“Then I remembered how my Weight Watchers leader told us to 'walk the circumference of the supermarket', meaning to avoid the aisles in the middle that held the most dangerous foods: the processed foods, the foods full of sugary and fatty goodness. She told us to stick to the outside - the dairy, meat, fish, and produces aisles. So I did.”

“Treated without respect, food can be dangerous stuff. It can nourish you and at the same time, it can destroy you.”

“You could say that food is love. And to feel loved is to feel happy.”

“Truth be told, happiness is like the artist's muse. She is very whimsical and loves to play little tricks on us. If we search too hard, happiness will slip away. And then, when we are not really concentrating on capturing her, she will suddenly appear in our peripheral vision wearing a green silk gown, winking at us.”

“And actually, the word "happiness" translates as bonheur in French, which literally means "a good hour" or "good time". It's something you experience.”

“Oh, and we shopped! And since I was on a budget, I also did a lot of simple window shopping, or as the French say, le lèche-vitrines: "we licked the window".”

“That's the nice thing about struggling with weight - it often forces you to be creative and to appreciate scarves, hats, boots & bijoux.”