The French paradox, or "French Women Don't Get Fat"

So, last weekend, I had a long, boring GO bus trip ahead of me, stopped in at a drug store to browse and wait (and keep warm) while waiting for the bus (I catch it at an outdoor stop in Mississauga). And I was looking through their bookshelves, and a book leapt out at me: "French Women Don't Get Fat".

I think I thought it was a novel or something because it was in with all the chick lit, and it's the first time I've ever bought a book because of its cover, without really knowing what it was about.

So I buy it for the trip and leave, and then as I'm waiting in the bus stop, I start reading the introduction and realized it was a DIET BOOK. Sigh. But oh well, I bought it, and it was actually quite interesting. By the time I was through the first chapter, I had revised my opinion - it's not really a diet book, it's more like a living book. It's the only diet book I've ever read (and, fat chick here, I've read LOTS) that actually made good sense to me.

It's pretty common sense, so common sense that it seems mundane to spell it out, but with all the fad stuff out there (low carb, low fat, etc.) it is kind of a counter to all that. It's kind of like the anti-diet book while still telling North Americans a few hard truths about what it is about our culture that's making so many of us so obese.

It's breezy (although perhaps tilts a little too much into the "confidential-girl-chatter" tone), and the woman who wrote it is a CEO with Veuve Cliquot, so she does have a bit of an aristocratic air. And she does generalize about French women - you get the idea from her that they're all thin, and all glamorous, even though she does make the obligatory disclaimers here and there that there are exceptions. But if you can get past that (and I found it easy to because it was a light, fun read, had some good tips and insights and wasn't snotty in tone), it's interesting.

Anyhow, just wondering if anyone else has read this book, and what you think about it if you have. Here's an excerpt where she outlines the main points in the book:

quote:

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It would be contrary to French sensibilities to attempt to summaraize or reduce a whole philosophy to a discrete set of principles. Any real design for living is more than the sum of its parts. But I'm an American, too, and being a CEO, have a particular weakness for bullts and power points. Besides, what book could call itself French if it didn't at least flirt with deconstructing itself? So with careful appreciation for the slipperiness of generalizations, the American in me feels compelled to observe that

[LIST]French women typically think about good things to eat. American women typically worry about bad things to eat.
French women eat smaller portions of more things. American women eat larger portions of fewer things.
French women eat more vegetables.
French women eat a lot more fruit.
French women have bread and would never consider a life without carbs.
French women don't eat "fat-free," "sugar-free," or anything artificially stripped of natural flavour. They go for the real thing in moderation.
French women love chocolate, especially the dark, slightly bitter, silky stuff with its nutty aroma.
French women eat with all five senses, allowing less to seem like more.
French women balance their food, drink, and movement on a week-by-week basis.
French women do stray, but they always come back, believing there are only detours and no dead ends.
French women don't often weigh themselves, preferring to keep track with their hands, eyes, and clothes: "zipper syndrome".
French women eat three meals a day.
French women don't snack all the time.
French women never let themselves be hungry.
French women train their taste buds, and those of their young, from an early age.
French women honour mealtime rituals and never eat standing up or on the run. Or in front of the TV.
French women don't watch much TV.
French women don't have much TV to watch.
French women eat and serve what's in season, for maximum flavour and value, and know availability does not equal quality.
French women love to discover new flavours and are always experimenting with herbs, spices, and citrus juices to make a familiar dish seem new.
French women eschew extreme temperatures in what they consume, and enjoy fruits and vegetables bursting with flavour at room temperature, at which the prefer their water, too.
French women don't care for hard liquor.
French women do enjoy wine regularly, but with meals and only a glass (or maybe two).
French women get a kick from Champagne, as an aperitif or with food, and don't need a special occasion to open a bottle.
French women drink water all day long.
French women choose their own indulgences and compensations. They understand that little things count, both additions and subtractions, and that as an adult, everyone is the keeper of her own equilibrium.
French women enjoy going to market.
French women plan meals in advance and think in terms of menus (a list of little dishes) even at home.
French women think dining in is as sexy as dining out.
French women love to entertain at home.
French women care enormously about the presentation of food. It matters to them how you look at it.
French women walk everywhere they can.
French women take the stairs whenever possible.
French women will dress to take out the garbage (you never know).
French women are stubborn individuals and don't follow mass movements.
French women adore fashion.
French women know one can go far with a great haircut, a bottle of Champagne, and a divine perfume.
French women know [i]l'amour fait maigrir[/i] (love is slimming).
French women avoid anything that demands too much effort for too little pleasure.
French women love to sit at a cafe and do nothing but enjoy the moment.
French women love to laugh.
French women eat for pleasure.
French women don't diet.
French women don't get fat.[/LIST]

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