I do agree that Americans are busy people, but if you compare our busyness to the busyness of our ancestors, it's nothin'! Just think what it must have been like to get a loaf of bread on the table, to fetch water everyday, to farm and/or hunt, etc, etc. We're busy, but in a nonphysical way. We're biologically wired to conserve as much energy as we can so it's natural for us to try to make all our physical tasks easier. The problem is, things have gotten too easy, physically speaking. we have cars, remotes, washer/dryers, dishwashers, etc. When you add an overabundance of food into the equation, you've got obesity.
Books: French Women Don't Get Fat
- Thread starter jdifischer
- Start date
jdifischer
Cathlete
Wow - this has been interesting to read all these posts. Yes I watched Dateline last night. I am sure we will hear more on this book. She was so refined.
I have to say that the Japanese work the longest hours of any civilized nation that I have seen. My ex-SIL is Japanese and I visited there for two weeks. The working class are walking home late - 8-9 pm.
Having just had braces put on and a tooth pulled I am definetly eating like the French. Verrrrryyy Slooooowww. I have to look at food and ask "is it worth the effort".
Dawn
I have to say that the Japanese work the longest hours of any civilized nation that I have seen. My ex-SIL is Japanese and I visited there for two weeks. The working class are walking home late - 8-9 pm.
Having just had braces put on and a tooth pulled I am definetly eating like the French. Verrrrryyy Slooooowww. I have to look at food and ask "is it worth the effort".
Dawn
TarHeelMom
Cathlete
Hi Cathy!
Cathy, what part of Italy are you guys in now? Are you going to be there a while? I hope you have time to really get to know the country!
We've traveled to Italy a couple of times and I have to say I think it may well be my favorite country. We just have the BEST time -- the people are so marvelously friendly, the country's so pretty and there's so much to see and do, the food is sensational (and simple, as you said), and the attitude that you described about life is so wonderfully contagious! It's so civilized to rise early, have a productive morning, and then relax over your largest meal of the day in mid-day!! In our country only kindergarteners and preschoolers follow anything LIKE that kinda schedule, but it sure does make sense!
http://www.click-smilies.de/sammlung0903/sport/sport-smiley-003.gif Kathy S.http://www.click-smilies.de/sammlung0903/spezial/spudniks/spudniklifter.gif
[font color=green]2005 Worked Out With Cathe Days: 8/365[/font color]
Cathy, what part of Italy are you guys in now? Are you going to be there a while? I hope you have time to really get to know the country!
We've traveled to Italy a couple of times and I have to say I think it may well be my favorite country. We just have the BEST time -- the people are so marvelously friendly, the country's so pretty and there's so much to see and do, the food is sensational (and simple, as you said), and the attitude that you described about life is so wonderfully contagious! It's so civilized to rise early, have a productive morning, and then relax over your largest meal of the day in mid-day!! In our country only kindergarteners and preschoolers follow anything LIKE that kinda schedule, but it sure does make sense!
http://www.click-smilies.de/sammlung0903/sport/sport-smiley-003.gif Kathy S.http://www.click-smilies.de/sammlung0903/spezial/spudniks/spudniklifter.gif
[font color=green]2005 Worked Out With Cathe Days: 8/365[/font color]
cathykazbar
Cathlete
RE: Hi Cathy!
Kathy-
We are actually living on an island off the northern coast of Sardinia. It's beautiful here! I feel so fortunate to have this experience! I am going to start taking some italian classes they offer here so I can interact more with the locals. Most still fit in an 8 hour day ... 9-12 and 3-8 ... that lunch break though is pretty nice!
Cathy
Kathy-
We are actually living on an island off the northern coast of Sardinia. It's beautiful here! I feel so fortunate to have this experience! I am going to start taking some italian classes they offer here so I can interact more with the locals. Most still fit in an 8 hour day ... 9-12 and 3-8 ... that lunch break though is pretty nice!
Cathy
I've lived in the French part of Switzerland for several years now and I live a few minutes from the French border so I go to France regularly. The woman who wrote this book could have written it about America pre-1965. Walk everwhere, eat good wholesome food, etc. It is all commom sense. But everyone is always looking for the silver bullet so I'm sure this book will sell pretty well.
That said, from my observations, most French women come in all different sizes. Although I have yet to see an obese one. Teenagers also come in all sizes. The women in Paris are thinner - more metro- lots live on black coffee and cigarettes. Plus there is a stigma about being a bit overweight. But that is not all of France. That is like someone from Europe going to a fashionable part of New York City and saying all American women look a certain way.
I think the biggest thing (that we as Americans have lost) besides the lifestyle, is that there is still a stigma here about gluttony. Adults don't snack, that is for little children. There are snack isles here (some of the biggest supermarkets and snack goods are in France) and I will predict that in 10-20 years if not sooner, all of Europe will also have a weight problem. People work here and take their kids here and there too - so it can be stressful.
There is also a giantic weightloss industry in France. Tons of slimming ads, etc. I would say that French women are no different from us except that, again, there is a stigma with being overweight, so they have to practice more self control or whatever it takes for them to lose/maintain their weight.
That said, from my observations, most French women come in all different sizes. Although I have yet to see an obese one. Teenagers also come in all sizes. The women in Paris are thinner - more metro- lots live on black coffee and cigarettes. Plus there is a stigma about being a bit overweight. But that is not all of France. That is like someone from Europe going to a fashionable part of New York City and saying all American women look a certain way.
I think the biggest thing (that we as Americans have lost) besides the lifestyle, is that there is still a stigma here about gluttony. Adults don't snack, that is for little children. There are snack isles here (some of the biggest supermarkets and snack goods are in France) and I will predict that in 10-20 years if not sooner, all of Europe will also have a weight problem. People work here and take their kids here and there too - so it can be stressful.
There is also a giantic weightloss industry in France. Tons of slimming ads, etc. I would say that French women are no different from us except that, again, there is a stigma with being overweight, so they have to practice more self control or whatever it takes for them to lose/maintain their weight.