My French diet challenge (warning, high carbs)
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Patttience wrote: »"There are plenty of overweight French people though; it's pretty much like anywhere else."
Yeah. I lived in France until I was 23 and only ever knew 3 very obese persons, although I knew a bunch of overweight ones.
Work - I never met anyone who brought their lunch. Most big companies have a cafeteria that serve balanced foods (sure, you can find French fries sometimes, but you can get salads, veggies, fruit etc and pretty much no fried foods apart from the fries, and desserts are SMALL, and usually some kind of yogurt/pudding cup instead of a donut). Otherwise, people get lunch coupons that they can spend everywhere. There are fast food places like McDonald's, sure, but a lot of cafés, restaurants or bakeries that sell foods in reasonable portions. Apart from KFC you won't find fried chicken or fried shrimp etc. A typical lunch for me was 2 rolls of maki, or a baguette sandwich with some meat and lettuce/tomatoes, a ham and cheese crepe, or a small quiche with an eclair or something.
Some companies still have lunch vouchers, but they encourage you to eat MORE lunch not less, because the bakeries try to make up the lunch offer to something that could plausibly cost E5:50. So you'll be eating a quite large sandwich AND a dessert (usually a cake or pastry).
I guess when I say 'anywhere else' I am thinking of Europe rather than America though. I live in the UK and I know lots of overweight people but relatively few obese ones.0 -
karla24687 wrote: »^I think you are right, it's more of the lifestyle than a particular diet. I visited Europe for about a month & the whole culture really impressed me. Food in France was amazing & plentiful (so were the smokers unfortunately) but people walked everywhere & didn't seem to really overdo it. Same with Italy & Switzerland.
I think they pay more attention to the quality of food & the occasion to enjoy it rather than its convenience. McDonald's cost a fortune, but you could buy fresh fruit, bread, & meats at the farmers market in the town center for super cheap. I would love to have that kind of culture here. The only thing that really frustrated me was the lack of water. You had to buy a big bottle for the table at meals & I was dying in the middle of July!
Yeah I don't miss the lack of AC and the smokers for sure.Patttience wrote: »"There are plenty of overweight French people though; it's pretty much like anywhere else."
Yeah. I lived in France until I was 23 and only ever knew 3 very obese persons, although I knew a bunch of overweight ones.
Work - I never met anyone who brought their lunch. Most big companies have a cafeteria that serve balanced foods (sure, you can find French fries sometimes, but you can get salads, veggies, fruit etc and pretty much no fried foods apart from the fries, and desserts are SMALL, and usually some kind of yogurt/pudding cup instead of a donut). Otherwise, people get lunch coupons that they can spend everywhere. There are fast food places like McDonald's, sure, but a lot of cafés, restaurants or bakeries that sell foods in reasonable portions. Apart from KFC you won't find fried chicken or fried shrimp etc. A typical lunch for me was 2 rolls of maki, or a baguette sandwich with some meat and lettuce/tomatoes, a ham and cheese crepe, or a small quiche with an eclair or something.
Some companies still have lunch vouchers, but they encourage you to eat MORE lunch not less, because the bakeries try to make up the lunch offer to something that could plausibly cost E5:50. So you'll be eating a quite large sandwich AND a dessert (usually a cake or pastry).
I guess when I say 'anywhere else' I am thinking of Europe rather than America though. I live in the UK and I know lots of overweight people but relatively few obese ones.
Interesting. I actually left when they switched to euros so I don't really know what things are worth these days. I went back 3 years ago though and I remember being so shocked at the price of croissants and cheese compared to here though (1 euro instead of $3+!). But I remember doing the sandwich plus pastry thing with my lunch vouchers too when I was working in Paris, but I'm not exactly the best example as I was overweight and have a killer sweet tooth.0 -
healthygreek wrote: »What about the "Italian" diet?
When we were visiting Italy, we did as numerous Italians did and ate a big delicious cornetto every morning! That's a huge croissant filled with cream or Nutella! Oh, and a large cup of cappuccino!
And yet, I stilled managed to maintain! Gotta love that diet!
My Italian diet involved much more pizza, pasta and prosecco than this. Gained 5lbs in a week.
Well worth it though, and I lost it again within a week of tracking.0 -
My Grandfather (who has passed) did a lot of international business. He told me the french, in general, are picky about food quality, and content with "just a taste" if it is the good stuff. A bite of fancy chocolate vs a whole bar of cheap stuff.
He also said they seem to enjoy smoking, drinking wine, and having sex more then snacking.0 -
oh, the french are into family meals as well, right? I imagine pigging out is tough when you are sitting down to a meal with your whole family watching.0
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melimomTARDIS wrote: »My Grandfather (who has passed) did a lot of international business. He told me the french, in general, are picky about food quality, and content with "just a taste" if it is the good stuff. A bite of fancy chocolate vs a whole bar of cheap stuff.
He also said they seem to enjoy smoking, drinking wine, and having sex more then snacking.
Well, depends on who you ask.
But yes we are picky about food quality. I still can't stand Hershey chocolate, for example.melimomTARDIS wrote: »oh, the french are into family meals as well, right? I imagine pigging out is tough when you are sitting down to a meal with your whole family watching.
Every meal at the dining table with whoever was home. Always setting the table before eating, cups, plates, silverware, drinks, bringing dishes there to eat etc... Heck even breakfast was at the table (the kitchen table though). We did have TV on during lunch and dinner though, which annoyed me to no end because it completely defeats the purpose of having dinner together, but a lot of my friends didn't.
Seriously though, it's a pain when my mom comes here. So much extra work to have to carry everything and set the table even for breakfast (she brings bread, cereal, everything, even though most of it won't be used)! And having to reheat all the leftovers so people can help themselves vs putting your portion in a plate and reheating your plate... And so much easier to just grab your food from the pans in the kitchen and take your own plate, silverware and cup to the table (or the desk when I'm alone).
Sorry. Pet peeve, lol. I still try to have dinner together with my family though but it doesn't always happen (especially on hangry days when I end up having an early dinner or we eat leftovers and people just have whatever they want). But my mom HATES it and keeps complaining about us eating 'the American way' when we do that.0 -
Stereotypes are pretty dangerous. There seems to be lot of that here. Calling a diet the 'french' diet or 'italian' diet and assuming that's how everyone eats in an entire country? That's like eating all burgers and fries and calling it the 'american' diet. Except this is a large country with millions of people in it, and many of them don't eat that way. There are a lot of regional areas in each state that have their own particular kinds of food. I'm sure the same is true for other countries, as well.0
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well, there is an american pattern of eating. We (americans) do eat dinner earlier than the french, and we do tend to snack more than they do.0
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melimomTARDIS wrote: »well, there is an american pattern of eating. We (americans) do eat dinner earlier than the french, and we do tend to snack more than they do.
all - how many millions of us? huh.0 -
This sounds a lot like that book/diet "French Women Don't Get Fat"....I've never read it but from what I understand, it sounds more like it's a difference in your approach to how you eat, rather than actually what you eat. I don't even know how much credibility that book has in terms of if the lifestyle described is accurately portraying French culture... but it was written by a French woman, so who knows.0
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Oh man, this thread is making me hungry and it's about lunchtime. Plus, it's bringing back all the amazing memories I have of our trip to Paris, Nice and Monaco, and the fabulous 5 course lunch we had at a French friend's flat in Paris. The food there is just amazing and fresh. Yes, people walked everywhere, as did we so as to cut down on the cost of transportation. When we stopped at Marseilles, we found a McDonald's and there was hardly anyone there (it was lunchtime). Here at lunchtime, McDonald's is a madhouse! I need to stop drooling now.0
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noclady1995 wrote: »Oh man, this thread is making me hungry and it's about lunchtime. Plus, it's bringing back all the amazing memories I have of our trip to Paris, Nice and Monaco, and the fabulous 5 course lunch we had at a French friend's flat in Paris. The food there is just amazing and fresh. Yes, people walked everywhere, as did we so as to cut down on the cost of transportation. When we stopped at Marseilles, we found a McDonald's and there was hardly anyone there (it was lunchtime). Here at lunchtime, McDonald's is a madhouse! I need to stop drooling now.
Well to be honest, I worked for a couple weeks at one the Quick (the European equivalent of McDonald's) on the Champs Elysées... and it was CRAZY.
Oh and I much prefer eating dinner at 6pm than 8pm.0 -
melimomTARDIS wrote: »well, there is an american pattern of eating. We (americans) do eat dinner earlier than the french, and we do tend to snack more than they do.
all - how many millions of us? huh.
That's the thing about trends. They're never meant to apply to the whole population, sometimes just a plurality. It isn't every single American eats dinner before his/her French counterpart; it's just likely that any given person probably does. With trends, you can generally find or name someone you know that doesn't fit it because it isn't all or nothing.
I've only been to Europe once, and that was in Italy. The food was so yummy and walking plentiful!
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WinoGelato wrote: »UltimateRBF wrote: »I thought the French diet consisted solely of baguettes, cigarettes, and wine.
Oh and cheese.
I am so down with that.
Starting it RN.
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Need2Exerc1se wrote: »But I don't see where you would be not eating for 5-6 hours if you are eating 3 meals a day (other than while sleeping, which is true of most everyone).
I do this often (and the not snacking thing works well for me, although I never thought it was especially French).
Get up at 5, and eat around 6 (maybe earlier, maybe a bit later if I run/swim first thing and eat after). Lunch around 12, and dinner around 9.0 -
melimomTARDIS wrote: »well, there is an american pattern of eating. We (americans) do eat dinner earlier than the french, and we do tend to snack more than they do.
all - how many millions of us? huh.
That's the thing about trends. They're never meant to apply to the whole population, sometimes just a plurality. It isn't every single American eats dinner before his/her French counterpart; it's just likely that any given person probably does. With trends, you can generally find or name someone you know that doesn't fit it because it isn't all or nothing.
I've only been to Europe once, and that was in Italy. The food was so yummy and walking plentiful!
It must be the majority of Europe because I had to work in Dublin, Ireland a couple of different times and I walked to and from work every day (it was a 20 min walk each way), as well as lunch and dinner. And the awesome thing is that most everything was walking distance. I even attended a church one Sunday, and walked there. Whether it was 30 degrees or 60 degrees outside, people walked to and from places. I loved it.0 -
noclady1995 wrote: »melimomTARDIS wrote: »well, there is an american pattern of eating. We (americans) do eat dinner earlier than the french, and we do tend to snack more than they do.
all - how many millions of us? huh.
That's the thing about trends. They're never meant to apply to the whole population, sometimes just a plurality. It isn't every single American eats dinner before his/her French counterpart; it's just likely that any given person probably does. With trends, you can generally find or name someone you know that doesn't fit it because it isn't all or nothing.
I've only been to Europe once, and that was in Italy. The food was so yummy and walking plentiful!
It must be the majority of Europe because I had to work in Dublin, Ireland a couple of different times and I walked to and from work every day (it was a 20 min walk each way), as well as lunch and dinner. And the awesome thing is that most everything was walking distance. I even attended a church one Sunday, and walked there. Whether it was 30 degrees or 60 degrees outside, people walked to and from places. I loved it.
Big cities in the US can be like that. I walk 10 mins to the L or ride my bike to work, and one thing I did when deciding to get back in shape was start sometimes getting on and off at less convenient stops to include more walking. I walk to the grocery store and for most errands, walk to church and back (1.25 miles each way, although there are closer churches), so on.
The thing with the US is even in big cities it can be convenient to drive--I have parking at home, which makes it easier to have a car (and gas here is cheaper). The grocery stores in my neighborhood and my church have parking lots, which makes it tempting to drive if it's cold or I am going to have heavy bags. In my city the cost of parking downtown is absolutely insane, so I don't, but in tons of US cities that's not the case.0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »noclady1995 wrote: »melimomTARDIS wrote: »well, there is an american pattern of eating. We (americans) do eat dinner earlier than the french, and we do tend to snack more than they do.
all - how many millions of us? huh.
That's the thing about trends. They're never meant to apply to the whole population, sometimes just a plurality. It isn't every single American eats dinner before his/her French counterpart; it's just likely that any given person probably does. With trends, you can generally find or name someone you know that doesn't fit it because it isn't all or nothing.
I've only been to Europe once, and that was in Italy. The food was so yummy and walking plentiful!
It must be the majority of Europe because I had to work in Dublin, Ireland a couple of different times and I walked to and from work every day (it was a 20 min walk each way), as well as lunch and dinner. And the awesome thing is that most everything was walking distance. I even attended a church one Sunday, and walked there. Whether it was 30 degrees or 60 degrees outside, people walked to and from places. I loved it.
Big cities in the US can be like that. I walk 10 mins to the L or ride my bike to work, and one thing I did when deciding to get back in shape was start sometimes getting on and off at less convenient stops to include more walking. I walk to the grocery store and for most errands, walk to church and back (1.25 miles each way, although there are closer churches), so on.
The thing with the US is even in big cities it can be convenient to drive--I have parking at home, which makes it easier to have a car (and gas here is cheaper). The grocery stores in my neighborhood and my church have parking lots, which makes it tempting to drive if it's cold or I am going to have heavy bags. In my city the cost of parking downtown is absolutely insane, so I don't, but in tons of US cities that's not the case.
You're definitely fortunate. You pretty much have to drive to most everywhere where I live in Texas.0 -
jt, I thought you hit your goal. Is this maintenance for you?
No bads, whatever works for you is fine.0
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