How the French Stay So Slim

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Originally Posted by Andi /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well in Austria it´s common to eat a salad with lunch, as a starter. Or often a soup. Those things are low in calories and fill you up before the main course, so you´re not starving by then and pig out and get 2 plates.And people will very rarely drink soda with it, we usually drink water or fruit juice.

Restaurant food-compared to the US:

portions are MUCH smaller, the desserts are not as high in calories, and just as as home we usually order a salad before anything else.

Fast food is not widely available and it´s not as cheap as in the US. Most people also barely have any snacks at the house (like chips, popcorn, chocolate), that´s still considered "special".

For most people in Europe it´s the thing that those "extras" were too expensive before. Also the meals they served in kindergarden were always healthy. Lots of vegetables etc, and you´d only get dessert if you finished your vegetables.

Well what do I eat? I actually eat a lot more than you´d think. I have a naturally fast metabolism so I have to eat every 3 hours or else I´d get shaky and cranky. That allows me to always have a somewhat full stomach and I barely ever pig out and eat plate after plate. I like to eat healhty (with the exception of desserts of any kind lol) so there´s no chips, frozen pizza, soda or fruit juices at my house. I try to make all my snacks ealthy, and just add honey to a fruit salad for added sweetness.

Basically we have the same thing here - as well as on Europe, snacks only came to our market and became cheaper on the last 17 years
I was just giving an example on the boston market - i was in NY , so i managed to eat food food (instead of fast food) but there's many other places that you don't manage to find food food easily

EDIT: bottom line is - habits. If USA wants to be thinner, people have to change their habits since their kids are little... Like i was watching one of Jamie Oliver's series (one that showed the food on public schools at UK - which in terms of habits is fairly similar to USA) and many kids haven't never actually eat REAL chicken, just nuggets and they refused to eat the chicken that Jamie Oliver offered on the school.

 
You know, I agree about the American diet. Collectively, it is absolute garbage. Fortunately I was raised on Igbo ethnic cuisine... rice and beans, fufu and vegetables, occasional meat. Soda was kept locked up and out of sight and my parents only brought it out when there was a special occasion. None of my family members battle overweight issues, nor have I.

Yes, there is genetics too, but even those with the stacks against them gotta make the right choices. Ain't no way around it, excuses don't substitute for the truth.

When you are not raised on such junkie things, you will not find them appealing. The best thing you could do for your children is model good diet practices. In this country, you cannot be relying on the outside world to do your child's nutrition right. Healthful eating starts and ends at home.

 
Originally Posted by lia_matos /img/forum/go_quote.gif EDIT: bottom line is - habits. If USA wants to be thinner, people have to change their habits since their kids are little... Like i was watching one of Jamie Oliver's series (one that showed the food on public schools at UK - which in terms of habits is fairly similar to USA) and many kids haven't never actually eat REAL chicken, just nuggets and they refused to eat the chicken that Jamie Oliver offered on the school. ITA.I watched that episode where Jamie Oliver cooked for the kids. It was pretty sad that they wouldn´t even try, they basically went on strike and bought candy bars out of the machines instead.

 
Genetics is still the biggest culprit. However, working in schools I do see some things. First, usually the kids lunches are what people would consider healthy food. The problem is the way they're prepared and the short cuts that are taken make them extremely high in salt and fat. Just because it sounds healthy doesn't mean it is. Secondly, they don't allow soda or candy to be sold at school, but they have posters everywhere from less than healthy companies. Finally, that fast food epidemic isn't just something that is a problem at fast food restaurants. A lot of people's homecooking is a very heavily processed out of the freezer carton brimming with salt and fat.

 
Originally Posted by Nox /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ain't no way around it, excuses don't substitute for the truth. Very well said, Nox!!! I'm seriously considering borrowing that for my signature!!!
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Anyway, I agree with you too. When I lived in the Philippines, I was about 90-95 lbs. on a 4'11 frame. I was super skinny!!! Yet my diet isn't too healthy either...white rice is a staple in our culture, and that's a lot of carbs/sugar. But when I moved here...whoa...forget about it...bring on the fries and burgers!! Haha...it's just that life here is so fast and it's hard to say no to fast, convenient food. It really is. Plus, most fastfood is super cheap.

One difference, though, is the fact that physical education was emphasized here more than my school in the Philippines (in my experience). P.E. was cha-cha dance, for cryin' out loud!!! We played volleyball and badminton, but not much. My high school teachers here wanted me to run a effin' mile!!! I was so out of condition, while other kids were fine! I hope schools nowadays really make physical education/sports a priority especially if they're not willing to change the food available at school.

 
But then again, UK is 2nd heaviest country... so not all of Europe is imuned to it.

Anyway, I noticed my weight gained happen during high school because of our option to choose food and buy junk as oppose to having snack made already. And we were allowed to leave campus and the fast food restaurants were 2 blocks down.

Freshman year - PE was like boot camp. Sit ups had to perfect, we had to run certain amount of laps under a some minutes. Then after the year progressed, PE teachers got lazier and didn't do the same thing so we became more flabby. Haha.

 

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