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04 October 2011

Le Bilan and a Giveaway

Well. It’s been a long time since I posted here. I know. I’ve been pretty much staying away from food stuff lately—as my goal weight approaches. And now I can proudly say that I’M THERE! And now it’s time to ‘faire le bilan’.
In French, the word ‘bilan’ means ‘the bottom line’. Heh, when talking about a diet, is there a better description? Since I started my diet with a ‘rechnung’, it seems appropriate to end it with a ‘bilan’. For me, there have been some interesting results. 
Some are about the obvious—weight lost, fitness gained, etc—but others have been about the reactions of others and my own re-training of my eating habits. So here we go. After 12 weeks of dieting, here are my results: 
Lost: 
    • 16 kilos / 35 pounds
    • Three clothing sizes
    • My whole wardrobe
    • A taste for sweets 
    • Heartburn every day as well as a nagging cough that probably came from acid reflux
    • Dan says that I have lost my snore, but since I never believed that I snored I’m not sure that counts.
Found: 
    • My figure. A little bit different from the last time I saw it, but mine nonetheless.
    • A new fitness level--I walk at least 3 kilometers / 1.8 miles every day and I do lots of exercise when I first get up.
    • A new way of eating: light breakfast, full lunch, light dinner. 
    • A thorough knowledge of the countryside around my house from my daily walks.
    • A new relationship with food, and a re-finding of my love of local seasonal vegetables.
Surprising results--it’s been interesting to see the reactions of other people, especially those who haven’t seen me since I started the diet. They generally fall into several categories (I’ll let you guess which group I like best): 
    • Those who don’t notice.
    • Those who ask if I’ve cut my hair or have new glasses.
    • Those who appear not to notice, but later sidle up to me and say, “You’ve lost a lot of weight. Did you mean to?”
    • Those who tell me that diets are unhealthy and don’t work. 
    • Those who say, “WHOOEE! Look at YOU!”. 
Was it worth it? Absolutely. It’s true that losing a lot of weight is not easy for our bodies, but it’s also true that carrying around 16 extra kilos is even harder. I haven’t yet made the medical ‘bilan’, but that should come in the next couple of weeks. I’m expecting that my blood pressure and cholesterol will be back in the normal range. 
Meanwhile, I’ve made a list of clothes that I want in my new wardrobe and I’m slowly finding them. Little by little I’m building a wardrobe based on what I like and what looks good on me. That’s fun! 
And now, to reward you for reading through all this, I have a small contest. The winner will receive two tablets of Belgian chocolate from our favorite chocolatier.  

Here’s the deal: Dan and I are traveling, and near the place we’re visiting there is a restaurant I’ve wanted to visit for at least 35 years--since I first heard of it. In fact, if I knew that I could only have one more meal and I could choose any restaurant in the world, I think this would be the one I’d choose. We’ve never been able to get reservations. 
However, in honor of our trip here, a friend of Dan’s managed to perform a miracle and got us reservations!! (that noise you hear is me doing the happy dance--still!). We ate there on Saturday and I can tell you that it lived up to all my expectations. Can you guess which restaurant it is? If so, leave a comment below. One week from today I’ll draw the winner from all the correct answers and post photos of our lunch. 
But wait! That might be a little too hard--it’s a big world, after all, and we travel a LOT. So I’ll leave you with a hint: 


Good luck!

12 comments:

Carol at Serendipity said...

Chez Panisse. Alice Waters was my best friend in elementary school.
Carol

Mardi Michels said...

I was going to say Chez Panisse but perhaps The French Laundry?

You look AMAZING by the way. Go you. You're an inspiration!

Linda said...

It has to be Chez Panisse....the 40th anniversary of course this year!
You look amazing! 15 years younger and gorgeous!
You go girl! You are going to the hometown of my heart. My babies were born there we lived there for 15 years. I miss it every day!

Have a wonderful trip!
Enjoy that dinner!

Linda said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

Congratulations Kate. You look fabulous! (and I never use exclamation marks.) Way to go.

I'm not certain about the restaurant. I'm thinking Thomas Keller's The French Laundry, but the bridge makes me guess Alice Water's Chez Panisse. Either one would be a fabulous experience.
Sam

Susan Lindquist said...

Oh la la! You look beautiful, Kate! Good for you and all your hard work and exercise! Lifestyle shift! hurrah!

By the way ... I say Chez Panisse, too! Enjoy your trip and hold that bottom line!

La Table De Nana said...

Enjoy every moment..You look so happy..
That's what matters.

Bravo..

Raymond Delhaye said...

Congratulations Kate !
Bravo !

Unknown said...

Two places that I reserve for my foodie fantasy not reality are French Laundry and Chez Panisse. I'm thinking since you said NEAR the place, that Berkeley is nearer to the Golden Gate than Napa... so will you be dining in the upstairs cafe or full on restaurant downstairs? :) miam, miam!

AllThingsYummy said...

Wow, congrats on your weight loss. You look great.

Pam said...

You look fabulous! Really fabulous! You are an amazing woman. We all know how hard it is to lose weight. Following a diet requires courage, and woman you got it!!!
Congrats!
I'm going for my favorite restaurant in SFO and that would have to be Chez Panisse! I can't eat there enough. Upstairs of course. Downstairs is bliss also.
Hugs!

Jane said...

Wish I could be more original, but my first thought was Chez Panisse as well! I think you look beautiful in your new figure and your joy is really evident. Congrats on achieving your goal!