French Women Don’t Get Fat
French Women Don't Get Fat
Stylish, convincing, wise, funny, and just in time: the ultimate non-diet book, which could radically change the way you think and live – now with more recipes.French women don’t get fat, even though they enjoy bread and pastry, wine, and regular three-course meals. Unlocking the simple secrets of this “French paradox” – how they enjoy food while staying slim and healthy – Mireille Guiliano gives us a charming, inspiring take on health and eating for our times.For anyone who has slip
Cooley, Donald EAT AND GET SLIM (1961) VG+ unread pb
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$2.99 End Date: Friday Feb-28-2014 18:21:04 PST Buy It Now for only: $2.99 Buy It Now | Add to watch list |
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$2.49 End Date: Friday Feb-28-2014 23:44:26 PST Buy It Now for only: $2.49 Buy It Now | Add to watch list |
A great way to enjoy food and life and still lose weight,
However, that is not to say that this marvelous little book is incorrect in any way, shape or form. While Madame Guiliano is not a nutritionist or doctor, she is the CEO of Clicquot Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of Champagne Veuve Clicquot. Believe me, she knows a thing or two about eating and drinking for pleasure and maintaining your ideal weight.
Let me tell you my own experience eating the French way. I went to France a few years ago for about three weeks. I stayed in Paris, and then in Chartres. I could only afford to eat in little cafes and bistros, but I vowed to eat only my favorite foods and go back only to restuarants that were to die for. I ate my favorites – chocolate made fresh every day, chocolate mousse, home made ice cream, omelettes, pizza with goat cheese and cream sauce, quiche of every kind – you name it I ate it. I also had a glass of wine with dinner every night. We snacked almost all day in between meals on fresh fruit. All of the food was fresh – no chemical additives and nothing packed in pastic bags. We also walked every morning before breakfast and every day after lunch.
When I got home and got on the scale I was shocked to see I had lost 25 pounds, and two dress sizes. I had to laugh because we complained the first few days about how long it took us to get served, and how long each meal took. After the second day we were so into really tasting the food we shared, we shut up and stopped hurrying through each meal.
It took less than a week for me to get back into my harried life – eating on the run, shoving food in my mouth while I talked on a conference call and simultaneously completed and emailed reports. I was back to the fast lane and fast food take out.
When I got this book it took me back to France, and back to why the French have less than an 11% obesity rate (and ours is 30% and climbing.) The French simply eat the freshest food in season, they enjoy what they eat and they walk every where!
We cannot avoid food. We need it to survive. But we can choose fresh foods in season that we love, make meals with a few favorite ingredients and savor every bite.
Once we slow down and let our taste buds enjoy great food again, we will give our stomachs the twenty or so minutes it needs to signal – hey that was delicious but I am done now. You can stop. Save the rest for another time.
Granted, we should not use food as a deterrent for issues we are not dealing with in life. We need to ask – what exactly is eating me right now? And deal with it. Get help from books like Eating in the Light of the Moon or from professional therapists.
In the meantime, we can learn the pleasure principle of food, and lose a few pounds along the way.
I also recommend her other books:
French Women for All Seasons
Women, Work & the Art of Savoir Faire: Business Sense & Sensibility
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A feasible plan to change your lifesytle,
About 6 months ago, I read a Marie Claire article about how the French and American editors switched lives and diets for one month. The French editor lived on Snackwells (an abomination, she thought) Lean Cuisines, and ate in her car, in front of the T.V., and on the go. The American editor dined on fresh, warm breads, rich cheeses, succulent meats and divine wine, and actually sat down, undistracted, to do so. At the end of 30 days, the French editor, despite eating so-called “diet” meals, gained about 10 pounds; the American editor lost 10-15. Bizzare occurence? Alert the ‘Weekly World News’? Hardly. Instead, pick up a copy of Mirelle (pronounced Meer-Ray) Guiliano’s new book “French Women Don’t Get Fat”.
Mirelle confirms what we already know- that French people in general are more active (let’s face it- it’s more tempting to walk to work when you have the gorgeous Parisian landscape to indulge in) and consume less junk. So basically, she’s not telling us anything we haven’t heard before. The difference is, the French approach isn’t a quick fix drop 10 pounds in 2 days juice diet. Mirelle accounts her own experience as a foreign exchange student in America- at 18, she was bigger than she’d ever been, thanks to a new love for chocolate chip cookies, potato chips, and everything else Americans love to nosh on. When she went back home, she turned to her family doctor, Dr. Miracle (no joke), who was eager to help. And now, she’s given us Dr. Miracle’s instructions to help us.
There are a few phases you must go through to change your lifestyle: Recasting, which involves keeping a 3 week food journal to identify your “offenders” (i.e. which foods are your personal temptation/downfall) and at what times you’re eating the most, and Stabilization, learning to eat and move for life by adding the previous offenders in moderation. Although tedious for some, this is like having a doctor prescribe a personal diet just for you, rather than jam you into a ‘one size fits all’ diet. Recasting also involves what Mirelle calls “round up the usual suspects”- analyzing your journal to decide was seems excessive in your judgement- and then determining what you can live without (or at least, with less of). Dr. Miracle also ‘prescribes’ starting your casting off with 2 days of ‘leek soup’ (sort of like the French version of the cabbage soup diet, but smells less like feet). Another staple in your house should be fresh, in season fruits and vegetables. If you’re just buying what’s in the supermarket, you may not be getting the best of what’s in season, which yields a better flavor that reduces the need for lashings of butter and salt to improve their taste.
Variety is key, she adds. If you condition yourself to eating the same type of foods, your taste buds become immune to the flavor, thus requiring more to satiate your ‘craving’. By adding new foods and flavors to your diet, you’re more likely to eat less, and certainly will never be bored. Mirelle also gives us a few recipes that can serve as substitutes for sweets (and there’s not one that calls for sugar substitute or pretend butter). All in all, “FWDGF” encourages moderation and using your common sense. If you really want dessert after dinner, skip the bread basket and only have two forkfuls of dessert- then, lay your fork down and keep up conversation until the waiter/tress asks to take your plate away. This may seem like an expensive waste, but you’ve satisfied your craving while not overindulging. As Oscar Wilde once said, “The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it”. Likewise, a little of a well chosen dessert will keep you from gorging something worse later on. Stock good dark chocolate in the house when you get a jones for something sweet. Dark chocolate can satisfy a craving and has antioxidants that are good for those with high blood pressure (in small doses, of course).
A few reviewers have slammed this book for what they feel is the age old French snootiness about Americans. Not so. Indeed, Mirelle speaks about her love for her adopted country (her husband is American) and merely wants American women to understand that the reason French women stay slim is no secret. That Marie Claire article also mentioned that only 6% of French women are overweight/obese, as opposed to American women (over 50 percent). This is because:
1. French women eat smaller portions of more things (each meal averages 3 courses).
2. French women eat more vegetables.
3. French women love chocolate, especially dark chocolate
4. French women honor mealtime rituals and never eat standing up, on the run, or in front of the T.V.
5. French women eat what’s in season for maximum flavor, and know availability does not equal quality.
6. French women don’t care for hard liquor.
7. French women walk wherever they can.
8. French women drink water all day long.
9. French women don’t eat…
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Lose Weight the Luxurious French Way!,
“French Women Don’t Get Fat” is a wonderful opportunity to look inside this chic French woman’s mind and understand how she eats such delicious food, rarely visit the gym yet wears a small size.
The 263pg book speaks volumes. It clearly describes how to “think” so you will make the food choices that even if indulgent support a healthy weight. And it describes how to “move” to stay slim and you don’t have to go to a gym.
You do not have to be in the Zone or give up carbs or fat in order to lose weight. There is no need to micromanage your nutrients. Instead you must temper your indulgences with restraint. It seems so simple – yet millions of overweight Americans don’t know how to accomplish this. And with her commonsense explanation M. Guliano explains exactly how to do this.
Madame Guiliano is not a doctor or nutritionist. And she has not done scientific studies to test her methods. BUT all she has to do is point to France and the millions of slim Frenchwomen who use her “methode”.
Madame Guiliano states she learned the process of weight loss when she gained weight after a visit to the States from her Doctor – Dr. Miracle. The good doctor taught her simple steps to achieve a healthy weight. Guiliano took his lessons to heart slimmed down and is now frequently asked how she stays so slim!
One of the first steps in the program is recasting. Here you look over the food you eat and you decide what you have to have and what you are willing to eat less of or give up entirely. You also work to get the blatant sugars that create havoc with your chemistry out of your system. There is also a simple recipe for leek soup for a weekend of cleansing for those who wish to jumpstart a weight loss program. You will journal and see what areas cause trouble in your life.
Other steps include eating regular meals, increasing fruits and vegetables, drinking water, not stocking offenders at home and enjoying yogurt on a daily basis.
The book is really designed for those who understand the calorie concept and have a basic understanding of healthy and non-healthy foods. Though Guiliano does not get into calorie counting since she asks that you track what is causing your weight problems, it’s assumed that you know that “faux” foods like twinkies are an offender whereas an apple is not.
Her book includes numerous recipes including Asparagus Flan, Grilled Spring Lamb Chops, Yogurt, Baguette, Salad of Duck A L’orange and more. The book is,however, light on sample daily menus. More of what to eat on a daily basis would have been good.
The book is a superb read on how the Frenchwoman stays so slim and trim! Freshness, variety, balance, luxury and a trim waistline can be yours if you follow the principles!
Bonne Chance!
Lee Mellott
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