Losing Weight Without Trying
North American expats out there: ever notice how you weigh less where you are than you did back home, without ever having gone on a diet?
In Canada, I had to make an effort make sure that my weight did not exceed 57 kilo and usually it was more like 59 to 60 kilo. In France, my weight dropped to between 56 and 57 kilo without me even trying.
And here in Italy? Well, people had been asking me if I had lost weight and I said no, I don't think so. Then a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that some pants that I had not worn in a while fit me very loose, indeed. I got onto the scale and lo and behold, 54.5 kilo! Wow!
8 comments:
I'm the opposite! When I lived in New York I weighed 68 kg or so (hey I'm tall - so that's not sooo huge). I walked a ton, ate healthily, climbed the subway stairs multiple times every day, and it was cold so I used lots of calories warming myself up and was very stressed all the time.
Here I weigh 72.5 kg :( It's all that pasta and pizza, less exercise (I still don't own a car but I don't walk the miles and miles I used to in NY), warm weather, alcohol and less stress (no longer a corporate lawyer at Biglaw NYC.)
As I said on my blog, I really don't think the Italian diet is all that healthy. Tons of refined wheat flour (pasta, pizza, white bread) have made me put on weight.
Not fair!!!
I wonder what it is? Is it your diet or are you more active here? - Or maybe both.
My weight hasn't particularly changed since leaving England. I might have put on a little bit, but not so I really notice.
I think it is running around after your daughter. There is nothing like a young child for burning calories. I hit my all time low after my second child -- with two kids under 2, no elevator, city streets, sleepless nights, I couldn't eat enough to keep me at my already back-to-normal post pregnancy weight.
Then I hit 40 and I have inched up since then....
I lost weight as soon as I arrived as it was so stressful (we had troubling finding an apartment). Now we are settled into life here but we are much more active than in Australia. We have no car and we walk everywhere - including to school and back four times a day. Just as well as we've really taken to the savoyarde cuisine - cheese, potato and chocolate - yum!
:)
Kataroma, I absolutely agree with you that the Italian diet has a lot of refined food, more so than ever. That being said, I think the fruit and veggies here are fresher and we tend to eat more of them in our house than I did not North America. And I am moving around more than in Paris (and there are so many hills here!).
And yes, the Bambina does help me burn those calories...
This happened to me too (and I'm not complaining!). I think it's because for me, personally, I move a lot more and eat a lot healthier here--so I suppose it has to do with what you did before as well as what you do here. In any event, my body thanks me for moving, I'm sure.
Sognatrice, if I moved to Calabria, I bet that I would weigh even less than I do in Rome!
I always lose weight in Italy despite eating pasta almost everyday (and gelato). I did eat more fresh veggies. In L.A. I have to drive pretty much everywhere. In Rome I would walk for miles and not notice. When I lived in New York I also weighed less but I thought that was because I was younger and my metabolism was higher.
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