Lovely Awkward: A Year of Wine, Romance and Life Among the French

Lovely Awkward: A Year of Wine, Romance and Life Among the French

Thursday 17 February 2011

French women don't get fat, you say?

I've decided that I'm doing this all wrong. At least, my butt has decided that I've made a mistake. I can no longer make it through a full day of writing with my slightly uncomfortable writing chair under my ass. The chair, which we bought for under 20 euros at the grocery store, is a huge part of the problem. But... so are some of the other things we bought at the grocery store, I guess.

I think my bum is telling me to pick a side: Am I Canadian or am I French?

Independently, the two diets seem to work fine. But this mash-up the Professor and I have created out of our two gastronomic cultural practices doesn't seem to be cutting it.

That said, I'm going to go all journalist on my ass; I'm going to start doing some research.

There must be a way that the Professor and I (at least our stomachs) can get along!

(Note: We were married in December, but without any guests. The celebration isn't until May so my research still has a few months to have an effect!)

Anyone want to join me in sharing the challenges you've discovered in mixing North American and French food habits? Or more importantly ... your secrets???

UP NEXT: What people along the Mediterranean eat

11 comments:

  1. What a challenge! It's a Catch 22 of sorts. I hope you can find a common, though tasty, ground...er...plate!

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  2. Yes! Do I switch sides? Do I drop some of my cultural identity? I've already had enough trouble finding peanut butter here... might not be a bad idea!

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  3. Can I join if I have to mix North American and Swedish food habits?! Crazy food and low fat doesn't really exist... part of the adventure though... I guess...

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  4. OhioGirl: Yes, please!! Maybe you'll hold the key ingredient that will help me combine cute, day-long snacking with buttery four-hour meals!

    I'm going to lay out my resources (the food here on the Mediterranean) on Monday. But that'll be for the Euro side of the list. Let me know if there's anything I should add from Sweden...

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  5. Oh, don't even try! That was my first thought as I've tried to mash French/Canadian/Jamaican foods/cultures. It's a recipe for absolute insanity!!! Speaking of finding Canadian products here...I've had a hankering for Clodhoppers. Have you seen any here?

    Anyway, I don't try to mix things up too much, at least not at the same meal. If you're looking for something for your celebratory dinner then stay classic but add touches that refer to each culture.

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  6. Tanya: I am doing it!

    I don't mean that I want to eat Canadian and French food in the same meal, necessarily, but that I'd like to be able to eat the way I did before I came here. And, I'd like to also enjoy all of this delicious French food. The two don't seem to mix very well so far. ie: I never ate bread in Canada and bread comes with every meal here.

    Dunno. More investigation needed.

    The celebration dinner is only French -- thank goodness. That means the French side of the family is doing most of the planning.

    Clodhoppers? Can you get them online?

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  7. http://www.nutsonline.com/chocolatessweets/premium-chocolates/graham-crackers/dark-chocolate-clodhoppers.html

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  8. Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you... And then I add that I'll be in Toronto on Mar 25th. Eh, well...

    Good luck w/ the rest. It's a challenge trying to avoid some of the "pitfalls" of the French diet.

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  9. Maybe French women don't get fat but women who move here do! I've never been bigger (or more gastronomically satisfied) in my life! Must. Keep. Jogging.

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  10. Sara Louise: That is exactly my theory!! There's nothing wrong with us in Canada, but I think there are a few secrets to eating French food that might be hard for foreigners to guess. Jogging? Yes... but I also think most of the women out jogging on the Promenade des Anglais are North American. Hmm....

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  11. Interesting discussion...funny you mentioned that you never ate bread in Canada. And I'm not a big fan of bread too but everywhere in France you see people carrying a load of French bread! They're so dry and tasteless (to me)!

    Any luck finding peanut butter? Or try Nutella?

    I think you're right that most who are out jogging are N. American...and you can't really find any gyms in France? Or do French women go to gyms at all?????

    Carmen

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