‘Eat whatever you like but never overindulge,’ and, ‘A little of what you fancy,’ are popular approaches in France. This small, controlled portion size is certainly reminiscent of Japanese practice. A university survey comparing serving sizes in restaurants between Paris and Pennsylvania reveals that American portion sizes are 25% bigger than those in France.

The French diet mainly consists of cream, butter, cheese, meat and complex carbohydrates that keep French women fuller for longer. This fat-rich diet stimulates the production of cholecystokinin, a hormone that suppresses the appetite and promotes an extended sense of satisfaction after eating even small amounts of high-fat foods. Therefore, snacking is uncommon for those consuming a typically French diet.

French mothers teach their daughters that, no matter their body shape or features, they can still be beautiful. The French body confidence helps them stay slim in their own personal style and happiness. I like how Anne Barone, author of the Chic & Slim series of books on French women, promotes the understanding that we can achieve confidence in our own unique bodies and that a savvy, chic and slim French woman knows her weaknesses – that’s her strength.

Another similarity I noticed between the cultures in Japan and France compared to a Chinese tradition both in Hong Kong and elsewhere in Asia, is that the focus is very much on having the baby gain as much weight as possible. Mums overindulge in their appetite for good, nutritious food, often putting their own body at jeopardy. The ‘eating for two’ mindset is prevalent among mothers. Even after they have delivered their babies, I noticed some ladies in confinement still cooking a large meal – enough for two despite having already given birth. They eat desserts and snack between meals, all for the reason that mums should eat more in order to be able to produce more milk for breastfeeding.

The main lessons I have learned from the Japanese and the French are:

1. Maintain a healthy weight gain during pregnancy.
2. Exercise portion control over your meals and eat a variety. Don’t skip meals and eat portions that are enough to fill you up, but no more than that. Let your stomach be your guide.
3. Be mindful of what you eat and cut out the snacks.

After my third baby, I became particularly mindful of what I ate. For all three pregnancies I enjoyed a bar of chocolate every day during my third trimester. Nope, not dark chocolate, but sweetened milk chocolate every single day! Once my craving lessened after delivery, I mindfully cut sugar from my diet. I still ate three bowls of rice daily – rice-bowl-sized and not soup-bowl-sized. After three sugar-free months, I managed to get back to almost my pre-pregnancy weight + 2kg. That, to me, was a realistic achievement.

Karen Loke, Founder and Practitioner, Restoring Mums在前一章中，我們探討過日本社會文化如何令日本女性在懷孕期只增加了很少的體重。法國的情況也一樣，平均體重增加9公斤和12公斤，與日本差不多。法國女性承受著巨大的社會壓力要她們在懷孕時不能變得太重。同樣地，像日本一樣，法國人期望法國女性在分娩後不久就要減磅，而三個月是讓她們重回產前身形的合理時限。

「妳可以吃妳喜歡的但不能放縱地吃」和「稍微滿足一下妳的嗜好」是法國主流思維也是很普遍流行的生活態度。這小而節制的份量讓人聯想起日本人的做法。一個大學的研究比較了巴黎和美國賓夕法尼亞州的餐廳的食物份量，顯示出美國的份量比法國的多25%!

法國人的飲食主要包括奶油、牛油、芝士、肉類和複合碳水化合物。這些食物令法國女性的飽腹感更長。而這種脂肪豐富的飲食刺激了膽囊收縮素的產生(膽囊收縮素是一種即使只進食了少量的高脂肪食物但仍可抑制食慾的激素，促進飽腹感)，所以在典型的法國飲食中，吃零食是很罕見的。

法國媽媽教導她們的女兒無論她們的身形或特徵是怎樣，她們都可以是漂亮的。法國人對身體的自信心讓他們以個人風格和快樂地保持苗條的身材。我喜歡寫有關法國女性的Chic & Slim系列的作者Anne Barone所提倡的。她說我們可以建立對自己獨特的身體的自信! 精明、別緻和苗條的法國女性會知道自己的弱點──這些就是她的實力與優點。

我注意到日本和法國文化的另一相似點，與之相比在香港和亞洲其他地方的中國文化是十分重視儘可能讓寶寶增磅。媽媽放縱地令自己胃口增大，吃很多營養豐富的食物，令自己的身形岌岌可危。「食兩份」的心態在媽媽坊間十分普遍。即使她們在分娩後，我注意到一些正在坐月的女性還是會煮很多，足夠媽媽和寶寶兩人的份量。她們餐與餐之間會吃甜品和零食，這是因為她們認為媽媽應該吃多些，令自己可以有更多人奶餵哺寶寶。

我從日本和法國女性學到的教訓是：

1. 懷孕期間健康地增重。
2. 控制每餐的份量和吃不同的食物。每頓飯都要吃，並且吃令妳覺得飽的份量就足夠，不要吃過多。讓妳的胃作為你的嚮導。
3. 留意妳在吃甚麼，不要吃零食。

我在誕下第三個寶寶後對吃的變得很留意。三次的懷孕中我都會在第三孕期每天吃一包巧克力。不是黑巧克力，而是甜的牛奶巧克力。我每天都吃！分娩後我對甜食的欲望減低後，我很留心從我的飲食中盡量減少糖份的攝取。我依然保持每日吃三碗米飯，是飯碗大小而不是湯碗大小。經過三個月的無糖生活後，我設法讓自己減至懷孕前加兩公斤的體重。這是我的真實成就。

Restoring Mums創辦人和治療師Karen Loke

The post How Do Japanese & French Women Keep Their Figures After Delivery? Part II appeared first on Restoring Mums.

In Japan, the optimal weight gain is 8kg, regardless of the woman’s size or build. In fact, many believe that pregnant ladies could be scolded or even shamed for gaining too much weight, and later blamed for a difficult labour! On the flip side, Japanese mothers tend to recover their pre-pregnancy figures much faster than their Western counterparts.

In Japan, rice is a staple food source. The carbohydrates in rice satisfy your appetite, keeping you fuller for longer. Diet foods, on the other hand, have the opposite effect in that they make you hungry and you end up eating more.

I can attest to this personally. In one of my training trips to Brisbane, Australia, I was served a mixture of vegetarian and raw food for a week. I thought to myself, “That’s as good a diet as I could hope for,” and proceeded to enjoy the food on offer. However, four days into my trip I felt uncharacteristically bloated and pictures taken of me at that time show that I looked quite chubby! I then realised that, even though I was on a vegetarian diet, I ate much larger portions and consumed more meals than usual, as I was constantly hungry. Even though the diet was nut, dairy and gluten-free, and consisted mainly of fruit, vegetables and nuts, I still put on weight within just one week!

The second interesting point to note is that the Japanese serve food in a far more pleasurable size. The portions are small, but the variety of dishes delights and inspires the taste buds. So Japanese meals may be light, but afterwards you feel content and satisfied, while not uncomfortably full. It is interesting to note that Japan has one of the lowest obesity rates[1] among developed countries at just over 3%, compared to more than 35% for Americans.

In her book Japanese Woman Don’t Get Old Or Fat, Naomi Moriyama says, “You might think it’s all in our genes, but when Japanese people adopt a Western-style diet, they put on weight quickly.” So diet definitely plays an important role in the traditionally slim Japanese frame.

In Japan there is a preference for smaller babies, because this means an easier delivery. Vanity-wise, the less weight gained during pregnancy, the easier and faster it is for mothers to return to their pre-pregnancy figures. Interestingly, it is common practice for Japanese woman to wear postpartum corsets (or more passionately called postnatal girdle in South East Asia) and hip belts to help them achieve this as soon as possible. (To be continued…)

Karen Loke, Founder and Practitioner, Restoring Mums日本和法國的媽媽在懷孕後享受同一個主要的好處── 增加了很少的體重。

在日本，不管女性的產前體形大小，在妊娠期間最理想的體重增加為八公斤左右。事實上，在日本,  很多女性相信懷孕期若體重增加得太多是會被人責罵或羞辱的，以及其後會難產。在這無形社會壓力下，卻使日本媽媽往往比西方媽媽更快地回復懷孕前的身材。

在日本，米飯是主食源。米飯內的碳水化合物滿足妳的胃口，令妳的飽腹感更長。另一方面，減肥食品有相反的效果，令妳覺得肚餓和最終吃得更多。

我個人可以證明這一點。有一次我去澳洲布里斯班進行專業訓練，一個星期內, 中心只為研究生提供了新鮮的生食與素食的食物。我那時心想這可是千載難得的一個使自己吃得健康又可減減肥的良好契機! 我非常放心地繼續享受他們提供的食物。不過，四日後我變得一反常態地臃腫，那時的照片上的我看上去挺胖的！之後我意識到，即使我正在吃素，因為我總是覺得肚餓，所以我比平時吃更大的份量和更多餐。雖然飲食中主要包括水果、蔬菜和堅果、乳製品和無麩質的食物，但只要一個星期我仍然胖了。

值得我們注意的第二個有趣的地方是日本人的食物都是令人看了舒暢的份量。份量看來雖小，但各種菜餚滿足和激發味蕾。因此日本菜可能是輕型的，但之後會令妳覺得滿足和果腹，而又不會過滯或膩。有趣的是，在肥胖率[1]最低的發達國家中，日本是其中之一，只超過3%，而相對的美國卻有35%。

森山奈保美（Naomi Moriyama）在她的著作 《日本女人不會胖也不會老》(“Japanese Woman Don’t Get Old Or Fat”) 中說到：「您可能會覺得這一切是源於我們的基因，但當日本人採取了西式飲食習慣後，他們很快就會增重。」所以飲食在日本人傳統的苗條骨架上絕對扮演著重要的角色。

日本人偏愛較細小的寶寶，因為這代表著分娩會來得更容易。自負明智、在懷孕時増磅較少的話，媽媽會較容易和較快地回復懷孕前的身形。有趣的是，日本女性普遍會穿戴產後束腹帶（在東南亞更流行的叫法為產後腰封）和臀圍帶來幫助她們儘快產後修身（待續……）

Restoring Mums創辦人和治療師Karen Loke

The post How Do Japanese & French Women Keep Their Figures After Delivery? Part I appeared first on Restoring Mums.