Cold Rainy Weekend Spells . . . .

Carb Coma

Sorry to quote from my favorite movie AGAIN but if the shoe fits . . . .

In "The Devil Wears Prada", Emily is laying in a hospital bed after being accidentally hit by a taxi. Her co-worker, Andy, has just told her that she has been passed up for the much coveted trip to Paris for Fashion Week with Miranda. Lying there bruised and battered Emily laments to Andy, crying how unfair it is that Andy is going to Paris instead of her " . . . the cloths that you are going to get I mean you don't deserve them you eat carbs for Christ's sake. . . "

I had a great physician in Manhattan; Dr. Pat. She was my OB/GYN for many years and we went through some tough times together. She was always on my case about my weight. This woman was totally "IN" the New York Scene. She was a real "Park Avenue" Physician. Her children went to Dalton. She appeared very often in the society pages for gala fundraising events. She was always dressed impeccably; even after an all nighter with a patient in labor. She had celebrity patients. She was very THIN. Once her assistant told me that Dr. Pat was 5 pounds overweight so she went on Optifast (that was the liquid diet of the 80s).

I remember one of my favorite lines that she said to me during my annual visit. I was sitting in the examining room in one of those adorable robes (and I swear that she ordered size small because the damn things NEVER fit me). She walks in, takes one look at me and says "I see we have been doing a lot of chewing." Really, she made Miranda Priestly look like Mother Theresa!

I really miss Dr. Pat. She really was an excellent physician and she was very bright! She once told me that if I wanted to lose weight and keep it off, I had to give up carbs. OUCH! At the time I couldn't even begin to comprehend what she was saying. Give up carbs??? And she wasn't stopping at the obvious ones like pasta, rice or bread. She even told me that I shouldn't eat bananas because the carbohydrate content was too high. Obviously she hadn't eaten bread in years (and it worked on her, I might add). Her theory was that carbohydrates are addictive. The more you eat, the more you want. Sort of like the potato chip theory - you know - you can't eat just one. Over the years I have tried to give up carbs and the truth is, if I only eat protein, vegetables and fruit (no bananas), the weight just melts off.

Today, about 13 years later, I think that Dr. Pat's theory has some validity. This past weekend, my hubby and I took the kids to a college football game on Friday night at my husband's Alma mater, Rutgers University. I was ready to get through this event without over-eating. I even packed salads that my husband and I would eat, thereby avoiding all of the "sporting event" foods that can easily derail the best weight loss efforts. It started innocently enough. A quarter of a pretzel here, a couple of tortilla chips there. Then, after the game my husband stopped by a "greasy food truck" to share some college memories with my kids and me. He bought us two "hogies" - one with beef, american cheese, chicken fingers and french fries and the other with gyro meat, mozzarella sticks and french fries. As I took a bite of the monster sandwich all I could think of was the carb overload I was experiencing and who in their right mind would eat something like this (I was only sampling it).

It was all downhill after that. One carb lead to another and before I knew it, by Sunday afternoon, I could hardly get off of the couch to take or pick-up my son from tennis practice. It was UGLY! If you have never been in a carb coma, it feels the way you feel after Thanksgiving dinner except the food isn't as good. The worst part of it all was (actually there are two worst parts) that I wasted a perfectly great day! I could have done many things more productive than eating and vegging. The other part was the morning after. I had to weigh in on Monday morning and that was really PAINFUL! After working so hard all week not only didn't I lose any weight

. . . I gained.

Bummer!