http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\02\07\story_7-2-2010_pg3_5
Sunday, February 07, 2010 PURPLE PATCH: For the love of food -Mireille Guiliano Okay, so what are the secrets of French women? How do we account for all those middle-aged women with the figures of 25-year-olds strolling the boulevards of Paris? At the outset, let's state that French women simply do not suffer the terror of kilos that afflicts so many of their American sisters. All the chatter about diets I hear at cocktail parties in the US would make any French woman cringe. In France, we do not talk about 'diets', certainly not with strangers. We may eventually share a trick or two we have learned with a very close friend - some cunning refinement of an old French principle. But mainly we spend our social time talking about what we enjoy: feelings, family, hobbies, philosophy, politics, culture, and, yes, food, especially food (but never diets). French women take pleasure in staying thin by eating well, while Americans typically see it as a conflict and obsess over it. French women do not skip meals or substitute slimming shakes for them. They have two or three courses at lunch and then another three (sometimes four) at dinner. And with wine, bien sûr. How do they do it? Well, that is a story. That is the story. One hint: they eat with their heads, and they do not leave the table feeling stuffed or guilty. Learning that less can be more and discovering how one can eat everything in moderation are keys. So are exertion in proportion to calories consumed and a much more plentiful intake of water. We no longer work 18 hours a day in a mine or on a farm, and our Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer days are long past. Nevertheless, most Americans eat at least 10 to 30 percent more than needed, not to survive but to satisfy psychological hunger. The trick is to manage and gratify your appetites, while determining how, when, and what to reduce. The wonderful feelings of satisfaction you will notice when a new menu is introduced - a heightened enjoyment even as overall intake is decreased - will then inspire you to continue along the wellness road. It is all a matter of learning the most basic of French rules: fool yourself. Many nutritionists promote a commonsense approach but charge a fortune to tell you how to implement it. The money spent on attempting to lose weight is out of all proportion with outcomes. Most women simply cannot afford to see a doctor or nutritionist, join a health club, go to a spa, or have meals delivered. What will it cost you to practice the secrets of French women? The only equipment is a small scale to weigh some of your foods during the critically important first three months. You might also want to buy a yogurt machine if you want to eat le vrai yaourt, a key element in my lifestyle programme; and if you are past age 40, you should acquire some dumbbells for strength building. C'est tout. As I recount my own story from adolescent meltdown to rescue to a new approach that has worked for decades and counting, I lay out a path for you. I take readers through a complete programme: Phase one, wake-up call: an old-fashioned three-week inventory of meals. A clear-eyed look at what you are eating, which itself, even after a couple of days, can begin your turnaround. Phase two, recasting: an introduction to the French school of portions and diversity of nourishment. You will identify and temporarily suspend some key food 'offenders'. This is usually a three-month process, though for some a month will do the trick. It won't be a dietary boot camp, merely a chance for your body to recalibrate. There is discipline, but flexibility is vitally important, especially at this key motivational stage: the value of avoiding routine both in meals and in activities, emphasising quality over quantity. No pizza three days in a row, but also no three hours at the gym on Saturday. You will acclimate with your five senses to a new gastronomy (a Greek word, even before it was a French one, meaning 'rules of the stomach'). Three months is not a short time, but neither is it long for something you will never need to do again. Naturally, it takes longer to reset your body's dials than to lose seven pounds of water, the initial part of many extremist diets. But because it is French, there will be pleasures, lots of them. Phase three, stabilisation: a stage wherein everything you like to eat is reintegrated in proper measure. You have already achieved your reset 'equilibrium' and should be at least halfway toward your weight-loss goal. Amazingly, at this point you can increase your indulgences and continue to slim down or just maintain your equilibrium if you are already there. I give advice for practicing ideas about seasonality and seasoning, powerful tools and not nearly as much trouble as some imagine. Phase four, the rest of your life: You are at your target weight, a stable equilibrium, and the rest is just refinements. You know enough about your body and preferences to make little adjustments in the event of any unexpected drifts, especially as you enter new phases of life. Your eating and living habits are by now tailored to your tastes and metabolism, so like a classic Chanel suit, they should last you forever with minor alterations over the years. Now you will be eating in a totally different light, with an intuition to rival that of any French woman - a cultivated respect for freshness and flavour that unlocks the world of sensory delights to be discovered in presentation, colour, and variety. What you do you will do for pleasure, not punishment. You will enjoy chocolate and a glass of wine with dinner. Pourquoi pas? (This extract is taken from French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano) Mireille Guiliano is a French-American author and is a connoisseur of fine foods and wines [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
