This month, I’ve picked up a fun biography/ cookbook called,
“French Women Don’t Get Fat~ The Secret of Eating for Pleasure.” Before you cut me off and dismiss me
immediately for the apparent Anti-American sentiment, please let me
explain. I love to cook. I love food.
It’s deeply engrained in my culture and identity. This love of cooking and food doesn’t always
match up well with health and wellness.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book,
not only for the story of a Franco-American woman living in New York and
her struggles with food/ weight, but for her no-nonsense, pragmatic approach to
food, eating and pleasure.
Mireille Guiliano, the author of “French Women Don’t Get
Fat”, tells her own story of growing up in rural France, her time as an
exchange student in America, and being married/ living in the United
States. As she tells her story of weight gain, “recasting” as she calls it, and stabilization, she offers several
wonderful recipes throughout the book.
There were several points that impressed upon me~
First, we as Americans don’t eat well. We eat more.
We eat in our cars, on the go, in front of the TV, standing in the
kitchen, at our desk, etc. Portion size
is way too big as we eat so fast on the go that we don’t give our bodies time
to realize we are full or satisfied.
We’ve lost the art of dining with real napkins, silverware,
conversation, and most importantly, time.
We eat fruit and vegetables off-season and/ or so processed that they
are hardly recognizable and devoid of their intended flavor.
What I like most about this book is that she recommends a
very simple alteration in the way we view food, eating and health. Small changes are what she advocates. Being intentional and aware of what passes
our lips is key. The first phase is about
journaling our eating habits. This is an
essential component of any weight control program. Food diaries are a cornerstone of Weight
Watchers. After about three weeks of
jotting down what a person is consuming, it becomes very obvious what our
“offenders” are~ the habits we have that are causing us to gain weight/ be
unhealthy. For example, if we are having
bread with every meal, cut back to one meal per day. During the “recasting” phase, Mireille
recommends common sense things like increasing water intake, cutting back (but
not deprivation) of some of our “offenders”, eating more fruits and vegetables,
taking time/ care in shopping, cooking and eating our food. Using a food scale to be aware of healthy
portion size is also recommended. The
stabilization or life phase is simply about compensating for what we eat and
how active we are. It’s about
balance. No deprivation, binge eating,
starving, or elimination diet here. This
book is just full of practical ideas to slowly adjust the way we think about
and approach food and eating.
I recommend this book for anyone who loves food
and/ or cooking and has at one time or another felt deprived of enjoying
it. As I am on a path to health and
wellness, I found this book simple but profound in its ‘middle of the road’
approach to eating. For myself, being
aware and present as I am cooking and eating is something I want to strive
for. Experimenting with fresh
ingredients, frequenting my local farmer’s market, and trying new recipes are
something I look forward to. Balancing
exercise with good eating is just good sense. Written by: Kerry Caron (kickboxing Instructor)
Choe's HapKiDo Karate
of Flowery Branch
7380 Spout Springs RdFlowery Branch, Braselton, Buford, Hamilton Mill 30542
