The French Lifestyle change

Hello,

I am about to embark on "The French Lifestyle Change". I have compiled information from various places to form a diet that I believe very similar to that of the French. This is not a "diet", but a way of life; a way to appreciate all that surrounds you-- including food.

These are the "rules"

Respect your body:

1) Do no eat fast food/ processed food: These are unnatural and essentially poison for your body.

2) Do not overstuff: Eat only when hungry, and finish when you are content.

3) Eat slowly: Put your fork down in between bites, and take a sip of water. Sometimes we eat so quickly that we don't even notice how much is going into our bodies.

4) Stop to look at your food, smell your food and think about the nutrients in your food. Why is there such a rush to shovel it in your mouth?

5) Eat seasonal fruits and veggies: A trait of the French is to eat what is in season. You go to the market, pick up fresh produce, and eat it that night. You begin to appreciate the foods you are eating. http://www.sysindia.com/kitchen/svegis.html

6) Avoid cravings: This does not mean that you cannot have desert ever again. This just means that you must be careful not to do a hop, skip and a jump to the bakery when you know you will overinduldge. Try having a brick of 70% dark chocolate when you are craving sweets, a glass of water when craving icecream, or a lick of salt when craving chips.

7) Moderation: This is difficult. Moderation in a supersized world is going to be a challenge for anyone. Know your limit and respect yourself. I like to think of all the people watching me while I eat that oversized plate of food. You can also ask for child portions, or for half to be packed away before your meal arrives.

Exercise:

1) Walk: The french walk everywhere. This is a huge part of their exerise regimin. The gym is impractical and unenjoyable for many, but walking is something that we can all take part in. Get off of the bus a couple of stops early, walk to the store instead of driving, and park as far as you can from the mall entrance.

2) Take the stairs: Do not use escalators or elevators. Why not take the stairs? It is great exericise, will shape your buns and thighs and makes you feel like you've achieved something.

3) Pick up an activity that you enjoy and can stick to: Jogging, walking, tennis, swimming. Make a habit of doing these things 3-5 times a week.

I am doing this, and I believe that if you join me, we can all succeed in being a healthier community. Health is the key word because diets don't work. You must change for life, not for your bikini.

Start Date: Saturday July 28th, 2007

I will update with my personal progress.

Hello again ( I was the one who wrote back on your other recent post)! I think this is an awesome idea! I'm going to miss the processed food, but it would be cool to be like this. I always think European women are so much sexier than us North Americans and I really want to be like a European women who is on top of it all.

I am totally going to join you on this and stop with my diets. I still will count calories, but not TOO strictly.

The thing I will definitely have the hardest time with is the processed food, though. I love thinsations, slurpees, and other processed, yet tasty foods, but I will stick with this from now on... if you don't mind.

Starting Date: Same as you! Saturday, July 27th, 2007

Great! I hope you're doing well today. It's a new beginning.

The only French woman I know eats about 500 calories a day. I think even less on most days. I thought this is what you were striving for, and got really worried! Phew! Your idea sounds really good though! I hopw it is all that you think it is!

Today:

breakfast- blueberries and an apple

(missed lunch)

snack- tea and some more fruit

dinner- oatmeal with brown sugar and blueberries (+ a bit of cream)

snack at 1:30am (urgh)- a little bit of brie and rogueford cheeses with some bread and margarine and triscits. High in calories, high in fat, and high on my ratings of fabulous food.

I think I did pretty well today. I enjoyed everything that I ate and do not regret my decisions.

Hope you are all doing well!

I really appreciated your original post natalia, but your report for how much you ate today seems pretty meager.. fruit, more fruit, and some oatmeal is all you ate in a day? that could have just been breakfast!!! it seems that you're straying from your original plan, for depriving yourself of substantial meals and snacks is not exactly respecting your body in the way you imagine french women respect theirs. correct me if i'm wrong, but it really seems you need to eat quite a bit more.

i lived in the south of France two summers ago and my god, i never ate so well and i didnt gain a single pound.  I didnt even work out.  Just the daily walking to get places.  I ate sausage and chocolate crossants and the works.  I think the reason it works is i also ate TONS of fressh fruits and veggies.  A typical lunch for me was a baguette with tomato fresh mozzarella and basil or canteloup and mozzarela with procuitto.  SOOO GOOD.  I also LOVED ratatouille.  Man those people know how to live.

yeaI agree your first post sounds like a good Idea then I read what you ate which is practicely nothing and btw margarine is probably the most PROCESSED food on the planet.Can't get much worse then that you would do better to have a little butter or olive oil. Triscuts arnt health food either

Hey Nataliav

Keep up the daily posting! When I first read this thread, I thought, yeah, that all sounds great, but I love Yves Veggie Turkey (processed) and I really wouldn't want to give it up.

Evidently your definition of processed is different to mine as I think triscuits are processed, margarine is processed, and what about the oatmeal with brown sugar, was that one of those packet jobs? Or was it rolled oats?

Can't really invision a typical French dinner of oatmeal.

But like I say, do keep posting. It will help keep you on the straight and narrow. For breakfast I had some muesli (all natural nothing but raw oats, grains, nuts and dates) that I presoaked the night before in distilled water. Topped it with a bit of Nancy's nonfat organic yogurt and a banana. Also had filtered coffee with nonfat milk.

Eat more, post your exercise too, and drink lots of water.

Cheerio

I have to completely restart because I haven't been keeping up with this. I'm going to now because even if I don't lose weight, I will feel good about myself!

Thanks for your constructive criticism.

Firstly, I realise that I hadn't eaten very much. That is something I need to work on. Secondly, I realise that margarine is very processed; I was not "on track" when I ate this. Thirdly, I love fruit. Fruit is something that you will see I eat a lot of. The bulk of my calories come from dinner. And lastly, they were rolled oats, and brown sugar is actually one of the better sugars for you. I could cut it out, but I think that anything that is natural that you enjoy is something that should be kept.

I am still working on pushing out some of the products that I eat, so you will see that today I had some white sugar, which is not good.

Today: b- blueberries and watermelon

l- an apple, and some blueberries

d- a whole grain pita with peanut butter (just peanuts, no additives) and blue cheese, a couple of triscits (bad, I know) and some orange juice.

snack- 2 cups of tea with skim milk and a tsp of sugar

Exercise: -work includes a lot of running up stairs and running around so I did a bit of that today - I walked - 100 crunches -50 pushups - 50 leg lifts each leg.

I thank you again for your comments, and I will do my best to address them! :)

Much better day, great about the oats. How about throwing some lettuce, green onion, and shredded carrot on that pita? I usually hate lettuce, but I find the darker the better. I like the one called "living lettuce." It's butterhead and very clean and delicious. Also some of the Italian blends in a bag are ok.

Also for a natural sweetner, you might want to try plain maple syrup, the real one, not the fake one.

Another thing that helps me get the lettuce down is cutting it up and then tossing it with just a few drops of virgin olive oil.

I love triscuits too so I know where you're coming from there. Chockers full of sodium though. Look at getting some wholemeal crackers with not much fat or salt to replace the triscuits.

Also it doesn't sound like you're consuming enough calories even with all the fruit. I suppose you've heard about what happens then? Your body goes into some preservation mode and metabolism slows way down. Don't be afraid to "graze" the whole day. And drink lots of water. It will make your body happy!!

Hope I'm not preaching too much, but really I think you have the right idea and it helps me to put my thought down...

How is everyone doing with this?

I am trying to stick to it, as I believe it is a good plan, but I am realising that even the simple act of paying attention to the colours/flavours/textures of your food it difficult; I often zone out while eating.

I hope you are all giving it a good try!

It does sound like you are starving yourself.  Are you getting at least 1200 calories a day?  Your body needs at least that.  Good luck to you.
Jeff

Yes, I'm paying more attention to what I eat. Here are some of the changes you inspired me to make:

1. Eat plain nonfat yogurt flavoured with fruit and/or maple syrup. (I had been slipping into a bad habit of reaching for a Yoplait Light which has a French name, but also Splenda)

2. I've really cut back on sodium by eating less of the horrible bread that abounds in this country.

3. To replace my morning toast I'm having Swiss Muesli (all natural ingredients, no sugar, no additives, it's the Familia brand).

4. Made homebaked tofu to eat in place of the Yves Turkety. (this was really good and it is already all gone, so time to bake some more.)

5. I need to eat more fruit, but it can be disappointing in the stores these days. We are supposed to have beautiful ripe summer fruit, but it is often flavourless and full of rotten spots.

6. My kid tells me that French woman are rampant smokers, and that's one reason they don't eat so much. (that can't be healthy, but the it sounds like it could be true)

ttfn Laura

I don't believe that i'm starving myself, it just takes time for me to learn how to put healthy options into my morning, noon and night without it becoming a binge.

Sounds great, figurethefat! Keep it up! And yes, French women smoke a lot, but not much more than Americans. 1%, actually. They go the "cigarette and healthy snack" route rather than the "cigarette and big mac" route that Americans go.

Very funny about the big mac. Thanks for that, I needed a good chuckle this morning.

natalia, how many calories did each of those days add up to?

It seems very meager and not what I understand to be the French lifestyle at all (I live in Quebec and am surrounded by French expats - and the Quebecois lifestyle is heavily influenced by France). There was no iron, little calcium, and inadequate protein in what you described.

I think that your principles are sound - fresh, unprocessed foods, delicious flavours, portion control, less of an emphasis on sweets - but I worry about the way you seem to be applying them?

You are not eating enough.

I lived in Vienna for a summer, when I was a teen, and lost a ton of weight without having to think about it. It was the diet, as well as all the walking everywhere.

Typical day's menu would go something like this:

Breakfast: thick slice of whole grain bread (very coarse and dense bread, bought fresh every day), slathered with cream cheese and honey

Lunch at noon: the biggest meal of the day. I have never gotten over this habit, that lunch is the biggest meal, and you linger over it with friends and family. Lunch had several courses and could last 2 hours. It started with a simple salad of greens (picked fresh from the garden) dressed with homemade dressing of olive oil, vinegar, and high-quality mustard (such as Grey Poupon). Then a simple veggie soup such as spinach soup.  Then a main entree... such as veal schnitzel or sausages with sauerkraut and potatoes, and often more veggies. Then dessert, usually a fresh-made berry tart packed with tons of berries.

4 pm: hit the cafe for coffee with tons of whipped cream and cinnamon! If you're feeling peckish, have a small pastry too. No worries... you'll walk it off.

Sundown: break out the white wine (never drink wine before sundown.. wine is served at room temperature, not chilled)... the only exception is during the fall months when the Sturm is flowing, in which case, you can stop and get a cup anytime during the day. Mmmm... .

Dinner (usually around 8 or 9 pm): Light dinner consisting of more thick, coarse, dense bread, piled with cold cuts (preservative free), green peppers, and mustard, making an open faced sandwich.

The cold cuts and sausages are filled with saturated fats, the pastries are rich and buttery, but viennese are still pretty slim, go figure.

As for smoking, everyone in Vienna smokes and smokes indoors. It can get pretty gross, even if you are a smoker. But people tend to confine their smoking to meal times. Women are never supposed to walk while smoking - you must sit down to smoke. Otherwise, you will be mistaken for a legal prostitute. (This is one tip I learned the hard way!!!!)

I agree jen, nat your not eating like a french person.  They eat FAT and carbs and refined foods.  Refining is different then processing.  Here is an example of a day i had with my host family in france.

Morning coffee-french roast with sugar and milk.  toast crackers(white) probably with jam or nutella (O ya baby).  

Midmorning snack-chocolate crossant and coffee

Lunch

Mozzzarella and tomato with olive oil and basil on a demi baguette

snacks throughout day consisting of cheese, bread, fruit, etc.

Dinner, two pork sausage with sauted asparagus and a salad 

By the way, they eat at 9pm. Ive adopted their eating schedule.  I dont eat till 8 or nine. For some reason it keeps my appetitte in balance through the next day. 

the french eat a lot of fruits and veggies  but they also consume plenty of fats and additionally they generally eat meat or poultry for at least one meal.   And they eat cheese every day be it brie, mozzarella or that funky funky stinky cheese. The reason they are not fat is that the total calores still are under control because they eat richer more satisfying food and dont snack on crap.  They also walk everywhere.

"The French Lifestyle Change" -AHAHAHAHAHAHA

sorry nataliav but your post made me laugh. the "rules" you stated don't describe the way the french live- it's the way the whole world lives with exeption to the North Americans! (or should live-the brits and the germans are now following too closely in america's footsteps)

i've been living in france for almost 14 years now. some of your rules are false stereotypes (e.g. "the french walk everywhere" or "the french don't eat processed foods") but you're absolutely right that it's the way to live! for me that is completely obvious. i guess that's why i was so amused by your assumption that a healthy lifestyle is a french lifestyle. obesity here in france is becoming an increasing problem. we're adopting too much processed garbage from the west and people are eating less and less healthily. the french still have a lower obesity rate than britain or germany but i just wonder how long its going to last :(

but congrats for discovering the "secret" behind america's obesity problem. you're definitely on the right track for losing weight if you stick to those rules.

i wish u the best of luck! (and sorry again for laughing at you- hearing americans talk about "THE EUROPEANS" like they're some undiscovered alien species on a distant planet always cracks me up)