I saw the movie Julie & Julia this weekend and I took a message away from it that perhaps wasn’t meant to be a message at all. That message was having a love for food and the relationship to weight. After the movie, I came home and watched some You Tube videos of Julia Child. Sure she had a little “more to love” by American (Hollywood) standards, but she wasn’t a heavy woman despite her deep affection for butter. She cooked and ate like the French, savoring each bite without any guilt. Compare her to our modern butter lover, Paula Deen. I love watching this woman in the kitchen, but some (I mean all) of her recipes elucidate her clothing size. She doesn’t hold back anything. Of course there is a place for her food, I have made a few of her recipes for various events – moderation is key. I remember watching her on Oprah when she was asked to share her opinion of her health critics. She replied, “I’m your cook, not your doctor.” The one aspect of “normal eating” (defined later on) that Paula is lacking is moderate constraint. Additionally, her recipes often contain “American” ingredients like marshmallow puff, an ingredient that Julie Child knew nothing of.
The French are known for their food and it is quite perplexing to us Americans why they have lower rates of obesity. Mireille Guiliano, author of Why French Women Don’t Get Fat, shed some light as to why. “The French have a sense and appreciation of what is good and satisfying to eat, and of what is a proper portion.” She also stated, “To distinguish true pleasures from idle calories, people must eat as diversely as possible and avoid too much of any one-thing (contra diet-think.)”
Isn’t that so true and perfectly put? There is a deep confusion about proper nutrition in our country. We tell ourselves that carbohydrates are bad, but HcG and Acai are miraculous. Its no wonder we have both skinny and chubby extremes here. If you are seeking to find a quick fix to lose a lot of weight quickly, you my friend will be overweight forever. We need to enjoy all foods, maintaining the theme of moderation, variety, and balance.
This subject of “normal eating” is a passion of mine. That’s the type of eater I am, that’s how I slowly lost the 50 pounds of pregnancy weight I gained, and that’s the type of eaters I want my clients to become because I believe that when you truly reach a state of “normal eating” you will be at a healthy weight.
I will share the definition of normal eating in my next post as well as what a healthy weight is.
The French are known for their food and it is quite perplexing to us Americans why they have lower rates of obesity. Mireille Guiliano, author of Why French Women Don’t Get Fat, shed some light as to why. “The French have a sense and appreciation of what is good and satisfying to eat, and of what is a proper portion.” She also stated, “To distinguish true pleasures from idle calories, people must eat as diversely as possible and avoid too much of any one-thing (contra diet-think.)”
Isn’t that so true and perfectly put? There is a deep confusion about proper nutrition in our country. We tell ourselves that carbohydrates are bad, but HcG and Acai are miraculous. Its no wonder we have both skinny and chubby extremes here. If you are seeking to find a quick fix to lose a lot of weight quickly, you my friend will be overweight forever. We need to enjoy all foods, maintaining the theme of moderation, variety, and balance.
This subject of “normal eating” is a passion of mine. That’s the type of eater I am, that’s how I slowly lost the 50 pounds of pregnancy weight I gained, and that’s the type of eaters I want my clients to become because I believe that when you truly reach a state of “normal eating” you will be at a healthy weight.
I will share the definition of normal eating in my next post as well as what a healthy weight is.
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