Why Are Europeans So Skinny? (5 Tips For Weight Loss)

If you’ve ever been to Europe, you have probably noticed how skinny Europeans are in comparison to many Americans.

So, how do they stay so thin and fit?

It’s not a secret so to speak but more so a lifestyle. We’ll go over some tips and tricks in this article about what Europeans do differently to stay in shape.

Europeans are very aware of how much they consume in a day and practice portion control very well which translates to staying slim. Also, unlike in the states, European transportation requires a lot of walking and movement so their overall activity level is much higher. In addition, European food focuses on many different fibrous vegetables so you can expect the foods to be lower in calories.

In this article, we’re going to discuss what European people do to stay in shape and how you can implement those same healthy habits into your lifestyle as well.

Here are the five major tips that can help you stay thin like many people in Europe.

1. Europeans practice Portion Control
2. Europeans incorporate More Vegetables into Their Meals
3. Europeans take Their Time Eating Their Meals
4. They Live Very Active Lifestyles
5. Fitness is Important to Many Europeans

Let’s get into more detail about what Europeans do differently and how you can implement these same habits into your life to stay in shape.

How To Lose Weight In General

The most important aspect of losing weight is to figure out how many calories you can consume in a day.

Weight loss or, more importantly, fat loss is the concept of eating fewer calories in order to put your body in a caloric deficit.

There are a few factors that determine your daily calorie intake. Such as weight management, weight loss, or weight gain. Other factors that play a big role, are your gender and your height.

So, how do you know how many calories you should be eating in a day?

The answer is through trial and error and finding a calorie range that allows you to lose 1-2 pounds of fat per week.

Now there is definitely a difference between losing weight and losing fat.

If you’re looking to lose fat then you must be exercising and lifting weights on a daily basis.

So, to sum it up, lose fat by eating at a caloric deficit and lift weights 2-3 times a week to see some substantial results.

A good place to start is to multiply your body weight by 12 and adjust the calories if your weight does not change.

For example, if you weigh 130 pounds, then you will need to eat 1,560 to be in a caloric deficit.

If your weight goes up or stays the same, then you need to drop your calories by a small amount until it does.

Eating less, however, is not enough and is actually not recommended unless you know your macronutrient ratio.

Along with eating in a caloric deficit, make sure you are eating a well-balanced ratio of protein, carbs, and fat while building some muscle.

After every 10 pounds you lose, you should take a small break from dieting and then dive into a new calorie range that comes from multiplying your new weight by 12.

So what are some tips that will help us eat less and get into a caloric deficit?

Let’s see what European people do and try to implement those habits into your daily lives.

Tip 1: Europeans practice Portion Control

Portion control plays a big part in European lifestyles. They often eat smaller plates throughout the day and stop when they are full. Europeans also drink water before they eat and after their meal.

Americans tend to have bigger servings and often go for seconds. This often relates to food insecurity common in many American households.

Some dishes - in France for example or Italy - tend to be higher in fat but because the portions are smaller, it allows you to eat fewer calories which, overall, helps to lose weight. You’ve might notice that if you travel a lot.

The common mistake that many people easily make is to think they ate the right amount of calories for the day but when they trackback the list of food they ate for the day, they likely ate more calories than they were permitted to.

Many Europeans grow up with a healthy relationship with food. And portion control becomes a part of their DNA. Therefore, it’s unlikely for Europeans to overeat.

So the question is, “Should I implement smaller portions in my life?”

Well, it depends on your calorie range that we figured out in the intro above.

So, let’s say that you weigh 140 pounds. You need to eat around 1,680 calories in a day to lose some fat this week.

Since 1,680 calories are not many calories at all, smaller portion meals will definitely be a huge benefit in any weight loss journey.

Something crucial within those small meals, however, is to add high protein items such as cheese and lean meats or fish, as these foods expedite lean muscle building and keeps you satiated as you put your body through fewer calories.

Make sure not to cut out carbs completely and add some healthy fats into your diet as well. However, you don’t want most of your calories to come from carbs either, you want there to be a balance.

For us Americans, however, walking and moving around throughout our days is pretty rare and, unless you actively seek out exercise and fitness, chances are you are eating too many carbs for a more sedentary lifestyle.

Carbs aren’t bad though. Carbs can be your friends as they are a source of direct energy throughout your day, as long as you work out.

A good rule of thumb for dieting is keeping a nice balance of macronutrients. A great ratio is sticking to 30% carbs, 40% protein, and 30% fats.

The key aspect is to understand how many calories you need to eat in a day and to make sure not to overeat on your total accounted calories for the day.

Tip 2: Europeans incorporate More Vegetables into Their Meals

Since many vegetables or fruits are a seasonal event in Europe, the ones in season are often eaten fresh, and others are eaten pickled or frozen. But Europeans always incorporate fruits and veggies into their meals.

Vegetables are really the key to dieting as they are very fibrous and expedite the fat loss process by allowing us to feel more satiated without consuming too many calories.

The European Union also follows different guidelines regarding food. Many ingredients found in American processed foods aren’t allowed in Europe.

In the states, you can find sugar in a lot of foods - even packaged bread - and Americans love their coffee sweet and often sweetened with artificial sweeteners which can create sugar cravings and lead to diabetes Type-I and Type-II. Another sweetener that is bad and often found in American food items is high fructose corn syrup. Most American sodas - such as Coca Cola contain high fructose corn syrup, whereas in Europe sodas are sweetened with regular sugar.

Another reason why Europeans tend to be skinnier and in better shape is the fact that they cook much more - with fresh ingredients - for themselves and their family than eat out or eat processed foods.

However, although many Europeans tend to focus on a healthy diet plan, there are so many choices of delicious foods loaded full of fats for them to eat as well.

Europe - such as Germany, Italy, France, or Spain offers a variety of delicious street food and junk food in the form of pastries and chocolates. However, Europeans believe in moderation and due to the fact they have a more active lifestyle, eating high-calorie food won’t get them off track.

Of course, the U.S. market of fast-food chains has also reached European consumers but fast-food chains in Europe still offer more healthy options than you can find in the states and the ingredients are also better. Also, Europeans tend to eat at fast-food places at much more rare occasions than Americans tend to do.

The main cooking method of European food is grilling, steaming, and boiling different types of meats and vegetables.

Sure there are some fried foods that European people eat but, most of the time, European cooking really consists of avoiding anything too oily.

When cooking fish, they prefer to grill it with minimal amounts of oil while, when cooking their vegetables, they either steam or boil them rather than pan-frying them.

What about meat dishes?

Meats are usually steamed, grilled, or boiled. However, some European countries, such as Germany, France, Belgium, Poland, and Russia also eat some raw meat, such as Steak Tartare.

If you stick to the traditional foods, however, you’ll see that there is quite a variety of different soups, vegetable- and side dishes, and meats.

Tip 3: Europeans take Their Time Eating Their Meals

Europeans never rush their food and always sit down at a table to enjoy their meals throughout the day. In France, a lunch or dinner date can take hours. This is important as it aids in healthy digestion.

Europeans - especially French people - don’t really snack. If they do they would snack on fruit.

In European culture, they value the importance of spending time with the family while eating and not rushing a meal. The same goes for taking a lunch break. Americans don’t have that luxury usually as they work a lot.

Many Americans don’t have the time to cook after a long day of work so they tend to order in or grab processed frozen foods, which are high in calories, carbs, fat, and sodium but low in proteins.

If you can, always sit down for a meal and eat without any distraction to enjoy every bite.

Tip 4: They Live Very Active Lifestyles

Europeans are known to walk a lot and rely on public transportation. Since the public transportation system in Europe is quite connected and well developed, it is also cheap and better for the environment. Also, cities and distances are smaller in comparison to American cities or sidewalks.

European cities are an environment that definitely promotes high levels of activity which could benefit many American cities, such as Los Angeles.

Europeans also love riding their bicycle everywhere they go. Of course, many Europeans have cars but they use their bicycles more, or public transportation and walk rather than being stuck in traffic.

Not to mention, many old buildings in Europe don’t have an elevator and consider 6th-floor walk-ups. Walking up the stairs after a long day of work and traveling home, is a workout itself.

Europeans, as well as Asians, live active lifestyles which you should implement more into your lives.

So, how do you add activity level into your life here in Los Angeles?

Here in the states you definitely have to seek out exercise and make sure that you’re not just sitting in the office or living sedentary lifestyles.

This means you need to take some time in your days to get the same amount of steps that people in fast-paced cities do as well.

Getting a reliable treadmill (check it out bluefin fitness) is definitely the way to go here.

You should aim for 8,000-10,000 steps in a day and making a habit to walk on the treadmill throughout the week will get you there.

More than just movement, however, is building muscle which we will talk about in the next section below.

Tip 5: Fitness is Important to Many Europeans

As mentioned in Tip #4, Europeans make sure to get their cardio in by walking a lot. However, they also incorporate fitness such as playing soccer, tennis, or hockey.

However, Europeans also enjoy going to the gym and taking classes, such as Zumba, yoga, kickboxing, or other High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) to build muscle.

Regardless, of the activity you choose to partake, you have to make the effort to follow a workout plan that is suited for your goals.

We recommend to start lifting some weights, as lifting weights is the fastest way to slim down and build muscle.

So, “what is the importance of building muscle?”

Building muscle is great because it allows us to burn more calories at rest. This means that we can eat more and still stay lean.

The key here is to burn fat, by being in a caloric deficit and build muscle by training with resistance.

All you need to work out at home, are a couple of dumbbells and a couple of hours in your day.

Here is our pick for some adjustable dumbbells (check it out on Amazon) you can purchase to get started with training in the safety of your own home.

For women, we recommend a 3-day workout split that incorporates a full upper day, a pull day, and a leg & butt day.

You still want to work out the same muscles as guys do. The more muscle the better.

Muscle increases metabolism which allows you to eat more and still stay skinny. So, here is an example workout split for women:

Day One (Full Upper):

Seated Shoulder Press: 4x20
Lateral Raises: 4x15
Lat Pulldowns: 4x12
Dumbbell Row: 3x10
Dumbbell Fly: 3x10
Knee Push-Ups: 4x20
Weighted Crunches: 3x35

Day Two (Back/Hamstrings/Biceps):

Assisted Pull-Ups: 3x10
Lat Pulldowns: 4x12
Cable Row: 4x15
Stiff Leg Deadlift: 4x15
Hamstring Curl: 4x15
Bicep Curls: 3x10
Hammer Curls: 3x10

Day Three (Legs/Butt/Abs):

Squats: 5x5
Goblet Squats: 4x20
Glute Bridge: 4x20
Glute Kickbacks: 4x20 each leg
Jump Squats: 4x20
Weighted Crunches: 3x35
Leg Lifts: 3x35

For men, we recommend a push, pull, legs workout split. Which is a split that incorporates all muscle groups.

Push days require you to work out; chest, shoulders, triceps (anything that involves you to push).
Pull days require you to work out; back, (lats, traps), and biceps.
Leg days require you to work out your legs and some abs usually.

Here is an example workout plan that you can implement:

Day One (Push Day):

- Incline Bench: 5x5

- Incline Dumbbell Press: 4x12

- Incline Dumbbell Fly: 3x10
- Seated Shoulder Press: 4x12
- Lateral Raises: 4x15
- Rear Delt Fly: 4x15
- Tricep Pushdowns:3x10
- 50 close grip pushups

Day Two (Pull Day):

Assisted Pull-Ups: 4x10
Lat Pulldowns: 4x12
Dumbbell Row: 3x10 (on each arm)
Cable Rows: 4x15
Bicep Curls: 3x10
Hammer Curls: 3x10

Day Three (Leg Day):

Squats 5x5
Goblet Squats: 4x20
Walking Lunges: 4x20
Weighted Crunches 3x35
Leg Lifts: 3x35

For beginners these workouts might be a little intimidating, just look up how to do these on YouTube and you’ll definitely get the hang of it.

THERE IT IS!

In this article, we learned that Europeans practice portion control, incorporate more vegetables in their diet, have an active lifestyle, and seek out exercise that builds muscle and keeps them healthy.

Make sure to implement these same habits into your life and you’ll see a huge difference in how you will look and feel.