Saturday, April 18, 2009

Surveying the damage from Europe: Day 1 = Restraint!

It seems that weeks on the program always start well and with admirable discipline. I was fully on program all day Monday, prior to my flight to Paris. Worked out, ate a good breakfast, had a POINTS-friendly lunch and dinner. I said no to the offerings on the Air France flight even though I was tempted otherwise.

Day 1: Paris

This can definitely be a tough town for Americans with lowered defenses for fine foods (me). Fortunately, my colleagues in France were looking out for me and they helped construct a day with good, healthy options. Better than that, they did it with typical French flair as all the food I encountered was terrific.

Lunch: They put out a spread of many of the Weight Watchers products sold at grocery stores around France. And they were outstanding. I get faint in the presence of goat cheese, pate and other fine French delicacies. The fact that I could get them in a POINTS-friendly format made my knees weak.

Dinner: We went to a very old, well known restaurant on the Champs-Élysées, named Ladurée. It has been around since 1862, and it is renowned for its pastries (specifically macaroons) and various delicacies. It's also a nice restaurant that serves very good, light dishes. I had smoked salmon as an appetizer followed by a cod dish. Outstanding/tasty and totally within the realms of accepted program parameters.




The waiter then presented the tray of caloric despair (the desert platter), but I had the presence of mind to say "non" and had some coffee instead.



All-in-all a great day on program. I give full credit to my French colleagues for steering me to good choices. One day down, three to go...

5 comments:

  1. How exciting to find "French" Weight Watchers products!

    I'm in awe of your restraint with the dessert tray. "non", indeed! By the way, are you fluent in French or other languages?

    Good luck with your next few days:)

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  2. Wow, you could say non to dessert /sigh

    Wish I could do that !

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  3. I'll have... THAT one. I saved my weekly pts ;)

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  4. Here's what I find interesting.Look at the photos of the desserts. No giant brandy sniffers full of ice cream or giant slices of death by chocolate cake. Delcious 3 bite pasteries to sweetly end a meal. If these were the desserts offered in US maybe we wouldn't need to say no.

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  5. Aaaahh French Food! :) Hard to resist sometimes but I guess what Anonymous said is right.
    We do have smaller portions than you guys in the US and I'm guessing that makes a huge difference.
    I hope you're enjoying your time in our country! :)

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