Preview: How to eat like a French woman: diet and lifestyle tips to stay slim and enjoy eating.
Working at a French-inspired clothing store when I was just sixteen, I used my employee discount to buy the book: French Style: How to Think, Shop, and Dress Like a French Woman. Thus began a lifelong fascination with French women.
I spent hours poring over the pages of this book. I fell in love with red lipstick, ballerina flats and imperfect “I woke up like this” hair. I’d found my style.
As a mom of seven, I grew to appreciate French women for another reason.
The clever way French women approach diet and exercise, and why they stay slim.
As the culinary capital of the world, few people would dispute that the French have the whole eating thing figured out. And while it’s probably a myth that French people have less heart disease (the truth is that French doctors may be less likely to diagnose it), they do have lower obesity rates than Americans.
The real paradox is that French women are not obsessed with “healthy eating”. They’re more interested in the pleasure and social aspects of food. Yet they still manage to stay trim.
In her book French Women Don’t Get Fat
- Keep a food journal for a few weeks to create awareness of your eating habits
- Quality over quantity: eat the best food you can afford, you’ll consume less naturally
- Savor each bite, eat mindfully, slow down
- Walk a lot for exercise
- Eat regular meals, no snacking
- Make positive changes permanent. It’s a lifestyle, not a phase
Since reading the book and others like it, I’ve implemented these principles into my life. I’m convinced they’re the reason I’ve been able to maintain my ideal weight despite having seven pregnancies/children.
How to Eat Like a French Woman: 8 Ways to Stay Slim for Life
Table of contents
1) Focus on Pleasure
Forget counting calories, fussing with percentages, and most of all diets that require you to go around hungry all the time and obsess over food. (I’m talking to you, Trim Healthy Mama.)
Low-calorie diets cause you to lose muscle mass, which leads to weight gain once normal eating is resumed. Dieting is unsustainable.
Eating for pleasure includes all the senses: setting a lovely table, arranging food in an attractive way, giving food your full attention, and eating it with people you love.
2) Nothing Is Forbidden
French women don’t forbid any food. Alcohol, fats, carbs (hello baguette!), sweets – these are all okay in small amounts.
Labeling certain foods “bad” leads to a cycle of craving, binge eating and feelings of failure, guilt and general dysfunction around eating.
A French woman has balance in her diet. If she indulges in high-fat foods or sweets one day, she enjoys them without guilt! The next day, she might prepare a light vegetable soup to balance out the calorie load of the day before.
3) Eat REAL Food
Real food is what your great-grandmother would recognize as food.
French women don’t eat fake sweeteners. They use real butter, not margarine. They eat vegetables and whole grains but don’t avoid meat, an important source of protein that fills and fuels you. They prefer full fat dairy products in small portions.
Real food means shopping more frequently, finding local food providers like farmer’s markets, butchers, and fishmongers. It may mean spending a little more money on food for better quality, which results in being happier with smaller portions.
As an example, how easy is it to wolf down a Snickers bar, versus savoring an artisan chocolate truffle?
Interestingly, Europeans (and indeed, everyone in the world) spend considerably more of their income on food than Americans.
Americans have a reputation for shying away from spending more money on quality food, but don’t mind dropping $6 for a fancy, super-sweet and jumbo coffee that’s more a glucose tolerance test than a beverage.
French families eat out far less frequently than Americans do. Perhaps we should reallocate some of the restaurant budget on better ingredients we cook at home?
Another interesting tidbit: French woman have the highest fecundity rates of all European women. They have more kids on average than American women, but don’t struggle as much with retaining pregnancy weight.
One of the real foods French women love? Les haricots (beans!). Beans are budget and waistline friendly. They’re also delicious, and we should eat them often.
If you’d like ideas on how to eat more beans, get instant access to my free printable, 30 Days of Beans. Simply enter your name and email address below.
4) Variété is tres important
French mothers place great emphasis on educating their children to eat a wide variety of foods. Especially vegetables. Kids are taught not to refuse anything at table. The entire culture reinforces this, and there are branches of government devoted to this goal.
Try experimenting with vegetables rarely eaten in America: leeks, kohlrabi, turnips.
The first time I made my children leek soup, they loved it! Strangely, I grew up eating leek soup regularly and yet had never thought of feeding it to my kids. Probably because as an American parent, I’m taught that kids are picky, as if it’s gospel.
On the other hand, French parents are told to educate their children’s palates. I see a subtle but important difference there.
5) Sur La Table!
No eating between meals. The 4:30 goûter (snack) is acceptable if you’re eating a late dinner, but mostly for children or growing teenagers. French women do not snack randomly.
They also do not eat in cars. Nor while standing up, while watching TV, browsing the internet, checking email on their phones.
One reason for the obesity epidemic in America? Constant snacking and easy access to low-quality food consumed mindlessly.
Sit down and eat properly! Use a cloth napkin and real plate to signal to your brain that eating is an occasion.
6) Savor
This principle is a struggle for me. I have always been a fast eater, so I have to remind myself to slow down.
One strategy that works for me? Eating with my fork in my left hand, knife in my right, like Europeans. I learned to eat this way when I lived in Ireland. This way feels more elegant than stabbing food with my fork, and has the added benefit of slowing me down.
It takes our brains 20 minutes to register satiety, and if we eat faster than that, we’ll eat more. Eating mindfully and slowly means you consume fewer calories, but enjoy your food more. I’ve enjoyed the work of Brian Wansink. His research into mindless eating is fascinating.
7) Fat Is Good
Low fat? Bien au contraire! Eating a little fat means you feel full and stay full longer.
Low fat eating causes some people to crave sugar and overeat in the long-term. And a diet that’s too low in healthy fats can cause health problems (such as infertility, disappearance of libido, dry skin and hair, depression, etc). It also isn’t sustainable.
8) Movement > Exercise
You won’t see many French women donning yoga pants and schlepping to the gym. But she does walk (or bike) daily as part of her ordinary routine.
Incorporating more movement into your life is less stressful and more realistic than starting or keeping up with a complicated exercise program.
Walking is a very safe form of exercise, it’s free, and environmentally friendly. A daily walk outside or a bike ride will do more for your waistline and happiness than an unused gym membership or goofy workout DVD. And you don’t have to buy special exercise clothing or equipment.
If anyone knows how I can find my favorite French-inspired lipstick, L’Oreal Drumbeat Red (discontinued!), let me know!
Carrie, I feel like I should email you instead of leaving a comment! I always remember that you and I talked on the phone way back in the day (like 2003/2004?) about some business thing, we met online (of course). Anyway, I remember you talking about the French Women Don’t Get Fat book on a blog of yours and I never did read it. Of course now, we are going overseas for my husband’s job and I am going to get both of these books from the library! Thanks for the reminder. 🙂
Yes, you’ll love them! The more I learn about nutrition, the more I think the French have it right 🙂 It’s not just their diet that’s healthy nutritionally speaking, it’s their entire attitude about food. 🙂
These all sound like the way I eat except for 5 and 8. On that last one, I like going to the gym or running and the way I feel when I’ve got those seratonins flowing through the day afterward.
On eating only at meals, I tend to bring a sack lunch to work and eat it throughout the day: 3-5 pieces of fruit and some sort of carb (today it’s a huge slice of leftover pizza, but someitmes it’s a couple of muffins or granola bars).
Cheers,
Tim
P.S. Followed you over from Anne Bogel’s place.
I just found your blog and I love it but I can’t find where to subscribe to it for updates.
Btw, the snacking one was hard for me at first to give up, because I tend to have a bit of hypoglycemia and I thought my kids could never give up snacking.
Funny thing though, I had read a famous pediatrician (who is from Georgia and lived to be 103 – Dr. Leila Denmark) who said snacking was bad for kids because it made them eat poorly at meals (precisely why the French ban it for kids) and contributes to tooth decay. Then my 11 year old son’s dentist told me not to let him snack because it was giving him cavities. Even healthy foods!
So that was it. I banned snacking and never looked back, and the kids are fine. 😉
Hi Debra,
Sorry I just began re-doing this blog (it’s several years old and I’m trying to resurrect it!) and haven’t set up my feed yet. But if you enter https://www.carriewillard.com into your feed reader of choice it should work. I just did it for my google reader, and it came right up.
Thanks!
Carrie
Correction: I just double checked and Dr Denmark lived to be 114. At her death she was the 4th-oldest verified living person in the world and the 3rd-oldest verified living person in the United States.
I just found your blog and looked at your books. They look like they’re right down my alley! I have four kids that I homeschool, and I work from home, so we have a bit in common. I’m also a planner, ALDI shopper and real food lover!
I also just read “French Women Don’t Get Fat” and loved it! My kids and I often have a “French lunch or breakfast” and I serve it on china in courses for fun. They get quite a kick out of it. I’ll be following your blog and checking out your books.
Great to “meet” you Jennifer!
I love the rules in that graphic above. I don’t like feeding my kids anything other than what we eat for dinner and I love eating as a family at the table. I can’t give up snacks though! I snack on healthy things though instead of junk. So I don’t feel bad about that. 🙂
@Heather – I know! I eat snacks too, because I’ve never been able to go more than about 3 hours without eating. But now, they’re intentional. The idea is to get away from randomly stuffing one’s hand in a bag of chips, snacking in the car, mindlessly eating. Etc. 🙂
So apparently, I already eat like a French woman–I eat what I enjoy, without counting calories, maintaining a balance between healthy and luxurious over a period of days; I don’t “exercise,” I take lunchtime walks that I relish every day… I knew I should have been European! The only thing I have to master is not snacking, which is something I do more when I’m stressed!
I also have that book! Love it! (It didn’t help me with my weight, though!)’ I am more like the plump, Italian grandmother! (Sigh!) I dream of living in France and living like the French do!
As an American who’s lived in Paris for 15 years, I feel like I should point out that plenty of French women do all of the things you’ve said they don’t do and plenty don’t do the things you’ve said they do. These sorts of books deal in absolutes because presenting a hardline, alternative lifestyle sells more copies than reality, which is a lot more nuanced. It’s true that the French–for the most part–don’t eat out as often, and that the ingredients tend to be less processed. (Although that’s changing. The entire time I’ve lived here, there have been grocery stores dedicated solely to pre-made, frozen foods, and they’re quite popular with busy families.) But French women absolutely calorie count and go to yoga classes and the gym. Plenty of French kids are picky eaters who talk back. American expat authors like to try to sell a fairytale to their fellow Americans back Stateside–it’s typically grossly exaggerated. When Burger King reopened its doors here a few years ago, people were waiting in line for HOURS to be served. McDonald’s, KFC, Subway, Pizza Hut, Dominos, Five Guys, Starbucks, and even Stake’n’Shake all do plenty of business here, too. Overall, it’s still a world better than American habits, but the whole “French women would never dream of fill-in-the-blank” is patently false.
Thankypu for showing how another lifestyle can work better for those looking for a change
I would have to agree with the previous commenter! I married into a French family, and there are MOST DEFINITELY weight issues, heart disease (my French MIL just had a stroke at 74), gluten and dairy intolerances, cancers, etc. I don’t hear about anyone getting diabetes, but the other things, YES.
The French DO go for daily walks and runs to stay in shape, especially those who don’t live in the cities. They DO have picky kids (my husband who grew up eating a French diet will choose American junk food over healthy French food any day, and avoids eating veggies as often as possible unless they are covered in salt and cheesy or ranch dressing).
I think that book should by more accurately titled “Parisienne Women Don’t Get Fat,” as it is most reflective of the Parisienne lifestyle which is very fast-paced, walk-everywhere, higher-stress, all things that burn a lot of calories.
There is a difference between eating a high fat diet (such and Keto and Paleo) and simply eating small portions of fatty foods. The French by default eat a lower-fat diet because they not eat cheese like Americans do. Nor do they eat large portions of fatty desserts, and they don’t drown their coffee in cream or their toast in butter. They DO limit fats simply by default of eating TINY portions of fatty foods because things like butter, cheese, cream, and eggs are significantly more expensive than in the U.S. the French are still very self-controlled with their eating instead of OVER-eating like Americans. French farm families who have way access to milk, butter, cheese, etc (the fatty foods), ARE overweight. I know this because this is the family I married into. The women are all overweight except for the ones who have gluten and dairy intolerances. Because they’ve had to cut dairy out, they lost weight.
Have you read “Lessons From Madame Chic” by Jennifer L. Scott? I think you’d love it 🙂
Another one, as far as food cultures around the world is Blue Zones. I find it to be much more accurate then French Women Don’t Get Fat 🙂
Blessings!
Thanks Crystal! Yes I have read Jennifer’s book. Thanks for your observations!
Great article. I can recommend this to my wife. She doing ketogenic meal ad i can ask her to read about this.
I found this article interesting. I was told that my Great grandmother was French, and many of the things I do quite naturally or which came from my upbringing, fit this list perfectly. I have received comments throughout my life about my weight, eating habits, and lifestyle which I didn’t initially notice were culturally different or French” but seem to be and have worked very well for me. I don’t snack, I limit dairy, I walk a lot (and do hit the gym), I was raised to always eat at a set table, and I eat real food. I do celebrate and allow myself the cake or dessert, and I balance that out by reducing intake later in the week. Perhaps it’s the genetics and the heritage. Thank you for the insights.
I love this! Thank you for your comment