I'm with you Tanya. At least you have the excuse of being European, but I am just a genuine chocolate snob. I always have 3 jars of Nutella in my pantry at any given time

Um, I don't know what to say on this topic because it's going to sound silly, but I just eat whenever I feel hungry. I guess that doesn't work for some people who have problems with emotional eating and things like that, but it works for me. I can't afford to be much of a food snob. Sure I would like to eat organic and cook all natural foods from scratch and all that, but I'm a horrible cook and a poor one at that.

I have turned into mush since coming home. The city walking did me a lot of good. I'd always look for excuses to go on walks and I would often take the longest, most circuitous route to get where I'm going. The problem of course is that by the time it gets warm enough to do this regularly, I'm back at home, and walking through my neighborhood bores me. Unlike a large city, you end up seeing the same things and going on the same route every day. The experience is just totally different.

I took up yoga last year and had mixed feelings about it, but I want to give it another shot. I stopped when I went back to school and took a course load of 18 credits. I was just exhausted all the time. But now I'm only part time so I have no excuses, other than feeling bad that I lost all the flexibility I had built up.

I feel like something is wrong though, because I *look* at least 15 pounds heavier than I actually weigh. I'm only about 105 pounds, but I probably look more like 115 or 120. I have always had a lot of trouble gaining muscle mass, so that's probably the culprit. I don't think weight training is something I could bring myself to do regularly though. For me, exercise has to be fun and/or relaxing. If it's strenuous or if it feels like a chore, I can't keep up with it.

Oh, and I have been veg for 6 years. I love it. I have tried and tasted so many new things that I would have never bothered with if I still ate meat. I love spicy food too.

What a wonderful thread! Its been so interesting reading everyone's diet/exercise routines!

For myself, let's see, I guess I am a total foodie. I love to cook, I love to bake, and I love the pleasure of sitting down for a good meal with people I love. Luckily I live close to my job (I'm within 10 minutes walking distance) so I am lucky enough to avoid the commuters lifestyle. This gives me the time that most people don't have in the evening to prepare a fresh-from-scratch dinner in the evenings, and even come home for lunch in the afternoons most days (in the summer primarily when work slows down).

I cook all different types of cuisines, asian, italian, south american, french, greek, pakistani, english...you name it and I've done it. While I used to cook during university, I really tapped into my passion after I got married (it always helps when you have someone who appreciates your cooking!)

Throughout my life, I've been on the above average side (but never really overweight) which was partly controlled through exercise. Nothing too severe but I did go for long walks most days, swim quite a bit and hit the gym. My metabolism isn't the greatest and I'm one of those people who will always need to exercise to maintain her weight. I come from a family with weight issues as well so that doesnt' help.

I was about a size 8/10 when I got married and to be honest, I was at peace with my size. However it wasn't until a year after we were married that I started Depo-Provera and gained a massive amount of weight. I had heard that Depo does cause weight gain and the day I started it, I made sure I was exercising daily however, I was in the middle of my final and hardest CA exam, went off for vacation shortly after I wrote the exam, and slowly that exercise routine just failed. And the depo juts made me so so hungry. I never even realized how much I was eating...and suddenly one day, I recieved pictures through email from a cousin of mine for her engagement party and was confronted by proof on just how big I had gotten. I think I was close to 190lb when I realized this. (This was last March)

Last summer, DH and I decided to eat healthier and start exercising once again, and exercising together which we had never really done before. We started going for long walks, about 8km (5miles) on weeknights and much longer (between 12-20KM) on weekends. Weight started coming off and I felt a lot better about myself. And with someone to go on walks with it became something to look forward to.

Last fall, we went to Hawaii and while I didn't gain any weight on our trip, I did fall off the exercise wagon. The weather was colder, work hours were getting longer and longer and I just wasn't exercising. Finally this January, as a New Years resolution I resolved to get into shape. DH and I found a bootcamp close to our home and committed to going there 3x a week at 6am! It was hell for the first little while but I started to look forward to it and the weight loss was incredibl. Our eating habits became better and better as well. We did the bootcamp for 3 months and since then I normally exercise 5x a week either running with hubby and doing muscle exercises with a resistance band (which was what we used in bootcamp), or swimming (we are fortunate to live in a condo with an indoor and outdoor pool so I'm able to use the indoor pool to do laps) and even just plain old power walks. I find I have more energy, feel better about myself and the weight keeps coming off!

Oh, and I recently stopped Depo as well, and I have to say I feel much much better! Its amazing, I'm not eating as much (don't know if this is b/c of depo or b/c of exercise maybe?), I'm losing more weight and generally I just feel more balanced. Quite amazing!

I have to switch up my exercise routine though every couple of weeks though or I get bored and stop going.

I'm considering adding a yoga/pilates class to my workouts to change it up.

I think i'm the same as most people here, I could never do a diet. DH and I are constantly entertaining and socializing and I just couldn't do it all with a restrictive diet. At home, we normally do not eat white flour or potatoes (I find these things make me retain water and bloat) but I will eat these items within moderation if we are outside (at someones place, a restaurant etc). ANd right now, I'm trying to decrease my sugar intake a bit. However, I do love my dark chocolate and sweets and I still manage to squeeze these in every day! Just in smaller and smaller quantities!

all of you are such inspirations..being a working mom and still fitting in exercise in the morning schedule is amazing !

I am not at my optimum weight but exercising has helped me control my health problems and be active. Plus it improves stamina for long working hours. I love working out. I am extremely unsporty so my preferred method is aerobics (treadmill, elliptical) as well as free weights and weight machines and yoga whenever i feel too stressed. I take up the various group classes once in a while if it gets boring. I usually make it to the gym at least 3 times a week if not more and work out for 60-75 minutes... it needs to be way more than that to achieve my health goals but in the past if i 'crash' exercised to lose weight, I gained it back faster than i lost it. So for the past few months I am working towards integrating exercise irreversibly in my routine so taking it slow and steady. I am not a morning person and if I dont sleep well I waste time at work being cranky. So I usually go in the evenings during weekdays and in the mornings on weekends. I am working with a personal trainer once a week which provides a great boost since it helps preventing the 'rut' mentality by keeping the workout varied.

Dieting by eating less or restricting to certain foods again has proved dangerous so I have switched to eating smaller portions of food instead of picking up 'fad' diets. And I am glad to learn that all of you fit ladies follow similar routines. I dont necessarily snack but believe that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and always have a small snack in the evening since my dinner time is rather late due to work schedules.

I am a vegetarian too, for 9 years now, but not necessarily vegan though I try to buy organic foods which are animal-fat free. I cook almost everyday and have soups, salads, cooked vegetables, rice and whole wheat in my meals. I was also glad to know that I am not a freak since I do not buy fat-free food items either..even milk. I have not been able to find convincing evidence so far to the effect that items labelled fat-free are not chemically treated and advantageous in any way.

Most of my cooking tends towards spicy which I like and believe is useful for the body. I am a sweet tooth too and loove desserts.. but thats the only thing I have put a restraining order on..for a while at least.

thanks for the thread Nicole. Not only does it help to know how others tackle being healthy but its much simpler to put things in perspective after writing them down

I just saw your question Marianne.

I don't want to generalise and I really only know the situation in Belgium, but I have a hunch the other European countries aren't that different: yes I think gym memberships and working out regularly for say 3, 4 times a week still is less common over here.
(When I joined YLF I was amazed at how much exercise you all seemed to get and felt more unsporty than ever;-)

Things have changed quite a bit over the last ten years (a decade ago a lot of people attended an aerobics or step class once a week, went for a swim, played some tennis etc. but nothing more), but now gyms are popping up everywhere. And more people are getting a membership too, but especially the 'younger' generation (under 35/40). I don't know what it's like in the States, but here memberships are quite expensive (and there was an article in the paper just this week that the general conditions are often a bit dodgy and very unfavourable for their members) and a lot of people start enthusiastically, go regularly for a few months (or weeks) and then stop going but keep paying for months after (because they all think 'oh I'll definitely start again next week'...).

And I do have the impression that we're less 'fanatical' about exercise and working out here. Most people I know (men and women) don't get any exercise at all, some do something 'sporty' once a week and even those who were more active when 'younger' just 'drop out' once they get a fulltime job, have kids etc. (not enough time anymore, and it can be hard can't it, to fit into your schedule - I absolutely admire each and everyone of you who gets up early to get some exercise in!).

But we are all indeed much more aware of how important it is for our health and fitness level to 'get moving' and eat healthy (that we have definitely embraced over here too). The intentions are good, now a lot of us just have to put them into practice.

(and now I do feel like I'm generalising, but I'm just describing what I see everywhere around me, so if other Euro members think I'm way off, do speak up;-)

Inge (and you others familiar with European habits)...do you think the need for formal exercise is less because your day to day routines involve more built in exercise? (if you live in a suburb in America, you don't do much walking to run errands, get to work, go to school--everything is by car). Also, I think American diets are so saturated with high fructose corn syrup, fats, white flour etc...that the need to exercise formally is far greater.

It's like taht book...'why french women don't get fat"....when she stopped living like a french woman, she gained weight.

Partly yes Nicole (I was going to say that, but forgot). Distances are smaller here, so we often bike or walk to wherever we have to be. And partly it's just a culture difference I guess.

But still, obesity rates are getting higher here as well, we are eating much more refined and fatty foods in Europe too and more and more children and young adults* are overweight because of lack of exercise (computers & videogames are often mentioned as a big culprit). That and the fact that families often don't make/have time anymore to eat together and choose ready-made dishes over cooking things from scratch, develop unhealthy snacking habits etc. It all adds up, doesn't it?
(Djeez I suddenly feel so 'preachy' now;-)

* then again, there are lots of teenage girls (and older) that are scarily thin and underweight too, that are constantly obsessing about their weight and often resort to heavy smoking to suppress their appetite. But that's not 'typically' European I guess.

After rereading my last two posts, I realise that it might seem as if I'm contradicting myself: Europeans are eating less healthy and more fatty and refined foods vs Europeans have jumped on the 'healthy eating wagon'.

Both are true though, they coexist peacefully;-)

Thanks for your thoughts, Inge, I appreciate your detailed response (wish I had time for one). I know it's hard to generalize about things like that, since it also depends on your social group. For example, everyone at my work has a membership - regardless of their shape and habits. The cost varies a lot, depending on facilities and location. Nicole, I think you're right about driving - gym is probably the only way to get regular exercise for many people.

LauraElizabeth said: 'There are some good quality, free podcasts of yoga sequences (just like a class!) online, let me know if you (or anyone else!) are interested!'

A bit late in responding to this, but I'd love a link to the podcasts you mentioned LauraElizabeth. Thanks!