going away to italy

I'm heading off to Italy next week for 10 days and need a little help on how to maintaine my weight loss goals with all the great food and wine  that will be surrounding me!  I'm a sucker for pasta and fresh Italian bread.

355 days watching your weight = Hours of Agony

10 days to soak up the environment of a foreign country and not worry about the rest = Priceless

Enjoy yourself!

walk. Lay off the wine.

By the way. Dish where are you going? -)

Snackers - Italian food is such a mixed blessing! My doom came in the form of fresh tomato and mozarella sandwiches (they were portable, easy to grab on the street corner, not terribly expensive, and perfect for tourists like us). Most use white foccacia or similar bread...The second trap was the gellato, way too many varieties, way too tempting.

If I go again, I would make an effort to plan my food better (have fruit and almonds as snacks to stop cravings/hunger in areas that are expensive and tourist-friendly, and enjoy Italian food in moderation at regular meals). They also make awesome salads and appetizers, and the portions are actually small (compared to American restaurants). Try the appetizers and split a main dish - this will give you the best of Italian cuisine and will not bust your weight loss process.

Oh.... lucky you!!!

Just keep a diary of the food you eat during the day so you keep in track. Also, I am sure you would be walking all over the place so  that will definitely help you with the extra food you consume.

Have fun... and even if you mess up, we will be here to whip you into shape again!!!

Italians have a very different lifestyle mentality than Americans. They walk and ride bikes all over the place and then really enjoy eating moderate portions of typical diet "no-nos" such as pasta and gelato. When in Rome, do like the Romans do :-) You could potenially learn things to change your healthy living habits for the better!

I agree. As long as you avoid taking taxis everywhere, you will be getting more than enough exercise to enjoy the food. If you still don't trust yourself to eat moderate portions, stick to tomato based sauces and fruity desserts. They've got plenty of those. And, please enjoy the wine. It's so delicious. Do not avoid the wine. Oh, I miss Florence. :(

Hey snackers,

I did the same thing - went to Italy for 10 days last summer, in fact there's a pic of me in Sienna in my profile - and lost 4 lbs while I was over there. I did so much walking, swimming and climbing (I stayed at villa on a foothill of the mountains with some friends, and there was a pool there, I did laps each morning) and, as a few others have said - the food is great but the portion sizes are much smaller than American portions. Plus, most of the food over there is natural - came from the vine or the cow or tree or the sea! Better than preservative and chemical-laden stuff here.

I follow a pretty low-carb and low sugar plan - however, I planned on two "cheats" and very much enjoyed the gelato - once in Pisa and once in Sienna. Other than steering away from the pasta (which WAS hard) and the bread (which wasn't - for some reason, the region we were in didn't have very good bread, so it was no loss) I really ate what I wanted to!

Have an amazing time, regardless - and remember, it IS vacation, and you do only live once! :-)

Colleen

PS - Twelti is right - the wine is amazing. Enjoy it. I sure did. *smile*

yay Italy!

I did a twelve day tour last year and I'm desperate to go back.

 If you are planning on doing extensive walking, don't be too concerned with counting calories and such. I ate pretty much whatever I wanted. (gelato everyday!! If you find pear gelato, EAT IT! I'ts AMAZING. I only found it in Venice, though.) Because I was walking pretty much all day, I actually lost 3-5 lbs.

I also drank lots of water, so that helped prevent any over eating. But I was burning so much from walking and such that it balanced out.

Most importantly: it's a vacation, ENJOY IT.

I lived in Rome for 4 months when I was in college and I definitely agree that you should relax and enjoy the trip.  It will be extremely difficult (if not impossible) to avoid pasta (as it's often one of the courses if not the entree itself), bread and pizza (not to mention the scrumptious pastries and gellato).  But, the good news is that you'll probably be doing a lot of walking and stair climbing (most hotels in Italy don't have elevators and if they do, they are only for your luggage).  If you're too focused on what you eat, then you really won't be able to enjoy your trip.  So, enjoy, indulge, absorb the history, art, culture, language, and yes, cuisine.  You can always start fresh when you get back.  Oh... and take LOTS of pictures.  :)

Dont worry about the food much instead exercies alot walk everywhere you can it will help you soak up the great european culture ive only ever been to france and germany but even there the walking just made it seem so much different.

Italy was a wonderful time for me, and while the food was a wonderful part of the trip, it was only a part...you will be so overwhelmed with the history, architecture, and culture, that you will not have time to dwell on the food.

What I found was that seafood is a large part of the cuisine, along with the pasta, and the portions are so much more reasonable then here in the US, so you will have many wonderful healthy choices.  The gellato was my favorite, so do not deny yourself of that wonderful delight!

You will do more walking then you think, because that is the only way to really enjoy all that Italy has to offer.

ENJOY!!!!

CIAO,

Monica

ITALY?!?!?  Can I come along?  I'm half Italian and love every bit of the culture and country.  I absolutely adored it over in Italy when I was there and can't wait to go back again...  But yeah, don't worry too much about it.  You will walk a lot - traffic is terrible, but they do have cute little cars =)  And Italian food tends to get a lot of bashing, but really, they keep their portions small and that's the traditional Italian way.  They don't serve you a plate full of pasta that'd equivalent to who knows how many servings like they do over here in the U.S.  Seriously, enjoy yourself!  You're going to love it!

Easy -- when you're in Rome, do as the Romans!  Sorry, couldn't resist.  But simply put, eat like an Italian and more importantly, MOVE like an Italian.

Italians have coffee or maybe tea with a couple biscuits for breakfast.  (You may want to augment this with some fruit.)  If you're staying at a hotel, they may cater more to American palates but I suggest sticking to local cuisine.

Lunch at a restaurant will take a couple hours and will involve lots of food in small portions.  (If you cut calories anywhere, let it be with the antipasti.  If there's a lot of antipasti choices, simply skip some.)  There will be wine but most Italians don't really drink a lot.  Two glasses at most during the entire meal, not counting any alcohol they put in their espressos.  You won't be rude if you limit yourself to a glass and have a LOT of water.  (Watch your neighbor.  do as he/she does.)

If you're on your own for meal procurement, memorize this phrase: "un etto."  An etto is approximately 4 ounces.  So if go into a cheese shop and ask for "un etto di asiago, per piaccere" split it into four equal portions.  You'll know each portion is about one ounce.  You can make a great meal out of FRESH bread, a little bit of fresh cheese or meat, and if you can find an open market, you'll get fantasically fresh fruits and even some early spring veggies.

And of course, WALK whenever possible when sight-seeing. 

Lastly, ENJOY!  You're in freaking Italy!

One more thing about the water...ask for aqua no gas, or you will get fizzy water....which you may want, but if you are not used to it, then....

Have fun

Monica

You will probably be doing so much walking that you wont need to watch what you eat, just take it easy on  the gelato and you should just enjoy yourself why you are there. Nothing like a proper risoto or gnocchi!

Hi,

I'm an Italian, I love cooking at home and I cook everyday what I'll eat.

Now I'm tring to lose some weight so I search to cook and eat with an eye of regard (only for quantity). Basically, the Italian food (mediterranean style) is one of most healty diet that you can eat. The Italian food that you can find abroad isn't (usually) the real one that you can find in Italy. If you don't eat junk food (fast food, take away, bar's food) you can eat every day without problem every you want but don't forget 3 things:

- choose plates with an high quantity of fish (no cooked, grilled or boiled in particular), the fish in Italy is fantastic!!!

- try plates with much fresh vegetables ("Insalatone" = mixed big salads with fish usually), Italians usually eat those for launch and ALL restaurants serve these plates.

- If you don't go to a very elegant restaurant, the dimensions of plates that usually they serve are very "important" so, try to eat a "antipasto" and choose between a "primo" or "secondo" with a "contorno" of vegetables.

For any questions or recipes... just ask..

PS: all count for everyones...

Regards from Italy...

My husband and I are heading to Italy in 5 weeks for a 16 day stay (cannot wait!) with several friends.  I'm planning on walking a lot, doing laps since we have a pool at our villa and eating/drinking all the good italian food/wine that I can fit in!

Life is entirely too short not to enjoy a vacation like that to the fullest.  We're even taking a cooking class in Perugia that ends in a fabulous dinner at our instructor's home.

Ciao!