So, before heading to Oregon — and just a few days after my return from Italy, I was sitting in my NYC apartment – okay still sulking a little bit about American versus Italian food. A sulk I should reconsider. First, I’m in the States, so get over it, dammit! But also – I realize, no have to admit – I also ate what I damn well pleased while there. Giving lie to my statements that
I never gain weight when I go to Italy!
Except, when I got on the scale upon my return and found out that a week of Janet Eats – Italian style – netted an extra five pounds in avoirdupois. Oh boy. Not bummed, mind you. It is temporary. And, oh so fun.
I found a quick option to my quest to eat like a Roman – but also keep fit, like most Italians. I have always said – and this truism is, well, true.
You will not gain weight in Italy, if you eat their food in the WAY they eat their food. You don’t, for the most part, see them walking around eating food, eating lots of desserts, eating in between meals. Their fornos are a selected treat. Not, as I did when I lived there for three months, a place to visit every day. I have been happy to be vacationing a lot lately. But, it does make it more challenging to eat healthfully.
- Challenge: Away from home.
- Challenge: The food that is available is different, sometimes COMPLETELY different from your everyday choices. And
- Challenge: Who WANTS to eat with limits and care. It’s vacation!
So, now I face the wonderful opportunity to renew my commitment to healthful eating. Good choices. Veggies when I want them. Steamed with a little olive oil. Not at all something you even want to eat while on vacation.
You know, you gotta live. In a way that allows for some indulgences. If you are challenged, as I am, to eat healthfully on a regular basis (and, even at that, my friends tell me I’m pretty damn good at that) – you need to not judge yourself. Pick on yourself. Feel badly about yourself. Enjoy the food that you eat when you eat it. If that means a temporary weight gain, then just “man up” and eat the way you know is both best – AND enjoyable – for you.
And, I think I’ll try that recipe I read about from another Word Press Blogger, Iowa Girl Eats:
Baked Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal
There is a funny thing we weight losers do. If we should find ourselves gaining weight (and who hasn’t) we find ourselves saying “I have gained a few pounds.” Or, we will detach the weight loss from ourselves by saying “the weight won’t come off.” As if it is a separate entity.
Janet Eats 