Is it true that French women don't get fat?

I'm sure you are wondering, why in the world I would bring up this topic. Is it true? I don't know that for certain, but I've always thought so. No doubt I'm not the only one who has had this impression.


One of the few French women I've ever gotten to know on a very 'small' scale, Diamond Berger, was a quilter from France. I met her at a talk at the Houston Quilt guild on French quilting or 'boutis'. She certainly was NOT fat. Neither were any of the young women with her who showed off their pieces of fabric art. She was in her 50's and looked lovely...just as lovely as her younger students.


Funny how a post is born.






I'm sitting here typing a way while the teenage boys are sleeping in after an all night birthday party including funny movies, games, shooting their guns (they can't do that in town), and just having a great time. This included ridiculous amounts of pizza and soda. (One of them ate the salad..I think..)  I plan to feed them a healthier breakfast IF they actually get up in time.

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So I'm checking my emails and get a post from my friend, Maria Killam, asking the question, "If Gray is like Skinny Jeans, then what is brown?  (Mom jeans?)--Very interesting read for sure! All of her posts this week were fabulous!

One of the readers commented on how at least Mom jeans covered our tummies. This is true. I don't like seeing people where their tummies on full display when they aren't just cute little 'bumps'.  I DON'T think badly of them of course, I just feel a little embarrassed for them. In my day, you held your tummy IN if it tended to bulge..and ate a little less food for a week or two.

  So I did a search and came up with the most LOVELY and INSPIRING website I've seen in a long time--French Women Don't Get Fat.

"Americans have the highest obesity rate maybe because food equals diet,
to each its own. For the French it’s more about eating good food
together, and conviviality and PLEASURE are key. We are still the least
fat people in Europe. Witnessing school kids (6-12 yr-olds) eating lunch
 in a Provence village (not one obese or even overweight) was a true
pleasure, and knowing that the next meal, dinner, will be home at the
table with the entire family (like breakfast) and that more and more men
 are enjoying cooking is always an additional pleasure. Could pleasure
be one of the factors protecting us against obesity?" Mireille Guiliano.

Mireille is a lovely woman and her whole desire is to 'inspire' we American women to be our best... She knows that many of us American women don't know why we struggle with food..and she's here to help, by showing us a different approach.

She talks about food and fashion...and more.  I loved her "French Woman's Manifesto". Here are a few things from it...

• French women eat three meals a day.
• French women adore fashion.
• French women are stubborn individuals and don't follow mass movements.

French women avoid anything that demands too much effort for too little pleasure.
 French women balance their food, drink, and movement on a week-by-week basis.
French women care enormously about the presentation of food. It matters to them how you look at it.
French women choose their own indulgences and compensations. 
They understand that little things count, both additions and
subtractions, and that as an adult everyone is the keeper of her own
equilibrium.
French women don't care for hard liquor.
French women don't diet.

 If you would like an interesting and inspiring read today..I highly recommend Mireille Guiliano's website or perhaps even her book...French Women Don't Get Fat.

Sometimes, ladies, it's good to take a peek in the mirror.... I know I need to do that!  Have a lovely weekend...