Quit Your Job

At the beginning of May the New York Times came out with a piece about the former Biggest Loser contestants and the research indicating that losing weight at that rate screwed up their metabolic rate basically guaranteeing they were going to gain it back. And gain back they did. Most people do. It’s why the weight loss industry makes so much money. We gain it back and usually gain a little more each time.

When I was on Weight Watchers and was a receptionist and leader I had lost 92 pounds. When you weighed as much as I did the weight comes of fairly quickly in the beginning even when still eating quite a few calories. The quick weight loss is what keeps you motivated and what keeps you willing to eat less and less so it continues on. But the less and less you eat the more and more your body thinks it’s normal to only eat 1000 calories a day. 800 calories a day. In our messed up society we congratulate ourselves for being strong and only eating 500 calories that day…go us, what willpower. Yet, as studies are showing that is doing more harm than good.

When I knew the divorce from my ex was coming, the stress eater in me started to come out. I fought it hard. Which for the record stress eating cucumber sucks. Big time. I couldn’t let myself eat how I wanted to because I was a WW leader. People looked to me to be slim and trim and something they were aspiring to be. They didn’t want to hear about me hoarding chocolate and inhaling it when no one was looking. But sadly, even with keeping the calories in check, the weight started to come back. Even though I was not eating more than 600 calories a day. Why? Because my body thought anything over 500 calories was extra. I had screwed up my metabolism…all so that I could fit into a size 4/6 and people could tell me how good I looked. Great. Yet, no matter how small I got and no matter how many people told me, I never really believed them.

After the divorce I quit WW. I did low carb. I did WW again. I did South Beach. I did WW again. I did almost anything that came along. And I gained half my weight back. But then I stopped gaining the weight. Because I stopped dieting. I had, well, had it. Sarah Jenks had me put my scale away so maybe I gained some more weight, maybe I lost some, I don’t really know from a scale point of view as I went three years without stepping on one.

I quit my job of losing weight. Do not lie to yourself, it’s a job. You don’t wake up and think I can’t wait to count the calories or points of everything I put in my mouth today. I can’t wait to eat 12 cucumber slices instead of 3 pieces of bacon. It’s a job and it’s exhausting. You waste so much time doing it too. I bet if you sat and tallied up how many hours you have spent dieting you would cry. I bet if you tallied up how much you spent you would cry even more.

I quit my job of exercising as well. Gone were spending hours and hours of doing exercise I hated just because it burned the most calories. Spinning. Hated it. Boot Camp. Hated it. Hours upon hours on the elliptical and stair climber? Hated it. I like Pilates, I liked hockey, I liked going for walks, I liked Zumba. I kept the things I liked and lost the rest.

For years I have been promoting Sarah Jenks and her Live More, Weigh Less. Some have joined and loved it. Some have joined and didn’t follow through. Some joined and it wasn’t for them. For me I don’t think I would have the relationship with my body and food if it were not for her. So any amount spent was worth it to me. But you don’t have to spend a thing to join her Live More Challenge. It starts Monday and I’ll be doing it and hope that you will too. I would love for everyone to be at a place that most days at least they are a peace with who they are and the body they have.

Enough of that, let’s talk tartlets. You will need to have made the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles from Tuesday in order to make these. Which if you haven’t read that post you might want to…I reveal the new blog name. Other than tempering the egg these are quite easy to put together. If you end up overcooking the egg and water a little…no worries…that is what the strainer is for. 🙂

You can make your own crust but these little mini pies/tarts were too cute. This recipe will also make just one large pie/tart if you would prefer that. You can use made from scratch cookies or just Chips Ahoy like I did…whatever floats your boat. You can also use as little or as many cookie dough truffles as you want, no judgment here. 😛