Staying Skinny in France.

While living in Paris I took the Metro often. This meant I had to walk up and down a lot of steps and stare at the legs of people in front of me. I was constantly struck by the same thought, What skinny legs they have! This was an especially painful thought when I realized the stick legs in front of me belonged to a man. I am all for women loving their bodies at any size, but seeing a country full of men smaller than you is depressing.

Men and women in France are skinnier than in the US. This is not just a stereotype, it is really true. I am constantly stopping myself from assuming that the incredibly thin women I see on the street are anorexic because the men look this way too. An entire country can’t be anorexic, so what is going on here?

The skinny condition in France can be baffling. At the cafeteria at my work I am constantly shocked by the austere whiteness of the just-eaten-off-of plates filing down the conveyor belt to the kitchen. Almost every single one has been eaten sparkling clean. French co-workers eat away plates of steak, veggies, dessert, breads and coffee, and many have thrown in a fruit or yogurt for good measure. The good eating / skinny body paradox makes you wonder, Is the French government putting a weight loss drug in the water?

No, that is one thing the French government is not paying for. France culture does, however, encourage a different relationship to eating than Americans are used to. This is good news for Americans tired of the same arduous get-slim-quick diets that seldom work. If you play by the French rules you get to eat better food AND win the calorie game for an entire lifetime. Here are the three major differences that help the French stay slim and eat all that cheese :

#1. Savoring Food.
French food is great. The country is overflowing with wonderful bread, cheese, wine, meat, sauces and tarts. In order to take advantage of this, the French won’t be seen eating and doing anything else. This means I stick out like a sore thumb when I eat and walk in France even though I have no problem doing so in the US. In the US you constantly see people eating and driving, but this would not fly in France. Here, there are meal times in which you sit down and eat, and then there is the rest of the day with only coffee to pull you through. (And in my American opinion, the French do not consider breakfast a meal as they eat like birds, nibbling on a few crumbs of bread or a sliver of cake and drowning down yet another coffee. You can say "adieu" to your four-stack of pancakes and your eggs and bacon if you come to la France.) These eating boundaries give people the time to enjoy food and also stay cognizant of how much they consume as their attention isn't taken up with something else. No snacking and no food on the run means that at meal times the French can eat rich food and not gain weight.

#2. Eating smaller portions.
In the US we have instituted the doggie bag to help deal with the excess of food on our plates. In France, no such thing exists and waiters would have no idea what you are talking about if you asked for one. Throughout the course of a French meal you enjoy several different food items, but in much smaller quantities than in the US. Small portion sizes make it possible to enjoy a variety of food without getting too full. Almost all portions are surprisingly small in France. I recently baked a cake to take to work and was horrified to see how small it was; my French recipe made what looked to me like a loaf for two people. It ended up being enough small pieces for about eight co-workers, so go figure!

#3. Walk!
Towns built before the age of cars means you can, and sometimes must, walk. Unlike our suburban sprawl in the US, French towns are designed for people to get around on foot. Bakeries, grocery stores and cafés, everything is concentrated in the same area in a French town and you’ll see both the young and very old walking around at all hours of the day. This provides great exercise. In Paris, getting to school for me meant crawling through dark passageways underground for 30 minutes, or speed walking for 40 minutes along boulevards and parks. I choose the open-air route. This meant, like it or not, I had almost an hour-and-a-half of exercise per day. In Toulouse, the grocery store provides me with my bi-weekly work-out as I have to hike my heavy bags 20 minutes back to my apartment and then up three floors of stairs. Pas mal comme exercice!

Transferring French eating values back to the Starbucks induced US can be tricky. But remembering that the calorie war can be won while still enjoying good food is heartening. Take it from the skinny French : quality trumps quantity and walking works.