Want to be a French Woman Who Doesn't Get Fat?

I do! Look at the French -they eat cheese, bread, chocolate, wine and champagne and are sticks! I want to eat and look like that!

Those that know me, know I'm a junkie for health books, but only those that DON'T have you follow meal plans. The type of health books I like to read are the ones that teach an eating philosophy to help you keep the weight off, but still enjoy food. Well, I was watching FitTV the other night and a segment on Mirielle Guilliano's "French Women Don't Get Fat" was airing. I'd heard of this book and actually borrowed it from a friend a couple of years ago, but didn't find it so interesting. I'm not sure why, but this time around I was intrigued. I borrowed it again from the same friend so I could re-read it and have started to take some of her concepts into action these past two weeks.

Here's are a few things that I love about her philosophy:

• You don't have to worry so much about working out as long as you walk at least 30 minutes a day - French women don't go to the gym (Being pregnant right now and not being able to run or workout hard is most likely why I love this philosophy right now and probably why I didn't buy into it a couple of years ago.)
• Eat what you want, but try to make sure it's a close to it's original source as possible and in season- NOT PROCESSED! (I gave up most processed foods about a year ago and it's made such a difference in how I feel and, I think, has made keeping the weight off easy and enjoyable. I probably was really into Lean Cuisines and fat free chips and things a couple of years ago which is another reason I wasn't ready for this philosophy at that point.)
• Have a glass of wine with dinner - just don't have more than 1 or 2 glasses (Love this! I love wine with food and I can't have more than that right now anyways being pregnant so this one is EASY for me! Also to note: A glass of wine is a 3 second pour. Try it - it's way smaller than you'd think. I heard that on a show the other month and found that pretty interesting.)
• Eat chocolate, just make sure it's dark. (Favorite new dessert - a dark chocolate square - and I'm telling you, it really does nip your chocolate/sweet cravings in the bud.)

My favorite type of Dark Chocolate. YUM!

• Eat breakfast -preferably plain nonfat yogurt (I recommend plain Greek yogurt) with homemade granola and fresh fruit. (Okay, I usually HATE this type of breakfast, but I'm now HOOKED. I tweaked a homemade granola recipe I found online and make a batch on the weekend to keep for the entire week in a Tupperware container. It's also great when you don't have but a few seconds to prepare your breakfast and its' really filling. Another great thing I've found about this breakfast is that I don't crave my mochas or lattes afterwards because it has dairy and sugars in it - and it's a much healthier version of dairy and sugars! I'm not sure what it is about yogurt, but supposedly the French eat 1-2 servings a day so it must do something good.)

Here's my recipe for granola if you want to give it a try:

Homemade Granola

• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup steel cut quick-cook oats
• 1T honey
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 2T light brown sugar
• 1T extra virgin olive oil

Whisk together sugar, vanilla, olive oil, and honey. Mix all ingredients together well (make sure all dry ingredients are coated). Place on a baking sheet and bake at 325 degrees for about 16 minutes – tossing halfway to make sure it doesn’t stick to the baking sheet. Let cool.

Those are just a few of the things I love about her philosophy. If you want to find out more, check out her website or her book. It's a quick, easy read and if you love cheese, bread, wine, chocolate - basically REAL food - this is definitely an eating style you might want to adopt. I've had a lot of fun trying to eat "French" this past week and plan on sticking to it for the time being.

Here is a "French" dinner I had the other night - French Lentil Vegetable Soup with cheese and bread, of course! It's an Ina Garten recipe if you want to try it

(I added zuchinni and a can of crushed tomatoes to mine.)

Supposedly the French eat soup for dinner on most nights.

Happy French Eating!