Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Delicious!, July 25, 2006
I've read The Fat Fallacy, taken Dr. Clowers' PATH training, and met the man in person. This book is like sitting down and having a conversation with him. It's clarity, it's promise, it's decadence in moderation.
I owe my life to Dr. Clower. In 2004 I had hit my highest weight ever, been diagnosed with chronic hypertension and Type 2 diabetes, and I could barely move or walk without pain and being out of breath. I was on the verge of submitting to weight loss surgery! I wholeheartedly adopted the principles in the book "The Fat Fallacy" and I've dropped nearly 70 pounds, reduced my hypertension, nearly reversed my diabetes AND had a happy, healthy bouncing baby boy! And, no weight loss surgery, either.
And this was accomplished even without all the wonderful information I've learned in the last couple of months with the PATH training and what is in "The French Don't Diet". I realize now that I have more room for improvement and I'm eager for the changes and continued good health and weight loss. Never has eating and being active been so fun and delicious.
I've never lived a 'low-fat' life, but I did overeat for decades and I ate many bad-for-me foods. Now, I don't eat it if I don't know what's in it, I don't buy it without looking at the ingredients, and I've begun to step out of my comfort zone and actually prepared foods for myself like bread, gravies, salad dressings. Things I felt inept at creating, so I bought pre-packaged and pre-prepared versions chock full of chemicals and faux foods and health-sapping components. I've tried several recipes in Dr. Clower's books and they are amazing! And easy! So easy it's crazy. I spent years avoiding creating in the kitchen out of fear. Fear and laziness. Something the food industry capitalizes on. But, not anymore!
I appreciate the knowledge Dr. Clower and his books have imparted to me and my family and friends. We now know what's healthy and what's not. We enjoy our food and our lives so much more now, and we're losing weight and getting healthy in the process!
The best thing you can do for your self and your family is read this book and adopt the principles contained within. This isn't a 'diet' it's a lifestyle. A French lifestyle. A healthy lifestyle. Mind, body, spirit.
Once you do this there is no going back to the Standard American Diet. The SAD will kill you.
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75 of 87 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Fat Fallacy Redux, April 14, 2006
Taking full advantage of the popularity of Mireille Giuliano's "French Women Don't Get Fat" and other books that deify the French idea of chic, neuro-physiologist and PATH website founder, Will Clower again capitalizes on America's fascination with weight loss and the food-savvy French in his new volume, tellingly titled, "The French Don't Diet Plan: 10 Simple Steps to Stay Thin For Life."
As explained in his 2001 bestseller, "The French Fallacy", Will and his family spent two years in Lyon France where a real-time application of the French Paradox, which has supposedly baffled nutritionists for years, was experienced, observed and duly exemplified to formulate the basis for Clower's burgeoning real/slow food eating and dieting mini-kingdom. Clower and Co. followed a typically French regime of eating all the American dietary no-nos: full-fatted dairy, chocolate, wine, and sumptuously-sauced entrees and sides and discovered that instead of packing on the pounds as anticipated by all the leading nutritional experts, they actually shed excess weight while looking and feeling fabulous. Blame it on American ingenuity, but Clower delighted by the new freedom that he found as his waistline whittled down to haricot-vert size decided that adapting the French way of eating to life on the other side of the pond was well worth pursuing and voila: "The French Fallacy" was born accompanied by a website that sponsored an associated regime bolstered by weight loss suggestions and factoids.
Those of us who have contributed or participated in the site and the Yahoo and Marie Claire Message Boards pretty much know the drill by now. The "10 Simple Steps to Stay Thin for Life" have been reiterated, not nominally, but within vast discussions as the members struggled to create a methodology that followed the characteristic American-style macro-nutritional diet plan---specifically menus and recipes that would detail exactly the right pound-slimming intake of fats, carbs and proteins for each of the three meals. On his web site and now in his new book, Clower adamantly refutes the need for such gram-counting minutia, suggesting instead that adhering to his easy franco-specific tenets will ensure not only weight loss but good health down the line.
As propounded in "The Fat Fallacy", good eating, good health and optimal weight relies on feeding the body food---not the chemical miasma prepackaged in boxes by mega-corporations intent on sales where quantity outweighs quality. Obviously, since any engineered substance must not be ingested, the inverse, spectacularly prepared, organically grown seasonal foods are definitely allowed and encouraged to bring out the inner French food snobs in us all. Along this line, as one becomes more adept at discerning the different tastes and textures of `real' food, a body-protective sensitivity to low quality sweeteners (i.e., high fructose corn syrup) added to most processed food will manifest, happily disallowing such items to be `enjoyed' as they once were.
After restating `what the French eat', Clower moves on to the again familiar ground of `how they eat'. Here his tips includes the importance of eating slowly, thinking in smaller portion sizes, resisting the `toilet bowl' effect of washing down more food than necessary with gulps of beverage and eating only during appointed mealtimes (sorry, no snacking allowed.)
The remaining three steps suggest lifestyle changes a la Arbor's "Joie de Vivre" labor of love regarding his childhood reminiscences of eating in France. Way back when, those of us who are the sons and daughters of 20th century immigrants ate en famille, around an old-fashioned table, sans television, with no late night scheduling problems or the factoring in of too many individual activities. Controlling portions, eating slower and actually relaxing in the environment created are better realized when talking amongst family and friends. Along this line, Clower emphasizes the importance of stress relief and a large portion of laughter as a big part of our daily existence. People in France don't work out in gyms like we do, they choose something they absolutely love to do and then indulge accordingly. Finding that excuse to be outside, move our muscles and rejoice in being alive transports exercise to the realm of passion rather than the mundane necessity of ticking off another to-do item from the already fully encumbered daily list.
Clower's final chapters include recipes for fifty-one fabulous food substitutes, For example, making `Magic Chocolate Ganache' with wholesome ingredients like half and half, semisweet chocolate, butter and vanilla extract bans the faux food Hershey's Chocolate Syrup equivalent (Clower is pleased to list the chemical ingredients to this seemingly benign product as he did in "Fat Fallacy") from the mainstream American comfort food spectrum while crafting one with an alluring French panache.
One of the biggest problems I think people have had while attempting to implement Clower's ideas is the lack of specific menus that will jumpstart weight loss and prove that yes, eating good food in small quantities will work in the long run and stop the need for dieting forever. In this volume, Clower still refuses to suggest sample menus; instead he offers a template for breakfast, lunch and dinner with specific tips if you are in a hurry, on the road, eating in a restaurant or brown-bagging it. Personally, I think better food combinations need to be suggested; I only lost weigh after investigating different nutritional needs and trying them out on my body. Clower mentions the French love of dairy, but then not all his meals include dairy. Check out Jan Klauer's `How the Rich Stay Thin' for a more informative plan regarding this while using the same basic Mediterranean eating principles. Clower sanctions white artisan created bread, but why eat white when everyone knows whole grain is better? As in all diet books, many of his recipes seem to concentrate on dessert---that reward mentality is hard to put down even in a culture that worships the allure of the French---rather than the more important, (excuse the plebian term) `meat and potatoes' staples of dietary nutrition. The Sonoma Diet's power food inventory makes great suggestions on just what foods to eat and why. While using Clower's ideas explore and experiment with other dieting ideas to find your perfect fit.
Bottom line: Eat real food slowly. Small portions give you the taste and the nutrition. Laugh, love and enjoy life. If you have already received these messages loud and clear-it has been broadcast through many multi-national dieting megaphones---you already know pretty much what this book encompasses in 350+ pages. Buy it only if you haven't followed Clower's progress on the PATH and the various Internet Message Boards or if you want and need all the information at your fingertips. Ranked at three stars only because I already know. Up it to four if you don't.
Diana F, Von Behren
"reneofc"
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
love your food, and say goodbye to dieting, July 30, 2006
A couple of years ago I swore off diets forever, and I still think it's one of the best moves I've ever made. So why did I pick up this book? I wasn't enjoying my meals like I thought I should, and enough of an obsession with food remained in my psyche to spoil my peace of mind. Past experiences with the European approach to eating had been wonderful, so I was curious to see what Dr. Clower would say. I read the book as a "how to eat well and love it" manual rather than a "lose weight" guide, avoiding parts of the book that even hinted at calorie or portion recommendations. The results have been great. For the past six weeks, by eating higher-quality and tastier food, slowing down and really relishing my food, making mealtimes a relaxing break in the day, etc. I've been enjoying my food more than I have in years. Rarely do I feel any anxiety about food and mealtimes now. Also, I've been fascinated at how this approach really makes me satisfied with less. I always thought eating less would mean less to enjoy, but this hasn't been the case. When I'm satisfied after a few bites, I just look forward to the next meal. Enjoying my meals and rarely having that too-stuffed feeling is a wonderful change. Eating less has also balanced out the expense of switching to better food. I've lost some weight, all while drinking whole milk, eating 2 or 3 leisurely meals rather than the diet-gurus' recommended but unmanageable 5 to 6 meals a day, not obsessing over carbs, etc--in other words, while breaking all kinds of diet rules. What beautiful irony! But the best thing about this approach is the sense of well-being and peace it promotes. Read selectively, this book helped me step farther away from the artificial, diet-obsessed insanity that's out there. My reason for 4 instead of 5 stars is that this book still promotes itself with one foot in the "diet" camp. But all in all, it's an inspiring, useful, and almost therapeutic book. I'd even say life-changing, except that it's been just six weeks, and only time will tell how well these changes settle into my life over the long run. Great recipies too, by the way.
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