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Sarko to French Pols: Put Down the Croissants

French government gets the fitness bug after president loses 15 pounds

By Jason Farago, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 7, 2009 7:40 AM CDT

(Newser) – Nicolas Sarkozy has lost 15 pounds since he married Carla Bruni, subsisting on a diet of cottage cheese, fruit compote, and bottled water—and he's not the only one in the French government who's slimming down. As the Times of London reports, Sarkozy is pressuring his ministers to lose weight, going so far as to replace the meat and cheese on offer in government kitchens with fish and veggies.

One politician, angling to win the powerful post of interior minister, spent months eating soup, cream cheese, and berries—and got the promotion earlier this year. Yet while the men in Sarkozy's cabinet have been binge dieting, his female ministers seem naturally slim: Christine Lagarde, the reedy finance minister, used to be a champion synchronized swimmer. But not everyone is impressed by the fitness freak running France; one psychiatrist grumbled, "He is a prisoner of the stereotypes of our age, to the point of imposing it on others."

[Images (5)]

[Quotes (1)]

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde arrives for a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Monday, Sept. 14, 2009. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrives to attend the funeral ceremony for two French soldiers killed in Afghanistan, Friday Sept. 11, 2009 in Vannes, western France. Two French soldiers were killed... (AP Photo/David Vincent)

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy delivers a speech on small businesses at the Palais des Congres in Paris, Monday Oct. 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Philippe Wojazer, pool)

A slimmer Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni meet Barack and Michelle Obama at the G-20 summit dinner in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

France's Minister of the Interior Brice Hortefeux at the National Assembly in Paris, Tuesday Sept. 15, 2009. He lost a substantial amount of weight before winning the post. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

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The trim figure has become a vehicle of political communication. The time when fat men were reassuring is over. The chief is sweating to lose weight. The others have to control themselves too. - A French nutritionist

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Sarko to French Pols: Put Down the Croissants