Paris’s Moulin Rouge was the birthplace of the can-can, a high-energy dance form traditionally performed by a chorus line of skirt-whipping, high-kicking women. If you don’t want to master provocative moves, pick a fast-paced style, such as the cha-cha, salsa or the Charelson—they burn close to 400 calories an hour.

Alcohol may be a depressant, but drinking it actually flattens your REM cycle, causing you to wake up more frequently, says Will Clower, MD, neuroscientist and author of The French Don’t Diet Plan. Stick to one glass of wine a day. More rest means less stress and stress-induced eating.

Knock out belly fat by laughing away the stress that contributes to it. Film and silent pantomiming are two art forms that began primarily in France. Use them to your advantage by renting a French comedy like Le Dîner de Cons (The Dinner Game) or reading Bip in a Book, written by Marcel Marceau, a world-renown French mime.

An easy way to cutback on calories is to watch what you drink. When celebrating a special occasion, swap your wine glass for a flute. Champagne ranges from about 80-110 calories per serving, compared to beer which is generally between 130-170 calories per serving. “The higher the alcohol [in beer], the higher the calories,” says culinary nutritionist and registered dietician Natalia Hancock, RD. Champagne is also free of the added sugars that characterize mixed drinks and, because of the fizz, may make you more likely to drink it slowly and drink less.

Bicycling may be a très chic weekend activity, but it’s also a smart way to lose weight. According to the American Council on Exercise, a 150-pound biker can shed 544 calories in an hour at a 12- to 13-mph rate. Thank Frenchmen Pierre Michaux and Pierre Lallement, who helped perfect the invention in 1864.

“There’s a difference between activity and exercise,” says Clower, who spent two years living in France. “The French are active, but they’re not exercisers.” Find an active hobby you enjoy like bicycle riding, playing soccer or gardening, and stick to it to burn calories effortlessly.

To avoid overeating when your entree comes, start your meal off with a satiating appetizer. Escargot, a French snail delicacy, is rich in belly-filling protein, says Guiliano. Try pairing an escargot-based dish with a red Côtes du Rhône wine, a green salad and a fresh fruit for dessert.

Because a French press coffee maker uses coarser grains that stay in contact with the brewing water, java junkies swear it yields coffee that’s more flavorful and caffeinated than joe from a traditional drip filter. Research shows that caffeine may help increase focus and alertness and ward off Parkinson’s disease and cognitive decline. One caveat: If you have high cholesterol, you may want to stick to drip brews. Their filters catch more cafestol, a substance in coffee that stimulates LDL cholesterol.

When you're at the grocery store, choose quality over quantity. Not only is eating “real food” more satisfying, but it also doesn’t contain any hidden ingredients or sneaky calories. “The French eat a lot of different food, but everything they eat is real," says Clower. "Their cheese is not cheese food; their bread is not plastic wrapped I-wonder-what-it-is bread; it’s not made with high fructose corn syrup, preservatives, stabilizers or chemicals that give it shelf life…The coffee doesn’t come in a bucket with caramel, other syrups and things. It’s just coffee. The stuff the French eat is made with real ingredients.”

Make the world your obstacle course: Parkour—a noncompetitive sport that originated in France, but is growing in popularity in the US—involves running along a route and overcoming any obstacle in your path using only your body. Usually praticed in urban areas, parkour requires skills such as jumping, rolling, vaulting, climbing and swinging. Kenneth Kao, DC, one of the head instructors of parkour at Apex Movement Boulder, compares the activity to yoga. "It's got the mental discipline that pushes a person towards success in everything, even outside of merely jumping a gap or balancing on a rail," says Kao. "Parkour changes the way a person sees the world and makes obstacles in life just another thing to overcome.” For tutorials and videos visit americanparkour.com.