Jeroen Kemperman

This story you will find in may books about France, it’s about the French and their food. But because it’s such an important one I name it here as well with the addition of a small analysis.

The French have three meals a day just like most countries I know. However their lunch (dejeuner) and dinner (diner) are different to what I am used to. Lunch is a pretty large warm meal. They take a long time to eat it (compared to what I am used to). Dinner is also a warm meal with the exception that it takes place much later in the evening. I now have dinner at around 20.30 (8.30pm). Both the dinner and lunch consist of (in my case) some vegetables, meat and potatoes, or pasta, pizza etc. On top of that I have my croissant au beurre almost every morning.

Since we moved to France I have lost one kilo. Even though I now have more meals and a croissant au beurre in the morning. So how come? Well here is my analysis. First of all the French take longer to eat and thus my hypothesis is that they start a better digestion here. They take eating more seriously; you don’t see many people eating in the streets for example. Second of all the ones I have gotten to know don’t snack. I have had candy on my desk that no one will eat. So I can almost throw it away. Third, the dinner being so late doesn’t leave much appetite for an evening snack. Besides all of this personally I have a lot more moving to do now because I walk the public transportation system now everyday.

So that’s my analysis of why the French stay so thin. They don’t take eating lightly.