Seeing as we haven’t been doing anything terribly special during the past couple days, I’ve had some time to do some real thinking. I’ve noticed a few changes in my daily habits and routine here, mostly in regards to food, and wanted to share my thoughts.
I eat a lot of fruit here.
I know that probably seems like a silly thing to comment on, but let me also say that my pants were falling off my butt while walking up our daily two flights of stairs. I haven’t eaten this much fruit on a regular basis since I lived in (you guessed it) Europe. Spain to be specific. So as I was sitting there eating a banana during our coffee break in class, I said to Jon “I really hope I continue to eat this much fruit when we get back to the States.” This turned into a debate about why we eat more fruit here than we do in the US.
First of all, fresh food markets are very prevalent here, and the fact that there’s one on the same block as our school probably helps with our daily fruit habit. But every single day, at the start of our coffee break, we walk to the little market, pick out an orange, maybe a banana, sometimes an apple or a pear, pay less than 50 cents for it sometimes, and go back to class. In the US, if I wanted to have just an apple, I’d have to get in my car, drive to Publix, and then just buy an apple. But with all that effort, shouldn’t I do more shopping while I’m there? That brought us to problem number two.
In the US, when I do my shopping, I usually do so once a week, maybe once every other week if pennies or tight or I’m going home soon. So I buy some snacks that aren’t so good for me, and some fruit, and various other food items to use throughout the week. But the snacks that aren’t as good for me are supposed to be a treat, that I split up throughout the week and enjoy in small quantities. The problem arises when that never actually happens. I usually end up eating the snacky foods first, and then by the time I remember that I bought fruit, they’ve gone bad. Not good for my health, and definitely not good for my wallet. So when I get home, I plan on changing my shopping habits so that this doesn’t happen.
It’s impossible to go on a low-carb diet in France.
Home of the baguette, the French usually cringe at the prospects of a meal sans pain. Bread is as much a part of French culture as pasta is to Italian, or potatoes are to Irish. Nevermind the fact that it’s incredibly inexpensive; 40 cents for half a baguette from the little bakery on our corner. I was genuinely worried about this, given the minor success I had eliminating carbs from my diet state-side before we left, and thought that the moment I get to France, I would swell up like Violet from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (minus the blue face, of course). But as mentioned before, my pants are falling off me. I think the amount of bread I eat is outweighed by the amount of walking we do. Obviously we don’t have a car, but even if we did, it would be completely impractical, and mad sometimes, to use it. With a public transportation system like they have here, even if you do take a bus some place, you still have plenty of time to walk off all those carb calories. But I don’t think all the walking explains the general “thinness” of the French.
People seem a lot less stressed here than in the United States.
Any of my readers who know me quite well know that I am a bundle of stress almost every day, regardless of whether there is an important deadline approaching or not. But after watching the French, and listening to our professor speak about the general way of life here, I think the French just don’t bother stressing about much, unless its something seriously worth losing sleep over. Anyone who knows a few things about weight loss would also know that being stressed is one of the best ways to keep weight on. Obviously not for everyone; some people can hardly thing about food while the GRE is near, while others find themselves at the bottom of their second box of cookies. Aside from different eating habits while stressed, the presence of stress puts your body into “fight or flight” mode, resulting in the excess energy, shifts in metabolism, blood flow, and the production of excess hormones. One of these hormone in particular is the culprit for many cases of stress-related weight gain: cortisol.
Basically, when you’re stressed, your body feels as if it’s about to be harmed; hence “fight or flight” mode. With this comes the overproduction of cortisol, a hormone that slows down your metabolism and triggers fat storage in the tummy region. So even if you’re one of the lucky few that don’t eat or starve your emotions, you can still find yourself susceptible to weight gain.
Translated into the French lifestyle, the absence of stress leads to not only the absence of emotional eating, but also wards off the unwanted boost in cortisol levels. The way of life here is incredibly laid back, with plenty of time to relax, and a meager 35 hour work week. I know that doesn’t sound like that much of a difference, but consider this: you get up and get to work at 9 AM, you usually get a very short lunch break, and come home from work around 5 PM. The French, on the other hand, get to work at 9 AM, leave work at 11 AM for their two-hour lunch break, return to work at 1 PM, then work until 6 PM. Sure, they technically leave work later in the day, but they got a nice two-hour break at lunch time to eat a proper meal, relax, even take a nap. The schedule in the US does not allow enough time to eat lunch, resulting in both poor eating habits and fatigue. Fatigue affects the quality of work, and a lack of quality in work results in stress. Voila!
So what am I going to change when I get home?
Well, that’s kind of a silly question, but obviously all of this. When I go shopping, I’m going to buy fewer “bad” snacks, and more fruits and vegetables to snack on, keeping in mind the amount of time I have to eat them before they go bad. I’m going to find new outlets to release stress other than my terrible mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups habit and my Oreo habit (these were standard around exam time). Obviously, I can’t control my work day (well usually, unless I reach a point in my life where I can work for myself), but I can control what I eat during my lunch break. And I won’t let myself get stressed over enjoying a little bit a bread every once in a while.
Add that to the fact that I’m starting a new running program in an effort to prepare for the Sister Run, an Ovarian Cancer Awareness 5K (the significance of this race is that my mother is a very lucky ovarian cancer survivor), and I foresee a much healthier Caroline within the next several months. I think it’s a little weird that after 2 months and a few days in France, these are the things I’ve pulled away and plan to bring home with me. Obviously among some other things, but these are the things I’m most excited about, and most relieved to have learned at my young age, before the stress and poor eating habits get the best of me.
Until next time: Mange une pomme!
Parlez Lentement. 