Synopsis
The French author spent time in the states as a student and returned home chubby for the first time in her life, but she rapidly returned to normal by readopting French eating habits. In this memoir-like volume, she talks about her own life, but mostly about the secrets of staying slim à la française. The key is smaller portions, but her emphasis is on enjoyment of food--not wolfing down a meal for the sake of staying alive, but actively engaging with every bite, sitting down for meals, eating with friends and family. She also understands the importance of treats on special occasions and appreciating the joys of fresh fruits and vegetables rather than fast food, snacks, and sweets.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 2004-12-28 |
| Size | | Length: | 263 pages | | Height: | 8.5 in | | Width: | 6.3 in | | Thickness: | 1.5 in | | Weight: | 15.2 oz |
Publisher's Note
Stylish, convincing, wise, funny–and just in time: the ultimate non-diet book, which could radically change the way you think and live.
French women don’t get fat, but they do eat bread and pastry, drink wine, and regularly enjoy three-course meals. In her delightful tale, Mireille Guiliano unlocks the simple secrets of this “French paradox”–how to enjoy food and stay slim and healthy. Hers is a charming, sensible, and powerfully life-affirming view of health and eating for our times.
As a typically slender French girl, Mireille (Meer-ray) went to America as an exchange student and came back fat. That shock sent her into an adolescent tailspin, until her kindly family physician, “Dr. Miracle,” came to the rescue. Reintroducing her to classic principles of French gastronomy plus time-honored secrets of the local women, he helped her restore her shape and gave her a whole new understanding of food, drink, and life. The key? Not guilt or deprivation but learning to get the most from the things you most enjoy. Following her own version of this traditional wisdom, she has ever since relished a life of indulgence without bulge, satisfying yen without yo-yo on three meals a day.
Now in simple but potent strategies and dozens of recipes you’d swear were fattening, Mireille reveals the ingredients for a lifetime of weight control–from the emergency weekend remedy of Magical Leek Soup to everyday tricks like fooling yourself into contentment and painless new physical exertions to save you from the StairMaster. Emphasizing the virtues of freshness, variety, balance, and always pleasure, Mireille shows how virtually anyone can learn to eat, drink, and move like a French woman.
A natural raconteur, Mireille illustrates her philosophy through the experiences that have shaped her life–a six-year-old’s first taste of Champagne, treks in search of tiny blueberries (called myrtilles) in the woods near her grandmother’s house, a near-spiritual rendezvous with oysters at a seaside restaurant in Brittany, to name but a few. She also shows us other women discovering the wonders of “French in action,” drawing examples from dozens of friends and associates she has advised over the years to eat and drink smarter and more joyfully.
Here are a culture’s most cherished and time-honored secrets recast for the twenty-first century. For anyone who has slipped out of her zone, missed the flight to South Beach, or accidentally let a carb pass her lips, here is a buoyant, positive way to stay trim. A life of wine, bread–even chocolate–without girth or guilt? Pourquoi pas?
Industry Reviews
"[A] welcome reprieve from the scores of diet books out there; there's nary a mention of calories, anaerobic energy, glycemic index or any of the other hallmarks of the genre....(Guiliano's] book, with its amusing asides about her life and work, occasional lapses into French and inspiring recipes...,is a stirring reminder of the importance of joie de vivre."
Publishers Weekly (11/22/2004)
"[I]t is not unlike the advice that American nutritionists on Web sites and at spas and clinics across the country dispense every day....Somehow, though, these sensible stratagems are more palatable coming from Guiliano, who was once fat herself, and who now happily lives in American, where she first fell victim to our bad habits....Sometimes these 'simple values' seem perhaps too simple. Many of us need the discipline of the gym and don't have time to stroll to the open-air market (which probably doesn't exist where we live)...But, armed with her book, I am willing to try again."
New York Times Book Review - Julia Reed (02/06/2005)
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Fair book with limited information but good recipes
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