Trying to Stay On My Diet with a Six Hour Time Change

Let’s just say right now that this was not exemplary eating behavior. This time-change meant my day was six hours longer than a normal one. Plus I was downing breakfast at 8am in Berlin, which is about five hours earlier than I was normally eating breakfast anyway. I’d like to thank motion sickness for getting me through the tough parts. Really came through for me there. And I’d like to thank my husband for sacrificing his 100-calorie bag of Cheez-Its to the cause. Because I made it: I stayed under 2,000 calories which is my absolute daily limit- coming in at 1,910 for the day, including my nighttime snack with my Latuda.

Let’s go through the exciting play-by-play. 7am: Wake up. 8am: Matt goes to the supermarket across the street from the hotel and scores me a big yogurt and a bag of fresh cherries. I eat these with in-room espressos (yes, with creamer and sugar) for a total of 400 calories. A thoroughly nauseating cab ride to the airport ensued, Matt actually having to yell at the driver in German that we wanted to go to the airport, not the police station. Thank you, Rosetta Stone for that. Once camped out at the not-so-glamorous bus station of an airport that is Berlin-Tegel Airport, I drank a large bottle of Coke Zero. If this day had a sponsor, it would be Coke Zero. Some time passed and I thought I might pass out from sheer exhaustion. I got a soy latte, approximately 90 calories. Not much help for the exhaustion, but it did extend the car-sick feeling all the way to Amsterdam, where we connected flights. There may have been an in-flight Coke Zero there; I blacked out on how many I actually drank, partly to help with the nausea, and partly to stave off hunger. We power-walked, well almost flat out ran, to our gate and settled in for a 7-8 hour flight on Delta. I was confused by the pre-packaged pillows and blankets at 2:30 in the afternoon, but I understood once we hit the 4-hour mark and I tried sleeping on my tray-table. Food-wise, there were about six Coke Zeroes (come on, they’re tiny cups) and a cup of coffee (also tiny) with creamer and sugar (30 calories). But the real excitement was when they handed out a little card with a list of scheduled food service and different menu options. No prices on it- so I searched on the little TV for food prices, but nothing. My heart fluttered- was this food FREE? The last time I ate on a plane, I think I paid about $18 for a box of cheese and crackers, so this was truly shocking. And yes, it was free. It was.

First came a round of drinks (Coke Zero) and the 100-calorie Cheez-Its. I ate Matt’s bag too, so 200 calories there. And then they came around later with warm towels (okay, paper ones, but STILL). The first meal (yes, there were two) had a Caesar salad on the menu, so I got that, but there really wasn’t much lettuce involved, just croutons and a hunk of chicken. I ate the chicken with a packet of salt sprinkled on it, and a pretzel-roll that had the calories stamped on the wrapper. 200 more calories there. I turned down the wilting fruit salad, the cheesecake-cup dessert, the cheese and crackers, the sad lettuce and dressing, the croutons. I had a Coke Zero to make up for it. A little while later I caved and ate a protein “raw bar” Matt had in his jacket (200 calories). I was up to 1,120 calories and it was only 11am in our new time zone. The second meal I had to forego altogether- it was a choice of pizza or a ham and cheese croissant, both colossal in terms of calories, plus they came with a fancy chocolate ice cream bar on a stick. At this point, I was feeling deprived, so I recruited my husband to try and score me an extra pack of Cheez-Its, but the evil flight attendant claimed she didn’t have any more (obvious bullshit to avoid a tidal wave of Cheez-It requests from surrounding passengers). I had a Coke Zero.

After the devastation of turning away free pizza and ice cream, I decided to just go to sleep. That would pass the time and keep me sated. But it didn’t work. I watched two movies on the little TV- Bohemian Rhapsody and Colette. We finally started our descent (Coke Zero) and I focused on the nausea again. We deplaned, went through customs, and waited for our luggage to never appear. We stood in line to tell them it never appeared. And as we were about to board a bus to the train station, I insisted on buying something salty and greasy to help with the nausea (I don’t know why this works for me, but it does). I ate a bag of Lay’s potato chips from the news shop while sitting on the bus: 390 calories there. Up to 1,510. Bus to train, wait for train (bottle of Coke Zero), train to Lyft, Lyft to home. Remove disgusting clothes and shower, settle on painting shorts for attire. Take pills with two more “raw bars” for 400 calories and fall into deep sleep. I did it. 30 hours on 1,910 calories. Wouldn’t advise it. Never want to do it again. But I felt I had to in order to maintain my sense of control over the food issue. I need to stay on my diet for the sake of my mental health right now, so I did it. I did it.