The French diet, often romanticized and sometimes misunderstood, embodies a lifestyle as much as a dietary plan. It's not about strict rules or deprivation, but about savoring high-quality, fresh, seasonal ingredients, enjoying meals mindfully, and finding balance in all things. This article delves into the core principles of the French diet, offering practical tips and meal plan ideas to bring a touch of Parisian elegance to your table.
Debunking Myths and Embracing Tradition
It is important to debunk a few myths about the French way of eating. While there's a perception that French people don't diet and effortlessly maintain their figures, the reality is more nuanced. The traditional French "art de vivre" does offer valuable insights into healthy eating habits, but it's essential to distinguish this from modern trends. With the rise of processed foods in France, obesity and related health issues are becoming increasingly prevalent. Therefore, this article focuses on the traditional aspects of French eating, which emphasize quality, mindful consumption, and a balanced approach to food.
Core Principles of the French Diet
The traditional French diet goes beyond mere recipes; it's a holistic approach to food and lifestyle. Several key principles define this approach:
Quality over Quantity
The French diet values quality over quantity. It prioritizes high-quality foods in smaller portions rather than larger and lower quality portions. The French are known for their delicious cheese, crusty baguettes, and rich wines. The French diet can be summed up in one sentence: eat small portions of high-quality foods less often. Instead of eliminating entire food groups or drastically reducing calorie intake, the French prioritize taste and enjoyment while finding a healthy balance in their diets.
Fresh, Seasonal Ingredients
French cuisine is known for its emphasis on high-quality, fresh, seasonal ingredients and the recipes included here are simple, nutritious, plant-forward, and delicious. In order to create delicious and healthy French meals, it's important to use fresh ingredients. The sunny Côte d’Azur in June is bursting with seasonal produce.
Read also: A Guide to the French Diet
Mindful Eating
French people sit down to eat and drink. They don't eat or drink "on the go". Another important element of the French diet is eating meals at the table as a family. French people have a lunch break of about 45 minutes to one hour at work. Slow down and take the time to savor and appreciate every bite of your meals, rather than wolf it down with no thought. Taking the time to masticate your food is also extremely important for your gut health and digestion.
Balance and Moderation
Another key aspect of the French approach to eating is embracing balance and moderation. Instead of eliminating entire food groups or drastically reducing calorie intake, the French prioritize taste and enjoyment while finding a healthy balance in their diets. It's never about deprivation or absolutes. It's about being smart with choices, quantities, and opportunities. And it's about eating healthy most of the time.
No Snacking
Except for a mid-afternoon snack (the "goûter") which is mainly for kids, French people don't snack. Most of us have 3 real meals a day and don't need to snack in between. And if we are hungry before a meal, we will take a piece of fruit or bread.
Emphasis on Whole Foods
Eating French-style is completely sustainable in the long run because you eat a bit of everything, even though the emphasis is on whole foods that come from nature.
Prioritizing Home-Cooked Meals
Up until very recently, most family meals in French homes would be home cooked meals. Homecooking for the family is key.
Read also: Optimal Nutrition for French Bulldogs
Daily Movement
French people who live in big cities especially Parisians, walk a lot. Not exactly because they love it, but because it's how things work here. Even when we take the subway or the bus to go to work or anywhere else, we have to walk to the station, up and down the stairs… And of course, we also enjoy walking for pleasure.
A Sample French Meal Plan
The French diet emphasizes seasonal, simple, healthy recipes. Here’s a sample meal plan incorporating these principles:
Breakfast: Fresh bread with butter and jam, yogurt, and fresh seasonal fruits. Or coffee or tea for breakfast, which would be similar to intermittent fasting, beneficial to your health. Of course if you don’t want to skip breakfast, have some fruit, especially berries, yogurt or granola, or a combo of all three.
Lunch: A three-course meal with reasonable portions: a starter, a main, and a dessert. The starter is usually a salad of crudités (raw vegetables) with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and some herbs. Main is often made of cooked vegetables with a portion of fish or meat. Dessert is usually fresh fruit or plain yogurt.
Dinner: During wintertime, homemade soup can be the starter or the main. And the French usually eat it with a generous piece of bread and some cheese. During summertime, the French usually have a fresh salad or some cooked vegetables. Dessert is usually fresh fruit, yogurt, or a piece of cheese with bread.
Read also: The Hoxsey Diet
Springtime Meal Plan Ideas
Here's a meal plan incorporating seasonal spring produce:
- Monday (Vegetarian):
- Lunch: Chicken Salad Tahini - simply shred or chop 2 cooked chicken tenders and mix with 2-3 tbsp Tahini Sauce, salt and pepper to taste. If you like, add a spoonful of mayo to the mix. Serve on top of spring lettuces with sliced radishes and top with Za’atar and or fresh cilantro.
- Dinner: Turkey Tenders with Sea Salt, Herbes de Provence, and Lemon from the French Revolution Blog. I use chicken tenders or strips. These always turn out so good, so simple too. Serve with some arugula or your choice of leafy green or pommes frites, pourquoi pas.
- Friday:
- Lunch: Salmon Beurre - a brilliant twist on the classic jambon-beurre, also know as a parisien, the most eaten sandwich in France. Simply take a baguette, the best you can find, why waste calories on anything less, slice in half lengthwise and spread with butter. Fill with slices of smoked salmon. Add thinly sliced radishes if you like and have a nice spring greens salad on the side. Perfection.
- Dinner: It’s Pizza Friday! Linguini with Morel Cream Sauce & Egg magical morels are available for such a short time in May, I had to include them here.
- Consider Meatless Monday.
Mediterranean Diet Inspired Meal Plan Ideas
Here's a Mediterranean diet meal plan incorporating seasonal produce:
- Lunch: French Carrot Salad, a Rebekah recipe! Serve with Tofu Feta, or it would also be good with toasted chickpeas, quinoa or soft boiled eggs. Niçoise Salad , again from Rebekah Peppler (I told you I’m obsessed!). How about this Fennel Salad With Anchovy and Olives from NYT Cooking? Or maybe Rebekah’s Tapenade served with crudité and crusty bread?
- Dinner: Soup au Pesto. Feel free to replace the tomato and zucchini in the soup with more seasonal vegetables like carrots and kale or spinach. Maybe stir in some unflavored vegan protein powder too. If you were feeling ambitious over the weekend and made Fougasse, like this lovely Sourdough version from The Perfect Loaf, that would be perfect with this. Roast Chicken Parisian. To make this weeknight friendly, swap out the whole chicken for skin on, bone in thigh and breast pieces, and instead of potatoes try radishes, all on one sheet pan. Socca from David Lebovitz. Serve with a simple dark leafy green salad with herbs. Add avocado and sliced red pepper to the salad for extra omega 3 and vitamin A. Sunny Paris Salmon. For a Mediterranean touch, substitute the Sunny Paris seasoning with pesto. Pissaladière from NYT Cooking and a green salad. Spinach linguini, fettuccini or tagliatelle with Pistachio Pesto and a nice green salad.
Recipe Ideas
- Springtime Soup au Pistou.
- Turkey Tenders with Sea Salt, Herbes de Provence, and Lemon from the French Revolution Blog.
- Chicken Salad Tahini.
- Salmon Beurre.
- Linguini with Morel Cream Sauce & Egg.
- Roasted Cauliflower with Algae Oil.
- Tofu Jungle Scramble.
- French Carrot Salad.
- Soup au Pesto.
- Niçoise Salad.
- Roast Chicken Parisian.
- Socca.
- Sunny Paris Salmon.
- Pissaladière.
- Fennel Salad With Anchovy and Olives.
- Tapenade served with crudité and crusty bread.
- Spinach linguini, fettuccini or tagliatelle with Pistachio Pesto and a nice green salad.
Practical Tips for Adopting the French Diet
- Start with Quality: Prioritize high-quality ingredients, focusing on fresh, seasonal produce.
- Eat Mindfully: Sit down for meals, savor each bite, and avoid distractions.
- Control Portions: Use smaller plates and be mindful of serving sizes.
- Make Meals a Priority: Eat meals at the table as a family.
- Snack Smart: The French diet is low on snacks. On the rare occasions when they do snack between meals, people in France tend to choose bread, cheese, yogurt, and fresh fruit as opposed to cakes or candies, one study finds.
- Enjoy Your Vin: The French enjoy small portions of alcohol, as well as food.
- Do What You Love: Forget slaving away at the gym -- French people stay fit simply by living their daily lives, which seldom involve hours spent stuck in traffic. Instead, they walk or bike where they need to go.
- Have a Happy Ending: The French diet leaves room for sweet indulgences like full-fat cheese and rich, dark chocolate.
French Women's Diet: A Closer Look
French women stay slim because in France moderation and pleasure are the mantras of choice, the way they have been raised, and the manner in which they stay healthy and live life in general. Deprivation, negative feelings toward food, cutting out entire food groups, and eating factory-made products are not the norm. French women practice moderation when it comes to food, too. No food is off limits for most French women (including full-fat dairy, alcohol, sweets, and breads of all kinds); however, being careful about quantities and opportunities for "treats" is how they balance moderation, pleasure, and well-being.
Daily Eating Habits of French Women
Breakfast is a staple for French women. We never leave the house without having something to eat and drink. In France, we don’t eat salty foods in the morning, except maybe during the weekend. French women usually prefer to have coffee in the morning, but personally, I like to alternate every other day between tea and coffee. French women always drink their black coffee without milk and without sugar. French women do not eat croissants and pains au chocolat every day. Those pastries are mainly eaten for special occasions and on the weekends as they are considered fatty and sugary meals by the French. Instead, the French breakfast is made of fresh bread with (salty) butter, jam, yogurt, and fresh seasonal fruits (ideally from your local farmer’s market). If you’re more of a salty person, you can eat turkey slices, organic eggs, or even cheese with whole wheat bread instead. The French never eat processed bread, which is usually full of added sugar and preservatives. If you want to lose weight, avoid all processed foods for breakfast, such as cakes, cookies, and breakfast cereals.
Did you know that the average French lunch is around an hour and a half? French people usually stop what they are doing and take time to eat with their family, friends, or colleagues-and even during weekdays at the office! In France, lunch is usually a three-course meal with reasonable portions: a starter, a main, and a dessert. The starter is usually a salad of crudités (raw vegetables) with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and some herbs. Main is often made of cooked vegetables with a portion of fish or meat. Dessert is usually fresh fruit or plain yogurt.
For the French, dinner is the lighter meal of the day. During wintertime, homemade soup can be the starter or the main. And the French usually eat it with a generous piece of bread and some cheese. During summertime, the French usually have a fresh salad or some cooked vegetables. Dessert is usually fresh fruit, yogurt, or a piece of cheese with bread.
Lifestyle Habits of French Women
Working out once or twice a week might not seem like enough, but French women are on the move constantly, clocking many walking hours and stair climbing a lot in any given week.
Always includes carbs in her meals. She eats moderately at breakfast, makes lunch her main meal, and has a light dinner.
Homecooking for the family is key.
Regular pampering.
Key Takeaways
- Small Portion Sizes: Compared to American eating habits, the French diet relies on small portions of high-quality foods eaten less often.
- High-quality Food: French cuisine requires eaters to enjoy quality over quantity. Eating the good stuff in smaller portions can help curb cravings and make you feel more satisfied.
- “Food Experience”: By slowly enjoying the taste and textures of real food, the French end up having more “food experience.” This concept helps the French feel more satisfied by the end of the meal, despite eating less than Americans.
- The French diet values quality over quantity. It prioritizes high-quality foods in smaller portions rather than larger and lower quality portions.