Dieting (1)

At the office today, we celebrated a French tradition called "les Rois" (The Kings). The origins of this tradition can be found on line so I won't get into the details of it. But this is essentially about eating the "Galette des Rois" (the King's cake) and drinking champagne. A hidden bean is inside the cake and the person finding it is "elected" King or Queen. The cake made out of white flour, butter, almond flour and white sugar is round and flat with a sweet almond paste in between two thin crusts.
In the past, I would have been totally thrown out to have succombed to a piece of Galette because the current diet I was on was under threat.
Being a compulsive overeater, I was either on a binge or on a diet. If on a binge, I would have eaten as much as I could have. On a diet, I would have tried to eat as little as possible, get depressed about it, feel guilty about not eating the whole piece (what are my co-workers going to think?) AND feel guilty because I was eating a piece. The monologue in my head would have been something like "ok, let's try to figure out how many calories are in a piece of galette des Rois. 500 calories maybe so that gives me only 300 calories left for the day. But if I exercise for an hour, that's 400 burnt cal. Maybe I could exercise for two hours so that makes 800 burnt cal. I could do the regular cardio workout and add the fat burning aerobic class as well." This internal monologue would go on and on while people around the table were having a good time. Plus, chances are that the feeling of guilt about eating one piece of cake and the fact that I was completely starving (and ignoring it totally) because on a diet, I would have gone home and binged all night.
This is not a fantasy. This is exactly what my life was like back then. Hell.
Today, I ate a piece of Galette, not that I really liked it, but because I like this kind of traditional gathering. It is a very sociable moment with collegues, it gives the opportunity to talk about something else than just work, it is a sharing moment.

I chose not to drink champagne because I don't like the way it makes me feel. With only a few drops in my glass though, I raised my glass with everybody around. And I only ate half the slice of cake because this kind of food throws my energy down to the floor.
Whas has changed between "before" and now will you ask? First, I stopped dieting and then I went raw (more about raw foods in future postings).
But what is interesting is, to tell you the truth, I didn't think the Galette today was that good. I mean I know the quality of the product was excellent but it simply doesn't appeal to me anymore. My taste buds did not rejoice. I used to like that. Now, it makes me feel "undernourished". It does contains a lot of calories but they're empty and dead calories. The nourishment though came from being with people, the gathering and the enjoyment of the moment.
And that's what makes such a difference.
With loving thoughts and always with you on the path.