Thursday, May 6, 2010

Why aren't Austrians as fat as Canadians?

There are much fewer fat people in Austria than in Canada.  I'm not sure why that is. 

1. Breakfast
If you're Austian (or German for that matter), breakfast isn't breakfast if you can't have bread. 
Example: Every morning at work, we have coffee first thing in the morning together. So far, at least twice a week someone has brought in food, like fresh bread and sausage, or buns, or sometimes pastry or a cake.  There is even a stock of jams in the coffee room, in anticipation of the bread and buns.

2. Lunch
This is the largest meal of the day.  It usually consists of meat (pork is most common) or fish and potatoes or "Klöse", which are dumplings (dumplings are awful, by the way- consistency of paste) .  The meat or fish is often fried, such as Wiener Schnitzel. 
Example: A particularly disgusting-looking meal was offered at the office cafeteria this week: a plate full of a bed of sauerkraut (which in theory is fine, but maybe not this insanely large helping), topped by two dumplings filled with turkey and cheese.  My brain being stuck on silly mode, to me it looked like a beige smiley face - minus the smile.

3. Dinner
The last meal of the day is eaten a bit later than the average Canadian is used to, around 7 or 8 PM.  It's a light meal, often revolving around bread again.
Example: after 4 PM, the meat and cheese counter at the grocery store will prepare a "sandwich" on order, which many people pick up on the way home from work in lieu of dinner.  By sandwich, though, I mean a bun of some sort, sliced open and filled with deli meat, maybe a dab of mayo if you're lucky.  Seriously, that's it: no butter, cheese, lettuce, nothing! (OK, today I saw they had pickles - first time I saw them)

So with all that bread in their diet, how do they not increase in size?  Although, their biggest meal being at lunch does help, as they move around in the afternoon and burn it off more than we do our large evening dinners. Also, Austrian/Viennese do not use sauce as often as Germans do.  

But still, what gives?  And don't say all the pastries, the average Austrian doesn't consume that many.  Pastries and cakes are a late-afternoon kind of thing, and they are all still at work at that time.  Then again, not as many fat kids or retirees either. I'm told that's changing, kids are getting fatter here, but still a huge difference.

It's a mystery...

No comments:

Post a Comment