I have had a chance to finish reading Michel Montignac’s book, and have a few thoughts. First of all, you don’t need to buy any of his supplements or sign up for his website. All you need is his book, not the Americanized version by a different author. I can plainly see that this is where Suzanne Somers stole all her ideas from. Shame on her. But she did make it more palatable for American tastes, so if you are unfamiliar with the French way of eating you may do better with her books.
The diet has two phases: phase one for losing weight, and phase two for maintaining your new weight. Phase one will look very familiar to low carbers. Only low glycemic vegetables are allowed, with the addition of raw carrots and dried beans such as lentils, split peas, and white beans. Fruit can be eaten raw before a meal, or cooked after a meal, so long as it was cooked without sugar. You will combine your foods on this diet. Proteins and fats are only to be eaten with vegetables and whole dairy products. Carbohydrates are to be eaten with only fat free dairy products and vegetables. You can also add sugar free jam to your carbohydrate meals.
Now this is where the diet differs from Somersizing and gets very French. Where as Somersizing is more high fat, high protein, Montignac puts his emphasis on lower fat, lower protein. You are to eat a low fat carbohydrate breakfast most days of the week, and for three or four dinners a weeks. Lunch should be your heaviest meal of the day, so this is where you’ll have most of your protein/fats meals. If you have a more cholesterol intense meat for lunch (like beef or pork), he recommends having poultry, fish, or just grains for dinner.
His meal plans are written with a Frenchman in mind, and this is where an American can get into big trouble. His lunches and dinners are given in courses. First course is raw veggies or a light soup, second course is usually meat with vegetables, third course is salad, fourth is cheese. The portions for these courses are French. In other words, soup would be about ½ cup, veggies would be about 1 cup with three to four ounces of meat, then about 1cup of salad, followed by and ounce of cheese. There is to be no snacking between meals. Now, he doesn’t come out and give you portion sizes, but that’s what is implied and my French grandmother has confirmed. That’s how she eats, and she’s been skinny as a rail her whole life.
I’ll write more about phase two when I get there. If all this seems like too much bother, I recommend trying Somersizing instead. As I come from a French background, I feel right at home with Montignac. I will report back later on my progress.
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