Has anyone followed this plan? I know its not really a diet pre sa but a lifestyle plan based on one womens journey and observations.
Anyways I was very impressed with her thoughts.
Has anyone read it?

I think that book, I've seen the author interviewed, is more or less like the Med type diet -- real unprocessed food in smaller portions rather than "diet" food.

Hey it's funny you bring it up because last night I went to the Hollywood Bowl and my friend brought a French woman as his date -- She's a 60-ish grandmother of two who's in GREAT shape, not an ounce of extra fat on her!

Anyhow she made a spinach and egg concoction for everybody, basically it was onions and spinach and eggs with some blue cheese and then she cut it into little squares, and a simple tomato salad and grapes on the side, (and wine of course!)

I was really thinking what a great advertisement she was for that way of eating - she cooks every night and wouldn't even consider going to a drive-thru! I really think it's the processed/convenience foods that are doing us all in.

Hi! I just ordered the book last week from Amazon.com and should have it by Monday. If you go to Amazon.com and search the book, when it comes up scroll down a bit until you see the reviews. There are over 300 of them for you to look at. I read some of them and made the decision to order the book. I'll try to keep ya posted!

Hey just FYI to everybody -- I got my (very clean hardcover edition) of Sonoma Diet used on half.com for $3!

Hi! I ordered both of them from half.com; I hope them come in this week!

Great! We'll compare notes!

I think I'm going to put in a request at the library for that French women diet book -- it certainly rings true for me....I have relatives in both France and Spain and none of them are fat, but the US branch of the family, totally different story. No exaggeration, 90% of the women in my family over 40 have chronic weight/diet issues. When I was in Europe I was so shocked how slim everyone is by comparison, and how they literally never talked about diets or calories! It really is amazing, for one thing, they live in cities and don't use cars on a day to day basis, and the place I stayed in was a walk-up of several flights.

I do think we "convenience" ourselves to death here in the U.S. -- literally!

I think our lack of exercise really is the biggest difference both in how we compare to Europeans, and to prior generations here. My dad in his lifetime is a perfect example. When he was working a very strenuous job 12 hours a day, he ate like a wolverine and stayed fit. Now that he is retired, he looks pregnant.

Yeah that's true Colleen, that's probably the biggest factor. But also the portions! Like they say - if you go to a restaurant in Europe, you eat off a plate. If you go to an American restaurant, you eat off a platter!

All those places like Chilis, TGIF etc....I think we've all started to adopt that "platter o'food" concept as a normal meal, actually, it's pretty weird.

If you go to a French restaurant, the steak looks soooo tiny! BUT IT'S SO GOOD! And it's really just enough, although we are sort of primed to think of small portions as not being a "value," there's definitely a quantity v. quality thing, and when adding a large fries and a large coke to a meal makes it "value..." Well not in terms of our health it's not!

Not only do I think we convenience ourselves to death here there is pressure to try to stuff as many activities into our daily schedules as possible. We put a high value on "productivity" There seems to be no time to sit back and enjoy anything here. I know when I have a weekend when I haven't "accomplished" much but maybe read a book, I end up feeling guilty.

I wish it was only the exercise that made us different!
However we have larger portions, frenkenfoods, food additives and addictive fast food to deal with. The truth is we are a fat nation who does not appreciate good food, we gorge ourselves and teach our children to do the same on cheap fast food! Very sad. However if you need to stretch a $ (as I do) what else can a person do?

Well I do know that the book wants you to write down you food for 2 weeks so I am going to start that as of yesterday. I need to find my "patterns".

Kathy - I haven't read "French Women Don't Get Fat" although I have looked at it in a bookstore and have visited her website. But I think the "eating healthy costs too much" is a common misconception here in North America. I know I fell for it. What I've found is that eating healthy and convenient costs much more, but that buying non-prepared foods in season and eating healthily doesn't have to cost more. Especially if we eat appropriate portions.

By eating local vegetables this summer, I have stayed away from the grocery stores more than usual, and have thus bought less of the processed "junk" that my kids ask for when we go there. With it not in the house, I haven't eaten it. We just tried organic grass-fed beef for the first time this week - after reading "The Omnivore's Dilemma" I'm rather put off feedlot beef, and bought straight from the farmer it's no more expensive than from the store. It's going to be more of a challenge on the vegetable front once the farmer's market is done in October, but I'm going to try! Comparing healthy and refined options of the same food certainly shows the healthy options costing more (whole grain bread vs wonderbread-types, for example) but if you change the whole eating style, rather than replacing certain items only, then it's not actually more expensive. Probably at first, as we learn to do it, but not long-term.

I do agree that it's more than exercise, the over-scheduling Petra mentions, the various food policies that affect subsidies etc. do have an impact on our diet. But food in Europe isn't cheap either. And there are huge subsidy programs in the EU too (I know they were a big political issue when I lived in the UK) so things aren't necessarily "easy" there either. There are major differences in shopping patterns - smaller specialised stores (e.g. butchers, greengrocers (produce)) but I remember going to France as a child and being wowed by the hypermarche too - something now common in North American cities.

Gotta go now - I'm helping in kindergarten today. I have more thoughts on this but they'll have to wait.

Good luck with finding the patterns Cathy, I hope it helps you

Snuggles to all,
Jax

I also think the "eating healthy is more expensive" meme is overused. Vegetables just aren't very expensive, they're filling, and they're loaded with nutrients. Ditto whole grains like oatmeal, brown rice, etc. Meat seems expensive per pound, but not if you stop to work it out. For example, chicken breast is around $3 a pound at the regular grocery stores in my area (I know it's more in other parts of the country, but then again, other meats are cheaper). If you're eating the recommended serving size of 4 oz, that's four meals for $3. Makes those $0.99 value items at Wendy's seem like not such a bargain anymore, even if you ignore the health benefits.

As for the convenience factor, I'm a big fan of using the grocery store for "fast" food. Even the diviest of divey grocery stores will carry fruit, cottage cheese, tuna, imitation crab, lean deli meats, etc. Most modern stores have salad bars, if not sushi stands, roasted chicken, and virtually any prepared food that you could ask for (some of which are even healthy). It takes maybe 5-10 minutes longer than stopping at McDonalds, and it's soooo much better for you.

Kim

I totally agree! I live across the street from a grocery store, and I actually carry an inexpensive paring knife and napkins in my car, so if I want a vegetable that isn't cut up I can slice it on the fly (green pepper, for example). It's not that much more work, especially if you're committed to making healthier choices.

BTW I also read the book about a year ago. I wasn't crazy about everything in it, but I liked probably 95% of it and think it's good stuff. It gave me a fresh perspective on healthy food and deliciousness.

I don't really get the "too expensive" complaint either. I guess meat-heavy diets like Atkins can be expensive....

How expensive is it to make a pot of veggie and/or lentil-based soup? Or to make some hummus, steamed veggies, brown rice, oatmeal?

I think soda is the most expensive thing out there, considering it's got zero nutritional value. True you can get a case of it for a few bucks but you can also save a few bucks by not buying it; I'm DEF saving money since starting this regime and most of it is by not buying the kids Diet Coke anymore, and by cutting down on the wine. We have a lime tree, they can make limeade or iced tea if their tired of water, but I think sometimes just popping cans is a habit (and not a good one!)