What Italians Eat in a Day How Do They Stay Slim Eating Pizza and Pasta Easy Italian 137

Pasta pizza gelato first courses second courses When they're not eating they're always talking about food How do Italians manage not to gain weight Let's uncover the secret How often do you eat pasta Not as often as you'd like At least four times a week At least five times during the week Five to six times definitely Dai a couple of times a week yes Pasta actual pasta just once Once rice once spelt barley lentils Is she always on a diet I'm always on a diet because I exercise so I follow a specific meal plan I try to cut back on carbs but at least two or three times a week Almost every day I do Now that it's colder yes I definitely do it more often—two to three times a week At least three times a week No I do it twice Twice a week I do it three times a week as well But with rich hearty sauces and flavorful seasonings And the pizza Pizza at least once a week every week Every Friday rain or shine Well more or less I used to do it once a week myself At least yes once every two weeks Me too No more often once a week She's from the south so she should eat more pizza More often than I should Yes yes I eat pizza at least once a week Yes one or two times It's my favorite food Three times a week There is never a week without 1-2 fasts per week They're devoted to pizza which I prefer in the Neapolitan style—classic with anchovies you know that kind And the ice cream I'd eat gelato every day if I could but during season three times a week maybe even four Once a day every other day—yes What about ice cream How often do you eat it during summer Almost every day practically speaking After dinner all of them—well usually dinner always Always I often do too—no actually quite often I ate it in fact just after lunch today I had two spoonfuls Even on a diet Two spoonfuls of chocolate ice cream a witness to my friend who ate with me Every single day in summer No I don't eat gelato just a little I only have a few sweets I can't I'm intolerant At least once a week maybe more No I'm not particularly fond of ice cream no So gelato is usually had as a evening dessert after dinner but not too much and not every single day Almost every day in summer once a week in winter every two weeks Now one thing we foreigners really want to know—given all this delicious food how the heck do you manage not to gain weight We're gaining weight Well honestly we're skinny despite everything we eat but I don't know I have no idea What's your secret I have no idea I know I don't know Maybe the secret to Italians is simply that they speak Italian Maybe yes maybe no but it's worth a try What better way to learn Italian through our episodes than by becoming a member of the Easy Italian community In this way you'll receive exercises to test your Italian and do some light exercise slow and fast audio to keep you company at work while running while walking while eating and access to the Grammar Bank A vast collection of grammar rules based on our episodes To learn how to join our community The link is in the description or somewhere in the on-screen text I'm naturally slim but we do gain weight too The serious answer is that in the end it's all incredibly delicious food but there are just a few ingredients High quality The least serious answer is that there's so much of it that we eat only a little at a time When not to gain weight I drink quite a bit not much sport definitely not extreme but I do practice yoga and tai chi and I walk a lot—I'm not from Milan so I prefer walking around here the woods among the green and I think that’s enough especially because The food is good but it's the quantity so reduce the pasta to just 80 grams instead of 120 We're fattening up we're fattening up ourselves too But we change so often in my opinion In Italy we have the advantage of having so many things so even if we eat a lot pasta yes it's true there's no use denying it since we eat so much pasta but we never eat it Pasta every single day for both lunch and dinner with nothing else We eat vegetables meat fish and rice too We change things often and in my opinion that’s how we save ourselves Exactly that’s how we save ourselves Of course it depends on your metabolism and many other factors Then it's also a matter of luck of course which obviously plays a role too Poi beh eating fairly healthy especially the food from northern Italy You don't eat overly fried food but whether you have tomato pasta ragù pasta or pizza it's ultimately healthy stuff Yes they are foods that don't contain excessive calories for example eating Chinese food is much higher in calories and even sushi is significantly higher in calories than Italian food itself Perhaps also because we cook so much at home and don't eat out as often Restaurants anyway often contain many preservatives or other harmful ingredients Cooking more at home might be a bit healthier for that reason too perhaps It's mostly about the quantity If I eat 400 grams of pasta that's obviously a lot but if you eat 100 grams of pasta With a slice of meat that’s perfectly fine that’s great So moderation Yes I think it’s about the amount Moderation and food combination Carbohydrates proteins vegetables Perhaps because it's true that we eat a lot but we eat a lot of healthy things say compared to Even American-style lifestyles that are constantly overloaded with sugar and greasy foods So many carbohydrates yes but fatty things sugary stuff no so I think it depends on that Therefore more genuine foods Very much so in quotes genuine yes even more genuine than others let's say yes It's metabolism I don't gain weight even if I ate twice what I currently eat but you need to stay active and not sit for ten hours straight every day But it's each person's metabolism There are those who eat just one plate of pasta and still gain five kilograms I could eat a kilo of it and not gain weight but that's not the point But foreigners like me it's hard to travel abroad because I know I can't eat the way I do in Italy We slice Italian food from north to south For foreigners they should come here just for the food to truly grasp the difference For me though I agree It's not just against the laws of physics then There's an explanation There's a part that defies the laws of physics because in fact yes with what I ea I don't understand how it couldn't be double what we have right now I don't know Magic Maybe even geniuses perhaps Possibly Possibly yes possibly Yes we bulk up hide it well and know how to wear tight clothes Nevertheless compared to other countries Italians tend to be leaner I'm English for instance and I often ask myself this question For foreigners especially the English food is fuel for the body For Italians it's not just fuel—it's something more Food must be good prepared in a particular way It's not just about eating because at least I'm doing it right but for Italians it's truly a different mental thing Hello Why do Italians never gain weight in your opinion What's their secret It seems paradoxical but I think it's the love Italians have for food that keeps them from gaining weight Because eating is a pleasure they eat whatever they want They don’t usually diet but they typically eat smaller portions with higher quality There's not that sense of forbiddenness that other cultures might have which tends to make them do the diet more often There's only joy in food so the relationship is healthier Fantastic thank you Thank you And do you eat a lot of pasta Yes I eat a lot of pasta I eat pizza And the gelato So much gelato I have to say living in Italy has helped me change my habits a lot and now I follow the Italians and eat good things too but in small amounts Fantastic I'm getting hungry—let's go eat Yes same here What do you eat in a typical day I usually eat plain tomato pasta and then I like the cutlet Very very good Otherwise boiled meat with potatoes and carrots Very good And breakfast Breakfast: focaccia with cured ham and fontina cheese plus a cappuccino A hearty generous breakfast because otherwise I get too tense and it also depends on how I'm feeling I work shifts so it's not uncommon to skip lunch or dinner or to ea one quick snack and the other meal vegetables especially vegetables and bread because I'm such a sweet too Bread then it depends—meat or eggs fish variable For breakfast I eat toast with jam and for lunch I usually ea I have rice or pasta with vegetables and protein during the day and in the evening I eat either meat or fish And in the morning it's basically bread and jam lunch is at Mass where I work so that's Typically a minestrone then cold cuts or meat for dinner chicken or something else In the morning coffee with a toast and Nutella at lunch a salad with tomatoes and bread And in the evening a steak and other vegetables The same thing Yes Breakfast with coffee toast and jam lunch something quick on the go a bite Pizza a focaccia things like that dinner either meat or fish simple quick and healthy Well done Okay depending on my mood I have yogurt or toast with jam and around mid-morning I eat almonds Always then for lunch it depends—fish meat vegetables or a first course like pasta—I'm a true addict Carbohydrates are allowed nothing at mid-afternoon and dinner depends Either a first or a second course always but when it's vegetables that's enough And then maybe a little candy a treat Some chocolates No not chocolates I do chocolates Yes you do For lunch pasta or a main course but usually for dinner I lean more toward a main course so I avoid pasta because it's usually heavy so yes secondly maybe meat or at least side dishes salads So at noon I’ll have a first course I bring from home since I eat straight at the bank And in the evening if I have a first course I also have a second course and always dessert For those who don’t know what’s the difference between a first course and a second course For Italians the first course consists of pasta rice soups and stews—those are the standard starters The second course is meat fish sausages and cheeses We've heard countless theories—quantity quality variety movement—but no one has told us the real secret What do you think it is Let us know in the comments Bye