I read a lot of diet books while I was losing weight to help motivate me. French Women Don't Get Fat was one of my favorites! I didn't really care her recommendation to start off with a soup fast, but beyond that I found her tips quite helpful.
I agree with her observation that America's love of efficiency may be a small part of our weight problems. I now go out of my way to be less efficient in some ways so as to move more and get more daily task exercise in. I take stairs, I park farther away from stores, I walk to work, I don't mind walking back and forth several times to carry things from point A to point B etc.
I also like her take on foods that diets normally forbid. I love wine and I drank wine moderately while losing and now. And no one better try and deny me my dark chocolate!
Another thing I did not agree with though was her take on snacking. I can't go six hours without eating. No way! So I snack, but I snack on healthy things.
I think the main reason they don't get AS fat (many French women DO get fat) is that they WALK a lot and their food has less hormones.
Even when I was living in England for a while, I would eat curries, take-aways, etc. EVERY DAY because I didn't have a kitchen, but because I ALSO didn't have a car, I was at my lowest weight ever the whole time I lived there. I only gained it back when I moved back to the US.
I've also had foreign-exchange students joke that the reason American women have larger breasts is we eat a lot of (hormone laden) chicken, which I laughed at initially..
I've also had my aunt go back to Bolivia to visit family there, eat like a monster and lose weight only to gain when she came back here and at "more healthy"..
If I had a choice, I'd just pick up and move overseas. So, the book MAY be helpful, yeah, but I think it's about a lot more than eating styles, choices, than what actually goes IN the food behind the scenes and the older city/town/village layouts which are a LOT more suited to walking. (as opposed to the suburbs where you can't even get to the next grocery store without driving 7 miles)
Using hormones in poultry production is illegal (but not antibiotics unfortunately.) There is heavy hormone use in beef and dairy production though. I don't eat beef for this reason (and others) and I always look for either organic or rBST free dairy.
I just keep getting visions of turkeys so souped up on whatever they give them, that their legs break from holding their disproportionate, fat little bodies up.. So I figure they must be getting SOMETHING. (not sure how antibiotics beef them up, though anything's possible) Turkeys in other countries usually look emaciated compared to our American version.. I'm guessing the emaciated looking turkeys are what they naturally look like? Anyway, I'm going off on a tangent now!
I read this book for inspiration also. The thing I took from it was to spend more time preparing and enjoying good, quality food instead of large portions of fast food. I tried one of the vegetabel soup recipes. It was good but it took about 3 hours to prepare! I agree with her outlook on eating but it is certainly not a convenient way to eat.
I just keep getting visions of turkeys so souped up on whatever they give them, that their legs break from holding their disproportionate, fat little bodies up.. So I figure they must be getting SOMETHING. (not sure how antibiotics beef them up, though anything's possible) Turkeys in other countries usually look emaciated compared to our American version.. I'm guessing the emaciated looking turkeys are what they naturally look like? Anyway, I'm going off on a tangent now!
I think they breed them to be "breast" heavy. I'm sure it also has to do with the corn heavy diet they feed them (not their natural diet.) Anyway... we are going off an a tangent aren't we? Lol.
I do think the book is great for giving you a different way to look at food. I think it's possible to enjoy food and still achieve a healthy weight.
I haven't read this book but I am getting curious. Antibiotics would not make turkeys fat but they may be bred for particular qualities as has already been stated or the diet they are fed may have something to do with what we get here in the US.
Whoever made the comment about convenience.....I think that may be the point. Believe me, I understand about not having hours to spend every day preparing gourmet meals but most of us have gone way overboard the other direction and think we should be able to prepare AND eat our meals in 20 minutes.
I LOVE this book, I need to reread it again, along with her newer book French Women for All Seasons or something like that. French women always make nutritionists mad because they go against their usual theories - they eat cheese, drink wine, eat bread, etc. but they really watch their portions. If they overeat they make up for it by exercising more asap. French women age beautifully. There's a lot to be learned from France I think... it's a good book to mix with other diet/nutrition books you might be reading. There's good recipes and ideas on how to cook seasonally, and with FRESH foods. Personally I'd like to head back to France and hang out at the beaches, I was young and very thin when I was there last, and too I did a lot of WALKING as the Europeans do. I GET their culture, they walk everywhere, they don't go to health clubs but as they get older they lift light weights at home as I do. I ate a crissont the other day, YUMMY.
I really enjoyed this book. I haven't seen the new book Frnch Women for All Seasons, I will have to look for it.
I too find that people who walk every where seem to keep their weight in check.
Something for me to think about.
Thanks
I this book!! Her second book is great too! It really changed my outlook on life. It is a must read!! I did do the leek detox and have done it 2times. I use it to get rid of TOM bloating or if I want to jumpstart my weightloss again. But if you can't subsist on leeks for 2 days you could also try the fat smash detox. They get abotu the same results but the fat smash is way easier and more filling!
I just went to France this summer and I was like....where's the fat people? Where'd they put them? LOL....seriously, it's the portions and the WALKING! They don't do the drive-thru thing. They eat quality food, take their time eating, enjoy life. The "American way of eating" is to gulp a lot of junk food and soda, and go from bed to car to office chair. It's a recipe for fat.
I absolutely loved France btw and in Paris and the little town we stayed at where my friend got married, I never had ONE snotty incident....not a one!
The French people are lovely and their country is beautiful. I don't know where the bad rap came from.
btw here is a pic I took in Paris at lunch hour -- the locals go to these little cafes and buy lunch and eat on the church steps, they are not eating Lean Cuisine either! Baguettes, ham sandwiches and the like, and look how skinny they are.
I've never read this and nor have I spent much time in France, but I have spent a lot of time in Italy and everyone there is thin as well. Well, let me reword that: everyone there is fit and healthy and thin. I think it's a combination of walking A LOT, working less hours than Americans (generally) so there's more time for socializing and being outside, having fresher, always organic food, and eating lots of whole/full-fat foods, like cheeses, oils and the like.
The first time I went to Italy, I weighed about 205lbs (down from 264). By the time I came home 4 months later, I weighed 186lbs. I did NO exercise; I just walked. And I eat like an unholy beast too. The pounds just came off without any fuss. I would wake up and having a fruit salad with a nutella filled pastry and a caffe latte. Then for lunch, I'd have a grilled vegetable and cheese panino. Then I'd have my pre-dinner meal of either curry take-out or another panino. Then for dinner, I'd have either pizza or some kind of pasta.
In the US, I'd gain weight even LOOKING at a chocolate-filled pastry, let alone eating one every morning. And eating 4 large meals a day? I'd be 500lbs in no time.
*sigh*... I miss Italy so much. Everytime I'd go there, I'd come back thinner than I was. It's such a great place.
I think our hectic lifestyles also take part in our obese country. France actually has a rule out of hours you can work per week, I want to say 32? But yeah, they can actually enjoy life and what not as opposed to us who are always on the move and looking for convenience.
"French women dont get fat"
this book!! Her second book is great too! It really changed my outlook on life. It is a must read!! I did do the leek detox and have done it 2times. I use it to get rid of TOM bloating or if I want to jumpstart my weightloss again. But if you can't subsist on leeks for 2 days you could also try the fat smash detox. They get abotu the same results but the fat smash is way easier and more filling!
