From the Paleo to the DASH, diets are always a hot topic at the start of a new year. The only problem is that whether you're on one or not, most weight loss plans are pretty dull. But a diet that insists you eat cake? Now we're listening.
Fashion and beauty writer Karen Wheeler is the woman behind The Marie Antoinette Diet: How to Eat Cake and Still Lose Weight.
Wheeler's book has been "inspired by Marie Antoinette's eating habits" and two of the chapters are titled 'Diets are a drag' and 'French women eat cake.' Is this a guide to losing weight that sounds like it could be fun? Surely not.
Wheeler's approach is definitely refreshing. In her introduction, she asks, "Does anyone really need to be told that junk food is bad for you... and that too much sugar will ensure that there is not much space to spare between you and your skinny-fit jeans?"
As for her dieting philosophy, Wheeler noticed a difference in the way French women eat after living in the country for seven years. This got her thinking that Marie Antoinette had the right idea.
"The French queen ate cake for breakfast and was fond of hot chocolate, but seems to have known instinctively what scientific studies have recently shown: for example, it is not what you eat, but when you eat it," she writes.
Instead of restricting what you eat, this guide suggests indulging in "a little naughtiness" every now and again to stop any cravings in the long run.
However, it's not all cake and pastries. Wheeler also shares the recipe for a "wonder soup" that Marie Antoinette herself ate each evening.
So you can have cake, as long as you have a bowl of healthy veg-filled soup too. That sounds doable, doesn't it?
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