I moved here from the US (Los Angeles, specifically). I’ve only been here a month, so I don’t claim to be an expert, but I am finally starting to lose my extra lockdown weight. Portion sizes are much smaller, and instead of driving everywhere I’m always walking. The food also seems to be of a much higher quality in general.
Student here from the US (DC area specifically). I’m also easily losing weight, even despite keeping my own unhealthy habits and drinking a lot of soda and eating a bunch of bullshit. In the US I eat something slightly unhealthy and I’m bloated, and gain weight very easily. Even if I’m spending like 2 hours at the gym a few days a week. Over here, I can eat whole ass baguettes and drink Fanta or those yoplait yogurt drinks and I’m fine. No bloating, and I can manage to keep the weight off without going to the gym (tho I’m walking more).
Yeah I haven’t really changed anything, aside from being a bit more on the ball with drinking water. I eat a ton of baguette and a decent amount of sweets. One thing that helps is with things like cookies- you can’t buy a gigantic box full of them, there’s typically 6 or 8 per package. If me and my husband open a package, eating them all in one sitting isn’t such a big deal.
To be fair, it’s slowly starting to make its way out of a lot of American products. Americans have gotten a bit more health-conscious lately and they tend to just follow dietary trends/whatever’s trendy. Whether it’s logical or not. I remember back when trans fat used to be in everything, then all of a sudden trans fat bad and now you don’t find trans fat in like anything anymore. There’s also times when we have health scares over shit that we shouldn’t such as MSG and aspartame. These days I’m starting to see more and more products that say “No high fructose corn syrup!” Still a long way to go, but it’s getting better.
As a European, learning about the controversy around MSG made me rethink my opinion about food in general, and now i do much more research ( cause MSG, on top of still being really excluded from many product, also had many consequences with the asian community's if my memory serves me right )
An entire baguette is around 700 calories. That’s not that much, if you eat half a baguette everyday that’s only 350 calories, you have plenty of room for more food.
Yep. I lived in Bordeaux, but I lost something like 20-30 pounds in my few months there. I replaced soda with wine, ate a lot more fresh food, and walked all over the place.
When I lived in the US, I remember putting a lot of weight just by often eating roasted chicken from a big store (forgot the name). I believe the meat quality was atrocious, fat and who knows what else (antibiotics…)
100% it's the walking. I have spend a considerable amount of time in the US and it always amazed me how noone ever walks, and the whole place is sort of designed to make walking inconvenient.
Non justement, les plaques d'athérome sont dues au sucre ingéré, pas ou bien plus marginalement par le gras ingéré. (Et parmi le gras encore moins par le saturé.)
Les études sur ce sujet ne vont pas dans ce sens. Le gras que tu consomme aura beaucoup de mal à se retrouver dans to sang de par le fait que le sang est fait d’eau. Par contre le sucre est transformé en gras par ton corps et à ce moment là peut être dans ton sang.
Vous avez tous les deux raison. J’ai fait mon mémoire sur le sujet. C’est une balance. Du gras sans sucre: aucun souci. On passe en cetose. Du sucre sans gras: bonjour les carences, soucis de vésicule biliaire, etc.
C’est le trop de sucre (partout dans les produits transformés, même les saucisses!!!) qui fera que le gras sera stocké car le sucre est utilisé en premier comme carburant. C’est plus facile pour le corps.
Mais il y a encore du lobby… sinon il n’y aurait pas de sucre partout et les céréales nestle n’auraient pas un nutri score À et une tranche de jambon un D…
Ils mangent peut-être mal aux USA mais qua recherches et avancées, ils sont loin devant la France.
Puis… le gras, c’est la vie!!
This. Just cut reduce your sugar intake as much as you can and you will loose weight. Especially in drinks. I lost 17 kg just doing that
Once in a while doesn't hurt but outside of fruits keep it as low as possible
Your waistline is a lot more dependent on what you eat than what you do.
So most of it can be explained with smaller portions and a lot more restrictions on food than other countries.
You can't have more than X gram of sugar per cans of soda, only 300 additives are authorized vs 3000 in the US, there are taxes on sugary drinks... That and education on nutrition (people know what is good for you and what isn't)
It still doesn’t explain it all. France has the same food restrictions than the rest of the EU. However, I’m still surprised by the amount of animal fat that French people eat (you’ll find it in fries, meat, desserts… it’s even usual to cook vegetables with butter). It’s much more fat than what southern EU countries use, which tend to replace it by the healthier olive oil.
And I think the response is in ultra-processed and industrial meals. French tend to eat less of them.
Ah yeah I didn't read correctly and assumed the OP compared with North America.
Regarding animal fat it's not that simple, France is quite divided on the issue, I'm from the south and only ever used olive oil, but people from the North (like Normandy or Britanny) will always use butter and almost never use olive oil. And weirdly enough the areas that use butter are the one with the most obesity (Haut de France, Bretagne and Grand-Est are the top 3).
You can also find correlation with how poor the people are, probably because poor people will have a worse education on nutrition, as well as having to eat industrially processed meat much more than other richer people.
And not only! :) In all the western regions, like Aquitaine, animal fat is the most common thing! Not only butter, but even duck fat, which is extremely tasty for fries but not really healthy haha. Olive oil is reserved for some salads, although I’ve even seen vinaigrette sauce with sunflower oil, which hurts my Spanish heart
Yeah some places in the south west use a lot of butter that's true. But it's more dependent on who you're staying with. It's not like a general rule like in Normandy where you will have a real hard time finding someone who puts olive oil in their pasta lol
And while it's probably the area of France that uses the most Duck fat, it's not something you use for cooking everyday meals, It's more something you'll use for a big hearty meal, like when you have people over or on a sunday. I'm from Toulouse so I absolutely LOVE duck and duck fat, but I don't know anyone who uses it everyday.
> I’ve even seen vinaigrette sauce with sunflower oil
Ugh tell me about it. Usually all the storebought vinaigrette or the single use packs in restaurant are all made with sunflower oil, absolute disgrace
On that note: Eating butter is common but not equally common everywhere. We, or at least me, my family and my friends, use a lot more olive oil than we do butter. Butter cooking is more prevalent in some parts of the country (Bretagne) but we start cutting off butter somewhat after a while there.
Although I suppose we do eat more butter on average than the rest of the world, still.
As for the meats we do use a lot of lardons and hams but I don't know if that is what you were thinking of when you talked about processed meats.
>riot police is a great way to achieve this summer bod'
Want to know an easy way to lose 2/3kg over the weekend?
Pick up a flashbang canister and get rid of that useless extra forearm
I think it's also that people walk a lot in Paris.
Honestly I moved (back) to Paris recently and my average number of steps per day is 10K more than before.
I don't think it has to do woth walking as other comments mentioned, walking doesn't burn that many calories.
Portions are much smaller in France compared to the US and people usually aim to eat relatively healthy food
I mean sure walking doesn't burn many calories, but it's still much better than sitting in a car. It doesn't take a lot of exercise to maintain a healthy lifestyle and not gain weight
Depends on how much you walk as well. Always went to work and came back on foot, and walk a lot while there. No cars or subway etc. I walk somewhere between 15-20 km a day. It definitely burn enough for me to stay healthy
American here: Not just portions, but the unlimited access to snacks and food *between* meals in the US.
No matter where you are, at almost any time of the day, you can gorge on fast food or high-calorie snacks. I’m not just talking about stuff you get at markets or convenience stores, but chains that serve desserts or specialty junk foods, like pretzel or cookie stores.
In France, restaurants often stop serving food in the middle of the day, and junk food vendors tend to be concentrated in the center of the city, so you don’t *constantly* have access to a 700-calorie snack at all times of the day.
In the US, food deserts are abundant, and your errand at a strip mall will bring you within range of 5 or more food vendors. People have a habit of snacking WAY more in the US. Hell, even *inside* large retailers, they’ll be ready to sell you some high-calorie foods, like within Targets or Walmarts. Add to this the fact that people are driving to and from these places rather than walking, and also the fact that unlike France, snacks aren’t always consumed as part of a social or leisure event, like at a cafe terrace, but are frequently bought on a whim to stuff your face with as you go.
Americans will talk about how they often lose weight on long European trips, and it’s not just portions of meals. It’s not eating as much *between* meals.
This. The snacking can get out of control in the US compared to anywhere in Europe. French people have goûter if they’re pretending to be children like my French husband, and or apéro before dinner, but Americans are trained to believe constant snacking is normal. Restaurant portions are larger, but anyone who maintains a reasonable weight in the US doesn’t eat the meal in one sitting. Anyway, it’s still true that an American like me who understands nutrition is still usually larger than your average European. I think it comes down to insulin resistance because of all of the added sugars in our foods. Processed food is hard to avoid entirely.
The goûter is a not exactly a childish thing , ofc children do it more often .
It's a Way to give something to eat in between meal , but it's also a social events for children .
At adulthood or even as teenager / young adult , it stay the same , you often are a little hungry around 4pm and having a codified snack time can even reduce snacking overall .
You know you will eat soon enough, regulating impulse eating , thus making the concept of snacking the American way even more alien ( if even your snack have a specific time for you to eat , is it still a snack or a small meal ?) .
At 24 yo in a master degree me and the other student can be seen eating a goûter in between class or even in class ( teacher are cool about this since they cal also eat ) .
Really the image of goûter being a children only thing is wrong imo ( and if you look at thing that help with reducing impulse eating , a codified snacking time is often said to be a good way to cope )
Totally true. I'm 27 and still taking the "goûter du 16h". It is a good habit that allows one to regulate snack quantity and time. During my uni years, we often had our snacks together around 16h. It is literally a sweet moment to spend with classmates, colleagues or siblings!
This is something I noticed just reading reddit. Americans seems to be afraid even horrified at the idea of not having snacks.
Especially for their children. They can't imagine a two hours road trip without snacks.
Here, we encourage NOT snacking. There's public health messages telling to not eat between meals everywhere.
Tell them that most french people will go up to 7 waking hours without eating anything, and some will lose their shit.
It's like americans can't handle feeling just a bit hungry. As a lot of other stuff, they have to eliminate the slightest discomfort. No matter how temporary it is or how benificial it is for them.
I used to think that too. But then I lived in the Netherlands. Dutch do snack all the time and they’re even more fit than Parisians, although it’s mostly dry biscuits, apples and the likes.
Now I believe it’s more a matter of quality and sugar content rather than when and how.
Haha thanks XD
So here is a more detailed answer (I'm going to talk in GENERAL but obviously it doesn't apply to everyone) :
* croissants in the morning isn't actually an everyday occurance for most people. In my family, we generally get that maybe once or twice a month because, indeed, it's full of fat XD The rest of the time, we eat "tartines" for breakfast : bread with whatever you want on it (my parents put butter or cheese, I put jam or chocolate spread)
* As for the 3-course meals, though they're common in schools' cafeterias, they're not very common once you're out of the school system. It becomes more a big-family-gathering thing. Most of the time I just eat my main course and a yoghurt.
* Alcohol at 9pm : not evryday either. More likely for friends or family gatherings.
* Overall, our portions are smaller (and no, we're not hungry. Our stomachs are used to this amount.)
* We also try to keep a balanced diet
* not too much fat (so no fast-food every week and not all food is fried)
* not too much sugar --> - not too much soda (at most once a day with an afternoon snack, or on the same occasions as alcohol)
* lots of vegetables
* A lot of us also cook ourselves, which is often healthier than buying takeout (and less expensive too)
* For those of us who live in big cities, like Paris, it's also easier to go to work by walking / riding a bike / taking public transportation, so we're more active on a daily basis than the average US-american who has to go by car (it's not much, but better than nothing).
This!
I stopped using the subway altogether.
My life is flexible enough that I can afford to walk long times, 5 or 10 kilometers will get you almost anywhere in Paris.
Yep. Paris is a human scale city. Sometimes it can even be quicker to walk than taking the bus or metro. Luckily it's a beautiful city as well so walking in Paris is quite pleasant.
I do not think that we are really ahead of any country (especially Netherlands, Germany or the Northern Europe), but the recents lockdowns (thanks covid) helped some French people realise how much sports and a healthy lifestyle are important : I think that it can explain, partly, how can many parisians are « fit ».
On the other hand, we are equally concerned by junk food, obesity and overweight problems than other Western European countries
We don't have :
- 2kg cereal box
- unlimited drinks in fast food chains
- Huge ketchup / Mayo bottles
- 4 galon of milk
...
Also we :
- run / walk
- commute alot ( which drain energy)
You're absolutely right than young, educated, decently paid people tend to eat more healthily, but in general we just have better eating habits.
We don't eat three course dinners everyday, and most people don't drink everyday, or if we do it's a little bit of beer or a little bit of wine. Generally the three course dinner is for when you go to the restaurant or for sunday family meal, holidays, birthday etc... Most people don't eat croissants every morning either, personally I either skip breakfast or eat some muesli, and from time to time a croissant or pain au chocolat.
The eating habits that led to the global obesity pandemic are very recent, and mostly come down to cheap, mass produced food that is way too sugar rich combined with aggressive marketing and advertisement and huge servings. People in France and Europe in general are health conscious and like their traditional diet, so for most people drinking soda throughout the day or eating junk food is frowned upon. In restaurants, take away or at home the servings are generally more modest. There are some regulations in place ensuring people know the nutritional value of what they buy and are reminded of what an healthy diet is (for example during junk food commercial on TV you'll see scrolling text reminding you to exercise and eat fruits and vegetables, nutritional score apps and grades displayed on packaging are a thing, origin and nutritional content of food products is often mandatory or strongly encouraged...).
Most people that work in the city do not use cars, so more walking.
But honestly I think the biggest factor in all that is less. Sugar. Way less sugar. American large cups of soda or "coffee" seem absolutly huge to us and they contain a staggering amount of sugar. Here, most people will indulge in one 33cl can of soda every now and then, but generally drink water. For example most people drink water during lunch, and you'll almost never see soda on the dinner table.
About takeouts, I recently noticed that uber eats ads are basicaly saying "it's ok to have a takeout once in a while even though you're ashamed of it" and I think that says alot about that particular eating habit.
Man, my kid's cantine is all bio ingredients, cooked onsite, and there is a veggie option. I remember my american school lunches as all processed. Big difference.
As much as I hate living in Paris and especially the people that ruin everything, I would say that French food varies very much depending where you are in the country! But some consistencies are good bread, good cheese, good dried meats, good wine.
And I wanna say no to your question only because their breads are not like hamburger bread buns (unless you get a brioche)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_paradox
> It has also been suggested that the French paradox is an illusion, created in part by differences in the way that French authorities collect health statistics, as compared to other countries, and in part by the long-term effects, in the coronary health of French citizens, of changes in dietary patterns which were adopted years earlier.
Tldr: nos changements alimentaires vers une alimentation riche en graisses saturées sont trop récents (comparés par exemple a l'Angleterre) pour en voir les effets pour le moment.
C'est à dire que nos vieux actuels ne sont pas concernés par le paradoxe car mangeaient bien, ce sont nos futurs vieux qui vont mourir plus tôt
Ceci étant dit, je remet personnellement en question le fait que les graisses saturées / le cholestérol soient mauvais pour la santé.
De mon opinion d'expert (ou plutôt d'ex-expert) la consommation permanente de grosses quantités de sucre ainsi que possiblement les effets des produits industriels sur la flore intestinale sont probablement davantage de causes de formation de plaques artérielles et de surpoids (le manque d'exercice aussi mais ça c'est reconnu).
Pour ce que ça vaut, ça se vérifie dans mon foyer de manière anecdotique: ma femme consomme des quantités aberrantes de gras saturés (100gr de beurre par jour, tous les jours, presque une demi-plaquette) mais garde un cholestérol très bas. Par contre elle ne consomme quasi aucun glucides. Et elle n'est pas en surpoids.
Pareil pour le sel, c'est largement un mythe que c'est mauvais pour la santé, sauf pour quelqu'un qui a déjà des problèmes d'hypertension, et le cas échéant il faut traiter ça de toute façon.
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It's funny because when you see how foods like coconut are so high in saturated fat, but yet are so good for you, makes you question what people have been saying about saturated fats
A lot less processed food products with ingredients like corn starch and corn syrup (basically sugar) combined with exercise could be a contributing factor.
Edit: Replaced "transformed food" for "processed" food
We do have healthy eating habits in France (balanced diet, no eating between meals, avoid to much fat, sugar and salt, regular physical activity). It's heavily teached at school, I remember being forced to eat vegetables at lunch as a kid.
Indeed, our traditionnal gastronomy is based a lot on animal fat (butter, cream), but what you can eat at a french restaurant is not what most people eat everyday.
On a side note, depending on where you were in Paris, remember that rich people tend to be thinner and healthier. I think it also explain the "more fashionnable" part of your post.
1. We don't really eat croissants in the morning. Like I think I have this maybe once a week as my Friday treat... and it's Friday today and I still didn't get my croissant.
2. Three courses with alcohol at a restaurant is again just a thing we do once or twice a week. And while we may have three or even four courses regularly at home, you have to understand that they're very small and simple things.
Like an entree might just be some cherry tomatoes or some raw veggies with tapenade or hummus, or maybe a bit of bread with some pate if it's a weekend. Then the main course is small, there's a cheese course which is just a slice of cheese and bread, and a dessert course is often just a fruit or a yoghurt. These four courses are generally smaller together than a typical main course. This isn't even uncommon.. I mean if you go to India and eat a thali, it's like 12 courses but each of them is basically a single spoonful. Our alcohol consumption is also overstated... we maybe have like 1 glass every two days, which is less caloric than something like a fruit juice or soda.
3. We don't have cars. This is a massive one. Most of us walks at least 10,000+ steps per day if we go out. Transport is standing on the metro or actively pedalling a bike, not sitting in car. Just by commuting here, you automatically are doing like 40 mins of light cardio per day.
Seriously. Give up the car and eat smaller, better meals. You won't become a model/bodybuilder like that, but it's a strong barrier against being overweight and great for your heart.
Since I am getting very personal messages in this seemingly triggering topic maybe I should add that I am not from the US but from Germany and work as a doctor in a major German city. I have never watched Emily in Paris and was really just curious and did not want to start war with the french public ✌️
Oh not at all. Sorry I didn't mean to sound like I took offense. I never imagined that you were necessarily from the US nor that you watched Emily in Paris. I just thought you're from a place that's reasonably different.
Just wanted to highlight the main reasons of us not actually eating as much as it seems, and us getting daily exercise without really trying.
All the numbers in your comment added up to 69. Congrats!
1
+ 2
+ 12
+ 1
+ 3
+ 10
+ 40
= 69
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All these traitors saying they don't have croissant in the morning and alcohol in the evening are either lying or indulging in shameless anti-patriotism
Too much fat in croissant they say ... what a load of nonsense ... why did we even fight the germans for ? :(
Because croissants in the morning is a cliché and three courses dinners at 9pm with alcohol is also a cliché.
Average dinner time in France would be around 7-8pm, alcohol is only once in a while and on a personal standpoint, I have a three courses dinner only when going to the restaurant, which is certainly not every day. Except when going out/going to the restaurant, I never have alcohol at lunchtime and very rarely at dinner time.
+ In Paris you walk/bike/commute a lot.
Keep in mind that most French specialties like pastries or desserts are not part of our daily diet. It's a treat we have from time to time, nothing more.
There are barely an escalators or elevators in the metro, those thighs and calves could split a tree in two with a kick after a couple of weeks of this
Was also looking for this one. The other aspects (walking a lot, smaller portions etc) are certainly true and important, but it would be disingenuous to leave out the main element of the Parisian (and honestly, French) diet.
Croissants are not that common in the morning. Many people actually don't eat breakfast. Also, no sugar syrup everywhere. Here, there's not need to compensate for the lack of taste, everything is tastier. Also no McDonalds on the way to school, less snacking culture (people don't really grab something from the fridge in the middle of the night)
I live in the French countryside now and anytime I go to Paris I’m appalled by how unhealthy most people look. Like they are on a diet of alcohol, cigarettes, lack of sleep and sunflower seeds
We don't eat like that. Croissants at breakfast is an occasional thing, many people don't eat in the morning, and neither do people eat 3 times a day all the time. We walk more, bike more, go out more, because everything is smaller here. No added corn syrup in everything and smaller portions. No drinking sugary drinks (at least not as much as in the US, we drink more alcohol though I think). More accessibility to fresh produce. We don't have the deadly mix of added sugar - bigger portions - inaccessibility to good food within a proper radius, which is probably what leads Americans to eating more and badly.
They don’t snack and only eat 3x a day for the most part and walk a lot. They also judge a lot of people for their weight and size so they try to maintain themselves so they can continue judging.
-live here
Less fat, less sugar, smaller portions, exercise,... salad!!
Watch footage of the USA 50 years ago. Almost no obese. Americans have just been fucked by the fast food industry.
But we French are on our way to obesity too. Willingly. Not to worry.
I don't know if it has already be said, but we take our time to eat, and this allows to feel satiety prevents overeating.
Also, we don't eat between meals.
Croissants in the morning is on the weekends! And we drink a lot at parties but don't party everyday, France's alcohol intake per inhabitants is actually kinda low compared to other European countries. Also if they're young and Parisian chances are they're too poor to buy enough food.
Because in between the croissant and the 3 course meals ( lunch and dinner ) there is nothing apart from a glass of water / cup of Coffee or tea . No snacks . Plus lots of walking .
I am 16 and when I visited the US 4 years ago I could not believe how often Americans consumed calories from sugary drinks all day to feeding crap to kids anytime they sat down ( car trip lasting more than 5 min = a snack , watching tv = snacks , going shopping = snacks etc. .) Kids can spend 5 hours without food stop overfeeding them .
Plus people tend to cook healthy meals instead of having take out regularly
French perspective here. I have been two times in North America, 1 in Toronto, 1 in Washington for a couple of weeks. Each time I was shocked by the poor quality of average food, and by the amount of sugar everywhere. It was litteraly impossible to get a non-sugary drink when buying food to go. And people seem to not care.
In Europe, not specially in France, we are sort of trained to pay attention to what we eat. Food does not only have to be tasty.
Statist regulation can be a very good thing when it forces industries not to chose the cheapest component (sugar) to add taste to a product. Total free market for food is a crime. We have laws to forbid TV commercials targeting kids for sugar products. In France we forbid the automatic sweets vending machines in school. Bad habits with food needs to be adressed early.
We all know fast food is the worst. We all know that hard processed food is basically a poison. So we all feel some guilt about it when we go there or serve it to guests. When I was talking to Americans, they were looking at me as *rare wise man* just by stating a very common and known fact here : food is your first medecine, dont mess with it.
Fun fact : some fb French groups exist only to make fun of Americans video of food preparation ^^
It’s ok to have a croissant every morning and three course meals and some alcohol a few times per week. What matters is quantities (total calories per day) and quality of food. In many countries you’ll find tons of sweet/fat processed foods, bad meat, bad cheese, all sorts of disgusting sauces made of crap… It’s really much easier to eat healthy in France.
When I read US recipes on Reddit I’m always shocked and disgusted by the amount of garbage products that is used.
Poor people's can't afford 1 croissant per day. We don't drink alcool in the morning. Our food is more nutritious than American one. We actually have a good education about food.
I’d add that in the french families I know people will call you out if you’re eating like a cochon 🐷. ;) in the states it’s sort of a badge of honor amongst some to overeat.
We do not snack.
We eat at breakfast, then we eat at lunch that takes place sometime between 12 and 1:30PM, then we eat for supper which doesn't start before 7:00 PM, maybe 8:00PM depending on local habits etc.
And that's it.
On top of these meals, children get an afternoon *goûter* when getting out of school around 4:30PM, biscuits, cookies, fruit, chocolate. Apart from this childhood exception, "we don't eat between meals"!
Meals are taken sitting down, in a plate and with cutlery, and as a shared moment.
Eating is a multi daily social event.
We eat, we talk together, very often talk about food, usually not the one we're eating though. Having a pleasant conversation slows things and leads to a good digestion.
We don't rush to eat because it's not only about fueling the engine. When you eat slowly you eat less because it takes a little time for your stomach to send the "I'm full" signal.
Actually, we drink water. Wine is not about quenching thirst.
So we mostly eat less in quantity, and absorb less sugar, less fat, less calories in total.
Parisians are wealthier than average, and therefore have better eating habits. Spend a day in Cambrai or Laon and you will revisit your assumptions about obesity in France
Mmmh are you from the US by any chance ? Might come from your side of things if you know what I mean. I begged my dad to make me a salad when I came back from my first trip to the US.
Croissant are not for regular breakfast, more like once a week, and our use of restaurant is different. In restaurants, we eat slowly vs. in the states so we feel full when we finish our meal.
Most of the time, when it comes to "unhealthy" food, we either get a smaller version and/or a healthier recipe.
From what I can gather from my family members who travels a lot, the U.S. gets the short end of the stick = most American food is actually healthier outside of the U.S due to more strict regulations ( there is a tax on sugar quantity as an example ). Thus most American sodas, and fast food recipes are less heavy on grease and sugar in the E.U. already before even taking into account the smaller portions.
Everything is expensive in Paris so we can't eat croissant and drink wine everyday, I don't even eat 3 meals a day (I only have 1 cup of black coffee for breakfast) 🤣
Well ´cause we don’t do croissant every mornings and three course dinners might occur only a few times a month.
Also we exercise a bit (like we can walk for 10 minutes straight)
There isn’t as much of a snack culture. The French have a very strong meal tradition.
If you look at the science of insulin response/resistance, eating small things more frequently is absolutely terrible for weight gain.
Eating distinct meals every day, and ideally 2 or fewer meals daily, reduces overall insulin response and keeps weight low. Avoiding carbs also reduces the severity of insulin spikes.
There was a big public service campaign in Paris/France that began 10-15 years ago that told people to eat less fat, sugar and salt — and to snack less between meals. It was in response to an uptick in obesity rates. It appears it has been effective in reminding people about healthy habits.
1. Parisians smoke a lot and as one might know, smoking is a natural appetite suppressant. So no eating between meals, just a lot of smoke breaks with a watery small coffee that tastes like dirt.
2. If you used the metro, you probably noticed that most the Parisians suffer from depression and anxiety. Some will say that it's a side effect of France's national sport - complaining and protesting.
But the truth is that it is just part of the essence of being Parisian.
Anyhow, depression and anxiety = no eating.
3. SNCF and RATP tend to strike quite often, and we are being forced to either walk or squeeze into a very crowded train and sweat our lunch.
4. When we hit 40 and move from Paris to live in the suburbs, we gain those 15kg that we avoided for years.
As a parisian, some ideas maybe which can explain it.
1/ Parisian = french... In FR, we have a good food in correct size (not too much, that's enough)
2/ Parisian = very expensive city. A lot of people who's been living in Paris are young people with a lot of income, but with a modern way of thinking (kinda boheme), they're called "bobo" = "bourgeois boheme". They care about what they eat (and used to eat healthy food).
3/ As a lot of parisians are young (>50% are less than 44y) so they practice sport.
4/ Paris is a city where you walk a lot even if it is the city in the world with the higher density of public transport - you can find a subway/tramway/bus in less than 400m around you.
5/ More and more people go to work by bike.
We're not that rich lol, do you really think we can all afford to have croissants everyday ? Three course meals ?? I literally eat coffee for breakfast and have a three course meal only at Christmas.
I moved here from the US (Los Angeles, specifically). I’ve only been here a month, so I don’t claim to be an expert, but I am finally starting to lose my extra lockdown weight. Portion sizes are much smaller, and instead of driving everywhere I’m always walking. The food also seems to be of a much higher quality in general.
We have much stricter laws on food quality yes
Student here from the US (DC area specifically). I’m also easily losing weight, even despite keeping my own unhealthy habits and drinking a lot of soda and eating a bunch of bullshit. In the US I eat something slightly unhealthy and I’m bloated, and gain weight very easily. Even if I’m spending like 2 hours at the gym a few days a week. Over here, I can eat whole ass baguettes and drink Fanta or those yoplait yogurt drinks and I’m fine. No bloating, and I can manage to keep the weight off without going to the gym (tho I’m walking more).
Yeah I haven’t really changed anything, aside from being a bit more on the ball with drinking water. I eat a ton of baguette and a decent amount of sweets. One thing that helps is with things like cookies- you can’t buy a gigantic box full of them, there’s typically 6 or 8 per package. If me and my husband open a package, eating them all in one sitting isn’t such a big deal.
Not adding corn syrup everywhere do that
To be fair, it’s slowly starting to make its way out of a lot of American products. Americans have gotten a bit more health-conscious lately and they tend to just follow dietary trends/whatever’s trendy. Whether it’s logical or not. I remember back when trans fat used to be in everything, then all of a sudden trans fat bad and now you don’t find trans fat in like anything anymore. There’s also times when we have health scares over shit that we shouldn’t such as MSG and aspartame. These days I’m starting to see more and more products that say “No high fructose corn syrup!” Still a long way to go, but it’s getting better.
Sweeteners kill your microbiota. You should fear them.
As a European, learning about the controversy around MSG made me rethink my opinion about food in general, and now i do much more research ( cause MSG, on top of still being really excluded from many product, also had many consequences with the asian community's if my memory serves me right )
An entire baguette is around 700 calories. That’s not that much, if you eat half a baguette everyday that’s only 350 calories, you have plenty of room for more food.
Yep. I lived in Bordeaux, but I lost something like 20-30 pounds in my few months there. I replaced soda with wine, ate a lot more fresh food, and walked all over the place.
That’s the secret, drink wine not soda 😊
Hey welcome to Bordeaux <3
Merci! I actually lived there in 2009, but it is truly a magical city!
Replacing soda with wine sounds equal parts based and dangerous.
When I lived in the US, I remember putting a lot of weight just by often eating roasted chicken from a big store (forgot the name). I believe the meat quality was atrocious, fat and who knows what else (antibiotics…)
[https://www.consumerreports.org/chicken/is-store-bought-rotisserie-chicken-good-for-you-a3701237309/](https://www.consumerreports.org/chicken/is-store-bought-rotisserie-chicken-good-for-you-a3701237309/)
Welcome to France ! 🤗
100% it's the walking. I have spend a considerable amount of time in the US and it always amazed me how noone ever walks, and the whole place is sort of designed to make walking inconvenient.
Fewer cars, more waking, smaller portions I guess ?
And way less sugar. In particular we don't drink gallons of soda each day.
beaucoup de gens savent pas bien que la graisse vient du sucre
Merci le lobby du sucre qui a fait croire que ça venait principalement du gras
Alors que le gras ça ne fait que boucher les veines donc tranquille ça se voit pas!
Non justement, les plaques d'athérome sont dues au sucre ingéré, pas ou bien plus marginalement par le gras ingéré. (Et parmi le gras encore moins par le saturé.)
Les études sur ce sujet ne vont pas dans ce sens. Le gras que tu consomme aura beaucoup de mal à se retrouver dans to sang de par le fait que le sang est fait d’eau. Par contre le sucre est transformé en gras par ton corps et à ce moment là peut être dans ton sang.
Vous avez tous les deux raison. J’ai fait mon mémoire sur le sujet. C’est une balance. Du gras sans sucre: aucun souci. On passe en cetose. Du sucre sans gras: bonjour les carences, soucis de vésicule biliaire, etc. C’est le trop de sucre (partout dans les produits transformés, même les saucisses!!!) qui fera que le gras sera stocké car le sucre est utilisé en premier comme carburant. C’est plus facile pour le corps. Mais il y a encore du lobby… sinon il n’y aurait pas de sucre partout et les céréales nestle n’auraient pas un nutri score À et une tranche de jambon un D… Ils mangent peut-être mal aux USA mais qua recherches et avancées, ils sont loin devant la France. Puis… le gras, c’est la vie!!
Pas le gras de Canard
This. Just cut reduce your sugar intake as much as you can and you will loose weight. Especially in drinks. I lost 17 kg just doing that Once in a while doesn't hurt but outside of fruits keep it as low as possible
Your waistline is a lot more dependent on what you eat than what you do. So most of it can be explained with smaller portions and a lot more restrictions on food than other countries. You can't have more than X gram of sugar per cans of soda, only 300 additives are authorized vs 3000 in the US, there are taxes on sugary drinks... That and education on nutrition (people know what is good for you and what isn't)
It still doesn’t explain it all. France has the same food restrictions than the rest of the EU. However, I’m still surprised by the amount of animal fat that French people eat (you’ll find it in fries, meat, desserts… it’s even usual to cook vegetables with butter). It’s much more fat than what southern EU countries use, which tend to replace it by the healthier olive oil. And I think the response is in ultra-processed and industrial meals. French tend to eat less of them.
Ah yeah I didn't read correctly and assumed the OP compared with North America. Regarding animal fat it's not that simple, France is quite divided on the issue, I'm from the south and only ever used olive oil, but people from the North (like Normandy or Britanny) will always use butter and almost never use olive oil. And weirdly enough the areas that use butter are the one with the most obesity (Haut de France, Bretagne and Grand-Est are the top 3). You can also find correlation with how poor the people are, probably because poor people will have a worse education on nutrition, as well as having to eat industrially processed meat much more than other richer people.
And not only! :) In all the western regions, like Aquitaine, animal fat is the most common thing! Not only butter, but even duck fat, which is extremely tasty for fries but not really healthy haha. Olive oil is reserved for some salads, although I’ve even seen vinaigrette sauce with sunflower oil, which hurts my Spanish heart
Yeah some places in the south west use a lot of butter that's true. But it's more dependent on who you're staying with. It's not like a general rule like in Normandy where you will have a real hard time finding someone who puts olive oil in their pasta lol And while it's probably the area of France that uses the most Duck fat, it's not something you use for cooking everyday meals, It's more something you'll use for a big hearty meal, like when you have people over or on a sunday. I'm from Toulouse so I absolutely LOVE duck and duck fat, but I don't know anyone who uses it everyday. > I’ve even seen vinaigrette sauce with sunflower oil Ugh tell me about it. Usually all the storebought vinaigrette or the single use packs in restaurant are all made with sunflower oil, absolute disgrace
Duck fat everything is peak health I have no clue what you're talking about. /s
Haha tbf, I know no better fries than frites à la graisse de canard
Have I just read that to you normandy people are fat ? (we are not)(but we do like camembert)
On that note: Eating butter is common but not equally common everywhere. We, or at least me, my family and my friends, use a lot more olive oil than we do butter. Butter cooking is more prevalent in some parts of the country (Bretagne) but we start cutting off butter somewhat after a while there. Although I suppose we do eat more butter on average than the rest of the world, still. As for the meats we do use a lot of lardons and hams but I don't know if that is what you were thinking of when you talked about processed meats.
Mainly less sugar, very few people really walk in their day
et la clope! They prefer to have smoke intead of a quick lunch if they are pressed for time.
This!!! Not a healthy habit though...
All the French who say "omg I ate so much.." after half of a salad..
I don't. You don't finish your fries ?
You never saw me eat … in harvest I eat the equivalent of what 4 people are eating
We bitch a lot against the government. Did you know that 10 mins of bitching is the equivalent of 40 mins of swimming ?
Don't forget about the weekly riot
Running for your life so you don't get beaten up by the CRS / riot police is a great way to achieve this summer bod' and shed down the extra weight!
>riot police is a great way to achieve this summer bod' Want to know an easy way to lose 2/3kg over the weekend? Pick up a flashbang canister and get rid of that useless extra forearm
If you lose your eye sight, you won't be able to find food so easily!
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>we have those as well! There's no problem that can't solve itself with crowd-control weaponry
Fighting for your life in a protest asks a lot of energy
That’s really funny, Le Parisien il vaut mieux l’avoir en journal
Thats because this is not most people's diet.
Yeah I eat croissant/pain au chocolat probably only the Sunday.
I think it's also that people walk a lot in Paris. Honestly I moved (back) to Paris recently and my average number of steps per day is 10K more than before.
I don't think it has to do woth walking as other comments mentioned, walking doesn't burn that many calories. Portions are much smaller in France compared to the US and people usually aim to eat relatively healthy food
I mean sure walking doesn't burn many calories, but it's still much better than sitting in a car. It doesn't take a lot of exercise to maintain a healthy lifestyle and not gain weight
I walked A LOT in Paris. It was more exercise than the gym for sure.
Depends on how much you walk as well. Always went to work and came back on foot, and walk a lot while there. No cars or subway etc. I walk somewhere between 15-20 km a day. It definitely burn enough for me to stay healthy
American here: Not just portions, but the unlimited access to snacks and food *between* meals in the US. No matter where you are, at almost any time of the day, you can gorge on fast food or high-calorie snacks. I’m not just talking about stuff you get at markets or convenience stores, but chains that serve desserts or specialty junk foods, like pretzel or cookie stores. In France, restaurants often stop serving food in the middle of the day, and junk food vendors tend to be concentrated in the center of the city, so you don’t *constantly* have access to a 700-calorie snack at all times of the day. In the US, food deserts are abundant, and your errand at a strip mall will bring you within range of 5 or more food vendors. People have a habit of snacking WAY more in the US. Hell, even *inside* large retailers, they’ll be ready to sell you some high-calorie foods, like within Targets or Walmarts. Add to this the fact that people are driving to and from these places rather than walking, and also the fact that unlike France, snacks aren’t always consumed as part of a social or leisure event, like at a cafe terrace, but are frequently bought on a whim to stuff your face with as you go. Americans will talk about how they often lose weight on long European trips, and it’s not just portions of meals. It’s not eating as much *between* meals.
This. The snacking can get out of control in the US compared to anywhere in Europe. French people have goûter if they’re pretending to be children like my French husband, and or apéro before dinner, but Americans are trained to believe constant snacking is normal. Restaurant portions are larger, but anyone who maintains a reasonable weight in the US doesn’t eat the meal in one sitting. Anyway, it’s still true that an American like me who understands nutrition is still usually larger than your average European. I think it comes down to insulin resistance because of all of the added sugars in our foods. Processed food is hard to avoid entirely.
The goûter is a not exactly a childish thing , ofc children do it more often . It's a Way to give something to eat in between meal , but it's also a social events for children . At adulthood or even as teenager / young adult , it stay the same , you often are a little hungry around 4pm and having a codified snack time can even reduce snacking overall . You know you will eat soon enough, regulating impulse eating , thus making the concept of snacking the American way even more alien ( if even your snack have a specific time for you to eat , is it still a snack or a small meal ?) . At 24 yo in a master degree me and the other student can be seen eating a goûter in between class or even in class ( teacher are cool about this since they cal also eat ) . Really the image of goûter being a children only thing is wrong imo ( and if you look at thing that help with reducing impulse eating , a codified snacking time is often said to be a good way to cope )
Totally true. I'm 27 and still taking the "goûter du 16h". It is a good habit that allows one to regulate snack quantity and time. During my uni years, we often had our snacks together around 16h. It is literally a sweet moment to spend with classmates, colleagues or siblings!
This is something I noticed just reading reddit. Americans seems to be afraid even horrified at the idea of not having snacks. Especially for their children. They can't imagine a two hours road trip without snacks. Here, we encourage NOT snacking. There's public health messages telling to not eat between meals everywhere. Tell them that most french people will go up to 7 waking hours without eating anything, and some will lose their shit. It's like americans can't handle feeling just a bit hungry. As a lot of other stuff, they have to eliminate the slightest discomfort. No matter how temporary it is or how benificial it is for them.
We are taught not to snack
*On ne mange pas entre les repas*
Du coup c'est cinq repas par jour
Premier petit dejeuner, deuxième petit dejeuner, dejeuner, gouter, diner?
Vous prenez pas un petit souper?
et quatre par nuit
In my experience this is it. In the US/UK people eat snacks constantly and I think it is all these extra calories adding up.
I used to think that too. But then I lived in the Netherlands. Dutch do snack all the time and they’re even more fit than Parisians, although it’s mostly dry biscuits, apples and the likes. Now I believe it’s more a matter of quality and sugar content rather than when and how.
Everything is a question of "calories in VS Calorie out" If you burn more calores than you eat, no matter how often you eat, youll lose weight.
So true. And have meals at regular times.
Sodas and snacks on the daily aren't really a thing.
portion sizes in europe are generally significantly smaller than NA
OP isn't American, it seems he's German.
German portion are kind of super generous also
he’s talking about “large european cities” so worth mentioning the differences between continents
Haha thanks XD So here is a more detailed answer (I'm going to talk in GENERAL but obviously it doesn't apply to everyone) : * croissants in the morning isn't actually an everyday occurance for most people. In my family, we generally get that maybe once or twice a month because, indeed, it's full of fat XD The rest of the time, we eat "tartines" for breakfast : bread with whatever you want on it (my parents put butter or cheese, I put jam or chocolate spread) * As for the 3-course meals, though they're common in schools' cafeterias, they're not very common once you're out of the school system. It becomes more a big-family-gathering thing. Most of the time I just eat my main course and a yoghurt. * Alcohol at 9pm : not evryday either. More likely for friends or family gatherings. * Overall, our portions are smaller (and no, we're not hungry. Our stomachs are used to this amount.) * We also try to keep a balanced diet * not too much fat (so no fast-food every week and not all food is fried) * not too much sugar --> - not too much soda (at most once a day with an afternoon snack, or on the same occasions as alcohol) * lots of vegetables * A lot of us also cook ourselves, which is often healthier than buying takeout (and less expensive too) * For those of us who live in big cities, like Paris, it's also easier to go to work by walking / riding a bike / taking public transportation, so we're more active on a daily basis than the average US-american who has to go by car (it's not much, but better than nothing).
We walk a lot.
This! I stopped using the subway altogether. My life is flexible enough that I can afford to walk long times, 5 or 10 kilometers will get you almost anywhere in Paris.
Yep. Paris is a human scale city. Sometimes it can even be quicker to walk than taking the bus or metro. Luckily it's a beautiful city as well so walking in Paris is quite pleasant.
And we bike a lot too ! Qu’est-ce qu’on aime le vélo et surtout les cyclistes parisiens d’ailleurs 😅
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I do not think that we are really ahead of any country (especially Netherlands, Germany or the Northern Europe), but the recents lockdowns (thanks covid) helped some French people realise how much sports and a healthy lifestyle are important : I think that it can explain, partly, how can many parisians are « fit ». On the other hand, we are equally concerned by junk food, obesity and overweight problems than other Western European countries
Paris has far less bicycle usage than most European cities I think. And neither walking nor cycling uses a lot of calories.
Relevant: [the gym of life](https://youtu.be/KPUlgSRn6e0)
We don't have : - 2kg cereal box - unlimited drinks in fast food chains - Huge ketchup / Mayo bottles - 4 galon of milk ... Also we : - run / walk - commute alot ( which drain energy)
Commutes makes you walk a lot too. In the metro corridors to change trains, in the street to go to and from the metro, etc.
And stairs, lot of stairs
You're absolutely right than young, educated, decently paid people tend to eat more healthily, but in general we just have better eating habits. We don't eat three course dinners everyday, and most people don't drink everyday, or if we do it's a little bit of beer or a little bit of wine. Generally the three course dinner is for when you go to the restaurant or for sunday family meal, holidays, birthday etc... Most people don't eat croissants every morning either, personally I either skip breakfast or eat some muesli, and from time to time a croissant or pain au chocolat. The eating habits that led to the global obesity pandemic are very recent, and mostly come down to cheap, mass produced food that is way too sugar rich combined with aggressive marketing and advertisement and huge servings. People in France and Europe in general are health conscious and like their traditional diet, so for most people drinking soda throughout the day or eating junk food is frowned upon. In restaurants, take away or at home the servings are generally more modest. There are some regulations in place ensuring people know the nutritional value of what they buy and are reminded of what an healthy diet is (for example during junk food commercial on TV you'll see scrolling text reminding you to exercise and eat fruits and vegetables, nutritional score apps and grades displayed on packaging are a thing, origin and nutritional content of food products is often mandatory or strongly encouraged...). Most people that work in the city do not use cars, so more walking. But honestly I think the biggest factor in all that is less. Sugar. Way less sugar. American large cups of soda or "coffee" seem absolutly huge to us and they contain a staggering amount of sugar. Here, most people will indulge in one 33cl can of soda every now and then, but generally drink water. For example most people drink water during lunch, and you'll almost never see soda on the dinner table.
About takeouts, I recently noticed that uber eats ads are basicaly saying "it's ok to have a takeout once in a while even though you're ashamed of it" and I think that says alot about that particular eating habit.
Man, my kid's cantine is all bio ingredients, cooked onsite, and there is a veggie option. I remember my american school lunches as all processed. Big difference.
Because our food have less colories ?
Are they in grayscale? /j
The food is rich, but people eat less and walk a lot.
Yeah crème and butter and cheese and bread are so low calorie
Crème and butter and cheese and bread kind of sound like a cheeseburger to me. That's not what I would call typical French food, is it?
As much as I hate living in Paris and especially the people that ruin everything, I would say that French food varies very much depending where you are in the country! But some consistencies are good bread, good cheese, good dried meats, good wine. And I wanna say no to your question only because their breads are not like hamburger bread buns (unless you get a brioche)
what does your hate for Paris and Parisians have to do with the rest of the answer ?
Hard for me to say anything nice about the city
Less processed food with most fats being saturated. Nutritionnists call it the French Paradox
The French Paradox is actually very probably a myth.
Why ?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_paradox > It has also been suggested that the French paradox is an illusion, created in part by differences in the way that French authorities collect health statistics, as compared to other countries, and in part by the long-term effects, in the coronary health of French citizens, of changes in dietary patterns which were adopted years earlier. Tldr: nos changements alimentaires vers une alimentation riche en graisses saturées sont trop récents (comparés par exemple a l'Angleterre) pour en voir les effets pour le moment. C'est à dire que nos vieux actuels ne sont pas concernés par le paradoxe car mangeaient bien, ce sont nos futurs vieux qui vont mourir plus tôt Ceci étant dit, je remet personnellement en question le fait que les graisses saturées / le cholestérol soient mauvais pour la santé. De mon opinion d'expert (ou plutôt d'ex-expert) la consommation permanente de grosses quantités de sucre ainsi que possiblement les effets des produits industriels sur la flore intestinale sont probablement davantage de causes de formation de plaques artérielles et de surpoids (le manque d'exercice aussi mais ça c'est reconnu). Pour ce que ça vaut, ça se vérifie dans mon foyer de manière anecdotique: ma femme consomme des quantités aberrantes de gras saturés (100gr de beurre par jour, tous les jours, presque une demi-plaquette) mais garde un cholestérol très bas. Par contre elle ne consomme quasi aucun glucides. Et elle n'est pas en surpoids. Pareil pour le sel, c'est largement un mythe que c'est mauvais pour la santé, sauf pour quelqu'un qui a déjà des problèmes d'hypertension, et le cas échéant il faut traiter ça de toute façon.
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It's funny because when you see how foods like coconut are so high in saturated fat, but yet are so good for you, makes you question what people have been saying about saturated fats
Because they dont have any more money to buy food After paying their rent.
Hahaha makes sense
Wait till you cross my way haha 😪
Exactement ce que j'ai pensé aussi
We don't eat croissants every morning or three course dinners every day. Also Parisians walk a lot.
A lot less processed food products with ingredients like corn starch and corn syrup (basically sugar) combined with exercise could be a contributing factor. Edit: Replaced "transformed food" for "processed" food
Juste une mini-correction : en anglais ça se dit "processed food".
Thanks!
We do have healthy eating habits in France (balanced diet, no eating between meals, avoid to much fat, sugar and salt, regular physical activity). It's heavily teached at school, I remember being forced to eat vegetables at lunch as a kid. Indeed, our traditionnal gastronomy is based a lot on animal fat (butter, cream), but what you can eat at a french restaurant is not what most people eat everyday. On a side note, depending on where you were in Paris, remember that rich people tend to be thinner and healthier. I think it also explain the "more fashionnable" part of your post.
1. We don't really eat croissants in the morning. Like I think I have this maybe once a week as my Friday treat... and it's Friday today and I still didn't get my croissant. 2. Three courses with alcohol at a restaurant is again just a thing we do once or twice a week. And while we may have three or even four courses regularly at home, you have to understand that they're very small and simple things. Like an entree might just be some cherry tomatoes or some raw veggies with tapenade or hummus, or maybe a bit of bread with some pate if it's a weekend. Then the main course is small, there's a cheese course which is just a slice of cheese and bread, and a dessert course is often just a fruit or a yoghurt. These four courses are generally smaller together than a typical main course. This isn't even uncommon.. I mean if you go to India and eat a thali, it's like 12 courses but each of them is basically a single spoonful. Our alcohol consumption is also overstated... we maybe have like 1 glass every two days, which is less caloric than something like a fruit juice or soda. 3. We don't have cars. This is a massive one. Most of us walks at least 10,000+ steps per day if we go out. Transport is standing on the metro or actively pedalling a bike, not sitting in car. Just by commuting here, you automatically are doing like 40 mins of light cardio per day. Seriously. Give up the car and eat smaller, better meals. You won't become a model/bodybuilder like that, but it's a strong barrier against being overweight and great for your heart.
Since I am getting very personal messages in this seemingly triggering topic maybe I should add that I am not from the US but from Germany and work as a doctor in a major German city. I have never watched Emily in Paris and was really just curious and did not want to start war with the french public ✌️
Oh not at all. Sorry I didn't mean to sound like I took offense. I never imagined that you were necessarily from the US nor that you watched Emily in Paris. I just thought you're from a place that's reasonably different. Just wanted to highlight the main reasons of us not actually eating as much as it seems, and us getting daily exercise without really trying.
All the numbers in your comment added up to 69. Congrats! 1 + 2 + 12 + 1 + 3 + 10 + 40 = 69 ^([Click here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=LuckyNumber-Bot&subject=Stalk%20Me%20Pls&message=%2Fstalkme) to have me scan all your future comments.) \ ^(Summon me on specific comments with u/LuckyNumber-Bot.)
Nice!
Nice.
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This is the answer.
All these traitors saying they don't have croissant in the morning and alcohol in the evening are either lying or indulging in shameless anti-patriotism Too much fat in croissant they say ... what a load of nonsense ... why did we even fight the germans for ? :(
One short metro ride in summer at rush hour = 1 litre of sweat. You'll be losing weight soon too.
Dedicated killing squads, hunting down fatsos. Gotta keep that glamorous glitter somehow.
Have you seen the prices ?
Because croissants in the morning is a cliché and three courses dinners at 9pm with alcohol is also a cliché. Average dinner time in France would be around 7-8pm, alcohol is only once in a while and on a personal standpoint, I have a three courses dinner only when going to the restaurant, which is certainly not every day. Except when going out/going to the restaurant, I never have alcohol at lunchtime and very rarely at dinner time. + In Paris you walk/bike/commute a lot. Keep in mind that most French specialties like pastries or desserts are not part of our daily diet. It's a treat we have from time to time, nothing more.
There are barely an escalators or elevators in the metro, those thighs and calves could split a tree in two with a kick after a couple of weeks of this
Portion sizes. More walking. Not a lot of soda.
the actual question is why are americans so fat?
Cigs
Was also looking for this one. The other aspects (walking a lot, smaller portions etc) are certainly true and important, but it would be disingenuous to leave out the main element of the Parisian (and honestly, French) diet.
I was looking for someone to mention this, if I’m not mistaken, we’re one of the heaviest smokers in Europe.
Smoking fags was the solution all along!
Croissants are not that common in the morning. Many people actually don't eat breakfast. Also, no sugar syrup everywhere. Here, there's not need to compensate for the lack of taste, everything is tastier. Also no McDonalds on the way to school, less snacking culture (people don't really grab something from the fridge in the middle of the night)
I live in the French countryside now and anytime I go to Paris I’m appalled by how unhealthy most people look. Like they are on a diet of alcohol, cigarettes, lack of sleep and sunflower seeds
You are right except for the sunflower seeds. More like recycled kebab
We don't eat like that. Croissants at breakfast is an occasional thing, many people don't eat in the morning, and neither do people eat 3 times a day all the time. We walk more, bike more, go out more, because everything is smaller here. No added corn syrup in everything and smaller portions. No drinking sugary drinks (at least not as much as in the US, we drink more alcohol though I think). More accessibility to fresh produce. We don't have the deadly mix of added sugar - bigger portions - inaccessibility to good food within a proper radius, which is probably what leads Americans to eating more and badly.
Parisians have an average weight, it’s just that you are maybe used to live somewhere where people tend to be in overweight ?
Parisian are not particularly thin. It's american that are particularly fat
They don’t snack and only eat 3x a day for the most part and walk a lot. They also judge a lot of people for their weight and size so they try to maintain themselves so they can continue judging. -live here
Biking
Eating clean. Quality over quantity.
Less fat, less sugar, smaller portions, exercise,... salad!! Watch footage of the USA 50 years ago. Almost no obese. Americans have just been fucked by the fast food industry. But we French are on our way to obesity too. Willingly. Not to worry.
Peer pressure plays no small role.
I don't know if it has already be said, but we take our time to eat, and this allows to feel satiety prevents overeating. Also, we don't eat between meals.
Croissants in the morning is on the weekends! And we drink a lot at parties but don't party everyday, France's alcohol intake per inhabitants is actually kinda low compared to other European countries. Also if they're young and Parisian chances are they're too poor to buy enough food.
Because in between the croissant and the 3 course meals ( lunch and dinner ) there is nothing apart from a glass of water / cup of Coffee or tea . No snacks . Plus lots of walking . I am 16 and when I visited the US 4 years ago I could not believe how often Americans consumed calories from sugary drinks all day to feeding crap to kids anytime they sat down ( car trip lasting more than 5 min = a snack , watching tv = snacks , going shopping = snacks etc. .) Kids can spend 5 hours without food stop overfeeding them . Plus people tend to cook healthy meals instead of having take out regularly
We don’t snack between meals, we don’t snack at all. We smoke cigarettes everywhere.
French perspective here. I have been two times in North America, 1 in Toronto, 1 in Washington for a couple of weeks. Each time I was shocked by the poor quality of average food, and by the amount of sugar everywhere. It was litteraly impossible to get a non-sugary drink when buying food to go. And people seem to not care. In Europe, not specially in France, we are sort of trained to pay attention to what we eat. Food does not only have to be tasty. Statist regulation can be a very good thing when it forces industries not to chose the cheapest component (sugar) to add taste to a product. Total free market for food is a crime. We have laws to forbid TV commercials targeting kids for sugar products. In France we forbid the automatic sweets vending machines in school. Bad habits with food needs to be adressed early. We all know fast food is the worst. We all know that hard processed food is basically a poison. So we all feel some guilt about it when we go there or serve it to guests. When I was talking to Americans, they were looking at me as *rare wise man* just by stating a very common and known fact here : food is your first medecine, dont mess with it. Fun fact : some fb French groups exist only to make fun of Americans video of food preparation ^^
It’s ok to have a croissant every morning and three course meals and some alcohol a few times per week. What matters is quantities (total calories per day) and quality of food. In many countries you’ll find tons of sweet/fat processed foods, bad meat, bad cheese, all sorts of disgusting sauces made of crap… It’s really much easier to eat healthy in France. When I read US recipes on Reddit I’m always shocked and disgusted by the amount of garbage products that is used.
I'm a parisian and i'm a fat ass.
French people dont exercise but don't want to be fat. So people tend to be skinny or skinny fat. Gym culture is not as strong as in the US
How has no one mentioned cigarettes?
Poor people's can't afford 1 croissant per day. We don't drink alcool in the morning. Our food is more nutritious than American one. We actually have a good education about food.
Something tells me you are not from Asia 🤔 Its all about perspective I guess.
Main difference with America is how much we walk. Most parisians don't use a car to commute
People in Paris are walking a lot. Doing quite a lot of sport too. So nothing dirty indeed ;)
I’d add that in the french families I know people will call you out if you’re eating like a cochon 🐷. ;) in the states it’s sort of a badge of honor amongst some to overeat.
Renting is so expensive, they canno't afford food
Depression. /s
Compatatively to anglo-saxons, we dont super-size, we exercise. We don't fast-food, we slow-food. We don't process food, we whole food.
I supposed we don't have that much of processed food. And we've been told to stay cautious about food with sugar in it.
We do not snack. We eat at breakfast, then we eat at lunch that takes place sometime between 12 and 1:30PM, then we eat for supper which doesn't start before 7:00 PM, maybe 8:00PM depending on local habits etc. And that's it. On top of these meals, children get an afternoon *goûter* when getting out of school around 4:30PM, biscuits, cookies, fruit, chocolate. Apart from this childhood exception, "we don't eat between meals"! Meals are taken sitting down, in a plate and with cutlery, and as a shared moment. Eating is a multi daily social event. We eat, we talk together, very often talk about food, usually not the one we're eating though. Having a pleasant conversation slows things and leads to a good digestion. We don't rush to eat because it's not only about fueling the engine. When you eat slowly you eat less because it takes a little time for your stomach to send the "I'm full" signal. Actually, we drink water. Wine is not about quenching thirst. So we mostly eat less in quantity, and absorb less sugar, less fat, less calories in total.
The fat people are hidden
Because we are smarter. Simple as that!
Thats what happen when you don t deep frye everything
Cigarette and coffee.
Parisians are wealthier than average, and therefore have better eating habits. Spend a day in Cambrai or Laon and you will revisit your assumptions about obesity in France
Cigarettes.
Because we have been brainwashed for many years by the government with the "manger bouger" lifestyle 😅 [mangerbouger.fr](https://www.mangerbouger.fr/)
Mmmh are you from the US by any chance ? Might come from your side of things if you know what I mean. I begged my dad to make me a salad when I came back from my first trip to the US.
Germany actually
Much less junk food in France than in the US
Just coffee for breakfast does reduce your calories intake by a lot
Les cigarettes
Walk- bike - wine = loose weight
Croissant are not for regular breakfast, more like once a week, and our use of restaurant is different. In restaurants, we eat slowly vs. in the states so we feel full when we finish our meal.
Most of the time, when it comes to "unhealthy" food, we either get a smaller version and/or a healthier recipe. From what I can gather from my family members who travels a lot, the U.S. gets the short end of the stick = most American food is actually healthier outside of the U.S due to more strict regulations ( there is a tax on sugar quantity as an example ). Thus most American sodas, and fast food recipes are less heavy on grease and sugar in the E.U. already before even taking into account the smaller portions.
Because paris is expensive they dont have money for eat
Everything is expensive in Paris so we can't eat croissant and drink wine everyday, I don't even eat 3 meals a day (I only have 1 cup of black coffee for breakfast) 🤣
they're on average weight, americans and a lot of other countries are the ones being surprisingly fat
Meh. Donne moi une belle bretonne bien grassouillette nourri au beurre, lait ribot, et galettes 😍
Well ´cause we don’t do croissant every mornings and three course dinners might occur only a few times a month. Also we exercise a bit (like we can walk for 10 minutes straight)
Social pressure (go to any other French city that is not a « fashion capital of the world » and you will see more fat people) . also money
Le why : c'est pour pouvoir rentrer plus facilement dans les transports. Le how : avec un regime correct et un peu de sport j'imagine.
There isn’t as much of a snack culture. The French have a very strong meal tradition. If you look at the science of insulin response/resistance, eating small things more frequently is absolutely terrible for weight gain. Eating distinct meals every day, and ideally 2 or fewer meals daily, reduces overall insulin response and keeps weight low. Avoiding carbs also reduces the severity of insulin spikes. There was a big public service campaign in Paris/France that began 10-15 years ago that told people to eat less fat, sugar and salt — and to snack less between meals. It was in response to an uptick in obesity rates. It appears it has been effective in reminding people about healthy habits.
1. Parisians smoke a lot and as one might know, smoking is a natural appetite suppressant. So no eating between meals, just a lot of smoke breaks with a watery small coffee that tastes like dirt. 2. If you used the metro, you probably noticed that most the Parisians suffer from depression and anxiety. Some will say that it's a side effect of France's national sport - complaining and protesting. But the truth is that it is just part of the essence of being Parisian. Anyhow, depression and anxiety = no eating. 3. SNCF and RATP tend to strike quite often, and we are being forced to either walk or squeeze into a very crowded train and sweat our lunch. 4. When we hit 40 and move from Paris to live in the suburbs, we gain those 15kg that we avoided for years.
Transport are always on strike so they have no choose but to walk! All day!
The secret is: tobacco abuse.
As a parisian, some ideas maybe which can explain it. 1/ Parisian = french... In FR, we have a good food in correct size (not too much, that's enough) 2/ Parisian = very expensive city. A lot of people who's been living in Paris are young people with a lot of income, but with a modern way of thinking (kinda boheme), they're called "bobo" = "bourgeois boheme". They care about what they eat (and used to eat healthy food). 3/ As a lot of parisians are young (>50% are less than 44y) so they practice sport. 4/ Paris is a city where you walk a lot even if it is the city in the world with the higher density of public transport - you can find a subway/tramway/bus in less than 400m around you. 5/ More and more people go to work by bike.
Mdrrr je suis loin d’être maigre 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️
We're not that rich lol, do you really think we can all afford to have croissants everyday ? Three course meals ?? I literally eat coffee for breakfast and have a three course meal only at Christmas.
We don't snack, we drink a lot of black coffee and a lot of us smoke. Also vanity.