French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano
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Book Reviews of French Women Don't Get Fat
Book Review: French Woman Don't Get Fat. By Mirielle Guiliano. Reviewed By: Lisa Panetta-Sawaya, MA, Michigan, USA
Summary: 5 Stars
French Women Don't Get Fat is a memoir that is also a cookbook and a guide for American woman on weight control. Written by Mireille Guiliano, a French American woman born in France and raised both in France and America, the book uncovers the reasons that French woman are not fat yet they eat things that are seen as unhealthy by American woman, such as bread, butter, chocolate and wine. The book explores the cultural differences between French and American woman and how these translate into the weight problem many American woman have. Filled with rich stories, recipes and French cultural wisdom, the author unravels the mystery of the "French Paradox." Guiliano suggests that the answer to the question, why French Woman Don't Get Fat, lies in the fundamental differences between how French and American woman view food and life.
For the French woman, eating is part of a ritual and the preparation and the presentation are as important as the eating. This is not so for many American woman. In this way, French woman are burning calories through the shopping as they walk to the market and as they prepare the meal from quality ingredients in their own kitchens. The foods they eat are fresh that day from the market. They do not eat poor quality food or drink. "...the great majority of Americans are conditioned to demand and accept bland, processed, chemically treated, generally unnatural foods, which through packaging and marketing have been made to seem wholesome. I have no doubt that any people made to eat this way would in time grow fat. Among the French, by contrast, a love of good natural food is part of the universal patrimony. Not that French don't pay more for quality. On the average, they spend a much greater proportion of their income on food. But what seems like a luxury to Americans is a necessity to the French. The key to cooking, and therefore living well, is the best ingredients."(77) The author goes on to explain how indulging in pleasures is important to maintaining a healthy weight and life. "Too often, American women eat on the sly, and the result is much more guilt than pleasure. The tendency goes with an attitude that should be changed. Nothing is sinfully delicious. If you really enjoy something, as I adore chocolate, there is a place for it in your life. Only with cultivated pleasure can you enjoy chocolate in the clear light of day."(182) As for exercise, the author shares that the American view of all or nothing is far from the French view of slow and steady. "American woman seem to have two modes: sitting or spinning. French women prefer the gentler, more regular varieties of all-day movement--"the slow burn," in American terms."(207)
Living in two cultures has given Guiliano great insights that she shares almost lyrically. Her French way of living is wonderfully wise and romantic. She has created a notable memoir, that can enrich and empower all woman with a healthier view of food and life.
Book Review: Balanced food for balanced weight
Summary: 5 Stars
Part healthy living guide, part memoir, this non-diet book is chock-full of great advice for weight control. I have lost over thirty pounds since reading this book almost two years ago, which has also been reread when I've felt myself slipping back into an American standard of eating. Even if you don't want to buy a yogurt machine or eat leeks for a weekend, this sage advice is well worth your time.
As Madame Guiliano teaches us, the biggest "secrets" to maintaining a healthy weight are portion control and balanced eating. The "trick" is not deprivation, but indulgence in fine foods in portion-controlled amounts. Deprivation only leads to overindulgence later. Tantalize your taste buds! Yes, you can have the wine, the champagne, the rich food, and the few pieces of (high-quality) chocolate too! The biggest lesson on portion control: French women eat until they're satisfied. Americans eat until they're stuffed. You must learn to read the signals that tell you when you've had enough.
As she shows us, both when and how are important for balance. If you had the bread at lunchtime, skip it at dinner. If you had the croissant for breakfast, balance it with vegetables at lunch and a piece of fruit mid-afternoon. Eat three healthy meals a day. If you eat well throughout the day, you will lose the need to gorge all night long.
Madame Guiliano advises us that the most delectable portion of a course is in the first three bites. Go for the cup of soup, not the bowl. She also advises us to cultivate an appreciation for fresh foods that are in season, and to use them. As she notes, there is nothing more flavorless than a winter tomato, so why torture your taste buds by eating them? Other useful "rules" include: NEVER eat standing up, pay attention to presentation (every meal should be an experience), and don't rush through meals - pay attention to your food!
Of course, French women walk everywhere, too, but we Americans don't need to be told we aren't moving enough. We all know it. We don't want to hear it, but we don't have an appreciation for how small things add up to big changes. Park your car at the furthest space away from the store, take the stairs instead of the elevator, walk from a store to the one next door instead of driving across the parking lot. It all adds up! I know some of this doesn't sound new, but what Madame Guiliano teaches us is a new attitude toward food.
This book has given me a renewed interest in cooking, and an appreciation of the freshest seasonal foods available. Whole Foods has become a staple for my produce and chocolate. I have dusted off my favorite cookbook and found dozens of easy recipes using spices I had never tried (I found her recipes a little too difficult, using ingredients I don't readily have at hand). Best of all, put these suggestions into action and enjoy a "joie de vivre" you've never experienced before!
Book Review: A TRUE Lifestyle Change for Longtime Dieters-- Stop the Diet!
Summary: 5 Stars
I strongly recommend this book for anyone who is constantly "dieting" (and is sick it) and is ready for a true lifestyle change.
I am a female in my late twenties. In my teens, I was overweight. I lost about 20 pounds prior to going away to college and kept it off; however, I remain unhappy with my weight. I am considered in the "normal" range, but at the high end, and am unhappy with my appearance. These stubborn 10-15 pounds drive me crazy. I have tried Weight Watchers, South Beach, diet pills, and have always given up quickly and feel frustrated by being restricted and knowing I am on a diet (which of course implies a temporary state and punishment). I love food and appreciate it, but know I have an unhealthy relationship with it, for I am inundated with feelings of guilt and frustration almost every time I eat. I am definitely an emotional eater. I eat primarily out of boredom or stress and know when I am doing it, which only makes me feel worse. I keep going back to Weight Watchers, but don't stay on it long because I feel counting points is aggravating, I find myself eating low points foods that are highly processed and not nourishing, and being hungry and eager while on it. (I know WW is great for some people, just not for me).
Why French Women Don't Get Fat is a book that truly provides perspective that can inspire and guide a lifestyle change. It is right for someone who wants to reinvent his or her relationship with food AND eating. Although some have critiqued Guiliano for being "snotty," I find her points valid. I have learned so many tips that I will actively make a part of my life. For example, savoring food one bite at a time, cutting items you eat for no good reason and could live without (for me, pop--although, I drank diet, and chips), cutting back on those delicious foods we don't want to live without (chocolate, wine), and controlling or portions and responding to hunger. Most importantly, eating real food in reasonable amounts (ie. No processed food at all).
I strongly recommend to read Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food to accompany Guiliano's book. While I feel Guiliano gives fantastic advise on how to change our perceptions of food, eating, and our lifestyle, Pollan's book does a wonderful job discussing what we should be feeding our bodies.... Food, not food products that are factory made and filled with chemicals. Pollan's book will give you insight into what you are eating (without feeling you are stuck with French food).
I feel uplifted and truly excited to make a real change--to look at food and eating as something to be "respectfully savored," nourishing, and to begin fueling my body with real food in appropriate quantities for the right reasons.
I wish everyone the best of luck!
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto
Book Review: The Secrets of Eating For Pleasure
Summary: 5 Stars
Changing your gastrominal point of view, insists the author, will enhance your life and pare down your size. Americans may find Ms. Guiliano's first book annoying and self-promoting of the French culture. But, hey, if they have a secret and are willing to share, why not let them dish?
Mireille Guiliano clearly underlines that when eating there are no extremes necessary. First and foremost binge dieting leads to binge eating. Then binge exercising leads to binge couch sessions. Walking more and drinking more water, however, are both key to enabling oneself to eliminating extremes.
It's an easier resolution to follow, she insists, than going to the gym three times per week. And this adhearing to no extremes takes less time out of your day. When one considers all this delivery of common sense, Americans in general will agree that this advice is a no-brainer. The bottom line is to keep all things in moderation. Easier said than done? Actually, it's easier done.
Etiquette encourages not just the hostess but the human being to consider others and their needs. It's about taking your eyes off yourself and focusing on the rest of the human race around you. Much like etiquette encourages one to cater to others and appreciate manners and style, "French Women Don't Get Fat" directs the reader to enjoy the pleasures of life and not short change yourself. If you love chocolate, don't eat a plastic Snickers Bar. Instead get one truffle and savor it.
Savor life's little pleasures. One example is an heirloom tomato when picked at its peak of ripeness. They are so sweet they resemble a strawberry rather than a beefsteak tomato, which when compared to its contemporary, tastes like water.
Enjoying little treasures and savoring them allows a person to look forward to the event. This vision and excitement fights boredom. And boredom, we have all found, has the potential to lead to over eating, over sitting and generally going backwards in our efforts to live a healthier, more productive lifestyle. No boredom has the potential to getting out in the world, thinking ahead, considering others, not just your own needs.
An underlying theme of "French Women Don't Get Fat" is to leave positive lasting impressions with people you come into contact with. This encourages freedom of thought, poise and posture. Posture is a sure-fire way to help you feel better and you are going to look taller when you aren't slouching. It's also a way to bring more oxygen into your system which leads to positive effects.
"French Women Don't Get Fat" goes so far beyond weight issues. It's about life lived at it's fullest and well worth the read.
Book Review: Even Americans can lose weight and enjoy ourselves as the French do.
Summary: 5 Stars
Instead of deprivation or weird food restrictions (no bread, no fat, no meat), why not simply eat what you love in smaller quantities?
Author Mireille Guiliano is a French businesswoman who works for my favorite Champagne, Veuve Clicquot, and as the President and CEO of US based Clicquot, Inc., (now a division of LVMH) managed to greatly increase Veuve Clicquot's American marketshare. She is not a nutritionist, a chef, a dietician, or a health professional. She is a French woman who has managed to lose and maintain her weight and has helped many of her friends and co-workers do the same.
Guiliano loves to eat, loves her wine and champagne, and also understands the French paradox of generally healthier hearts and smaller waistlines in a country where alcohol and cheese are a way of life.
Let's face reality, we are generally less healthy in the US. We drink more soda and flavored drinks, more fruit juices, and less water. We prefer hard liquor mixed with soft drinks and juices to wine.
We eat out more, eat more fast food, eat more fried food, eat larger portions, eat on the run, and tend to focus on single course meals (pasta, meat, salad). We exercise less (even basic walking), relax less, enjoy ourselves less. And we wonder why we have obesity and health problems!
In researching for this review I needless to say read many other reviews of the book and found people's responses, and particularly their defensiveness, quite interesting. One reviewer states, "Having watched the Dateline special on this book and scanning it for an hour in the bookstore.. I am surprised that it is getting such glorious reviews. Watching the author actually made my skin crawl a little. She spoke as if the way to lose weight was so simple and we all need this book because we are obviously not very bright." Oh no! We might actually have to discipline ourselves?
Guiliano believes, and I have to agree, that even in America we can lose weight and enjoy ourselves as the French do. We can control what we eat, how we eat, and what we do. Long walks, lots of water, a wide variety of foods on the plate, wine and champagne with meals, chocolate on occasion. Eat lots of fruit, lots of vegetables, good dark chocolate, good wine, new flavors, smaller portions but more things!
She even has a French Women Don't Get Fat website with support groups, recipes, videos, and advice. Changing our way of life is the only way to save our lives and this book, written in a lovely conversational tone that inspires action, is a great way to start. See you later, I have some chocolate to eat.