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LOVING FOOD, LOSING WEIGHT
A food writer drops forty pounds not by dieting
but by learning to follow her appetite and diversify her
exercise.
BY PATRICIA WELLS
There I was, fifty-three years old and, like many
American women, facing the fact that my weight was
creeping up with every passing year. An avid runner
from the age of twenty-three and a food writer since
turning thirty-one, I had always hoped, even assumed,
that my passion for running would offset any damage
done at the dinner table, but that plainly was not
the reality.
I fretted about my weight a lot - the scale read 180
pounds by the end of 1999 - and although I was running
longer distances, and more often, I was getting nowhere.
I began to believe that my size 16 frame was inevitable,
given my age and my work as a cookbook author, cooking
teacher and restaurant critic for The International
Herald Tribune, where I have worked since moving to
Paris in 1980.
Then I was talked into celebrating a friend's birthday
at the Golden Door, a spa near San Diego. I went along
in January 2000 to be a good sport, but I certainly
did not anticipate any life-changing epiphany.
How wrong I was. It turned out that while I had plenty
of motivation, I did not have the information I needed
to lose the weight and keep it off, or to get fit and
stay fit. The Door did.
By putting in hours of hard work and heeding the advice
of trainer Mike Bee and other specialists at the Door,
I lost six and a half pounds that first week. I returned
to Paris and, with even greater motivation and discipline
- combined with lots of jogging - lost a total of thirty-six
pounds in seven months. Since that first visit, I have
returned to the Door twice a year. Each time, my weight
inches downward, my strength builds, and I leave with
a specific, attainable new goal. I am now forty pounds
lighter than I was before my initial orientation at
the spa.
None of this would have happened without small but
dramatic changes leading me toward an approach known
as attuned eating. After my first stay at the Door,
I examined my eating patterns and determined that it
was not the three-star-restaurant meals that were making
me fat, but many seemingly innocent day-to-day indulgences:
a single nibble of cheese that turned into three or
four nibbles at about five in the afternoon; that extra
glass of wine at the end of the day; a second helping
of anything. I needed a permanent lifestyle change,
in diet as well as in exercise. And I needed a program
that I could follow for the rest of my life.
 Attuned eating is not about skipping meals, using
diet aids, counting calories obsessively or depriving
yourself. To practice it means to learn, or relearn,
the "art" of being in touch with your body's
appetite signals instead of relying on external cues.
It means eating only when you're hungry, and then mindfully,
without letting stress, emotional issues, social pressures
or insane schedules drive you to eat more. Food is
not meant to be a punishment, reward or crutch, but
simply fuel; and eating, a pleasurable ritual. I have
integrated the following attuned eating concepts into
my daily life.
Changing Your Ways: The first time I visited the Door,
the nutritionist taught me the importance of creating
new habits. I discovered that if I didn't give in to
the afternoon nibble of cheese for twenty-five to thirty-five
consecutive days, on the thirty-sixth day I didn't
even consider that old ritual an option. Believe me,
it works.
Focusing on the Fullness Sensor: As I began to analyze
my eating habits, I realized that for most of my life
I ate until I was full (instead of satisfied). That
seemed normal. During the past three years, I've rarely
eaten until I became full, and when I have, I've felt
uncomfortable.
Setting Small but Attainable Goals: Before spending
time at the Door, I had been goal-oriented but hadn't
realized how important it was to break down a huge
objective into little parts - for example, losing five
pounds in a month or getting into a favorite pair of
slacks. Set your sights too high and you're likely
to fail.
Sticking to It: Attuned eating calls for mindfulness
every day. That does not mean depriving yourself of
foods you love, but it does involve finding the discipline
to be attentive to your body's signals on a daily basis.
Maintaining the Pleasure Factor: I have always had
a good relationship with food and considered eating
a joy. I've never connected guilt with eating, and
I know that if I have a truly special feast one day,
I'll have to lie low the next. Since moving to Paris,
I have adopted the French commitment to moderation.
While Americans eat every meal as though it were their
last, the French know that the slice of foie gras or
extra piece of chocolate cake will be there tomorrow.
These days, I enjoy food more than ever. Because
I make sure that every bite I take counts -especially
in terms of pleasure - I find that I can easily reject
foods that I know won't really satisfy me. (In fact,
I get downright cranky when faced with a tasteless
meal or a disappointing glass of wine.) I approach
each meal with a sense of anticipation and a good
bit of hunger, so my palate is clearer and food seems
more flavorful. As a food writer, I can stretch the
enjoyment beyond the table: writing about what I
have eaten allows me to relive the delight, as does
describing a meal to a friend.
As for exercise, I realized that I had to do more
than run. I needed variety. (I learned the hard way.
I trained for a marathon I never ran because of constant
injuries.) Today I have a toy chest full of options
for workouts. Depending on my mood and schedule, I
run outdoors or on a treadmill; ride my mountain bike;
use an elliptical trainer, free weights or a cable
machine; and walk everywhere I can. And it is the dailies
of the exercise that is important. Day in and day out
for the rest of my life.
I have retooled favorite recipes to make them lighter
and integrated special fitness weeks into the roster
of cooking classes I teach at my farmhouse in Provence.
During these two-week sessions, in addition to the
regular daily activities - hands-on cooking classes,
visits to markets, vineyards and local restaurants
- we hike and do pool workouts.
I would be a liar if I sugarcoated the past three
years. There were many moments when I was convinced
that no amount of attuned eating or working out would
budge the scale. There were those miserable weeks of
injury during which I could not work out at all. There
were lengthy book tours and eating trips or travel
days when food options ranged from over-the-top to
awful. But the good days have outweighed the bad. And
the bonuses never stop. There's the great feeling I
have all day after a good workout, increased flexibility,
constant compliments on how I look and an understanding
that I'm doing all I can to live a good, long, healthy
life.
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