I was flipping threw the channels yesterday and tuned into the last 15m of the Oprah show. She had a author or "french women dont get fat".
It sounded VERY interesting; SO i went to the library and got the book. I read a few chapters and I can say it DOES have very helpful tricks to losing weight. I really is not a diet book she has NO meal plan ; she only has what fresh women follow in life.

Has anyone read this?

A GOOD READ full of HELPFUL IDEAS.

from thr Oprah site:


In France, the home of cheese, chocolate and croissants, just 11 percent of the people have weight problems. Meanwhile in the United States, 67 percent of the people have weight problems. So just how do the French stay so thin?

Mireille Guiliano, author of the bestseller French Women Don't Get Fat thinks she has the answers and is ready to share!

Mireille says she distinctly remembers the moment of discovery about the path to thinness in the traditional French diet. "When I grew up in France, I was a normal size. And then I came to the United States and I gained 20 pounds." When she went back home to Paris, Mireille says she felt fat. "Our family doctor told me that I could get back to my normal weight in six months just by doing a few French tricks."


From The Publisher:
French women don't get fat, but they do eat bread and pastry, drink wine, and regularly enjoy three-course meals. In her delightful tale, Mireille Guiliano unlocks the simple secrets of this "French paradox"—how to enjoy food and stay slim and healthy. Hers is a charming, sensible, and powerfully life-affirming view of health and eating for our times.

As a typically slender French girl, Mireille (pronounced Meer-ray) went to America as an exchange student and came back fat. That shock sent her into an adolescent tailspin, until her kindly family physician, "Dr. Miracle," came to the rescue. Reintroducing her to classic principles of French gastronomy plus time-honored secrets of the local women, he helped her restore her shape and gave her a whole new understanding of food, drink and life. The key? Not guilt or deprivation, but learning to get the most from the things you most enjoy. Following her own version of this traditional wisdom, she has ever since relished a life of indulgence without bulge, satisfying yen without yo-yo on three meals a day.

Now in simple but potent strategies and dozens of recipes you'd swear were fattening, Mireille reveals the ingredients for a lifetime of weight control—from the emergency weekend remedy of "Magical Leek Soup" to everyday tricks like fooling yourself into contentment and painless new physical exertions to save you from the StairMaster. Emphasizing the virtues of freshness, variety, balance and always pleasure, Mireille shows how virtually anyone can learn to eat, drink and move like a French woman.

Here are a culture's most cherished and time-honored secrets recast for the 21st century. For anyone who has slipped out of her zone, missed the flight to South Beach, or accidentally let a carb pass her lips, here is a buoyant, positive way to stay trim. A life of wine, bread—even chocolate—without girth or guilt? Pourquoi pas?

I have this book and saw the show the other day.

I had got the book sometime around Christmas or so and hadn't really read it so the show inspired me to read it properly which I have been doing for the last two days.

My own philosophy is in line with the French/Mediterranean way of eating. I grew up with an Italian family and food was always prepared with fresh ingredients (tomatoes and basil and vegetables fresh from the garden) and with loving care by nona. Food was enjoyable and more about breaking bread with family and friends rather than just to eat.

Somewhere down the line I got away from this and in the past two years have rediscovered the joy of cooking, the smell of fresh basil, the coulours of fresh fruit and vegetables - I can proudly say that I have no frozen instant storebought meals in my freezer.

Anyway her book has motivated me to pursue my love of all things culinary and to get balk into my walking routine. Today I took some of the stairs at work - I'm not ready to do all 14 floors yet but I figure I will build up gradually.

I am glad I found someone who likes it. LOTS of women I guess get offended by the title and tend to get defensive.(on other boards I have tried to post and find people who like it)
I am half way into it now. It IS inspiring to me also; I like the thought of NOT being on a diet and NOT have to worry about calories, points, and forbidden foods. I am now into my 2nd day of my diary...and alread see problems..

I worked with a lady who was from Europe, she traveled all over the place, lived in just about every country but Italy was her home.

She ate anything she wanted, full fat everything BUT...you would not believe how small her portions were. And she was happy with it.

When her husband wanted to go to McDonalds, she would eat about 1/4 of a quarter pounder with cheese and a few french fries, and a couple bites of an ice cream sundae. It was amazing. She was so incredibly thin. She kept telling me to stop eating that low fat crap and enjoy my food.

She walked every where also, went grocery shopping on the way home from work everyday so she would have fresh food.

Sarah

Oh ya! Once you start eating fresh foods you don't want to go back to eating processed

Mireille's book gives some lovely but simple recipes and I have to say - I love my baguettes

I use organic virgin olive oil and fresh tomatoes and last year I planted an herb garden in my back yard - it was great just to pop out to the garden and snip off some fresh basil to toss in a tomato sauce or make homemade pesto

It's nice to be able to enjoy food and not get freaked out over it.

We never use to eat dessert on a daily basis when I was a kid - it was a treat and fortunately I have been able to carry that over into adulthood. I don't have a sweet tooth and prefer tart over sweet. Although once in a while I have to have a millefeuille - I laughed when I read about those in the book. They are called Napoleons elsewhere but in France and Canada they are Millefeuille.

I'm on my way already as she suggests eating dark chocolate and I looooove dark chocolate! My favorite is Black & Green's Dark Organic chocolate with Orange and Spices. It is about $4.50 for a large bar but well worth it. It is so rich I can only manage one or two squares at a time and feel my chocolate craving is satisfied - a bar usually lasts me more than two weeks.

I'm a francophile and bought this book shortly after it came out. It didn't tell me anything new because I know enough about French people to know how they eat. But it is an inspirational book in some ways. Mireille's approach to eating is very sensual. It's quality over quantity. Unfortunately, Americans are too accustomed to snack foods and gargantuan plates of food when eating out. We have to learn portion control and not to eat between meals. Also, unless you live in a city, it is difficult to walk everywhere you need to go. But it's worthwhile to make the effort. Has anyone tried any of her recipies?

I'm not trying to be sarcastic, but is the basis of this plan just eating whatever you'd like in extreme moderation, but also eating fresh foods? If so, I like it!

Basically But you have to avoid processed foods and junk food too- no McD's or any other fast food.

If you are going to have something as a treat then it should be something of good quality. I.E. instead of a twinkie go to a real bakery and get a small fruit tart

She's not telling me something I didn't know just something I needed to be reminded of

I'm personaly sick of counting calories/points etc. etc. and I am not a gym person so this lifestyle sounds good to me so I'm going to give this a whirl.

I think it is MrsJim who frequently says that there is 'little new under the sun'. An enormous amount of what we need to know about weightloss is common sense. I think we just get discombobulated by the sheer volume of extra 'stuff' written about it.

Actually the author herself says that in her book

When I first read about the book, I was flying to Las Vegas for an anniversary trip. I loved the concept. It was soooo easy. We were eating in fantastic restaurants, and I could really savor the food. The problem comes in my real life. When I really think about it, very little of what I eat is fabulous and worth truly savoring. I eat almost no fast food or processed food, but frequently the food I eat is decent or ok or so-so or even good, but really very rarely truly delicious. I don't think it is just that I am a bad cook although sometimes the problem is that I've cooked the pork chops a little too long or the chicken is dry, etc. I just don't know how an average American gets around the abundance of mediocre food.

I try to eat this way in my everyday life. Why waste calories on something that doesn't taste really good? LOL!

But I do have a quibble with the title....I've recently moved back to the US after living in France. I must say that French women DO get fat. Very very fat. France is on track to have the same % the US does now by 2020.

I have also been to Europe and did'nt see many overweight women.
Maybe I was in the wrong town?
I think the weight increases has to do with the introduction of western fast food and processed foods.
Studies have been done on this and it is proven.
I have a book I got from the library; I may be
able to find the title.

I have ordered this book from Amazon... I love the idea of eating quality, I've recently started to spend more on groceries!

I also read a piece in the Times that was saying since a lot of "low fat" and "diet" foods have been introduced in France and advertising to "eat healthily" and that high fat foods are bad for you, that this has caused people to put on weight. There is a counter campaign to get people eating good, delicious food again, and really enjoying it.

Hopefully I can try this ploy when I visit Belgium on Sunday!

Well, I just think that the food industry such as MCdonalds, Burger King, all those fast food places and as well as restraunts want you to come back to their establisment to eat..more money for them..so of course they are going to want their food to taste extra good, hence the extra fat and butter and such thrown into the food. ..I mean they fry the steaks up in butter. Because it is so good, you want to go back..and I truly think that fast food and eating out can become addictive. If you can stick to eating half of a burger and fries , then that is fine, but most people don't do this. They eat the whole thing. I myself did a little trick with myself. I went into Burger King, ordered a Whopper Jr meal and made myself eat only half of the fries and half of the burger. I walked out satisfied with the feeling of contentment. I didn't need a whopper value meal king sized in order to feel content. I used to be able to eat a whopper value meal king sized and feel full, but want more. I quit eating fast food for a long time and realized that when trying to quit, I was CRAVING this fast food! So I reallly think that it is addictive and you have to take yourself fully away from it for a while to realize just how addictive it is. IF you can control yourself in such establishments and eat only what your body needs, then I think it is okay to eat fast food every once and a while, but most people don't.