The European Diet vs LP

Alright, very funny, JOKES OVER! Where are the hidden cameras? They can come out now!!

That right there ^ is my reaction to THE EUROPEAN DIET! I think as time has passed and as LP has covered more of the globe, I’ve come to realize that there are no hidden cameras and I guess it is just a strange (not LPesque) REALITY here! But how?! How do they just so casually walk around with their foot long sandwiches bigger than their face (not to mention I have yet to see one whole wheat bun around here) and not seem to gain weight?! How is it not enough of a common thing to ask for just egg whites and why is it impossible to get only egg whites if ya just don’t want the damn yolk!? Why is gelato considered an acceptable lunch? Why is it that everywhere you look you see cheese or meat as the main attraction in bold letters outside a restaurant to bring in customers? Why can’t they use kale and not iceberg? Why is black coffee considered weird and why is it that milk with a splash of coffee seems to be the norm?! WOW, my 8 year old self would really be sh*tting on me right now! Before I continue- I don’t want to seem like I am hating on this lifestyle! Culture is culture! I’m just crazy invested in how and why it seems so different than the average American lifestyle and why we still seem to be the ones suffering an obesity epidemic!

Ok, enough small talk, let’s dive in. Each city is definitely different with what their go-to meals are but if one thing is consistent it has been the teeny tiny portions! I just got back from Copenhagen this weekend with my sister who was visiting and we eat very similarly. Each dinner we went to we would order an appetizer or two (consisting of some veggie or vegetarian protein) and then our main course (and maybe some dessert afterwards if we were feelin’ it cuz #Balance). The difference between the sizes of our meals here vs back in the US is VERY clear! The portions in Europe are probably half that of what we are used to! No wonder us Americans love our Big Mac’s! Our first night in Milan, my sister and I were sitting at this cute little Italian restaurant. Excited about our first real, authentic meal there, we went to town on our ordering. Hay, you’re only in Milan once! No judging. As we looked to our right and left and observed the other couples and families nearby I actually picked up on something very interesting… Four out of the five tables we saw had only ordered their main courses, no appetizers. This made LP and sister BK look kinda ravenous but it’s fine we didn’t know anyone and we can handle the looks! But how wild is that! Thank g-d my sister is a foodie too and observed this with me the rest of the trip! From that point on, each place we went to for dinner we paid attention to this crazy, no appetizer lifestyle and saw it wasn’t just in Milan, but also Madrid and Copenhagen. Damn do they eat less!

Not only do the portions differ, but I genuinely believe their mentality about food is drastically different than Americans. Speaking for LP and LP only, I crave veggies and if you follow me on Instagram (@livingpurely_) you already know that. I get excited about jumbo salads with sautéed mushrooms and well-seasoned tempeh. I live for a high protein, veggie breakfast because I know I feel my best when I fuel my body with medicine (and yes I just referred to food as medicine; You better believe it baby). Every city I visit, the first thing I do is check Yelp to see where I can get the healthiest brunch (you know, consisting of smoothies, salads, veggie bowls, omelettes…etc). When I tell you it has been quite a struggle finding my LP favs, I ain’t kidding! Everywhere I go, everything is about the croissants, bread rolls, muffins, cakes… etc. I remember specifically being in Milan looking up Breakfast and Brunch on yelp and the first thing to come up was a pastry shop! With cakes! Excuse me while I catch my breath and refocus. Okay, I’m back. Imagine NYC’s Sadelle’s (one of our trendiest brunch spots incase ya aren’t a NYC chick and didn’t know that) serving just CAKE for breakfast! Don’t get me wrong, I am sure some of you would love that, but imagine that being the NORM! I’m telling you guys, it’s a whole other world out here.

Going back to the idea about their mentality around food differing from ours… Grabbing a coffee is considered more of a social sit-down. In Copenhagen I was asking one of my taxi drivers why everything was so expensive and told him how even my coffee costed $7! He explained a bit about how everything is more expensive there but then mentioned something very interesting… Coffee is not something they depend on to start their day. He explained how grabbing a coffee is more of a two to three hour hangout with friends. They don’t need their coffee at 8:00AM on the dot in order to have a productive day! Hate to say it but this made LP kindaaaa jealous… Why do I depend so much on my coffee (sometimes twice or even three times a day) to keep me on my grind?! And why can’t I just so casually drink a mocha frappuccino with friends and carry on with my day?).

So… Where does this leave us? Although I may not quite understand the European diet, I appreciate the authenticity of each of the brunch places I have been to and even those I have been very let down by. You know, the one’s I've had to order regular scrambled eggs because egg whites are “not possible”! I think the day that Europe catches up on the healthy bandwagon will not be too far out in the future. Maybe in a few years Soul Cycle will be trending. Maybe when I return next I’ll be able to order just veggies for dinner and not get crazy looks. I guess time will tell…