The French Paradox

The French Paradox is that whilst the national diet is high on saturated fats the rate of obesity and cardiovascular death is amongst the lowest in the western world. This does not mean of course that everybody is thin. People are all shapes and sizes and I love walking around places like this brocante looking at people as well as the now redundant objects. This man's full belly somehow adds to the character of the place.

Lately I have become more interested in variations in the human body. I started by looking at the way people moved and their running styles, making connections with different builds and then noticing how every part of the body has its own unique pattern. It is well known that hands are individual but even a simple body part like the calf can vary amazingly. Yoko Ono first made her name with a film of scores of naked bottoms, just showing how they differed so what I am saying is not new. It is just part of my ongoing project of trying to look at the world with fresh eyes.

It is a weird side-effect of running that I now look at people more closely.

Weight is part of form but it is not everything. Sometimes I wonder if we all spend too much time worrying about our own weight and tut tutting about other people's. In my gym there is a board where people post their targets and resolutions and almost all of them are about losing weight. Hardly any are physical challenges such as beating a pb or learning a new skill, which be far more interesting targets. Why is weight so often seen as the most important thing?

Probably it is a surrogate based on the assumption that we would all be happier, more vigorous, better looking and enjoy life more if we were lighter (or for some people heavier). This is may or may not be true - I don't even know if weight is a symptom or cause of unhappiness.

My feelings about my own weight are rather functional: I want to lose a little because I think it will help my running. The main aim is to try to run a marathon without feeling whipped and beaten in the second half and I am sure that the less useless weight I carry the better. However it is proving difficult and I have only lost about 4 lbs since the beginning of the year but I am not too upset because my main strategy is to run more miles and so far that is going OK.

It is interesting that I don't lose weight with increased training. Part of the reason is that I become more concerned with maintaining energy levels and refuelling than with dieting; but it is very, very difficult to eat only what the body requires, and no more. Running 5k and eating for 10k is however the easiest thing in the world. On the other hand I prefer that to under eating and then passing out as happened to President Sarkoszy.
How does one find the right balance?

Which brings me back to the French paradox, which isn't really much of a paradox because traditionally they don't snack much, they have modest sized portions, and cook things from scratch using good quality, fresh ingredients. That is all one needs to know, all one needs to do: eat well but moderately and take pleasure in food. Everything else will then take care of itself.