Slimming World in France

I regularly spend time in France (about three trips, so roughly six weeks of the year) and having just got back from ten days in the Vendee, I thought it might be useful to sum up my experiences following SW across the Channel.

The Pros.
- French meat and veg/fruit are good and no more expensive than in the UK. If you can rev up a BBQ, you can have a delicious dinner every night with minimal syns. I ate tons of apples and enjoyed lots of steak, chicken and fish on the barbie.
- Yoghurt. The French LOVE yoghurt. Of course, you need to be careful with your syns, but you really shouldn't struggle to find something you can eat. Muller isn't big in France, but there are alternatives. I easily found Liberte yoghurts (re-branded as Yoplait).
- Krisprolls and crackers make up an entire aisle in lots of supermarkets.

The Cons.
- FryLight does not exist in France. If you plan to use it, bring it from home. There simply is no equivalent and I was really surprised how many syns I ended up using because I had to use olive oil.
- In spite of practically inventing the BabyBel and Laughing Cow, you will only find BB in the original or other full-fat varieties. LC is available in Light, but not Extra Light or any of the flavours.
- Bread. Every supermarket smells delicious. You have been warned.
- Cheese.
- Wine.
- Chocolate.

We have a second home in France, so when I'm there, it's cooking as usual. That said, we have always had a bit of a pig-out when on holiday! So it all rather balances out. In the end, I stuck to plan for 5 days - counted all my syns, focussed on the nice meat and veg. Then, for the final 5 days, I forgot about SW, ate ALL the cheese, chocolate, bread and wine and made sure I enjoyed myself.

A bit of context is useful. I've never had a problem with binging, and I only have a few kilos to lose, so I'm happy to have the odd week where I don't lose anything. I know for some people, veering off-plan so absolutely might be disastrous, but for me it was fine. It was interesting to 'make myself' eat naughty food - and I was surprised by how little I actually wanted. Indeed, I weighed myself this morning and I have actually lost another lb.

It's interesting though - this morning I started back on plan and I was really looking forward to it!