Living a more active lifestyle involves several tips and strategies. These include: 1) Squeeze it in, 2) Make it fun, 3) Set a goal, 4) Use a calendar to motivate you, 5) Be social, 6) Make it convenient, 7) Use a fitness tracker, and 8) Never underestimate the daily walk.
Maintaining an active lifestyle is crucial for staying healthy. To achieve this, create specific health goals and make small changes to your daily routine. Activities like brisk walking, jogging, swimming, or dancing can significantly improve cardiovascular health and overall fitness.
To maintain an active lifestyle, set a reasonable step goal and gradually increase it. For example, set a step goal of 1k steps a day and try to reach it as many days as possible every week. Even a little more movement each day can make a big difference in your health.
6 ways to live a more active life include taking it slow, getting your 30 minutes, working your muscles, mixing it up, minding your money, and stretching. Prioritize regular exercise by aiming for at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise a few days of the week.
Developing a weekly workout routine is the best way to get into the habit of working out and moving your body. Go on a walk, exercise in smaller increments, get yourself a support system, create a routine that includes exercise, and get your workouts in during the day. Exercise releases endorphins, which make a person feel relaxed and happy, and can help reduce the need for anti-depressants in some cases.
Mental health can also be improved by changing your visceral responses to exercise. Planning the time and place to exercise at the beginning of the week or the day before can help prepare you for the workout.
📹 French Diet Secrets That Will Change Your Life
I’m sharing French Diet Secrets from Lessons from Madame Chic that will change your life. 🗝️ Jennifer’s Books / Writings …
What does a very active lifestyle look like?
The high level of physical activity encompasses daily living activities, a minimum of 60 minutes of moderate activity per day, 120 minutes of moderate activity, or 60 minutes of vigorous activity, as outlined in the Dietary Reference Intakes, Macronutrients, 2002.
How to be super active all day?
To improve physical activity, reduce sitting, move more during the day, and engage in activities that are enjoyable and enjoyable. This includes walking, cycling, walking children to school, trying new sports, being active with others, looking for challenges in your area, and engaging in activities you enjoy. Even small increases in physical activity can produce measurable health benefits, making it essential to incorporate these tips into your daily routine. By doing so, you can maintain a healthy lifestyle and improve your overall health.
How to live a very active lifestyle?
Living an active lifestyle involves taking every opportunity to be more active than sedentary. This includes scheduling time with friends and family, spending time at parks or hiking, playing sports, rotating commutes, moving around at work, and increasing incidental activity. Active individuals often take small opportunities to stand up and move, making it a way of life. They are often in better shape, manage their weight better, and burn more calories daily than sedentary individuals.
Developing a more active lifestyle may help reach weight loss goals during medical weight loss programs. Active individuals take small opportunities to stand up and move, often making a way of life out of it.
Why am I less active?
People often struggle with time and energy constraints, especially when juggling work and family commitments. This can lead to feelings of selfishness and guilt, making physical activity seem like another pressure to fail at. To combat this, consider adding movement into your time with friends and family, encouraging them to think about activities that make them feel better. Many people may feel bad about sports or not good at it, but there are many ways to be active, such as walking, dancing, and hula-hooping. Remember, everyone has different experiences with physical activity and should find ways to incorporate it into their routine.
How to love working out?
To make exercise fun, ask others to join you, add entertainment if you find it boring, be a big kid, make exercise a game, move for a cause, and reward yourself. Exercise is good for our health, but it can be hard to get motivated. Here are six fun exercises to try: Frisbee, walking basketball, Tai chi, water aerobics, dancing, and hula hooping. Remember to be a big kid, make exercise a game, move for a cause, and reward yourself for your efforts.
Why is it hard to have an active lifestyle?
Having an active lifestyle is essential for maintaining fitness and overall well-being. However, many struggle to find time for exercise due to busy schedules, fear of judgment, or commitment issues. Overcoming these barriers can positively impact physical and mental well-being. To gradually transition into an active lifestyle, create a workout plan, get enough sleep, and maintain a healthy diet.
To transition into a more active lifestyle, set realistic goals and expectations for yourself, whether you’re new to fitness or trying to reintroduce your old routine. This will help you stay focused and motivated throughout the process. Creating a workout plan and purchasing essential clothing like socks for women can help you gradually transition into a more active lifestyle.
In summary, overcoming barriers to exercise, maintaining a healthy diet, and setting realistic goals can help you build a more active lifestyle. By following these steps, you can gradually improve your physical and mental well-being and lead a more active life.
Why is being active so hard?
Exercise can be challenging due to various factors, but the biggest barriers are often mental. Lack of self-confidence, motivation, or easily discouraged behavior can hinder positive exercise. Regardless of age or fitness level, there are steps you can take to make exercise less intimidating and more fun. One way to make exercise less intimidating is to adopt a more positive attitude. A little exercise is better than nothing, and even adding modest amounts of physical activity to your weekly routine can significantly improve your mental and emotional health. By adopting a more positive attitude, you can make exercise more enjoyable and beneficial for your overall well-being.
How to stay fit and active?
To maintain a healthy outlook, it is essential to be physically active for 30 minutes most days of the week, including walking, sports, dancing, yoga, and running. Eat a well-balanced, low-fat diet with fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, avoiding saturated fat and cholesterol, and moderate in sugar, salt, and total fat.
To avoid injury, wear seatbelts, bike helmets, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and use street smarts when walking alone. If you own a gun, recognize the dangers of having one in your home and use safety precautions at all times. Don’t smoke or quit if you do, and ask your healthcare provider for help. Drink alcohol in moderation, never drink before or while driving, or when pregnant.
Consult with your healthcare provider about STI screening and birth control methods other than condoms. Brush your teeth after meals, drink, and before bed, and use dental floss daily. Stay out of the sun, especially between 10 a. m. and 3 p. m., and use a broad spectrum sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 or higher. Select sunglasses that block 99 to 100 percent of the sun’s rays.
Maintaining a healthy outlook involves staying in touch with family and friends, being involved in your community, maintaining a positive attitude, keeping curiosity alive, and maintaining healthy intimacy. Recognize and manage stress in your life, such as trouble sleeping, frequent headaches, stomach problems, anger, and turning to food, drugs, and alcohol.
Regular exercise, healthy eating habits, and relaxation exercises can help deal with stress. Talk to trusted family members and friends, and interacting with your faith community can also be helpful.
Get enough sleep and rest, as adults need around eight hours of sleep a night. If you feel depressed for more than a few days, talk to your healthcare provider.
How can I enjoy being more active?
To stay healthy, consider incorporating physical activity into your routine, lifestyle, or health. Start by exercising early in the morning, schedule your workout in your diary or calendar, commit to exercise with someone else, choose an exercise you enjoy, consider travel time, and do a workout at home. Choose a mix of planned exercise, whenever possible, or a mix of both. Address common excuses for not being active and find solutions to keep you active.
How do I change my lifestyle to more active?
It is recommended that the intensity of one’s physical activity be increased gradually in order to derive greater health benefits. Walking may be the most accessible method of initiating an exercise program. Engaging in regular physical activity has been demonstrated to enhance not only an individual’s overall quality of life but also their overall health, cognitive function, sleep patterns, and general sense of well-being.
How to stay active mentally?
To combat mental decline and maintain cognitive function, engage in activities like puzzles, mental arithmetic, reading, playing mind-stretching games, and staying socially active. Studies show that intellectually stimulating lives can prevent dementia conditions like Alzheimer’s disease. It’s possible to maintain brain shape and cope with changes in mental ability. However, simple forgetfulness can increase with age, impacting concentration, attention span, and adaptability to new situations. Embracing intellectual stimulation can help maintain brain health and prevent dementia.
📹 How To Rebuild Your Life With Louise Thompson
TW: This conversation is deeply moving and a testament to the power of vulnerability and perseverance. It also contains …
I was raised in Southern California (69 now). My classy mother had dinner on the table at 6 PM every single night. No tv! She used pretty place mats, cloth napkins, prepared beautiful meals. It was always my job to make the tossed green salad in individual wooden bowls. When I had children of my own, I continued that ritual. Now I am widowed and living alone. My table sits next to a picture window and I have bird feeders outside, so the birds are now my dinner companions, still the nicely set table, cloth napkin, I always light a candle. It is a very special time that I hold dear and I think of my mother, my young children my husband and all of our beautiful shared meals. Grateful!
I never realized it, but my family never snacked. We had breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If we were very hungry, we had a piece of fresh fruit. During dinner, my mother set the table, lit candles, and played music. We enjoyed conversation, and occasionally we would have dessert, which was always a treat. My mother also took advantage of teaching us manners. I am forever grateful.
I’ve tried so many diets that just didn’t work. All of my Italian relatives live to be in their 90’s so I decided to change my diet back to my Italian heritage. I’ve stopped eating processed American food, grow my own food and make home cooked dinners from old family recipes. This has worked for me, I’ve lost thirty pounds and have had the best health results from the doctor. Thank you for your wonderful articles. I really enjoy them.
I am British living near Paris with my French husband. This has been exactly my experience. I’ve been here 7 years now and at first it was a real culture shock, not in a negative way, just very different from what I was used to. I say that the British eat to live, whereas the French live to eat. The French LOVE their food. They love to eat it and equally love to talk about it lol. I found the emphasis is on the quality of the food. Good quality bread bought fresh from the boulangerie each day. Not the sliced rubbish I was used to from the supermarket back home. Quality meat from the local butcher or market, artisan cheeses from the fromagerie or local market, fruit and vegetables from the local market. They really support local producers. They also take pleasure in little treats. Having 1 square of quality chocolate after a meal with a coffee, not an entire chocolate bar. That was such an awakening for me. To savour and enjoy the small things. Less is certainly more. Now I can tell the difference immediately between quality and cheap food and I’m enjoying this way of life and would never change it now. Yes it is more expensive to buy quality food and I have a limited budget, but I prefer to have less food in my refrigerator of good quality, than a cupboard full of cheap food, snacks and drinks.
I think we binge because our bodies are starving for real food. Better nutrition keeps you more satiated so you don’t long for the snacks and treats. I remember a nutritionist telling me ” you can have your cake and candy but have real food first.” She was right. When I ate protein and veg, I didn’t want the other.
Hello, I’m french and your article is very interesting although things in France change. Unfortunatly young People don’t eat very well. We have for habits to cook from scratch, eat together around a table without screen at regular hours. But, People change and à lot of french People begin to “s’americaniser”😂 and we begin to see overweight children and more and more obèse persons. It’s very sad!!!! As for me and my family, we fight for a traditional way of life in the pure french tradition. Thank your for love of France.
I’m a Canadian living in Brittany, France. My husband is Breton and has always cooked for us. Fresh ingredients, no huge helpings, and delicious food. I lost 10 kg when we moved, I was no longer eating out or working downtown and eating fast food. I’m short, 5 foot 1, so over the years I’ve had to replace all my clothes. I do see French people eating a lot more “American” food, and the resulting weight gain. My son grew up slim and well-fed, and has taken his dad’s good habits back to Canada where he is studying and cooking his meals!
I finally gave up all dieting (took 3 years to kill the mental looping tape of shoulds and shouldn’ts). Now I just fast, eat mostly real food, not too much, sleep, repeat. I added 3 days of strength training (at home, 30 minutes and done), and walking. That’s about it. I never weigh myself. I’m fairly slim now with no angst. No striving. No worrying. No food is forbidden, so nothing has a hold on me. I pass up the doughnuts, ice cream, and junk foods most of the time now because I can always have it later if I really still want it. I’ve trained myself to think of sweets as something to have after a real meal, not as a snack. Now it seems weird to consider having a cookie during the day because cookies are dessert. Or something to have as just a treat with a cup of tea now and then instead of bingeing on a box. Freedom. ❤ It took time, it was not smooth, and I’m still not perfect because I don’t need to be.
I lived with my grandma for just short of a year in my teens. My parents were very lenient, hands off, let the kids learn from life type.. I completely and totally disagree with this approach, but that’s another story. My grandma, was the structured and proper one. Like the french, though she was English, she did not snack. She had 3 well balanced meals, and I was allowed 1 after school snack, which was almost always 2 homemade cookies and some milk. And absolutely no eating after dinner. I actually have a similar story about trying to find something to nibble on. I couldn’t sleep, and though I wasn’t hungry, I wanted something sweet. I got up and attempted to sneak down the hall to the kitchen to get a couple more of those cookies, and just as I was about to reach for them, there was my grandma in her dressing gown. She asked if everything was alright. Yes, just getting some water… Rats! I never could get away with it. 😅 The results were absolutely amazing in my mind. I was never hungry. Meal time came, and I could eat, but I was never famished. I was never fat but I wasn’t fit either. Because there was nothing else to do in her small town, I walked a lot, roller bladed, played basketball, volunteered at the senior center, was at church, and read and studied. This resulted in my body looking the best it had ever been. Ultimately, it lead to a much happier and healthier life. I miss her dearly and have her to thank for such a blessing of an experience.
Thanks for this article, I am English but this way of eating was very similar to what I did when growing up. We were a large family of 10 but we always had 3 meals a day with dessert after dinner and we always sat the table. We didn’t snack between meals at all because we didn’t need to. We didn’t own a car so we walked everywhere. Our children have flown the nest now but my husband and I still eat the table. Our problem is we do a lot of snacking. This article has prompted me to stop and I’m going to do that from today
63 and slim – all due to my mother. Never allowed snacks, Mum always cooked from scratch, parents grew almost all the veg and fruit and kept bees. Mum made a pudding every day. We were a family of 7 so portions were adequate. We were allowed one sweet each after we’d washed and dried up. We made our own school lunches of sandwiches and a mini fruit pie (often swapped for crisps or chocolate). We were so lucky!
I live in the U.K. and I am finally getting a healthier perspective on my food intake . I totally agree with your article today about not snacking constantly an intermittent fasting approach and where the kitchen is closed after dinner . I have noticed in the USA when visiting portion sizes feed two people and now when I visit on holiday I share one entree with another family member wherever possible . Thank you for a great article .
Hello from France🇫🇷 I am French and live in the Versailles area. Well everything you mentioned is true… Most of all, French people really enjoy their food, it is a social moment, something they share, families do eat together every evening at the table, and also for lunch if you work outside the home you eat with your colleagues. Snacking has a bad rep. We also learn how to cook from an early age, I remember my 6 year old daughter chopping vegetables for the ratatouille, my 8 year old making the omelette ( and being proud because his grandfather was so good at making it… like a family tradition). Now they are in their twenties and they cook their own food, never order pizza or anything. French people walk a lot indeed! I would say that the younger generation tends to have food delivered more but it so expensive that they don’t do it that often. What is more common for the younger generztion is to meet at onés friend’s house, and all the guests/friends bring something that they have made themselves like a salad a quiche a tart.. French people sit in order to eat, even for a sandwich, and set the table.
I lived there too and had very similar experiences. Very rich foods but always real food and always at mealtimes. No guilt,lots of enjoyment and talking about the food together. Home cooked meals. No concerns about cholesterol, fat, carbs… This was in 1990 so the height of the lowfat movement. I was shocked to see butter, cheese, full fat yogurt, ham, cream daily!
Thank you Jennifer. And yes,culturally, we are more familiar (I am cuban), had about the same breakfast – cuban bread, lots of butter and the ever present cafe con lethe, no snacks then lunch, plenty of fresh produce and a nice piece of protein and no dessert, dinner was more substantial and sometimes we would have dessert. We walked everywhere and really didn’t make a big deal out “a meal”. always ate dinner as a family and definitely no TV on. Upbringing matters, and of course when we had dessert it was sugar cane not super processed corn syrup etc. ok Ive preached enough and I really appreciate hearing from other cultures! Cheers
I grew up in the Midwest (I’m a boomer) and this was our way of life. When home, all 3 meals were at the table. Little to no snacking. We got up from the table and washed dishes. Lots of getting out to be with friends, we walked to and from school if the weather was nice, PE 3 times a week. I did carhop at an A&W so all that walking and carrying those heavy glass root beer mugs kept me in shape. Very few classmates were overweight. I’ve gained a few pounds with meno-pudge and have found that intermittent fasting has helped.
Im a mother of 4 now adult sons. Dinner was and is always cooked from scratch as well as breakfast and lunch. Very little restaurant food or takeout or processed food. We have a big Sunday family dinner every single week and we all exercise…. Weights, walking, running, beach activities in summer. I work full time and still make homemade desserts and sourdough bread. Everyone knows how and cooks!
Thank you for another wonderful and informative article! I have been to Paris several times and the walking is exhausting and exhilarating. I miss it. I get so annoyed here when people talk about how they have to do another 15 minutes on the treadmill tomorrow to make up for, aka punish themselves, for whatever they happen to be eating at the moment. It’s just such a western way of thinking.
Great article. I love your books as well. Snacking is usually terrible for our health because we often have unhealthy snacks. They don’t satisfy, but rather lead to craving more carbs. French food is actually full of good fats in my opinion. Butter and cream is healthy and satisfying, leading to less cravings for carbs and sugar.
with all due respect to your teachings about enjoying food, i would say that most people who end up eating carnivore, raw vegan or any other very restrictive diet, they do so because they have some health issues or obesity. In my case, i love cooking, i used to prepare quality chef foods for people, i love food so much, but i have to be on a paleo keto diet in order to maintain my autoimmune diseases in check, naturally. Sometimes eating is not about deprivation, is just a more conscious approach for health and true care for the body. I wouldnt be alive today at 60 yo if i wouldnt eat this way.
The MAIN DIFFERENCE in food in France and food in the United States is that French food has NO PRESERVATIVES or chemicals in it. This matters so much. Having said that, I have adopted an intermittent fasting lifestyle and have lost 65# (and now maintained that loss) for over 2 years. I do try to eat whole/organic foods when possible. Thanks for sharing and I agree that “snacking is so not chic!”
Not through the article yet but already thinking about how reasonable and balanced you are in presenting information. My history is that I would “go on” a certain diet, realize after a few days that it was too restrictive, and then the backlash would come in the form of binge eating. Over the last several years with intermittent fasting (nothing extreme) I’ve begun to heal my relationship with food. I no longer allow myself to think in extremes and I actually enjoy food and exercise. Life is good! Right now, though, I am struggling with the idea of using a Fitbit to track health metrics and steps, but I’m afraid of falling into all or nothing thinking again. I need to give that some more thought. Thank you, Jennifer ❤
My son’s girlfriend is from Albania and they always sat down for nice healthy meals and stayed fit because of all the walking they do there. She struggled when she first came to Canada as she found the food so processed and the portions too big. My friends always ask me how I stay slim and I said I don’t snack after supper. In part it’s just laziness because after making a home cooked supper every night I can’t be bothered to now go and prepare snacks lol.
I spent time in New Zealand between 1987 and 1989. I was young like you were in Paris. I got fat!! They drink tea all day with biscuits (cookies) or crumpets with butter and golden syrup (caramelized sugar syrup). I put a bunch of sugar and cream in my tea. Lamb chops are fatty. They eat high fat sausages. They eat canned Watties spaghetti like spaghetti Os on pizza! The family I lived wirh kept 3 containers of freshly baked biscuits/cookies for guests. They also ate dessert nearly every night. Dessert would often be tinned/canned fruit, trifle, ice cream, whipped cream, and/or custard (pastry cream). They served lots of cold or grilled cheese sandwiches. I gained 20 lbs in 8 months!
Hi Jennifer, I enjoyed your article. I have read your lovely books and this article was a nice reminder about how food is thought of in France. They eat real food, not processed fake food. I see in the grocery store fat free half and half. I’ll bet the French don’t have that in their grocery stores.Thank you for the helpful article. xoxo Karen
Your list is exactly hat we do in Italy and,i sospetto,in all Europe.Ecery single point:no snacking,no solo eating,no eating while walking or doing something:wgat is let is just the pure joy in processing our own food from raw materials and then sharing it with the rest of the family,on a nicely set table
Oh, Jennifer, I should have gone to Paris when I studied abroad! While I enjoyed my time in Mexico and the family I stayed with, I was super thin before I left but gained 15 pounds in one semester! 😂 My Mexican family had a dear cook, who made incredible food, and I simply ate too much of it! We also ate dinner every night at 10pm! AND, their cook would cook corn tortillas while we ate, and I had as many homemade corn tortillas as I wanted—I was naive enough to think you couldn’t gain weight from corn, so I literally ate all my food wrapped in a tortilla! 🤦🏻♀️ I was also homesick, so I ate Carlos Quintos chocolate bars everyday after school as a comfort food! Oh goodness.. Haha! Luckily, I did lose most of it when I got back to the states! These days, I eat whole foods, avoid processed, no seed oils, and I need to get better at not eating dinner after dark! I love your style of eating dinner by 5pm. ❤
I used to seriously struggle with overeating, and I stopped exactly 4 years ago. How? First step was to break the habit and occupy myself fully with something else. I went away for 10 days (coincidentally to Paris) and had a blast there… such that it made me forget about food and shockingly it was enough to stop the cycle. When I returned I managed to not fall into the same tracks, but what was key was NOT RESTRICTING what I was eating and NOT FEELING GUILTY about food. So that’s my testimony 😁.
Nope, the French Paradox comes down to stearic acid (butter) If one uses the term “paradox”, it proves that the topic is not FULLY understood So alas, know that food scientists have solved the ‘Paradox’ and the secret ingredient for staying slim in France is TONS OF BUTTER Brad Marshall’s work is a fun source of stearic acid info
Do you wonder if French fashion has something to do with their ability to stay in shape? I ask this question because French people tend to wear beautiful clothes that fit them perfectly and they like to define their waist, usually with a belt. I noticed that when I wear clothes that fit me and use a belt I don’t over eat as I would become uncomfortable if I eat too much.
This is by far definitely my favorite episode yet! Incredibly helpful for my own culinary and lifestyle aspirations, I love that you said dinner together created a structure and a dignity to meals. The book, “Home Sweet Maison” emphasizes how every room in a French home has a raison d’etre, clearly confirmed by the lifestyle and habits of Famille Chic. I can honestly say that my experience in eating French meals just recently left me totally satiated and not wanting snacks at all because the food was so incredible. Thank you for a fantastic offering today ♥️
I’m 52 and my weight has fluctuated wildly through out my life, and of course like a lot of women I had an ED in my teens and 20’s. I am tired of researching diets, losing weight, getting sick or fed up, quitting and gaining it back. I have a healthy life style; I go to the gym regularly and have taken up (very slow!!) jogging. No real weight loss, but I’m trying not to stress. Instead, I’m remembering how my grandmother lived. Real food, modest portions, no snacking and always busy!! We’ll see what happens 🙂
I toured Europe in 2007 and while the others in the group were saying how much they would gain eating all the rich food we were served, I lost 8 pounds during that 3 week tour! I told my husband yes, I ate very well on the tour, but we were walking it seemed sunup to sundown! (He didn’t go on the tour). I felt better on my return home than I had in a long time!
I think it’s tricky because American food isn’t real food. It’s highly processed, toxic, and lacking real nutrients. The newest research out is showing a relationship with metabolic health and mental health disorders. That’s why so many people are having success with keto and carnivore. Cutting out carbs is giving ppl their life back after having debilitating physical and mental health disorders. The problem with eating an apple or any carb on the keto/carnivore diet is that it will knock you out of ketosis and make you feel terrible. My husband has been carnivore since March and he’s the healthiest he’s ever been. He used to eat the standard American diet and he was sickly and underweight. This way of eating is certainly worth looking into.
This was so refreshing! I am seeing more and more extreme diets and lifestyles exemplified on social media and even from others around me in an effort to just stay healthy. Our culture has over-complicated and intensified ideas to just live a simply healthy life. At 32 years old, post third baby… I am finally experiencing being a little overweight and feeling the need to make a lifestyle change. Became more sedentary, as I was more tired and eating on the go, not eating at all, or eating leftovers from the kids… I am slowly changing these habits to look more like the kind of life you explained here and already I’m noticing changes in my energy and my weight! And it isn’t hard. I have been so discouraged by our culture and how difficult it has been made to lose some weight and have vitality. Returning to these simple ideals is really where it is at. Thank you for sharing!
I can relate to this as I also spent a semester abroad in France in 1993. My diet was fantastic, varied and delicious. I was in the south (Grenoble) and we also walked a great deal. For the first time in my life, “new” to me foods like salade niçoise and coddled eggs were introduced to my palate. We ate plenty of pastries and coffees. So many delicious vegetables.
I discovered intermittent fasting and Dr. Jason Fung through you and started fasting in March 2021. In eight months I lost 30 pounds and have kept it off. I grow and preserve most of our food and cook from scratch. I find sugar to be very addictive so try to avoid it. Before fasting, the weight always came back but so far this is working. Thank you, Jennifer.
This is the way! 😊 Americans (I.e. me) are so obsessed with food- to the point of obesity or being skinny but over analyzing everything and not enjoying the simple pleasures of food. I’m fighting to fix that for my family and me, but old habits die hard and when you are dieting to correct past behavior it is really hard to not be food obsessed! I love the moderation you espouse- that is definitely the best way for me. Thanks for the insights and inspiration!
The Beck Diet Solution has really helped me. I’ve also gained insight from the books written by Michael Pollan. Cook at home from scratch. Make restaurants a rare treat. Snack food is full of the grains they use to fatten livestock in the feedlots. Take your meals at a well laid table. Healthy foods are also beautiful to look at. If your food isn’t beautiful, reevaluate what you are eating.
I was in France for 8 days and lost a couple of pounds. I had no desire to snack as my meals filled me. We ate breads, butter, meat, cheeses vegetables and desserts. They use natural ingredients and ingredient lists are short without all the artificial additives so it’s more filling. It’s how I ate when I was young and my mom had her own garden. I was always a healthy weight as a kid. I’ve tried shifting to eating better made food which can be challenging. I’m lucky as there is a great food shop in my town where they focus on local, home grown food.
Hi from London Jennifer! I’m a long time viewer and really loved this article. Just a few thoughts – for context, we’re similar ages but I am the youngest of seven children and grew up in the S.W. London suburbs. Our mum would cook everything from scratch which means we all learned by osmosis! This was more of out of economy more than anything – and probably a mild suspicion of anything ‘shop bought’ (!) but I feel very fortunate for this. This article rings very true for me, perhaps some of it wasn’t quite as strict (hard to have a ‘no snacking’ rule when there’s often 9 people in the house!) but generally, food was made, shared and deliberated over. The conversation was more, ‘can you guess what’s in it?’ rather than a polarising, ‘is it good or bad.’ There was definitely a focus on whole, nutritionally dense foods but as much as possible, food was a cause for celebration. My mum is the youngest of five and, growing up I remember there would always be aunts and uncles coming and going from their allotments and bring back veg/ herbs etc. and all of my mums siblings would have lived through the war so they remembered rationing and I do wonder if this created a very particular from of resourcefulness. Fast forward to now and one of my sisters lives in Boston MA. Her husband is British but her three boys have grown up in the US. They come back to the UK each year and (sorry Americans) but I hear from her that the food is just not the same. She devours sourdough bread with lashings of butter when she’s back in the UK, the same with yogurts, cheeses, definitely strawberries and yes.
Hi, I’ve really enjoyed this article a lot! Which of your books do you think would best help with weight loss. Sadly I do not have a lot of time to read books. Are any of these on audiobook? Also how long do you walk or do you do a certain amount of miles. What kind of rebounder do you have I saw you jumping in this article. Thank you so much for all your information and help I super appreciate it
I’m enjoying all these comments😊❤. But the deeper question on my mind is HOW did we get to the place we are in as Americans? My guess is that we are just too busy to slow down.😢. I homeschooled my kids and quit my job so i could be home and present to them. We made from scratch meals and fellowshipped over them. ❤
As always, I love your take on this subject. This article is so timely as this has all been top of mind for me lately. It seems like everyone has their own view when it comes to some of these super restrictive diets and lifestyles. I agree with you and what you saw lived out during your time in France. There has to be a dose of moderation in everything! While living in France you may not have had what we now consider to be a healthy breakfast, but you were balancing that out by walking so much more than we are able to do daily in most places in America. I also have daughters and know how harmful diet culture can be to them – I never want them to feel like they need to be on any certain diet, but I do think a healthy lifestyle is important. Thanks again for a delightful article!
Hello Jennifer, Thank you for these thoughts on an essential topic. I have watched my weight all my life and kept my weight where I wanted until my late 40’s and 50’s. It comes down to KNOW THYSELF: if I start nibbling on bread, I’ll keep nibbling. I know that I need to fill up on lower fat protein purposely at each meal indulging in higher fat protein occasionally eating at least 100 grams of protein each day. I add in lots of veggies and some fruits each day but enjoy smaller amounts of brown rice, gf pasta and potatoes. Veggies Made Great brand of KETO muffins has been a nice treat to enjoy each day. Know Thyself, Julie
Jennifer, I have yet to listen to this, but I want to share with you something that I think may be right up your alley! If not, all’s well. I have been perusal your articles here and there over the years, and I know we have a kindred spirit, if we were neighbors we would probably be great friends. All that being said, I know that you said that you have trouble with your knees bothering you and how much you loved your rebounder. I have not kept up so I don’t know how you are now, but I want you to take a look at the Pilates Reformer and see if that is something that you’d like! I AM OVER THE MOON for it! I just had my eighth child and am gently recovering from the distress and toll that my body has gone through to bare my beautiful miracles. I have done some pilates floor workouts, but this reformer is a GAME CHANGER! I cannot believe how much this is helping me to be and become my best. Anyway best of wishes and many blessings. I will take a listen to this article in a bit as well! (Don’t mind all my grammatical errors, it is just on my heart I have to share this with you before I forget.) PS also there is a sort of rebounder type exercise that you’ll be surprised by I think. You’ll have to see the machine to get what I am saying. 🙂 (EMOJI HEARTS x3 HERE)
I grew up that ay, meals at the table with family. We had a very large family, 8 children, and I never remember snacking. We also loved on a big piece of land and were very active outdoors, always. So none of us were overweight. We also very very rarely drank soda. I have kept most of the habits, though I could exercise more! Walking is my favorite way. Thanks, Jennifer!
I loved this article. I would love to hear more ways to include some of these ideas into our American lifestyle. For example, it can be hard to dedicate time to just go walking sometimes here in the states where in Europe, they aren’t dedicating time for that. It is just part of their day going to work, going to the store, ect. It’s built into their routine. Also, i’m curious if you noticed a huge difference in portion sizes. This came to mind when you mentioned the 3 course dinner. So many great tips from you though!
Eat your portion like a 6 years old & eat 4 times a day and get as much colors in your meal as you can😘 I went on a silent war with my mom for 2 weeks so i stop eating her foods and eat a lots of take out and fast foods. I got diarrhea. Then constipation. Then nausea. I’ll think twice before I go in a war with her again.
If you have not already, I would love to see 3 course meal ideas, Jennifer. I think for most Americans it’s a bit hard to grasp. We usually either have a “come and get it” way of eating and everyone goes their own way or there is just the items served all at once on our plate. I am presently perusal your other cooking articles for ideas but have not yet come across a 3 course meal idea (maybe it is there but i have not run into it yet?).
I loved this article! Even though I have gained weight over the years, I have always insisted meals be eaten at the table. By the way, I made you honey Dijon chicken the other night, and it was so delicious. I made it in the oven instead of slow cooker, and I spatchcocked the chicken, so the presentation was quite nice.
Thank you, Ms. Jennifer for this lovely and beautiful articles of yours, you are an inspiration to me. I am now 28 years old and I want to elevate my daily lifestyle and your articles really help me to be a better version of myself, not just me but also I want to be a good example to my sisters and younger generations.
I think you are right and maybe the American culture and infrastructure sets us up for failure. We are work centric so we work a lot, we eat while doing other things again because we spend too much time working, our country overall is set up for car travel and not walking, we keep our kids busy with tons of activities so we are always on the go and eat on the go, we also have many American food companies that have food scientists who do work to come up with the most addictive (best combo of fat, salt and sugar) to give us a huge dopamine hit on their convince foods to accommodate our busy lifestyles. I don’t agree with it but it is the capitalist culture of America. I do IF as well and even did a carnivore diet for three years but it lead me to binge and after being strict for that long I ended up carnivore all day and eating 10 Oreos at midnight which was of course awful. We do need to pull back on the constant working and activities but I think a lot of people just do it because it’s “normal” or what they see everyone else doing.
One thing I see in a lot of Asian cultures, particularly the South Korean, is beginning the day with a savory breakfast – most notably, salads, and even soup! This seemed shocking at first, but the more I think about the Typical American Breakfast, the more I am disgusted (to be very blunt) by it. Greek yogurt, berries, and seeds is my go-to, and I still love that, but I wish to start incorporating more vegetables into my day. Why not start at breakfast?
So so true! We recently moved cities and don’t have a dining area in our new home – just a long kitchen island that we hated eating at. I converted the den into our dining room and we are enjoying our meals so much more now and they feel so much more special. You are so right about these habits and I’ve noticed that a lot of my French Canadian clients and families have similar habits and most of them are slim. My current clients are slim despite eating very heavy food because they don’t snack and they stay very active. 86 and still riding a bike every day they can! I’ve decided to adopt their no-snack habit and while I haven’t lost weight from that yet my energy levels are so much better and my digestion has improved too. I’m convinced now that a grazing habit is an energy and health thief.
Jennifer, I was wondering if you were looking for an assistant to manage your various social media websites? No set or guaranteed hours, but whatever you see fit? I would love to get behind the scenes to learn and assist in order for you to optimize your content and time. Please let me know if you’re interested.
Loved this article and your book💕 I’m from the Midwest and moved to Germany some years ago and my first year here I lost 12 kilos just from living on the 3rd floor and of course no elevators. Yes, the lifestyle is so active where we are, there’s not a need to have an exercise program, it’s incorporated into daily life.☺
I wish we could eat like they do in France. If the playing field was level we could. I believe The processed food in America is addictive – which is why we eat 5 cookies instead of one. It’s not our fault. Europe doesn’t have the problem we have here with the chemicals in our food. ❤ Europe banned a lot of ingredients that we consume here. 😢. But you’re right, that’s how we should eat ❤
Gosh, who has time to walk that much? Many of us are locked into sedentary jobs for many hours per day and the. There’re the household jobs on top of that. I’d love to have walking built into our lifestyle the way it used to be but with both partners working to cover mortgage repayments/rent, high food and everything else prices on top, unfortunately this old lifestyle is way out of touch for so many these days, much the pity.
I am absolutely shocked at the lack of care you received leading up to and through childbirth. Here in the States we are sort of sue-happy but this situation would absolutely qualify for legal action. What an absolute nightmare! I personally have chosen to be child-free and this is EXACTLY a fear that I would have going into childbirth. Lately it seems like there are more and more issues and selfishly, my life is worth more to me than becoming a mother. (and I’m one who goes out of my way to avoid processed foods, artificial colors, etc.) I am so, so sorry you had to go through that. I give massive props to women who decide to go forward with motherhood – you are such a strong person!