How Do Italians Stay Fit After Eating Pasta and Pizza All Day Long (2024)

FAQs

How Do Italians Stay Fit After Eating Pasta and Pizza All Day Long? ›

Italians eat well, eat a lot but stay fit because they generally follow a well-balanced nutrition that includes a wide variety of foods. If I had pizza yesterday night, today I will try to avoid carbs for lunch, so I am going to make a salad! If I had a margherita pizza yesterday night and I had a salad for lunch…

Even at home-cooked meals in Italy, you generally eat a first course (pasta, risotto or something carb-based) then clear away the plates. Then a second course (meat or fish) and a contorno, a vegetable side dish, which is served either with the second course or after – but not on the same plate.

Have you ever wondered why the Italian do not get fat despite an abundance of pizza, pasta, and dairy? Well, it is because of the Mediterranean diet! People in Italy enjoy a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, beans, tomatoes, poultry, whole grains, olive oil, red wine, dairy ― and they consume very little red meat.

Authentic Italian pizza actually is much healthier. With the passage of time, pizza has become very commercialized with the addition of many extra elements and cheese. So, if you are on a diet or controlling your calories, our suggestion will be to order from Authentic pizzerias or bake one at home.

11:00pm – Midnight. Snuggle in bed with either the sounds of the countryside or the sounds of the noisy city (ahem… ROME) lulling you to sleep. What do you think of the Italian kind of day?

A typical Italian diet consists of three meals in a day. The most common foods in the Italian diet include pasta, cheese, vegetables, olive oil, meats, and wine. Italians give a lot of importance to fresh ingredients. They use seasonal ingredients to prepare meals.

To eat like an Italian to lose weight means consuming fresh seasonal vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and small amounts of meat in reasonable portions that haven't been processed or tainted with “flavorings.” Cooking is simple rather than complicated.

With such a big focus on fresh ingredients and little processed food, the Italian diet is great for the body. Heavily processed foods often include unhealthy levels of added sugar, sodium, and fat.

As of 2021, in Italy, around 12 percent of the population was classified as obese, with men accounting for the highest share. The Italian regions with the highest share of people considered obese, using the BMI index, were Molise and Basilicata, with more than 15 percent.

It emphasizes the use of olive oil, nuts, fish, whole grains, and plenty of fruits and vegetables. Red meat is limited, and dishes are prepared with lean proteins and high-fiber ingredients to help manage and reduce cholesterol levels.

What do Italians eat for breakfast? ›

These include a range of pastries, including cornetti, which is like a filled croissant, and sfogliatelle, a thin pastry with ricotta that's popular in Naples. Other sweet options include maritozzi, the famous Italian sweet bread often found in Rome, or biscotti to go with your coffee.

Lunch is the day's main meal, lasting up to two hours! If you plan to eat lunch with locals, block out time. A typical Italian lunch consists of a primo (pasta, soup or risotto dish), a secondo (meat or fish-based dish) and a contorno (side dish).

Italians love to socialise and alcohol is a huge part of our culture. Vino rosso, vino bianco, co*cktails, birra (beer), amari (digestives), all have a place in an Italian's social life. Though it seems how we embrace them is very different to those in other parts of the world.

One theory suggests that breaking spaghetti is simply bad etiquette, though this is really just an extension of the main reason — spaghetti is meant to be eaten whole, so breaking it could be perceived as rude (similarly, it's also considered rude to cut spaghetti with a knife, for mostly the same reasons).

Eating simple pasta without any veggies would mean loading up on carbs. Instead, add lots of sautéed veggies to your pasta, such as corn, broccoli, zucchini, bell peppers, onions, olives and jalapeños. This will also reduce your overall consumption of carbs-loaded pasta and increase your fiber intake.

Al dente is king. . . everywhere. Even if the sauce will change from town to town in Italy, there is one constant for pasta – mushy noodles are a big, big no-no. Al dente – signifying “to the tooth” in Italian” – is Italians' preferred pasta texture.

The lower end of these ranges might seem a little small, but that's because of the way Italians eat their pasta. Pasta is often served as a primo (first course), with a meat, seafood or vegetable course called a secondo coming after that. As the entire meal isn't based around pasta, a smaller portion size makes sense.