"Oui need diet help"

[jakpalmer]

Oui need diet help

And when U.S. tourists visit France, they often find they can eat like kings – and lose weight.

It’s the “French paradox.”

...

(Clower's) best advice: Eat anything you want, as long as it is food. And when is food not really food? When it’s filled with ingredients you can’t pronounce.

For example, strawberry flavoring has about 48 chemicals in it, he says.

“We can manipulate these molecules to taste exactly like a strawberry. (But) none of them have ever been alive,” he says. “It’s not food, it’s an invention. Don’t eat inventions.”

I also see that some French woman wrote a top selling book stating that French women don't get fat. Looks like the "French paradox" is a hot topic again...

Are you really constantly worrying about your diet ? Is it really so bad ?

[atommom]

1. I remember an article in a women's mag last year, in which

a French woman ate like an American for one month, and an American woman ate like a French woman for one month. The "French" diet included no processed foods, no artificial sweeteners or "low fat" foods, no convenience foods of any kind. The American diet was just the opposite. In addition, mealtimes were approached differently. The American diet was consumed on the run, and there was a lot of snacking. The French diet was consumed leisurely at regular mealtimes. At the end of the month, the woman eating the French diet felt better and had lost weight. The woman eating the American diet was annoyed because she'd gained weight and acquired a taste for unhealthy snack foods.

Not scientific by any means, but there probably is something to it. Less processed foods are more satisfying, and tend to have a lower glycemic index, so they satisfy you for a longer time.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

4. An acquaintance of mine has written French cookbooks and owns a

house in France.

She says that French people don't snack between meals and get more exercise in the course of their daily lives than Americans do.

[PEmboli]

2. Nope . I've never

worried about my diet and eat anything I want to!

[jakpalmer]

3. do you at least balance real/junk food ?

or do you eat ANYTHING ?

[jeanarrett]

16. I tried an experiment once. . .

I didn't eat anything "white" (except 2% milk for calcium) for a month and exercised daily by walking (briskly and a lot of uphill) for at least 30 minutes. I lost 20 pounds the first month and kept it off until I got pregnant again. I also cut down on sweets, but I'm not a big sweets person anyway. The bread was what I missed. Heavy carbs. Oh, and NO alcohol, none.

When you think about what is "white" you can see it was pretty much a low carb diet, but I ate a lot of fruits and vegetables, fish, etc. too.

No bread
No rice
No potatoes
No mayonnaise
No sour cream
Etc.

[smirkymonkey]

5. I have always lost weight whenever I spend any time in Europe

and I eat even more regularly than I eat here (I skip meals a lot). Everything is just so much more relaxed and enjoyable.

I think not being totally stressed out has a lot to do with it and we usually shopped daily or every other day for our food and bought it from farmers or specialty shops when avalable.

[jakpalmer]

6. Are you so focused on your jobs that you don't take the time

to shop at street markets and cook your meals ?

I don't even know if farmer/street markets are widespread in the US.

Over here, you can find at least one in every city, 2 to 3 days a week. It's really great and recent studies have shown that shopping for food at a street market can be cheaper than buying from a supermarket (not to mention that it also yields more revenue to farmers because there are less intermediaries involved).

[smbolisnch]

7. Where is here?

:shrug:
Just curious!

[jakpalmer]

8. Paris, France

Sorry for the lack of precision. :hi:

[smbolisnch]

9. No Problem!

I figured you were in Paris just becasue if the thread topic! Thanks! :hi:

[jakpalmer]

12. And I'm trying to figure out why we're so different

food-wise !

I mean: as far as i know we have the same kind of food available in both countries; the choice is almost unlimited, but we still have very different eating habits.

[KurtNYC]

13. The american palatte never develops much beyond

what kids eat. There is corn syrup in everything (hot dogs, Big Macs, ice cream, muffins, ketchup, everything). It is part of every meal.

Also American are more concerned with cost than value in general, not just in food. Look at our politicians, they say in effect 'government will still suck but you will get a tax break.' I think the same happens diet wise - we eat what is cheap and crappy.

[tanyev]

19. Street markets are very rare.

About once every two or three weeks, I drive quite a bit farther to shop at a Whole Foods Market, which specializes in organic/natural foods. I would love to do all my shopping there, but it is quite a bit farther and also more expensive.

I try to be careful in the regular supermarket and buy food as close to its natural state as possible. I am very concerned about all the garbage that is added into our food. You can now buy organic dairy products and some organic fruit & vegetables at most regular supermarkets, but it is unusual to find organic chicken or beef.

Most Americans are not even aware that there is a problem with our food supply. Many of those that have heard of the problems dismiss it as wacky conspiracy theories/alarmist crackpots. It is much like their incomprehensible approval of George Bush. Our media spews out the propaganda that the corporate interests want us to believe, and most people accept it unquestioningly.

I cook most of our meals, but I know lots of people who mostly pop things in the microwave, if they use their kitchen at all. I don't know why this is. Some of it may be because they think they are too busy, some have very little confidence in their cooking abilities, but mostly I think it's because our culture tends to view meals as an interruption to the things you want to accomplish, rather than making a meal an accomplishment all in itself.

Au revoir!

[DrWeird]

10. "these molecules taste like strawberry, but none of them have been alive"

oy.

[KurtNYC]

11. Julia Child remarked famously that "Americans are afraid of food"

What she didn't say is that they are afraid of the wrong ones. There is whole bunch of junk science in the US which started in the late 1970s and drove people to seek out processed food. Conventionally wisdom in the food industry now says that if it isn't sweet and salty Americans won't eat it.

Processed food is nutrient poor and leaves people hungry. This seems to be a marketing solution to the over-production of food in the US.

Americans eat 130 pounds of sugar (mostly HFCS) per person per year and yet are afraid to eat prosciutto. But in general Americans eat for the way it FEELS not the way it tastes. They are forever trying to feel full and one fast food chain now addresses this directly in their ads.

[jakpalmer]

14. Trying to go farther into the subject...

for example: what is your personal opinion about GM food ?

In Europe, most of us are very concerned by the constant lobbying by multinational companies trying to impose that kind of crap upon us.

I have the feeling that this is not such a "hot" subject in the US.

[BiggJawn]

20. "Frankenfood"

I know Mr. and Mrs. Sheeple Sixpack are not very concerned with any genectic tinkering with the snack foods they stuff into their maws while they watch "Fear Factor" and FAUX Nooz, but I am.

The crap is SO pervasive anymore. and it's almost impossible to find out if you're eating it or not, since our FDA is less of a regulatory agency and more of an advocate for PHARMA and AGRA to give sham "regulation" to any product they wn to bring to market.

Your average Murkan doesn't care, because the Government tells them the stuff is safe...

Oh, sure, they'll step in it somebody wants to sell arsenic sprinkles for guar gum ice cream, but that's about it.

A lot of products I buy brag about the fact that they have NO GMO's in them. This is a voluntary disclosure, though.

And HFCS is in EVERYTHING!!!! I can't get away from the shit!

[jakpalmer]

21. It's scary because BIG PHARMA and BIG AGRA are clearly

trying to do the same here. And our governments seem much too "open" about that.

You just have to see how difficult it is to be heard for the few who fight against it.

We have a well know activist here, named José Bové (the one who went to jail after dismantling a McDo). This guy is constantly fighting with the authorities over GM crops experiences (mainly by Monsanto I think).

A few times already he and other activists have been violently beaten and gassed by the police while they were trying to cut crop in GM fields.

[BiggJawn]

15. Yes, on both counts...

"Are you really constantly worrying about your diet ? Is it really so bad ?"

American "food" is pure shit.

"And when is food not really food? When it’s filled with ingredients you can’t pronounce."

That covers just about every damn thing you'll find on the shelves except bottled water...
.
I have diabetes, high blood pressure, and I'm Obese. The most difficult thing in my life is to dump the weight. it's becoming an obsessive Love-Hate thing with me...

I firmly believe the "food" is what's making us a nation of fat diabetics. No wonder Dr. Phil and the other "Diet Gurus" and PHARMA sleep so well at night....

[jakpalmer]

17. I feel really sorry for your condition.

I guess this book is intended for people who, like you, have this "love-hate" relationship with food.

I have to confess: My GF and I visited a friend in the US (Mountain View, CA) in September 2001, and during our 3 weeks trip, I really enjoyed the food. The portions were surprisingly big but the quality seemed to be good. Even the junk food we ate at In&Out or Taco Bell was tasty.

However, I was glad to get back to our usual diet when we came back. I remember I had gained some weight...

[BiggJawn]

18. Well, of COURSE you found Taco Bell to be tasty....

That's the drawing power of it. And they put those beans, and lettuce, and onion, and tomatoes...Look at all those vegies, why it just HAS to be healthy, right?
Take that "Zesty Chicken Border Bowl"....42 grams of fat, almost as much as TWO Krispy-Kreme do-nuts...

Combine that with the American "custom" of Multitasking, "Dashboard Dining", and reaching out to a double cheeseburger because we're too repressed and fucked-in-the-head as a "culture" to reach out to another person when we need some comfort...

I agree with that article on one I think very important point:
Americans don't Dine, we "Refuel". And then, only when our hands start to shgake. Too busy otherwise.

[KurtNYC]

23. IN & Out grinds their own hamburger and cuts their fries

They are one of the better chains and deserve some credit for their efforts.

Of course, what's a great burger without great fries? At In-N-Out, we know a french fry is only as good as the potato it comes from. That’s why we use the highest grade potatoes and ship them fresh from the farm. Then we cut them right in the store, one potato at a time. And cook them in 100% pure, cholesterol-free vegetable oil.

http://www.in-n-out.com/ (see "Freshness")

[Hand]

22. Vive la difference!

[amazona]

24. food is too expensive in paris!

I visited a short while back and it's true. Everyone is thin. And I know why. The cost of food is so high that you just have a croissant and a coffee for breakfast. And maybe a pastry from the boulangerie for another meal. So you only eat like one real meal a day. I visited a food market and I thought I would pass out at the price of food.

It's like back in the day when the British were thin because all they ate was tea and scones instead of a real meal in the evening.

If you don't eat, sure, you don't gain weight. But I'm not sure how healthy it is to go all day on coffee and croissant!

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72