The Weight Watcher's Nightmare: A French Lunch

I joined Weight Watcher's on-line a few months ago, and so far have lost 5.5 kilos. It's been relatively easy to follow, up until yesterday which was a holiday over here. After putting off several invitations to various lunches and dinners, I was confronted with a major event: lunch at my inlaw's.

It started out rather well. My mother-in-law tried her best to show her support of my weight loss goals by preparing a rather light apératif: champagne punch (with loads of fresh strawberries and kiwis in each glass) and crudités (celery, carrot and cucumber sticks). Of course, we were served two glasses of the champagne punch, but I had gone for a 45-minute run that morning so I felt I could deal with that.

The first course was also a breeze: a seafood platter. I successfully avoided the butter, fresh mayonaise and baguette, but the mountain of shellfish was served with a great white wine, and it was a rather hot day...

Then came the disastorous main course: roast chicken with a rich cream sauce and horrors: home-made fried potatoes. Red wine accompanied this dish, of course. It was then followed by a cheese platter composed of different cheeses she'd bought at the farmer's market for the occasion.

But the worst was yet to come: strawberry tarte with loads of chantilly cream, chocolate mousse and fresh cherries. The damage being done, I also accepted to wash these wonderful sweets down with a glass and a half of pink champagne.

Needless to say, I came home with a midday hangover and am now 9.5 points in the red. The week will be long and very "light"! The lunch went on until about five when my nephews started begging for a swim at our place (the joys of having a pool!) So I jumped on the opportunity to accompany them to back to our house where I could at least get a swim in and feel somewhat lighter or at least cooler or a tad more sober.

When everyone left around 6 PM, my husband asked, "What's for dinner?" I won't tell you what my answer was: I'll let you imagine that one.

How do these French women do it? Do they just not eat all week and stuff themselves silly all weekend? In any case, most of them manage to remain incredibly thin without even going to the gym. Sure, American food contains all kinds of additives which they say explain why Americans get so fat, but have they ever considered how much fat these lunches contain or how much sugar each glass of wine contains? Are we just physically more equipped to stock up everything we eat while they only need to take a stroll around the block to "eliminate" the 4 thousand calorie meals?