I don't know what I'm eating!

jamadler2
jamadler2 Posts: 12 Member
edited September 26 in Food and Nutrition
Hi everyone,

So, I'm in kind of a unique situation. I'm living in France (have been for the past 6 months, and will be for the next 3 weeks) and sometimes French people invite me over for dinner and I have no idea what I'm actually eating. I usually ask, but I never get very clear answers. Also it's almost impossible to find the food I buy here in the MFP database, so I've really been estimating (nutrition labels are not as clear here as they are in the US).

Has anyone else been in this sort of situation? What did you do?

I want to lose a little weight before I go home so my friends and family aren't completely shocked when they see me! I don't know how French women stay so thin with all the cheese, baguettes and pastries they have here...

I'm pretty new to the site, and don't have any friends here, so feel free to add me if you want!

thanks

Replies

  • bethdris
    bethdris Posts: 1,090 Member
    I haven't left the county and lived else where ever,but to have that opportunity must be great!! Can you find foods close to what you ate in the US? Say rice cakes, eggs, rice...common foods that you'd know appx the calories? That must be very hard when their labels aren't specific. An yes, how do those women stay so thin!!!!??? Good luck to you, only 3 more weeks, and you can get back to a "normal" food life.
  • strandedeyes
    strandedeyes Posts: 392 Member
    The reason why they stay thin isn't about what they eat but how they eat it... from what I have learned, breakfast is their biggest meal and it gets smaller from there.. also the portion sizes are different. They also don't tend to just sit around after eating... so carbs works in their favor...

    Remember to just cut down on portions. I am sure you have an idea of what food is like now that you have been there for over 6 months. If I don't know what I am eating... I make sure that I still have an awesome breakfast but do a small salad for lunch, leaving me with a TON of dinner cals incase I want to splurge. I also make sure I do get in my workout for the day so I have that little extra cushion.

    Good luck..
  • suzycreamcheese
    suzycreamcheese Posts: 1,766 Member
    I dont think french women are any slimmer than other women, except maybe young women in the cities who probably arent eating bread, pastries and cheese all the time anyway. Theyre most likely living off coffee and cigarettes ;)

    i know what you mean though. Im off to france tommorow for a few days and i dont think im gonna be able to log anything. Gonna be hard to stay away from all the delicious baguette and fromage after dinner
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
    There is a book on why French women eat so well and stay thin. If I remember rightly it all comes down to the fact that they cook meals from scratch, using very very little pre-prepared foods. I know when I lived and worked in Luxembourg the unavailability of ready meals or prepared pasta sauces took a bit of getting used to!

    So I'd make the most of your opportunity, make the best approximates you can when logging, use portion control, especially with anything that looks obviously creamy. And just say no to the croissants and pain au choc!

    Remember you're only estimating when you log foods in MFP anyway.
  • tiffanyhimel
    tiffanyhimel Posts: 9
    I understand completely. I live in the UK, and nutrition labels here are whacky too!
  • nelliemosa
    nelliemosa Posts: 27
    I'd recommend you stop worrying about your calorific intake, immerse yourself the experience and exercise some portion control. It's not every day we get to move abroad and experience something entirely different! Bon chance!
  • DanL66712
    DanL66712 Posts: 135
    Theyre most likely living off coffee and cigarettes ;)

    Mmm...coffee and cigarettes - sounds perfect! I shall move to France!!
  • petithamu
    petithamu Posts: 582 Member
    that's a hard one...French cooking can contain quite a lot of butter but at the same time, they often cook food from scratch so it can be healthier than processed food. Can you describe some of the things you ate and I can try to help out? Also portion control. Big big on portion control.
  • eating4balance
    eating4balance Posts: 743 Member
    Like others said, stick with what you know best. Load up your plate with fresh veggies and dished based on vegetables. Limit your pasta intake to the size of a baseball (200 calories) and use creamy sauces lightly if at all.

    The main foods you have to worry about are: too much pasta, cheese, bread and desserts.

    For the pasta, use the baseball rule.
    For cheese, try to eat small amounts, like the size of a golf ball.
    For bread, limit yourself to one or two slices of plain bread daily (No garlic bread) and top it sparingly with fruit jams if necessary.
    For desserts, limit yourself to one indulgence a day, and keep it small.

    Take a lot of walks and drink tons of water. Try to make your snacks light and as healthy as possible.

    For drinks, red wine is found to be healthy, so you could probably have a small glass of wine a day.

    I would also check out this article and book online: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1018094,00.html

    Good luck and let us know how it goes!
  • suzycreamcheese
    suzycreamcheese Posts: 1,766 Member
    Theyre most likely living off coffee and cigarettes ;)

    Mmm...coffee and cigarettes - sounds perfect! I shall move to France!!

    its true though! My boyfriends family are all french so i go over there a lot, and i dont see any difference really between the average french woman or the average british woman. Most are just average size. Its a myth that french women are all skinny.
    Some of them are of course, but theyre the ones who are careful with what they eat, same as anywhere else in the world
  • suzycreamcheese
    suzycreamcheese Posts: 1,766 Member
    although you do see a lot less obese people, that is true
  • Flocker1979
    Flocker1979 Posts: 96
    I'd recommend you stop worrying about your calorific intake, immerse yourself the experience and exercise some portion control. It's not every day we get to move abroad and experience something entirely different! Bon chance!

    I agree. Enjoy the next few weeks!
  • scarletleavy
    scarletleavy Posts: 841 Member
    I've had a similar problem. I live in Germany and most of the foods I eat aren't in the database. I spend a lot of time inputting nutritional data from the foods I buy in the supermarket, but it is quite difficult and time consuming. Also, there is no nutritional data for any of the restaurants I would eat out in (they are usually small and local places). I do my best to estimate calories based on finding comparable foods/meals in the database or do some basic googling to find caloric values. You'd be surprised what you can find when you google "how many calories in ..." Even if you can just get a name of what a particular dish is called or a few of the ingredients you can generally estimate pretty well. I tend to overestimate when I'm not sure, just to be on the safe side. On the plus side however, even if foods are higher in calories, I've found them to be overall less processed and made from more local and organic ingredients, which is something that I find important. Just watch your portion sizes and enjoy the food. Personally, I try to avoid pastas and heavy cream based sauces, but occasionally I'll splurge and have a little bit.
  • mfp_1
    mfp_1 Posts: 516 Member
    Food labels are standard throughout the EU to allow free trade. You should see a 'per 100g' or 'per 100ml' so you can see the percentage. This allows you to calculate the amount for any serving size. I find that very useful when weighing my own portions.

    The US and the EU labels have a 'per serving'. But the manufacturer can choose whatever serving size they like. If the serving is fixed and obvious like a cereal bar, apple, or a piece of chocolate it works well. For variable things, the manufacturer almost always seems to underestimate what a real person would eat. Try offering the manufacturers labelled portion to a child and see what happens.

    The manufacturers are trying to make the labels standard in all countries. My impression is that French labels work fine. What is it that you think is missing?
  • TheGoktor
    TheGoktor Posts: 1,138 Member
    I understand completely. I live in the UK, and nutrition labels here are whacky too!

    You're kidding right? UK nutrition labels are really easy to understand; usually you get a 'per 100g' and a 'per XXg portion' - what is whacky about that? LOL!

    I've never had a problem with French, German or Italian food labelling (just as easy as UK) but Asian can be a nightmare. Half the time, there's not even an ingredients list!

    And the thing about cooking from scratch? That's all very well (I have always cooked from scratch - I wouldn't know what to do with bought pasta sauce, processed foods etc.!) but I am still massively overweight! Of course, large portions, lots of desserts and copious amounts of chocolate will do that to a person! LOL! So yes, cook from scratch but have plenty of willpower too!
  • dls06
    dls06 Posts: 6,774 Member
    It's all about portion control!
  • 36jessica
    36jessica Posts: 319 Member
    I want to lose a little weight before I go home so my friends and family aren't completely shocked when they see me! I don't know how French women stay so thin with all the cheese, baguettes and pastries they have here...

    Feeling your pain. I live in Italy where to get a size 12 you have to go to the 'bigger women's section' or, in some cases, to specialized stores. France is full or creams and sauces. I'd stay away from those and the pastries whenever possible and stick to dishes which aren't too elaborate. Drink LOTS of water. And when, you've got the chance, try to burn some calories through some kind of physical activity. Good luck!:smile:
  • Delaina1
    Delaina1 Posts: 168 Member
    Hi! I lived in London for a summer and travelled to Italy, Ireland, and Scottland during that same summer. There are soooo many healthy options in Europe in addition to all of the scrumptious bad ones. Try to find foods on MFP that have similar ingredients and log those. My main suggestion would be to limit yourself on the foods that you know aren't good for you. This is the eperience of a life time so definately don't pass the food up, but if it is smothered in cheese or the whole meal consists of bread and cheese, then just limit it. Also, visit some of the fresh outdoor markets. I looooved them! Stick to fruits, veggies, and lean meats like fish or chicken. I also ate a lot of magherita pizza from all of the little Italian spots in Europe. It has way less calories that some of the other options. Just walk everywhere too. You should be getting plenty of walking in. I ended up losing about 12 pounds accidently while I was there! Good luck! And enjoy this trip! I have wanted to go back so badly since the day I left!

    And I don't have many friends on here either so I'm adding you!
  • 36jessica
    36jessica Posts: 319 Member
    There is a book on why French women eat so well and stay thin. If I remember rightly it all comes down to the fact that they cook meals from scratch, using very very little pre-prepared foods.

    I cook all my meals from scratch here in Southern Italy. There's not much of pre-prepared anything here either. Still, calories are calories. Maybe as some others have commented, the trick is portion control, especially if your time in a new place is limited and you don't have the time or resources to discover what ingredients go into every dish or what everything is called.
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