasure it gives us. Because chemically, sometimes, it helps restore balance in the brain. Then yes, you can, from time to time, tell yourself: “life is crap, luckily there are chocolate éclairs”.
Thus my remark on the fact that I pay too expensive a price for deviations to allow myself some. And thus the dialogue I have reported above.
“When you really want a cake outside of meal hours, you must first stop for two minutes on the reason of this craving. If there is a different solution from food comfort, you might as well consider it. Then, if you really feel it’s a need, you can indulge. Being fully aware of what you’re doing. Choosing the right cake, because it might as well be perfect. Then you sit down, you look at it, and you s.a.v.o.r it. In general, the mere fact of concentrating on this moment of pleasure, to assess it, enable to be full sooner. Mainly, being aware of what you are doing means it is under control and not an urge”, he added afterwards.
Isn’t it great, knowing you can succumb without worrying yourself sick afterwards?
I was telling him, on the other hand, satiety remains my biggest problem now that hunger and I are hand in hand. So he gave me another exercise.
And believe me, that one rocks.
For four days, I must start my lunch with…
Maximum 100g of chocolate, milk or dark.
A slab, basically. Knowing that if I’m not hungry anymore after half the slab, I leave the rest. And I must wait for half an hour before eating something else. If I’m hungry, obviously. Why a snack one hour later? Because if I know I can’t have anything else before dinner, I will tend to finish the slab by fear of being hungry. While if I know I can eat in the afternoon, it will change the way I’ll enjoy the chocolate.
The goal of the exercise, apparently, is to notice that you can get rid of a chocolate craving rather quickly. And eating some everyday is probably the best way to stop the longing. According to doctor Z, the exercise ends in weight loss systematically. He even asked me to weight myself for the first time before and after the four days to check.
“If there’s no weight loss, or even gain, it will mean you have a hang-up. And it will be important information too “.
That’s it, basically, for that session, well, other things were told and heard but I keep them for myself.
Come on, have a great Monday, I’m off to buy some Milka.
