There's a handful of women gathered in front of an empty table inside the AOL Cyber Pavilion. One of them is clutching a small ivory colored book to her chest talking to the woman next to her. "...going to the market, getting fresh fruit, just simple things like walking more..." The other women are listening and nodding. None of them know each other, but people seem to have an understanding when it comes to losing weight.

The small crowd is waiting for Mireille Guiliano, author of French Women Don't Get Fat, doing a book-signing that coincides with the conference theme of health, nutrition, and aging.

The author hasn't arrived yet, and the woman in the front, named Dale, is a huge fan, singing the praises of how the book changed her life. She was skeptical about the book at first, but she admits that she "used to diet very strictly, drink diet soda." decided on a whim to "see what they (French women) do and what their philosophy is." Apparently for Dale, the philosophy worked.

Mireille Guiliano is tiny, bright, dressed in black and white, and is utterly charming when she removes her chartreuse-framed sunglasses and flashes a smile. Perhaps its her French accent when she answers questions about that makes her sound oh-so sophisticated. She reveals that the success of this first book has motivated a second, French Women for All Seasons. It is due out in November and will have more recipes that encourage simpler cooking. She also now has a website, which she was reluctant to create at first. She realizes however, that young people, college students, are enthusiastic about the book.

The group that is growing in front of the table is mixed. One guy steps up somewhat shyly, maybe embarrassed. He asks Mireille to sign the book for his...um, wife. She winks at him. I love this woman.

The next woman, dressed head-to-toe in Chanel, walks up, excited, and starts speaking to Mireille in French. She monopolizes the author's time for almost 10 minutes, and the line is getting antsy. Ms. Chanel finally leaves, but somewhere in the French discourse, there was an exchange of phone numbers! Mireille tells another couple who have come to the conference to come to France, look her up, and she will show them how to eat.

Mireille speaks with each person, truly interested in making sure that her readers understand the importance of the points and recommendation she makes in her book. On her current book tour, she has traveled from Madrid to Shanghai, and everywhere around the world, women are too busy, doing too much to be watchful about what they eat, too confused about portion sizes.

The author lives in New York, and bemoans the hundreds of people she sees everyday taking escalators while she and her friends trot up and down the stairs. Simple changes are easy, like going for a short walk after every meal, eating yogurt every day. Mireille mentions that French women eat yogurt twice a day, and while the effect may take longer to see, over the course of a year, a person can lose 10 pounds. Chocolate is good for the health, but it should be good chocolate.

It's also important to not only read nutrition labels, but also know what to look for. Ingredients like corn syrup and artificial preservatives are terrible for people's health. Mireille frowns when she speaks of Americans' love for sodas. Right behind me, on the refreshment "bar" for conference attendees, there are rows and rows of soda!

She recommends drinking water, which she says Americans are confused about. Americans keep bottled water with them and take little sips all day long. She says to start every day by drinking a full glass of water, which not only hydrates, but sets the metabolism in motion.

A man with three books steps up, "gifts" he says, but asks her to sign the last one to "David." I look at his name tag. His name is David. Mireille says that the book is not only for women. Men may lose 18 pounds where women lose only eight ("Why? Because women have hormones!" she laughs), but the principals still apply to everyone.

There are three things in life: food, love, and security. Make these a priority.