[Closed] Fat people in France...

Edukator? Out of interest... in your opinion is there much of a 'Diet' industry in France... weight watchers etc? I didn't look out for SlimFast shakes and the like whilst over there as it wasn't until I got back that I realised that the only fatties I saw were middle aged mtbers from the UK.

Watching what other shoppers put in their trolleys is always informative.

Once saw a fella in front of me at the checkout with nothing else but a cucumber, condoms and a tube of KY Jelly.
I suspect some sort of bet/dare but amusing all the same

The female magazines are covered with "régime" and "diet" in the run up to the Summer holidays but supermarkets promote bio/healthy rather than diet. Madame says the para-pharmacies are where ladies buy the slimming foods and meal substitutes. Some supermarkets have para-pharmacies in them so that would be where to look.

Right I got to read a bit more of this.
First I really do think it's down to eating habits. As I said during my four years in the UK I learn to eat badly (mean anywhere and everywhere). What struck me, is that yesterday I had a recruitment "party" at a private beach around 18h00. Got there a bit in advance and I was starving (it was my third interview and I didn't had much to eat for lunch). So I popped in the local supermarket. And there I realised one thing. This is what I would have done in the UK, I was stuck for beach vicinity so I couldn't walk much further, but in any other case I wouldn't have popped in a super market. I would have gone to a bakery. So I tried to look for savoury but they was nowt. I just got myself a small packet of spirit biscuit. But I would have much prefer a small slice of pizza or pizzaladière. Once again bakery aren't popular in the UK. So are market, and butcher. So once it's down IMHO in the education rather than the food itself.

British trolleys contain lots of industrial cakes and indusrial ready meals

In Asda you might see this more often, you don't see it so much in Waitrose, for example. You are making some terribly sweeping comments.

I think that, following on from what Juan said, there is more choice of eating habit and flexibility in the UK. In some places in Germany and France it seems that you're expected to do everything the same way, shop at the same times and that's that. Here you can eat ready meals, cook from scratch, grab a good salad at lunchtime, sandwiches, soup, loads of different healthy options without needing to shell out for a restaurant.

To be fair Molly... more shopping is done in Asda supermarkets than Waitrose.

Juan is making that out to be a bad thing about British culture... you see it as good. Did you watch 'The Men that Made us Fat'. They invented snacking and eating on the go... it's one of the factors that make us fat.

I think you're trolling BTW. No one can...

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the only fatties I saw were middle aged mtbers from the UK.

Careful who you're calling middle aged Yeti 😉

When we went to france a couple of years ago on one of those camping holidays, the supermarket on site was really shit, full of crap proccessed stuff

They invented snacking and eating on the go

What about the Middle East and India? Doesn't street food feature highly in those places, and has done for hundreds of years..?

Well having just come back from a work trip to Germany, I can say "we" have some way to go in the bad eating stakes.
Eating out, the veg options mainly seemed to be cabbage red/white & boiled/pickled, everything came with a mountain of buttered spuds, and in 4 days I saw very little resembling a green leafy veg, let alone a salad.
And as this was a work trip, it was all "top restauarants" not cheap'n'cheerful...

..Oh, just remembered, I did get a salad - wobbling back from an evening bar vist, chanced across a guy selling kebabs from a street stall - he looked quite surprised when I asked for extra salad 😀

Re: the comment about bread not being real bread if it lasts more than a day is a complete load of piffle.

That doc clearly has no taste:

[url= http://www.thebertinetkitchen.com/sourdough1-2kg-bertinet_1_2kg_sourdough.htm ]http://www.thebertinetkitchen.com/sourdough1-2kg-bertinet_1_2kg_sourdough.htm[/url]

[i]The making of a traditional sourdough loaf is very slow and takes about 18 hours from start to finish. All this time develops a wonderful full flavour from the caramelised thick crust, through to salty and sweet as well as the characteristic sour notes. The thick crust acts as a preserving barrier against the air keeping the loaf fresher for longer. The larger the loaf, the thicker the crust and the longer it will keep. One of our 1.2kg loaves lasts our family of 5 for the best part of a week. Store the sourdough wrapped in a clean tea towel cut side down in your bread bag. It is delicious just as it is for the first 3 or 4 days and then better toasted. It will not mould like some commercial bread. If you have any left over at the end of the week sling it in the magimix to turn into breadcrumbs and store in the freezer.

Ingredients: organic wheat flour, organic spelt flour, organic barley flour, water & sea salt. Our bread does not contain any additives, preservatives or other nasties. However it is baked in an environment where nuts are used so may contain nut traces. Suitable for vegetarians & vegans.

Not suitable for coeliacs.[/i]

[img] [/img]

We have one every week delivered.

Nom nom and indeed McNommy Nom.

some of the best salads I have ever eaten have been in germany - they serve salad as a meal not as a side dish ...did you try ordering a salad?

LOL @ Dr Bakes - I'm not risking calling you middle aged... you needed time out with the ginger kitty to help calm you down 😆

The Southern Yeti - Member
To be fair Molly... more shopping is done in Asda supermarkets than Waitrose.

Depends where you live surely...

...I live on what can only be called a "working class estate" actually one of the largest (area wise) in England - in the midlle it has a PO, pub, launderette, newsagent and a supermarket - the supermarket is a Waitrose.
It is usally full of what most stw people would condescendingly call "Chavs" - but, they are all of a fairly normal weight range, and baskets/trolleys are full of "healthy" food stuffs.

This "Fat Brit" thing must be regional, I must say the further N &/or W I travel the more dishevelled, malnourished and unsightly the populace seem to be........

Molly - did you watch the program?

Also, regarding street food... do they add that on top of 3 square meals a day? I'm guessing not... as they're not, in general, fat.

We are!

(Well I'm not 8.7% lalalalalaaaa)

do they add that on top of 3 square meals a day?

Do we?

FFS - did you watch the program? How else do you think there are so many fat ***** here?

The Southern Yeti - Member

LOL @ Dr Bakes - I'm not risking calling you middle aged... you needed time out with the ginger kitty to help calm you down

And now I'm suffering nicotine withdrawal, post holiday blues and Kitty is a thousand miles away. I'm not sure I'd be able to control my rage this time. How's the arm healing up?

Do we?

It's getting there... smelt a bit funky last night! There's an uplift day at Hopton on the 22nd that might help with the blues? I can't remember my log-in otherwise I'd start a thread on it.

Funky is not good. Get Chris to give you his medical opinion and take the stitches out while he's at it?

I should be able to turn my head again by the 22nd. For now I can only go in straight lines.

I had 3 croissants and a pannoshokala for breakfast this morning. 🙂

deadly's turning into a right chubbyfunster

its the wife who's meant to put on the baby weight!

I think it was the Vaseline in the dressing... smelt alright this morning. GoPro stitch removal footage?

Tres Bonne DD.

I had 3 croissants and a pannoshokala for breakfast this morning.

Good work.

(On a serious note, beware the classic new fathers getting fat probelm. Iz why I iz biffer)

ohhh dont worry about deadly getting fat, he's the BMF member of the month cos he's so fit and stuff. he bench presses whole army tanks i hear.

I'm looking forward to him becoming Double E... or even GG.

and his road bike has the word 'race' on it.

Is twitter this absorbing ?
How do I join

Junky this is a live twitter feed.

#withoutthe*******swearing

CBA reading the whole thread but what's all this about jarred vegetables being full of sugar and that's why British people are fat? I don't think I have ever seen or heard of anyone in this country eating jarred vegetables. Industrial beans and vegetables? Eh? 😕

Juan is making that out to be a bad thing about British culture...

Well I am only reporting my observation. When I was at the uni, we had a "market" on mondays.

My local market (wednesdays and saturdays - always busy) has a really good selection of meats and cheeses from quality local farms/suppliers, great bread/baked goods, as well as continental deli type stuff, fruit and veg ranging from very cheap to organic etc

I definitely agree that France has a much better 'food culture', but it's not as bad here as some people make out.

And some of the stuff in French supermarkets (like sliced bread for instance) is utter rubbish.

All wrong, grum, it's the English tins that contian the sugar and the foreign jars that don't. But some English tins, especially own-branded ones from supermarkets, don't contain added sugar or salt either.

The whole thread is about sweeping statements and stereotypes, Molgrips. You yourself are the master of the disparaging sweeping statement concerning the Germans, for example on this thread:

I didn't particularly enjoy the food in Germany, to be honest. Big emphasis on jarred veg and also very little choice. The convenience food there was was awful ... I couldn't find anything to hold a candle to Waitrose in the suburbs of Munich

grum - I think there are plenty of people that know how to eat properly in the UK. The obesity statistics and a cursory glance around seem to suggest that even more don't.

All wrong, grum, it's the English tins that contian the sugar and the foreign jars that don't.

Where did I get that wrong exactly? My point is it's a non-issue and pointless comparison because hardly anyone eats jars of vegetables in this country. 😕

grum - I think there are plenty of people that know how to eat properly in the UK. The obesity statistics and a cursory glance around seem to suggest that even more don't.

Yup, fair enough. I do think the fact that we work some of the longest hours in Europe (and have some of the most congested roads/crappest public transport?) has an impact. I know when I am rushing around working long days with little break and driving between jobs I end up eating crap a lot of the time. I do think it's ridiculous how hard it is to buy healthy food from the vast majority of shops though.

Doe she not know Aldi is German?

Absolutely superb recycling system though and i found it to be very good - France had loads of milk free stuff as well when I was there which was nice.

Food here is, in general, about the cheapest and the most convenient

Franc e and Germany still have bakers and actual food shops in small villages and not just large supermarkets in the edge of towns

Whilst there is variability I would rather have their food system than ours [ though perhaps they could keep the french farmers 😉

And some of the stuff in French supermarkets (like sliced bread for instance) is utter rubbish.

Never said it wasn't

Franc e and Germany still have bakers and actual food shops in small villages and not just large supermarkets in the edge of towns

All wrong, grum

The whole thread is about sweeping statements

France and Germany still have bakers and actual food shops in small villages and not just large supermarkets in the edge of towns

So do we! I dunno where you live but it must be pretty grim!

Food here is, in general, about the cheapest and the most convenient

I really don't agree.

grum - I think there are plenty of people that know how to eat properly in the UK. The obesity statistics and a cursory glance around seem to suggest that even more don't.

So we are 20% obese, aren't we? That means 80% are not. So I would suggest that most people do know how to eat properly.

77% may not be obese but the BBC says:

In the UK an estimated 60.8 per cent of adults and 31.1 per cent of children are overweight.

Most Brits are fat then, fact.

Edit: that compares with [url= http://www.doctissimo.fr/html/nutrition/poids/nu_7660_obesite_progression_france.htm ]41.6% of French people who are fat.[/url]

Most Brits are fat then, fact.

Edit: that compares with 41.6% of French people who are fat.

Yes, it's all because the the jars of industrial sugary vegetables that we are mad for in this country.

France and Germany still have bakers and actual food shops in small villages and not just large supermarkets in the edge of towns
So do we! I dunno where you live but it must be pretty grim!

Food here is, in general, about the cheapest and the most convenient
I really don't agree.

I dont even think either of those statements are controversial and can only assume you are being your usual contrary self.

In the next episode of the trolgrips show our intrepid hero tries to tell us that breathing is not essential for healthy living.

I dont even think either of those statements are controversial and can only assume you are being your usual contrary self.

I just don't think it's true. There are loads of more upmarket food places. Waitrose have expanded all over the place; every supermarket now has a 'taste the difference' range; you can spend £15 on a bottle of olive oil in a supermarket; there's plenty of organic produce, free range chicken, outdoor reared pork available; there's a choice of eggs from different kinds of hens in our ASDA ffs.

Even snacks are going upmarket - you may or may not like the coffee but Nerostabucks are always packed with people spending £3.50 on a drink and £5 on a sandwich. And that's in Cardiff, which is not an affluent middle-class place. To say that as a nation we go for the cheapest en-masse is just not right.

I wonder what kind of diet Emily Batty has. She's Canadian I believe, so might speak a little French.

Christ sake. Molly in France it doesn't seem that people spend that sort of money on that sort of shite.

They buy a fresh baguette for a euro and some butter and cheese. My thoughts are that this is closer to what thin people in the UK do.

Waitrose have expanded all over the place;

people spending £3.50 on a drink and £5 on a sandwich. And that's in Cardiff, which is not an affluent middle-class place.

Trolgrips will be along shortly to tell you that Tesco Express has freshly baked baguettes in it.

Using locally sourced flour from happy hens?

They buy a fresh baguette for a euro and some butter and cheese.

I'm pretty sure that Trolgrips confessed to using ready made sauces yesterday so I have no idea what he knows about real decent food.

BBSB - the point really is that they don't buy a fancy expensive plastic packed shite sandwich from a supermarket... from what I could tell. As I've said earlier the road workers I saw having a lunch break were pretty much having a picnic. They didn't go to the motorway Maccie D's. Infact the motorway services restaurant was a pretty decent affair... not a burger in sight.

Zut! Tesco it sells baguettes?

[img] [/img]

flour from happy hens

What came first though, the chicken or the bread?

why does he have a tiny little bum on the end of his nose?

BBSB - the point really is that they don't buy a fancy expensive plastic packed shite sandwich from a supermarket...

All wrong, grum, it's the English tins that contian the sugar and the foreign jars that don't. But some English tins, especially own-branded ones from supermarkets, don't contain added sugar or salt either.

Non, non, non. I am currently in France and being a lazy sod buy all my veg in cans, I looked at some yesterday and they all had added sugar (own brand and the more expensive stuff)

I should also mention that French supermarkets have plenty of convenience, snacking and crap food on the shelves so I can only assume that the French are not immune from eating bad food. Certainly the ones I know do.

Lol at the comment about the only fat bikers being English ones, there is plenty of truth in it. Everywhere I have been so far this summer, the biffers were all speaking English (and usually riding orange 5s)

The only good thing about the fat English mtbers is that they had the good sense to cover their lycra in baggy clothing... can't say the same for the foreign sounding chaps (although they weren't UK fat)... or the disgraceful Rapha wearers at the Chunnel station...

Rusty Spanner - Member
Running away & building roadblocks takes a lot of energy.

Posted 1 day ago # Report-Post

But did you look at the jars, IanV?

The best-on-test olive oil in a recent test was Leclerc's own brand which was also one of the cheapest.

My original comment on the added sugar in UK tins came from a meal served from cans when we arrived at the family late one evening a few years back. On tucking in my first comment was "jeez this is all sweet, even the savoury stuff". Checking the tin labels revealed that everything on our plates had added sugar: meat, veg and potatoes.

pretty sure it and asda are a supermarkets and not local bakeries based in small villages.

Waitrose have 'little waitrose' on high streets to sell upmarket stuff. And there are also bakeries, butchers, greengrocers in most of the suburbs by me.

Not sure what your post is about here. Are you denying that there are local bakeries and whatnot? Am I making it up or what?

My point is that there is a significant market for local and/or upmarket food, and I think it has been growing for years.

[img] &max=456&folder=pics[/img]

Waitrose have 'little waitrose' on high streets to sell upmarket stuff.

Where?

Molgripes - this thread is about why people in France are skinnier on average than us in the UK. Not about buying upmarket products. Unless you're saying that all the upmarket food you buy is part of the problem?

Are you denying that there are local bakeries and whatnot? Am I making it up or what?

Back on topic, when it was 39°C outside last week and 26°C in the house anything heavier than a salad and fish didn't really appeal.

Don - there is a traditional bakery in the town I live in. That's one bakery for 25,000 people.

Edit - to be fair it's actually more of an upmarket tea shop that sells it's fresh bread. We do have a Waitrose though.

Molgripes - this thread is about why people in France are skinnier on average than us in the UK. Not about buying upmarket products. Unless you're saying that all the upmarket food you buy is part of the problem?

Don - there is a traditional bakery in the town I live in. That's one bakery for 25,000 people.

Are French people low or high GI?

I suppose the whole point of this thread is about the French being leaner meat add this to garlic being allowed, I'd say you can add Frenchies to your low GI diet.

Can you get french people pasties?

A few years ago I was biking in t'Alps.

I had commented during the holiday about what appeared to be a lack of fat people whenever I visited France.

One of our number was injured at Morzine and went to hospital in Thonon-Les-Bains.

Whilst waiting for our friend, we found an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet.

What appeared to be the entire fat population of France were in there, we assumed it was some sort of annual conference.

I ate a fair amount.

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Pound Bakeries of the world Part2:
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There was a Pound Bakery in Altrincham. I bought my, ahem, wholesome, artisan-crafted lunch from there on occasion (in my defence, I was cycle commuting) Sadly, it closed down.

I'm nit sure if there's a connection, but there is a Waitrose in said town ...rare in the North, although I suppose it is in Cheshire.... It hasn't closed down.

I'd say you can add Frenchies to your low GI diet

this thread is about why people in France are skinnier on average than us in the UK. Not about buying upmarket products

You and Edukator started going on about how everyone in the UK is a fat lazy slob who only buys the cheapest crap and doesn't care about nice food.

This is so manifestly wrong I had to contest it.

Well I don't think I said everyone... I'm in the UK and I'm not fat and lazy, nor do I eat crap food.

You eat ready made sauces though. 😛

Waitrose have 'little waitrose' on high streets to sell upmarket stuff. And there are also bakeries, butchers, greengrocers in most of the suburbs by me.

Not sure what your post is about here. Are you denying that there are local bakeries and whatnot? Am I making it up or what?

Food here is, in general, about the cheapest and the most convenient

Franc e and Germany still have bakers and actual food shops in small villages and not just large supermarkets in the edge of towns

but there is a Waitrose in said town ...rare in the North

Hardly. One of the oldest branches of waitrose is in Merseyside.

Mind you, Liverpool was - for some time - the obesity capital of the UK.

I BLAME WAITROSE!