French Girl Friday

It has been a number of years since I did a French Girl Friday. In my effort to contribute to my blog a bit more of my time, and to have more to post about on my Facebook fan page that ties in with my blog, I decided it was time. So I hopped onto Amazon and found a book in which to read and to share my thoughts on, chapter by chapter. So the book this go around, is The French Twist written by Carol Cottrill. It is a book written about the "twelve secrets of decadent dining and natural weight management. When I saw the title, I thought to myself " now that sounds like my kind of "diet" book. " , So far I am correct.

 Comfy in my pjs, (not looking French or elegant as I imagine them all to be),  a lovely cup of French Creme' Brulee tea, and a Pumpkin French Macaron and sat down ready to delve into the book and ready to learn how I could both eat in a decadent manner and yet maintain my weight, considering that this week I was not able to walk due to some health issues that have surfaced and re-surfaced, and medications that warn one not to go in the sun; I ate decadently a few times and put on some weight that I now have to work on getting off again. I love food, but it does not love me. I would like to maintain the weight that I have now had for the last three or so months and still enjoy some of my favorite foods. 

After a few paragraphs I realized that this was not going to be your average diet book with a fun French Twist. Very quickly the author was describing natural weight, what our body would like to be, not what we would like it to be. A weight that with basic exercise and eating healthy would maintain. I think that I am already in trouble. I have to walk four miles, four to six times a week and eat around 1300 calories, not eating back what I exercise off, most days of the week. I record every bite. This is the only way I can maintain, and when I was loosing weight, I consumed 1200 calories and rarely cheated and walked even more miles per day! I do have a "set point" that my body keeps going to when I become more lax, still walking, but not controlling my food intake as well, and I am not happy with that weight. I do not like how I look physically or in my clothing when I am at that weight. From what I was reading a lot of that issue is from being an American woman. The Author discusses how French women do not diet, and they embrace being themselves, from age to body shape and weight. That is not to mean that they do not want to loose weight from time to time, but they do it simply by cutting down portions, but still eating what they want. I have always done that as well, but I have to still be mindful, careful. I would love to be more French in my eating habits. I am already hopeful as I finish the introduction. I love what the last couple of paragraphs state in the introduction...

" .....The covert messages we all receive every day of our lives, starting when we first begin to observe our surroundings, are similar. For many People, including a disproportionate number of women, these external messages can become problematic. Often they lead us away form developing a true sense of self and toward a dependence on everything and everyone except our own inner voice.

.....The French style of eating -sitting down with delight and savoring every bite with discretion, moderation, and passion- is the answer." The French Twist by Carol Cottrill 

I  was going to stop at the introduction for this installment, but decided I wanted, needed to continue on to Chapter one. In this chapter the discussion of natural weight continues. Giving the American to French comparisons, the standard ways to figure out your BMR and BMI ( Basal Metebolic Rate /Body Mass Index) , how many calories it takes to gain weight, and to loose weight, how many to cut.. etc. etc. , the standard diet book information, all the while breaking it up with paradoxes, quotes, and it would seem like many of the books I profile it ends with a wrap up... the ones in this book are titled "Practicing Your French" .  So it was a quick, but enjoyable read, but not too much anything past basic need to know knowledge. Next week is titled "No Resistance" , should start to get interesting from that point on I would think, and I for one look forward to it and seeing how I can stop resisting my more American thought processes on this whole subject. 

"You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you will discover will be wonderful. What you will discover is yourself." ~Alan Alda