By Staff
The French are getting taller, and fatter. That was a headline Friday on a story on the Fox News website.
In some odd, very-American way, that news made me smile. I felt badly for taking such pleasure from reading that, but I did.
According to a study, the average French woman has moved up a dress size since the 1970s. Hmm, I wonder if that correlates with the opening of new McDonald's restaurants there.
I'm sure I was one of the first to buy the book, "French Women Don't Get Fat." I wanted to know their secret because I surely do love their food with all its butter and cream and chocolate.
Sadly, the book contained no earth-shattering - or waist-whittling - revelations for me.
In a nutshell, the author advocates eating quality foods, but in very small portions. For instance, it advises that when tempted by a dessert, only eat three bites. The author writes that anything more, we really won't enjoy to its fullest because our taste buds become desensitized to the flavor after three bites. I apparently have some super-sensitive taste buds because I could swear that last Oreo in the bag tastes just as good as the first one.
I tried the three-bite thing a time or two. Didn't work for me. All that works for me is to not take the first bite. If I don't buy the Oreos, I won't eat them. It's that simple. If I take the first bite, I'm going to take the last - the very last.
I don't want to short-sell the book. As diet books go, it's pretty reasonable. It emphasizes moderate, daily exercise and contains some interesting recipes. It just didn't automatically change my life, which I think is what I expect when I buy the lastest diet book. And I always buy the latest diet book - my collection is extensive.
Sadly, in the end all those diet books do for me is reinforce the fact that there are no quick fixes. Eat less. Exercise more. That's not what I want to hear, but that's what works.
We had such a wonderful January, weather-wise. I'm thankful for that, but it makes me fearful, too, of what February - and March and April, for that matter - are going to throw at us.
I'm hoping for some wonderful weather at the end of this month when we publish our 25th edition of Horizons, this community's annual yearbook.
As many of you know, Horizons is a project we begin in October and work on consistently through February each year. We put lots of creative thinking and hard work into Horizons and look at it as our opportunity to present to you a glimpse at all that makes our community such a special place to live, play and work.