Miracle diets seem to spring up everywhere, advocating eliminating this or that food from your diet, adding others or eating nothing but one type of food for weeks on end. Some authors have begun to look at the eating habits of traditionally healthy cultures in hopes of finding that one path to thinness while still enjoying food. "French Women Don't Get Fat," by Mireille Guiliano, focuses on the author's weight loss and maintenance through traditional French eating habits. Its signature recipe is a leek soup that supposedly quick-starts weight loss.
History
The book and diet are based on Guiliano's experience gaining 20 pounds after spending a year in the United States and returning home to a shocked reaction from her father. Eventually her mother had Guiliano see their family doctor, Dr. Meyer, whom Guiliano calls Dr. Miracle. Dr. Meyer had her keep a diary of everything she ate, and what she noticed was that she had continued her habit of eating lots of pastries, which she began doing in the United States. Dr. Meyer gave her a three-month regimen to follow that involved bringing her consumption of different foods back into a healthier balance.
The Leek Soup
Guiliano claims that a leek soup recipe given to her by Dr. Meyer is one of the first things you are supposed to eat on the diet. Former "Vogue" senior writer Julia Reed, writing in the "The New York Times," likens the soup to detox. The soup is nothing more than chopped leeks simmered in water to form a broth; according to Guiliano, you are supposed to eat nothing for 48 hours except this broth and the chopped leeks with some seasoning, lemon juice and olive oil. You're also supposed to drink water. In the evening of the second day, your dinner can include more substantive food such as fish and vegetables. Guiliano says the leeks provide nutrition and a slight diuretic effect. She lists an alternate vegetable soup recipe for those who don't like leeks.
Process
The diet has a number of stages. The first is to keep a record of everything you eat for three weeks, allowing you to pinpoint on what your eating habits are concentrating, be it bread or something else. At this point, you enter the second stage that Guiliano calls "re-casting," in which you redo your eating habits for three months, cutting back on those things that you are overdoing--but not eliminating them entirely. The leek soup is the first meal in re-casting. Guiliano calls the next step "stabilization," in which you gradually add back more of what you had previously reduced, keeping an eye on how much of it you eat. The last stage concentrates on maintaining your new habits and weight with "little adjustments," as Guiliano says.
Features
Guiliano advocates exercising and drinking water as well, suggesting drinking water in the morning when you wake up to stave off overnight dehydration. She warns that this is not a crash diet and in fact, warns against them, noting Dr. Meyer's explanation that crash diets do not always provide the nutrition you need.
Considerations
Guiliano acknowledges differences between American and French lifestyles and cultures. Reed, writing in a review in "The New York Times," says that Americans might not always be able to emulate the French way of life, given that not everyone is able to walk to a market or has the time to eat proper meals on a set table. Reed also notes that temptation might be too great for an individual to stay on the diet.
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