Just Finished Reading: French Women Don’t Get Fat – The Secret of Eating for Pleasure by Mireille Guiliano (FP: 2005)

It’s OK to be surprised at this book showing up in my reviews. Everyone who saw me reading it at work expressed surprise and not a little astonishment. But I do so much like messing with people’s heads and challenging their expectations. Sure the people I work with expect to see me with my face buried in a book, they often see me reading things (and expressing interest and pleasure) that either leave them cold or simply perplexed but I must admit this one raised even more eyebrows than normal.

This was a mixture of personal story starting with the tale of coming back from a foreign exchange visit to the USA rather chubbier than she went out and how she coped with such a life and wardrobe changing experience. Learning lessons from family friends and someone she referred to as ‘Dr Miracle’ she slowly outlines why French women in particular don’t get fat whilst still enjoying food and wine and all of the other ‘no no’s’ consistently associated with the West’s obesity epidemic. Most of her advice is very straight forward and very down to Earth starting with the blatantly obvious – if more calories go into your body than go out you will gain weight. That is essentially all you need to know. The ‘trick’ is to control those calories going both in and out of your body whilst still having fun with your food. Quite rightly the author says that if you force your body into what is essentially a starvation diet it will rebel and you’ll lose weight only to gain it back and then some! What you should do is give the body (and the pallet) a little of what it wants, drink LOTS of water, walk everywhere (or cycle) and always climb the stairs. Never eat on the move or in front of the TV, always eat quality food (and your body won’t crave quantity to compensate for poor quality) and never feel guilty over the occasional indulgence. Above all else find what works for you but expect it to change throughout your life with age, season, and life’s great events. Know your body and recognise what it’s telling you. Make food a part of your life – and an important part – without being obsessed by it. The author maintains that you can eat out, be a foodie and still stay slim.

OK, I skipped the recipes. I’m not generally a person who cooks which would horrify the author who is a great advocate for real food preferably prepared by your own hands. Processed food – no way! I also learnt to ignore her rather patronising and superior tone throughout the book – French women know the secret and I am going to let you into a small part of it! Sure she was amusing in places and often gave what I thought was reasonable advice but I doubt if I could have managed much more than the 272 pages of this slim volume. Definitely a different read for me and one that I am now going to pass on to my female work colleagues – at their request I hasten to add!