The French Weight Loss Plan

Many people have always wondered how the French manage to eat such delicious food, including chocolate eclairs and baked fresh cream, and manage to stay so thin. Well, from what I've seen and tasted, I think I have an idea. It's all down to discipline, attitude and patience. (I must put a disclaimer, however, that while the following are some fairly judgemental observations about society, I personally am not a shining example of nutritional discipline...)

What The Onion says about it

Patience:
Shopping for food takes time. Preparing food takes time. Eating food takes time. People are impatient. They don't want to spend time shopping, cooking or eating, and even think of it as a "waste" of time. Our fast-paced culture contributes to this problem by giving less than an hour for lunch and offering constant options for "fast food". This supports an image that eating is not important and that it can and should be as fast and convenient as possible. The result is that people often don't have time or patience to shop, so they order take-out and get drive-through meals. People don't have time or patience to cook, so they stock-up on pre-prepared food which often has lots of preservatives and is far removed from the original fresh food source. People don't have time or patience to eat, so they wolf down whatever will fill them up the fastest, and so often skip anything that requires time to cut or eat, like salads, meats and soups. As a result people often are still not full by the time lunch break is over. Then people need to snack between meals because they're still hungry but they don't have time for a real meal. The body adapts by shrinking the stomach to a standard smaller size, so that we get full faster but need to eat more often. Before I moved to France the longest I could go without eating was 4 hours.



The French have a slower pace of life in general, but even the busiest of people insist on taking a full hour for lunch. It's regarded as a break from the busy day, a needed time to pause between the racket, and in no way is seen as a waste of time. Most French people consecrate about two hours every Saturday for food shopping. Some go to an outdoor farmer's market for the freshest ingredients, others go to the supermarket and stock up on everything they need for the week. Many people go as a couple or with their family so that they are not alone, and so it goes faster and doesn't seem like a resentful chore. Dinner is planned at least 6 hours in advance, and whoever is making dinner that night makes sure that afternoon that they have everything for a 3 course balanced meal (fruit/salad, meat and cooked vegetable, bread and cheese or fruit/chocolate). Anything missing can be picked up at the supermarket, but mostly they plan around what food is already at the house. They expect to spend about an hour cooking, and plan for it, so that it is not a surprise or a burden. Cooking a proper 3 course meal is always more fun than microwaving a TV dinner, and so cooking becomes a creative adventure and the result is something you look forward to and can be proud of. They also don't snack between meals, so that by the time dinner is ready, they are really hungry and the food tastes better. They eat dinner with company, whether that's another person to talk to, or a full one-hour TV program, but dinner is enjoyed slowly, and they eat until they are full. As a result, the stomach adapts by becoming more elastic, able to shrink quite small before absolute hunger is felt, and able to expand to hold a large meal that will last up to 9 or 10 hours before the next meal. Now I can usually wait 6 or 7 hours between meals before I get really hungry.

Attitude:
Within a fast food, consumer-oriented culture we are surrounded by advertising. Our culture says it's ok to snack, and we are confronted daily with offers for fast, delicious doughnuts, chips, soda-pop, cheeseburgers, pizza and chocolate bars. While we know these things are unhealthy in excess, once in a while (once a week usually) we grab something to tide us over until dinner. Because we are never full after a meal, and because we fear hunger, we think we "need" these snacks. They are seen as sinful delights, and because they are so "bad" for us and so instantly gratifying, we worship them as a culture. They are the best kinds of food that we dream of and we feel rewarded when we indulge in them. We often don't know or care where they came from, and although we do know they have calories, there are also many "lite" options that reduce the guilt. Most of us are unaware however how truly horrible for our body these things are. On the other hand, most healthy food is not revered in our culture, but is looked upon as a boring but morally correct choice that many of us struggle to succeed in eating regularly.

Fresh raw foods and ingredients are also usually cheaper than their pre-packaged counterparts and so should logically be the preferred choice in our penny-pinching society. Our consumer culture also teaches us, however, that price reflects worth, and so the low price makes us unconciously think that fresh food is in fact worthless, so things like rice, beans, broccoli, spinach, carrots, tomatoes, green peppers, apples, oranges and bread routinely rot in the cupboard or fridge when we don't feel like cooking and opt for another take-out.

The French are obsessed with food, and have a very different attitude towards food and eating in general. Food is regarded as a privilege and a blessing, something to be cared for and used properly, and never disrespected or wasted. People demand only the freshest food and buy only what they can use in a week before it rots. They cook only as much as they will eat in the meal, or cook double and save any leftovers for the next day. They don't even put more on their plate than they'll eat, so the portions are small but they'll go for seconds if they're still hungry, and they always eat as much as they want during a meal. They never starve themselves, but wait until a meal to eat, (or eat a meal instead of a snack) and then eat as much as they want. Never leave the table hungry.

People here are also very aware of the nutritional benefits of real food, and often know where their food comes from. They know what shrimp and fish look like raw, and how to cook them. They know what part of a pig or cow they are eating, and they know which berries or mushrooms in the forest are good to pick. They choose dishes with variety and simplicity: fresh fruit, non-iceburg lettuce, pasta with fresh chopped herbs, chopped stewed vegetables and roast meat and fish. Many people either have a little pot of parsley growing on the windowsill or buy bunches of fresh herbs the day they will cook (or put the cut branches in a vase like flowers). They know which herbs will help digestion, headache, relieve water retention, relieve stress and increase blood flow, and so they usually use fresh instead of dried herbs.

They always know what food there is in the house, and feel a duty to cook what there is, not what they feel like eating. They drink juice (with no sugar added), water and wine instead of soda-pop or milk. They eat nuts and olives instead of chips and dip. They only eat 5 potato chips at a time, and right before dinner, maybe once a month. They only eat one doughnut or chocolate eclair a month, after a meal. They eat two squares of dark chocolate after a meal instead of suger-added candy bars. They drink black coffee with one or two sugar cubes (one of the only acceptable times to eat sugar). They eat one scoop of ice cream maybe every 3 months, after a meal. They use fresh light cream instead of cheesy sauces on meat, pasta or vegetables. They never eat more than two pieces of pizza at one time. They cook with oil instead of butter. They boil, bake or steam instead of fry. They eat three lettuce leaves with oil and vinegar with most meals, and they never eat pasta or pizza without an equal amount of salad.

Why so little sugar, fat and carbs? Sugar is regarded not as the sinful secret lover, but as the evil, invasive destroyer. Commercials show a mother explaining how sugar will practically kill her child, so best choose this yogurt with no sugar (and no suger substitute). Candy commercials and candy products now carry a large print warning at the bottom, similar to the ones on cigarette packages, that says "sugar and fat are harmful to your health, consume this product in moderation and make sure to exercise and eat right". With so little sugar and grease in their diet, their stomachs adjust and they don't like the taste of sugery things anymore, and eating greasy things gives them indigestion.

Discipline:
So how can they possibly resist the goodness of such delicious gourmet meals, cream, chocolate, etc.? Their willpower is strong, but the main motivator is one of the most powerful psychological tools that exist: Peer pressure. Because their society is so obsessed with looking fashionable, stylish and thin, anyone even moderately overweight is unmercifully called "fat" and even publically sneered or laughed at. Anyone taking a conspicuously large helping of something heavy or unhealthy gets looks, and taking more than one chocolate eclair is seen as outrageously selfish and greedy. There is no ideal of individual freedom here, and you are not socially free to eat what you want, when you want. Collective heath and well being is the norm, and so people will not take more than others, so that everyone is sure to have enough to eat. Snacking is scorned as a sign of greediness or weakness and as hungry as you might be, or as good as that chocolate eclair may look, not many are willing to risk the humiliation of buying one at 3:30 pm and indelicately scarfing it down in public. A suitable snack here is bread with jam or honey or a piece of fruit. It's not nice, it's not necessarily good, but it's a very effective way to keep people from frequently eating unhealthy things. (I must say, though, that it is at times too much, and I have seen more chronically anorexic girls in France than anywhere else. It is a very sad but widespread consequence of taking this attitude too far, and mixing it with an adoration for runway models and fashion.)

-Brazilian model who died of anorexia

Meals are also disciplined, and while it may be difficult at times to hold off until dinner, the quality of the food is so good that you don't mind being hungry, and even enjoy being hungry in anticipation of the food to come. Chocolate and cream are not sinful, since they're not illegal or banned - you just have to wait for the right time to have some. Potato chips and doughnuts are not missed, since they don't compare to the satisfaction of the real food you get at meal times. Overall people enjoy shopping, cooking and eating, and it's true that France is known for arguably some of the best food in the world.

A note about exercise:
While the French are not sporty people, they are not lazy either. Rarely will you see people jogging in public, and there are not many membership gyms, but many people bicycle both to work and to the park on weekends, and if they need to go somewhere close, they'll walk (if it's a 30 minute one-way walk or shorter). While the car is convenient, the price of gas, the hassle of parking, and the peer-pressure to prevent wasting carbon-dioxide emissions are all factors that contribute to the large number of people who walk at least 20 minutes a day. This, in addition to taking the stairs and carrying a shopping basket instead of pushing a cart, is pretty much all they do as far as exercise.

So there you have it.
Replace 30-minute lunches, fried foods, packaged snacks, high sugar pastries, cheesy and greasy food, soda-pop, microwave dinners, elevators and 1/2 mile car trips with 1-hour meals, baked and steamed food, fresh salads, occasional low-sugar pastries, unpasteurized cheese and bread, sugar-free juice, stairs, and bike rides.
Easier said than done, but once done, easy to keep doing it!

How can you die before you're born?

An article in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette Paper brings to light the disturbing truth that there are laws about "concealing the death of an unborn child". But HOW CAN THE CHILD DIE IF IT IS NOT YET BORN? This reveals only one of the mislabled and misused terms in the abortion debate.

In this particular case, the woman had a miscarriage in private and did not dispose of the remains properly, according to the law.

While "the county medical examiner determined Friday that the female fetus died in utero at about 19 to 20 weeks gestation", I ask again, how can a fetus "die"?

Luckily, the lawyer "plans to argue that a fetus cannot be a corpse", and restates that "'Pennsylvania law says there should be no criminal liability imposed upon a pregnant woman in regard to crimes against her unborn child.' He said the law dates to 1751 and was reaffirmed by the state Supreme Court as recently as 2001."

THIS is why we all need to pay attention to the laws being made around us, and not let others choose for everyone.

PG article

We love Mom!

What would we do without someone to always support us and love us, someone to care about our future and push us (usually gently) in the right direction, and someone to cry with in sad and happy times? We'd be underloved!

Thanks Mom! Hope you have a great day!

Baby Showdown

SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY!

COMING TO THE WORLD STAGE, THE 2007 INTERNATIONAL BABY SHOWDOWN!

Crawling into the ring this year are four new contenders for the world title:

Dominic:

Weighing in at 7 pounds 7 ounces, this Italian Stallion is representing the U.S. of A. and won't hesitate to take you downtown! "What are you lookin' at?"

Lina:

This fightin' gal already has her mits on and is not to be messed with, cuz Mom nearly represented Morocco for Olympic kickboxing...

Ella:
[Picture coming soon]
Mixing French attidude and American determination, she's not likely to back down from any fight until she got what she came for!

Raphaël:

This little Frenchman may be short, but he'll come from nowhere when you least expect it and take you out with one smooth move!

THE WINNER WILL FACE THE CURRENT REIGNING 2006 CHAMPION, Clément:

The Tiger who wants to know: "Are you talkin' to me?"

CONGRATULATIONS ET FELICITATIONS TO ALL THE FAMILIES!

We all need to care about public schools

After seeing an article in the Post Gazette about more public school funding cuts, I couldn't NOT send the following letter to the editor.

Dear Editor,

Re: City Schools Shrinking; Big Cuts Looming

It breaks my heart to think that public education is dying, but it seems to be eminent if we continue to cut funding while ignoring the greater issues. The disparaging trend of substandard public schools is pushing more parents who are pro-active in their children's education,
and who have the financial means to pull their kids out of "dangerous" or "failing" public schools and sometimes sacrifice all they've got to put them in private schools. As much as I respect the right of a parent to choose a private education for their child, if too many people leave public schools then the entire public education system will not survive much longer.

The problems with public schools that are most cited: violence, drugs, lack of discipline, lack of family support and lack of academic achievement, are in fact merely the symptoms of a greater cancer. The root of these problems is the imbalance of the student population and
the lack of various socioeconomic and academic backgrounds. A public school is more than just the sum of its teachers and students, it is a microcosm of the surrounding community, and if half the community abandons the shared duty to support the right to an education, then the schools become under-funded and overwhelmed with students from one demographic.

If too many students from families with high academic expectations or high economic means leave a public school, then the students left find themselves in an environment where the majority of their peers come from difficult or apathetic family situations, and the struggle to
succeed becomes an uphill battle. Teachers are also overwhelmed with larger class sizes of more difficult students, which inevitably creates a losing combination, no matter how dedicated or well paid the teacher is.

Without a solid base of high performing students to inspire their peers and ease the burden on teachers, the quality and reputation of the school suffers; and with it, the self esteem of all students, who are ashamed to admit where they go to school.

Without students from academic families, who are not ashamed to admit to their friends that they do their homework and want to go to college, who is left to help those struggling with no support at home?

Without concerned parents to lead the PTA, get involved in after school activities and fund field trips and uniform purchases, who is left to carry on the school spirit once the exhausted teachers have gone home?

The solution is with every resident of our community. Those who choose not to care about public schools just because they don't have school-aged kids, or prefer private or religious schools, or think the taxes are too high and not worth it must admit that they are choosing to not care about the children in our community; those same children that we can later be proud of, or be afraid of.

Choosing to pay higher taxes, to send your kids to public schools or to be involved in that school elevates the whole community. Students who go to a balanced school learn earlier how to get along with people from all backgrounds. They feel they are a part of a community who cares about them and expects them to uphold the good reputation of their school. They have a real chance of continuing on to college with a diploma from that school, and the school contributes good things back to the community in many ways, including increased property values.

It's hard to be one of the few who chooses to support public schools by letting your children attend, when you have the choice to put them in private schools, but it will take bravery and action to solve this increasing problem. Only when the public schools get the support of the whole community, and when students who represent that whole community attend school together, will our public schools truly be a place where all citizens may seek their right to a free education.

Weddings, Babies

Last weekend we went to Grenoble for a wedding, the second we've attended recently. I thought I'd take the opportunity to explain a little about weddings, marriage and family in France.

Now most French couples have two wedding ceremonies:

First they go to the town hall with a relatively small group of family and friends. The bride wears a simple white dress or pantsuit. There the mayor, or a deputy mayor, reads aloud a decree of marriage, makes a few inspiring comments, announces the name and occupation of the bride, groom, parents and witnesses (the best man and maid of honor). Papers are signed with a fancy pen, and people clap. The guests file downstairs, or outside as the case may be, and photos are taken as the couple descend the staircase (there usually is one).

Secondly the couple go to the church. Now traditionally the church ceremony takes place later that same day, although it is also common to have that ceremony several weeks or even months later. This time the bride dresses up in white gown, hat or veil, gloves, etc. Already married by the state, this time they are married by the church (enevitably Catholic, although not required).

After the ceremony, those guests who also received an invitation to the reception (not guaranteed), meet at the parents' house or other large reception hall around 6:00pm for cocktails in the couple's honor. Those who are also invited for dinner, stay for a large feast around 9:00 pm with as many courses as possible, followed by dancing until 3:00am to 6:00 am.

The biggest change nowadays is that most French people are no longer devout Catholics. Marriage is no longer a duty or even necessary. One in two children in France is born "out of wedlock" now, and I can affirm that while 80% of our coupled friends have children, only 10% are married, and half of those marriages happened after a baby was expected. Even presidential candidate Ségolène Royale is not married to the father of her four children, and it has not been the subject of one newspaper article in France.

So for my personal experience, I will start with the wedding of about a month ago, in Versailles.

F. and I. are 29 and 31 years old. They've been together for at least 6 years. They bought a house together about a year and a half ago, and 7 months ago announced that they were expecting a baby. He works in computers, she is a maternity nurse. About 1 month after the baby was announced, they also mentioned their engagement to be married. The marriage, I gathered, was an afterthought, to make life simpler for the child, grandparents and great-grandparents, although there has never been any question about their love and devotion to each other.

Around February, they casually mentioned that they would be getting married in late March. Luckily most of us "friends" were free that weekend. There were no official invitations, and we had to ask they day before what time the ceremony would be. There was no bachelor party, no gift registration, and no official word on what would follow the ceremony.

We arrived at the mairie of Versailles exactly at 11:30 am on a Saturday, fearing we would be late, only to see the bride and groom pull up behind us and look for a parking space. We met the rest of the 15 or so invited friends and family on the steps of the town hall and took photos of the couple in the lobby. We filed up the grand staircase, arm in arm with our significant others, and waited in the upstairs hall for the wedding before ours to finish and leave the ceremony room.

We all entered and sat in the blue velvet Louis XVI chairs, oohing and aahing at the gold-trimmed, sculpted woodwork around the room. The couple entered on the arm of one of their parents. The groom in a black suit, the bride in a cream pantsuit. The mayor wore the traditional tri-color sash. The couple sat in the front row, facing the mayor (back to us), with their witnesses at the side, and their parents directly behind. The mayor spoke of duty to the family, of the history of the room we were in, and the tradition of leaving the door open to let anyone who might want to protest the marriage enter. The couple exchanged rings, kissed, and we all clapped. The names, birthdates and occupations were read aloud and the couple and witnesses were called up to the podium to sign the papers (the only part where they faced the audience).

We all cheered at the end (the whole thing took about 15 minutes), and we went up to congratulate the couple and their parents. Then we went downstairs and waited with cameras for the couple to descend the staircase.

Afterward we discovered that we were invited back to the parents' house after dinner for the second part of the evening. So after throwing rice on the couple as they exited the mairie, we all went our separate ways.

That evening we met at the parents' house and found the remains of a large feast. Only the close family had been invited for dinner, and now they had all gone out and left the couple with friends their own age. So we ate leftovers and drank champagne and had quite a civil party with 15 or so people until about 2:00am. The couple will have the church wedding, and presumably a honeymoon, next year sometime, after the baby is born and Maman is feeling better.

The second wedding we attended recently was a bit different in spirit...

A. is a stone sculptor and D. is some sort of engineer. Both are the children of agricultural families from the small villiages that dot the Alps behind Grenoble in southeast France. They've been together at least 5 years, living together for at least 3, and had a baby girl almost 2 years ago. We received the invitation to their wedding and bachelor/ette parties a few months ago.

This time the wedding at the mairie was the only one, since the couple are not religious. We did not attend the bachelor/ette party because we were at the Versailles wedding that weekend! (see above). But for the wedding we carpooled with two other friends for the 6 hour drive, pushing 110 mph for the last 45 minutes of the trip, to arrive (again) exactly at the hour requested. Fortunately, (again) the wedding did not start exactly on time. We arrived at 4:00 pm and found one of the last parking spaces along the streets of the sloping mountain villiage of some 200 inhabitants. We followed the sounds of children up the hill and arrived at the tiny building that was the town hall. A crowd of what must have been 100 people were there, all laughing, greeting with kisses and trying to keep hold of their (collectively) 25 babies and children running everywhere.


Some were in suits, others in birkenstocks and shorts. All had visibly put on something more formal than usual, and everyone looked comfortable. The bride wore a 1970's vintage-looking gown made by her cousin, with orange and green flower trim. The groom and best man wore a sharp white suit with lime green shirt and orange tie.

As the crowd swelled to 150 and everyone had taken pictures of everyone, the mass of people shuffled into a room built to hold 70 people. The couple sat in front, with their parents behind, and finally the windows had to be opened so that those still outside could see in and hear the proceedings. Children tried to stay still, and mostly succeeded, excepting two rogue cousins with balloons that climbed on chairs and posed for cameras behind the mayor, as he continued with the ceremony.

There was no microphone, and only half of the room could see or hear what was said, but the mayor, obviously a friend of the family, joked about the presidential election and the two candidates for marriage presented here before him. I didn't even really see the rings exchanged, or the papers signed, but when they kissed and turned around a wild cheer shook the tiny building, followed by quite a few children crying. I think the best part was the giant close-up of a rooster (symbol of France) on the wall behind the mayor. It had a fog of breath as it must have been a cold day, and the whole thing reminded me of Rocky (the rooster?).

People squeezed out of the room afterward and immediately began filling glasses and serving pizza squares under the tents set up just outside. 6 cookie sheets of home made pizza and 4 cookie sheets of home made hord'oeuvres were served along with bags of chips, pretzels and peanuts. 2 milkpails of home made rum punch were emptied, along with 3 bottles of Ricard and countless bottles of Coke and juice. Everyone chatted and ate and drank for almost 2 hours while kids ran back and forth and the newlyweds made their rounds. Most of us ended up sitting on the pavement in the sun while any heeled shoes that had been worn were promptly kicked off.

After 8 strong men returned from saving a car that had rolled into the stream, everyone who was left helped clean up everything and leave the place as we found it, and we got into cars to go to the dinner reception.

As the sun set behind the mountains, the last people arrived for the real party which was held at a camper's hostel that had been rented for the occasion. The Our Lady of Tirelire hostel is a two storey building with a dining hall, kitchen and some 130 bunkbeds upstairs . Five long tables were filled with home prepared food, and nearby stood 2 kegs of beer, 2 barrels of wine and the rest of the punch. Another room had tables and chairs, one corner with a laptop and speakers and flashing lights, and a dancefloor space had been reserved in the middle.

Photos of the whole family and friends were taken, and around 8:30 everyone took a plastic plate and attacked the food. Since there weren't enough chairs, the 140 some guests sat anywhere they could. It was cold outside in the mountain air, but not freezing, and most people had already abandoned suits and skirts for jeans and sneakers.

The music was eclectic but energetic, and everyone danced. Around midnight 15 bottles of champagne were poured into plastic goblets and one gigantic chocolate cake and 6 strawberry cakes were served. I must admit I took a nap for an hour or two on one of the upstairs beds in order to last the night, but when I returned around 2:00am the dancing was more fervent than ever. Most of the older adults had left, and the young families had put their kids to bed in some of the private rooms upstairs. Around 4:00am the bride and groom disappeared, but around 5:30 they were discovered passed out on the lawn in separate sleeping bags. The groom made a reappearance and managed to stay on his feet until just before dawn.

Around 6:00am the last 15 or so of us were witness to the pot de chambre. I hear that traditionally it is a toast to the couple of some sort, and they drink from the same cup, but here the bride's brother put together an evil concoction of leftovers and tramped out to the lawn to wake up the bride and make her drink it. She had a sip and survived, while her husband didn't fare so well. The rest of us quickly ran off to the safety of the bunkbeds before we had to try some too.

The next day was sunny and warm. Babies splashed in a kiddie pool on the pavement. Dogs roamed. Children played. Everyone drank coffee and ate leftovers on picnic tables. The last people left at 3:00pm.

So, I guess that people are the same everywhere really. Weddings are formal or relaxed, religious or not. But a theme I find in France so far is: why not get married so that we can have a party?