Lots of things have already been said and I guess there is nothing much I can add, but I do certainly agree with Estel that sometimes being "overweight" as they say can come from something that has nothing to do with the "unhealthy" way of life.
I have had hypothyroid for the past 2 years now... without changing my eating and sports habits I gained some weight over a few months and I found myself extremely tired. At first I thought that it was job stress because I was working stupid hours and had more responsibilities than ever before in my life. But when I could not get up without feeling tired I went to see a doctor. There have been thyroid issues in my family (my mum and bro had hyper, my dad's mother and grandma have or had hypo). My TSH was all over the place and it took them about a year to figure out the proper dose for me. In the meantime I continued to gain weight... even if I was going to the gym every other day and did not change much of my eating habit.
I have been losing these extra 10kg slowly for the past couple of months but it is a struggle because I can't play volleyball as much as I used to. Actually I really have to kick myself in the butt and do my regular 4 hours a week and I'll feel better
... And I don't work, I am actively looking for a job but it is hard to find something and it takes some of my energy (I hate doing nothing it depresses me
). It also makes it hard to create a social network here in Toronto...
Now about the relation to food, I guess that what you said is true about the French. The meal, evening meal in this case, has always been some family thing at my parents'. We would all sit together, spend some time talking around the food that my mum would prepare (or my dad, and later that was me and my sister most of the time). Eating is mostly about being together and share the events of the day, important or not. So food is being eaten more slowly (better for digesting) and becomes part of this ritual.
But then again this summer a friend of my mum's said to my bf "you know that you are with French people when during a meal they actually talk about food and what would make a good next meal."
It is also funny because when I read this thread the first time (a couple of days ago), I spent most of my afternoon in the kitchen. I prepared a mushroom soup, a zucchini-feta gratin and an apple pie. My bf was there and helping me; so it is something that we do together, something that we share.
In the end we don't eat as much or as fast, because it took time to prepare so we want to appreciate it even more (and it was pretty damn good, I am quite proud of ourselves because it was the first time we were preparing that soup
).
Now my main meal is usually lunch... because I got used to working 1pm-9:30pm and it was out of order to cook anything when I came back home (when I had roommates). You can't really bang the pans and pots at 11pm when they get up at 5:30-6am to go to work, that would be mean. So usually I would prepare some quick salad or have a yogurt and drink some infusion... And I can't sleep if I eat too much at night. Last night, I had some soup and a bit of the gratin (left-overs of the day before). That was it...
So unlike Nin, I do have a breakfast. Because when you don't really eat at night, you're pretty damn hungry in the morning
.
Depends on my mood really and that of my bf; cereals, toasts, eggs and bacon, crepes. And always some tea (a pot actually). This morning we had an omelette and we know we won't eat before 6pm tonight which will be dinner... Maybe a fruit or a yogurt in between but that's it.
The truth is that I always found it easier to lose weight when I was not worrying about it and when I felt good both emotionally and physically. When I arrived in Canada in 2004, I lost the 22pounds I had gained in Ireland by not worrying about them, being myself, starting to play in a musical, playing volleyball and doing things I loved.