I just now finished watching it.

Actually even before the segment aired, Jim and I had already guessed that the "French Secret" was going to be portion control and lots of walking (I've never been to France but I'm betting that like London, not everyone in Paris owns or regularly uses a car). It was pretty interesting though - if you missed it, the web page (with a video) is here...with an excerpt from her book "French Women Don't Get Fat" which she said was not a diet - and from the sound of it, it's a nice guideline with which to make healthy lifestyle changes.

I'm putting the book on hold at the library right now. Gotta check it out...

Edit to add...just reading the reviews on Amazon (I always enjoy doing that). It looks as though a great deal of this is stuff I already do except for what she said about not going to a gym but just walking and taking the stairs everywhere. Since I'm at a desk job and don't walk to work, I still need my gym time Besides I enjoy it anyway!

Arrrgh! I was just chatting with someone about the French diet tonight! I miss everything, dang it. I rarely turn on my tv

I actually ordered that book Friday, and already have the Fat Fallacy by Dr. Will Clower, which is also about the French way of eating (and lifestyle). Very interesting.

Oooh! They showed the whole interview in the link, thanks for sharing it! Yes, portion control and exercise. Like she said, there is no secret, no gene, just common sense. One thing that I didn't care for was the idea of boiling leeks then drinking the leek water, lol. She said it acted as a diuretic. She also stressed fresh unprocessed foods, but said nothing was off limits. No deprivation. If you want it, eat it, but eat less of it. Fast food? Go less often, and eat less when you get there. Drink lots of water, and walk, walk, walk.

Thanks!

Hi,

I think there are 2 big differences between France (or Europe in general ) and the USA in this respect:

1. Most european places are much more laid out for walking. Traditionally everyone walked in the village from one shop to another, and in the centres of the big cities you either bike or combine public transport with walking. The USA is much more laid out for cars, even so that it is uncommon to walk from your house to the shop and vice versa.

2. The portions are smaller and there is a big emphasis on just bread as a staple of the diet.

Yah, I didn't much care for the 'diuretic' leek soup reference myself. That struck me as 'diety-gimmicky'. Although I very much like potato-leek soup personally.

In his book Fat of the Land as well as in a related article (which I have previously posted and can be found here), Michael Fumento covered this topic - that generally, Europeans 'eat less than we do' and 'exercise informally'. Actually in the 'olden days' here in the States (not all THAT long ago - I'd say up to around, oh, 1947-1950 or so) most folks DID walk everywhere - or take public transportation. IMO it was when the suburbs started springing up after WWII - tract house communities such as Levittown which were built in remote locations - that's when the car became pretty much a necessity to DO anything, even to pick up a quart of milk.

I myself am pretty fortunate to live in an 'older' established neighborhood with a bustling downtown area close to my home. I need only walk a few blocks to get to my gym, buy groceries, go to the movies, a number of restaurants, the drugstore, other retail establishments, and the library (which actually is being rebuilt right now, supposedly will be done this year - can't WAIT). Even when it's pouring rain out, I generally opt to walk since it's less of a hassle than starting the car and finding a parking place.

Now as far as portion sizes go...that IS a recent development in the States. Up until the 1950's, Coke only came in one size - the 8-oz bottle. That's what people got when they ordered a Coke. One size. If they wanted more, they bought two. I like what the author of French Women Don't Get Fat said - after three bites, you don't really 'taste' the food anymore. And you know what - she's right!

I found it interesting on Amazon that some of the reviewers said "well that might be the French way but this is America...we CAN'T change to small portions". IMO - America has been the country that is MOST FLEXIBLE to changes and has changed the MOST.

The trend to supersized portions and being the fattest nation in the world is a RECENT trend, that can be reversed if people WANT IT BADLY enough. Look at smoking for example. When I was in jr. high and high school (I graduated in 1981) smoking was still considered cool, and my high school even had a BIG outdoor smoking area.

When I first started working in offices I had to work next to at least two people who smoked like chimneys, all day. I couldn't say anything - I just had to put up with it as a non-smoker (the company got those 'smokeless ashtrays' but as you probably know, they're useless). When I went to restaurants, unless they happened to have a non-smoking section, I was pretty much relegated to breathing in second-hand smoke during my meal. That was in the mid-to-late 1980s...it hasn't even been 20 YEARS and look at the turnaround - smoking is NOT allowed inside offices and only in designated outdoor areas. (yay!)

Saying that America 'can't change' from massive portions of subpar food after seeing the above happen with ciggies...I beg to differ!

I live in a neighbourhood very much like that. It's not quite downtown, but one of the oldest suburbs in the city, built before most people owned cars. It has its own shopping area as well as being within walking distance of a much newer shopping mall area. I love that I'm within a 15-20 minute walk of pretty much every major grocery and drug store chain, the post office, liquor store, sports stores, etc. And the main branch of the library downtown is just over a mile away. It makes it so much easier to incorporate exercise into my life when I can walk for most of my errands. We're also just around the corner from a walking/biking trail, skating rink, sledding hills and playgrounds for the kids.

The thing in Europe too is that the ingredients they use in bakeries are fresh and they eat a lot less processed food than we do in North America. The portions they serve in restaurants are also smaller than over here. I think they have more of an appreciation of food too and sit down to a meal to enjoy the flavors and conversation instead of chowing down like we do.

I grew up with Italians and every meal was well prepared from scratch, the smells were amazing and dinner was always an event. The meals were simple: a pasta dish, salad, bread, coffee and cookies. Or a pasta soup, breaded veal with herbed potatoes and cooked peppers and onions, followed by a cheese and fruit plate for dessert. About 10 -12 people sat down to dinner and laughed and talked an ate. The adults would have half a glass of homemade wine and the kids would have gingerale. And that was a weeknight supper. Special occasion suppers would have 7 courses!

Frig! I ate so much pasta when I was a kid that I probably should have weighed 180lbs by the time I was 10! They certainly didn't believe in low-carbing!

Golly, if Americans changed to larger portions in the first place, why cant we change back? Is this a one-way street? If you want to be thinner, you have to make some sacrifices.

One of the things I like about traveling in Europe, esp Mediterranean countries, is that I usually lose weight, alot of weight. Why? Because I walk and walk and walk, then walk some more. And eat less. The food is very good, easy to find, and there are not alot of beckoning fast food places on every corner, though MacDonalds is appearing in more and more places. Too bad. But who would eat at MacDonalds when traveling abroad anyway?

I grew up in an Italian home. The food was wholesome and natural, and some of it home-grown. Main meal was at noon, sit-down with the family, with a glass of homemade wine for the parents and milk for the kids. While fruit was plentiful, prepared desserts were a very rare occurance. Too bad we learned to stuff our feelings and eat for comfort, or I wouldve been a natural eater like my Dad was. Oh well, at least I know what I am aiming for.

Jan

We had a meeting of Stephen King fans in Bangor, ME this past summer. One of the girls from the UK expressed surprise that they charge so much for a salad here and so little for a burger and fries. From that comment, I assume it's the opposite there. She also expressed concern about the portion sizes. She thought they were outrageous.

The underlying character of the French diet is a sensuality that we Americans lack. It's more than portion control, it's the appreciation of fresh ingredients. In France, especially in cities, people don't usually go to supermarkets and stock up for a week or a month. They shop almost daily at little markets - farmer's markets in the city center, buying whatever is seasonable and fresh. This takes time. Eating is a sensual, leisurely experience too. They also don't eat rich food every day -desserts and saucy dishes are saved for Sunday lunches or special dinners.

If your interested in the French lifestyle, two books I read recently are really good: Entre Nous, which tells you how to channel your "inner French Girl" by discussing all aspects of French life, food entertaining, dressing, etc. Another book I found interesting is "Almost French" written by an Australian woman who married a frenchman and how she had to adjust to the French way of life.

One thing I would add about the French is that they don't snack. In fact, snacking is seen as something to be embarassed about. I think that, as well as the other lifestyle things mentioned here, contributes to their svelteness.

I've been to London twice, and from my experience EVERYTHING costs more...

(first example that springs to mind: $6.15 USD for a venti skinny chai tea at Starbucks on Piccadilly... which costs $3.45 here in the US...I didn't venture into a McDonalds (even though they were EVERYWHERE in London) as I usually ate at the meetings or went out to dinner with my group.)

If the afternoon tea I attended was typical, the scones are about 1/6th of the size that you see here...not as sweet either. Besides scones, there were tiny cookies and finger sandwiches...and tea I know that if Jim had been with me, he would have had to have something else to eat afterwards!

You know, during the segment on Sunday, JUST as I was telling Jim that "the French don't snack" as one of the reasons for the not-fatness (although I have to say that I DO know native French people who are fat - one of our European offices is located in Paris) they showed a couple of skinny Parisian gals, walking and eating French bread.

Incidentally, the FIRST book that I read the reasons why "French Women Don't Get Fat" was in the first part of Scruples by Judith Krantz, which I first read in high school! (anyone remember?)

Ah yes - Scruples! Where the main character- Billy, I think - goes to live in France with a French family immediately after the war and embarrasses herself my taking seconds of their skimpy rations. After that she eats like her French hosts and voila! comes home skinny and hungry for life. I think of this occasionally when I'm hungry, but I don't have that kind of willpower.

Well, that's partly correct.

Billy is fat - her parents are from money but they're the poor relations, so she's always being teased by her thin, fashionable cousins. She inherits a nest egg from an aunt or something and instead of investing it or what have you, she wants to go to France for a year. Her other aunt has a widowed friend in Paris who takes in boarders to meet expenses for her and her two daughters. The meals are itty bitty - a slice of cheese, hard boiled egg, 1 slice of ham and some veggies. Breakfast was cafe au lait and a slice of a baugette I think...I don't recall Billy EVER taking seconds, she was too scared, but she did sneak downstairs to get something to eat out of the kitchen only to find that there was nothing there. Her French wasn't good enough to buy food at the stores and it was considered gauche to eat in the streets anyway. But yup, she came home skinny and ultra fashionable...

Note to self: go to library and pick up "Scruples" and the sequels for weekend reading.