UPDATE: I’ve gone through and deleted every nasty comment I could find. You are free to disagree, but please note it should be done respectfully. For anyone commenting on the future, please take note ALL nasty comments will be deleted. Nasty comments include, but are not limited to, (1) misogynistic comments, (2) downright hostile comments that miss the point and serve as a personal attack, (3) comments telling me that I’m fat or jealous because I’m not slim, and (4) creepy male comments. Also, if you’re French and disagree, I already know. Bisous. SUMMARY: For those not understanding the underlying theme of the video, there is a really great & respectful summary below.
Love your presentation and for sharing invaluable information; decades ago hub bought me the very same book you talk about; guess what 🙄 I didn't read it for many reasons one of them being an insult to me personally; thanks for shedding light on the dark side that most women needed to hear; btw you have a great voice and gorgeous skin 🧓🇨🇦
I am American. My husband has family in France, so we have spent some time with them, visiting them in France and them visiting us here. In my experience, I have never witnessed his family eating between meals. Americans seem to snack throughout the day, eat walking down the street, while traveling in the car, and in front of the tv. The French seem to sit down at the table, taking their time with refreshment or a meal. That is just my observation, but I can usually spot the American on a French street before I hear them speak. They are the ones walking with a coffee in hand.
Oh gosh, don't even get me started on how easy it is to spot the American tourist; I know I'm part of the problem but we are sooo loud. Haha. And, yes, the sitting down to enjoy the meal is one of my favorite parts of living here. But in the countryside - that becomes a 3-4 hour meal. Just when you finish lunch it's time for dinner; I can't do it. Haha
@@adrielfelise So, after an entire afternoon at the table, eating course after course, my husband and I asked to be excused to go for a walk while the older ones continued to chat. “Would you like a little soup before you go?” asked Grandmere. “What?!! We just ate all that food.” “Yes, it will help it to go down.” Hours and hours at the table, but slowly eaten with lots of conversation. Other than coffee and a piece of baguette for breakfast, and maybe a piece of fruit or a yogurt in the evening, it was usually the only meal of the day; and not everyday. These were special family meals in Rennes. I’ll spare you details of the wedding feasting that went from breakfast until 3:00 the following morning
That’s very true , French don’t snack and that makes a big difference also they eat together , live going to restaurants and enjoy their meals. They are not as depressed and overworked as on North Americans ; they speak their mind and don’t worry about being polite ;)
Non seulement on ne mange pas toute la journée mais en plus nous avons encore des produits de bonne qualité. Il n y a pas d obèse comme aux usa l obésité qui existe chez vous n est pas naturelle je soupçonne la viande bourrée d hormones vos produits sont trop dénaturés le corps ne sais plus les digérer
My friend lived one year in NY and put on 20 pounds. Then she lived in France a year and lost the 20 pounds. She said she ate as much, just healthy and better food as well
Exactly!!! I can testify, my family lives in France while I live in Canada. Everytime I spend my vacation there, I lose weight. Just by eating healthier. That’s it. Don’t even workout.
Yup American food has tons of “hidden” sugar so if you don’t make everything from scratch you can have invisible calories added. Also we have a lot of bad quality oils and pesticides that probably cause inflammation.
Simple ...... Fresh food and portion size. The first time I went to the States, I realised that the average portion is four times the size of a healthy portion.
The portions are huge sized also in Spain, in Italy, in Greece, in Austria. Absolutely impossible to finish even a third of a portion they bring you at a restaurant. Sort of waste of food and money unless you take it all with you, which is not always convenient.
@@barbarag.269 Well, I've never been to the USA, but speaking of portion sizes in the countries I've mentioned, I wouldn't call them healthy at all. I've been to almost all of them as a tourist and now I prefer an airbnb with a kitchen, stove and a shop nearby. And in Spain I've eaten in a lot of restaurants with friends, because it is my country, and none of them served portions of an adequate size. I do believe that in the US portions are huge, but where are they of a normal healthy size, I wonder.
My daughter lived in Switzerland for a couple of years and noticed the young women’s eating habits were terrible. They would be ordering pizza with their boyfriends and then just pick at a bit of the topping or just a tiny bit of this or that. They also used coffee and cigarettes to suppress their appetites. There was difficulty in getting time in a gym or anything and as you say, they didn’t want any muscles. She called them ‘hangry’ and fortunately didn’t take up any of these silly eating issues.
I have family in Switzerland. One of my cousins was constantly weighing herself obsessed with being slender. It was weird! This was 1987. She's still the same.
@@jackiecornwall9160 It does not. Any Dr. or nutritionist will tell you that. A bite of anything won't give you what your body needs. It amazes me that people in places with plenty of food would choose to starve when some people have no choice.
@@kellyroyds5040 But I imagine these bites added up during the course of the day. Pizza isn't exactly the best choice for a nutritious meal. I've seen plenty of girls order food to be compatible when they weren't really hungry!
My mother-in-law also used cigarettes to control her weight and stayed thin. Instead of a second helping at the dinner table - she'd light up. She'd also light up when cake or sweets were served at parties. Her breakfast was usually a cup of coffee with a teaspoon of sugar and a cigarette. When she finally did stop smoking, she started gaining weight.
I’m actually from Venezuela, born and raised. My dad is from Ohio. I’ve lived both in the US and Venezuela. And yes I still do follow that “Parisian way” to stay slim even though I’ve lived in the US for the past 33 years. By genetics, I’m curvy. My Midwest relatives all had or have health problems probably due to their weight. So I try to stay at a healthy weight. I might not do it in the extreme ways, like Parisian women, I mean I’ve never smoked. I just don’t eat a lot…compared to how much they eat here in the states. It feels like everything revolves around food here in the US. People here are always eating or drinking something. They’re always hungry, famished. Always snacking at work. And they are always sick with something or hurting. So many overweight people no matter where you go. That’s not a lifestyle I want to emulate either…
O-H-I-O! Yes, we eat so much in the U.S.; I didn't realize it until I moved here. It didn't take much for me to adjust and I already didn't eat a lot. Here there are basically 4 meals - breakfast, lunch, gouter, and dinner. But, in the U.S., I think there are like 8. One thing I noticed was how quickly I would gain weight in the U.S. when I went out for lunch every day vs when I made my own lunch. I remember I once put on 8 pounds in nearly 3 weeks. I had to tell people that I couldn't eat out with them anymore; they thought I was anti-social at work but really, I just couldn't support it.
The French are svelte because unlike Americans, they understand portion control and also, GMO’s are banned in most European countries. So, there’s that.
GMOs don't have anything to do with it. I don't like some of them because they're bad for the environment, but that's a separate issue. Ultra-processed food, very expensive fruits and vegetables, unwalkable cities and car-dependent suburbs, extremely high levels of stress, long working hours (which certainly don't leave enough time to cook), poor sleep, food desserts (aka food apartheid), and other things I'm sure I'm not even thinking of all contribute to the issues here in the US.
To stay slim the way it is described here, no muscle mass, or elongated slight muscle, and no curves , meaning maintaining your weight at what it was when you stopped growing tall, at around 15-16 throughout your adult life. To achieve this, a woman has to go practically hungry most days, cut carbs, eat raw vegetables to fill one's stomach when hunger pangs kick in, use coffee or green tea to deal with hunger, no alcohol and be able to enjoy a full plate of food once in a blue moon. Life-long professional ballet dancer here. Very well said and described Ms Adriel. This is the sad truth everywhere not just in France where they probably have idealised and internalised this as their normality or national brand of Parisian beauty. But to add a small detail: this practice does not photograph so much the women but the men in their society and their particular tastes, aesthetics and sexual preferences. Because this is the "clientelle" or the audience the women cater for. It shows men idealising the adolescent body of the girl because of fear of women, a weak and easily subdued and passive body as Simone de Beauvoir would say, as near as possible to the androgynous physique of the pre-adolescent boy, even more passive, non-threatening and suggestive of hidden preferences.
Hi! I have relatives in France and Spain. When I visit them I always loose weight. The food is healthier in Europe but I also walk a lot. In America too much time in a car and in front of a TV. Body types have a lot to do with the way we look. Eating as healthy as we can and exercising regularly can help us feel and look better. Have a good week.
Such a powerful video! Thank you for sharing. I think many people are in denial about this-people just want to believe that all women can/should be the size of adolescent girls.
So many people are in denial on this one; we have hormones and we have to adjust to them. Every now and then you can find an area of French tiktok that talks about these two issues and the stories are unreal.
I have lived in France for more than 16 years in Paris and now in the South close to the mountains, with some intermittents where Iived in other parts of the world (UK, US and LatAm). I came here very young to Paris, never a buyer of big brands, never aspiring to them so I can´t relate. I was a smoker but I was already before arriving here, same for looks, coming from LatAm I had more pressure myself on looks already than the normal. I´d say yes there is a pressure but since the french social "algorithm" always gives you time out to process (less working hours/week, more "obliged holidays", and it gives you a blueprint rhythm to manage your social life, your diet (yes to big salads at lunch and as a complement in the evening) and even your physical movement (you walk everyday one hour/day as a true Parisian). I started to develop a sense of balance, timing and enoughness, I´d say after some 6 years in the capital. Then as you live longer in a culture you start to understand things from an historic perspective as well as from a perspective of resonance, where you take what is useful for you as you evolve. I don´t exercise everyday, but I do enjoy camping and mountaineering.. So I find the review a bit reductive, or perhaps useful for people´s first 5 yrs encounter with this culture. To younger ladies: use your individual intelligence to see why you´d like to fit in what appear at first glance "an unbreakable blueprint", but don´t replace one meme with another meme, find what you resonate with and create your own "algorithm" for a more wholesome living, and that regardless of where you live.
The ”cool anorectic smoking woman” is also present in Switzerland (a hotchpotch of French / Italian / German culture). However it is indeed a city thing and there are also countless normally slim healthy women who just benefit from a food culture that’s easy to stay slim on. Like other commenters note - no snacking in between meals, starting meals with a salad, limited access to ultra sweet candy etc. (Though this is sadly changing in the direction of eating on the go, ordering processed food, too much sugar etc.) I also wanna point out though - a calory deficit is NOT the key factor when it comes to staying slim. Some people are gifted with great metabolism no matter what they eat, while others really need to watch their carb intake. Fat is NOT the issue - which is also why all traditional food cultures contain lots of fat and people still stay slim. It’s the carbs / sugar that cause weight gain.
Very enlightening. I read an article in the Times awhile ago that cultural shame is part of the deal. Gaining weight is very frowned upon and it is hard to find clothes in a larger size.
I have read French Women Don’t get Fat and it most definitely is not a recipe for an eating disorder. It promotes lots of walking, eating healthy food like pulses, salads and fruit, limiting alcohol and desserts. I never had any trouble finding size 10 clothes in France, unlike Italy where size 6 was the biggest.
I watched some boys playing competition soccer on a soccer field very close to the Eiffel Tower - right in the centre of Paris! It’s hard to get a meal in Paris after lunch…and before 7pm. Forced fasting as cooks close the kitchen in restaurants after lunch, then don’t reopen until 7pm.
Things have definitely changed over the years. There was a time though, when the French women you would see in Paris were thin. You would honestly have a very difficult time finding anyone overweight by even 5 lbs in Paris. NOW though, it is much more diverse. My last trip there was a month ago and I cannot believe how much that has changed. Most of the people I saw were pretty average. Not overly thin. It was refreshing because I am not superthin by any means, and I felt I fit in just fine. That was NOT the case 15-20 years ago.
Yeah, I'm sure it's better than it used to be, but, unfortunately, the underlying societal pressure still exists. I'm usually the biggest person in the pilates class (besides the other American woman) and I'm an xs, these women must be xxxs :/
Thanks for this. I am 65 years old with a BMI of 22 American size 8-10. I might look better a little lighter but my diet is healthy and I have lots of energy and exercise every day. Super slim people pay for the lack of nutrition in their senior years and end up frail sometimes with osteoporosis. Embrace a healthy life - your senior self will thank you.
I am French and where I live (Alsace) people are a bit larger than in the rest of France. I know a few people with food addiction. That said, the nature of the food and lifestyle help people to 'limit' the weight gain: we value fresh food and walking. Kids learn 3 meals a day without snacking. Things are changing a bit but yes, at large, France has sadly been a very fatphobic society. For the smoking it's changing too, we don't smoke as much as before.... I don't see it as much as before. I hate the fatphobic aspect of our society, but I also really like how we are attach importance to fresh food, cooking, walking and 3 balanced meals a day. I want the negative fatphobic attitude to stop while keeping the positives.... We also aren't as stressed as Americans who sometimes overwork which creates all sorts of addictions....
Wow, so much common sense in one video. Thank you. Also, I might add that cover girls on magazines are often photoshopped to appear skinny. There are photos online of the doctored photos and the originals to show how they manipulate young girls (audience and readers)with unrealistic and faked images of what “beautiful women” should look like. Sometimes the doctored photos almost make the model look like a praying mantis. Horrible. Thank you for being a voice of reason in a world that seems to be losing its mind.
I saw a PBS documentary a while back about the Netherlands that was really interesting! It showed a way humans could eat healthy without having to cook/bake daily and to share childcare safely. It was a large apartment complex that had a big, open community center/play area and kitchen. Once a month, each person who lived there cooked all day with a few other for the whole community… the kitchen area had cameras for safety. The community area was open to kids and adults… there were lots of elders that would stay in the community area during the day since they didn’t work and they would watch the kids play. No one was allowed to take children into their apartments or out of the community area. They had delicious healthy meals daily on a menu they all decided on. Think of how this could be modeled in community kitchens if people got together! So much of our diet is because of processed, corporate food and because people want or need the convenience of not having to cook every day! This documentary really showed a better way healthy food and childcare could be done! ☀️
Partially true, a lot of food get pushed around on the plate but not eaten. Add that onto small potions, less processed snacking foods, and vanity, they definitely are smaller in size. I lived in Europe on and off for 20 years.
I see comments that are out of context , such as how malnourished people look in old film on street scenes in city scenes shot over 50 years ago or especially after the second world war in Europe. But in fact people are NORMAL sizes. So many people are doing weight training and muscle building that the NORMALITY is warped. It's become obsessive! But French people generally have decent figures as they don't snack in between meals and they have a culture about dining together instead of eating on the run . I have friends in Paris and experienced life in their homes .
I am a 53 year old American woman, and I know I am obese. I don’t like it, but I also don’t like how I have known a number of people who smoke and eat very little and they will act like they must be so much healthier when they’re not. When I was much younger in school I took French and thought Paris seemed glamorous. Now, I’m not sure what people really do there for a living.
Wahooo you are so on point. I am now living in the Usa. When i was in France growing up i was obsessed with my weigh. Always on diet because there was not clothes more than size 14. When i came here i was size 8 but french 8 smaller than the Us one. I gain weight but i will aways try to loose weight it is in my mind.
The French diet sounds like the American 1970s diet that my mother and her friends were always on. Also, I can tell how young you are because you’ve never seen teenager smoking before. I’m 53 and in the 80s I think every teenager I knew including myself smoked. I realize that’s not a good thing, but it does tell the difference between the decades..
Definitely witness to the culture of food deprivation and body shaming. When we had a young female French foreign student, her Mom would absolutely shame her eating.
Having lived in two European countries Ang having traveled throughout Europe I can assure you that European women practice portion control. Maybe they aren’t dieting per se but they do restrict their intake. They also get more walking in (but not miles and miles daily). Plus they use coffee through out the day to control their appetites. They might have a nice meal in a restaurant (no desert) but don’t eat that way all the time. And they don’t snack although many might have something at tea time (4:00 or so). Also, some have their big meal of the day at lunchtime and a very light evening meal. Some eat around 8-9 at night. So teatime tides them over. So it’s not good genes, purity of food, or moral superiority. Just that they try to eat carefully and restrict calories.
Been living in Framce for over 40 years. I have never met a French woman with an eating disorder. They just don't scoff food down like Americans. Unfortunately the American culture has poisoned the French culture by having a McDo on each corner. French portions are significantly smaller than our portions which could feed 5 French folk. When i do visit the states, I am repulsed by food, because the portions and preparation of food is overwhelming. Yes the teens smoke and drink coffee at an early age, the French smoke way too much, but even that has changed because it's prohibited in all public places, thank God. I think summing up the way French folk stay thin to an eating disorder is a far reach.They are not gluttons like Americans. C'est tout!
It took courage to expose this dark truth and ive heard others come forward too exposing the same. Im not sure how prevalent it is there in Paris but yeah its going on for sure. Im French by genetics, American by culture. I just wish healthy was valued more than thinness
Thank you for speaking the truth. I lived 27 years in France and it's clear that having a body of a 12 year old is seen as a very good thing, women giving comments to towards eachother on how you put on weight or not is the daily bread. Every spring magazines advising on how to loose weight before the summer, Also true comments on having muscles as a result of sports and almost like it's something strange for a woman & could be thrown in your face. Smoking cigarettes or weed is the diet and not eating a week after having fries a usual habit. What is interesting in this skinny wanna be attitude is that it's mainly women who put this pressure on and among them selves, starting from.the mothers to daughters..sometimeseven sons (not as common but existing fact). From what I've noticed the pressure did not come from men towards women. From the older generation maybe but not the younger. Note that french persons with African backgrounds do not necessarily share this goal of being skinny, pretty much the opposite.
Intermittent fasting is excellent for the body. Even U.K. doctors are doing it .. prob due to long hours working. 16 hr fast is easy to do overnight. Dinner at 6-8pm eat nothing till around midday next day. Breakfast is called that for a reason you are breaking your fast. Break -fast. It doesn’t mean ‘eat as soon as you wake up’ or a morning meal. It can be lunch. The 3 meals a day is marketed to us by big food to keep us unhealthy. Most people eat processed junk food. Cooked in wrong oils and even inc table salt. Processed sugar is the most dangerous. And cancer cells love it. When a cancer patient cuts out all sugar (in fruit) for only 6 weeks and does intermittent fasting the tumours shrink fast. Ultimately eliminating stress from life is the best way to be healthy and meditation and exercise and thinking positively is the best way. Why cause dis-ease of the cells? Why treat the body with disrespect? The French don’t snack all day and have healthy fats in their diets. Unlike most Americans Brits.
Indeed...cutting carbs drastically, IF (I do 18-24hr at times), NOT snacking and keeping to meal times is simply basic. However, Americans think snacking is ok...this amounts to 3 meals a day with inbetween snacking...so 6 or more meals a day. A snack is a meal for the body, instant raises insulin levels etc etc. No wonder diabetes is rampant in the US. Americans come to Europe and are appalled that restaurants are not open all day and well into the evening.
The only thing I may agree with this speech is the fact that parisians dislike a lot overweight people. On my personal experience, my mother was able to tell wether I had gained 100grs of weight... that´s how accurate she was, after being on a diet. I have to thank her because otherwise, I would have ended up obese, since while a child I could not find clothing for my age.
I took a semester of French in college and learned a little about the country and culture . I don't recall hearing the idea of French women not being overweight or only being slim or skinny . I have no idea where this idea comes from.
I’m sorry for that experience you went through with your neighbor and it’s so sad she’s dead. I think we all knew that French women were “starving” themselves but no one will say it, but thanks for your reporting.
I used to manage an American weight loss center. One of our clients was this very tall, rail-thin woman from France. She came to the center out of frustration because she said that it never failed, that whenever she came to the US, she always gained 10 lbs. While she looked idyllic to us, Americans, her exact words to me were that in France she was considered "a fattie." She was frustrated because she said that she ate exactly the same in the US as she did in France. She believed the difference was owing to all the preservatives included in American food. I suspected that she was likely right + the fact that in the US, where we live, she would have been driving much more than walking. Also, Americans are much more accepting of looking imperfect; whereas, French people and other cultures will often just call you out for gaining weight. Fat shaming is a part of the culture that influences people to maintain a slim physique. Then you add in the habit of smoking. While in America, we'd scorn people for smoking; in France, they'd more likely embrace smoking and scorn people for being overweight. It's just a cultural difference about what's socially acceptable. Different pressures in different places.
Before I begin, as a french girl, I want to aplaud you on your courage. Whew honey you opened a can of worms. 😅 Well, I'm a living example of what you are talking about : I'm healing from an ED. There are tons of nutritionists in the city for this (I live near Paris). It's the not so secret secret that nobody wants to accept. I come from a family filled with women with EDs, but they don't see it that way. Hence those comments of people saying they've NEVER met someone with an ED. You're not hallucinating. But like every country, people will react badly when an "outsider" points to the dark side of said country. You have a perspective that most French people don't because we don't see ourselves.😩 It took me living abroad to SEE the dark side (and good side) of my own country when I came back. I saw things I had never seen before. How shocking that was. In other words, "collective self-awareness" doesn't really exists. Only a minority sees their country for what it really is. Even in the foreign country I used to live in, people didn't see themselves. Their dysfunctions were normal to them. So when you point to a problem you become the problem. That explains the hostility you're experiencing. Either way, that video was well put together and informative. I enjoyed your analysis ❤
Oh my gosh this was such a refreshing comment. The comment section on this video has been beyond stressful. Collective self-awareness is also an American weakness…but, I’ve met so many Americans who continue to lack it even after living abroad. 👀
I'm not French but I have lived 18 years in France. I can't say I agree with what she says in this video. My female friends are not like what she describes here... Basically food in France is more decent and people eat consciously. I have lived in Canada ( not Quebec) for 4 years so I know the North American diet and super stores for groceries... there are too many differences between these two countries. I love both countries by the way❤
I agree of course about it being horrible to push ppl into eating disorders etc.However I strongly feel we have the opposite problem here in good ol America where now its just pretty much normal to be obese and we have a higher rate of obesity in young children than ever before which is truly alarming! Everyone is so afraid of being offended by literally every little thing that this body acceptance agenda has gone way too far! Being obese is not attractive bc it is not the way we were designed. But worse than that it wreaks havoc on our physical and mental health as ALL health starts in the gut. I think both sides need to do better.
Oh now I understand why only my french friends fear cutting cigarette by fear of putting on weight, it's a thing! To be fair the majority of those who smoke tend not to exercise and so there's a real risk that it'll happen. I think smoking is a curse for young french. We grow up with this bad model, we think we're cool but at what cost. I hope it'll change. Other than that I agree that Paris is different to the country side and that a lot of French look down upon fat ppl.
Take it with a pinch of salt as it's not an accurate portrayal of the French women (and by an extent of European women in general). We live lifetimes eating mainly unprocessed foods, home cooked meals, sensible portions, not snacking mindlessly and generally moving/walking a lot so we stay in natural human female shape. If our clothes start getting tighter we don't run to shops to buy bigger sizes but deal with it before it gets out of hand. There's literally nothing more to it, it's as simple as that.
Glad you’re discussing this, had someone refer me to that book… and never felt the need to read it because she looked sickly skinny, now it makes sense..
I think it is not French who eat too little, it is probably Americans who eat too much. Coming from Europe to Canada, I gained 20 pounds after two years. The portions are huge, the food is unhealthy, and make you craving all the time. They started publishing calories in the food in food courts In Ontario, imagine 800 calories is considered a "snack", and a normal portion is 1300-1500 calories. You can also buy a large portion which is 2200-2500 calories, more than you need for the entire day. You cannot eat like this two-three times a day and stay slim, you will be gaining weight quickly no matter how much you exercise. And American portions are not different from Canadian portions, at all.
I think it's not just a Paris vs. the rest of France thing, though. Perhaps it's a large cities vs. rural areas thing more broadly. To be fair, most of my experience of France is from Lyon, as I studied there for a time in my early 20s. I'm from Finland and even then (when I was still growing into my adult frame) I was often both taller and broader in the ribs, hips and shoulders than most of the female French students my age. The kinds of food I ate didn't really differ from the food I'd eaten as a child growing up, but I was still often at the top end of the size range of the clothes, thanks to the stocky Nordic peasant build I'd inherited from my dad 😂
This was insightful, and yes, French and Italian women are slim. They're also stylish...ahem. My own subjective analysis puts their good shape down to the following, (1) genes, the mix of races resulted in a lithe build, (2) they eat real food, not food filled with preservatives and additives, (3) women eat like sparrows, often but a little by comparison with other geographical areas, (4) they are also active, buying bread etc three to four time a day, up and down stairs, walking the dog etc (I'm generalising, I know). These women also know how to dress to appear slimmer. There is a reason behind why women from that part of the world are considered the most beautiful.
I think people will have a hard time accepting criticism about weight from an American. Respectfully, the average American looks huge and unhealthy to non-Americans-which is not very inspiring. I’m not French but I stopped eating the Standard American Diet (SAD) and my health skyrocketed. I’m at 15% body fat and a size 2-I exercise frequently and don’t diet: I eat only complex carbs, protein and a ton of vegetables and rarely miss a meal. I don’t fast or do keto. And I avoid eating out. I only eat natural sweets-fruits. It is possible to be lean and not have an eating disorder.
Why? She's 100% right. People in France know about that... Most people don't care enough to change because the validation you get by staying thin or even slim surpasses the risk you take over your health. And many French women have an artillery of hacks to manage these risks. You have the mentality of " Il faut souffrir pour être belle"= Beauty requires suffering. and "y'a pas mort d'homme"= nobody died... Those two mentalities are drilled into little girls skull really early on, so it is not conductive to change. You're right, nobody should go to the eating disorder road to maintain their figure.
There's alot of generalization in this video. I was in Nice recently for 3 weeks and noticed both men and women are small by stature. I rode the Metro multiple times a day and see average weight people. However, average weight for French means skinny for Americans. I am Vietnamese and we are also naturally petite. Lastly, you probably refer to Parisians, not rest of France.
Cigarettes are an appetite suppressant. I was painfully thin when I smoked at university. So unhealthy and makes your clothing, closet and hair smell awful -- to say nothing of what it does to your lungs. No, none of this is worth it. Walk every day and eat fresh food. Your body will look fabulous.
Such a sad story. I am my most featherweight when eating two protein heavy meals a day and exercise for strength. The idea of going hungry and smoking does not appeal to me. Poor gals.
It's about eating real food that makes you satiated happy and nourished. Now if you read labels on packaged food they would call it an eating disorder. Still I eat what i like and don't go hungry.
The generalisations in this video are quite something. French people have much better heart health and a greater life expectancy than Americans for a reason. And that reason is healthier eating habits. The average size of a Parisian woman is correlated with better health and longevity than the average size of an American woman. I totally understand how seeing your neighbour lose her battle against her eating disorder must have been devastating. But I think that may have skewed your views a bit…?
I am French grown up and living outside of France. I find French society to be incredibly judgmental. Every little thing they could judge about you, they will. It's like the whole society is one big conspiracy of hypervigilance to keep people in their place. So you'd better believe that this looksism about lithe, thin, unoffensive bodies is going to influence EVERY kind of interaction people have with you. Customer service employees will refuse to fully help you. People will stare at you, with no shame about it, like you're a freak. You'll be turned down for jobs, friendships and other things because you ... look "offensive" somehow. Whether it's your body type, hair, clothing choices, accent, choice of words ... the rule is: DON'T stick out; stay within the lines. Mind you, not everybody is that way and you can find plenty of good individuals who will also complain about the society's judging eye. But they are a minority, and many of them just leave France and go somewhere else. My father once said that the consistently nicest French people he ever met were those who had moved to Canada, where he lives.
Thank you for your comment. It’s actually something that I found so surprising coming from the U.S. Since I moved here literally the day before Covid started, I really decided to immerse myself in the culture and while there is so much I love, the judgment still gets me. Sometimes, a salesclerk will ask me my size and when I say “34” they will legit bring me a size 38 or 40 simply because I have hips and boobs. Then when I come strolling out of the dressing room they’re like “oh désolée Madame.” And you see their whole demeanor change. I get treated differently when my hair is straight vs curly. It’s exhausting the judgment.
@@adrielfelise the big spot where French and American cultures diverge, in my opinion, is on this issue of self-expression. In the US, it's the First Amendment, and "flying your freak flag" is kind of part of the national culture. It's why we have Trump, and France never will. In France, it couldn't be more different - you must _blend in_. It might be offensive to express yourself in a way that is out of place. Heaven forbid you have a religious symbol on your body while in school! A French politician once explained the ban on the veil as being necessary because seeing people with their faces covered ruins the experience of being in public by cutting off one's ability to see the face of the other. Such a totally different thought-world. In any event, French and American cultures do have many things in common - one being that they both think they're the greatest! Americans because they're the biggest, baddest, most "based," etc., and French because they're the most refined, the most civilized, the most artfully advanced, proper, correct, etc. I find both very amusing.
I worked in Paris for 7 years, in the fashion sector, and I respectfully disagree, based on my own experience. Firstly, the French tend to a finer-boned body type than say Germans (me) or Russians, for example. In Paris everyone walks, people also walk up and down many flights of stairs per day. Breafast is a tiny affair of one small croissant, tartine or chocolatinr and coffee. Lunch is a full course meal, eaten slowly in portions that are less than half of what they are in the US. The fats are balanced out: if the main course is heavy, then the soup will be light. Dessert is either a very small amount of cheese or fruit. Dinner is very light. No one snacks between meals. Cakes are not sickly sweet. Home, cafetaria and restaurant meals are not based on ultra-processed food, but made mostly from scratch using quality fresh ingredients. Fresh produce is abundantly available, farmed with only minimal pesticides. They do not put sugar into canned soup or tomato sauce no cheese crust pizza or electric pink glazed fried fake cream-stuffed donuts. Aside from fries, very little of their food is deep-fried. They don't drink litres of soft drinks per day. As a Montrealer, we have many French visitors who also visit the US. The comments are always the same: Amazement that people use the car instead of walking for 20-30 minutes, revulsion at the massive portion sizes, and disgust with what is served in fast food joints.
i don’t think eating disorders are remotely unique to france or paris. the thinness standard is all over the western world. the food in france is much higher quality than the US and the attitudes towards a balanced diet and walking as a lifestyle are better for remaining slim.
What made a big difference for me was giving up animal products. I went from eating a healthy, whole food (unprocessed) omnivore diet to a whole food vegan diet, and lost a stone without trying.
I lived in Belgium for a few years and when I got there I put on a crazy amount of weight even though I was walking 6 miles a day. The culprit? Lotus biscuits 😂 that everyone serves with coffee every time you go to a meeting. So, the moral of the story is cut the sugar. Cut anything that your body will easily turn to sugar once you eat it, like bread rice potatoes.
it's called staying in control of yourself, it's not a sickness, gluttony is a sin. also, you are not suppose to eat more food that can fit in your palm, per diet dr.'s here in america. it's ok to eat 4-6 meals a day ONLY if that amount of food will fit onto your palm area. eating lighter foods or lighter whole foods helps as well. soups and salads are great for staying slim. meats- light meats are fish, digestive tract has an easier time breaking it down. i could eat avocadoes all day and gain weight, if i eat soups/salads or baked fish all day, i lose weight. the only sickness i see is over eating, not staying in control of yourself. some women who can't control themselves always get envious of those who can control themselves and will try to demonize them with some buzz word to justify or make excuses for their own overeating selves. genetics can be at play too but control still applies, even genetically heavier women get envious as well, so we have 2 sins going on here, gluttony and envy/jealousy. if the shoe fits, wear it.
I stayed very slim in the USA. Unless we made food at home form fresh produce we couldnt eat. The food when we wanted to eat out there was inedible to our European taste - greasy, too sweet or salty and tasteless.
Wonderful video Adriel! I started following you because we were preparing to travel to France (Normandy, Loire, Paris). We drove a car outside of Paris and walked/took metro in Paris. And yes, I observed more vaping and smoking than I anticipated! We live in a rural US state that struggles with teen vaping - and I saw more vapes on Parisian streets than I do back home. Keep making your awesome videos! Also - you’re beautiful!! ❤ Keep being healthy the good old boring way 😘
I enjoyed having access to nature in Lafontaine Park, Laurier Park and Mount-Royal in Montreal. Like Central Park in NYC and parks in other large cities it improves the quality of life.
I believe the worst they'll do is smoke. We Americans are fat by comparison because we snack. So insulin is constantly being released leading to insulin resistance. That's why we have a diabetes crisis in this country.
Have you considered that American attitudes have been worming their way into French society over the past twenty years, American work ethics, American political correctness, the American equating morality with self-torture and a healthy lifestyle with morality and thus with self-torture? If anything, French culture needs a restoration, a restoration of the love of food and company and a lifestyle that is relatively active.
I'm high-fat carnivore, and am NEVER in a calorie deficit. I eat when I'm hungry, and whatever I want, as long as it's meat, fish, dairy, saturated fat, etc. Example... today I ate 8 strips of bacon, 4 eggs, 3/4 cup sour cream, 3/4 cup chez, and an 8oz steak dripping in butter. No clue how many calories, and my only exercise is walking my dogs. I'm a size 26 in Gap jeans, and 55 years old. My measurements are 127 weight, 5'5.5". I feel ahhhmayyyzing, and fill out my jeans exactly how I want to, with a nice booty. I have the same body I did in high school, again, thanks to my carnivore way of eating. Carbs are the enemy. No such thing as an essential carbohydrate.
I'm French American and I'm healthy, naturally slim but with hips. I couldn't be fat if I tried. I really wish there were more French people here in California. Maybe people in France walk more, that always helps. Get off your technology, as I sit here on UA-cam.........
Long term Paris living & French Husband = Its simple & No Mystery. Better Quality Whole Foods, Balanced diet, Smaller portions size. No snacking. Vegetables, meat, olive oils, butter, excellent cheeses ( smaller portion instead of sugary dessert.) No / never high calorie sugar drinks especially between meals, like Sodas or Giant coffees with sugar & fat. When they eat desserts they are high-quality and small portions and then the next day they cut back on calories. A go to stay slim Frenchwoman staple often eaten for lunch or dessert ( with raw honey) is Fromage Blanc which is equivalent to 0% Greek yoghurt. All the Paris women I associated with were slim and were able to wear the same clothes for decades because they were the same size. They prefer champagne for its low sugar content which is quite affordable there and they drink wine at lunch or dinner on occasion. Their idea of a dessert after lunch might be a café au lait no sugar! Chocolate is of course 70+ % and everything is eaten in moderation like one ☝️ square of chocolate dipped in a hot coffee or tea and savoured 😋 = so it’s all about control and maintenance & presentation . Letting yourself go in weight & general appearance is a sign of disarray lack of respect for yourself & others and mental problems. Another important French woman aspect is don’t show your making an effort whether it’s your beauty routine or stain slim everything looks like it’s a natural behaviour they spend time and money behind the scenes with beauty routines so it looks like it’s natural and pretend they don’t really care what you think it’s quite funny! = dont show the sweat 😓. Just a pure fresh and radiant like you just rolled out of bed naturally beautiful.
I know a personal trainer who has had a box of McDonalds fries on his refrigerator for 10 years. They look the same, they’re just dusty. They haven’t molded. Real food molds.
I’m glad you mentioned smoking. They smoke a lot, and nicotine is an appetite suppressant. A lot of slim people smoke a cigarettes when they’re hungry, and it reduces the intensity.
Sports in Paris, there are tennis and badminton courts, you can run/jog in parcs and wooded areas if you don't like jogging in the public stadiums. There are football teams (soccer for the North American reader) swimming, biking, gymnastics, handball, basketball, martial arts, skating in winter, dance, yoga, horseback riding. There is even Urban sports club that gives you access to gyms throughout Paris as well as many cities in France, Spain, Germany etc. Just hop on one of the many excellent bus or metro lines to take you to one of the many gyms in Paris (over 10,000 of them). You could also go to Bois de Boulogne, Parc des Buttes de Chaumont ( jogging, yoga and Tai Chi among other things). Wanderlust at Quai d'Austerlitz has free yoga classes, Paris Rando Velo has free bicycle tours. Les Berges de la Seine also have a few free yoga and Tai Chi classes offered. I'd also check what is on offer at Parc de la Villette and all the other green spaces that pepper Paris. There are 70 golf clubs in and around the Paris area. Not too difficult to get to them but I am not sure what the cost would be but I know they vary from club to club. For kids you have 2km of playgrounds at les Berges de la Seine.
I would shrink to nothing if i didnt eat for a few days. I cant go a day without eating or I get a bad headache. My metabolism is high and has been my whole life.
I am French and grew up in Paris, and went to school in Paris. I never ever met or knew of anyone who had an eating disorder. Smoking and drinking espressos, yes. Eating disorders or eating three fries is totally absurd. In fact, we ate more when we sat down for a meal than Americans, but we did not snack at all. The secret to Parisian women being and staying thin is that as soon as they have indulged in a big meal they get on “ le régime des 3 Ps, pain, pâtes et pâtisseries.” This translates into the 3 P diet: no bread (pain), no pasta (pâtes), no pastries (pâtisseries). In other words, they cut carbs. The other thing is we don’t eat huge portions like Americans and throw away most of our food. We buy super quality food, serve it in small quantities, and eat it all!
Exactly what I do! I live in London U.K. I cut all complex carbs like bread pasta. I eat potatoes and brown rice only. Occasionally I eat bread but maybe only once a month. I walk 10,000 steps most days. A 5k run and a walk to shops is 10,000 steps. ❤
I love how you said that. My sister is a super portion eater and she has maintained her weight for 32 years she isn't skinny she is perfect shaped no fat tall and proportion. She has learned not to drink he calories. She don't eat after 4 to 5 pm she eats mainly raw foods if she eats bread/ patties you will see doing an extra to minute walk or extre ten minutes plates and or yoga. She also don't like doing exercise that stress your body bc she understands stress the body caused weight gain. She would prob thrive in the French community..she does not smoke at all
The ingredients in American food is one ingredient from being poisonous I just don’t eat quick foods a lot anymore Whole Foods organic or from your own garden is the only way I eat fruits and vegetables
I think you are making a generality about eating disorders in France. You may know examples of it in your circle of friends but they definitely don’t represent the general population, as there are not more instances of eating disorders in France than in the US. Just think about all the cases reported in the US of people using Ozempic in order to lose weight. I would call THAT the dark truth… Also, overeating is an eating disorder. People in France are slimmer because they just don’t have the same approach to food as Americans. They go for quality over quantity and consume way less ultraprocessed foods, sweets or sodas. Their lifestyle allows them to cook their own food and eat out or order less often. The nutritional regulations are also stricter in France on the amount of preservatives, taste enhancers, sugar, and salt. Compare school meals in both countries and you will see that kids in France are taught early the importance of a balanced diet, which helps them make the right nutritional choices throughout their lives and therefore remain slim and healthier. I agree with you about the smoking problem.
Not saying this is not true for your friend group and other groups in france, but living in Belgium and having many french female friends, and it is all about a healthy and balanced diet. And calorie deficit is for loosing weight, not for maintaining weight. To maintain your weight, you should balance your calorie with your need. Saying they are generally have eating disorder, when this is not substantiated by comparable statistics is not kind. I can understand that this is raw and personal for you, but do not generalise. American diet and eating behaviour is very dangerous as well, talk about ozempic or overweight... there is nothing healthy or good about that either. Please research yourself before stating things like this, it is dangerous for people who do not know. And btw, leeksoup with cream and bacon is delicious...
@@majbrittkjaer6134Did you mean to reply to this person or as a comment under the main video because it looks like you agree? I'm also so glad you mentioned the maintenance error. If you're in a deficit, you're going to lose weight, not maintain. That said, you can't really go off of counting anyhow because counting calories is notoriously inaccurate, and it's hard to get an accurate accounting of TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). I saw a clinical trial measuring this with registered dietitians, and even they were off on calorie counts by a significant amount.
I think there's a social element at play in many of the countries renowned for slimness like France, South Korea, Japan etc.: Body shaming is still relatively commonplace, even more so than in other countries. So while the means of thinness vary, the downward pressure of avoiding the "wow, you got fat" comments from peers and family is universal.
Statistically too, eating disorders are also rampant in Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea. Now this isn't me saying people shouldn't watch what they eat and take care of themselves... Sure, if you want to stay on track, keep slim and gain a healthy life style and support people who want to do so, by all means. In this regard tho, it's not as "helpful" as people think it is and just because it is present doesn't mean that there isn't a cost.
I visited France last year as an American. I ate like a Queen, way more than my usual diet, truly enjoying 3 big meals a day, tons of carbs, desserts, etc., and I lost weight. LOL, I was so amazed and confused when I got home.
Everyone in America knows someone with an eating disorder, too. Not necessarily towards staying slim. The folks who are struggling with their weight and appetite are not living a healthy eating “order”. Good news is that working with a mental health professional toward a moderate protein, ketogenic (not only for weigh loss) way of eating can help someone come out of anorexia, depression, ocd and more. Sometimes even schizophrenia! Psychiatrist, Chris Palmer leading the way with his book Brain Energy. We have literally eaten ourselves crazy.
Love this video. Having had friends that died of under eating and not eating at all, I can tell you there is nothing worst than watching it happen, knowing there is nothing you can do or say to make it stop. Honestly, saying anything makes it worse. I watched these friends hate themselves so much that they refused to eat, the ultimate punishment. Goal weight zero. Thank you for shedding light on this very serious subject.
My daughter has two close friends with eating disorders which they have never acknowledged. I have always encouraged my daughter to just eat in a healthy way and explained the problems of yo-yo dieting to her at a young age. She's not stick slim, but radiantly beautiful in her proud mom's eyes!
Im French. Many of us dont eat processed wheat, or food from plastic boxes. You will see a lot of French people looking at the food labels. if it reads like a science experiment- then it is a science experiment, so that s a 'non - merci' :)
Went to Paris and Italy two months ago, what i notice were that the food id fresh, wether in France or Italy the bread was served never without butter but olive oil. The food is less salty, the sugar in dessert is balance, never too sweet,people walked a lot , no snack and most important their biggest meal was dinner. Always a four to five courses. Mostly always wine, a light appetizer or salad, a reasonable portion main course and a dessert and last they took their time to it, sometimes over an hour. That was my observation in Paris and Rome.
I am half French....grew up visiting the grandparents in France. This was back in the 1970s. I was both shocked and horrified to see that a French woman's worth is based so heavily on her looks. The person inside didn't seem to matter much. It was toxic. I think things have hopefully improved, but this video is so true....there is a very nasty and tragic aspect of French culture and the messages it sends women.....
Seems like a lot of viewers are missing the point. The topic of the video isn't "Why are Parisian women slimmer than American women?" It's also not "How can I, an American woman, lose weight?" It's also not "How can I feel better about my body type?" It's "There's an aspect of Parisian diet culture that isn't being discussed accurately, or is being romanticized." Anyone can agree or disagree with the presenter's findings, but let's acknowledge that she has every right to offer her analysis.
That’s what I was thinking. People immediately got in their feelings. It is obvious she wasn’t generalizing, but it was her observation and based on what her French friends told her that but there is a group of Parisian women who have developed an eating disorder due to their way of keeping track of their weight, which is probably considered a taboo. People don’t talk about it. I think that's what she means by dark truth.🤷🏾♀️
@@lampsaltlightBut she didn't say that she did. She very specifically said this was her experience with Parisian women. She is entitled to her experiences, without your feeling the need to either agree or disagree - it is *_her_* experience!
@@MrsVanB I agree. Although It might have helped if she A) said, Parisian women instead of French women and B) acknowledged that it's a subset of Parisian society usually based on class; working class women don't shop at Chanel. The smoking thing is true though, just generally more people smoke than elsewhere. I can see it when I take the ferry from Ouchy in Lausanne to Aix-les-Bains in France and the streets are strewn with butts. But the people are not pencil thin there. This is not to deny or denigrate her experience at all, and it is true that in densely populated Paris, where indeed cars are nothing but a nuisance and the Metro ultra accessible, there are far less spaces for organized exercise; same thing in Venice and several other cities overwhelmed with tourists with high density populations.
Great video and the truth! I’m 1/2 French and my Parisienne friends are just on a constant diet as well as a few with anorexia.Although they make fun of English women I think that’s my half that has the most fun.French women will take their 12 year old daughters to a nutritionist as soon as the puppy fat arrives.Ive lived in the SE and I’m born in Paris.Lived in London so had fun and now live in the SW.I think because they got the vote late and the metoo movement was taken very badly .Thank you so much for finally an honest video.They are brought up to please men .
UPDATE: I’ve gone through and deleted every nasty comment I could find. You are free to disagree, but please note it should be done respectfully. For anyone commenting on the future, please take note ALL nasty comments will be deleted. Nasty comments include, but are not limited to, (1) misogynistic comments, (2) downright hostile comments that miss the point and serve as a personal attack, (3) comments telling me that I’m fat or jealous because I’m not slim, and (4) creepy male comments. Also, if you’re French and disagree, I already know. Bisous.
SUMMARY: For those not understanding the underlying theme of the video, there is a really great & respectful summary below.
Wow, sad but not surprised, as Paris, Milan, the fashion shows, etc
Love your presentation and for sharing invaluable information; decades ago hub bought me the very same book you talk about; guess what 🙄 I didn't read it for many reasons one of them being an insult to me personally; thanks for shedding light on the dark side that most women needed to hear; btw you have a great voice and gorgeous skin 🧓🇨🇦
Excellent info- thank you!
How disrespectful of people 😢
Speaking truth is never easy. Good job.
I am American. My husband has family in France, so we have spent some time with them, visiting them in France and them visiting us here. In my experience, I have never witnessed his family eating between meals. Americans seem to snack throughout the day, eat walking down the street, while traveling in the car, and in front of the tv. The French seem to sit down at the table, taking their time with refreshment or a meal. That is just my observation, but I can usually spot the American on a French street before I hear them speak. They are the ones walking with a coffee in hand.
Oh gosh, don't even get me started on how easy it is to spot the American tourist; I know I'm part of the problem but we are sooo loud. Haha. And, yes, the sitting down to enjoy the meal is one of my favorite parts of living here. But in the countryside - that becomes a 3-4 hour meal. Just when you finish lunch it's time for dinner; I can't do it. Haha
@@adrielfelise So, after an entire afternoon at the table, eating course after course, my husband and I asked to be excused to go for a walk while the older ones continued to chat. “Would you like a little soup before you go?” asked Grandmere. “What?!! We just ate all that food.” “Yes, it will help it to go down.” Hours and hours at the table, but slowly eaten with lots of conversation. Other than coffee and a piece of baguette for breakfast, and maybe a piece of fruit or a yogurt in the evening, it was usually the only meal of the day; and not everyday. These were special family meals in Rennes.
I’ll spare you details of the wedding feasting that went from breakfast until 3:00 the following morning
I agree!
That’s very true , French don’t snack and that makes a big difference also they eat together , live going to restaurants and enjoy their meals. They are not as depressed and overworked as on North Americans ; they speak their mind and don’t worry about being polite ;)
Non seulement on ne mange pas toute la journée mais en plus nous avons encore des produits de bonne qualité. Il n y a pas d obèse comme aux usa l obésité qui existe chez vous n est pas naturelle je soupçonne la viande bourrée d hormones vos produits sont trop dénaturés le corps ne sais plus les digérer
My friend lived one year in NY and put on 20 pounds. Then she lived in France a year and lost the 20 pounds. She said she ate as much, just healthy and better food as well
Exactly!!! I can testify, my family lives in France while I live in Canada. Everytime I spend my vacation there, I lose weight. Just by eating healthier. That’s it. Don’t even workout.
Yup American food has tons of “hidden” sugar so if you don’t make everything from scratch you can have invisible calories added. Also we have a lot of bad quality oils and pesticides that probably cause inflammation.
Simple ...... Fresh food and portion size. The first time I went to the States, I realised that the average portion is four times the size of a healthy portion.
The portions are huge sized also in Spain, in Italy, in Greece, in Austria. Absolutely impossible to finish even a third of a portion they bring you at a restaurant. Sort of waste of food and money unless you take it all with you, which is not always convenient.
@@hettyherz but they're not even near the portion size in US...
@@barbarag.269 Well, I've never been to the USA, but speaking of portion sizes in the countries I've mentioned, I wouldn't call them healthy at all. I've been to almost all of them as a tourist and now I prefer an airbnb with a kitchen, stove and a shop nearby. And in Spain I've eaten in a lot of restaurants with friends, because it is my country, and none of them served portions of an adequate size. I do believe that in the US portions are huge, but where are they of a normal healthy size, I wonder.
And I would add making the time to eat the meals in peace. This is important not only for the aesthetics, but also for digesting ❤
Not in New York there not.
My daughter lived in Switzerland for a couple of years and noticed the young women’s eating habits were terrible. They would be ordering pizza with their boyfriends and then just pick at a bit of the topping or just a tiny bit of this or that. They also used coffee and cigarettes to suppress their appetites. There was difficulty in getting time in a gym or anything and as you say, they didn’t want any muscles. She called them ‘hangry’ and fortunately didn’t take up any of these silly eating issues.
Yes, the famous coffee and cigarettes diet. Been there.
I have family in Switzerland. One of my cousins was constantly weighing herself obsessed with being slender. It was weird! This was 1987. She's still the same.
Eating little isn't terrible. It's sensible not to eat more than your body needs and a bite of pizza goes a long way!
@@jackiecornwall9160 It does not. Any Dr. or nutritionist will tell you that. A bite of anything won't give you what your body needs. It amazes me that people in places with plenty of food would choose to starve when some people have no choice.
@@kellyroyds5040 But I imagine these bites added up during the course of the day. Pizza isn't exactly the best choice for a nutritious meal. I've seen plenty of girls order food to be compatible when they weren't really hungry!
My husband’s aunt was not French but she used to smoke cigarettes. She did it specifically to stay slim. She was skinny and looked very unhealthy
My mother-in-law also used cigarettes to control her weight and stayed thin. Instead of a second helping at the dinner table - she'd light up. She'd also light up when cake or sweets were served at parties. Her breakfast was usually a cup of coffee with a teaspoon of sugar and a cigarette. When she finally did stop smoking, she started gaining weight.
I’m actually from Venezuela, born and raised. My dad is from Ohio. I’ve lived both in the US and Venezuela. And yes I still do follow that “Parisian way” to stay slim even though I’ve lived in the US for the past 33 years. By genetics, I’m curvy. My Midwest relatives all had or have health problems probably due to their weight. So I try to stay at a healthy weight. I might not do it in the extreme ways, like Parisian women, I mean I’ve never smoked. I just don’t eat a lot…compared to how much they eat here in the states. It feels like everything revolves around food here in the US. People here are always eating or drinking something. They’re always hungry, famished. Always snacking at work. And they are always sick with something or hurting. So many overweight people no matter where you go. That’s not a lifestyle I want to emulate either…
O-H-I-O! Yes, we eat so much in the U.S.; I didn't realize it until I moved here. It didn't take much for me to adjust and I already didn't eat a lot. Here there are basically 4 meals - breakfast, lunch, gouter, and dinner. But, in the U.S., I think there are like 8. One thing I noticed was how quickly I would gain weight in the U.S. when I went out for lunch every day vs when I made my own lunch. I remember I once put on 8 pounds in nearly 3 weeks. I had to tell people that I couldn't eat out with them anymore; they thought I was anti-social at work but really, I just couldn't support it.
The French are svelte because unlike Americans, they understand portion control and also, GMO’s are banned in most European countries.
So, there’s that.
GMOs don't have anything to do with it. I don't like some of them because they're bad for the environment, but that's a separate issue.
Ultra-processed food, very expensive fruits and vegetables, unwalkable cities and car-dependent suburbs, extremely high levels of stress, long working hours (which certainly don't leave enough time to cook), poor sleep, food desserts (aka food apartheid), and other things I'm sure I'm not even thinking of all contribute to the issues here in the US.
Triggered
Reality. @@Bobisworld
To stay slim the way it is described here, no muscle mass, or elongated slight muscle, and no curves , meaning maintaining your weight at what it was when you stopped growing tall, at around 15-16 throughout your adult life. To achieve this, a woman has to go practically hungry most days, cut carbs, eat raw vegetables to fill one's stomach when hunger pangs kick in, use coffee or green tea to deal with hunger, no alcohol and be able to enjoy a full plate of food once in a blue moon. Life-long professional ballet dancer here. Very well said and described Ms Adriel. This is the sad truth everywhere not just in France where they probably have idealised and internalised this as their normality or national brand of Parisian beauty. But to add a small detail: this practice does not photograph so much the women but the men in their society and their particular tastes, aesthetics and sexual preferences. Because this is the "clientelle" or the audience the women cater for. It shows men idealising the adolescent body of the girl because of fear of women, a weak and easily subdued and passive body as Simone de Beauvoir would say, as near as possible to the androgynous physique of the pre-adolescent boy, even more passive, non-threatening and suggestive of hidden preferences.
Hi! I have relatives in France and Spain. When I visit them I always loose weight. The food is healthier in Europe but I also walk a lot. In America too much time in a car and in front of a TV. Body types have a lot to do with the way we look. Eating as healthy as we can and exercising regularly can help us feel and look better. Have a good week.
Such a powerful video! Thank you for sharing. I think many people are in denial about this-people just want to believe that all women can/should be the size of adolescent girls.
So many people are in denial on this one; we have hormones and we have to adjust to them. Every now and then you can find an area of French tiktok that talks about these two issues and the stories are unreal.
I have lived in France for more than 16 years in Paris and now in the South close to the mountains, with some intermittents where Iived in other parts of the world (UK, US and LatAm). I came here very young to Paris, never a buyer of big brands, never aspiring to them so I can´t relate. I was a smoker but I was already before arriving here, same for looks, coming from LatAm I had more pressure myself on looks already than the normal. I´d say yes there is a pressure but since the french social "algorithm" always gives you time out to process (less working hours/week, more "obliged holidays", and it gives you a blueprint rhythm to manage your social life, your diet (yes to big salads at lunch and as a complement in the evening) and even your physical movement (you walk everyday one hour/day as a true Parisian). I started to develop a sense of balance, timing and enoughness, I´d say after some 6 years in the capital. Then as you live longer in a culture you start to understand things from an historic perspective as well as from a perspective of resonance, where you take what is useful for you as you evolve. I don´t exercise everyday, but I do enjoy camping and mountaineering.. So I find the review a bit reductive, or perhaps useful for people´s first 5 yrs encounter with this culture. To younger ladies: use your individual intelligence to see why you´d like to fit in what appear at first glance "an unbreakable blueprint", but don´t replace one meme with another meme, find what you resonate with and create your own "algorithm" for a more wholesome living, and that regardless of where you live.
The ”cool anorectic smoking woman” is also present in Switzerland (a hotchpotch of French / Italian / German culture). However it is indeed a city thing and there are also countless normally slim healthy women who just benefit from a food culture that’s easy to stay slim on. Like other commenters note - no snacking in between meals, starting meals with a salad, limited access to ultra sweet candy etc. (Though this is sadly changing in the direction of eating on the go, ordering processed food, too much sugar etc.)
I also wanna point out though - a calory deficit is NOT the key factor when it comes to staying slim. Some people are gifted with great metabolism no matter what they eat, while others really need to watch their carb intake. Fat is NOT the issue - which is also why all traditional food cultures contain lots of fat and people still stay slim. It’s the carbs / sugar that cause weight gain.
Very enlightening. I read an article in the Times awhile ago that cultural shame is part of the deal. Gaining weight is very frowned upon and it is hard to find clothes in a larger size.
Oh it is.
I have read French Women Don’t get Fat and it most definitely is not a recipe for an eating disorder. It promotes lots of walking, eating healthy food like pulses, salads and fruit, limiting alcohol and desserts.
I never had any trouble finding size 10 clothes in France, unlike Italy where size 6 was the biggest.
Agree! I read the book too. They also eat seasonally.
I watched some boys playing competition soccer on a soccer field very close to the Eiffel Tower - right in the centre of Paris! It’s hard to get a meal in Paris after lunch…and before 7pm. Forced fasting as cooks close the kitchen in restaurants after lunch, then don’t reopen until 7pm.
Things have definitely changed over the years. There was a time though, when the French women you would see in Paris were thin. You would honestly have a very difficult time finding anyone overweight by even 5 lbs in Paris. NOW though, it is much more diverse. My last trip there was a month ago and I cannot believe how much that has changed. Most of the people I saw were pretty average. Not overly thin. It was refreshing because I am not superthin by any means, and I felt I fit in just fine. That was NOT the case 15-20 years ago.
Yeah, I'm sure it's better than it used to be, but, unfortunately, the underlying societal pressure still exists. I'm usually the biggest person in the pilates class (besides the other American woman) and I'm an xs, these women must be xxxs :/
In Paris there is a lot off migranats...Parisians are minority...
@@adrielfeliseI pity you. You seriously need to find some help.
@@amandinemanddyna2705why does she need help she lives there she is expressing her experience
@@amandinemanddyna2705Why do you pity her and say she needs help?
Thanks for this. I am 65 years old with a BMI of 22 American size 8-10. I might look better a little lighter but my diet is healthy and I have lots of energy and exercise every day. Super slim people pay for the lack of nutrition in their senior years and end up frail sometimes with osteoporosis. Embrace a healthy life - your senior self will thank you.
I am French and where I live (Alsace) people are a bit larger than in the rest of France. I know a few people with food addiction. That said, the nature of the food and lifestyle help people to 'limit' the weight gain: we value fresh food and walking. Kids learn 3 meals a day without snacking.
Things are changing a bit but yes, at large, France has sadly been a very fatphobic society.
For the smoking it's changing too, we don't smoke as much as before.... I don't see it as much as before.
I hate the fatphobic aspect of our society, but I also really like how we are attach importance to fresh food, cooking, walking and 3 balanced meals a day. I want the negative fatphobic attitude to stop while keeping the positives....
We also aren't as stressed as Americans who sometimes overwork which creates all sorts of addictions....
Wow, so much common sense in one video. Thank you. Also, I might add that cover girls on magazines are often photoshopped to appear skinny. There are photos online of the doctored photos and the originals to show how they manipulate young girls (audience and readers)with unrealistic and faked images of what “beautiful women” should look like. Sometimes the doctored photos almost make the model look like a praying mantis. Horrible. Thank you for being a voice of reason in a world that seems to be losing its mind.
I saw a PBS documentary a while back about the Netherlands that was really interesting! It showed a way humans could eat healthy without having to cook/bake daily and to share childcare safely. It was a large apartment complex that had a big, open community center/play area and kitchen. Once a month, each person who lived there cooked all day with a few other for the whole community… the kitchen area had cameras for safety. The community area was open to kids and adults… there were lots of elders that would stay in the community area during the day since they didn’t work and they would watch the kids play. No one was allowed to take children into their apartments or out of the community area. They had delicious healthy meals daily on a menu they all decided on. Think of how this could be modeled in community kitchens if people got together! So much of our diet is because of processed, corporate food and because people want or need the convenience of not having to cook every day! This documentary really showed a better way healthy food and childcare could be done! ☀️
Partially true, a lot of food get pushed around on the plate but not eaten. Add that onto small potions, less processed snacking foods, and vanity, they definitely are smaller in size. I lived in Europe on and off for 20 years.
I see comments that are out of context , such as how malnourished people look in old film on street scenes in city scenes shot over 50 years ago or especially after the second world war in Europe. But in fact people are NORMAL sizes. So many people are doing weight training and muscle building that the NORMALITY is warped. It's become obsessive! But French people generally have decent figures as they don't snack in between meals and they have a culture about dining together instead of eating on the run . I have friends in Paris and experienced life in their homes .
I am a 53 year old American woman, and I know I am obese. I don’t like it, but I also don’t like how I have known a number of people who smoke and eat very little and they will act like they must be so much healthier when they’re not. When I was much younger in school I took French and thought Paris seemed glamorous. Now, I’m not sure what people really do there for a living.
I'm French and i agree with you.
Wahooo you are so on point.
I am now living in the Usa.
When i was in France growing up i was obsessed with my weigh.
Always on diet because there was not clothes more than size 14.
When i came here i was size 8 but french 8 smaller than the Us one.
I gain weight but i will aways try to loose weight it is in my mind.
LOSE weight
The French diet sounds like the American 1970s diet that my mother and her friends were always on. Also, I can tell how young you are because you’ve never seen teenager smoking before. I’m 53 and in the 80s I think every teenager I knew including myself smoked. I realize that’s not a good thing, but it does tell the difference between the decades..
Definitely witness to the culture of food deprivation and body shaming. When we had a young female French foreign student, her Mom would absolutely shame her eating.
Having lived in two European countries Ang having traveled throughout Europe I can assure you that European women practice portion control. Maybe they aren’t dieting per se but they do restrict their intake. They also get more walking in (but not miles and miles daily). Plus they use coffee through out the day to control their appetites. They might have a nice meal in a restaurant (no desert) but don’t eat that way all the time. And they don’t snack although many might have something at tea time (4:00 or so). Also, some have their big meal of the day at lunchtime and a very light evening meal. Some eat around 8-9 at night. So teatime tides them over. So it’s not good genes, purity of food, or moral superiority. Just that they try to eat carefully and restrict calories.
Been living in Framce for over 40 years. I have never met a French woman with an eating disorder. They just don't scoff food down like Americans. Unfortunately the American culture has poisoned the French culture by having a McDo on each corner. French portions are significantly smaller than our portions which could feed 5 French folk. When i do visit the states, I am repulsed by food, because the portions and preparation of food is overwhelming. Yes the teens smoke and drink coffee at an early age, the French smoke way too much, but even that has changed because it's prohibited in all public places, thank God. I think summing up the way French folk stay thin to an eating disorder is a far reach.They are not gluttons like Americans. C'est tout!
It took courage to expose this dark truth and ive heard others come forward too exposing the same. Im not sure how prevalent it is there in Paris but yeah its going on for sure. Im French by genetics, American by culture. I just wish healthy was valued more than thinness
Thank you for speaking the truth. I lived 27 years in France and it's clear that having a body of a 12 year old is seen as a very good thing, women giving comments to towards eachother on how you put on weight or not is the daily bread. Every spring magazines advising on how to loose weight before the summer, Also true comments on having muscles as a result of sports and almost like it's something strange for a woman & could be thrown in your face. Smoking cigarettes or weed is the diet and not eating a week after having fries a usual habit. What is interesting in this skinny wanna be attitude is that it's mainly women who put this pressure on and among them selves, starting from.the mothers to daughters..sometimeseven sons (not as common but existing fact). From what I've noticed the pressure did not come from men towards women. From the older generation maybe but not the younger. Note that french persons with African backgrounds do not necessarily share this goal of being skinny, pretty much the opposite.
Intermittent fasting is excellent for the body. Even U.K. doctors are doing it .. prob due to long hours working. 16 hr fast is easy to do overnight. Dinner at 6-8pm eat nothing till around midday next day. Breakfast is called that for a reason you are breaking your fast. Break -fast. It doesn’t mean ‘eat as soon as you wake up’ or a morning meal. It can be lunch. The 3 meals a day is marketed to us by big food to keep us unhealthy. Most people eat processed junk food. Cooked in wrong oils and even inc table salt. Processed sugar is the most dangerous. And cancer cells love it. When a cancer patient cuts out all sugar (in fruit) for only 6 weeks and does intermittent fasting the tumours shrink fast. Ultimately eliminating stress from life is the best way to be healthy and meditation and exercise and thinking positively is the best way. Why cause dis-ease of the cells? Why treat the body with disrespect? The French don’t snack all day and have healthy fats in their diets. Unlike most Americans Brits.
Indeed...cutting carbs drastically, IF (I do 18-24hr at times), NOT snacking and keeping to meal times is simply basic. However, Americans think snacking is ok...this amounts to 3 meals a day with inbetween snacking...so 6 or more meals a day. A snack is a meal for the body, instant raises insulin levels etc etc. No wonder diabetes is rampant in the US. Americans come to Europe and are appalled that restaurants are not open all day and well into the evening.
The only thing I may agree with this speech is the fact that parisians dislike a lot overweight people. On my personal experience, my mother was able to tell wether I had gained 100grs of weight... that´s how accurate she was, after being on a diet. I have to thank her because otherwise, I would have ended up obese, since while a child I could not find clothing for my age.
I took a semester of French in college and learned a little about the country and culture .
I don't recall hearing the idea of French women not being overweight or only being slim or skinny .
I have no idea where this idea comes from.
Glad you are speaking honestly and not romanticing France and the french way of life is
I’m sorry for that experience you went through with your neighbor and it’s so sad she’s dead. I think we all knew that French women were “starving” themselves but no one will say it, but thanks for your reporting.
I used to manage an American weight loss center. One of our clients was this very tall, rail-thin woman from France. She came to the center out of frustration because she said that it never failed, that whenever she came to the US, she always gained 10 lbs. While she looked idyllic to us, Americans, her exact words to me were that in France she was considered "a fattie." She was frustrated because she said that she ate exactly the same in the US as she did in France. She believed the difference was owing to all the preservatives included in American food. I suspected that she was likely right + the fact that in the US, where we live, she would have been driving much more than walking.
Also, Americans are much more accepting of looking imperfect; whereas, French people and other cultures will often just call you out for gaining weight. Fat shaming is a part of the culture that influences people to maintain a slim physique.
Then you add in the habit of smoking. While in America, we'd scorn people for smoking; in France, they'd more likely embrace smoking and scorn people for being overweight. It's just a cultural difference about what's socially acceptable. Different pressures in different places.
Before I begin, as a french girl, I want to aplaud you on your courage. Whew honey you opened a can of worms. 😅 Well, I'm a living example of what you are talking about : I'm healing from an ED. There are tons of nutritionists in the city for this (I live near Paris). It's the not so secret secret that nobody wants to accept.
I come from a family filled with women with EDs, but they don't see it that way. Hence those comments of people saying they've NEVER met someone with an ED.
You're not hallucinating. But like every country, people will react badly when an "outsider" points to the dark side of said country. You have a perspective that most French people don't because we don't see ourselves.😩 It took me living abroad to SEE the dark side (and good side) of my own country when I came back. I saw things I had never seen before. How shocking that was. In other words, "collective self-awareness" doesn't really exists. Only a minority sees their country for what it really is. Even in the foreign country I used to live in, people didn't see themselves. Their dysfunctions were normal to them.
So when you point to a problem you become the problem. That explains the hostility you're experiencing. Either way, that video was well put together and informative. I enjoyed your analysis ❤
Oh my gosh this was such a refreshing comment. The comment section on this video has been beyond stressful. Collective self-awareness is also an American weakness…but, I’ve met so many Americans who continue to lack it even after living abroad. 👀
I'm not French but I have lived 18 years in France. I can't say I agree with what she says in this video. My female friends are not like what she describes here... Basically food in France is more decent and people eat consciously. I have lived in Canada ( not Quebec) for 4 years so I know the North American diet and super stores for groceries... there are too many differences between these two countries.
I love both countries by the way❤
I agree of course about it being horrible to push ppl into eating disorders etc.However I strongly feel we have the opposite problem here in good ol America where now its just pretty much normal to be obese and we have a higher rate of obesity in young children than ever before which is truly alarming! Everyone is so afraid of being offended by literally every little thing that this body acceptance agenda has gone way too far! Being obese is not attractive bc it is not the way we were designed. But worse than that it wreaks havoc on our physical and mental health as ALL health starts in the gut. I think both sides need to do better.
Oh now I understand why only my french friends fear cutting cigarette by fear of putting on weight, it's a thing! To be fair the majority of those who smoke tend not to exercise and so there's a real risk that it'll happen. I think smoking is a curse for young french. We grow up with this bad model, we think we're cool but at what cost. I hope it'll change. Other than that I agree that Paris is different to the country side and that a lot of French look down upon fat ppl.
I knew the part about smoking, but I didn’t know the part about eating disorders. Sad. Very sad. Very interesting video. Thanks for making it.
Take it with a pinch of salt as it's not an accurate portrayal of the French women (and by an extent of European women in general). We live lifetimes eating mainly unprocessed foods, home cooked meals, sensible portions, not snacking mindlessly and generally moving/walking a lot so we stay in natural human female shape. If our clothes start getting tighter we don't run to shops to buy bigger sizes but deal with it before it gets out of hand. There's literally nothing more to it, it's as simple as that.
"Join him in solidarity"... by not eating
Her: no 😒
Me: 😂😂😂
The american in her was like i love u but u on your own.
I like to eat.
Glad you’re discussing this, had someone refer me to that book… and never felt the need to read it because she looked sickly skinny, now it makes sense..
I think it is not French who eat too little, it is probably Americans who eat too much. Coming from Europe to Canada, I gained 20 pounds after two years. The portions are huge, the food is unhealthy, and make you craving all the time. They started publishing calories in the food in food courts In Ontario, imagine 800 calories is considered a "snack", and a normal portion is 1300-1500 calories. You can also buy a large portion which is 2200-2500 calories, more than you need for the entire day. You cannot eat like this two-three times a day and stay slim, you will be gaining weight quickly no matter how much you exercise. And American portions are not different from Canadian portions, at all.
I think it's not just a Paris vs. the rest of France thing, though. Perhaps it's a large cities vs. rural areas thing more broadly. To be fair, most of my experience of France is from Lyon, as I studied there for a time in my early 20s.
I'm from Finland and even then (when I was still growing into my adult frame) I was often both taller and broader in the ribs, hips and shoulders than most of the female French students my age.
The kinds of food I ate didn't really differ from the food I'd eaten as a child growing up, but I was still often at the top end of the size range of the clothes, thanks to the stocky Nordic peasant build I'd inherited from my dad 😂
This was insightful, and yes, French and Italian women are slim. They're also stylish...ahem. My own subjective analysis puts their good shape down to the following, (1) genes, the mix of races resulted in a lithe build, (2) they eat real food, not food filled with preservatives and additives, (3) women eat like sparrows, often but a little by comparison with other geographical areas, (4) they are also active, buying bread etc three to four time a day, up and down stairs, walking the dog etc (I'm generalising, I know). These women also know how to dress to appear slimmer. There is a reason behind why women from that part of the world are considered the most beautiful.
I think people will have a hard time accepting criticism about weight from an American.
Respectfully, the average American looks huge and unhealthy to non-Americans-which is not very inspiring.
I’m not French but I stopped eating the Standard American Diet (SAD) and my health skyrocketed.
I’m at 15% body fat and a size 2-I exercise frequently and don’t diet: I eat only complex carbs, protein and a ton of vegetables and rarely miss a meal. I don’t fast or do keto. And I avoid eating out. I only eat natural sweets-fruits.
It is possible to be lean and not have an eating disorder.
Why? She's 100% right.
People in France know about that... Most people don't care enough to change because the validation you get by staying thin or even slim surpasses the risk you take over your health. And many French women have an artillery of hacks to manage these risks.
You have the mentality of " Il faut souffrir pour être belle"= Beauty requires suffering.
and "y'a pas mort d'homme"= nobody died...
Those two mentalities are drilled into little girls skull really early on, so it is not conductive to change.
You're right, nobody should go to the eating disorder road to maintain their figure.
I stay slim because I don’t eat much through the day and fast often.
I agree
There's alot of generalization in this video. I was in Nice recently for 3 weeks and noticed both men and women are small by stature. I rode the Metro multiple times a day and see average weight people. However, average weight for French means skinny for Americans. I am Vietnamese and we are also naturally petite. Lastly, you probably refer to Parisians, not rest of France.
In the first 30 seconds of the video I focus the discussion on Parisians and a subset of Parisians.
Cigarettes are an appetite suppressant. I was painfully thin when I smoked at university. So unhealthy and makes your clothing, closet and hair smell awful -- to say nothing of what it does to your lungs. No, none of this is worth it. Walk every day and eat fresh food. Your body will look fabulous.
Such a sad story. I am my most featherweight when eating two protein heavy meals a day and exercise for strength. The idea of going hungry and smoking does not appeal to me. Poor gals.
(not so) fun fact: Eating disorders in France 1,5%, in the U.S. 9%. This can't be a specific french problem.
It's about eating real food that makes you satiated happy and nourished. Now if you read labels on packaged food they would call it an eating disorder. Still I eat what i like and don't go hungry.
The generalisations in this video are quite something. French people have much better heart health and a greater life expectancy than Americans for a reason. And that reason is healthier eating habits. The average size of a Parisian woman is correlated with better health and longevity than the average size of an American woman. I totally understand how seeing your neighbour lose her battle against her eating disorder must have been devastating. But I think that may have skewed your views a bit…?
They don't eat the pumped up American food with extra vitamins, synthetic additives, etc. Are one or two cases enough to draw a conclusion?
I am French grown up and living outside of France. I find French society to be incredibly judgmental. Every little thing they could judge about you, they will. It's like the whole society is one big conspiracy of hypervigilance to keep people in their place. So you'd better believe that this looksism about lithe, thin, unoffensive bodies is going to influence EVERY kind of interaction people have with you. Customer service employees will refuse to fully help you. People will stare at you, with no shame about it, like you're a freak. You'll be turned down for jobs, friendships and other things because you ... look "offensive" somehow. Whether it's your body type, hair, clothing choices, accent, choice of words ... the rule is: DON'T stick out; stay within the lines.
Mind you, not everybody is that way and you can find plenty of good individuals who will also complain about the society's judging eye. But they are a minority, and many of them just leave France and go somewhere else. My father once said that the consistently nicest French people he ever met were those who had moved to Canada, where he lives.
Thank you for your comment. It’s actually something that I found so surprising coming from the U.S. Since I moved here literally the day before Covid started, I really decided to immerse myself in the culture and while there is so much I love, the judgment still gets me. Sometimes, a salesclerk will ask me my size and when I say “34” they will legit bring me a size 38 or 40 simply because I have hips and boobs. Then when I come strolling out of the dressing room they’re like “oh désolée Madame.” And you see their whole demeanor change. I get treated differently when my hair is straight vs curly. It’s exhausting the judgment.
@@adrielfelise the big spot where French and American cultures diverge, in my opinion, is on this issue of self-expression. In the US, it's the First Amendment, and "flying your freak flag" is kind of part of the national culture. It's why we have Trump, and France never will. In France, it couldn't be more different - you must _blend in_. It might be offensive to express yourself in a way that is out of place. Heaven forbid you have a religious symbol on your body while in school! A French politician once explained the ban on the veil as being necessary because seeing people with their faces covered ruins the experience of being in public by cutting off one's ability to see the face of the other. Such a totally different thought-world.
In any event, French and American cultures do have many things in common - one being that they both think they're the greatest! Americans because they're the biggest, baddest, most "based," etc., and French because they're the most refined, the most civilized, the most artfully advanced, proper, correct, etc. I find both very amusing.
When USA people say French they mean Parisian
I narrow it to Parisian in the first 30 seconds of the video.
I worked in Paris for 7 years, in the fashion sector, and I respectfully disagree, based on my own experience. Firstly, the French tend to a finer-boned body type than say Germans (me) or Russians, for example. In Paris everyone walks, people also walk up and down many flights of stairs per day. Breafast is a tiny affair of one small croissant, tartine or chocolatinr and coffee. Lunch is a full course meal, eaten slowly in portions that are less than half of what they are in the US. The fats are balanced out: if the main course is heavy, then the soup will be light. Dessert is either a very small amount of cheese or fruit. Dinner is very light. No one snacks between meals. Cakes are not sickly sweet. Home, cafetaria and restaurant meals are not based on ultra-processed food, but made mostly from scratch using quality fresh ingredients. Fresh produce is abundantly available, farmed with only minimal pesticides. They do not put sugar into canned soup or tomato sauce no cheese crust pizza or electric pink glazed fried fake cream-stuffed donuts. Aside from fries, very little of their food is deep-fried. They don't drink litres of soft drinks per day. As a Montrealer, we have many French visitors who also visit the US. The comments are always the same: Amazement that people use the car instead of walking for 20-30 minutes, revulsion at the massive portion sizes, and disgust with what is served in fast food joints.
i don’t think eating disorders are remotely unique to france or paris. the thinness standard is all over the western world. the food in france is much higher quality than the US and the attitudes towards a balanced diet and walking as a lifestyle are better for remaining slim.
What made a big difference for me was giving up animal products. I went from eating a healthy, whole food (unprocessed) omnivore diet to a whole food vegan diet, and lost a stone without trying.
Because food is expensive in France.
I lived in Belgium for a few years and when I got there I put on a crazy amount of weight even though I was walking 6 miles a day. The culprit? Lotus biscuits 😂 that everyone serves with coffee every time you go to a meeting. So, the moral of the story is cut the sugar. Cut anything that your body will easily turn to sugar once you eat it, like bread rice potatoes.
The French eat good food, the Americans work out. Vive la France.
it's called staying in control of yourself, it's not a sickness, gluttony is a sin.
also, you are not suppose to eat more food that can fit in your palm, per diet dr.'s here in america.
it's ok to eat 4-6 meals a day ONLY if that amount of food will fit onto your palm area.
eating lighter foods or lighter whole foods helps as well. soups and salads are great for staying slim. meats- light meats are fish, digestive tract has an easier time breaking it down. i could eat avocadoes all day and gain weight, if i eat soups/salads or baked fish all day, i lose weight.
the only sickness i see is over eating, not staying in control of yourself. some women who can't control themselves always get envious of those who can control themselves and will try to demonize them with some buzz word to justify or make excuses for their own overeating selves. genetics can be at play too but control still applies, even genetically heavier women get envious as well, so we have 2 sins going on here, gluttony and envy/jealousy. if the shoe fits, wear it.
I stayed very slim in the USA. Unless we made food at home form fresh produce we couldnt eat. The food when we wanted to eat out there was inedible to our European taste - greasy, too sweet or salty and tasteless.
I love leak soup. It is good for the kidneys. Smoking suppress the appetite.
Thanks for speaking the unglamorous truth!
Last time, this comment section is rough. Haha.
Wonderful video Adriel! I started following you because we were preparing to travel to France (Normandy, Loire, Paris). We drove a car outside of Paris and walked/took metro in Paris. And yes, I observed more vaping and smoking than I anticipated! We live in a rural US state that struggles with teen vaping - and I saw more vapes on Parisian streets than I do back home. Keep making your awesome videos! Also - you’re beautiful!! ❤ Keep being healthy the good old boring way 😘
Thank you. ❤❤❤
I enjoyed having access to nature in Lafontaine Park, Laurier Park and Mount-Royal in Montreal. Like Central Park in NYC and parks in other large cities it improves the quality of life.
I believe the worst they'll do is smoke. We Americans are fat by comparison because we snack. So insulin is constantly being released leading to insulin resistance. That's why we have a diabetes crisis in this country.
Have you considered that American attitudes have been worming their way into French society over the past twenty years, American work ethics, American political correctness, the American equating morality with self-torture and a healthy lifestyle with morality and thus with self-torture?
If anything, French culture needs a restoration, a restoration of the love of food and company and a lifestyle that is relatively active.
I'm high-fat carnivore, and am NEVER in a calorie deficit. I eat when I'm hungry, and whatever I want, as long as it's meat, fish, dairy, saturated fat, etc. Example... today I ate 8 strips of bacon, 4 eggs, 3/4 cup sour cream, 3/4 cup chez, and an 8oz steak dripping in butter. No clue how many calories, and my only exercise is walking my dogs. I'm a size 26 in Gap jeans, and 55 years old. My measurements are 127 weight, 5'5.5". I feel ahhhmayyyzing, and fill out my jeans exactly how I want to, with a nice booty. I have the same body I did in high school, again, thanks to my carnivore way of eating.
Carbs are the enemy. No such thing as an essential carbohydrate.
What do yoh mean by "eating disorder"? There are several types.
I'm French American and I'm healthy, naturally slim but with hips. I couldn't be fat if I tried. I really wish there were more French people here in California. Maybe people in France walk more, that always helps. Get off your technology, as I sit here on UA-cam.........
Long term Paris living & French Husband = Its simple & No Mystery. Better Quality Whole Foods, Balanced diet, Smaller portions size. No snacking. Vegetables, meat, olive oils, butter, excellent cheeses ( smaller portion instead of sugary dessert.) No / never high calorie sugar drinks especially between meals, like Sodas or Giant coffees with sugar & fat. When they eat desserts they are high-quality and small portions and then the next day they cut back on calories. A go to stay slim Frenchwoman staple often eaten for lunch or dessert ( with raw honey) is Fromage Blanc which is equivalent to 0% Greek yoghurt. All the Paris women I associated with were slim and were able to wear the same clothes for decades because they were the same size. They prefer champagne for its low sugar content which is quite affordable there and they drink wine at lunch or dinner on occasion. Their idea of a dessert after lunch might be a café au lait no sugar! Chocolate is of course 70+ % and everything is eaten in moderation like one ☝️ square of chocolate dipped in a hot coffee or tea and savoured 😋 = so it’s all about control and maintenance & presentation . Letting yourself go in weight & general appearance is a sign of disarray lack of respect for yourself & others and mental problems. Another important French woman aspect is don’t show your making an effort whether it’s your beauty routine or stain slim everything looks like it’s a natural behaviour they spend time and money behind the scenes with beauty routines so it looks like it’s natural and pretend they don’t really care what you think it’s quite funny! = dont show the sweat 😓. Just a pure fresh and radiant like you just rolled out of bed naturally beautiful.
The McDonalds in the U.S. does sell real meat and real potatoes. We just eat too much of it.
😂😂McD’s is fake food
Apparently McDonald's fries have 17 ingredients in them , scared to check how many in burgers
I know a personal trainer who has had a box of McDonalds fries on his refrigerator for 10 years. They look the same, they’re just dusty. They haven’t molded. Real food molds.
I’m glad you mentioned smoking. They smoke a lot, and nicotine is an appetite suppressant. A lot of slim people smoke a cigarettes when they’re hungry, and it reduces the intensity.
Sports in Paris, there are tennis and badminton courts, you can run/jog in parcs and wooded areas if you don't like jogging in the public stadiums. There are football teams (soccer for the North American reader) swimming, biking, gymnastics, handball, basketball, martial arts, skating in winter, dance, yoga, horseback riding. There is even Urban sports club that gives you access to gyms throughout Paris as well as many cities in France, Spain, Germany etc. Just hop on one of the many excellent bus or metro lines to take you to one of the many gyms in Paris (over 10,000 of them). You could also go to Bois de Boulogne, Parc des Buttes de Chaumont ( jogging, yoga and Tai Chi among other things). Wanderlust at Quai d'Austerlitz has free yoga classes, Paris Rando Velo has free bicycle tours. Les Berges de la Seine also have a few free yoga and Tai Chi classes offered. I'd also check what is on offer at Parc de la Villette and all the other green spaces that pepper Paris.
There are 70 golf clubs in and around the Paris area. Not too difficult to get to them but I am not sure what the cost would be but I know they vary from club to club. For kids you have 2km of playgrounds at les Berges de la Seine.
Smoking cigarettes, drinking wine and coffee yeah that good!
😂 Butter and cream aid in LOSING weight.
Weight gain is caused by insulin resistance and/ inflammation. End of.
Great info thank you
I would shrink to nothing if i didnt eat for a few days. I cant go a day without eating or I get a bad headache. My metabolism is high and has been my whole life.
I am French and grew up in Paris, and went to school in Paris. I never ever met or knew of anyone who had an eating disorder. Smoking and drinking espressos, yes. Eating disorders or eating three fries is totally absurd. In fact, we ate more when we sat down for a meal than Americans, but we did not snack at all. The secret to Parisian women being and staying thin is that as soon as they have indulged in a big meal they get on “ le régime des 3 Ps, pain, pâtes et pâtisseries.” This translates into the 3 P diet: no bread (pain), no pasta (pâtes), no pastries (pâtisseries). In other words, they cut carbs. The other thing is we don’t eat huge portions like Americans and throw away most of our food. We buy super quality food, serve it in small quantities, and eat it all!
Exactly what I do! I live in London U.K. I cut all complex carbs like bread pasta. I eat potatoes and brown rice only. Occasionally I eat bread but maybe only once a month. I walk 10,000 steps most days. A 5k run and a walk to shops is 10,000 steps. ❤
I love how you said that. My sister is a super portion eater and she has maintained her weight for 32 years she isn't skinny she is perfect shaped no fat tall and proportion. She has learned not to drink he calories. She don't eat after 4 to 5 pm she eats mainly raw foods if she eats bread/ patties you will see doing an extra to minute walk or extre ten minutes plates and or yoga. She also don't like doing exercise that stress your body bc she understands stress the body caused weight gain. She would prob thrive in the French community..she does not smoke at all
Right
I agree with you. I am french and grew in Paris. I have never met anyone in Paris who had an eating disorder.
Also in Paris we walk a lot, even without realising
A lot of the foods we eat in America are banned in France.
France is the largest fast food market outside USA. I was shocked to see the French eating burgers and pizza on a recent trip!
The ingredients in American food is one ingredient from being poisonous I just don’t eat quick foods a lot anymore Whole Foods organic or from your own garden is the only way I eat fruits and vegetables
Yes the entire USA food supply is nothing but poison. Of course the processed food is. But also even the veggies have pesticides
Yep this is true … and not the best American diet part … sad that the French can’t stick to their own amazing cuisine
@@darklight4251Isn’t it mostly tourists eating this crap?
I lived in Paris for 4 years and I lost 20 lbs my first 6 weeks. It’s the stairs
Oh yes, that one hasn’t been mentioned yet, so true
It’s also the use of public transit. You have to walk, climb stairs, move to get anywhere in Paris.
same thing in NYC
the stairs!! 💯
Bicycles. Les bicyclettes!
I think you are making a generality about eating disorders in France. You may know examples of it in your circle of friends but they definitely don’t represent the general population, as there are not more instances of eating disorders in France than in the US. Just think about all the cases reported in the US of people using Ozempic in order to lose weight. I would call THAT the dark truth… Also, overeating is an eating disorder. People in France are slimmer because they just don’t have the same approach to food as Americans. They go for quality over quantity and consume way less ultraprocessed foods, sweets or sodas. Their lifestyle allows them to cook their own food and eat out or order less often. The nutritional regulations are also stricter in France on the amount of preservatives, taste enhancers, sugar, and salt. Compare school meals in both countries and you will see that kids in France are taught early the importance of a balanced diet, which helps them make the right nutritional choices throughout their lives and therefore remain slim and healthier. I agree with you about the smoking problem.
Agreed!
See my comment above
Not saying this is not true for your friend group and other groups in france, but living in Belgium and having many french female friends, and it is all about a healthy and balanced diet. And calorie deficit is for loosing weight, not for maintaining weight. To maintain your weight, you should balance your calorie with your need. Saying they are generally have eating disorder, when this is not substantiated by comparable statistics is not kind. I can understand that this is raw and personal for you, but do not generalise. American diet and eating behaviour is very dangerous as well, talk about ozempic or overweight... there is nothing healthy or good about that either. Please research yourself before stating things like this, it is dangerous for people who do not know. And btw, leeksoup with cream and bacon is delicious...
@@majbrittkjaer6134Did you mean to reply to this person or as a comment under the main video because it looks like you agree?
I'm also so glad you mentioned the maintenance error. If you're in a deficit, you're going to lose weight, not maintain. That said, you can't really go off of counting anyhow because counting calories is notoriously inaccurate, and it's hard to get an accurate accounting of TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). I saw a clinical trial measuring this with registered dietitians, and even they were off on calorie counts by a significant amount.
She said in Paris, not France in general.
European wheat products are healthier than North American wheat products.
Yes, roundup is forbidden
Roundup ready wheat hasn't even been approved by the USDA yet
@@MeredithDomzalski
But ‘modified’ or GMO wheat products have for years.
GMO is possibly the culprit.
Glyphosate in the wheat is pure evil. It's why everyone here is "gluten sensitive"
I think there's a social element at play in many of the countries renowned for slimness like France, South Korea, Japan etc.: Body shaming is still relatively commonplace, even more so than in other countries. So while the means of thinness vary, the downward pressure of avoiding the "wow, you got fat" comments from peers and family is universal.
Eastern Europe, too
And it's not like that's an entirely bad thing.
Statistically too, eating disorders are also rampant in Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea. Now this isn't me saying people shouldn't watch what they eat and take care of themselves...
Sure, if you want to stay on track, keep slim and gain a healthy life style and support people who want to do so, by all means.
In this regard tho, it's not as "helpful" as people think it is and just because it is present doesn't mean that there isn't a cost.
And some of those cultures are brutally open with their "wow you got fat" commentary. Kind of shocking
I visited France last year as an American. I ate like a Queen, way more than my usual diet, truly enjoying 3 big meals a day, tons of carbs, desserts, etc., and I lost weight. LOL, I was so amazed and confused when I got home.
That’d be the lack of toxic chemicals used in US food production. Your gut biome is happier & body burns fat better.
Everyone in America knows someone with an eating disorder, too. Not necessarily towards staying slim. The folks who are struggling with their weight and appetite are not living a healthy eating “order”. Good news is that working with a mental health professional toward a moderate protein, ketogenic (not only for weigh loss) way of eating can help someone come out of anorexia, depression, ocd and more. Sometimes even schizophrenia! Psychiatrist, Chris Palmer leading the way with his book Brain Energy. We have literally eaten ourselves crazy.
Intermittent fasting is historically normal….
Love this video.
Having had friends that died of under eating and not eating at all, I can tell you there is nothing worst than watching it happen, knowing there is nothing you can do or say to make it stop. Honestly, saying anything makes it worse. I watched these friends hate themselves so much that they refused to eat, the ultimate punishment. Goal weight zero.
Thank you for shedding light on this very serious subject.
As a young American anorexic, my life revolved around smoking and coffee. Many anorexics did/do the same.
Hope you managed to get to the root of the issues and found a healthier way to cope. Sending you a lot of positive vibes
You say resolved so I pray that you are now strong and healthier.
My daughter has two close friends with eating disorders which they have never acknowledged. I have always encouraged my daughter to just eat in a healthy way and explained the problems of yo-yo dieting to her at a young age. She's not stick slim, but radiantly beautiful in her proud mom's eyes!
Im French. Many of us dont eat processed wheat, or food from plastic boxes. You will see a lot of French people looking at the food labels. if it reads like a science experiment- then it is a science experiment, so that s a 'non - merci' :)
Went to Paris and Italy two months ago, what i notice were that the food id fresh, wether in France or Italy the bread was served never without butter but olive oil. The food is less salty, the sugar in dessert is balance, never too sweet,people walked a lot , no snack and most important their biggest meal was dinner. Always a four to five courses. Mostly always wine, a light appetizer or salad, a reasonable portion main course and a dessert and last they took their time to it, sometimes over an hour. That was my observation in Paris and Rome.
I am half French....grew up visiting the grandparents in France. This was back in the 1970s.
I was both shocked and horrified to see that a French woman's worth is based so heavily on her looks.
The person inside didn't seem to matter much.
It was toxic.
I think things have hopefully improved, but this video is so true....there is a very nasty and tragic aspect of French culture and the messages it sends women.....
Women are losing the right to control their own bodies in the US?! We are better?
I am French, and as much as I see tonnes of positives in the food culture in my country, I can only agree with you...
Finally, truth. I lived in Paris in the eighties and everybody was starving themselves and smoking.
Seems like a lot of viewers are missing the point. The topic of the video isn't "Why are Parisian women slimmer than American women?" It's also not "How can I, an American woman, lose weight?" It's also not "How can I feel better about my body type?"
It's "There's an aspect of Parisian diet culture that isn't being discussed accurately, or is being romanticized."
Anyone can agree or disagree with the presenter's findings, but let's acknowledge that she has every right to offer her analysis.
That’s what I was thinking. People immediately got in their feelings. It is obvious she wasn’t generalizing, but it was her observation and based on what her French friends told her that but there is a group of Parisian women who have developed an eating disorder due to their way of keeping track of their weight, which is probably considered a taboo. People don’t talk about it. I think that's what she means by dark truth.🤷🏾♀️
@@MrsVanBit was her observation. True. But then, she seemed to generalize it. I don’t think she went everywhere in France. 🤷🏻♀️
@@lampsaltlightbecause it's generally true though........
@@lampsaltlightBut she didn't say that she did. She very specifically said this was her experience with Parisian women. She is entitled to her experiences, without your feeling the need to either agree or disagree - it is *_her_* experience!
@@MrsVanB I agree. Although It might have helped if she A) said, Parisian women instead of French women and B) acknowledged that it's a subset of Parisian society usually based on class; working class women don't shop at Chanel. The smoking thing is true though, just generally more people smoke than elsewhere. I can see it when I take the ferry from Ouchy in Lausanne to Aix-les-Bains in France and the streets are strewn with butts. But the people are not pencil thin there. This is not to deny or denigrate her experience at all, and it is true that in densely populated Paris, where indeed cars are nothing but a nuisance and the Metro ultra accessible, there are far less spaces for organized exercise; same thing in Venice and several other cities overwhelmed with tourists with high density populations.
Great video and the truth! I’m 1/2 French and my Parisienne friends are just on a constant diet as well as a few with anorexia.Although they make fun of English women I think that’s my half that has the most fun.French women will take their 12 year old daughters to a nutritionist as soon as the puppy fat arrives.Ive lived in the SE and I’m born in Paris.Lived in London so had fun and now live in the SW.I think because they got the vote late and the metoo movement was taken very badly .Thank you so much for finally an honest video.They are brought up to please men .
I'm French and I do not personnaly know any woman that has a eating disorder.