French Women Don't Get Fat?!?!?!?!?

Yes, this is a food blog, but this is a JC related post. I read this article the other day and found it very amusing.

Hate the Gym? How Very French.

It totally makes sense, because how could Julia Child eat all that butter and not be 400 lbs? I realize that Child was born and bred as an American and then moved to France, but she adapted to the ways of the French when she enjoyed her food. Remember in the movie, "Julia & Julie" when Child is in France with her husband at the restaurant? She smelt her fish and savored each bite of it! Her husband asks her what she would really like to do and she replies "EAT!"

I was intrigued by the author of this web article and thought to myself, that there aren't many "FAT" French women....so I picked up the book at the library and have started to read it. I have learned a lot in the 4 chapters that I have read. First off let me start off by saying-"This is not a diet book!" It is a way of re-inventing how you look, smell, eat and enjoy your food. Yes, I said enjoy your food. Be obsessed with your food. Plan out what you want to eat for dinner as opposed to eating something for dinner. The steps involved that I have learned so far are simple and direct.

1)You begin by eating and writing down EVERYTHING that you eat for 3 weeks.
2) Recast yourself by evaluating your food journal.
3) Spend the next 3 months reducing the "offenders" in your current diet intake.
Key points-Slow & Steady, Variety, Ritual Preparation, Water, Ritual Eating, Portion Control, Don't Stock the Offenders, Substitutions & Pacifiers, Facing Demons, Move, Never Be Hungry, In case, Weekend Rewards and Zipper Syndrome.
Do these key points mean anything to you now? No, not really, but they will, if you take the time and read the book. I'm all for enjoying my food and hate depriving myself of certain foods while dieting. I say no more to counting calories, points, going through phases or what have you. I say enjoy what food you put in your mouth and savor each bite and enjoy this food for thought! Or in the words of Mireille Guiliano "Hate the Gym? How Very French."