Avoiding overeating

I had the house to myself last night. My husband went out to a fund-raising quiz night with a group of his friends and the evening was all about me, me, me. In the past I have looked forward to such an evening as a ‘treat night’ where I would think about what I wanted to make myself for dinner and also plan what crap I was going to eat as well.

I would cruise the aisles of the supermarket shopping in preparation for the evening. There would be hard jubes, popcorn, chocolate and ice-cream (any or all of). So foul I know, and I would feel disgusting afterwards. Just how is this a treat Fifi? Yesterday afternoon as I was thinking of going out food shopping, I thought about the French Chic life.

I pictured myself reading the posts I have printed out off the French Chic yahoo group and being chic and slender ideal-French-girl Sabine rather than a piglet on a sofa with junque food. Just imagining myself reading my inspiring French Chic ‘book’ was all it took to change my mindset from ‘treat night’ to ‘French Chic night’.

All I bought at the supermarket was a piece of salmon and some milk.

I made myself the Jo Dinner as I call it. My mum Jo eats salmon and stir-fried vegetables five nights a week, she would probably have it seven if she didn’t spend two nights staying overnight at her job in a private girls school. People often compliment her on her complexion. I think it’s all that salmon like Mr Perricone says, along with a consistent skincare regime of course.

My stir-fry vegetables last night were carrot, broccoli, cauliflower, onion, garlic, capsicum, celery, mushrooms and green beans, in lemon infused olive oil since I was having fish. I’ve run into trouble before when making stir-fry for the two of us when all the different vegetables add up and I end up with a wok overflowing with goodness. It’s not really the best start to the meal when your husband says ‘this is getting ridiculous’ in a good-humoured way (and he’s a big eater).

Is it possible to binge on vegetables I wonder? After a stir-fry I always have a ready-made lunch for the next day. Last night was no exception, I still made twice what I needed even though I only used ½ a carrot, a few florets of broccoli, three or four beans, three mushrooms etc. Those veges really play up in a wok and expand.

In the background while I was cooking played the latest Buddha Bar XII cd – it is so me – the inner leaflet has French imagery including the Eiffel Tower, and CD 1 in the set is called La Vie En Rose. I almost swooned when I realised all this. It’s not dissimilar to the other Buddha Bar cds but I like that. It’s new, but familiar.

Before dinner I had a glass of chardonnay with cheese and crackers. I already had some Laughing Cow cheese which I had read so much about on the French Chic yahoo group. It is very delicious spread on crackers but I noticed it was made in Poland. That’s a bit worrying, a French-brand cheese made in a nearby low-income country. It makes me think of problems with food made in China.

I could be totally wrong, it could be made in Poland because they have such high-quality milk from happy (laughing) cows. But normally these decisions come down to money. As nice as the Laughing Cow cheese tasted, the fact of where it’s made, and also that it’s processed, I don’t think I’ll be buying it again.

Later on I watched an episode of The Starter Wife. One of the characters attends AA and she reminded a character leaving rehab about ‘one day at a time’. I thought to myself that would be a good credo for anything you wanted to achieve in life, whether it is overspending, overeating, living the French Chic life.

It’s hard to imagine you doing (or not doing) something for the rest of your life and that scares you into going back to how you were before. If I say I can never have a mini-pigout again, I would likely fixate on that. By saying ‘just get through this day’ eating healthfully and in reasonable proportions, well, this is much more achievable.