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139 of 144 found the following review helpful:
 Worked for me! Jan 03, 2005
By Online Shopaholic
I first spotted The Fat Fallacy in a bookstore at a time when I was feeling frustrated at not being able to shed those last 10 pounds after months of exercising more regularly than I ever had before and trying to eat low-fat. I was intrigued by the idea that I could eat foods I love - cheese, full-fat premium ice cream, and chocolate - all while losing weight.
It sounded almost too good to be true, but I'd seen firsthand from a trip to Paris that the French ate very differently from us yet stayed thin. Also, many of Will Clower's comments made a lot of sense intuitively. I decided to give it a try, hoping for the best, but promising to stop if it caused me to gain weight instead.
I tossed out the skim milk, "low-fat" cheese, and processed foods containing high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils and other artificial ingredients (you'd be amazed how many things include them!). To refill my pantry and refrigerator, I bought cream-top yogurt, whole milk, cheese, freshly baked french bread, good olive oil, high-quality dark chocolate, fresh vegetables, etc. I loved eating the new foods, found I didn't need to eat as much as before to feel satisfied, and was amazed at how quickly I saw the pounds start coming off.
Within just over a month of making the changes, I had lost the 10 pounds I'd been struggling with. Another 5 pounds that I wasn't even trying to lose came off in the following month, leaving me happily surprised to have dropped 3 clothing sizes. Wow! It's so wonderful to be able to enjoy food without guilt, and to be happy with my body at the same time!
I've since bought several copies of The Fat Fallacy to share with friends and family who've expressed interest. I'm always happy to be able to tell people about this book, as it encourages a healthy lifestyle rather than a "diet". It's definitely worth reading, and the recommendations seem so much healthier than some of today's trendier diets. Hope you'll read it and get as much out of it as I did!
147 of 158 found the following review helpful:
Could This Be America's Weight-Loss Solution? Mar 26, 2004
By Chris Frost
The Fat Fallacy is a refreshing new way (or rather old way) of looking at food. In our search for the quick-fix weight-loss solution, we have basically abandoned food and learned to embrace a diet of generally non-edible chemicals that have been dressed to resemble food. This becomes apparent at the end of every chapter, where there is a "faux-foods" quiz, which lists the ingredients of a common food substance and dares you to identify it. I only got one right, and wondered why I've been eating all this stuff. His advice is grounded in common sense - "if it ain't food, don't eat it" - and is actually quite easy to follow. How much time do Americans spend obsessing about how many carbs or sugars or fat grams are in their "food"? And when was the last time an American actually ENJOYED one of these low-fat, low-carb, low-sugar, low-taste, low-nutrition meals? The basic idea behind this "diet" is that Americans are fat because they eat too much. We keep getting fatter in spite of all the diet "foods" we eat. The human body doesn't get the nutrition it needs from this chemical soup, so it remains hungry until it gets some kind of real food. This is the typical binge. It's really quiet disgusting if you think about how much we eat. But in The Fat Fallacy, we are shown how to choose real food and enjoy it, all the while losing weight. How? When your body actually gets the nutrients it needs, it stops telling you that it's hungry, and that's when you stop eating. Pretty simple stuff. No agonizing over what frozen-food item has less fat or less carbs, no more choking down those tasteless food-sticks, no more disgusting eating habits. Our bodies need food. Be nice to your body and give it some.
347 of 383 found the following review helpful:
 Reader Mar 05, 2005
By CLL
You sort of get the feeling that he's bottling tap water and trying to make millions off of it. I'm sure he's a very nice person, but there is nothing that qualifies him to write a diet book regarding the French lifestyle, save his two years in France. Basically, if you Google "french diet" or "French paradox," the various articles and such, including ones mentioning W.Clowers, will tell you what you need to know about the French Paradox. Also, read all the reviews on this site, you'll learn everything you need to know about the book without buying it. Though this book is almost 300 pages in length, you could capture the formula he sets forth in a one-paged pamphlet. There are 2 things to keep in mind: (1) the way you eat; and (2) what you eat. (1) Way: Basically, three square meals of real, unprocessed food and no snacks. (NOTHING processed, not even light butter or aspartame or corn syrup, etc.) Eating slowly is most important, small bites of delicious foods, chew slowly, put fork down between bites. Sips of water and red wine between bites. Enjoy and try to eat in several courses. (2) What: Fruits, veggies, whole grains of course. But most importantly, the French believe that dairy (whole milks, whole cheese, whole yogurt, real butter) and dairy fat, vegetable fat (olive oil), and fat from ducks and geese are healthy; not healthy are fats from animal tissue, i.e., beef fat and pork. Lots of red wine, coffee, and small amounts of dark chocolate. Have red wine w/ your meal, and a small strong coffee and chocolate after Lunch and Dinner. Also, walk everywhere, make exercise an organic part of your life. I got all this off of Google searches and so his book wasn't any more informative. Pretty basic and it works b/c, miraculously, all that dairy fat deliciously and effectively kills your appetite and you're (I'm) not thinking about food constantly. Basically, print out this review, and apply those steps with a better guide book, such as French Women Don't Get Fat or Joie de Vivre (written by a French restrauteur living in America), which explains especially well the French way of eating. W.Clowers seems like a really nice person, but his writing is boring and sort of meanders all over the place. (He's a scientist, not a writer.) And one can't escape the feeling that he's really trying to make millions, especially in light of his website and future book projects and ridiculous chocolate eating courses, by bottling tap water! I think it's pretty dishonest to charge a bunch of hardworking Americans a seminar fee to "teach" them how to slowly melt a piece of chocolate on their tongue. Did that 1/2 ounce piece of chocolate cost $100? I'm tired of diet "guru" after "guru" trying to make it rich quick off the American people. He's yet another who's quickly put up a website to charge membership fees with "advisors" with questionable qualifications. 80 million French are doing it without him, and so can you!
60 of 62 found the following review helpful:
Life changing!!!!! May 15, 2004
By Sheryl Root
I rarely feel strongly enough about a book to take the time to write an online review, but in this case I HAVE to share my thoughts. If I could encourage everyone in the country to read this book, I would!I have always loved food and loved cooking. However, I have always felt guilty about enjoying my food because I seem to want to gorge on it. Then I'm off into the want to eat/feel guilty about eating cycle! I am also an emotional eater, and nighttime snacking is my downfall. Over the past 2 1/2 years I have lost about 75lbs, mainly by just eating healthier and exercising. I cut out most processed and fast foods, sodas, sweets etc. and sought to eat more healthy foods. As my weight loss slowed over the past year or so I have gone through the counting calories phase (far too time consuming and tiring to do for long)and the counting protein/fat/carb grams phase (again, too time consuming). The one good thing that came out of these phases was learning to control portion sizes. A week or so ago I read the article in Woman's World magazine that mentioned this book "Fat Fallacy". The themes of eating whole, real foods struck a chord in me, and so I went out and bought it. In the week that I have been following the principles it suggests, my life has been transformed. I don't know that I can even express with words how much! For the first time in my life (and I'm 41), I feel free from the bondage to food. Instead, I feel freedom to really enjoy food and not feel guilty about it! I have not felt the urge to mindlessly stuff myself at night since I began. The concept that has most revolutionized my life from this book is slowing down while you eat. You'd think this would be a basic concept, but not here in the U.S. I was one who would eat in front of the TV constantly, stuffing my face long after I was full. Or at work I ate lunch at my desk, not even realizing what was going into my mouth! I now either eat at my kitchen table (no TV!)at home,or at work I go outside to eat at lunchtime. No more eating at my desk. I eat small bites, put my fork down between bites, and am really learning to taste my food. I'll have a book at the table to read, but I don't read while I'm eating. I'll have a few bites, put down my fork, read a page or two, put down the book, eat a few more bites, etc. This way when my stomach signals my brain that I'm full, I haven't eaten way past the full point to the stuffed point. I've gotten rid of all those supposedly "healthy" foods from my refrigerator and cupboards. No more protein powders, energy bars, low-fat anything's! I now eat whole foods, or at least make sure I recognize everything on the ingredient list if I eat something packaged (and those things are pretty hard to find!). Dr. Clower puts the "How to Eat" chapter before the "What to Eat" chapter for a reason. If you are eating slowly, you will need smaller amounts to fill you up. Then the fact that you can eat butter, olive oil, cheese, bread and chocolate is a wonderful fact, but not an excuse to eat in excess. Just an end note ... I noticed in a couple of the negative reviews that the writers seem to think Dr. Clower is encouraging eating huge amounts of high fat foods (one mentions her sister eats 5-6 slices of bacon each morning). If you read this book and take away that idea, you've only picked out what you wanted to see instead of what is actually there. When it comes to protein Dr. Clower recommends this hierachy ... mostly fish, then chicken, then lean pork, and maybe once a week red meat. I'm not sure how you could get the idea that it's OK to eat bacon every morning from this. I guess it just goes to show you that it's easy for us to pick and choose only what we want to take away from books ... people having been doing that from the Bible for centuries! For the person who didn't like the recipes ... this isn't really a cookbook. There are plenty of wonderful cookbooks out there. I know because I love to read cookbooks :-) Dr. Clower is showing you some basic ideas of how to put whole food meals together. My recommendation ... invest the $12.95 and read this book!
48 of 49 found the following review helpful:
How to eat-enjoy! Feb 01, 2005
By The Mad Doctor
The French paradox has confounded doctors for years. They skip the gym, smoke more, drink more and enjoy more rich foods than Americans. And we Americans are fatter and have more heart disease.
The scientist author offers two explainations. One they eat real food. Two is their way of eating. The first is simple. We eat crap. Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil instead of cream in our coffee. Same poison in margarine instead of butter. Soy protein instead of goose liver pate. Our fast food is gross. Sugar in my hamburger patty, bun and fries too! If people didn't eat it one hundred years ago, it isn't likely to be real food.
Second is how we eat. Meet another couple for dinner on a weekend. Their cell phones ring again and again. Business, the kids, discord with relatives,... And in thirty minutes they have wolfed down their meal and are ready to drive across town to the next event. Maybe next time we could meet at 7-11 for a microwave burrito.
When you travel you see Europeans relax by the hour with coffee leisurely enjoying their meal and company. It seems a lost art in the USA. Eating is best relaxed, with friends and family, really tasting your meal. Put your fork down and talk. Listen. Enjoy. Turn off the phone. Sit at the table with nice music. Turn off the TV.
Enjoy your meals. Enjoy your friends and family. Enjoy your life.
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