My Favorite French Eating Lifestyle Habits For Chic American Women

Hi, this is Milan of SoNaturelle Wellness and also of the Chic Women Don't Diet Program.

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In today's video, we're going to be talking about my favorite French eating habits as a chic American woman.

if you have read the book French women don't get fat that means that you have either:

• admired the French lifestyle
• wanted to live in France
• have lived in France
• you are a Francophile at heart

But you still want to lose a little weight or have reached menopause or midlife and starting to pick up some weight.

Then this is the video for you.

So after reading the book 'French Women Don't Get Fat', by Marielle Guillermo,  I wanted to do my sort of a breakdown in an analysis of what I thought about her book.

With its slightly different spin of an American twist for chic women that live in America.

So one of the things that I love about her book is that her book was the instrument that pivoted me onto the wellness journey.

And if you love that book, you would understand how it has shifted the way a lot of women view and look at food.

And one of the things that inspired me to do is my level of consciousness with food started to change once I read that book.

So we're going to talk about three habits that you can take away right now. And how apply in your life the principles even after reading that book because we don't live in France.

Unless you are French you may not be able to identify with all that she said in the book.

Nonetheless, there are so many gems that I loved about that book.

Here is my first takeaway from the book.

And  this is coming from someone who has studied culinary, someone who is a trained chef, someone who is a weight loss coach, and a wellness coach.

So I understand a lot of the principles in that book and I apply them with my clients in The Chic Women Don't Diet Program.

#1. Eat with the with the natural rhythm of your body

Unless you're French or live in France there are certain elements of the book that is just going to be hard for you to apply.

But you can start to eat with the rhythm of your body and that means making sure that you're eating consistently with similarities.

For example when you dine out versus when you're dying at home maybe when you dine at home you eat a certain way and when you dine out you eat a certain way, but try to make those two match.

If you overeat in a restaurant don't overeat at home.

And if you are very careful about what you eat at home, how much you're putting on your plate then definitely make sure that you're doing the same thing when you're dining out, the same goes for traveling.

Sometimes we tend to eat a certain way when we're traveling or dining out with friends and family.

The same thing applies to be consistent with your eating.

Your body is on a cycle that you can put it on, you can train your body to expect food at certain times.

Many of my clients complain that they're not hungry in the morning and they don't eat breakfast in the morning.

Because they're just not the type who likes to eat something when they get their day started.

If you're not someone who enjoys eating breakfast in the morning it's okay you don't have to. Not everyone is a person who likes to eat at 8 am or 9 am.

But you must break your fast.

When your body is sleeping and fasting overnight you have to break that cycle. When you break that cycle is entirely up to you.

I don't get into the “you need to intermittent fast”, that is a personal choice.

And I just want to put my disclaimer in this video… that if you are under doctor's care before you change your diet or if you're pregnant or nursing or have underlying medical conditions you definitely should see your doctor before changing your diet.

But first I want you to be clear that you can train your body to start expecting food at a certain time.

My body is on a clock at 11 a.m., and is often funny sometimes because even my friends and my husband know that I am on a clock I need to eat by 11 a.m. because I have ultimately trained my body to start expecting food about that time.

If not I start feeling irritable, edgy, uneasy, or temperamental. So start looking at the signs that your body is giving you, and you may be working through those signs.

Sometimes as women, we're such multitaskers and must get things done that we forget about what our body ultimately needs, nourishment.

So you want to train your body to expect food at a certain time.

Also you want to do to get your body back into this sort of a rhythm of eating in this cycle is, you want to schedule yourself in to eat.

So what it’s your time?

Unfortunately, you may be going through the day and not doing this.

There is nothing more important than you scheduling yourself in and when you schedule yourself in for your time that means:

1. you're not eating in a rush.
2. you're eating very mindfully.
3. you are making sure that what you're eating is what your body needs that means.
4. you're eating with lots of colors, lots of texture lots, of taste you are eating with the right amount of fats.

Make sure that your body has the texture in your mouth and you can get the texture from nuts and seeds.

One of the things that I love to do when I'm dining at home and I know being a chef that puts me at an advantage.

However, what I teach my students in my Chic Women Don’t Diet™ program is that there are several different ways you can add texture when cooking if you're at home.

There are a lot of things that we have around the house and especially when it comes to snacking and some of the things that I always try to make sure that I have in terms of snacking are nuts.

Because what I can do if I haven't snacked up all the nuts, which I typically try not to.

I take some of the nuts; like my walnuts, pecans, or pecans whichever way you choose to pronounce it. I also take my walnuts my pecans and I will also have pine nuts, I have sesame seeds, I have hazelnuts, so those are some of my favorite nuts that I typically have around the house.

Then place them in a cabinet on a shelf that is specifically designed for things I want to toast.

All of my nuts so I'll put them there so out of sight out of mind so that way I'm not snacking on them and then if I want to put it on top of my salad. Or if I want to put it on top of my vegetables I can do it because they're right there.

I can just pull them out, put a few of them maybe a handful a little less, than a handful put them on my sheet tray, pop them in the oven for up to 350 degrees and stand there.
make sure I watch it because they burn very fast.

So you want to make sure that you're standing there paying attention to what you're doing.

And then I wait until I start to smell that essence of the nuttiness and then I'll take them out or if you don't want to do them in the oven and you think that you may burn them then put them on top in a skillet or a sauté pan and just sort of shaking them.

After a while, you'll start to smell the nuttiness and you can take them out so you just want a slight browning effect on seeds so that's how you can get some healthy fats to your food.

You want to make sure that you're eating in a natural rhythm allowing for this taste texture and flavor allowing for your body to expect food at a certain time you can even start to train your taste buds.

Many women grow up with this idea that I don't like this or that. I have never lived in a generation where there are so many picky eater type people.

I realize that there are certain limitations, where people have inflammatory reactions, people have immune imbalances and I completely understand that.

But then to say that you don't like something and you just have never given it a chance, you just didn't try or you didn't have it the right way.

One of my students in my Chic Cooking Academy and Wellness program, she didn't like polenta neither did she not like celery root so once I showed her how to make it she loves it.

She even loves polenta now.

The taste is so amazing that she loves it because it has such an amazing flavor profile and it's very bold flavors so now that you understand how to put your body in a rhythm, to start expecting good food, expecting food that's flavorful, food that's a healthy food, that's nutritious food, which has lots of taste texture and a variety.

The next thing you want to do to bring in some of your favorite French habits.

#2. Don't deny your cultural way of eating.

Don't deny your cultural way of eating don't deny it but modify it so there are so many different ways that you can start to modify your cultural influences in the way you eat.

So that maybe you're not French you can't eat like the French or you can incorporate the French eating habits into your life as a chic American woman.

If your cultural way of being is eating a lot without actually being present with your food, start being more present.

Start taking notes of the smells what are the herbs and spices that you're smelling in the air.

What are the herbs and spices that you're tasting in your mouth?

If you have cooked it to such a degree where you no longer taste the herbs and spices then you've gone too far.

You've lost all the benefits and the flavor of the nutritional elements of the herbs in the food.

And you're not going to have that French eating experience as a chic woman.

In my cooking course the Chic Cooking Academy one of the things I teach my students is to be present.

When I work with my one-on-one clients I'm always teaching them how to be more present and mindful when they're eating.

And that is the French eating habits, the way that they do things.

After I read the book French women don't get fat and I was excited because it was something I was doing in my business with my client.

So I was excited to see it written down.

This is how other parts of the world are eating and the more I had this experience of being around different cultures that put me in a position where I was able to grasp what it means to sort of eat this French eating lifestyle.

Whenever I dine at home or even when I'm dining out, very often my favorite French eating habits as a chic American woman is to refrain from over eating which means setting an intention before dining.

If you have gone all day without eating then you are naturally going to gorge.

So when you start to eat healthy as a lifestyle and eat this sort of a French eating habits or the Mediterranean way of being, then your presence is different.

You will make sure that you're having breakfast, lunch and dinner because it's not just a French woman's way of eating but that is a chic woman's way of eating too to set an intent.

To not just eat all during the day as if you're bored with nothing completely to do there's always something to do to occupy your mind and your thoughts.

Start to do something other than eating and also decide how much you will eat.

Especially if you're married you have this tendency to eat on the cycle of someone else like for example you may be eating on the cycle of your husband.

Stop it!

We can never eat like a man.

Our bodies are made in a very feminine way.

It is made in a way where we are not going to burn all of our food off like a man, so why even try to eat like one.

If your husband loves having his Bratwurst the total American thing, you can't try to do it with him because it's not the way your body is designed to eat.

If one Bratwurst is sufficient for you or maybe a half of one is sufficient for you that's okay but start deciding how much you'll eat whenever you're dining out.

Especially now that the country is opening up.

Start to eat half of your food and send half back.

If you don't think that you can control eating half of your dinner and sending half back because the food is just so good then ask for half to be packaged and then eat the other half.

Then you should be fine but I always say that if you're eating an 80 20 rule, that means 80 percent of the time that you're eating very well you're eating as a chic woman should.

And you're eating that French eating habits lifestyle, then you'll be fine.

The other twenty percent of the time if you want your gelato, if you want your chocolate mousse, if you want whatever you want... you can have it because you have earned it.

#3. Reframe how you eat so you feel deprive 

I don't want you to feel that I need willpower, you don't need willpower you just need a slightly different way of looking at food.

Having this sort of appreciation and respect for the gift of food the gift of dining and that's what I teach is.

Once you start to look at food as an art form then many of your menopausal symptoms will diminish, your inflammatory responses will diminish, your stomach will start to debloat, you will start to reduce the signs and symptoms of flatulence after you've eaten something, you will start to lose the weight, and ultimately your body will be very gracious and thank you for it.

If you've been encouraged by this video and if you love what you just learned right now then, I want to invite you on a call with me and schedule your Chic Women Don’t Diet makeover call.

It is a 30 to 45-minute call, where you and I get clear on your goals what is it that you want to accomplish what is it that you want to do in terms of living a healthy lifestyle.

Because if you've been trying to get to feel comfortable in your skin again and feeling good in your clothes and it's not working then we need to get involved.

Losing that last 30 lbs. can make a huge difference.

If you've been frustrated that you just can't seem to get there by yourself and you need support.

I'm going to support you.

I want to be here for you and I want to show you how you can start to infuse self-care and how your diet and in your life.

Making sure that you're planning, making time for you to dine well, eat well and enjoy my favorite French eating habits as a Chic Woman.

...stay beautiful and healthy,