An American in Provence

I think every woman has a pair of pants somewhere (hanging in her closet, stored in the attic, somewhere) of a certain size, let's call it size X.

The X can be any number, but it is representative of a time in her life (high school homecoming queen? cheerleader? newlywed?) when she could actually fit into the size X. She keeps it, partly for the memories but mainly to see if she can ever fit back into the Size X again.

While getting dressed for work the other day, I noticed that my size X+2 pants were pretty much hanging off me. I checked to see if they were accidentally my size x+4 pants
(yes, I bought two of the same pair of pants, just different sizes).
Nope, they were actually the size X+2 so I decided: oh what the heck? I'll try my size X's
Lo and behold! they fit.
Wow. I think I am the thinnest I have been in my adult life (adult> 18).

Want to know what the secret it?
The secret is: nothing.
And not nothing as in eating nothing, nothing as in "There is no secret". Just live.
I eat one chocolate bar a week, which is great. I don't feel guilty about it, which is even greater.
I don't beat myself up if one night I just want to eat cheese and bread.
I take the stairs most of the time but if I am tired I take the elevator.
I exercise on Sunday mornings when I don't feel like lying in bed and having a croissant and a cappucino.
And sometimes I exercise on Sunday mornings after lying in bed and having a croissant and a cappucino.
And sometimes I don't exercise on Sunday mornings and just lie in bed and have a croissant and a cappucino.
Et Voila.

The only problem is that now I can't find pants that fit. Perhaps French women have different waist/hip ratios because everything that fits me in the waist is too tight in the hips, and everything that fits in the hips is way too big around the waist.
I like to think that I have a really small waist, instead of the other way around.
I also don't really like the styles of pants that they have here. I won't go into it, but let's just say that I can't wear most of them to work.

So I guess I am going to have to wait until we go back to the US to buy pants, which after two weeks of eating all my favorite foods that I have missed (pretzels and bagels and pie and peppermint patties and grape soda oh my!) I may not even need more Size X's. Such is life. But you know what? I probably won't feel bad about THAT either.