Interview: Sally Asher, author of “Losing It in France”

Last week, I was offered the opportunity to interview Melbourne based author Sally Asher.

Sally's book "Losing It in France: Les Secrets of the French Diet" is a personal story of how she found the courage to quit dieting and lose weight safely and permanently, while she was living in France. She learnt from the French how to enjoy gastronomic pleasures and lose weight at the same time.

I found interviewing Sally particularly interesting because of the similarities between her and I: she is Australian and lived in France, I am French and live in Australia, hence we have been exposed to the same cultures of food and body-image. Enjoy!

1. What do you think are the main differences in diet between Australia and France? How do you think these differences can be explained?

"One of the main differences in diet between Australia and France has to do with portion sizes.  I know a lot of Aussies who eat a fairly balanced diet, but just eat too much food.  This happens because they often eat when they’re not physically hungry (ie. stressed or bored) or they keep eating past the point of satisfaction because they are disconnected with their internal cues, and they don’t listen to their stomachs to tell them when they’ve had enough.

Many Australians often eat while distracted (ie. in front of the TV, computer or while driving) and this results in being left strangely unsatisfied and wanting more. The French culture expects that people sit down and eat with intention and attention as a sign of respect for the food.  It is also not customary for the French to overeat or overdrink to the point of being uncomfortably full or intoxicated.

Snacking is another difference between France and Australia.  The French rarely snack and if they have a coffee in between meals, it’s a short black and often sugarless.  Australians, on the other hand, often snack and are big “liquid calorie” drinkers. If you walk down the street, every second person is carrying a take-away latte, a smoothie, a jumbo juice or an energy drink.  These all contribute to our expanding waistlines, whereas the French generally stick to water most of the time.  Traditionally, the French stick to three meals a day, which is not only a safeguard against mindless eating, but helps to provide structure and boundaries to their eating." (SA) 

2. Would you say Australian diet is closer to the French diet or to the American diet?

"Having lived in both America and France, I would have to say that Australians enjoy good food and mostly do their best to eat healthily, like the French, but American habits like snacking, oversized portions and fast food have well and truly infiltrated here as well.  And like the Americans, Australians often turn to restrictive dieting to lose weight, an approach that robs them of their ability to experience real pleasure with eating and creates a “love/hate” relationship with food.   The “diet mentality” then leads to feelings of deprivation, guilt and ultimately leads to rebound overeating.

What I see more and more these days is people grabbing fast food meals and eating them on the run – I call it “gulp, gobble and go”.  They don’t take the time to sit down and savour their meal.  Feeding ourselves has become something we slot in to our busy days as an afterthought and often we reach for what is cheap, convenient and fast.  Many Australians now eat “chaotically” and often turn to food to calm the anxieties of the fast paced world we live in.  Food is no longer just fuel – for many Australians it’s become an all-purpose medication.

The French, on the other hand, don’t really eat unless they are hungry.  They appreciate quality food and are prepared to pay a little more for the best – because they’re worth it!  The French will make the time to sit down and connect with friends and family over a meal. They are also intuitively aware of balancing out their consumption over a day or a week.  They achieve this by eating a little of everything but not too much of anything." (SA)

3. What are your views on the “French paradox”? How do you think it can be explained?

"I believe the French paradox is really not so paradoxical at all, but a perfectly logical truth – eating real foods in moderation and for the right reasons – for fuel and often pleasure too.  The real secret is that the French eat what they really love, but no more than they need, within the boundaries of hunger and satisfaction.  This is called “natural eating”.  This inner wisdom to know what and how much our bodies need is something we are all born with.  The difference is that the French culture nurtures this wisdom from birth, but in cultures like America and Australia we often become disconnected with our internal cues and encouraged to eat more than we need.

I believe that camembert, red wine, chocolate and foie gras only become a problem when they are over consumed.  To me, the French paradox really means “all things in moderation”, which is easy to achieve when food is in its proper place. When guilt is not a factor, common sense prevails." (SA)

4. According to different sources, Italian and Japanese Women are as slim as the French ladies. Why do media seem to focus primarily on the latter to promote healthy eating?

"I agree. I lived in Italy too and their approach to eating is much like the French.  I also lived with a Japanese flat mate for a year while I was studying and she was as thin as a rail.  Again, both the Japanese and Italians are in tune with their hunger and satiety and eat mindfully, with their full awareness, in accordance with their body’s needs.

They are also passionate about good quality food and make the effort to shop, cook and prepare it lovingly – but they don’t overeat - they don’t need to because no foods are off limits, so there is never a legitimate reason to overeat.

I’m not sure why the media seem to focus primarily on the French to promote healthy eating.  To me, the three cultures may differ in what they eat (ie the Italians eat pasta, the Japanese rice and the French bread and cheese), but how and why they eat are very similar.  By this I mean they all eat for physical rather than emotional reasons and remain attuned and responsive to their inner satiety signals." (SA)

5. You managed to lose a lot of weight while living in France. Did you expect it to happen before going?

"Not really. I had tried so hard to diet for 15 years and every year I got a little fatter.  I was stuck in a cycle of either being really “good” on my diet or being really “bad”.  So I was disillusioned about my ability to manage my weight but didn’t know of a better solution.

What happened when I moved to Paris to live with a French family is that I quit dieting and transformed my relationship with food.  Under the influence of my French family, I stopped worrying about calories, carbs and fat grams and began to eat the foods I love between the boundaries of hunger and satisfaction.  By giving myself permission to eat all foods, the desire to overeat naturally diminished.

It was quite scary at first, but slowly I began to gain confidence in my ability to eat with balance, moderation and variety.  The weight loss happened naturally because I no longer had the desire to eat when I wasn’t hungry and I trusted my body to tell me when I had had enough." (SA)

6. Do you think most French women consider themselves to be “beautiful”? Is it true that French Women are arrogant?

"Yes, I do believe that most French women consider themselves to be beautiful because beauty for them is not about perfection it’s about self-acceptance and self-love. I think French women do a great job at emphasising their best assets – whether it’s their eyes, their legs or their hair and developing their personal style.

They also inherently cultivate character and charm, because they understand that personality and charisma is sexy and powerful, even if one is not aesthetically perfect.  French women embrace their femininity, but I don’t think they are arrogant, they are simply self-assured.  I believe they learn this from their mothers and grandmothers.   Intuitive self-care is part of the French culture, especially for women.  Most of all, they enjoy looking and feeling beautiful – and at the end of the day – beauty is in the eye of the beholder." (SA)

7. What is your best weight loss tip for Mademoiselle Slimalicious’ readers to try?

"I have so many, but what continues to work for me is eating good quality food with intention and attention, taking care of my hunger with food and taking care of my other needs in more effective ways than eating. I drink plenty of water, herbal teas, eat fresh fruits and vegetables and protein at every meal, drink moderate amounts of alcohol and eat small amounts of dark chocolate.  I don’t diet and no foods are off limits but I am now a “food snob” in the best possible way.  The French taught me to eat with freedom and joy to fuel my active life, rather than use food to help regulate my emotions.  I am profoundly grateful for the wisdom I’ve gained, which is why I wrote “Losing It in France”.   I am also a weight loss coach via my website www.sallyasher.com" (SA)

I would like to personally thank Sally Asher for taking the time to answer my questions.

You can purchase a copy of Sally Asher's book

“Losing It In France” on Amazon

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