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French Women Don't Get Fat (平装)
by Mireille Guiliano
| Category:
Weight-control, Healthy eating, Body, Health |
| Market price: ¥ 148.00
MSL price:
¥ 128.00
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| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
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MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
A common sense approach to weight loss that has stood the test of time, Mireille Guiliano shows you a great way to enjoy food and life and still lose weight. |
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AllReviews |
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Paola (MSL quote), USA
<2007-11-13 00:00>
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I am foreign and when I moved to the U.S. I was shocked by the prevailing attitude toward food and by the thousands of diets and low-fat/low-calorie products that you see everywhere. Nevetheless, it is difficult to live here and not fall into the trap of viewing food as an enemy rather than as nourishment and a sensual pleasure.
Reading this book reminded me of the importance of having a healthy attitude toward food. Enjoying food with all your senses and eating what you love in regular (not American-sized) portions will undoutedly make you stay thin. In my opinion, people become overweight because they are so unsatisfied with the foods they eat and by all the restrictions that they put on themselves that they feel deprived and end up making up for this deprivation by eating 20 fake "low-fat" cookies instead of the creme brulee they really wanted. Also, because many use food as a drug that provides instant gratification, briefly numbs pain and is addictive.
I love the way this book is written and the anecdotes Mireille Guiliano shares with her readers. It is a fun book to read that reminds you that all aspects of life are meant to be savored and enjoyed. In other words, what good is it to be very thin if you got that way by being miserable, i.e., by spending 2 hours locked in a gym and then starving yourself and feeling constant guilt over your food choices? Life is too short to live it torturing oneself instead of loving every minute (and morsel) of it.
I read this book about a year ago and I can't wait for her second book to be released. I pre-ordered it a month ago! |
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Tyler Kanin (MSL quote), USA
<2007-11-13 00:00>
This book really makes you realize that French women know a lot about life, love and how to stay thin. They take their time, savor the moment and understand that super-sizing has nothing to do with getting the most out of life.
Ms. Guiliano uses her well-honed executive abilities to identify strategies for getting and staying thin in much the same way that she's made it to the CEO position at her company. Take it one step at a time and don't obsess over every detail.
The essence of her message is that it's not the biochemistry of how you combine your fruit and protein or when you do it during the course of the day, but the time you take to enjoy the food and savor the taste. She gives the reader more than a diet book - it's really a guide for getting the most from one's life
As much as I enjoyed the book, I found it lacked a sense of humor - something that a book like The Duct Tape Diet by Theresa Malysz has in abundance. Even though she's a registered dietitian/nutritionist, Ms. Malysz allowed her husband to convey the frustration that many of her patients experience as she counseled them about their weight loss goals. He needed to lose 35 pounds, which where accomplished, but not without some moments of surrender to the call of "diet villains" that derailed his food and exercise regimen. Readers tend to identify with that approach and find much more information about food choices in the USDA listing of 6200 foods that make up more than half of the book.
But for those who like to get a European view of how to control one's weight, French Women Don't Get Fat is tops on the list. It has my recommendation as a different slant on the overweight issue that Americans have been obsessing over for over thirty years. |
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Christie (MSL quote), Canada
<2007-11-13 00:00>
This is definitely a non-diet book! It is enjoyable to read, and the recipes look good. It's a book about life more than diet. It does, of course, talk quite a bit about proper attitudes toward food, but most of the changes Guiliano recommends are more than just to eating habits, and would involve real lifestyle makeovers for some people, such as preparing all of the food served in your house from scratch, never purchasing convenience foods, and being sure to make each meal a significant and satisfying event. I really like the concepts in this book, and my lifestyle will allow me to make many of the changes without disruption, especially since I already do make most foods from scratch-I have the time! However, I know at least one of my friends would not find abandoning the warehouse grocery stores in favour of daily trips (on foot) to local markets with her 3 children under 4 years of age in tow worth the effort. I highly recommend this book, especially if you are a bit of a foodie already, but I think some of the suggestions will be difficult to implement for families such as those with 2 working parents, 3 kids in hockey, and a volunteer commitment or two (Guiliano's mother had a nanny, a luxury few North American families experience). Guiliano shows that the French Paradox is not based on lucky DNA. It is, however, based on culture, and we are, after all, in Canada, not France, and there are not fresh food markets in walking distance of each of us, and many have little time for a satisfying lunch experience with friends and champagne. The North American lifestyle-and sometimes the weather-does not support the concepts in this book. For example, in France it is apparently common, when visiting a friend in the hospital, to bring a bottle of champagne, because doctors recognize that "joie de vivre" is essential to the well-being of the patient, and "joie," of course, is linked to champagne. In Canada, alcohol is not quite as socially accepted- I'd be fired if I came back to the office with champagne on my breath! Obviously, our two cultures have different traditions, so it will not be as easy to make these modifications as the editor wishes you to believe-even the ones that don't involve champagne. I am not saying it can't be done, it's just a warning that while some of these changes will be easily made, others will be quite difficult and some will mean an either/or choice, and not simply an adjustment to your way of thinking about food. Definitely worth a try, though! |
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Mrs Meek (MSL quote), USA
<2007-11-13 00:00>
I started this book before I went to bed one night (I always have to read something before I go to sleep to unwind, though this one kept me up) and finished it upon waking the next morning. It is not worth the new price tag, but definitely worth the read. It's not much of a recipe book (though I found a few worth trying), but more of a pep talk, and a very good one, too, because I am inspired to cut my portions in half (though sans on the champagne--too expensive, not to mention totally unnecessary, but then I don't like the taste of alcohol anyway), eat more fruit, etc. Though recasting is just another word for fasting, it is something I will do the day before I begin my lifestyle change (to clean out my system so that I may start fresh), but my recasting menu will vary somewhat, maybe include several of those new Sunsweet Ones prunes, some fresh watermelon juice perhaps (oh, wait, it's out of season), etc. It's not that I don't like leeks, I've never had them, but I want to start with more familiar foods, foods I know I'll like, or else it'll feel like a diet.
I was expecting, from some of the reviews I read, that Mrs. Guiliano would come across as a snob, but I actually didn't get that from her. She's just right about the way most Americans are, and it's hard to say how lazy they are without sounding insulting. Hey, I work in a grocery store and some customers will take something out of the freezer, but instead of putting it back if they decide they don't want it, they'll just leave it out. How hard is it to open a door? I am American, and I am disgusted by the fatness, laziness and rudeness (not to mention stupidity, but then, that's just stems from laziness sometimes because they'll ask me where something is when all they have to do is look) of some of the American population; I am even more disgusted when I see an obese child drinking a can of soda in the store and when they pass the doughnuts, ask their parents if they can get some and they say yes. I mean, can't they see how fat their kid(s) is(are)? What kills me is that their parents will say it's hereditary because they're fat, too, but then, they shovel all that junk into their bodies as well. I am not saying genetics don't pre-disposition you to a certain extent, but I believe that much more often than not, it's an excuse, because some people are just lucky and others have to work at it.
Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I felt like I was taking an imaginary trip to France. I found Mrs. Guiliano's opinion on gyms interesting. I, too, think gyms are a waste of time and money because you can exercise for free and many of those same people who pay for a gym membership are the very ones who drive around for ten minutes trying to squeeze into the closest parking space. I only park close when I'm on a time crunch or if it's late at night and I'm alone. I will admit I'll park close if a slot's available, but, after reading this book, I am going to make more of an effort. I have in the past, I just got lazy.
But, I was thinking about how I dreaded going to the gym because it was so mind-numbingly boring and you have to get dressed, drive there, etc., when I could just jump on the trampoline at home or skip rope or do the hula hoop (which is GREAT for the abs). The Skip-It toy is also fun and really works the calves. If I lived in a two-story house, I would be going up and down the stairs all day (I feel silly on a machine) and if I knew how to ride a bicycle without training wheels, I would ride around the neighborhood (again, it's just not the same in a smelly, stuffy gym as it is outdoors, with the sunshine on my face and the breeze blowing through my hair). I do have a pair of roller-skates though. There's dancing, tennis, water aerobics, etc., etc. There are just so many more fun things to do than work out on a bunch of machines. We do not need special food (i.e. Slimfast, etc.) or fancy, expensive machines to be fit and healthy, not to mention eliminating entire food groups. Eat to live, but live a little. One ounce of real chocolate can provide as much pleasure as a Snickers bar, if we savor it. Just like it's better to consume one tablespoon of real butter than three of the fake stuff. We've become such an artificial society. We're meant to eat fat and work it off, not eat any and be sedentary.
I think it was Mrs. Guiliano's enthusiasm for everything French and her great faith in her Parisian gospel she was sharing that really inspired me. I do, however, still think that for some peoples with slow metabolism, they need to do more than opt to take the stairs or walk across the parking lot whenever possible, even if they are eating French-style.
Though the majority of France is trim, that doesn't necessarily mean they are strong or healthy (I don't know how many of those slender people could run a mile without gasping for breath afterwards), so I take that consideration into account. I am reminded of those women in those Nutra-System (I think those are the ones) commercials who act like the only reason they wanted to lose weight was so they could wear a bikini <eye roll please>. I want to be trim not just because I want to look good, but I want to feel good, too.
So...this book was well worth the six bucks (and hardback edition, too) to me, and worth keeping in my library, too, forsaking any trade-in credit I may get back for it.
Added 5 November 2007:
This is an ideal book for those who either want to maintain their weight or need to lose no more than ten pounds. For those who need to lose more, more drastic measures need to be taken as far as the exercise part is concerned. I will say that this book has helped me not only eat less, but save money. Though I did splurge on sparkling mineral water in glass bottles after I read this (I thought I would try champagne until I saw how expensive it was), I am spending the money I save not buying fast food on taste adventures like baked Brie (with almonds, apricots and cranberries), and other high-quality foods. I can't believe how much money I have spent on sweet tea through the drive-through at Chick-Fil-A and how much more money my mother spends on Coke (even when they are on sale). I portion my food, savor it, drink lots of water, and am satisfied. |
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