According to some, French women have got it all. A body that stays fit. Men. A sixth sense for fashion. More men. Well, I’ve got news for you. We all have problems. Girl problems, men problems, you name it. Let us address these issues one at a time.
First of all, our bodies are just like any woman’s body. When we overindulge in our most delicious foods, we gain weight. Just take a look at our butter-loaded pâtisseries, our hearty cheeses and our creamy sauces: how could we NOT get fat? As much as I love Mireille Guiliano’s magic leek soup recipe (which works wonders, by the way) and numerous insights into the small changes in our lifestyle we can make to keep fit (hello, stairs!), I have to tell you the ugly truth: French women do get fat. And it happens when we don’t watch what we eat. That was Mireille’s point: we have to use common sense when it comes to feeding ourselves. After a copious apéro, you might consider skipping dinner.
I have been struggling with my weight for decades now. Granted, we’re just talking a dozen pounds here. You know, those that won’t go away no matter how much you exercise or how little you ingest. What can I say? I love food. And not just looking at it. I love feasting on it. In fact, if you saw my fourth grade class photo, you would not recognize me. I was the chubbiest in the class. I was possibly on my way to being overweight when my sisters decided they wanted cats. As soon as the kitties moved in, the ordeal began for me. I started coughing in the lungs and lost both appetite and energy. The symptoms were diagnosed as bronchitis by our GP and treated as such. But that didn’t prevent the relapses.
When the treatment failed to improve my condition for the third consecutive month, and seeing that I couldn’t make it up the stairs to my room without taking five-minute breaks every other step, my mother finally brought me to the emergency service. The verdict came as a shock to us all: asthma. The MD then casually asked whether we had pets at home. Second shock: my condition was the result of an allergic reaction. The cats moved out. And after a few nights at the hospital, I came home on Christmas Eve. It had been four months since my first asthma attack and by then, I had shed all the extra pounds and then some.
My weight remained stable for a few years, until I got the opportunity to visit the United States for the first time in my life. I spent two months there with two cousins of mine and when I returned home, I had gained some 11 pounds. The (dispro) portions, the 12-inch candy bars, the free refills… The intake of such extreme quantities did not sit well with my metabolism. The salad diet that ensued was most welcome.
Unfortunately, that first encounter with American food was not to be my last. I came back a few years later, and stayed for several more, gaining significant weight while acquiring some awesome work experience.
And then, the kids arrived. Over 30 pounds were amassed during both pregnancies. And no matter what health club you frequent, those hips that have widened are not going to shrink back to their pre-baby size. French women eat, have babies and gain weight, just like all women around the world. Just remember that the silhouette you are looking at is something we are constantly working on.
Photo by Christiann Koepke on Unsplash
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