The keys to staying thin in France in memory of Barbara
Mar 20 '09 (Updated Apr 12 '09)
The Bottom Line I never saw morbidly obese women; I never saw an obese woman and I rarely saw even an overweight woman.
There is a book by Mireille Guiliano called French Women Don't Get Fat. Of course I have heard that said many times in spite of the wine, cheese, bread, and pastry. I decided to do a study myself during my week in Paris. The bottom line: I never saw morbidly obese women; I never saw an obese woman and I rarely saw even an overweight woman. At first I thought it was the area in which we were staying - a young person's residential area. But still everywhere we turned there were crepe stands, people waiting in line for pastry and people carrying baguettes of bread around.
I still thought maybe it was a fluke until I got to more touristy areas and started hearing English and seeing many of those women overweight. When I got back to the states and looked around the airport I was appalled when I saw
It seems the French eat three meals a day and they eat one pastry not the entire cake.French women enjoy their food - but they eat to live rather than living to eat it seems. They eat mindfully.What really surprised me was that I saw not one gym during my visit. Unlike Boston or New York where there is a health club on every corner in Paris there are pubs on every corner. French women savor every bite of what they eat and eat small portions. Rather than eating everything on your plate why not ask for half of it to be put in a to-go box even before you are served your meal? Certainly Parisians drive but many walk. I do believe all the walking we did is not unusual if you live in Paris and that walking is as good as getting on a treadmill.
It seems the Parisians avoid bacon (I never saw it on a menu.) and I only saw one kind of donut the entire time I was there. In other words there were no Dunkin' Donuts of any kind anywhere. Although we did see some McDonald's the fast foods in Paris come from wonderful Belgium waffle and crepe stands and I image residents tire of that really quickly.
Parisians have their major meal at what we know of as lunch and then perhaps a late afternoon snack - some chocolate, yogurt, or a piece of bread with jam and then dinner is often soup.
We always got bread in the restaurants but were never served butter. I had to ask and then we were given two pats of butter unlike the dish that we would get in the U.S. filled with butter.
I must mention that the French smoke like crazy. Smoking increasing your metabolism and gives your hands and mouth something to do. Rather than taking up smoking though, you may want to chew a piece of gum.
This is dedicated to my friend Barbara. We saw Paris for you thanks to your guidance. May peace be with you.
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