Weighing in on French dieting tips

REGARDING “French Dieting Tips for Wealthy, Idle Americans” by Susan Spano [Her World, March 6]: I studied in Lyon, France, my junior year in college, and I came home 20 pounds heavier after following the “French” diet. That’s why author Mireille Guiliano’s contention that she got fat when she came to America makes complete sense. There is plenty of healthful food here, but like many visitors (especially college kids), she chose to eat junk. Spano made a great point too that her suggestions are ridiculous.

Moderation is the key, and we don’t need to read Guiliano’s book to figure that out. Thanks for your “real” look at the “French paradox.”

Heather Bremner

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SPANO may scoff at the concepts of French dining espoused in “French Women Don’t Get Fat,” but as an American who spent the 1970s in France with school, work and living there, they are quite true. Nor are they concepts that only the rich can afford.

I have always told my family: “You will not get fat on what you eat at the table in our house. It is what you eat elsewhere and in between that makes you fat.” It is the experience of eating a good meal that satisfies the palette so that you don’t crave that stuff in between. That keeps the weight down.

Maude Ham