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Monday, March 19, 2007

Everything in Moderation

That is what my Trainer/Bootcamp leader/Yeller told me on Friday.

I talked with him after class, expressing my growing concerns about my growing waistline.

After hearing that I had lost 18 pounds last year by NOT excercising and by going on the South Beach Diet, he informed me that I most likely lost a bit of fat and a lot of muscle. By doing so, I slowed my metabolism and all the weight I have gained back (about 10 in total) has been in the form of fat.

Now my body is freaking out because I truly am packing on the muscle. I’m just not losing fat at the same rate, therefore I am getting bigger and gaining more weight. It will, however, eventually start to budge.

He told me to keep working out, perhaps try fitting in more if I can and to make sure I am eating the right things. Good carbs, fats and protein, basically The Zone diet. Everything in moderation and often.

I’m not a moderate person by nature, I am more an all or nothing type of gal.

So, I wonder if this will be the downfall of my existence. Yesterday, I came across my old “teacher, mother, secret lover:”

TIM TAMS!


For those of you unlucky enough to never have been to New Zealand or Australia, Tim Tams are like the national food of yummyness.

These chocolatey biscuits (a lighter version of the UK’s Penguins) are part and parcel of what lead to my weight gain when I got back from my first trip Downunder. And probably the second trip too.

I went nuts for these things. I ate them with coffee, slurping the liquid through the bitten off ends of the biscuit. I ate them in the morning and at night. I even started the “Tim Tam Diet” (patent pending) in which I allocated one box of Tim Tams to eat per day. The downside of the diet is that you are only allowed to eat the one box and nothing else. But I found that if you are really craving those highly caloric brown beauties that the best thing to do is eat the whole pack until you are so sick of them that you wont want one for at least a month.

Tim Tams haven’t been available in Canada…until now.

I was grocery shopping with Ross at the President’s Choice Superstore yesterday when low and behold I came across a huge Tim Tam display.

I think a few tears came to my eyes. I immediately cried out a bunch of garbled, happy obscenities and lunged at the packages of biscuits.

Thankfully, my trainer/bootcamp leader/yeller’s words resounded in my head, “Everything in moderation.’

And I only grabbed two packs.

I could barely wait until I was in the car to munch down one.

And then two (biscuits, not packages).

And then I felt sick. Huzzah.

Turns out that the Tim Tams didn’t really taste as good as I had remembered. Maybe you have to be on foreign soil to truly enjoy them? Regardless, it provided me with a nice flashback to my years in OZ/NZ.

Now all I need is Kylie Minogue playing on rotation with Madison Avenue and a steeming cup of Milo.

22 comments:

almost famous kiwi said...

dammit, Im on a no chocolate diet and you put tim tams up there, dammit all I want now are tim tams!!!! Congrats on your job!!! I want to hear alllll about it, call me or tell me when I can call you. Love you and miss you

Del said...

OMG how great are Tim Tams?!?! They are the ultimate food for a broken heart!!!
I did a Candy swap for a blogging friend in the US and seriously, nothing even came close to Tim Tams!
I'm kinda scared to keep up my gym routine if you end up putting on weight?!?!

Wanderlusting said...

Kiwi - Seriously, try the Tim Tam diet...you will love it. And then barf from all the chocolate. So it's win win!

Del - Awwww, don't be worried or scared. I just have a VERY slow metabolism, more so than the average. Also, the amount of weight I am trying to budge (10 pounds) is quite close to my natural weight so it's gonna be harder for me, vs if I had a lot of excess weight to lose.

Truth be told, if I knew that I wouldn't lose ANY weight from going to Bootcamp, I would still go. I am really liking this "strong" feeling, I feel fab afterwards and I like feeling the firm, taught muscles...um, underneath all the flab!

The Stormin Mormon said...

Canadian Tim Tams suck?

That it totally messed up... My Aussie buddies got me hooked on them, and life wouldn't be the same without them.

Wanderlusting said...

Stormin - Oh, they FAR from suck (and aren't Canadian but are directly imported from NZ), they just aren't as good as I remember. That's probably a good thing.

Steph said...

Tim Tams are the devils work, but I agree, I think the recipe has changed somewhat over the years.

Anyhoo, muscle weighs more than fat, so it makes sense, if you're building muscle mass, that your weight would go up.

Stick with it girl. It'll turn around.

Kass said...

1. Tim Tams aren't that great
2. Are they made in NZ or Canada? If Canada, then of course they taste different! The chocolate is different here :)

As for everything in moderation? Pssh lol.

surfercam said...

Haha Tim Tams - a packet was bought on Saturday and demolished by Monday!
Every time I have one I realise just how bloody good they are.

Sean said...

i've been told that i have to try these, and that the proper way to eat them is to nibble each end off and then suck coffee or milk or hot chocolate through it.

Dan said...

Rum balls.

halfmanhalfbeer said...

Wander Lusting: stick with the exercise, if will pay huge dividends. It also allows you to eat and drink so much more of the bad stuff because you are burning up so many more calories and that has to be a good thing!

HMHB

The Accidental Bitch said...

Until you wrote that they didn't taste as good as you remembered, I was very concerned for your future with the Zone diet.

Scorpy said...

I told you in a post about bootcamp a while back that you would put weight on...That is why when I trained my female recruits I used to take their scales away...It only freaked them out. They eventualkly lost the weight through Fluid loss and higher metabolism. They stopped buring muscle (easier) and started buring fat (harder)...basically I totally agree with Bootcamp guy.
Tim Tams have got too many nflavours now and I don't think they clean the vat out between batches lol. Do you dunk them in your coffee?

Unknown said...

Oh Yeah, the TimTam Slam.

(Using the 'Tam as a straw for coffee.)

A slice of Heaven on earth.

Unknown said...

I say less carbs, the better. But you also need to give yourself a treat from time to time. Definitely moderation...

I'm back to 5 swims and 3 gym workouts minus the 2 I already skipped since sat at the gym. LOL

Oh well...

I haven't lost a pound by the way and have gone down an entire size including 2 inches in my waist, how's that for depressing numbers..

My motto - if you fit into your clothes, you're doing fine! :)

And more cardio helps a lot!

Cupcake Blonde said...

How funny that the things we seem to want so bad never taste as good once we have them. I usually have this problem when I absolutely NEED a burger from In & Out at 1 AM and halfway through I feel so nauseous I never want to eat beef again.

Of course, now I want a Tim Tam.

brandy said...

I've had the tim tam's but my 'it just tasted better on foreign soil' import is Fanta. More specifically, fanta orange. It just tasted better in Europe.

simon said...

What happens is this:- The human body set up is quite primitive. By that I mean it operates on a "feast" then famine" behaviour.

When you go on a diet, the body go's into a crisis... it "saves" fat and burns more muscle ( in the areas you don't use). It also protects the vital ( reproductive organs)... that means waist, or lower areas...
the body assumes you are entering a famine....

Then when you restart your normal diet you have "taught" your body to store more of the food you eat as "fat" ready for the next famine...

Get it?

So... You have to teach it different behaviour. To do this you MUST link fat reduction with diet AND exercise... NOT WEIGHT

Muscle weighs more than fat...

Its a slow process, but it can be done

there is a heap more to correct body mass and distribution which I cannot write here but thats a start

hope I have helped

M said...

I could exist on Tim Tams alone. That's all I'm sayin'!!!!

Rachel said...

that happens to me all the time - i can't help but think maybe biscuits and things are made different in different countries..?? or not so fresh? that's my idea anyway.

ShabbyInTheCity said...

http://www.asianfoodgrocer.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=1070&gclid=COTo7fGUhosCFRxWgQodVx-sEQ

That is a long URL...anyway...Pocky...is so good...we have it in Wal-Mart (do you have Wal-Mart in Canada???)

Wanderlusting said...

Steph - That could be it...the recipe might have changed. Or maybe my taste buds have?

I will stick with it, it just sucks that my metabolism is so slow that I have to beat it with a stick for a very long time.

Kass -

1. Agreeing, slowly.
2. Yes, chocolate here is different. LORD how I have heard Kiwi complain about the state of Nestle in this country.

Surfercam - I'm sure you can afford to put away pack after pack too.

Sean - You are correct Sir. Coffee all the way.

Dan - No thanks.

Halfman - Well, ideally. But that would just allow me to stay the same weight while also indulging. I don't want to stay this weight, I need to LOSE it. And then, once and if I do, then I can put that into theory.

TAB - I was concerned too but so far I'm doing good. Even though doing good is not helping like I would want it.

Scorpy - I know, I know. It's just I thought it would be temporary. You know, muscle packs on, weight goes up, then fat is lost, weight goes down.

But I like your expertise on this. Makes me feel better. Sometimes I think that there is something wrong with me because other girls in the class have lost the weight, but then again, they may have more to lose than I.

It sucks that it's easier to burn muscle than fat though...why is that?

PS yes I occasionally do dunk them. They are very much a morning biscuit to me.

Wombat - it has an official name? All the better.

Expat - True, but I've been watching my carb intake for a year now and always choose low GI carbs over the high.

And my clothes aren't fitting better. But I DO get measured on Friday so we shall see.

Vegas - And yet I eat it anyway.

Brandy - You think it has something to do with your state of mind while first tasting the things? Sorta of like associating certain smells with happy times?

Simon - I get it. My metabolism sucks.

M - Tis a good diet...

Rachel - Freshness probably has a lot to do with it. And quality of local products.

Irn Bru in Canada is just not the same when it is bottled here. Same with Corona. I think it's the water used.

shabby - Who doesn't have Wal Mart? China even has it now, it's totally global...and I love it! I grew up on Pocky too. We have a huge Asian influence here and you can get Pocky anywhere. When I was a kid I used to munch those like crazy. I especially love the strawberry flavour.