Travel will help you lose weight. Look at the bathroom scale and scream. Most of us cooked and ate a mountain of food since March 2020. We now begin to plan travel for 2021. There is a nasty realization that our travel clothes are tight or worse: do not fit.
It is a mystery, but most women lose weight when traveling. Even when in gastronomic Paris or carb-laden Florence, we drop pounds. The first reason is we walk. There is no end of walking in historic European cities. The variety of stores, houses, monuments, signs, street shapes and sizes is addictive. The second reason is the European diet: olive oil not butter in many recipes and nary a stabilizer to hold a sauce together. Fish is more prevalent than red meat. Extras such as bread and butter usually cost what is called a cover charge. Portions might be smaller but more satisfying. There are no doggie bag extras if you order Scottish grass fed steak.
Europeans demand fresher food, served simply and carefully paired. A good example is European cheese: stronger, riper and gooey and often served on special crackers specifically for that cheese. Example: Stilton cheese on Digestive biscuits, or Brie very soft, dripping onto a plain baguette or plain cracker. Try to find and taste, unpasteurized local cheese; it is not imported into the US. The link is to a good article from Food and Wine.
Distribution of food is not as widespread as it is in the US; that means your food is more often in season not stored for months before you eat it. Menus will be more seasonal and often with artisanal foods locally sourced. That can be terrific if you like what is in season; not so, if you don’t eat parsnips, turnips or baby lamb. Do experiment with overseas veggies: besides turnips and parsnips, try endive, fennel, white asparagus, radicchio.
Companies such as Heinz and Quaker Oats sell in Europe with less chemical additives than their equivalent in the US. Mint sauce for lamb is not a sugary jelly. Mint sauce in England will be chopped mint saturated in vinegar and sugar. Mustard is usually sharp not mild like that in the US. With both of these condiments, again, you will likely use less as the flavor is stronger. Buy condiments in local supermarkets; most ( not meat based) are allowed by US Customs.
Desserts will be richer than those in the US. Portions smaller. A stamp size of Venchi or Amedei chocolate will satisfy and is a great Christmas gift. Cream in your dessert might be higher fat and less moisture; again less will be more in your trifle or on a strudel. A small ball of vanilla Berthillion ice cream in Paris is a life time experience.
Finishing up with booze: European hard liquor has less alcohol than that in the US. It is often drunk ‘neat’ without even ice. Wines have less alcohol also, due to the European tradition of drinking a specific wine with a meal not as a stand alone drink. (Note: If you order ‘table wine’ at a restaurant on the Continent, you will usually get a lovely local wine). In many restaurants, the waiter will simply ask: Red or White?
Learn to cook Italian style with us and lose weight while you travel, end April on our annual Tuscany Cooking and Seeing Trip. We supply the aprons, you do the work. Your friends and family will love what you learn. And you might even lose weight. There is only one room left.
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28 almost 29 years of wonderful experiences for women of all sizes.
