French Women Don't Get Fat

The Secret of Eating for Pleasure

By: Mireille Guiliano

Narrated by: Mireille Guiliano

Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

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?

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2004 Mireille Guiliano (P)2004 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

[“It’s hard not to be enlivened by a [weight-control] book that celebrates both chocolate and bread, and espouses such wisdom as ‘Life without pasta? Perish the thought.’”–Lily Burana, Washington Post Book World

“The perfect book for the more literate dieter . . . A blueprint for building a healthy attitude toward food and exercise . . . Full of down-to earth advice . . . We’d all be thinner (and happier) if we followed it.”–Miriam Wolf, San Francisco Chronicle

“You’ve heard it before . . . But somehow, when the advice comes from Mireille Guiliano, you actually listen. A perfect, slim (and slimming) read for dieters and bon vivants alike.”–Marie Claire

The author makes the difference

Definitely worth getting this version versus the abridged version, as I read another review. The author, with her beautiful accent, delivers the concepts effectively and elegantly! Must-listen!

tell me something i didn't know.

I don't think i really came away from this book learning anything new. basically it goes on to tell you to eat fruit that is in season but then rubs it in our face that we don't have as good of fruit markets here in the US as they do in FRance. and it tells you to eat things you enjoy but don't over do it. i knew that already. I did really enjoy the narator (author) adorable french/english accent. all i really got out of the book was a strong craving for fine wine, chocolate and cheese.

Unimpressed

To start with it was nearly impossible to understand this reader. The ideas set forth were hardly news, so you cut out the brownies and pastries and eat in moderation - DUH!
I did enjoy hearing about life in France...

No real secrets here - but a light, easy listen

Light and fuffy, if you read this as a combination novel and diet book, not expecting great revelations, it's a pleasent read. There is a nice inter-sprinkling of personal experiences with "the rules of the road" for eating in a healthy way; and it's all packaged in a humorous, easily digested manner. If you don't have the inclination to read the book, just eat less, savor flavors in small portions and get more active. Au Revoir.