Covering the business of education and training

Why are American women more inclined to pack it on, their hips, their waists, their thighs than French women?

After losing 30lbs and keeping it off for 30 years because she learned to eat the French way, one woman offers her opinion.

1. Nobody eats with pleasure. Eat FOR pleasure, but not with. Gulping down french fries and hamburgers while working at their laptop, talking on the cell phone and reading the newspaper, but not eating for enjoyment's sake.

2.  Eat good food. No need to count carbs, fat grams or calories, just eat the good stuff.

3.  Relax. Take time to enjoy the food, rather than eat because it's time, like robots that need recharging.

4.  Savor  Use all five senses making less seem like more. Admire the bread, chew well, smell the aroma, listen to the crunch and stop between

5.  Value quality over quantity American men and women would eat "a 5-pound burrito if it cost 99 cents even if it was tasteless, but the French would never do that."

6.  The French don't: 

a. obsess about weight

b. constantly talk about their diets

c. skip meals

d. substitute slimming shakes for meals

e. snack frequently

f. eat while standing or on the run

g. gobble fast food

h. weigh themselves constantly

By comparison, 11% of French women are obese compared to 30% of American women. 21% of French women smoke, almost equal to the 20% of American women who do the same.

The French can be snooty, make it downright snooty. But, Winston Churchill once said, "wisdom is knowing that even fools are right sometimes."

I guess the French can be right sometimes, too.