Dine Out and Lose Weight: The French Way to Culinary "Savoir Vivre"

by Michel Montignac

A great weight loss book!

Genres: Cookbooks

298 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[Tom Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm 6 ft 2inches and went on this diet/lifestyle regime several years back when I first hit 88kgs. In 3 months I was down to 75kg with the same waistline i was at age 18, despite consuming more cheese, more wine, and introducing chocolate to my diet.
You don't need to count calories and you don't need to exercise, you just avoid bad carbohydrates and combinations of bad carbohydrates with proteins. e.g, generally speaking, white bread, chips, white rice and beer are out, and totally out with proteins. One quirky aspect is fruit is out, except on an empty stomach.
Ten years later I'm back to 88kg, but I looked good for a while :)
The principles of the diet are simple to grasp and the do/don't list is summarised on 4 pages. Montignac spins out what could have been conveyed in ten pages to book length, labouring his points at time and digressing for extended periods into areas like the supposed health benefits of wine.

[Rob · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made a big difference in my life. I first read it over 25 years ago. It is not a diet. That is the point. Diets don’t work. This is an eating plan that you can live with. By following this plan (more or less) I have been able to stay within my preferred weight range of plus or minus five pounds ever since. It is written by a Frenchman and approaches things from a French perspective. It doesn’t mean you’ll eat only “French food” the rest of your life. It means rather that you can follow the principles and apply them in your life. The French know how to enjoy food, so this why it is a successful approach that a person can live with. It is also very healthy. The French have the second best heart health of any major developed country, after Japan.

[Caren · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the first books that was able to explain to me the chemical aspects of eating certain foods that trigger insulin production in the body which store food as fat. Great chapters talking about the pancreas,
the history of the potato and the best combination of foods to maintain your weight. Plus we can drink red wine, eat chocolate and enjoy protein and vegetables galore.

I no longer buy potatoes, even though we love them. When we dine out and are being careful with eat a protein and vegetable diet. At home I also use carbohydrates like brown rice, but only with vegetables. Now we can stay slim and not think about it alot.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The French eating methodology and how food chemistry and the body intersect to create either fat stores or useable energy.