Tips from Around the World

It's a well-known fact that Americans are some of the fattest people in the world. No wonder when we're the land of fast food, buffets, and sedentary lifestyles. We don't have the healthiest relationship with food as a country. And in the South, where I live, I think it's even worse because we haven't met a food we didn't want to roll in batter and deep fry.

This outlook Americans have on food versus how the rest of the world views food is why I thought this article from Reader's Digest magazine was interesting. It explores some of the eating habits of people who live in parts of the world where citizens don't tend to be as rotund as Americans. One of the hardest tips to follow is the first one on the list -- Stop eating before you're full. For a variety of reasons, we tend to eat until we have to start unbuttoning our pants to get some relief. Seriously, that's not very smart. Food is supposed to bring comfort (and nutrition), not discomfort.

So, why not try some of these tips from around the world and see if it makes a difference in how you feel and in your outlook on food.
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Progress:

While I was away over the past few days, I admit I made some poor eating choices. I let desserts tempt me, and I had a couple of Cokes. However, because I had a friend along who has also been making the effort to lose weight and succeeding (we both arrived at the conference having lost 12 pounds since the RWA National Conference), I did get some good exercise. Two nights in the gym and one night of 2-3 hours of dancing. Tomorrow I go back to some serious exercise and back to logging my food intake in my food diary.