Joos Blog

How many of you have read the book, French Women Don't Get Fat? Having spent a lot of time in France, I've been able to observe first hand why French women are not fat, despite eating pommes frites, bottles of fine wine, fois gras and brie cheese. On top of that, they don't exercise like fiends the way we Americans do. In fact, they believe that the muscular frames that we strive to develop are not feminine.

Here are my general observations:

1. French women do not snack or graze. They eat 3 meals.

2. When the sit for a meal, they SIT and chew their food. They don't get up and down, look at their cell phones every second, gulp their food or look at computer screens.

3. They savour their food. When you dine with a French person, you'll hear them make comments like, "ahh, I can taste the tarragon." "That must be the rosemary that brought out that flavor."

4. Their portion size is small.

5. They don't obsess about the calories or raw food or macrobiotic or any of the latest trends in diet. In fact, they really don't diet.

6. Most of the food they eat is not processed. It's fresh, whole foods. When you walk into a French supermarket, your tongue actually tingles from the fresh, sour smell of the lemons or the crimson, succulent strawberries. The only place I saw such strawberries were those that we freshly picked in the Berkshires.

7. The French cherish the dining experience. I have a close, elderly relative who lives in Paris. When I visit her in her very plain, one bedroom flat, I always marvel at the way she presents our lunch. Granted, it's simple. Perhaps some brie cheese or smoked salmon with some crackers and a salad, but the love and care she takes to prepare the food makes the meal feel like a celebration. First she places a perfectly ironed tablecloth over a very small round table in the middle of her closet sized kitchen. She sets the table with china and the food is presented carefully on serving plates.

The food industry wants us to believe that losing weight is all about the food. As we see in the French eating habits, although WHAT we eat is important, HOW we eat can actually lead to a healthier life style.