In this blog post, we will explore 10 reasons the French don’t get fat.
Although this might be too general of a statement, and there might be French people that are fat, statistics show that the obesity rate in France is half of that in the US!
France is home to some of the most decadent and fattening foods in the world. From butter to steaks, soufflés to croissants, each dish is richer than the next. And yet French people somehow manage to keep their weight down.
It’s a curious thing. How do they do it? Is it their food? Their portions? Their lifestyle?
The answer is, it’s all of those and more. Let’s explore some of our opinions on this.
1. They are present when they eat their meals
From what we understand about the French people, they actually take the time to sit down and enjoy their meals. And we don’t only mean dinner. They sit down for breakfast, they sit down for coffee, as well as any other time that they’re eating or snacking.
When you sit down to eat and are fully present in that moment, you’re less likely to overeat. You’ll pay attention to what you’re eating and become more satisfied with every bite.
When you grab food and eat on the run, it’s hard to feel satiated. You’ll find yourself overeating later because you can’t keep track of whether or not you ate enough.
2. They Don’t focus on calories
Obsessing over calories is detrimental to maintaining a healthy weight for a few reasons.
First, you lose the pleasure from eating which is important in satisfying your hunger. Second, you’ll choose foods with lower calories that might not even be healthy or nutritious. And lastly, you won’t eat enough and therefore binge eat at a later point.
When you approach eating with a more logical mindset, you’ll stop eating when you feel you’ve had enough versus when you’ve “used” up your calories.
3. They cook at home a lot
Another reason we think the French don’t get fat is that they mostly cook at home.
It’s no surprise that it’s healthier to eat home-cooked meals than going to a restaurant or getting takeout. Eating out usually means not being aware of the extra oils, sugars, and other ingredients that are put into your foods.
Going out to eat once in a while is fine, but getting into the habit of cooking at home more often will help you take control of what you’re eating.
4. They View eating as a pleasurable activity
We live in a day and age where a lot of people hurry through eating; it’s almost as if its become a burden. We’ll even hear busy executives say they need to “put lunch into their calendar” or they won’t eat.
When you rush through meals you’re missing a very important part of getting full. And that’s the emotional part. We mentioned earlier that an element of logic is important when it comes to eating, but we can’t forget the emotional part too.
When you enjoy your meal mentally, your whole body will be calm and satisfied and you won’t need to overeat.
5. They focus on fresh foods
Unfortunately in the US, there’s a great focus on processed food instead of fresh foods. Although processed foods can make things easier, it’s important to keep in mind that they are very low in quality.
Choose fresh foods like fruits, vegetables, dairy, poultry, and whole grains as often as possible and you’ll notice yourself looking and feeling better. Try to avoid packaged and processed items because they have little to no nutritional value.
6. They know how to balance decadent and healthy foods
If the French know one thing it’s how to enjoy a small portion of dessert. And that’s why they can do it often.
The all-or-nothing mindset is a common issue that gets in the way of enjoying dessert because people will say, “I’m either having a ton of dessert or none.”
The problem with that is it catches up to you whichever way you go. Either you overeat in the moment or you binge eat after depriving yourself for a while.
When you’re able to cultivate a stable and balanced approach to eating you can enjoy dessert a lot more often.
7. They Treat cooking as a form of self love
Taking the time to cook for yourself and nourish your body is a form of self-love. Treat yourself the way you would a loved one, and you’ll see the results in how you look and feel.
Taking the time to cook yourself a nice meal and sit down to eat it should be the norm. Or at least as important as going to the salon, cooking for your spouse or children, or scrolling through social media.
Even though you’ll eat the meal faster than you made it, the act of self love will stay with you for a long time.
8. They don’t think Cooking is a waste of time
In the olden days, a majority of the day was spent on getting food on the table. Whether it was milking a cow, plowing the fields, or kneading bread; it was a form of survival.
Now we’re lucky enough to get food on the table a lot faster but we’ll still hear people say, “You mean I need to boil water for that?” Nah I’ll just eat chips.
We shouldn’t forget that it’s supposed to take time to make nourishing meals but it’s a great thing to do nonetheless.
9. They Eat with friends and family
You can use social eating to your benefit and we’ll explain how.
After you’ve eaten a portion of food it can take around 20 minutes to feel full. If you’re alone and bored you might continue eating because you’re still “hungry.”
When you’re with people however, you can stay busy by socializing while your food gets digested, and before you know it you’ll be full.
Instead of the meal being only about the food it can be about connecting with others and you won’t feel the need to overeat.
10. They stick to OLD-FASHIONED foods
The last point we’ll make on why the French don’t get fat is that they’re kind of old-fashioned.
They stick to the idea that “less is more” and that includes fewer ingredients in their cooking.
It seems like every day a more modern version of a classic food comes out.
For instance, people used to have oatmeal for breakfast, but now they’ll make “overnight oats.”
There’s nothing wrong with overnight oats – it’s simply an example of how a lot of ingredients are added to a dish that was once upon a time more simple.
Those ingredients add up and have a lot of hidden or “concentrated” calories.
Eating old-fashioned foods means all the foods we always ate like rice, chicken, eggs, and toast, but without all of the extra steps and ingredients.
The idea of less is more is the perfect way to conclude our opinions on why the French don’t get fat.
When you cook and eat simply, you do your digestive system and waistline a big service.
So that’s it! We hope you learned something valuable that you can incorporate into your daily life.
Wishing you the best of luck.
Au revoir 🙂