Before torturing you with a ton of ranting about what happened next, I figured I would lure you in with some interesting pictures of what the family and I have gotten into since I have been home:
Madison in particular could be a future BMX champion. The nice thing about riding bike at the Biltmore is that the trail ends at the WINERY!
Of course the kids are more excited about the farm yard. Madison LOVES her goat pals.
This is our Halloween getup. It was pretty cold. I dont know what I am supposed to be....except WARM!
This is a poor stray beagle that wandered into our yard a couple of weekends ago. He spent a few hours hanging out with the girls. They asked me "hypothetically.....if we DIDN'T already have a dog, and a dog without a collar came into our yard.....could we KEEP HIM????" I had to keep an eye on Sunshine for a few days after that.....they looked a little like they were contemplating turning the hypothetical into reality.
BACK TO WHAT HAPPENED IN FRANCE......
I ate out for dinner every night, and I almost never turned down the chance to indulge in a glass of wine and a tasty desert! To give you an example, one of my FAVORITE meals was a dish called Truffade. This is a dish composed of cheese and potatoes browned in a skillet and served with raw ham and salad. I had this meal AT LEAST once a week. I also enjoyed eating regularly at a moroccan restaurant that served VERY AWSOME couscous with myriad of meats and vegetables including a really tasty leg of lamb. I ate all kinds of meats that aren't typically served in the States. I enjoyed rabbit, duck, and lamb especially. One of my travel companions and I also decided to perform a "tour of tiramisu" to find the BEST tiramisu in our travels. I understand that tiramisu is NOT a french desert...but the French certainly know how to make it. For this challenge, any time tiramisu was on the desert menu of a restaurant, it was OBLIGATORY to order it. We ate quite a bit of this desert. I think perhaps my companion would beg to differ (he preferred the STRONG liquor taste of the one served at Hotel Lyon), but I must say that Kentucky Fried Chicken had the BEST tiramisu I ate during the month. Needless to say, KFC in France is VERY different than what you see in the US :) During the month, I ate many different types of foods including moroccan, indian, vietnamese, french, german, italian, and middle-eastern. I went to wine and cheese tastings, and I participated in many social events where TONS of food was served. It is a wonder I didn't explode. But now I'm going to give you the rest of the story.......
I wore a pedometer every day, and there wasn't a day that I didn't walk at LEAST 10,000 steps. I walked to and from work every day, I walked to restaurants, I walked on the weekends, I walked at all hours of the day and night. During those Saturday outings where we drove for hours to visit exciting places, we also walked and walked and WALKED. During our Saturday trip to Lyon, I accumulated over 23,000 steps! The Sunday hike on the first weekend also resulted in a day of over 20,000 steps. There were at least 4 other days where I exceeded 20,000 steps. Several of my companions started a before-work running club. I gave in at least once and participated. Also, since there were very few restaurants near the hotel, we frequently hauled it the 7,000 steps (one way) up to Place de Jaude to eat dinner. Needless to say, a lot of physical activity was had during the month.
In addition, we observed that food in France is much more natural. There are few processed foods. Meals are always served with salad. Food is prepared with natural ingredients and cooked in more healthy ways. Meals also take much longer to consume! It is mandatory that you will spend at least two hours at any restaurant you decide to eat at. Meals are served in courses......and there is considerabe time between courses. As a result, you consume your food much more slowly and engage in more conversation.
Perhaps as a result of all the walking, we all consumed MUCH MUCH more water than we normally would at home. Our hotel provided one complementary bottle of water in our mini fridge each day of our stay. I consumed each and every one that was left for me!
Now we also had some other theories about why French people are thinner than Americans. These theories included ideas like the following:
1. Perhaps there is some kind of chemical present in the local cheeses that prevents the body from turning calories into fat.
2. Perhaps the wine somehow causes you to burn more calories
3. Perhaps everyone has intestinal parasites!
Over the course of the month it didn't really occur to me that my change in lifestyle was affecting my physical self. I was aware that I didn't seem to be packing on the pounds despite my over-indulgence. I just chocked it up to the fact that I was going going going so much that my pants weren't getting any tighter. It didn't occur to me that I could be LOSING weight until the last week.
One morning, I realized I was running out of clothes. I pulled out a grey button-up shirt that I would normally only wear under a suit top (it has been inappropriately tight for several years). I didn't feel like wearing the suit top, but when I put the shirt on I realized I didn't need to. It was LOOSE! My arms were no longer tight in the sleeves and the buttons in the front were no longer in danger of popping off! On the last day, I put on my size 10 jeans (my comfy jeans) to wear on the plane. I opted not to wear the belt, because I didn't want to hassle with it in security. I regretted that decision for the next 18 hours......and I came DANGEROUSLY close to having my pants fall down on several occasions as I tried to maneuver my luggage through the airport with both hands! By the time I stepped off the plane on American soil, I began to wonder just how much weight I had lost. To test this theory.....I ran straight for my closet when I got home...and I immediately put on my "skinny jeans". These are the pants I LOVE but I couldn't bring on the trip with me because there was NO WAY I could even get them buttoned. I slipped them on....buttoned them straight up.....and realized....THEY WERE LOOSE!
So after this lengthy post, I will show you a picture or two. I'm sure a lot of you will be saying...sure sure....you look like you. But there are two things I will point out. The first picture is one of me and the girls on a bike-riding trip at the Biltmore Estate a couple of weeks ago. I am wearing LONG JOHNS under my jeans because it is cold. Despite this....you can see my hips (if you look really hard) :)
The next picture is one McKinley took of me today at the same spot in my new XS smoking ridiculously-expensive-but-I-look-good-in-them Yoga pants! I am proud to say that I am now at the same weight I was when I got pregnant with my FIRST child! Woo hoo! Now, honestly I do have a good 30 lbs to go before I would reach my college weight. I'm not sure where those 30 lbs would come from, but I am not game to shoot for that (I might look like a wrinkly old stick if I went that far). But I have been back for almost a month and have continued to exercise, eat well, and find ways to keep my stress level down and the weight seems agreeable to staying off. I feel great and I look OK. Shannon noticed IMMEDIATELY that I had lost weight (because he said my boobs were the first thing to hit him when he hugged me and apparently that is not typical). Even people at work can tell.
The best part of this whole thing is that I did it without even trying. I didn't make any conscious effort to get in shape or lose any weight. It just sort of happened. The great part is I got past the hard part without even knowing it. I came home in good shape and it was easy to continue....I've been cooking healthy and continuing to exercise! With any luck (if I can keep it up), I might actually be able to feel comfortable in a bathing suit next summer! Wish me luck!
