A site from a diary

Yesterday, after our afternoon email check at the Instituto, we stopped by the front desk to chat with our guide, apartment finder, translator, and hopefully new friend Jeanette. During our conversation, Matthew asked, "So, why are Italians so skinny?" To which she gave this explanation:

For breakfast, Italians eat a small, sugar laced pastry and an espresso - that's it.

Lunch does not come until at least five hours later when everyone heads home for siesta. For this meal, they eat pasta and bread - total carb-fest.

If they get hungry in the afternoon, they eat the abundant fresh fruit available.

No one even starts to think about dinner until 8 p.m. For dinner, they eat meat and veggies (either cooked or in salad form). They douse everything in so much olive oil, Jeanette said, that they might as well be bathing in it. For dessert, they eat more fruit.

But what about all that gelato? Well, to them, it's not that special. They do eat it, but it is an infrequent treat, rather than a nightly ritual.

I'm totally on board for the Italian diet!