It’s over now. (Until the next moon). I restrained from eating for 24 l-o-n-g hours. If anyone wonders: No, I haven’t killed anyone – but it was close!
Towards the last couple hours, when a friend visited, his hair color, which some would describe as a strawberry-blond, inspired me some “Monaco” Biscuits (a kind of Emmental cheese biscuits served with the aperitif in France). Yes, that was the last straw that broke my back! I ran to the bathroom. I desperately needed to take a bath to relax in order to endure the last hour of my ordeal.
The smell of butter melting in a pan waiting for an exquisite steak to grill, woke my senses already on the verge of insanity. I hurried out of my bath, dried my hair, blew the candles. And there it was. Awaiting me, was the perfect balanced meal: a rare beef steak with French beans and lemon rice; and for desert, a homemade compote of stewed apples. Voilà! I was already happy. My strength took a little while to come back to me – I’m actually still working on it.
Frankly, I’m not surprised. I’d been mistreating my body really bad for a few months now. Having suffered the loss of what I consider a third parent in the Fall, I ate really badly while mourning. I combined ice cream at night along with popcorn and peanut butter biscuits, and lots of sharp cheddar cheese mixed with eggs. My stay in the USA this year, definitely was not my favorite. Because even though I was still eating balanced meals during the day and exercised quite a bit – swimming and walking in nature every two days in addition to some push ups at home. I was paying the price for my excesses at night.
YOU SHALL NEVER EAT TO EXCESS AT NIGHT
When he eats at night, a dear English friend of mine says that he is having “lunch”. He admits that the healthiest and traditional order is for lunch to be the most generous meal of the day after breakfast. But as he reverses his practice, he calls his dinner “lunch” and his midday meal “dinner”!
Tradition has a purpose. You will put on weight if you eat a lot at night. Instead of burning your fats to keep you warm and repair your cells, you slow your body down because of a too heavy work of digestion. This prevents you from focusing on your primary goal: the regeneration of your cells. Part of the regenerating process occurs when you sleep at night. That is what keeps you from aging too fast. You do not want to prevent that, right? 😉
Now that I have set my body back to zero through fasting, I’ve made a promise to my self. I shall not indulge in any more excesses, especially if it’s governed by another need. I have realized that my need for food was not due to hunger. At night, my cravings were a manifestation of another need – I needed to fill the void and relax from the stress I was going through. I recently learned that chewing is a natural tranquilizer! No wonder I desperately found myself going to the kitchen in want of something, having no idea what I wanted to eat. From the moment I understood that, it became easier for me to restrain. I knew it was something else dictating what I thought was the target of my food urges.
After fasting, my reflex was to jump on food. But I knew better! I served myself a reasonable amount of food (the amount I used to eat when in a normal state of mind) and stopped eating when my plate was empty. Not mentioning that I drink much more water since yesterday! My principal has always been to eat what I wanted and always to include something healthy in each of my meals. So, when I eat fries for example, I always add French beans or some kind of vegetable to join in my plate.
Add colors to your menu, you’ll eat less and will have more fun!
Bon appetite!
© Text by Nancy for OUAStylist