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Acute observations about the American way of life. . . In the wake of the recent "obesity crisis," Mireille Guiliano sets out to examine the differences between the eating habits of the French and American women because, she observes, French women do not get fat and American do. Anyone who has visited Europe can generally corroborate this observation. After having lived in Britain for a year and making frequent trips to and from Europe since then, I, too, have been fascinated by the different lifestyles and observed that Europeans are just thinner. I have always preferred a European lifestyle - partly because after even a short time there, I usually drop at least one dress size! At the outset, Mireille disclaims any "professional" knowledge relating to diet and nutrition, but does claim, astutely, that she has eyes and therefore the ability to observe the differences between the two cultures, especially because she was raised in one (France) and now lives in the other (America). She loves both cultures. In making her observations, Mireille vacillates between being highly opinionated and passionate and taking the gentle, encouraging tone of a mother. She broadly attributes the reason for such size differences to her observation that many Americans live by extremes and apply these extremes to their eating habits. I agree with this general proposition. Most every American woman I know disdainfully views food at some point or another and goes through periods wherein she limits her culinary intake to salads with low-quality vegetables from corporate chains and "chemical-ly" fat free dressings or to low-fat sandwiches from Subway with meat that tastes like sawdust. They would rather spend $5 on a huge but lesser quality salad than the same amount on a reasonably-portioned, but better quality salad. After spending the whole day eating unsatisfying meals, these same women then proceed directly to the gym where they sweat profusely for two hours on a Stairmaster, hating every moment. After two weeks of this regime they quit and go back to regularly eating cookies or binging upon whopping portions of TGI Friday-type meals that are loaded with calories and are not healthful in the least. On the other hand, Mireille claims that French women think more positively about food than American women. They are obsessed with quality over quantity. They do not deprive themselves. And they certainly would not PAY to go to a gym and subject themselves to medieval-style torture workouts. Seeming to summon Susan Powter, Mireille practically shouts, "stop the madness," and asks why don't we look upon the French as an example of finding a middle ground? Let's look upon food positively. Let's focus on the quality of the food - if it will/does not taste good, then don't eat it. Focus on the freshness and quality of fruits and vegetables. Cut out processed foods, i.e., foods where the ingredient list begins to sound like chemical warfare. Take back the kitchen. (She provides some very delicious and EASY recipes that even a first-time cook can master.) And finally, don't deprive yourself totally - have a cookie, but not every day or even every other day, but don't tell yourself you can never have one because that is an extreme and, therefore, unhealthy position. Oh, and by the way, if you do have that cookie, make sure it's your favorite or else don't bother. Mireille seeks to solve dilemmas by offering up several "tricks" used by French women. For example, if you're busy, instead of seeing a homemade dinner as solely an elaborate three-course meal, how about simple soup? It's quick, delicious and fills you up, albeit (aha!) with mostly water. Or, if you hate the gym, how about taking the stairs once a day and sneaking in 20 minute walks? (It is better than guilting yourself for not going the gym and doing nothing, which seems to happen most.) Today's American lifestyle seems to lack creative solutions to the "time-crunch" problems and relies almost exclusively on calling the pizza delivery guy, frequenting the drive-thru or raiding the frozen food aisle for heat-up processed foods. On a related note, Mireille also observes that Americans lack basic nutrition knowledge. In their zeal for convenience foods, they seem to be unaware as to how bad these foods actually are and the negative effect they will have on the body. These same people feed these awful processed foods to their families, undoubtedly fueling the child obesity crisis. She gutsily claims that there is nothing wrong with tricking your kids into eating healthy foods that they will not gain an appreciation for until they're older. The sum and substance of Mireille's opinions is that Americans view weight-loss, among other things, to the extremes. To an American, losing weight means deprivation and suffering. To the French, deprivation and suffering is not moderate. (There must be a trend brewing because I note that recent books have been authored making similar observations about American soccer-moms and extreme child rearing.) I would suggest this book to anyone who has struggled with dieting or simply enjoys the study of cultural differences. It is an easy read and because she is so generally positive and encouraging, you will feel better about yourself after you read it.