So for any of you that know me, or have read The Body Experiment article, I have been following the “Uncommon Guide To Rapid Fat Loss” that Tim Ferriss writes about in his book the 4 Hour Body. Now I must admit, I have a lot of time for Tim Ferriss now and I like the way he writes, blogs and interviews people. Now i’m getting distracted.
The important part here is that, as part of the diet, you get a cheat day. Every seventh day, for me and some other friends I know, it’s Saturday. On Saturdays we EAT, I mean seriously EAT, ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING that we want, including, but not limited to pizzas, burgers, chips, fry-ups, beers and god knows what else we have done in the last few months.
Yesterday was Saturday and CHEAT DAY of course, but with a slight twist. I was in the south of France, Provence to be precise, and here we do food to a whole new level. So what did yesterday’s meal include? I’m glad you asked, check it out:
Breakfast – I pretty much always stick to the basics for breakfast, 30 in 30 as Tim calls it. 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking up. So a 3 egg omelette (with only 1 yolk) was my break, that was before 8am.
Lunch – Which started around 12:00 with a bit of an aperitif
Included a couple of Pastis (an aniseed base alcoholic drink that EVERYONE drinks around here), which was served with Anchoyade (a home made anchovy, garlic & olive oil past) on some toasted crispy bread. Some Home made pizza slices, some radishes, a couple of small slices of fresh wild asparagus omelette and of course some crisps and nuts. (This could easily have been lunch done and dusted at this point).
Starters – well it would have been rude not to. Some Charcuterie (mixed cured meats) with some beautiful fresh Olive Bread, and of course by now we have moved on to the Red Wine.
Mains – “Les Grives” Small thrush birds, pan fried in Lard, served on a toasted slice of bread which catches all the juices nicely. These birds are a delicacy anywhere you are lucky enough to find them. You can pretty much eat everything, including the bones. These were AMAZING. Served with a simple green salad.
Cheese – It wouldn’t be France if there wasn’t some cheese, a bit of blue, a bit of Comte and of course a Camembert.
Dessert – A selection of small bitesized cakes from a local patisserie. Including everything from Mille Feuille, eclairs and more. (AGAIN DELICIOUS!)
After lunch, we played some cards, with a big bag of peanut M&Ms and a bag of hairdo sweets, which over the course of nearly 3 hours of playing cards disappeared completely.
Now you have to bear in mind we are in France for this Cheat Day, and whereas in the UK this probably would have been the end of the day, here it went on a bit more… Something like this.
Around 7pm, after the cards were over, we were all finished, somehow the Pastis (aperitif) started again, A couple of these whilst preparing a light snack for the evening. So what did Dinner look like, something like this:
Charcuterie for starters, Beef Rib grilled on the BBQ (served with potatoes and green salad), followed by Cheese & of course, there were still some cakes left over, so we finished these. Accompanied by a couple of glass of red wine, this Cheat Day may in fact be at the top of all cheat days so far….
