Has anyone been to Italy? Any tips for eating healthy?

noturningback91

I go to Italy on Monday for a week and although I'm not going to be logging or being super strict I'd like to make some decent choices while I'm there so i don't come back and break the scales!

I know i should pick red sauces over creamy ones and not have too much cheese etc.

Has anyone been to italy? Do they do light options? Is it hard to eat healthy there?

Thanks!

aneary1980

Italy have an amazing diet.

My boyfriend is Italian, the perfect weight neither exercises more than general walking and the odd bike ride it's all down to him still eating a general italian diet.

It's nothing like the italian restuarants here. Eat where the locals eat and you will be fine!!

Hell_Flower

Only thing is to watch portion sizes and don't eat gelato everyday.

Eat like the locals, you'll love it, it's amazing!

dammitjanet0161

Last time I went skiing in Italy we stayed in a nice hotel with great food and 4 course dinners every night. However that didn't mean you had to eat everything at all 4 courses:

1st course - fantastic salad buffet
2nd course - a pasta dish
3rd course - meat with some form of potato
4th course - dessert.

I usually found myself filling up on the salad buffet and having a pasta dish OR the meat course, not both (at the time I very rarely ate red meat and mostly ate chicken and fish, and the meat course was often beef,pork or veal, so I tended to go for the pasta more than the meat on that holiday).

Oh, and proper Italian pizza is amazing and not loaded up with cheese, so it's pretty healthy

Dagmere

I don't know where exactly you are going to Italy.. but most of Italian cities are "walking cities", so when you go there, you mostly walk entire day if you want to visit places. I wouldn't worry about diet then, because you will be burning lots of calories. They have amazing restaurants, and you don't need to rely on eating pasta and cheese. They have low calories salads, and most of all very healthy sea food, and everything else your heart desires.
Enjoy your vacation!!!

CrescentCityGirl

Following for tips : )

liekewheeless

Go to the market.

Their fresh produce costs next to nothing. I don't know where you live but compared to the US it's very cheap.

Lozibeth

I've been to Italy lots of times and I've always ended up doing a loads of walking (especially in Rome and Venice). The food is just wonderful!! Relax and enjoy your trip but don't go mad, eat like the locals plenty of fresh food eaten slowly with amazing wine and good company

SheenaInvincible

Hey! I'm Italian :-) don't worry! We have a healthy diet. The lightest options in a restaurant are pasta with tomato sauce, fish and veggies, salads... I think that you should avoid lasagne, risotto, piadina, gelato, tiramisù, cotoletta (which is Fried). Try pizza!!:-) (just have one without cheese).
Have fun!!! Where are you going exactly?

grimendale

Every time I've gone to Italy, I've done more than enough walking to offset any extra calories from the food. Just pay attention to portion sizes (don't let your eyes get bigger than your stomach) and you'll be fine. I don't log on vacations, and the last time I was there, I managed to lose 4 lbs over the two weeks (some of which was likely water, but still) just because I spent most of each day on my feet and moving. Don't worry about it too much.

husseycd

I walked so much in Italy I'm pretty sure it negated any extra calories. Careful with the goodies, watch portion sizes, and don't worry about it. I vacation a lot and it never seems to derail me. I've been maintaining about 130 lbs for a year with two Mexico trips, an Alaska trip, and lots of nights out at the bar.

littlefoot612

You will find that Europeans don't supersize their portions which actually makes it a little easier to watch your weight while their. Just enjoy yourself, that's the main thing

rjmudlax13

Enjoy yourself!

Eat pasta!

Drink wine!

Have some gelato!

battybecks

I went to Rome in May, didn't count for the whole week, and maintained without trying! As other people have said, it did involve walking a lot - all day every day wandering about and looking at things offset the Panini for breakfast, gelato for lunch, and pizza for dinner (and wine, and pear and ricotta cake, and sexy pasta drenched in olive oil ... oh, now I'm hungry).

I wanted to just enjoy myself and eat all the luxury things I wanted, and it worked out OK, but you can be healthy very easily - so much fresh fish and seafood around! And they cook their vegetables so well that they're an absolute treat! there were a lot of beautiful looking salads around too. My advice would be to have salad and fish for a few meals, and eat the carb-fest-food for a few meals. You'll be moving around a lot more than normal, so it'll all average out! Have fun!

battybecks

Enjoy yourself!

Eat pasta!

Drink wine!

Have some gelato!

^ Essentially, this!

Have some hazelnut ice cream. You won't regret it.

3laine75

I'm just back after a week. I didn't bother logging and have gained 1lb (I'd consider this part of my normal fluctuations anyway). If you're doing a lot of walking and swimming it'll probably just cancel itself out. My biggest concern was that I definitely wasn't hitting my protein macro but it's only a week.

Lozibeth

Enjoy yourself!

Eat pasta!

Drink wine!

Have some gelato!

^ Essentially, this!

Have some hazelnut ice cream. You won't regret it.

Mmmm or pistachio, sooo good!

Really want to go back now.

sshintaku

I just got back a few weeks ago. I ate pizza and gelato and and pasta and pastries for a week straight. It was amazing. I also walked 6-10 miles a day. I came back and had gained 3 lbs of carb weight that was gone 2 days later when I resumed my normal diet.

Four_Leaf_Clover

I did not gain during a week trip to Italy (though it was years ago) . As others have said - so much walking and the portions are actually normal sized vs. super here.

Drink lots of water, enjoy some wine, and definitely have some gelato - a regular scoop will look like a kids cone here and is really not as bad as you would think calorie wise. We had it every day we were there. Bacio ("kiss") is my favorite.

If you really want, you could pack some protein bars to eat for breakfast - you could add soome fresh fruit and delicious strong coffee (mmmm) but as I recall breakfast is much lighter there - fruit, yogurt, toast, etc.

Enjoy yourself - it may be a long time before you get a chance to go back!

ekat120

Like everyone else said, you'll probably do tons of walking. Pasta is considered a pre-entree course, so focus on the entrees (segundi--or second--I think they're called?), which are focused around meat.

From my observation, Italians eat a really light breakfast (often a small pastry and a cappuccino or espresso standing up at the coffee shop at the train station), a decent-sized lunch and dinner (I saw 2 20-something Italian women finish whole pizzas by themselves for lunch one day! And one waitress told us a single pizza split between my husband and me wouldn't be enough food ), and few to no snacks. Walk a lot and eat like the locals, and you should be fine!

sweetmelissa222

I lost weight when I was in Italy, the food was amazing but I did a ton of walking and I only ate one big meal a day and then tried to find healthier snacks. I found that many of the meals were portioned differently than in the states, so that helped. They had servings that got you full, but left you feeling content rather than overstuffed or with leftovers. You should definitely take advantage of some of the foods that you can only have there. The pizza in Venice was phenomenal. The gelato in Rome was fantastic (Nutella, chocolate or coffee, amazing!) Just take it one day at a time and if you eat a heavy or high calorie lunch pull back for dinner. You'll be fine, have fun!