I'm not a great consumer. I always ask myself, 'Do I really need that piece?' I have friends who have 300 pairs of shoes; how would you leave the house in the morning?

French women eat and serve what's in season, for maximum flavor and value, and know availability does not equal quality.

Give us being and feeling over having any day.

Making choices that are meaningful to you is the essence of the French woman's secret.

I would advocate that chocolate be covered by health insurance, but that is admittedly a very French public policy perspective.

Make treating yourself a priority and always remember your life is happening now. Don't put off all your dreams and pleasures to another day. In any balanced personal definition of success there has to be a powerful element of living life in the present.

If you believe you can shed pounds quickly by force of will and deprivation, you will in all likelihood not only regain the ones you lost, but add a few more besides.