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

Love her thoughts!!!

This is an easy afternoon listen that takes the guilt away from food. I began implementing similar ideas recently and found the ideas of the forbidden to be very helpful.

Being French

Great to hear the author read this - inspired me to buy the hardcopy for the recipes! Worth hearing just to look at our american ideas about food, enjoyment and "dieting". Ciao!

Lovely and Practical

I love both Miereille’s practical living tips and listening to her voice. This is a very lovely book to listen to.

Enjoyable, thought provoking

My family has changed their way of eating thanks to this timely book. The American way of eating has produced an epidemic of obesity but we still keep eating "low fat" in between super sizing our meals. Our family is now eating much smaller portions of more enjoyable food and we are losing weight and inches quickly. I heard about this book from a friend who was the only normal weight person at our college friend luncheon (we are all 60 yrs or older) I bought the book immediately after hearing this program and love them both!

Chunky Americans will love this

I have never felt good about diet philosophies or the culture of deprivation and guilt that we American women punish ourselves with. This book is about changing your brain first, then your body second. It is beautiful. I bought it 5 days ago and have already listened to it twice.

Very Nice!

I very much enjoyed listening to this book(Which I understand to be quite French. If it's not pleasurable, why do it?). Very good common sense type advice, and yet, what we lack in today's American culture. My mind kept going to people I know who practice several of the activities she recommends, it all rings very true. Small portions of a large variety of simple unprocessed foods in a very natural state, eaten with moderation and balance, combined with daily physical activity(i.e. walking, taking stairs, etc.) Wonderful, I will listen to it several times.

Pratical Tips

I enjoyed listening to this french woman's story. I have known many european exchange students who have found themselves in the same situation here in america gaining weight, only to return to their culture and slim back down. An insightful personal story that can only be of help to youin understanding why we are too large!

I love this book!

For many years I worked with European women but after I left that work to work from home I gained weight. This book has helped me realize how my habits have changed from those early years. I remember laughing until my face hurt at those lunches! Her advice is a brilliant reminded to live well. I must also include Italian women to the group. Also, I have discovered recipes from the book are online at the author's web site: http://www.mireilleguiliano.com/recipes.htm
Bonne chance and bon appetit!

Abridge over Unadridged

What did you like best about this story?

The stories and how-to of French Lifestyle in comparison to American.

What does Mireille Guiliano bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Actually hearing how to pronounce the words which were French. Her accent also gives it a good touch.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I really like this book, not because I need to loose weight (I don't) but I listened to it to get the lifestyle. Not just the French, but to hear about European as well. As my own Grandmother (Oma) is from Germany, I grew up hearing about and watching how different the European style of life was from the American.

This book speaks more of a lifestyle rather than a way to loose weight - which would cause the later anyway. Walking more often, portion control and quality to enjoy the small things. There is definitely much truth to what she says as I've seen it. For example the eating/drinking from nice dishes. It makes you enjoy what you eat a lot and less concerned with how much of something. My Oma does this and when I am at her house I've always slowed down to look at the beautiful dishes and enjoyed it a little more.

Any additional comments?

In Terms of Abridge Vs. Unabridged the difference is this: Unabridged has the reader listing off and reading the recipes which to me I find very useless. Unless you are writing these down. The PDF included only has a couple recipes but not all which are listed in the book. The Unabridged also has an okay reader but as others point out - not great pronunciation of french words, which is expected as she's not French.

I Originally purchased the Unabridged and listened to a few hours, then had to return it once most of the chapters became listed off recipes. I then bought the Abridged version and enjoy it much more.

Pass the leeks and yogurt.

This book has a lot of the stuff we all know, eat less, move more, drink lots of water. I really liked the point of view of a foreigner towards our eating habits. It was a great comparative of both cultures. I'm looking forward to adding it to my diet repetoire