Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Mireille Guiliano, a Champagne company executive, captured the attention of frustrated dieters with her joie de vivre in the 2005 best seller, French Women Don't Get Fat.
She called it "the ultimate non-diet book" and offered no advice on counting calories, fat grams or carbs. Instead, the simple message was this: Eat three meals a day, keep the portions small, use lots of seasonal fruits and vegetables, drink plenty of water, savor wine, walk everywhere and allow yourself occasional treats.
Now, Guiliano, 59, is back with a companion book, French Women for All Seasons: A Year of Secrets, Recipes, and Pleasure (Knopf, $24.95), out Tuesday, with more personal stories, recipes and a smorgasbord of advice on all things French, from how to buy wine to how to wear scarves. It also includes seasonal menus, with dishes such as rabbit with grapes and wild mushrooms, and duck breasts with honey glaze.
"The first book was sort of a primer on the French way of life, especially the relationship with food. The second one is a road map for the year," says Guiliano, who was born in France. Now she lives in New York, Paris and Provence and is the chief executive of Clicquot Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of Champagne Veuve Clicquot.
She says her advice is "not a quick fix. These are changes you have to make in your life, and you don't have to be French to do it."
Guiliano says some of her Parisian friends were angry with her for giving away their secrets for remaining svelte. But she wants others to discover the pleasures of eating and cooking so that they too can be slender.
At 5-foot-3, she maintains her weight at between 110 and 112 pounds by eating three meals a day, drinking lots of water and taking one or two 20-minute walks a day. She enjoys a glass of Champagne or wine with dinner.
She knows what it feels like to be overweight. She gained 20 pounds in her teens when she was an exchange student in the USA by eating seven meals a day and gobbling brownies and chocolate-chip cookies. After she returned home, her doctor encouraged her to go back to the traditional French way of living. When she did, her weight melted off without dieting and with little effort. She has kept it off for 30 years.
In her view, too many people around the world are on "autopilot -- mindlessly eating."
Just the other day she saw a woman on the subway in New York wolfing down a bagel and drinking coffee. Many people are falling into "the 21st-century trap. We have crazy lives -- rush, rush, rush. We are surrounded with food everywhere," Guiliano says.
Some readers of her first book told her they don't have time to sit down for 20 minutes for a meal, but she doesn't buy that excuse. "I'm sorry, but you are in control. You can sit down three times a day for 20 minutes -- that's an hour a day. There are some things in life we can't change, but we can change the way we eat. It's the most important thing you can do for yourself and your family."
There's a payoff to eating more mindfully. One female reader lost 10 pounds after she began sitting down for her meals, eating more slowly, focusing, chewing well and savoring her food, Guiliano says.
It's easier to eat healthfully if you cook at home, she says. But cooking is a casualty of this time-pressed society, and many Americans aren't comfortable in the kitchen, she says. "In France, cooking is an act of love, and it's very sensual. People here see cooking as a chore. For me, cooking is relaxing."
Still, as an executive with a busy schedule, she doesn't want to spend two hours preparing a meal. "You can make a delicious meal in 30 minutes." Good recipes don't have to have "25 ingredients, use four pieces of equipment and take three hours to make," she says.
It's a matter of planning and organizing. The key is to use fresh, seasonal ingredients so that everything has plenty of flavor. When meals are full of flavor -- and not laden with artificial ingredients -- "it's easier to be content with less."
Changing your life to enjoy food and achieve a more comfortable weight has payoffs in many areas, she says. "Eating well is more than just trying to reach for the perfect weight. Weight is a number. It's like age. It's unlisted. I see people who have been transformed by weight loss. For some it's just losing 5 or 10 pounds.
"When you feel good about yourself, there are so many positive ramifications. You'll be a better person. You'll be a better worker. You'll be a more optimistic person."
To see more of USAToday.com, or to subscribe, go to http://www.usatoday.com
© Copyright 2006 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
