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Summary: Bon appetit!! Revisited.....
Review: To read "Fat Fallacy" is to visit with the essence of Will Clower! I use his recipes often and the information more! I count him as a friend!! Read the book and you will understand why I can say that! I commend the premise of the book and the man behind that premise.
I just re-read my review! I must have been out of my mind! I was certain I put 5 stars!!! I would have voted 10 if that had been a choice! If you haven't tried Will's Mashed Potatoes..you don't understand! Salmon...lasagna...the list grows! Try this wonderfully simple way to be healthy! "If it's not food, don't eat it!"
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Summary: This book is a fallacy....
Review: Unfortunately the author makes you think that you can eat as much fat as you like without any problems. I think this message is wrong.
The author doesn't talk much about excercise which is very important and can stop you from becoming overweight.
The book also encourages you to eat foods that are very high in carbs and also high on the glycemic index. Which in my opinion is not a very good idea.
French people live a completely different lifestyle compared to others and not all of them are slim. I have seen some fat ones too.
The best way to try this method, is to stay in France for a couple of weeks or months.
The diet is not very practical either. If I have only 30 mins for lunch at work, how will I be picking at my food for hours?
If you are not careful, following the methods in this book will actually make you fatter!
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Summary: Using Common Sense in Eating
Review: Will Clower has taken an extremely common sense look at why Americans continue to gain weight, while other cultures have no such problems. The book is easy to read, funny, and engaging. It includes many examples, some easy-to-understand science behind the recommendations it makes, and a series of recepies in the back, to serve as examples.Why is America - and more specifically, you and I - fat? We spend zillions on diet books, exercise programs, special foods, and still we are statistically more obese, have a shorter life expectancy, and suffer more debilitating health problems from our diet than the French. Yet the French eat what they want, when they want, are terrible about smoking and exercise, and do not give weight a thought. Is life just not fair? Well, not really, according to the book. Our weight problem, and their lack of such, has to do with cuisine and eating habits; what we eat that they do not (and vice-versa), and how we go about eating it. Dr. Clower identifies and expands on how these result in a lack of success for the American diet, and the tried and true results of the French one. This is not to suggest that everyone start eating veal cordon bleu and singing "Marsaille", but that the habits that work for the French (and coincidentally, many Americans while they are visiting there) could work for us here, if we identify the lessons of the French diet and apply them. What those lessons are fill the bulk of the book, and they are worth discovering for yourself. As you do, you will find yourself repeatedly smacking your head and saying, "Of course!" A favorite section for my family was the "Faux Food" pages, as we tried to guess what type of junk food was listed by its ingredients. I have literally not touched some of my old favorites since finding them listed there. A big point in the book's favor is that the plan is not presented as the fervent and unbending requirements of a converted disciple. If you can't eat one meal according to the suggested pattern, don't panic! Eat the right way the next time. Clower points out that with his plan, you cannot fall off the wagon, as there is no wagon to fall off of. That is because the French diet is not a fad plan with points, counters or weigh-ins, but a rational approach to including food in your life. In the author's words, readers should "develop a healthy relationship with their food." I totally agree. The "Fat Fallacy" opens a door to the lessons on food we have always known, but forgot. Don't pick up another book telling you what you should not eat. Get this one to remind yourself why good food is an essential part of the good life.
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Summary: Clower contends that diet keeps the French lithe & healthy
Review: William Clower is a neurophysiologist and neuroscience historian at the University of Pittsburgh. In The Fat Fallacy: Applying The French Diet To The American Lifestyle, Clower explains that there is an epidemic of obesity in the American populace today. By contrast, the French (whose meals are typically accompanied by creams, cheeses, and baguettes) are a nation of typically thin people (with only an 8% obesity rate) who not only live longer than Americans, but lack our chronic heart problems. It's Clower's contention that the diet that keeps the French lithe and healthy can work for Americans as well. The Fat Fallacy is strongly recommended reading for anyone struggling with the health problems that arise from a chronic condition of excess weight.
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Summary: The mystery is solved!
Review: Wow, this book made so much sense, and yes though it is mostly just common sense stuff...that is apparently what Americans are lacking!
My husband is French and I always wondered why I always finished so much earlier than he did. Then I realized...I don't swallow one bite before I take the next! Sure, it seems silly but it wasn't until I read this book that I realized it.I've been to France and observed their eating styles. I think sometimes Americans don't want to admit that another culture might have more experience or knowledge than us. This is one of those times...don't stop eating fat, don't stop eating bread and potatoes, don't count every calorie you put in your mouth! Just enjoy your food. The French have always known this, my husband used to scoff at my "diet sodas" and "low-fat cookies" and I thought he just didn't understand. Actually, I was the one who didn't understand. Now, after only one week I am loving my real food more than ever, eating slower (I haven't finished before my husband once since I started swallowing my food!)I've been actually tasting my food and because of that I've been eating less. I don't crave junk food like I used to...there are twinkies and packaged cookies in my pantry that have been there for a whole week!!! I don't want them! I've already lost 2 lbs without even trying after only about 5 days. This is a wonderful book and has totally changed my outlook on food. I don't need to diet anymore because now I know how to eat! I definitely recommend it!
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Summary: Reader
Review: You sort of get the feeling that he's bottling tap water and trying to make millions off of it. I'm sure he's a very nice person, but there is nothing that qualifies him to write a diet book regarding the French lifestyle, save his two years in France. Basically, if you Google "french diet" or "French paradox," the various articles and such, including ones mentioning W.Clowers, will tell you what you need to know about the French Paradox. Also, read all the reviews on this site, you'll learn everything you need to know about the book without buying it. Though this book is almost 300 pages in length, you could capture the formula he sets forth in a one-paged pamphlet. There are 2 things to keep in mind: (1) the way you eat; and (2) what you eat. (1) Way: Basically, three square meals of real, unprocessed food and no snacks. (NOTHING processed, not even light butter or aspartame or corn syrup, etc.) Eating slowly is most important, small bites of delicious foods, chew slowly, put fork down between bites. Sips of water and red wine between bites. Enjoy and try to eat in several courses. (2) What: Fruits, veggies, whole grains of course. But most importantly, the French believe that dairy (whole milks, whole cheese, whole yogurt, real butter) and dairy fat, vegetable fat (olive oil), and fat from ducks and geese are healthy; not healthy are fats from animal tissue, i.e., beef fat and pork. Lots of red wine, coffee, and small amounts of dark chocolate. Have red wine w/ your meal, and a small strong coffee and chocolate after Lunch and Dinner. Also, walk everywhere, make exercise an organic part of your life. I got all this off of Google searches and so his book wasn't any more informative. Pretty basic and it works b/c, miraculously, all that dairy fat deliciously and effectively kills your appetite and you're (I'm) not thinking about food constantly. Basically, print out this review, and apply those steps with a better guide book, such as French Women Don't Get Fat or Joie de Vivre (written by a French restrauteur living in America), which explains especially well the French way of eating. W.Clowers seems like a really nice person, but his writing is boring and sort of meanders all over the place. (He's a scientist, not a writer.) And one can't escape the feeling that he's really trying to make millions, especially in light of his website and future book projects and ridiculous chocolate eating courses, by bottling tap water! I think it's pretty dishonest to charge a bunch of hardworking Americans a seminar fee to "teach" them how to slowly melt a piece of chocolate on their tongue. Did that 1/2 ounce piece of chocolate cost $100? I'm tired of diet "guru" after "guru" trying to make it rich quick off the American people. He's yet another who's quickly put up a website to charge membership fees with "advisors" with questionable qualifications. 80 million French are doing it without him, and so can you!
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