Look, the French, those poster children for paradox, are not hitting the gym every night after their 12-hour work day. And yet you don't need us to tell you they are slim and have a high quality of life. Adam Gilbert weighs in on why Americans have gotten so fat, but gives us holistic, Frenchy-type ways of adding more exercise.

Why do you think Americans are fatter than ever? What are the simplest, most holistic ways we can integrate more exercise into our already harried, jam-packed lifestyle and start getting healthier today?

Americans are fatter than ever because we are all working more than ever. It is also easier than ever before to find something to do. There are far more distractions today than there were 10 years ago. Our attention spans are atrocious. Just watching TV isn’t an activity anymore.

Now, it’s about multi-tasking. How many things do you do while you’re watching TV? We are all busier than ever before and in our "I want it yesterday" society no one has patience for anything.

Simple things like taking the stairs instead of elevators, parking your car far away from the entrance, walking instead of taking a cab or a train (if you’re in a city), and even getting up every 30 minutes and walking around the office are all great things to do.

Another important thing to do is to set reasonable expectations. When I start with a client who works 12 hours a day, I know going to the gym is the last thing s/he is going to want to do. How about doing some jumping jacks and crunches for ten minutes before you shower in the morning or at night?

Give it to us straight: Is weight training really an important part of fitness for women? Why? What does it do that I'm not getting running on the treadmill?

Yes. It is. But unfortunately, a lot of women are intimidated to go to the gym and lift weights. Weight training helps increase your metabolism. Weight training builds muscle while running on a treadmill simply helps to increase your endurance, tone and burn calories.

Muscles burn a lot more calories than fat so the more muscle you have the more calories you’ll burn throughout the day. Weight training also strengthens bones which is especially important for women.

The bottom line is yes. If you can add one or two days a week of some sort of resistance training, even if it’s in a class, do it!