To think if we eat and adopted some of the lifestyle of the europeans we would not be the fattest country in Europe.

[WonderWendy1]

I went on a med cruise two weeks ago we stopped in Portugal, Spain, South Of France and Italy.

I think of myself as a fairly fit size 12 (14 in some things). I would say i'm on the slimmer side in the Uk. I go to these european cities and the women (and men) are much slimmer then me and dh.

I was then in Paris for a few nights a week ago and I can only say my gosh nearly everywomen I saw had the legs of Taylor Swift.

Aibu to think we need to be doing what the europeans do to avoid becoming the American country of Europe.

oh come off it, shovetheholly , do you really believe that the weather is all that different in northern and central France, or say, the Netherlands, is actually that different from ours?

I live in Sheffield. I can promise you it is very different to France!!

I think if we had some of the weather of the Europeans, we might not find it so difficult to join in with their eating and lifestyle choices

I'm sorry, but that's nonsense.
Some of the fattest states in the US have the hottest weather - think Texas, Missouri etc.

Sometimes if the weather is too good, it can drain you and people are less likely to do lots of walking or exercise, because it's too hot.
Also they end up driving everywhere.

I know when I've holidayed in very hot places on the Med, I have ended up doing less moving around than when I'm in cooler England.

I'm joking.

Ok

virtual (no calories!) for everyone!

They don't sit at their desks all day scoffing biscuits and cupcakes like English women do
So V simple

"If everyone around you is overweight your view of size becomes distorted"

"vanity sizing"

Im a size 14 to 16 down from a 28 after losing ten stone and am sick of seeing this shit on here.

Dont hear it in RL funnily enough.

Oh and coming from an Italian family i call bollocks OP

shovetheholly - my lab partner at uni in Sheffield was from Paris

I stupidly said that he must miss the Paris weather

He asked why, it is the same as in Sheffield!

The weather in most of Europe is pretty similar to the UK, even here in the North of Spain it is. British people tend to go to hot places on holiday so they think everywhere outside of the UK must be hot!

e.g. It actually snows way more in Italy and Spain then it does in the UK, but obviously not on the beaches in the South

People snack because they work long hours My ex did a driving job and his boss was always on at him that he had better not take a lunch break because there wasnt time, ringing him up while he was driving telling him to hurry up. He would often only have time for sausage rolls and junk food.

He couldnt take sandwiches because the filling was likely to go off in hot cars with no air conditioning. So he did put on weight. Boss didnt give a shit. Jamie Oliver seems to be in no hurry to tackle the employers like he did the schools though. I wonder why

HelenaDove - the UK doesnt work particularly long hours compared to other countries

The Greeks actually work the most, and look where that has got them!

www.statista.com/chart/3297/greeks-work-the-longest-hours-in-europe/

I think that it also comes down to the nutritional value of our soil. Leeching and significant soil erosion decreases the mineral content of our soil, and thus we do not get the essential vitamins and nutrients from fruits and veg in the same way that would have happened say 50 years ago. Equally our farm animals do not receive the right nutrients from the soil.

In the UK, We import a significant amount of our fresh fruit and vegetables from other countries such as the Netherlands and Hungry, and that puts the price of most vegetables up. As a result it can be competitive to buy a ready meal for one pound, in comparison to buying a few raw vegetables and meat to last a few days equating to about a pound a meal.

So there are no unemployed or retired people who snack then?

I was at a work thing in Northern Spain and someone had a birthday. in the UK people would bring in cake. Guess what they bought in - cold omlet with veg in it. It tasted wonderful and on one was fat.

..no one...

And actually come to think of it, my Mum had a 'cool box' for picnics/sandwiches in the late 70s.

It would have been quicker to take a sandwich out of a cool box, than it would to stop and buy a sausage roll.

Agree about the 'children's menu' thing, camaleon - it's usually very limited. Not that it actually prevents anyone ordering from the adult menu for their DCs of course, but maybe it should be clearly advertised if they're willing to do a half portion for reduced price or whatever

I totally snack from boredom rather than hunger. I'm trying to curb it now and if I'm home all day I spend all day thinking about food and fighting the urge to go to the kitchen - unless I am occupying my brain with something. Then I can more easily go between meals without being bothered.

oh fuck yeh the 'children's menu' - it really hit me when mine were about 4 years old and some friends took us out to a 'family friendly' pub.
The kids were herded into a play area and fed shite, followed by horrible cheap ice cream covered in jelly beans. Washed down with fizz.

What I really liked was taking them to the local Chinese which was genuinely 'child friendly' but not in any contrived way. The waiters would fuss along with an ice cube to put in the kids' hot tea, so they didnt burn their tiny mouths. Bless them.

No it's not shit that obese and overweight people around you have an influence on your own size. Partly of course because of sharing eating habits, but also because they change your idea of an acceptable body size.
www.nytimes.com/2007/07/25/health/25iht-fat.4.6830240.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

RedDaisyPride - Tortilla de patata is the national dish of Spain and its actually pretty difficult to make, so people are very proud if they - or their grandma makes the best one

Saying that though, there were equally likely to have brought some cake or some "pasteles". There is a big culture of sweet pasteleria in the North, a bit like in France. Not so much in the South. Actually cakes and pasteles are the one thing people buy from the local shops rather than make themselves

Oh and I've yet to meet a Spanish woman who wouldnt eat something because they are on a diet :)

I think if we started to look at levels of added sugar in stuff - especially things that aren't supposed to contain sugar, like savoury sauces (the Oriental-type ones are the worst for this), or bread, or ready-cooked meat dishes - then we might go some way to tackling obesity. I wonder if in a hundred years' time people will be shocked that sugar was ever sold untaxed and unlicensed, and giving sweets to children will be on a par with putting gin into the night-time bottle.

Hazlenutt it actually makes me want to stick to my healthy eating plan not give it up.

But i forgot my actual EXPERIENCE is no match for academia

Oh and I've yet to meet a Spanish woman who wouldnt eat something because they are on a diet

You need to meet my MIL and her 3 sisters then!

well great then. I guess those people in the study must have had a different experience.