Imagine yourself in Italy, feasting on endless pizza, pasta, gelato, bread, croissants, and wine. Imagine waking up in your small apartment to greet the day and make your healthy breakfast and just saying “screw it, i’m in Italy!” and grab a chocolate croissant instead. Imagine walking out of your apartment building to the smells of an Italian morning (which is coffee and breakfast pastries) wafting from the Cafe next door. It. Is. Amazing. I remember my first week here was overwhelming when it came to food. Every other shop (I kid you not) was either a gelateria, pizzeria, bakery, or kebab shop (more on that one later). Not to mention a cone of really good (and I mean really good) gelato is roughly 2 euro ($2.15). It is hard to have self control. So I didn’t! I feasted on every food Italy had to offer me and I can’t even begin to explain how much I will miss it when I go home. Stick with me people, I promise this is a post on being fit abroad!
Eat like the people in your country eat
Unless of course you happen to be studying abroad in the U.S.A. Seriously, the Europeans and other countries around the world have this food thing DOWN. I gorge myself on pizza, bread, pastas, and wine, and have somehow managed to lose weight. Crazy, right? Actually, it’s not as crazy as you may think. This is why; food in Europe is made vastly different than in the United States. Europeans follow what we like to call The Mediterranean Diet. This style of eating focuses on eating food that is fresh and homemade. An aspect of this “diet” that I admire the most is the emphasis on eating slowly, and eating with loved ones. Yes, this is actually part of the Mediterranean Diet. Italians eat fresh meals with their loved ones every day. They even have a portion of their work or school day, similar to a siesta, where they allot 3 hours (12:30pm-3:00pm roughly) for eating and spending time at home with the whole family. It’s pretty awesome.
Enroll in a cooking course
I promise, you will not regret this. A course offered in my program is called Italian Cuisine, where a small group of students meet at an Italian family’s house and cook a full Italian meal. This is no small task considering Italian meals are around 5 courses, one of them being wine. Just kidding. This is the best way to embrace the food culture of your country. I have learned how to make delicious food from scratch (pizza, pasta, gnocchi, risotto, tiramisu, etc) all from fresh ingredients. It is a lot of work, but the food we made in that class is the best food i’ve had in Italy so far. Learn these skills so you can cook at home, avoid spending money, get some nutrients in your system, and feast like a King.
Skip the metro
Skip the bus, the metro, the taxis, the Vespas (ok, ride the vespas), put on some comfy shoes, and walk everywhere. This not only gives you the opportunity to see the beautiful city you are studying in, but it is an efficient calorie burner as well. If you are like me and don’t do a lot of cardio at the gym, your body will hate you, then thank you. For the past year or so, I have taken up weight lifting and have never looked back so this form of cardio was a perfect cardio for me. Walking everywhere is mindless exercise, which is the best exercise. I’m too cheap to buy a Fitbit, but my phone has a Health app built in that tells me how many steps and miles I’ve walked, and a rough estimation of the calories burned. I have compared it to my friends’ Fitbits and it comes pretty close. When I am traveling, I come in at around 16 miles a day. At the time, I have no idea I am walking that much, but at the end of the day when my feet ache and I look at my health app, I am amazed. I will never complain about walking to class in the U.S again.
Join a local gym
This is a seriously amazing way to meet locals. I don’t think I have gone into the gym more than once without having a conversation with a local trying to practice their English, or wondering where I am from. A lot of programs have made deals with local gyms to give you a discounted price for the time that you are studying abroad. Instead of paying full price for a membership, my program offers a deal of 100 euro for 5 months. Keep in mind, gyms in Europe are NOT like gyms in the states. They’re smaller, not as clean, more crowded, but still effective. Joining a different gym forces you to try out new exercises or machines, which is great for switching up your routine that your body is already used to. I have grown to love my local gym, and will be missing it when I go home.
Cook at home
Don’t be afraid to cook at home. Yes, it is a good idea to go out and experience all the different foods and restaurants, but don’t do it all of the time. I cook at home most weekdays, and leave the weekends for splurging on money and food. In my apartment I will cook rice, chicken, omelettes, veggies, and other simple foods. Shopping in a different country can be stressful and overwhelming because everything is in a different language, and there isn’t bacon on every shelf. I’m still to scared to buy fish from the butcher, and have accidentally bought pig intestine thinking it was bacon. So yes, this is hard, but the best way to ensure that you are eating healthy nutritious food is to cook at home.
Set time aside to take care of yourself
I make sure to go to the gym 4-5 times a week, not because I feel like I have to, but because I want to. In a country where I don’t understand half of the conversations I hear or half of the signs I read, it is nice to have time to unplug, listen to music and just work out. Studying abroad is overwhelming, so doing things like yoga classes, runs along a river, or going to the gym is a good way to relieve some stress and recenter.
Drink water
I know, you have seen this before. It seems like every person who has ever lost weight in all of history preaches to drink lots of water. There is a reason for this. Life’s just easier when you are hydrated. I don’t know all of the facts and statistics behind drinking water, so I won’t pretend like I do. What I do know is, the more water I drink, the less bloated I am, the clearer my skin is, and the better I feel. Public drinking fountains are everywhere in Europe. They’re free and easy to find, so grab a reusable water bottle, don’t drunkenly lose it in a pub (regrets), and drink up. Which brings me to the next tip…
Limit alcohol consumption
Now, I’m not saying don’t go out and have fun with your friends. Do that, it’s an awesome way to meet people. Just don’t do it every day of the week. Or learn how to do it without consuming alcohol! I have always admired those people out there tearing up the dance floor without a single drop of alcohol in their system, and I have tried to be that person more since being over here. This was mainly because being drunk in a foreign country is sort of sketchy and can be scary if you aren’t familiar with your surroundings. Alcohol has a lot of calories, and being hungover leaves you lazy and craving fast food the next day. I still go out, don’t get me wrong, I am just not wasting my time over here being hungover every day. However, drink all the wine you possibly can, because it is amazing.
Don't worry about it too much
Sometimes when you stress out about losing or gaining weight, you miss out on experiences. I will never turn down gelato. I eat pasta multiple times a week. I am currently sitting in KFC so I can use their WiFi, snacking on fries so I don’t get kicked out. I promise you, if you keep your body moving and don’t eat out for every meal, you will be just fine.