The Montignac Method

[raisab]

Bleu,

Congratulations on your wieight loss. It does not seem that slow to me!

I just came back from a 4 day trip to France. One of my stops was Troyes where my husband ordered Andouillette. I like most foods, but I have to say this was particularly foul tasting! It was at a very nice restaurant, recommended by Michelin in one of their guides. It was not cooked completely, it just had a very funky taste! Is this normal....?

Other than that, I thought of you while I was there at the markets. I also ate at some very lovely restaurants and tried to follow a lower carb (Montignac) regiman, but the wine did me in more ways than one! The good thing is, I only gained 2 pounds....oh well.

Do you keep you tray of cheeses for the week? Or do you actually eat all those cheeses each night? Just curious.

[bleudauvergne]

What was the name of the German beer you drank last night?  I probably can't get it here (Chicago), but you never know . . . 

NeroW, it was Fulrtenberg. FIrst time I've tried it, it had a really nice depth to it. A Pilsner.

Keep it up girl!

Thanks Reese!

I just came back from a 4 day trip to France. One of my stops was Troyes where my husband ordered Andouillette. I like most foods, but I have to say this was particularly foul tasting! It was at a very nice restaurant, recommended by Michelin in one of their guides. It was not cooked completely, it just had a very funky taste! Is this normal....?

Other than that, I thought of you while I was there at the markets. I also ate at some very lovely restaurants and tried to follow a lower carb (Montignac) regiman, but the wine did me in more ways than one! The good thing is, I only gained 2 pounds....oh well.

Do you keep you tray of cheeses for the week? Or do you actually eat all those cheeses each night? Just curious.

Hey Raisab, so nice to hear you only gained 2 pounds in the 4 days you were here!

Your question about andouiette is completely on topic since we had little andouilettes just the other night for dinner - The flavor is an acquired one, it tastes a little different under normal conditions. It's local to Lyon, so all of the butchers always have it, and each one makes his own fresh, so you can choose one who makes it the way you like it. The flavors vary, but they are all andouiette, I guess you know what I mean. Sorry you didn't like it, did your husband like it?

The cheeses last a long time, and the plate kind of revolves. If you look over the last two weeks, you'll see some cheeses stay on the plate and some are used or eaten. When people come over to eat (as we have had Loic's sister a few times this week), it helps to clear the plate and keep things moving. I swtich the plate every few days (same cheeses) to keep things clean. We just finished the St. Nectaire that was on the plate at the beginning. We eat a little bit every day and add new ones as the others are finished off. I also often take a cheese that is ready to eat and use it in a recipe, like in the stuffed mushrooms, where I used the rest of the Charollais. I take bits and pieces with me for lunch, too. I'll be sure to post photos of how much cheese I actually eat so you can get an idea. Thanks for asking.

[jackal10]

Great blog! What is your target weight?

There may be some confusion between the french andouilettes, which are sausages made of intestine, that have a particualr texture an taste, and New Orelans/Cajun Andoilettes, which I believe are highly spiced conventional sausage. In the French version, the whole sausage is guts, rolled and folded, with (optionally) herbs and spices (pepper, garlic, parsley) , not just mincemeat stuffed into a casing. You can eat them hot, or sliced cold.

I prefer hot, with mustard and mashed potato. They are delicious, but like tripe, may be something of an acquired taste.

[raisab]

Acquired, is definately the word for it. My husband enjoyed it. I unfortunately felt like gagging.

As for cheeses, I brought back quite a few with me, St. Marcelin, ST Felician, Epoisse, Crotins, Chevre en Robe, Comte, Camembert etc. I am hoping they last more or less a week without ripening too much. The French look at me like I am crazy when I tell them we will be eating some the next day! But I tell them not to fret too much as we are American and will eat their cheese anyway we can get it!

[hathor]

I don't know how I missed this thread until now! I just read the whole blog through, and although I now have a bunch of work to catch up on...it was certainly well worth it. We are so having lentils for dinner tonight!

All teasing aside: you go girl! I'm so impressed with your food, your photos, your writing and your will power.

As usual, there is a lot of good info to be found on this thread. The bit about alcohol was very interesting, and the part about ketosis was certainly scary. And I thought andouilette was just tripe.

There was an article in the NY Times awhile ago, sometime this month, that I just tried to search but I couldn't find. Seems some researcher has found that people have a 'natural weight', and although you can tweak it by 5-10 pounds in either direction ultimately you are genetically disposed to be a certain weight. I wish I could find it because it ties in with some of the discussions upthread: like 51% of over weight people eat less than average. Although this argument could be used to 'validate' a person being overweight, it still is 'food for thought'.

I try to eat sensibly, and my weight has remained somewhat constant, the distribution of the weight is different! I'm getting my mother's body....

Keep at it Bleu! Only you could make us all want to go on a diet...that could be your new career. Open up a diet hotel, and you be the chef. What do you think??

[balmagowry]

Oh, Lucy, I had to laugh at your cherry disaster! Laugh entirely in sympathy, that is, because of my own similar story.

Stands to reason that the cherries would produce more compote than the strawberries - cherries are denser than strawberries, less water, I'm pretty sure. Oh yeah - once you've adopted me you'll find you have no difficulty disposing of all that extra compote....

Redfox, fromage frais is just about the easiest thing in the world to make, especially if you have a convenient source of liquid rennet. I've never made a 0% fat version, but the process should be the same as for full fat. (I'm planning to do some in the next couple of days because I'm still hankering for the fromage blanc à la crème that Lucy showed us a few days ago.)

hathor, the notion of being genetically predisposed to a certain weight is... well, it generates mixed feelings. I think most people do stabilize in the general ballpark of a certain weight/bulk - I do, anyway - though I'm not entirely convinced genetic predisposition is the only reason for that; one's lifestyle must have SOME effect. But there are other factors to account for and I've never been able to figure out quite how they fit. One is that thing about the size of fat cells - the gist of which is that they expand as needed when you gain weight, but even when you lose fat the cells themselves don't shrink, so they are just lying in wait to refill themselves at the first opportunity. Another is the muscle mass factor - muscle weighing more than fat, that is. So that in theory if you work out enough you may get thinner and yet gain weight at the same time. In my case I find that my metabolism is such that I stabilize around one size when I'm dancing and another when I'm not (the former being vastly preferable to the latter), no matter what happens with my eating habits, which are often a bit of a train wreck.

All that being as confusing as it is, it will come as no surprise that I deliberately and officially gave up weighing myself about 25 years ago. (Even in the doctor's office I instruct them not to tell me - and cover eyes and ears to make sure I don't find out by accident!) I figure, if I feel good and look good and my clothes feel right, I don't want to know if the scale's verdict is at odds with that 'cos it'll only upset me for no good reason; conversely, if I don't feel and look the way I want to, a favorable result from the scale is not going to help with the underlying problem.

But the next time I find myself not feeling and looking right, I'll become a charter member of Lucy's Hôtel Montignac. I wonder if she'll give discounts in return for some help in the kitchen....

[NeroW]

There was an article in the NY Times awhile ago, sometime this month,  that I just tried to search but I couldn't find.  Seems some researcher has found that people have a 'natural weight', and although you can tweak it by 5-10 pounds in either direction ultimately you are genetically disposed to be a certain weight.

This sounds like the "set-point" theory. There was some discussion of this upthread. The body "chooses" a weight it wants to be and defends that weight by regulating its behaviors and hormones. It's like a thermostat. Whenever weight is lost or gained, the body directs itself to return to the "set point."

There are several theories about how the body defends its set point, and they all relate to heat (hence the thermostat).

The first theory states that proteins control the body's heat production (thermogenesis). One type of fat tissue, called brown fat, has more proteins that specialize in converting energy to heat--these are called energy-wasting proteins. Regular white fat cells don't have these proteins and so they store more fat energy, while brown fat actively metabolizes fat and causes it to escape as heat energy. Therefore: if you have more brown fat, you have more energy-wasting proteins, and you stay leaner.

The second theory states that some tissues--like the spleen, some muscle tissues, and bone marrow--actively convert energy into heat when faced with cold temperature, starvation, or other stresses. These tissues will also produce heat to "waste" energy when there is too much energy present (i.e. when you have ingested too many calories), and on the other hand, when there is not enough energy present, these tissues will conserve energy--not burning any off as heat. The only thing that determines how effective your system is is genetics. You can't "trick" your spleen into burning away calories just because you want it to, nor can you trick it into burning away calories just because you aren't eating enough. This theory has been used to explain why dieters' efforts fail when they reduce their food intake, but it seems to "slow their metabolism."

The third theory states that when lean people eat a meal, energy use in their body speeds up for a while (the thermic effect of food). When obese people eat, no change occurs. No studies have shown that this small change can account for weight gain or accumulation of body fat. In fact, obese people may expend more energy each day than lean people because their bodies require more energy to move and to maintain at a base metabolic rate.

[hathor]

hathor, the notion of being genetically predisposed to a certain weight is... well, it generates mixed feelings.

... if I don't feel and look the way I want to, a favorable result from the scale is not going to help with the underlying problem.

But the next time I find myself not feeling and looking right, I'll become a charter member of Lucy's Hôtel Montignac. I wonder if she'll give discounts in return for some help in the kitchen....

That's why I wanted to find the article! I had very mixed feelings while reading it and thought some other views on the subject would be good.

I also subscribe to the if the clothes fit and I feel good method of weight management!

[balmagowry]

Zowie, Nero, you're really up on this stuff! I'm impressed. Not only do you know it, but you can deliver it in a concise and comprehensible manner. Full marks.

And yes, "set point" is exactly the term we were looking for.

[Behemoth]

That's why I wanted to find the article! I had very mixed feelings while reading it and thought some other views on the subject would be good.

I also subscribe to the if the clothes fit and I feel good method of weight management!

Here's the article.

What the guy says is interesting though it doesn't explain why people already on the right side of the chart have become "more" obese. Usually, with this kind of thing the cause comes down to one from column "behavior", one from column "genetic".

In my case, I know that my default diet is usully fairly healthy (I was raised on a Mediterranean diet because, well, I was raised on the Mediterranean...) but now that I am in the Midwest I started to gain weight, (I also use the clothes method) and it was clearly because I drive everywhere instead of my usual insane amount of walking. So, three times a week I get on my bike and wander through cornfields for an hour, until I feel better. In the winter I suppose I will have to join a gym.

[bleudauvergne]

This is a long one. Sorry. You can just skip over it if it seems boring...

All of this talk is thought provoking, because I come from a family where one side has been historically morbidly obese. My grandfather was an enormously fat man, one of those people who easily took up the space for 2 or 3 people and never traveled anywhere, and my aunts and uncles have struggled with this in one way or another with this problem, ranging from eating disorders to just accepting their situation with resigned determination. My father worked all of his adult life to avoid it, constantly weighing in and charting his progress on a graph in the kitchen on the refrigerator for as long as I can remember. We almost lost my eldest sister to bulimia and anorexia. My other siblings have tried to stem the tide in their own ways, one brother taking up running marathons (gee I wonder why), and another brother always on the latest fad diet with his wife. But the truth looms with each yearly cycle that swings by and we settle into middle adulthood.

I have nieces and nephews now who are fed healthy food, i.e. never McDo and always balanced and nutritious meals, and yet they still are significantly heftier than the children around them. It pains me to see the older ones struggling (both mentally and physically) with what seems to be inevitable even in their active teen years. Their parents care. There are control issues involved at the younger ages, and a tremendous amount of mental pressure all around stemming from this situation, and it has to be handled carefully. The children are learning in school and on television, like I did, the classic American rudiments of good nutrition that everyone was taught - low fat, regular strenuous exercise, small portions, stoic self deprivation; these are the keys to a healthy beautiful virtuous life.

The kids are high achievers academically, the stars of their class, they are active in sports. But they are also learning some cruel facts, one being that they will inevitably be judged harshly for this. It is a fact of life. A rather veiled demand is placed furthermore on the children to keep a harsh view of themselves in light of this reality, and set themselves to “higher standards” in order to "maintain control". It is a sad and paradoxical situation that reaches into many life areas that I see no easy solution to.

The paradox is ever so clear here in France, where you see anorexically thin women shoveling down enormous quantities of what I have been conditioned to believe was actually morally wrong to eat, and then half of the strangers I encounter judging me, "the fat American", even though for many years I kept stoically in control, for being naturally larger in the chest, for having "curves", for what looked to them to be the beginnings of "letting myself go".

Immediately upon my arrival to this country several years ago, to a family of thin people, was rather shocking to me, first because I noticed that even though I was not FAT, I was not bony and THIN like they were, and they attributed it to lack of control, somehow intricately intertwined in their minds with my nationality. I was thus incredulous when served smaller portions at the family dinner table when staying with my in-laws. "The bride is watching her weight, yes?" was the comment, as I found my plate coming back with but several bites of food compared to large hefty servings piled on the plates of the others. It seems that their education of the rudiments of nutrition were based in the same misconceptions that mine were.

The opposite has applied when it comes to my family's view of the people on this side of the pond. My mother came to visit, and participated in a family meal where my sister in law was invited. The next day, when we had some moments together over coffee, she asked in dead seriousness how long my sister in law had been anorexic, and did the family have plans to intervene. I could only laugh. Watching her devour enormous servings of cake, cheese, wine, etc. without a single ill effect, and knowing from family photo albums and the rest of her family that she and her sister have been like this since the beginning, is a bittersweet reality, and I choose to thank my lucky stars that at least someone in my entourage has been so lucky.

Do I feel sorry for myself? No. Am I trying to convince the world against the stem of the hollywood "never too rich or too thin" mentality, that fat is beautiful, one person at a time? No. One must choose their battles. Am I going to try and accept the stark harsh reality that I am treated differently by strangers now that I weigh more, no matter how unjust it may seem? Yes, because if I don’t, I’m destined to become unhappy and bitter. I have to accept this gracefully, and do what I can to better my lot no matter how unfair it may seem.

Throughout my life, I carried the burden that if I was not careful, this problem would definitely get the best of me, and I took up sports early, following the example of my older siblings, carefully putting a check on my natural tendency to bulk up. I was successful and managed to stay within our harshly judgemental society's view of what is "normal" in size until I hit my 30s. I was proud of that fact, in fact I was one of the people who blamed people for “letting themselves go”, or faulting some mysterious lack of control over their “lifestyle”. But it’s not as simple as that, because all that I was taught about how to control my “lifestyle” actually worked until my body began to change when I reached my 30s.

Suddenly at age 32, every trick in the book seemed to backfire on me. The pounds came quickly, and would not come off. At first I grudgingly accepted it as the family curse, and then as the pounds came on and I saw people's attitudes towards me in public begin to change (it is a rude awakening), I began to wonder if I actually better do something about it. The recent last straw was when I began to feel like my health was failing, like my energy was beginning to wane, that I was in actual pain and fatigue from the weight, that I decided, in order to get to the bottom of it, I personally will have to educate myself, re-learn some rules, and get to the task of feeling better again.

I do have a unique understanding of the lifelong paradoxes and problems that face someone who has a predisposition to weigh more, and I refuse to believe that this means I am destined to grow fatter and fatter like a spiralling yoyo into morbid obesity, mainly because I have chosen this critical time of my life to do something about it. I have decided, by following the Montignac plan, to unlearn some of the gross misconceptions that coming of age in the 1980s has instilled in me.

Jackal10: About my goal weight: In the book, Montignac says that many people set unrealistic goals, i.e. they remember back to the days when they were sexy virile adolescents, and think that like machines, we’ll be able to systematically take off all the weight we want. This is not true – on the Montignac plan, we will condition our bodies to function properly and return to a natural healthy weight. I have no doubt that mine will be somewhat higher than the norm.

My goal is not to become a twiggy style model. I already know that’s impossible. In fact, I think that perhaps the goal I have set is too low. We will never be able to go back in time. In a discussion of troubleshooting problems and stalls on the plan, Dr. Montignac mentions that if we are having trouble reaching our goal, then perhaps the answer is that we have already indeed reached our ideal weight. I have posted my goal BMI. I think, though, that after this bit of introspection, I should face facts. I’ve always been one to shoot rather high in my expectations. Therefore, I will add a category to my weigh-in reports.

Realistic expectation BMI: 24.1

edited to say this was entirely too long and I won't be doing that again!

Edited April 21, 2005 by bleudauvergne (log)

[bleudauvergne]

The first theory states that proteins control the body's heat production (thermogenesis). One type of fat tissue, called brown fat, has more proteins that specialize in converting energy to heat--these are called energy-wasting proteins. Regular white fat cells don't have these proteins and so they store more fat energy, while brown fat actively metabolizes fat and causes it to escape as heat energy. Therefore: if you have more brown fat, you have more energy-wasting proteins, and you stay leaner.

The second theory states that some tissues--like the spleen, some muscle tissues, and bone marrow--actively convert energy into heat when faced with cold temperature, starvation, or other stresses. These tissues will also produce heat to "waste" energy when there is too much energy present (i.e. when you have ingested too many calories), and on the other hand, when there is not enough energy present, these tissues will conserve energy--not burning any off as heat. The only thing that determines how effective your system is is genetics. You can't "trick" your spleen into burning away calories just because you want it to, nor can you trick it into burning away calories just because you aren't eating enough. This theory has been used to explain why dieters' efforts fail when they reduce their food intake, but it seems to "slow their metabolism."

The third theory states that when lean people eat a meal, energy use in their body speeds up for a while (the thermic effect of food). When obese people eat, no change occurs. No studies have shown that this small change can account for weight gain or accumulation of body fat. In fact, obese people may expend more energy each day than lean people because their bodies require more energy to move and to maintain at a base metabolic rate.

These are very interesting. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, it has helped me most of all in some reflections about what my realistic goals are in this endeavor, and most of all about how I plan to keep the weight off.

[raisab]

Bleu,

Not to throw another fly in the ointment....but BMI's are very misleading. I have a BMI of 23.8 but still consider myself to be overfat. My bodyfat according to the caliper method is 22% but I know that is wrong as I store ALL my fat in my hips and ass!

BMI's don't take into consideration your muscular structure, therefore you could be a bodybuilder and have a higher % of muscles than the norm and still have what is considered an obese BMI.

I have found with me undfortunately, I have to go to the low end of BMI scales if I am not weightlifting and the low end of weight scales because I am so small boned. It could be considered a blessing or a hindrance depending how you are looking at it.

[bleudauvergne]

Bleu,

Not to throw another fly in the ointment....but BMI's are very misleading. I have a BMI of 23.8 but still consider myself to be overfat. My bodyfat according to the caliper method is 22% but I know that is wrong as I store ALL my fat in my hips and ass!

BMI's don't take into consideration your muscular structure, therefore you could be a bodybuilder and have a higher % of muscles than the norm and still have what is considered an obese BMI.

I have found with me undfortunately, I have to go to the low end of BMI scales if I am not weightlifting and the low end of weight scales because I am so small boned. It could be considered a blessing or a hindrance depending how you are looking at it.

Yes, Raisab. I completely understand, everyone is different. I was basing my original goal on what I weighed the last time I felt great, and I have come to accept that after all, it has been at least 8 years since that time, and perhaps I felt great because I was 28 years old, and not because I weighed what I did. Doucement, doucement. We must remain raisonable, after all. I have always held the expression "big boned" rather dear to my heart.

Edited June 16, 2004 by bleudauvergne (log)

[mags]

I have always held the expression "big boned" rather dear to my heart.

The protagonist in Alexander McCall-Smith's "#1 Ladies Detective Agency" series of novels refers to herself as "traditionally built."

Works for me.

[hathor]

I have always held the expression "big boned" rather dear to my heart.

The protagonist in Alexander McCall-Smith's "#1 Ladies Detective Agency" series of novels refers to herself as "traditionally built."

Works for me.

Not to go completely off topic: but I LOVE the #1 Ladies Detective Agency series! Precious Ramotswe is traditional in many ways, including her penchant for fried mealy bugs.

And Bleu:you were not long winded. You are amazingly honest and strong. Its all about feeling healthy, strong and happy. If you don't exactly fit in with what the media pushes as desirable....too bad. You have an international fan club that loves you for your mind!!

[mags]

Works for me.

Not to go completely off topic: but I LOVE the #1 Ladies Detective Agency series! Precious Ramotswe is traditional in many ways, including her penchant for fried mealy bugs.

[balmagowry]

edited to say this was entirely too long and I won't be doing that again!

Don't be ridiculous! Why is it that people always issue this sort of modest disclaimer about their most interesting posts? You do it, Mongo does it, I do it... oh. Well, anyway, I would have remained glued to it if it had been twice as long. It is marvelous of you to be able to explain this so frankly; it puts your whole Montignac series in context. Not that it wasn't fascinating already - after all the response there's been you don't need me to tell you that. But now we have a better understanding of the place it occupies in your life, and I don't think it leaves any room for speculation as to whether the diet might possibly be a frivolous endeavor (as such things are for some people). Obviously for you it is a real matter of both physical and mental health, and this makes it much easier to understand your serious dedicated approach; your realistic assessment of your own body and circumstances. Hmmm, that came out a bit lacking; I know you would take a serious dedicated approach to any culinary project you undertook. Not sure how much of that reverence for your food and your surroundings was already part of you and how much has been enhanced by living where you do - a combination of those factors, I imagine.

I agree with Raisab's remarks re BMI, and am fascinated and pleased to learn how many of us here subscribe to my look-right-feel-right-clothes-fit standards. Seems to me a healthier way to live than constantly having to worry about some arbitrary number. (And I know from earlier discussion via PM that you too fall into this category to some degree - at least that that's part of what trigggered the present effort. The social pressures you are under because of your locale - boy, does that put a new spin on it all!) I find I have to take ALL conventional numbers/measurements with many grains of salt. The reason that statistics rank below damned lies is that they necessarily average out the factors that apply to each of us individually and that make all the difference. For me it's ballet, for Raisab it's weight-lifting, for you it's genetic predisposition; whatever it is that your body and your instincts recognize as the thing that swings your results away from the norm. All these studies that say women should be this that or the other thing by the numbers would be a lot more plausible if they allowed for such variations, because everyone has some sort of special consideration that is bound to skew the curve.

That said, please don't think I'm indicting your pursuit of a particular BMI - I know you have too much sense to discount the evidence your body presents you with, and I recognize that in a situation like yours it is very necessary to have specific goals even if there is something arbitrary in their composition. For the most part it probably all comes out in the wash, I suppose.

I'm NOT going to apologize for length, but I will now give one small self-deprecating nod to my own preachiness and climb the hell down off my soapbox.

Yes, I love Precious Ramotswe too. But hey (oops, back on soapbox again for the moment), "traditionally built," like any other description, only works for you if you feel comfortable with it. When you don't - time to do something about it.

BTW, it's only the snotty small-boned-minded French who could fail to love Lucy for her body as well as her mind. In these parts, in real life, I have it on reliable authority that she'd be considered "a babe." Most men like a woman with a little meat on her bones, after all - fortunately Lucy will always be that, even after she hits her target.

[foodie52]

bleu:

Your long, heartfelt post wil carry me through my day today. I'm big-boned as well. I've been overweight (BMI of 28) since the birth of my second child 20 years ago. I could stand to lose 30 pounds and not miss them! I empathize with your desire to FEEL GOOD again. That is what spurred me on to start the South Beach diet, along with my husband, whose target is to lose 25 pounds before Thanksgiving. He is doing it because his doctor told him, lose it or start taking cholesterol-lowering drugs. I am doing it because he being on a diet is a good excuse for me to lose weight too!

I hired my son to make two meals a day for us according to the South Beach method. Today is the start of week 2 for us. It's only hard at night, when I become very grumpy at cocktail hour! (no drinks...yet....next week we may have white wine) So we only eat what he puts in front of us. Having a personal chef to jump start us has been very helpful.

I've lost 6 pounds. OK: everyone will say it is water weight. So what: I don't care what it is, as long as it is gone. I think the very best part of seeing results is the feeling of empowerment: I am once again in charge of my body. For years, I have been helpless in the face of food. Now I feel like I have regained control. Mentally, this is very satisfying. I bought myself a dress last week: it almost fits. It will fit perfectly after I have lost 10 pounds. I love the dress. I can't wait to wear it!

So hang in there.

BTW, my husband has never complained about how I look. He thinks I'm cute. So our perception of ourselves is sadly not the one others have of us. But it's all about feeling good about yourself. You GO , girl!

[Behemoth]

BTW, it's only the snotty small-boned-minded French who could fail to love Lucy for her body as well as her mind. In these parts, in real life, I have it on reliable authority that she'd be considered "a babe." Most men like a woman with a little meat on her bones, after all - fortunately Lucy will always be that, even after she hits her target.

I had weight issues as a teen. My parents are heavy smokers which makes then much thinner than where the family norm should be, and they can get pretty self-righteous about it. I think the defining moment that saved me as a 20-something was one day when I was leafing quickly through a copy of Vogue. I thought, hey, who's the fat chick? -- then realized it was Gabriella Reese, who was on the olympic volleyball team. Yikes. I figured, if the fashion industry makes *her* look bad, then maybe their perspective was more than a little f***'d. So now I will always be about 10 lbs heavier than my mom, but I can also run a mile without wheezing, and my house doesn't smell like an ashtray.

[NeroW]

I was thus incredulous when served smaller portions at the family dinner table when staying with my in-laws. "The bride is watching her weight, yes?"

I would have run from the room in tears.

Or thrown the plate. I can't decide which.

[balmagowry]

Hmmm. Am I the only one who senses the emergence of a support group here? The beauty of it is that it needn't espouse any one particular method or standard, nor need it be specifically about diet or weight loss or maintenance or gain: its founding principle is merely the desire of its members to feel good, and the constant awareness that everyone's MMV. The Wanna Feel Good Club, or something - I'm sure we could come up with a moniker that'd lend itself to a good acronym. Then we could have logos and secret handshakes and stuff! Oh - we already have the secret handshake, and it isn't secret. Well, that's cool too.

[bleudauvergne]

I've lost 6 pounds.

Foodie52, I can only speak for myself but 6 pounds is actually a lot of weight, taking that off feels pretty darn good, doesn't it? What a relief! That's what it feels like to me, I feel a lot better already but it's going to get better and better.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This morning I had the opportunity to enjoy more of the cherry compote with a 0% faiselle. I would be interested to know Lisa's method of making fromage frais, since I have never made it at home before. I know it tastes completely different than yougurt, less tang and more salt... Lisa, can you give us a description of the process?

[balmagowry]

Haven't done it in forever - will have to look it up and do it (and can then document it for you à la eG). But the general idea is that you warm your milk to... some temperature or other - not as hot as for yogurt, I think, like 95F or so... and then you add a leetle teeny bit of rennet... and then it has to sit for a very long time (like a day or so)...and then you strain off the whey, et voilà. Hmmmm - I'm just realizing that this sounds exactly like the process JosephB went through to make mozzarella, though I think there's an extra step for that. And I don't know if you can make ricotta from this whey, though I can't imagine why not.

Yup, it's different from yogurt because the coagulating agent is different. Yogurt is made by the action of various lactobacilli on cooked milk (cultures vary, but the usual mix is l. bifidus, l. bulgaricus, and b. acidophilus - can't believe I remembered all that!); fromage blanc (along with many other cheeses) is turned by rennet, which used to be from the lining of a calf's stomach, until somebody got squeamish and figured out how to make a rennet substitute from all-vegetable sources. In French (watch me show off my vocabulary) it's présure, and I bet they don't make it out of any sissy vegetables over there. I don't know why or how rennet works, because when I last used it I wasn't as attuned to this stuff as I am now. But I intend to find out! There are a couple of cool cheesemaking web pages that probably explain it - will look 'em up later on.

EDIT: suddenly can't remember difference, if any, between fromage frais and fromage blanc. The fromage blanc à la crème is what I've been hankering afer, and that's pretty close to cream cheese, more or less; your fromage frais picture looks more like cottage cheese. Dang. Now I'm all curious again. Gotta go look things up. Later.

Edited June 16, 2004 by balmagowry (log)

[balmagowry]

'K. For starters, here is a fromage blanc recipe that is pretty much what I remember.

Here is another page which explains a bit more about cheesemaking in general. I note they talk about fromage frais as the result of emprésuration of the milk, so I'm guessing that frais and blanc are the same animal, only the latter may need to cailler longer and be more thoroughly strained????

NB I also found a discussion thread about fromage frais in which someone referred to using lemon juice instead of présure! Wow. I need to study this further. Wonder what Mme. Saint-Ange says. Think I'll look.

I am assuming that the 0% fat versions are made with non-fat milk but that the process is otherwise the same. That's how it works with yogurt, at any rate.

EDIT: It comes back to me that the tricky part is keeping the temperature stable - that's the problem JosephB encountered with the mozzarella experiment. Don't know how I'll do this now, as we know my pilot light is approx. 110F - at least it works for yogurt, so I assume that's the case. Hmmm. A challenge.

Edited June 16, 2004 by balmagowry (log)